OPR Weekly Update
December 1, 2023
Dear OPR Families,
This week marked the kickoff to our new Reading Incentive Program for all classes called The Snowbowl (visual below). Replicating the successful model of our March Madness Reading Incentive Program, classes nominated their favorite books to be shared in The Snowbowl. With funding support from the PAC, we purchased multiple copies of the titles for all classes to read, discuss, and select their favorite book from the pairs competing each week. In a few weeks, at the end of The Snowbowl, the students will have selected one book as the winner. Both of these reading incentive programs excite students which is evident by the cheers coming from classrooms each week when the results of each round are announced. It's great to hear classrooms of students cheering for books!
Carpooler Reminder: If you drop off in the morning or pick up at dismissal, please be sure not to block or stop on the crosswalks at the entrance/exit to the school. Safety is a priority.
Click here to watch today's OPR Video News.
Enjoy the weekend!
David N. Barner, Principal
Email: dbarner@walpole.k12.ma.us
Instagram: OLDPOSTROADSCHOOL_WALPOLE
Twitter: @oprschool
Dates to Remember
DECEMBER
1 Neponset Valley Watershed Presentation for Grade 5 Students (2 Classes)
8 Student Council Spirit Day: Silly Hair, Hat and/or Sock Day!
8 Early Release at 11:55 AM. Dismissal begins at 11:49.
8 PAC sponsored Stay on the Half Day
15 Neponset Valley Watershed Presentation for Grade 5 Students (2 Classes)
20 PAC sponsored Grade 5 High Touch High Tech Matter Matters STEM Program
21 PAC sponsored School Assembly for Students: Amazing Hero Art
22 Full Day of School before Vacation
JANUARY
2 School Resumes
OPR SCHOOL HOURS
Arrival: 8:15-8:25 AM
Tardy Bell is at 8:25 AM. (Students must be signed in at the office by an adult if tardy.)
Early Release Dismissal: 11:55 (Dismissal begins at 11:49)
Dismissal: 2:55 PM (Dismissal begins at 2:49)
If your child is going to be absent or tardy, please call the OPR office before school (508-660-7219) and press 1 for the absence line. The automated attendance verification system is in use. Those students marked absent and who have not called in will receive an automated phone call.
STEM with Mrs. Morris
This November in STEM we read Balloons Over Broadway, the true story of the origin of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Each of the grade levels then got opportunities to create their own float for a parade. Kindergarten used Bee-Bots to code their parades. First grade used the Ozobots and what they had learned about the color coding to create their routes. Second grade also used Ozobots, but instead of color codes they used the Ozoblockly app to code a path with block coding.
Third, fourth, and fifth grade students are still working on their parade floats. They were given the assignment of creating a lego float for the Dash robot and then had to work with their partners to measure the parade route and code the robot to travel across it. This project has taken a few weeks to complete because students quickly realize why the engineering design process is important as they face challenges while building their floats. Some floats are too big, some are too small, some are too heavy, and some are not sturdy enough so students had to rethink their original design and make adjustments. I look forward to seeing their hard work pay off in their parades!
Digital Learning with Mrs. Milnamow
It has been an exciting month for our Digital Learners!
Kindergarten students are logging into their devices like pros! I am so impressed with how quickly and accurately they are able to sign in on their own! We are now working on typing skills, focusing on finding and using the letters in the “home row” on the keyboard, using enter and backspace, and using a program called SeeSaw to practice typing our trick words. They even learned how to magically send their work to their teacher through cyberspace!
Our first grade authors have so much to be proud of. Using BookCreator, each writer created their own autobiography! Their books included information such as their heritage, the holidays they celebrate, their hobbies, and their aspirations for the future. Throughout our lessons, they learned how to add backgrounds, add, edit, and fancy up text, add and crop pictures, record audio files, record videos, and add images. We even connected BookCreator to Canva to extend our digital toolboxes. Students shared their books with their grade level peers just before Thanksgiving. Families received a QR code to their child’s book as a keepsake.
Do you see any turkeys around here? Our second grade students disguised turkeys, wrote about them, and then created a class book! Students were so creative! With disguises such as a bowl of macaroni and cheese to Prime bottles to sunflowers, students wrote stories from the point of view of the turkey to convince their readers that they were not a turkey, so they would not be caught and eaten for Thanksgiving! Class books were shared with families through an emailed link.
Some grade three students continued with their Would You Rather podcasts, presenting a special Thanksgiving edition! Students debated with each other and took sides on each topic. They practiced the skill of respectful disagreement and backing up their ideas with evidence and reasoning. Would you rather wash your hair with mashed potatoes or take a bath in gravy?
Fourth grade students also wrote tricky turkey stories and used a platform called Flip to record themselves reading their stories with expression. Some other fourth graders were finishing up a project using the same platform. We learned to copy and paste from a Google document into the teleprompter feature in Flip so students could read their work while looking at the camera.
Our Digital Escape Rooms in grade five were a rousing success. Third graders visited the fifth grade classrooms to engage in these “Road to the Revolution” escape rooms. They watched videos, read or listened to fifth-grader created essays about important topics, took quizzes, and completed online crossword puzzles. The fifth graders were so proud to share their incredible work and the third graders learned accurate, important content from these awesome role models, presented in a creative way.
