McGovern News

Dear Families,

It’s been a fantastic week at McGovern! The children are settling beautifully into their school routines and making wonderful progress—from building new friendships and growing more independent in the classroom. A personal highlight for me was hearing children talking to each other in their native language while waiting for their car pick up. We are fostering a community here where everyone is not just welcomed, but celebrated for being who they are. We are kind, hard working, and inclusive. Reading, writing, and math are in full swing, and students are thoroughly engaged in their allied arts classes (art, music, wellness, science, and library). Keep up the good work arriving on time at 8:35 each morning! Thank you.

I can! You can! We all can!

Have a great weekend,

Shelby Holt

Under Massachusetts General Law (M.G.L. c. 71, § 59C), a School Council (often called a School Site Council) is defined as a representative, building based advisory committee established at every public school to assist the principal in adopting educational goals, identifying student needs, reviewing the annual building budget, and formulating a school improvement plan.

I am excited to begin our School Site Council (SSC) for the 2026–2027 school year at McGovern! The SSC will bring together families, educators, and school leadership to collaborate on school goals. I have our teacher representatives and am now looking to find parents.

McGovern School Site Council will meet from 3:20-4:20 PM on the following dates:

• Tuesday, November 10
• Wednesday, January 13
• Wednesday, May 12

If you are interested in joining as a parent, please email me, Mrs. Holt, at sholt@medwayschools.org.

Please remember that approximately twice a month there are no preschool classes as it is an Arena Day. This is when we complete assessments for students in an IEP evaluation cycle, hold IEP meetings, and/or conduct training. Arena days are always held on a Friday, and the upcoming arena days are:

• September 18
• September 25
• October 9
• October 23
• November 13
• December 4
• December 18

• January 22

• February 5

• March 5

• March 19

• April 9

• April 30

• May 14

• June 4

A reminder that an update has been made to the McGovern Dismissal Change Request Form, to include "Pick up at REGULAR dismissal, WALKING pick up" as an option to select if you wish to change your child's dismissal to walking home at our regular 3 PM dismissal.

Our dismissal change form has been updated on the McGovern School website, please save the update link for future dismissal changes that may arise for your child as the school year continues. Thank you for continued cooperation and support with our dismissal procedures!

As we plan ahead to Veteran's Day on Wednesday, November 11, we would like to create a meaningful display bulletin board for the month of November honoring the veterans in our greater McGovern community. We would love families with active service members or veterans to send in a photograph of their special veteran in uniform (with their kids if possible!). Our intention is that these photos will spark conversations that teach kids about these special members of our community.

Please submit a 4" x 6" photo by Wednesday, October 28, with your child's name and room number, as well as which branch their special veteran/active duty member served on the back of the photo so we can properly return them. Thank you to all in our community who have served!

Construction and work on our student bathrooms continued throughout the week, and we are excited to share that we made great progress! Several of our indoor student bathrooms are now open and available for use. The remaining indoor bathrooms are nearing completion, with finishing touches being completed, and we anticipate that they will open early next week.

United Rentals will begin removing some of the outdoor modular bathroom facilities. We will continue to retain some modular facilities on site while the remaining indoor bathrooms are completed. Thank you for your continued patience and flexibility as we work toward having all of our student bathrooms fully operational!

Picture Day for all McGovern students is scheduled for Monday, September 28 with Tim Rice Photography. We will share ordering information as we get closer to school picture day.

You are cordially invited to our back-to-school Curriculum Night on Thursday, October 1 at the following times:

• Preschool and Kindergarten will take place from 5:30-6:30 PM
• 1st Grade will take place from 6:45-7:45 PM

We will also have parent teacher conferences beginning in November.

Mrs. Rice will be here to process CORI forms if you intend to volunteer this year, this is a great time to complete your CORI form. Please bring your license with you to the main office.

We are excited to announce the appointment of Kendra Lueken as our new Interim Elementary Assistant Principal. Ms. Lueken brings nearly 20 years of dedicated teaching and leadership experience to Medway. She is deeply committed to fostering a supportive, enriching, and inclusive learning environment where every student can thrive.

Most recently, Ms. Lueken served as an English Language Education Teacher in the Norwood Public Schools. Her previous leadership includes serving as the Lower School Director at the Boston Renaissance Charter Public School. A graduate of the State University of New York with a degree in Elementary Education and Spanish, she also holds a Master of Arts from Western Governors University. Throughout her career, she has focused on instructional leadership, staff development, and cultivating a positive school culture through strong, collaborative relationships with families and the wider community.

In this role, she will collaborate with administrators to assist our faculty, staff, students, and families, ensuring an outstanding educational experience for everyone. We anticipate Ms. Lueken will begin her work no later than September 14, 2026. We look forward to the many contributions she will bring to our schools.

