McGovern News!

We had a great first week back from vacation. There was certainly an energy and buzz around the building. The hard work our staff did, in conjunction with families, helped to prepare our students to return with optional masking in place. I was impressed by the ease with which our students returned. Every student seemed to understand that the choice for someone to mask was a personal one and everyone was respectful of that.

As we move through this month, there are several other milestones our students will encounter. Beginning next Monday, March 14th, we will no longer physically distance in the classroom. This is inclusive of breakfast and snack. Teachers spent time last week and will spend additional time this week teaching students in small segments, how to gather on the rug, line up without distancing, work with a partner in appropriate proximity, etc. Our hope is to explicitly teach these changes so not everything is new next Monday. Towards the end of the month we will move to a singular cafeteria and will begin teaching students about the changes in that space soon.

In addition to changes in health and safety guidelines, there's a lot of other important work happening at our elementary schools. Our staff has completed the first round of our Core Resource review, educators have analyzed student data and have subsequently developed academic areas of focus. Finally, we have determined new groups for intervention based on data. You will receive your child's iReady Middle of Year report soon. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to your child's teacher.

Please read below for school updates, the Spring Book Fair, our School's Report Card, and more. Don't forget on Friday, March 11th there is an Early Release Day and our kindergarten and first grade students are dismissed at 12:00 PM. Preschool dismissal will remain at 11:30 AM and there is no PM preschool.

Have a great week ahead!

Best,

Amy McDonald, Principal

We are happy to announce dates for the Spring Scholastic Book Fair. Students will be shopping during library time from March 28 to April 1. Families are welcome to send in cash (in a Ziploc bag/envelope labeled with the Student's name and Classroom) with students on the designated shopping day. Alternatively, families are able to use E-Wallet, a secure digital payment option. The account owner simply adds funds, and at the time of checkout, the E-Wallet will be looked up and scanned. E-Wallet can be set up on the McGovern Scholastic Book Fair Homepage(an email with the link will be sent out soon ). Please note: Unused funds in E-Wallet will not be refunded to the account owner and can instead be used to shop in future book fairs, through the class catalog flyer, or online at scholastic.com. If you have an existing E-Wallet, you will have to change the E-gift card credit on your account back to E-Wallet. Please note: There is sales tax for purchases made at the book fair.

We are happy to welcome volunteers during student shopping times!
Please email Caitlin Creed at ccreed@medwayschools.org if you are interested in any of these opportunities. We appreciate your help!

Please read the below communication from Assistant Superintendent, Ms. Gabrielle Abrams:

Dear Families:

Every year, each public school and district in Massachusetts receives a report card. Just as your child’s report card shows how they are doing in different subjects, the school’s report card is designed to show families how our school and district doing in different areas. A link to a fact sheet about the report card can be found here: here. A link to our district’s report card is available here.

The report card includes multiple measures of a school’s performance – more than just MCAS scores. It represents a new way of looking at school performance, by providing information on student achievement, teacher qualifications, student learning opportunities, and more.

Report cards are designed to be useful tools for everyone connected to our school. Families can use the information to have meaningful conversations with us about what the school is doing well and where there is room for improvement. Community and education leaders can use the information to better understand how to support students and our school.

We encourage you to become involved in helping us improve our school. We see parents as critical partners in the success of our students and school, and we are grateful for your continued support.

Finally, as your child attends a school that receives federal Title I funds, you also have the right to request the following information about the qualifications of your child’s classroom teachers:

• Whether your child’s teacher is licensed in the grade levels and subject areas they teach,

• Whether your child’s teacher is teaching under an emergency license or waiver,

• The college degree and major of your child’s teacher, and

• Whether your child is provided services by paraprofessionals and, if so, their qualifications.

If you have questions about our district report card, would like to become involved in school improvement activities, or would like to request information about the qualifications of your child’s classroom teacher, please contact Mrs. Amy McDonald, principal.

Sincerely,

Gabrielle Abrams

Assistant Superintendent

Medway Public Schools

We are excited to share that camp registration opened on February 1. The Summer Adventures Camp offers 7 weeks of social engagement and tons of fun for children entering Kindergarten through Grade 6 in September. Early drop off and late pick up options are available for families as well. For more information and to register, please click here.

This week is National Girl Scout Week. This Friday, March 11th all of our Girl Scouts are encouraged to wear their uniforms!

Dear Allied Arts Families,

The Allied Arts Team (Wellness, Music, Art and Science) will be hosting Open House events for the McGovern School! Mark your calendars:

• PreK families

• May 4th, 3:30-4:15

• Kindergarten families

• May 4th, 5:30-6:30

• First Grade families

• May 18th, 5:30-6:30

More information will be shared as we get closer to the date, but we wanted you to mark your calendars for these fun upcoming events! Please reach out with any questions!

Brad Shoenfelt, Wellness

Elyssa Glassman, Music

Emma Wallace, Art

Stephanie Fogaren, Science

School Banking is up and running! On Wednesday mornings, students can stop by the Charles River table to make a deposit. This is a quick and efficient process. This program is a great opportunity to take the first steps in real-life financial literacy by teaching our students about a savings account at a young age. You can read further details here and view this School Banking Video.

• Charles River Bank Deposits your first 5$
• Account-holders who make deposits are entered into weekly raffles
• You can make deposits to existing accounts

If you have any questions about the program or how to open an account please reach out to Ann Sherry from Charles River Bank at asherry@charlesriverbank.com

The first winner of the raffle, was McGovern's own, Ryan McEnery. He is the recipient of a $20 deposit into his account.