We are pumped to try some new things in December!
News from the Nurse
As we are approaching “the really germy” months, we ask for your assistance to reduce the spread of illnesses. Please also develop a sick day plan for when your child is home sick OR when they will go home from school sick.
Please have emergency contacts in place if you are unavailable to pick up your child from school. Students should be picked up within one hour after a phone call from the nurse.
Call your pediatrician with any questions or concerns regarding your child’s health and illness.
Please demonstrate and encourage proper handwashing technique. It takes a village!
Please demonstrate how to cough into your elbow to prevent the spray of germs.
Demonstrate how to properly blow their nose and dispose of tissues (and sanitizing their hands after!)
If your child needs a temporary medication during the school day, please consider a schedule outside of the school day. Do not send medication with your child to school, unless you confirmed this plan with Mrs Kowalsky or the covering school nurse. If your child needs medication administered, please ask the doctor for medication orders for school and sign the parental consent. A family member/adult can also schedule a time to come into school and administer the medication without doctor’s orders (and the nurse). The student CANNOT administer their own medication in the classroom for their own safety.
WPS Illness Protocol
Children who are ill with a temperature over 100, or who have diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, undiagnosed rashes, uncontrolled coughing, impetigo, or conjunctivitis should remain at home.
If your child is ill with a fever they must be "Fever Free" for 24 hours WITHOUT the use of TYLENOL, MOTRIN, or any other fever reducing medication before they can return to school.
If your child has a viral stomach illness with symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea, please keep them home for an additional 24 hours after symptoms have subsided.
If your child has been diagnosed with an infection requiring antibiotic treatment such as Strep Throat, Conjunctivitis, Impetigo, etc. they must be treated with the antibiotic for at least 24 hours before returning to school. In addition, for Conjunctivitis, your child's eyes must be free of drainage. For Impetigo, lesions may not be oozing.
Bonnie Kowalsky, M.ed. BSN RN
OPR School Nurse
99 Old Post Road
East Walpole, MA 02032
phone: 508-660-7219 ext 5804
fax: 866.809.6567
Here is a link to the WPS Health Services website. On this site you can find links to forms (i.e. medication administration, over the counter medication consent forms), medication policies, and information regarding illnesses, concussions and injuries.
PAC NEWS
Please join us for the OPR PAC Meeting on Wednesday, January 10th at 7:00 PM in the OPR STEM LAB or virtually. Link to be shared closer to the meeting date.
Who loves OPR? We do! Sign up here to volunteer to coordinate one of our great events or fundraisers this year. PAC Coordinator Sign up:
https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/9040e49a4aa2ba2fb6-oprpac1
mabel's labels
https://mabelslabels.com/en_US/fundraising/support/
Starting to lose those water bottles? Put a label on it! Please navigate to Support a Fundraiser and select Old Post Road Parent Advisory Committee.
Box Tops
Download the App for BoxTops for Education and scan receipt within 14 days of purchase. Assign Credit by selecting the Star and entering the Teacher’s Last name before you hit submit.
PAC Socal Media / Contact Info.
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OPR.PAC
please add: Follow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/oprpacwalpole
Email with questions: oprpacwalpole@gmail.com
OPR Textile Bin Donations
Massachusetts no longer allows clothing to be disposed of in the trash. Clothing must be donated or recycled. RECYCLE your clothing and textiles in the OPR Collection Bin and OPR receives money.
The collections resulted in the following:
2022 Calendar Year Total - $907.50
January 2023 - $102.00
February 2023 - $83.25
March 2023 - $95.50
April 2023 - $93.00
May 2023 - $88.20
June 2023 - $126.90
July 2023 - $100.20
August 2023 - $92.40
September 2023 - $118.80
October 2023 - $90.60
November 2023 - $113.70
Daniel Feeney Preschool Applications for 2024-2025 School Year:
The Daniel Feeney Preschool peer applications for the 2024-2025 school year is available on our website from December 1-22. Once the application window closes on 12/22 a lottery system will be employed to select peers.
Please click on the link below and navigate to "Application" for all information. Please read all information carefully and if you have any questions please contact Julie Martin, Director: jmartin@walpole.k12.ma.us
Multilingual Learner PAC (MLPAC) Meeting
Please contact the Multilingual Learner Family Engagement Center at mlfec@walpole.k12.ma.us or at (508) 660-7257 ext. 5033 for further information.
WPS Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC)
About Us
OPR Mission Statement
The Old Post Road School community educates all students to excel and become productive citizens.
OPR Vision
OPR students will be motivated to learn in a supportive and safe environment. The faculty will foster self-confidence in the students and encourage them to make positive choices. Students will learn to accept responsibility for their behavior and will mature into responsible citizens and lifelong learners. All students will appreciate that they are part of a diverse, global society.
Instagram: OLDPOSTROADSCHOOL_WALPOLE
Twitter: @oprschool
Email: dbarner@walpole.k12.ma.us
99 Old Post Road
East Walpole, MA 02032
508-660-7219