Please join us in extending a warm Medway welcome to Kendra as she begins this exciting new chapter with us!

As you may recall, Medway Schools formed a School Start Time Committee last spring. This Committee, made up of teachers, family, and student representatives, is charged with making a recommendation to the School Committee on whether to maintain or alter school start times. To make an informed decision, the Committee is looking for family input and asks that you please review the research on school start times and complete this survey by October 9

Registration is open! It is time to celebrate autumn with friends and family - join a sports or fitness program or an enjoyable night of crafts or wellness. Many new programs are offered, plus our popular all-time favorites! Click on the links below to begin the registration process.

Fall Brochure | Arbiter Youth/Teen | Arbiter Adult | UniPay

The Medway SEPAC started our annual Trunk-or-Treat with one important goal in mind: to create a fun, welcoming, and inclusive community event where all of our children can come together, see familiar Medway staff, connect with our town organizations and our sport school teams, and simply enjoy being together.

This year's Trunk-or-Treat will be held on Friday, October 16 at 4:30 PM at Medway High School. Please click the flyer below for more information about the event, as well as registration. Please register for this event by October 2.

Please complete a CORI/SORI Release Form and submit the completed form along with a copy of your drivers license to any of our school secretaries for completion. You can submit your completed CORI to the main office, or email a copy along with a picture of your license to Mrs. Rice at amrice@medwayschools.org.

Medway Public Schools Religious & Cultural Observances 2026-2027

English

To open the SMORE newsletter, click on the link above. Then, to translate the SMORE newsletter, click on the “Translate” button at the top of the page. Use the drop-down menu to select your language. The newsletter will then be translated.

Portuguese

Para abrir a newsletter SMORE, clique no link acima. Em seguida, para traduzir a newsletter SMORE, clique no botão “Traduzir” no topo da página. Use o menu suspenso para selecionar seu idioma. O boletim informativo será então traduzido.

Spanish

Para abrir el boletín SMORE, haga clic en el enlace de arriba. Luego, para traducir el boletín SMORE, haga clic en el botón "Traducir" en la parte superior de la página. Utilice el menú desplegable para seleccionar su idioma. Luego se traducirá el boletín.

Arabic

لفتح النشرة الإخبارية SMORE، انقر على الرابط أعلاه. وبعد ذلك، لترجمة نشرة SMORE الإخبارية، انقر فوق الزر "ترجمة" الموجود أعلى الصفحة. استخدم القائمة المنسدلة لاختيار لغتك. سيتم بعد ذلك ترجمة النشرة الإخبارية.

Haitian Creole

Pou ouvri bilten SMORE a, klike sou lyen anlè a. Lè sa a, pou tradui bilten SMORE a, klike sou bouton "Tradwi" ki anlè paj la. Sèvi ak meni ki dewoule a pou chwazi lang ou. Lè sa a, y ap tradui bilten an.

• Community Update from the Superintendent, monthly
• McGovern News from me, bi-weekly
• Teacher newsletters, bi-weekly

All community updates and the McGovern News will be emailed and can also be found on the district and school websites or through our Medway Public Schools app which can be accessed through the QR Code below. Teachers will email their newsletters directly to their class.

Friday September 18: Arena Day (No Preschool)

Monday, September 21: Yom Kippur - No School

Friday September 25: Arena Day (No Preschool)

Monday, September 28: School Picture Day

Thursday, October 1: Curriculum Night (Back-to-School Night)

5:30-6:30 pm for Kindergarten & Preschool

6:45-7:45 pm for Grade 1

Friday, October 9: Arena Day (No Preschool)
Monday, October 12: Indigenous People's Day - No School

Wednesday, October 21: Early Release

11:05 am Preschool Dismissal

12 pm Kindergarten & 1st Grade Dismissal

Friday, October 23: Arena Day (No Preschool)

October 26-30: Fall Scholastic Book Fair, during Library block

Sunday, November 1: Daylight Savings, turn the clocks 1 hour back

Tuesday, November 10: School Site Council Meeting, 3:20-4:20 pm

Wednesday, November 11: Veteran's Day - No School

Thursday, November 12: School Picture Retake Day
Friday, November 13: Arena Day (No Preschool)

Tuesday, November 17: Parent/Teacher Conference Night, 5:30-7:30 pm
Wednesday, November 18: Early Release (Elementary Only)

11:05 am Preschool Dismissal

12 pm Kindergarten & 1st Grade Dismissal

Wednesday, November 25: Early Release

11:05 am Preschool Dismissal

12 pm Kindergarten & 1st Grade Dismissal

Thursday, November 26: Thanksgiving Day - No School
Friday, November 27: Native American Heritage Day - No School