We are pleased to invite families to join us for a webinar focused on Safety and Security. This event will highlight the district’s efforts to date and also provide a look forward as we continue to engage in efforts to maintain the highest level of attention on these vital practices. This informational event had previously been part of our regular communication plan and the COVID-19 pandemic impacted our information sharing. We hope that you will join us on Monday, March 14, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. This is a change of date. Please pre-register for this webinar here.

Kindergarten registration has started for the 2022-2023 school year. 2022-2023 school year kindergarten students must be 5 years old by August 31, 2022. Registration information will be available in the superintendent’s office, the McGovern School, and online.

You can find important information and events leading up to kindergarten in this document, the Road to Kindergarten. Finally, please mark your calendars that we will offer kindergarten camp from July 11-15, 2022. The link to sign up online is located on this document with all of the information about Summer Kindergarten Camp.

We will host a virtual event for incoming kindergarten families on April 26, 2022 from 6:00-7:00 PM. This will be an opportunity to learn more about our school, our curricula, routines, and how to get ready for the big day! You will need to register for the event which you can do, by clicking here. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

We hope to "see" you there!

Mrs. McKay has gone through a tremendous amount of clothes this week as students have gotten wet at recess time. Please remember to send your child in with labeled snow pants, boots, mittens, hat and coat...even with these warmer temperatures. We go out as often as we can and with warmer temperatures, and the mud, it makes for interesting recess conditions!

Additionally, if you are cleaning your closets this week, we would be happy to take clothes your child has outgrown (sweat pants, leggings, shorts, long sleeved shirts, short sleeved shirts). Mrs. McKay often uses these items, for various reasons. Thanks in advance!

Come race with us! MEPTO’s 11th Annual 2022 Shamrock Shuffle 5k is on Saturday, March 12th at 9am.

You can REGISTER TODAY on racewire.com.

We are pleased to offer weekend groceries for interested MPS families. If you would like to order groceries on a weekly basis, please complete this Weekly Order Form. Grocery orders can be delivered (within Medway) or picked up from 3:15-4:15 PM on Thursday afternoons. Pick-up takes place at Medway Middle School (door 24 via Kelly St. entrance). If you have any questions, please reach out to groceries@medwayschools.org.

As you know, the district has communicated in the weekly COVID-19 Update, that we are continuing to see reductions in weekly case counts. As case counts continue to decline, we have updated our communication practices to reflect this reality. We will no longer be sending weekly COVID updates. Families can now access real-time data which is available for viewing via our website: COVID interactive dashboard.

The Parent Portal within Infinite Campus, our student management system, is a vital resource to help families stay up to date on students’ assignments, grades, and contact information. If you are a family that does not have an account, please email parent@medwayschools.org and we will forward a personal activation code to create one. ALL families are asked to please complete the Online Registration [OLR] option, better known as the “beginning of year packet,” within the parent portal system. This process allows parents to see the information we have on file and make updates if needed. We also require review and sign-off of our Responsible Use Policy and Handbook as part of this process. If you haven't already, please complete this process by selecting MORE (on the left menu) then Online Registration from the menu options.

As Dr. Pires communicated on Wednesday, during the school committee meeting on Tuesday, February 15, following his recommendation, the school committee voted to align the Medway Public School’s practices with the recommended guidance from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. In doing so, they adopted a new policy regarding face coverings. The policy can be reviewed here. Per the decision made by the school committee, effective Monday, February 28, masks will no longer be required in our schools. It is important to note that unvaccinated individuals are strongly encouraged to continue mask-wearing.

There are some important caveats to the newly adopted guidelines:

• Mask wearing will continue to be required in the school nurses’ offices per Federal Guidelines

• Indoor mask wearing following a required 5-day quarantine following a COVID positive diagnosis is still required per state guidelines.

• For athletic competitions, theatrical, musical, or other events, rules for mask-wearing will be specific to the district/school or site that hosts the event. With Medway’s approval to move to optional masking, masks will not be required at Medway-sponsored events.

Additionally, it is important to note that other mitigation strategies that we have in place will continue to be important. Specifically:

• Building Ventilation systems will continue to be maintained with the highest level of filtration and air exchanges.

• Classrooms will continue to keep their doors open and use window ventilation to support clean air exchanges

• Classroom and common spaces will continue to utilize individual HEPA filters

• Symptomatic testing will still be available in all of our schools with parent consent.

• Weekly COVID PCR pooled testing will continue to be in place for the near future, but will likely phase out in light of its waning usefulness.

• Families may still opt into our bi-weekly rapid antigen home testing program. Families interested in signing up for this program must opt-in by completing the Opt-in Form. The next test kit distribution will take place on Thursday, March 3. In order to receive a test kit in this distribution, families must opt-in by Monday, February 28.

Every child needs a healthy, nutritious meal to learn. Medway Public Schools offers nutritious meals to children each school day and breakfast and lunch will continue to remain free of charge through this school year. Please be sure to check out the menu here to ensure your child likes what is being served that day. You can find the menus by clicking on this link.

Due to the 2 snow days, the last day of school for the 2021-2022 school year will now be Wednesday, June 22, 2022. There is no school on Monday, June 20, 2022 in observance of Juneteenth. Should we need to cancel school again this year, this date will move again.

If you are not receiving email communications from the district or the schools, we are here to help. Please email parent@medwayschools.org and a team will work to ensure that you are connected.

March 9: Charles River Banking at McGovern

March 11: Early Release Day, dismissal 12:00 PM

March 13: Daylight Savings Time, turn clocks ahead 1 hour

March 14: Tentative start of no physical distancing

March 16: Charles River Banking at McGovern

March 21: MEPTO meeting, 7:00-8:00 PM

March 23: Charles River Banking at McGovern

March 30: School Site Council Meeting, 3:20 PM

End of March: target date for singular cafeteria

March 30: Charles River Banking at McGovern

April 1: Arena Day, no preschool

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