Doyon News

Happy Friday! We’ve wrapped up another full and lively week here at the Paul F. Doyon Memorial School. It was a joy to see so many of you at Wednesday's fifth-grade band and orchestra performance. Thank you for coming out to cheer on our student musicians - their dedication shines, and we are so proud of the work happening in our music program.

While our performers were getting ready for their big night, teachers were busy completing report cards for students and families. Your child’s report card was sent home yesterday in their backpack. We’ve included an informational letter to help explain how grades are presented; you can access this letter by clicking directly beneath this section of the Doyon News. As always, please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns—we want these reports to be clear and useful for everyone.

Next Wednesday will be an eventful evening for our school community. Our School Council will meet by Zoom at 5:30 PM, and all are welcome. We truly value your participation and the perspectives you bring as we continue strengthening our school.

A quick reminder before we head into the upcoming break: please take a moment to look through the lost and found. Any remaining items will be donated after the new year. Also, if you are dropping students off after 8:40 AM, please use the front entrance rather than the side door. Students are marked tardy at 8:45 AM. If you need support with either of these matters, our Main Office is always happy to assist.

This time of year seems to move at lightning speed, and many of us feel the rush. I hope each of you finds a small pocket of peace in the days ahead. If there’s anything you need, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Warmly,
Mr. Whitehouse-Mullen & Mrs. Benincasa

Dear Families,

As we head into the holiday season, please know that there is absolutely no expectation for families to give gifts. Your partnership and the joy your children bring to school each day are truly the greatest gifts.

We wanted to share a friendly reminder about Ipswich's gift-acceptance guidelines for staff. According to Policy GBEBC, school employees may not accept personal gifts with a total value of $50 or more in a year. This means that the combined value of gifts received from one student/family across the year must be less than $50.

A class gift may be given once per year (or several smaller class gifts totaling up to $150) as long as it is presented simply as “from the class” without identifying individual contributors or amounts.

Items meant solely for classroom use or to support classroom supplies are not considered personal gifts and are not subject to the $50 limit.

Thank you for your support and for sharing such wonderful students with us.

Warmly,

Mr. Whitehouse-Mullen & Mrs. Benincasa

Hello 5th Grade Families,

5th graders will have many special and memorable activities throughout the year. In order to provide the best experience for our kids as possible, fundraising needs to start NOW! You are receiving a "Fill the 5" for our first fundraising effort. This is not a school sponsored fundraiser, and participation is voluntary, but we hope you can help us out!

What should I do?

Take a picture of the "5" shown below and post it on social media, and/or ask friends, families, and/or coworkers for a small donation. Every little bit helps! Any donations collected through our Zeffy link will go to a fund FRIES has set aside for our 5th graders. Use and share the QR code to start filling your 5.

Write the name of each person who gives a donation in each puzzle piece when they have donated one of the amounts. Hopefully each 5th grader can collect enough donations to ‘fill the 5’! We will be collecting donations through January 23rd.

Thank you for your support!

-The Fifth Grade Planning Committee

During December, we are focusing on empathy. At Doyon, we define empathy as the ability to understand and share another person's feelings. It's like putting yourself in someone else's shoes and trying to imagine what they might be going through.

Looking for an at home empathy conversation starter? Below is a quote widely credited to Robin Williams. Talk with your child about what they think this means and share what it means to you. Can you think of examples?

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about."

The library will be open to students on Friday mornings from 8:00-8:40! Students can come to the library before school to read, draw, play with Legos, code, or work on a STEAM project. If your child would like to attend, please sign up below. Space is limited to 12 students per week.

Reach out to Teresa Hohenstein at thohenstein@ipsk12.net with any questions.

Friday Morning Library Sign-Up

Curious about school safety procedures? Take a peek at the documents displayed below. These documents are shared with students at the start of the school year by Detective Joe Perna, our School Resource Officer. The documents may serve as a guide to support families in discussing school safety. As always, please be in touch with questions around school safety at the Paul F. Doyon Memorial School.

Holiday Teacher Gift Cards

With the holidays upon us, we’re excited to continue our annual tradition of collecting gift cards for our wonderful teachers and staff!

Please consider donating a $15 gift card to a local business, shop, or service.

Due date: December 17, so we have time to distribute them before winter break.

