Falcon Family Flyer

Greetings, Forestdale families!

In the blink of an eye, September has almost flown by! Since August 30, we have welcomed almost 550 students back into the building, and welcomed a few new faculty members, too. It has been awesome getting to know so many of our families across this great community with Mrs. Carpenito, Mr. Foster and this wonderful team.

As we get settled back into our school routine, I could not be more proud of the amazing things happening in classrooms around this building. Students are identifying main ideas of texts and writing persuasive arguments, thinking about the engineering design process, solving equations, and sharing about and exploring their cultural identities in spaces all over the Forestdale School - to name just a few things. One thing our staff does well, and I truly believe is known for, is relationship and community building. After having seen how this year started and how quickly our students began to feel like they were back at home, I couldn’t believe it more.

Our team of facilities and infrastructure staff have kept this place in the finest of shape as we start the year, too. We have a brand new wireless internet system in place, our building is as clean as can be (thank you Rich, Dave, Mary and Nick!), and our exterior signs have been freshly painted and are popping again! There are still projects going on (like a new intercom and bells system), but things are moving along smoothly.

I can’t thank you all enough for how welcomed I feel into this community, and I know Mr. Foster feels it as well! I’ve worked in Malden, and I’ve been an educator and school leader in other communities before, but being able to serve our students and community as the Principal of the school that I went to as a kid myself is the greatest honor an educator could ask for. I appreciate all the grace and space our team has been given as we embark on this journey together - we’re learning as we go! Please feel free to get in touch with me at any time with questions, concerns, ideas, etc. When in doubt - please reach out!

On to October!

Mr. Weldai

We have an amazing team of people supporting our students each and every day at the Forestdale School. This year we were able to bring on board a great new group of team members, and each month we'll try to showcase some of our new Falcons here.

My name is...Danielle Bertazzoni

I am...one of our School Adjustment Counselors

What I am looking forward to this year is...watching my students grow and achieve their goals!

What I love most about the Forestdale Community so far is...the welcoming and supportive staff!

Outside of school I enjoy...spending time with my family, friends, and my dog Benny 🐶🙂

The Malden Public Schools has a strong and thriving Title 1 department, and that was on display this past week as they kicked off their family engagement schedule with a breakfast in the cafeteria. Superintendent Ligia Noriega-Murphy, our new Title 1 director Martha Jancaitis, and our family coordinators Patti Amirault and Lisa Hammersley hosted a great event for families that outlined what Title 1 is, how it is utilized in the Malden Public Schools, and where the resources allocated to our district and school go. Families were also invited to take some books home to read with their students. There are more great events on the way - see the schedule for the year linked below!

We are so fortunate at the Forestdale School to have the world's best families and PTO! There are a lot of great events and opportunities to get involved throughout the school year. The PTO does a tremendous amount of outreach on their own, and linked here is a calendar of events for the year, a link to their website, and a few reminders of upcoming events to look forward to.

Don't forget - Monday, September 25 is your last chance to purchase spirit wear before the spring. Make sure to get your order in today! Use the link below to go directly to the PTO website.

The book fair is coming! From October 2 through October 6, the Forestdale School will be having a book fair in the library. In the meantime, you can click on the link below to set up an e-wallet for your student to use at the book fair. You can also shop online from October 2 through October 15 and have books delivered directly to your house.

Please join the Malden Public Schools and the Malden Police Department for an in-person presentation where the MPD will update families about the annual safety trainings that they provide to our students and staff to help keep our school communities safe. This was a great event last year, and hopefully we will see families come join this year, too!

Our first early release day of the year is coming up on October 3rd! This year, in partnership with the Malden Recreation Department, the Malden Public Schools is offering supervised gymnasium time for students in grades 1-5 from 11AM - 3PM to help families in need of care on those days. In order to participate, you must register in advance at www.maldenrec.com. If you need any help or have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to our main office.

Please make sure to check backpacks regularly for important notices from the nurse, and from your teachers. While most things are done electronically, a regular backpack check is always a good idea.

**Speaking of backpacks, if anyone still needs one for their student we have extras to give away in the main office. Please don't hesitate to reach out and let us know!

Students have been using their chromebooks in school already, but the AUP (Acceptable User Policy) form should be on its way to you from your student's homeroom teacher. Once signed and returned, students will be able to take their chromebooks home with them. Please make sure to use them responsibly and take care of your devices!

For the third year in a row, our 8th grade team has partnered up with our Kindergarten team to help build strong connections between our students through engaging activities. Throughout the year they partner together on variety of things from areas like literacy and STEM. This month they started with reading buddies, and seeing the kindergarten students locked into their 8th grade readers was really something special.

Superintendent Noriega-Murphy joined Mrs. Jill O'Brien's ILP Kindergarten class last week for a literacy lesson using our new Amplify curriculum while she, Miss Amanda, Miss Renee, and Miss Jessica read aloud "Little Jack Horner" with their students.

There are a lot of wonderful things happening in our classrooms each and every day - and many of those things get displayed around the building for students and staff to see! I'll try to share some of my favorite snapshots so you can get a chance to see them, too!

This week I saw a bulletin board on the 3rd floor A-Wing, right outside Ms. Powell's art room that was just so captivating. The quote reads, "Just make a mark, and see where it takes you," (from Peter Reynold's book The Dot).

If there's anything that we can do, please don't hesitate to reach out to any member of our main office team. Our phone number is (781) 397-7326, and each of our email addresses are listed below.

• Mr. Adam Weldai, Principal: aweldai@maldenps.org
• Mrs. Karie Carpenito, Assistant Principal: kcarpenito@maldenps.org
• Mr. Kenji Foster, Assistant Principal: kfoster@maldenps.org
• Mrs. Megan LoPilato, Administrative Assistant: mlopilato@maldenps.org