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WinterSportsMeettheTeacherFUEL theLearning

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EDMOND

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sthe sun set, Greg spent anhour clambering up a slopeof loose rock, hoping to get aview that would tell him where hewas,” wrote David Oliver Relin andGreg Mortenson in their book, ThreeCups of Tea. “But when he got to thetop of the slope, all he saw wereunfa-miliar peaks in the fading light.” What begins as a storyof climbingK2 quickly turns into a story aboutanother mountain to climb:Mortenson’s life mission “to keepbringing education, and hope, andchances of a better life to the childrenof Afghanistan and Pakistan.”During the month of February, theentireMCCPS community read thisinspiring book together. Kay O’Dwyersuggested the community endeavor tothe MCCPS Humanities department,and 6th grade Humanities teacher,Molly Dunne, suggested the book. With a young reader’s edition, ThreeCups of Tea was the perfect candidate.The book transports readers torural Pakistan, rife with poverty andthe richness of culture in the people,landscape, sights, sounds, and smells.The title refers to an important lessontaught to Mortenson by a Haji Ali,chief of the village into which hestumbled on his descent from K2:after one cup of tea, you areastranger; after two cups of tea, youbecome an honored guest; and afterthree cups of tea, you become family.

Lunchtime Discussions

One thing that makes MCCPSunique is our lunchtime culture. Adults sit with students to share mealsand conversation. One could say thatwe have all sipped those figurativethree cups of tea.To enlighten and transport us evenmore, Chef Laura DeSantis and hertalented kitchen staff created aPakistani-inspired lunch in earlyFebruary. The menu—chicken andvegetable curry with lentils, pickled

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ext to the quest for peace, our nation’smost important goal is the develop-ment of a high-quality educationalenterprise that will prepare all young peoplefor life in a fast-changing, complex world.Indeed, few people disagree with the belief of Clifton Fadiman: “There is an intimate connec-tion between the survival of democracy andthe quality of our public education system.” With this thought in mind, the philosophyand attitude of school officials has becomerather important. I was reminded of this dur-ing a recent visit to a thriving business estab-lishment. While waiting in line, I noticed aposter on the wall. It was especially stimulatingbecause the employees obviously subscribed tothe message. I believe this philosophy is asappropriate to schools as it is to businesses,and I have chosen to substitute the word stu-dent for customer:•Astudent is the most important person inany school.•Astudent is not an interruption of ourwork. He or she is the purpose of it.•Astudent is not just a statistic. He or sheis a flesh and blood human being withfeelings and emotions like ourselves.•Astudent is one who comes to us withneeds and/ or wants. It is our job to fillthem.•Astudent is deserving of the most courte-ous and attentive treatment that we canprovide.•Astudent is the lifeblood of our school. Without him or her we would have toclose our doors.

April 2010 | Volume 2,number 2

Inspired by Three Cups of Tea

Our Quest forExcellence

FFICIAL

UBLICATIONOF THE

ARBLEHEAD

OMMUNITY

HARTER

UBLIC

CHOOL

“Here, the arts are really valued and treated with as much importance as any other subject.

”

—

Dominique Dart

See

THREE CUPS OF TEA

,page 4See

EXCELLENCE

,page 4

Students,Sabrina,Connor and Anya,were transported to a world of poverty and grace.

MCCPS-Apr10.qxd 4/16/10 12:00 PM Page 3

Itis nottoo late to contribute to the MCCPSEducational Fund Annual Appeal.To date,wehavebroughtin $5,140.00.Our goal is $15,000in honor of our 15th Anniversary.Gifts of allsizes are welcome and appreciated! To give,simply gothe MCCPS Educational Foundationweb page on the school website (www.marble-headcharter.org) and use the PayPal button,or you may simply drop off a contribution attheschool with Eileen Perry.The Educational Foundation continues tolook for ways to raise money to supportcapitalprojects and innovative programs atMCCPS.Your supportis needed!

WHAT’S NEW(S) ATMCCPS — APRIL 2010

MCCPSEducation Foundation

FUEL for Students

Forming Units to Elevate Learning

AGNA

H RTER

Magna Charter

is the officialnewsletter of MCCPS.

Magna Charter Staff&Contributors

Dr.AlbertArgenzianoKathleen CormierNina Cullen-HamzehMichael HoulihanMary McRaeKay O'DwyerRyan RedmondEmil RonchiMike RuthLaura SmithNancy Marland Wolinski

MCCPS Board of Trustees

Emil Ronchi,

Chair

Cathy Vaucher,

Vice Chair

Dr.John Sullivan,

Treasurer

John McEnaney,

Clerk

Nina Cullen-HamzehCynthia CanavanMattCroninDr.Alice de KoningCami ParisMichael Zimman

MCCPS School Staff

Dr.AlbertArgenziano

Interim Managing Director

Nina Cullen-Hamzeh

Academic Director

Eileen Perry

Assistantto the Directors

Molly Wright

StudentServices Coordinator

Jed O'Connor

Director of Special Education

Jeffrey Barry

Business Manager

MCCPS

17 Lime Street,Marblehead,MA 01945Phone:781-631-0777Fax:781-631-0500www.marbleheadcharter.org

Our Mission

MCCPS fosters a community that empowerschildren to become capable, self-determining, fullyengaged individuals who are critical and creativethinkers committed to achieving their highestintellectual, artistic, social, emotional, and physical potential. We are dedicated to involving, learning from, participating in, and serving our schoolcommunity and the community at large.

