Doyon News

We’ve had a fantastic week back at school! It was a joy to welcome students into our uniquely charming, Gingerbread-faced building once again. Many thanks to our Doyon Beautification Committee for adding festive seasonal decorations for all to enjoy. And a special shout-out to Mother Nature for Tuesday evening’s brief hint of winter.

Report cards will be sent home on Friday, December 11, 2025. Please follow the link below to review a letter developed to help families understand materials that will be coming home with student next week. These letters will be enclosed with your child’s report card as well.

This month, there is not a scheduled FRIES meeting; however, you are welcome to join us by Zoom for our monthly School Council meeting on Wednesday, December 17 from 5:30 to 6:30 PM.

We are excited for our building-wide, staff and student spirit week beginning on Monday, December 15. Important details for this special week can be reviewed below.

Spirit Week

• Monday: Monochromatic Monday (Students Select Any Color)
• Tuesday: Tiger Tuesday
• Wednesday: Ugly Sweater Day
• Thursday: Silly Sock Thursday
• Friday: PJ Day

Please take a moment to peruse this newsletter. Specifically, you are encouraged to take a peek at important upcoming dates. There are many exciting experiences throughout the month and we look forward to connecting with you in the coming week. December is often a busy month for families. We wish you all a moment of calm, as you navigate the month ahead.

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.

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-

Dear Doyon Families,

December is here and so was our first snowfall! 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

Today is Harvest of the Month and the Green Team Parent Volunteers served up Cranberries, just in time for the holiday! We passed out samples of Fresh Cranberry Relish on apple slices, the cranberries coming from Old Earth Orchard in Taunton, MA and the honey crisp apples coming from Brooksby Farms in Peabody, MA.

Here is the recipe we used if you all would like to try it at home with your families next week:

1 orange, sliced with peel
12- ounces of fresh, clean cranberries
1/4 cup of honey, more to taste

Pulse cranberries and oranges in a food processor until finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl and mix in honey. Add more honey, depending on sweetness preference. Enjoy served with sliced apples, crackers, sliced bread, cheese or with Thanksgiving dinner!

Ask your kiddos how they liked this nutrient and vitamin packed superberry grown right here in MA.

December 2025

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!

The Holidays are right around the corner and the IHS Girls Lacrosse Team is doing our annual wreath sale! Pick up for the wreaths are Tuesday November 25th from 2:30-4:30 outside of the Middle School on High Street. We only have limited wreaths so make sure you pre order yours! Here is the link if you would like to support our team and get in the holiday spirit. Girls Lacrosse Wreaths