Duval Dispatch

Dear Duval Families!

Welcome back to another exciting year full of celebrations, new adventures, and great learning! Our theme this year is "Many Families, One Pod." The focus is on community and coming together as one student body. We are hoping to have lots of opportunities to connect with families and the community throughout the year. To kick off the year, there are two things we are asking of families. One, please bring a family picture in to Open House or on the first few days of school. They will be hung up in our lobby. Second, share a song that is meaningful to your family. We will be playing them each morning for morning announcements.

The Dispatch comes out weekly (generally) on Sunday evenings. We publish important info for the week(s) ahead while sharing stories and pictures of events from the last week. We always include the upcoming weather, safety tips, nurse notes, and a message from the PTO. Our "Community Corner" has flyers from local organizations or links to Whitman or Hanson special events.

Open House is Tuesday, September 1st 4:30pm-6:00pm. It is helpful to bring your child's school supplies to open house. View the Duval supply list here. School begins next Wednesday, September 2nd. Friday, September 4th is an Early Release Day for Professional Development, dismissal on half days is at 12:10pm and follow the same routines as a regular dismissal. We do not have school on Monday, September 7th.

Lots of time will be spent this and next week getting used to new routines, teachers, classrooms. We will reinforce our commitment to the Duval Values, and set the expectation that we follow those every day. Please note that this year we have adopted a rotation specialist schedule on A, B, C, and D day. The schedule will be provided by your classroom teachers!

We are both very committed to a productive home/school relationship to ensure we have a safe, fun, challenging, and welcoming environment for each and every child. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have ideas, suggestions, or concerns throughout the year!

Need school supplies? Contact Mrs. Salamone or Ms. Craig and we will provide backpacks or any other school supplies you may need!

Wishing everyone a wonderful Year of Celebrations!

Ms. Craig and Mrs. Salamone

PS. Here's our Welcome Back Video!

Click on "Translate" for your preferred language.

Clique em "Translate" para ler em português.

Klike sou "Translate" pou li sa an kreyòl Ayisyen.

Nhấp vào "Translate" để đọc bài viết này bằng tiếng Việt.

Everyone at Duval is expected to follow and support the 10 basic values that families, students, and staff agreed on during the 2024-2025 school year. Along with our theme celebrations, we will also be highlighting each of our 10 values over the course of the year. Please take a moment to read through these with your child(ren) and talk about ways we can ALL support the Duval Values.

The WH Elementary Handbook can be found HERE.

Please check out our Family Welcome Packet as it has LOTS of information for families both new and old! Information about Transportation and Class Placement are currently active in the Parent Portal.

Pacote de boas-vindas à família em português.

Pake Byenveni pou Fanmi an Kreyòl Ayisyen

One key note: Lunches and breakfasts will be free again this year. Extra snacks or ice cream (when available) need to be purchased separately.

Kindergarten Meet N Greet will be out back on the playground on Monday, August 31 from 4:00pm-5:00pm. We'll read a story, hand out books, have freeze pops thanks to PTO, and give kids some time to play and say hello. Shirt colors are: Red-Rice, Yellow-Whitehouse, Green-Curley, Blue-Crouse.

K-5 Open House will go from 4:30-6:00pm on Tuesday. We STRONGLY suggest not arriving right at 4:30. If you come during a lull, or we spread things out a bit, kids will have more time to see their rooms, meet the teacher, and say hi to friends.

Backpacks with school supplies will be available by the office for families who need help taking care of those needs.

ALL Chromebooks K-5 will remain at school. We hope this change makes it easier for students and parents, and helps us manage the devices better at school.

If you have a dismissal change from your child's regular routine, a note MUST be sent in ahead of time. Please DO NOT rely on an email or even a phone call during the day.

Please call the Duval main office at 781-618-7055 (Press 1), if your child is going to be absent or late. We take the responsibility to care for your child very seriously and we need to know your child is safe!

A quick shout out to the Duval Staff, each of whom has come in over the last few weeks to help clean, organize their rooms, and get things ready for our students! It fills us with such pride to see teachers so dedicated and creative, helping make our school shine for Day One!

To ensure maximum SAFETY around the building, Duval enforces a set of traffic and behavioral expectations. We maintain a section in each Duval Dispatch to reinforce those concepts.

This is a LINK to our Traffic Protocols. Adjustments or reminders will be placed here in the Dispatch.

Basics:

- Drive slowly and only ONE WAY around the building.

- Do NOT drive around the building when school is in session.

- There is NO PASSING at any time in the driveways.

- Front entry area is only used for emergencies or picking up sick children.

Each Dispatch, we have a section for Nurse Melissa to share the latest health news. We will start posting next week!

Thank you.

Welcome to all our new and returning Duval Dolphin students, families, teachers, and staff! We are looking forward to an exciting year ahead. The goal of our PTO is to bring together our students and families and teachers and staff through communication, support, and incredible events for both fun and enrichment. We welcome all to our meetings and events and already have a great year planned. Please take a minute to review our calendar of events and meeting dates. We look forward to seeing everyone and appreciate any volunteers. More details to come on these great events!

Thanks to our Duval community and local businesses, last year we had a successful year with our local dining partnerships and will be continuing these partnerships again this year. Our first will be with Hornstra Farms on September 14th. Enjoy ice cream served by Duval special scoopers, see friends, and support Duval and Hornstra Farms with each purchase.

Our Duval Dolphin merchandise has a fresh new look this year and an easy on-line store for ordering. The first sale through the store will be closing soon, so take a look now!

https://duval-elementary-merch.cheddarup.com

We want to welcome our amazing teachers and staff to Duval with a first day of school breakfast bar. Please see the attached link for details and we appreciate any support you can give!

https://firstdayduval.cheddarup.com

The PTO will have a table at open house located in the bus line hallway. We would love to see new and returning families to say hello! Please follow our social media pages for the most up to date information. We can also be reached via email at duvalpto@gmail.com. Here's to another great year at Duval!

Aug 31 - K Meet N Greet 4:00pm-5:00pm

Sept 1 - K-5 Open House 4:30pm-6:00pm

Sept 2 - First Day for Everyone!

Sept. 4- Early Release Day. 12:10 Dismissal

Sept. 7- Labor Day. No School

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Calendar Items for the Year. Click HERE.

Flyers from the community will be posted here.

• WH Elementary Handbook

• School Lunch Menus

• Infinite Campus Log In for grades, class info. Need help? Contact Tech: 781-618-8100

• School Status (emails, texts from WH or Duval)

• YMCA Before/After School Care Information

• The WHRSD and Duval School PTO Facebook pages.

• Anonymous Bullying or Harassment reporting: call 781-618-7086

John H. Duval Elementary provides a safe, supportive environment where children are able to reach for the stars!

Email: ashley.craig@whrsd.org
Website: https://whd.whrsd.org
Location: 60 Regal Street, Whitman, MA 02382
Phone: 781-618-7055
Twitter: @DuvalElementary