McGovern News!

It has been an exciting few weeks at McGovern School. I wish you and your family a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year. I hope you find time to connect with those you may have missed as a result of the pandemic and enjoy every moment of the break. Wishing you a joyful 2022!

Have a great vacation and see you next year!

Best,

Amy McDonald, Principal

Our preschool and 1st grade students cheered on our kindergarteners earlier this month during the "Super Reader's Parade!" Many 1st grade students have fond memories of this event and you could feel the enthusiasm and pride in the school.

Our preschool supports and educates three and four year old students who have been identified with a disability, along with a limited number of “community peers”. Eligibility for peers with a disability is determined through the IEP Team Process.

We hold a lottery for a select number of "community peer" seats. The preschool lottery, for community peers, will take place on Monday, March 8, 2021

from 10:00 AM-11:00 AM. You can view the Preschool Registration Process here.

When we return from break, we will share the registration packet via our website so families can register for the lottery.

The temperatures are dropping and winter is coming! Please make sure your students are dressed in appropriate jackets, gloves, and hats and when appropriate, boots. We continue to make every effort to be outside throughout the school day. This will continue as the snow hits as well. Please make sure your child's winter belongings are labeled with their first and last name !

If you family has a need for any of these items, please contact our school adjustment counselor at aslevin@medwayschools.org

Medway T.H.R.I.V.E. has partnered with Medfield Public Schools to bring the film Chasing Childhood to our parent communities. Families will have the opportunity to watch the film from January 14-18. On January 19, Dr. Peter Gray, featured in the film, will give a presentation for parents from 12:00-1:00 p.m. A link to the film and an event registration form will be shared as we get closer to the screening window.

The Medway Public Schools, at the advice of the Energy and Sustainability Committee, are exploring the possibility of adding solar canopies to the schools' parking lots. Installing solar canopies would provide onsite renewable power generation and provide long-term financial benefits to the Medway Public Schools.

We are seeking the opinions of the community to better understand overall interest, questions, and concerns that may be connected to projects like this. To gather this information, we are asking that you complete the Solar Canopy Survey. The survey will be open until Tuesday, January 4. The results from this survey will help inform decision making on this topic. Thank you for your participation in this survey.

Solar Canopy Survey

The events of the last few weeks have been concerning. The devastating school shooting in Michigan, the social media threat on TikTok, and the behaviors of some of our Medway students have raised concern and anxiety around school safety and security for all. As we have communicated, we have prioritized student and staff safety and security. Our partnership with the Medway Police Department and Synergy Solutions (staff training and safety audits) have been critical in ensuring that we continue to review our practices to identify continued enhancements. We engage many approaches to support school safety including: annual staff training, improved building systems (e.g. reconfigured front entrances at our elementary schools, expanded camera systems), enhanced technology tools to monitor online student behavior, and well developed protocols to respond to concerning situations.

Since these events have occurred we have heard from many families with specific questions about how we are effectively supporting school safety. We are planning to host a webinar on this topic for the community. This event will answer many questions that families have about our practices. Please keep in mind that specific information about our protocols and practices will not be shared, as recommended by school safety professionals. Please stay tuned for an upcoming date for this event.

With the new year approaching, it is a great time to revisit expectations and routines with students. Below is a visual reminder of expectations for our elementary students. Teachers will review these at school, but if you could please take some time to reiterate these expectations at home, we would greatly appreciate it.

The Medway SEPAC board is seeking feedback from families about how we can best support you and your child(ren). Please take a moment to complete this brief survey to share your thoughts with us. The link may be found here.

Following an audit of our Grade 6-12 and K-5 Literacy programs during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years respectively, Medway Public Schools has partnered with Hill for Literacy to support our efforts to continuously improve our practices and ensure that our resources for teaching and learning are best aligned with these practices.

We are excited by the learning and work that Hill has brought to our K-5 teacher teams so far with professional learning focused on the science of reading, facilitating rich data teams, and the implementation of a new universal screener, DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills).

We will be entering into a new K-5 curriculum resource review following the break that will include the evaluation of commercial curriculum resources highly rated for quality, coherence, and usability.

MEPTO
Please click on the link for the December MEPTO Newsletter.

MEDWAY PERFORMING ARTS GEAR IS HERE!

The MPFA is excited to announce the arrival of Medway Performing Arts gear! Use the link below to access the online ordering site for a variety of items including t-shirts, sweatshirts, blankets and more. Time to show off some pride for the talented Medway students in Band, Chorus, and Drama.

A portion of all orders will directly benefit the MFPA to help us support the Performing Arts at all Medway Schools.

https://www.customapparelcai.com/medwayperformingarts

After almost 2 years, Charles River Bank's School Banking Program will return to McGovern School in mid-January. We are still working out some final details, but after the break, we will send home information about how to set up an account for your child. Once the savings account is established, children are invited to bring money in to "deposit" to the bank on our banking day.