Volume 2,Number 2,April 2010

INA

ULLEN

-H

AMZEH

nMarch 19, MCCPS master teachers hosted aworkshop designed to empower educators toimprove student achievement by beginning with theend in mind. The event was funded through a com-petitive federal grant awarded to MCCPS by theCharter School Office at the Department of Elementaryand SecondaryEducation.The 20 participants were public school teachersfrom all over Massachusetts who came to learn aboutbackwards planning, standards-driven instruction,content integration, and performance assessments— just some of the things that we do really well atMCCPS. Participants learned how to create a unit thatwill engage their students and teach the required con-tent. They learned about the process of developingrubrics that can be used to enhance instruction andassess what matters most."Any time a teacher can see creative work that oth-ers are doing, it sparks ideas for new ways to benefitstudents,” one participant said. “Also, looking at thestate standards with other content-area teachers wasenlightening in terms of making new and differentconnections."The event was beneficial for MCCPS teachers, too."It was rewarding developing this program with ourfaculty and sharing our expertise with a wider educa-tional audience,” said Matt Cronin, FUEL ProjectCoordinator."Working and planning with our staffis invigorat-ing and such a gift,” added Pam Miller,FUEL ProjectDirector. “Having the opportunity to present the workwe do everyday is the icing on the cake."The next phase of FUEL will send the workshoppresenters to the participants’ schools to ensure thatthey are supported as they attempt to implementwhat they have learned. This consultancy will deepenthe participants’ understanding of the workshop’sgoals. Additionally, a state-wide database of stan-dards-driven units that employ performance assess-ments is being created to enable the participants andother interested educators to share successful unitsand highlight exemplary work.FUEL was created and presented by Pam Miller,Matt Cronin, Molly Wright, Ryan Redmond, IvyConnelly, Rebecca Perry, Kay O’Dwyer, Katie Sullivan,and Nina Cullen-Hamzeh. For more informationabout this project, visit http://fuelforstudents.com.

MCCPS master teachers share their wisdom and inspiration.

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Winter sports atMCCPS are growing and gettingbetter!The boys’and girls’basketball teams concludedtheir year with the annual Charter Cup TournamentinPlaistow,New Hampshire.The Lady Navigators madeitto the quarterfinals,butwere knocked outby SmithLeadership Academy.The girls placed 5th of 12 teams,representing a huge improvementfrom lastseason.Our girls’team Captain,Alex Bozarjian,was honoredwith a spoton the All TournamentTeam for herefforts.Our boys faced tough competition and weredefeated in the third round by Roxbury Prep,placing9th of 12 teams.The Junior Varsity boys’team putupagood fightthe entire season as they faced relentlesscompetition from Tower,Hillel,and Manchester-Essex.The basketball teams were supported by a highlyenthusiastic group of cheerleaders.We are a commu-nity school!This was the inaugural year of the Navigator SkiTeam! All racers finished in the middle of the pack,asseven skiers participated in both the Slalom and GiantSlalom (GS) races.We’re looking forward to growingthis program nextyear.

AURA

MITH

nyone who wanders through MCCPS wouldagree that the student artwork on the walls isinspired—and much of that inspiration comes fromDominique Dart.Ofcourse, the polite and refined Madame Dartgives credit to the students and the school itself.“Everyone is so supportive,” she says. “Here, the artsare really valued and treated with as much impor-tance as any other subject.”The integrated curriculum “really pushes me tofind projects that are going to capture the kids’ inter-est,” Madame Dart adds, “not only for the state stan-dards, but what we are teaching.” This spring, thestudents will develop artwork that integrates withmath through geometric templates and architecture.In her second year of teaching art at the school,Madame Dart also recently discovered a wealth of sup-port from parents when she and Pam Haley launchedan online initiative to raise funds for art materials. Inshort order, they raised $900 for pricey drying racks aswell as unbreakable mirrors for self-portraits andeveryday supplies such as markers and paints. Anative of Paris, Ms. Dartalways drew, takingcorrespondence courses as a teenager because, oddlyenough, art was not emphasized in her school. Shehas lived in some of the most scenic places in theworld, including New Caledonia, New Zealand andSwitzerland. When she moved to the United States,she taught French at MCCPS for three years.But art was her true calling. When raising hersons, Nick and Gregory, now 19 and 15, MadameDart painted vibrant oils of flowers and landscapes,and showed her work at the Marblehead Art Association, Acorn Gallery and St. Andrew’s CloisterGallery. She taught adult classes at Acorn, earned aB.A. in Art Education from Salem State College, andis working toward her master’s degree. She lives inSwampscott with her husband, Andrew, and Gregwhile Nick attends the University of Massachusetts.Believing that art promotes multi-cultural under-standing, Madame Dart shows PowerPoints about theculture, people, and landscape when students do aproject relating to a specific culture (such as Australiaand New Zealand for this term's 6th grade aboriginalpaintings). Everyone can be successful, she adds:"The kids start working and surprise themselves.That's what makes it so exciting."

WHAT’S NEW(S) ATMCCPS — APRIL 2010

Navigator Sports

Meetthe Teacher:Dominique Dart

Dominique Dart Lady Navigators take itto the hoop.

Basketball and Skiing Highlights

PTONews

With the recentarrival of spring,itis withrenewed purpose thatwe encourage you toparticipate in the activities ofyour PTO.TheMCCPS PTO's primary mission is to provideopportunity for social interaction ateverylevel.We promise to allota very limitedamountof time dealing with business andplenty oftime for discussion and connec-tion.Come and share;we are all here inpartnership.For more information,pleasevisitthe PTO web pages on the MCCPSwebsite.As the weather is warming itis time toopen the outdoor classroom.Lastyear,itwas thoroughly enjoyed by students andteachers alike.We have received ideas abouthowbestto delegate the care and expan-sion of this invaluable space.If you or yourchildren have any inputor if you would liketobe partof a team working to maintainand beautify this space,please contactNorma Ross atrossclan5@verizon.netorSue Ballou atsue365_6@msn.com.Happy Spring!