Gift cards can be dropped off at the school office or sent in with your child in an envelope labeled:

“Doyon FRIES”

If you prefer to make a monetary donation instead, you may send it to the FRIES Venmo, and we will purchase the gift cards for you! @DoyonFRIES

Venmo donations are also due by Wednesday, December 17.

Signup link:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0C4EAFAE2AA4FC1-60970868-doyon#/

Announcing Our Very First F.R.I.E.S. Book Club!

We are thrilled to share that we’ll be launching what we hope will be the first of many F.R.I.E.S. Book Clubs!

To make this possible, we’ve partnered with Tidal Pages, who will be supporting our community discussions and offering convenient ways to purchase the book—while also giving a portion of profits back to F.R.I.E.S.

How It Works

We select books that explore topics meaningful to the wide range of parents and caregivers in our schools. We then organize meeting times and craft discussion questions designed to spark thoughtful conversation and build community.

For our first selection, we chose The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt. This book was selected back in early fall, and we were excited to see the topic highlighted district-wide in Dr. Blake’s weekly emails!

Purchasing the Book Through Tidal Pages

Tidal Pages has created links for our community to purchase either a physical or audio version of the book. A share of the proceeds will be donated back to F.R.I.E.S.

Physical Copy:

https://square.link/u/H5SIuLim

Audio Version:

https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9780593829097?bookstore=tidalpagesipswich

Book Club Meeting Groups

To accommodate the high level of interest (and space!), we will be offering two groups:

• Group A: Meets Tuesdays
• Group B: Meets Thursdays

Each group will meet twice. Please review the dates below to choose the option that fits your schedule.

Group A Sign-Up:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E4EAFA92EA7F5C34-60967215-parentcaregiver#/

Group B Sign-Up:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E4EAFA92EA7F5C34-

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3MW880N9BJ12C?type=wishlist

Dear Doyon Families,

Please have students dress in layers as well as snow pants, boots, hats, and gloves/mittens when the weather calls for it. I do have some snow pants and boots available thanks to generous donations. If anyone has any boots or snow pants to donate, I would appreciate it! Please remind students to bring and wear a coat to school and recess.

Thank you so much for keeping your children home when they are ill and continuing to inform the school as we track trends. We are seeing some scattered tummy bugs and also some cases of flu/flu-like viral illnesses. Students may return when fever free for 24 hours without tylenol/motrin as well as generally feeling better.

Be well!

Mary Sforza RN, MSN, NCSN

Doyon School Nurse

December 2025

January 2026

Monday, January 5: First day back from Winter Break

Wednesday, January 7: Early Act Meeting 7:45 AM Room 301

Monday, January 19: No School, Martin Luther King Day

There is a donation box in the Doyon front lobby. Thank you!

Ipswich, MA—“Jingle Bell Walk”
Saturday, December 13th, 2024 | 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Get ready for a day full of holiday magic and cheer! Join us at the Ipswich Town Wharf to welcome Santa as he makes his grand entrance. Sing along to festive carols with Buddy the Elf while we wait for the big moment! You can even buy your own jingle bells to ring as we follow Santa and Buddy on a merry “Jingle Bell Walk” to Ipswich Town Hall (45 Green Street). Keep your eyes peeled for a sneaky appearance from the Grinch!

At Town Hall, Santa will greet children aged 11 and under, all while a live string quartet sets the holiday mood. Parents, don’t forget to bring your cameras to capture those special moments! After their visit with Santa, kids can enjoy face painting, fun games, and holiday crafts. The Rotary Club will also be serving up pizza, hot cocoa, and more in the COA cafeteria.

Tickets will be available for purchase to access tasty treats, face painting, and crafts, but there will also be free games to enjoy! Plus, don’t miss the chance to win amazing prizes in our raffles, including Christmas trees, a brand-new iPad with an Apple Pencil, and gift baskets from local businesses.

We encourage everyone to bring an unwrapped toy or gift suitable for a child to support the Wellspring Cape Ann Kids Holiday Fund. Proceeds from this event will support local charities and Ipswich Interact Club projects.

Ipswich Interact club, a high school leadership group inspired by the Rotary, with the motto “Service Above Self,” organizes this event to bring the community together and connect high schoolers with younger kids. It’s a day of fun, giving back, and holiday spirit for the whole family!