Murphy Messages

Welcome to March! I hope that you all had a great weekend and enjoyed some nice weather. We have a busy month ahead of us as we work our way toward spring.

We had some great features of our Belonging Week celebration last week, including positive messages to friends, culture day, the brain show, Weymouth Day and our PBIS assembly (featuring the themes of "belonging" and "excellence".)

We are very excited to bring back lots of fun activities to celebrate Read Across America. We will get things started this week with themed days culminating with everyone's favorite - pajama day - on Friday. We will welcome guest readers from throughout the community to our classrooms as we aim to inspire and maintain a love for books and reading. Additionally, we will begin our "Masked Reader" activity. This was a huge hit with students and families last year and we hope that you enjoy participating again!

Many people expressed that they were unable to squeeze in the time during February vacation week for our family math challenge. As a reminder, if you'd like to participate, we invite you to explore these optional activities. The hope is for families to have fun engaging in math together and to get our students to continue to practice their math skills.

Kindergarten

1st Grade

2nd Grade

3rd Grade

4th Grade

5th Grade

We celebrated student growth and success during our assemblies last week. Notable recipients included our writers of the month, bookmark contest winners, participants in the February vacation math challenge and some amazing 4th graders who read their work in front of a large group of peers!

Silent Auction:

One of our most fun, community building fundraisers, our Silent Auction, is coming up on 3/14. This is an amazing adults-only event where attendees can bid on awesome items ranging from local sports registrations and camps, to chances to be the Principal at Murphy for a day or arrive at school in a fire truck. Even if you don't bid on auction items, enjoy a night out with Murphy friends starting at 6 pm at Barrel House Z in Weymouth. The flyer with full information is attached to this email.

Trivia night for 3rd-5th grade: THIS MONDAY

On March 3 from 6:15- 7:15 Parent Council invites all 3rd-5th graders to a Trivia night at the Murphy gym. Come, team up with friends, answer some questions and possibly win some prizes!

Book Bingo for K-2nd grade:

On March 10, Parent Council invites all students in grades K-2 to take part in Book Bingo in the Murphy gym. Come, play bingo, and all attendees will leave with at least one book.

***Additional events will happen throughout the spring. A calendar can be found here.

We are excited to welcome children's author David A Kelly to Murphy on March 13! For more information about this author, including the opportunity to purchase signed books, please view this link.

• March Lunch Menu: Here is the lunch menu for this month: WPS March Lunch.

As part of the PBIS program, we continue our tradition of recognizing students from each room on a weekly basis for their demonstration of Respect, Owning actions, Achievement and Responsibility (ROAR). Here is our crew from last week!

We want to thank our amazing Murphy Parent Council for bringing back the Brain Show this week. Our kids had a ton of fun during the day and it was great to have so many families come back for the evening show!

Please find information regarding our Caps for Kids Day here:

English

Spanish

Portuguese

Arabic

2/28/25 was day 108 of instruction. If your child has been absent 10.8 days this year, they are on track for chronic absenteeism.

Please find information regarding our School Report Card here.

MCAS is coming soon. Here are our tentative dates:

ELA

3rd grade - 4/1, 4/9

4th grade - 4/3, 4/10

5th grade - 4/1, 4/9

Math

3rd grade - 5/6, 5/8

4th grade - 5/7, 5/14

5th grade - 5/6, 5/8

Science

5th grade - 5/15, 5/20

Our 5th grade committee is hosting a fundraiser to help with the cost of end-of-year activities. Please find information regarding their blanket sale here.

At WPS, the safety and well-being of our students are our top priorities. We understand there are many concerns surrounding federal immigration policies and their impact on our schools and we would like to reassure you that our schools remain safe and inclusive for all of our students.

We strictly adhere to FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy); we will not release any student information nor allow access to students without consent from parents or guardians.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Illness Guidelines

Stay Home Guidelines

Please find some helpful tips here in the Building Readers newsletter.