Teaching children about a savings account at a young age has many benefits and we are exited to bring this program back to McGovern. Be on the look out after the break for informational materials and you can view this School Banking Video in the meantime.

VaxAbilities is hosting disability-friendly events across Massachusetts. These events will have extra staff on hand to provide skilled support to persons with disabilities or sensory support needs. For more information and to register for a clinic near you please visit www.vaxabilities.com

As your elementary and middle school children become fully vaccinated we ask you to please share proof of their vaccination with our school nurses by completing this form: K-8 Vaccination Status Response. If your student attends Medway High School and we have previously reached out to you for proof of immunization and you have yet to respond you may share their information through the use of this form: 9-12 Vaccination Status Response.

Pediatric Vaccine now available for children 5 to 11

If Medway's vaccine clinic does not work for your family next Thursday, please read below about how to schedule a vaccine appointment for your child.

How to find a Pediatric COVID-19 vaccine appointment:

1. Parents who prefer to have their child vaccinated by their primary care provider should call their provider’s office directly.
2. Visit the VaxFinder tool at vaxfinder.mass.gov for a full list of hundreds of available locations. Residents will be able to narrow the results to search for locations that are offering the Pfizer Pediatric COVID-19 vaccine, with some appointments available now for booking. Additional appointments will be available online in the coming days. Many locations will be booking appointments out weeks in advance.
3. For individuals who are unable to use VaxFinder, or have difficulty accessing the internet, the COVID-19 Vaccine Resource Line (Monday through Friday from 8:30 AM to 6 PM, Saturday and Sunday 9 AM – 2 PM) is available by calling 2-1-1. The COVID-19 Vaccine Resource Line is available in English and Spanish and has translators available in approximately 100 additional languages.

All state supported vaccination clinics will offer low-sensory vaccinations for children with disabilities.

Visit www.mass.gov/covidvaccinekids for more information. To view more information from the CDC, please click here.

Vaccines are widely available across the Commonwealth. Getting vaccinated remains the most important thing individuals can do to protect themselves, their families, and their community. The COVID-19 vaccine is safe, effective, and free. Individuals do not need an ID or health insurance to access a vaccine and do not need to show a vaccine card when getting a vaccine.

Massachusetts leads the nation in vaccine administration, including adolescent vaccination, with over 80% of youth ages 12-17 having received at least one dose. Over 4.7 million individuals are fully vaccinated, with more than 92% of all adults having at least one dose.

Everything related to the Medway Public School's COVID can be found on our HUB by clicking here.

Our Wellness Department developed Flow Charts to better explain how our Test and Stay program will work. Please see the the information below to understand how the program will work.

Test and Stay Flow Chart

On August 31st, School Committee voted to reinstate last year's Face Covering Policy. Click here for the complete policy. This outlines the types of masks to be worn in school and when wearing a mask is required. Please see the face covering requirements for anyone inside the school building:

A face covering that covers the nose and mouth must be worn by all individuals in school buildings and on school transportation. Bandanas, neck gaiters, single layer face coverings, and face coverings with vents, ports or perforations of any kind are not permitted as an approved face covering.

Additionally, face masks or face coverings will not be required:

• during mask breaks;

• while eating or drinking;

• while outside.

The Parent Portal within Infinite Campus, our student management system, is a vital resource to help families stay up to date on students’ assignments, grades, and contact information. If you are a family that does not have an account, please email parent@medwayschools.org and we will forward a personal activation code to create one. ALL families are asked to please complete the Online Registration [OLR] option, better known as the “beginning of year packet,” within the parent portal system. This process allows parents to see the information we have on file and make updates if needed. We also require review and sign-off of our Responsible Use Policy and Handbook as part of this process. If you haven't already, please complete this process by selecting MORE (on the left menu) then Online Registration from the menu options.

Every child needs a healthy, nutritious meal to learn. Medway Public Schools offers nutritious meals to children each school day and breakfast and lunch will continue to remain free of charge through this school year. Please be sure to check out the menu here to ensure your child likes what is being served that day. You can find the menus by clicking on this link.

If you are not receiving email communications from the district or the schools, we are here to help. Please email parent@medwayschools.org and a team will work to ensure that you are connected.

Dec 23: Early Release, 11:30 AM (PK); 12:00 PM (K and 1)

Dec 24-Jan 2: No School, Winter Recess

Jan 3: School Resumes

Jan 7: Arena Day, No Preschool Classes

Jan 14-18: T.H.R.I.V.E. Event: Family viewing of Chasing Childhood, documentary, available. Details to be shared soon

Jan 17: No School: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Jan 18: No School: Professional Development Day

Jan 19: T.H.R.I.V.E. Event: A presentation and conversation with Dr. Peter Grey, Chasing Childhood contributor, 12:00 p.m., Virtual, Details TBD

Jan 26: School Site Council, 3:30-4:15 PM

Feb 4: Arena Day, No Preschool Classes

Feb 9: Kindergarten Night of the Arts, 5:30-6:30 PM

Feb 21-25: No School, Winter Vacation

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