As we prepare to welcome our incoming Kindergarten students for the 2025-26 school year, please help us gather some information. Your response will help us better understand the needs of our new students and anticipate enrollment numbers.

Sibling Survey for Kindergarten 25/26

Arrival: The process requires one lane of traffic at drop off. There is never an occasion for additional lanes or "passing" another vehicle. Please share this information with anyone who drops off your child to ensure safety for all in our community.

Dismissal: As a reminder, we have a one-way dismissal procedure. Please do not attempt to drive "out through the in door" as this compromises safety for others. Also, for the safety of all, please dismiss only from the provided line. (The staff parking along the front tree line is not part of our dismissal area.)

Thanks very much.

Murphy Parent Council

Town-Wide Parent Council

SEPAC (Special Education Parent Advisory Committee)

Here is our WPS Health Services Fall information.

Current Health Advisory

We have added additional cones to reinforce a single line and we have repositioned staff in order to optimize student and family safety.

Important: If you have a concern with another driver on the lot, please alert school staff immediately. Please do not approach other drivers or speak to them about perceived procedural infractions in front of students.

Thank you all for your continued cooperation. It is greatly appreciated.

** Please share this message with anyone who may pick up your child.

As a reminder, during the afternoon pickup, it is important for traffic to flow in one direction. When car try to go "out through the in door" it creates a safety hazard. Thanks to everyone for helping with our efforts to ensure a safe experience for all.

Also, the parking along the tree line in front of the building is for staff. Please avoid parking there in the afternoon as it creates a potential safety hazard while backing into traffic and bus lines.

** Please share this message with anyone who may pick up your child.

Please take a few moments to view our Arrival & Dismissal information. If friends or family transport your child to or from school, please share these procedures with them.

EARLY DISMISSALS

Please send in a note when dismissing your child. This helps to remind the office and the teacher of the time during the day this will occur. Please do not dismiss your child early to avoid the traffic. This is extremely disruptive to the classroom when teachers are assigning homework, passing out notices, or completing other necessary tasks. When a child is dismissed by someone other than a parent/guardian, we require identification and a signature for release.

REGULAR DISMISSAL

Please send a note to the school if your child is changing their regular routine of dismissal. This includes walkers, after-school care, and the bus. Please do not leave this responsibility to your child. If a note is not received, staff will assume that your child's typical routine for that day will be followed.

The school day begins at 9:05 and ends at 3:15. It is very important that your child is here before 9:05 as structured learning time starts immediately after the second bell.

• First Bell 8:50 A.M.
• Late Bell 9:05 A.M.
• End of Day 3:15 P.M.

As a reminder, children should arrive at school no earlier than 8:50 A.M.

We will once again offer the free universal meal program. Additionally, it remains important for families to complete the free and reduced meals form in order to expand opportunities.

For those interested, breakfast is available each morning from 8:50 - 9:05.

• The Weymouth Public Schools Health Services Department encourages that medication is administered before and after school, if possible.

• When medication is needed during school hours, there must be a physician’s order and a parental permission form with the medication in the prescribed container, or it cannot be given.

• Medication must be delivered to the school in a pharmacy or manufacturer labeled container by the parent, guardian, or responsible adult. (Medications are not accepted in such things as plastic bags.) Children are not permitted to bring medication to school.

• Please contact Ms. Boland, our school nurse, for the proper forms, which must accompany all medications.

• • Tech Support for Families
  • Champions Before and After School Care - 781-812-8735 or lolee@discoverchampions.com
  • Blackboard Communications - Opt In and Opt Out Instructions
  • Aspen Family Portal
  • Wraparound Center Flyer
  • Weymouth Public Schools Transportation Information
  • Weymouth Public Schools 2024/2025 Handbook
  • WPS Health Information
  • Food Services Information
  • Weymouth Food Pantry Calendar
  • Weymouth Public Schools Transportation Information
  • SEPAC - Click here for meeting schedule