Mindess School Weekly Update

Happy Friday, Mindess Families!

We had another great week at Mindess! As we head into next week, I wanted to share a few important reminders and updates.

School Site Council: At this point, we have only one interested parent, so we will not need to hold an election. However, we still have open spots and would love to have additional parents/guardians join us! The Site Council is a great opportunity to have a voice in conversations about Mindess, including our School Improvement Plan, budget, school goals, and upcoming events. Please consider joining us! Meetings are held on the 2nd Tuesday of the month from 2:10-3:10. If you are interested. Please fill out and submit this form.

No School Monday:We wish a happy and meaningful Rosh Hashanah to all members of our Mindess community who celebrated this week. As Yom Kippur approaches, we also wish a meaningful observance and an easy fast to those who observe. These important Jewish holy days provide a time for reflection, renewal, and hope for the year ahead.

Curriculum Nights Are Next Week! We are looking forward to welcoming families to Mindess for our Curriculum Nights. Grades 3 and 4 will be Tuesday at 6:00 p.m., and Grade 5 will be Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. This is a wonderful opportunity to hear from your child’s teachers, learn more about the curriculum and classroom routines, and get a glimpse into what your child’s school day looks like. Unified Arts teachers, Special Education teachers, and Interventionists will be present as well. Please consider stopping into visit one of your child's other teachers on this night as well. We hope to see you there!

PowerSchool Reminder: Please remember to log in to PowerSchool and complete the five required forms for your child if you have not already done so. After submitting the forms, you may notice that two of them say “Pending Review.” This is normal! Our office staff is going into each student’s account individually to review and approve these forms, so it will take some time for all of them to be processed. Thank you for your patience!

We also appreciate your patience as we continue to troubleshoot PowerSchool access issues. If you are still having difficulty accessing your child’s account, please complete the form linked here so we can help you resolve the issue.

WE NEED SUBS — AND EVEN AN HOUR CAN HELP!
We are always looking for wonderful people to join us as substitutes at Mindess, and you do not need to be available for an entire school day! We have opportunities to help for just one hour, a half day, or a full day. Whether you are available occasionally or more regularly, having additional substitutes makes a huge difference for our students and staff.

If you have some flexibility in your schedule—or know a family member, friend, neighbor, or community member who does—please consider joining us! It is a great way to get involved at Mindess, spend time with some pretty amazing kids, and support our school community. Please help us spread the word! You can apply to be a substitute here!

Thank you, as always, for your continued partnership and support. We hope everyone enjoys the long weekend, and we look forward to seeing our students back at Mindess on Tuesday!

Warmly,
Kate Altman
Principal

The Mindess nurses will begin mandatory state screenings beginning the week of October 5th and will continue until screenings in all grades are complete. The screenings performed in each grade are as follows:

3rd Grade: vision, hearing
4th Grade: vision, BMI
5th Grade: vision, postural (postural to be completed in Spring 2027)

While vision and hearing screenings are required by state law, parents may choose to opt their child out of BMI screenings. If you'd like to opt out of BMI, please fill out this form to make the nurses aware of your decision to opt out.

Please see the letters below for more information on BMI screenings (grade 4 only):
BMI letter - English
BMI letter - Spanish
BMI letter - Portuguese

If you have any questions, please reach out to our nurses at mes_nurses@ashland.k12.ma.us.

September

Monday, September 21 - NO SCHOOL - Yom Kippur

Tuesday, September 22

• Grades 3 and 4 Open House - 6pm

Wednesday, September 23

• Grade 5 Open House - 6pm

Thursday, September 24

• Grade 5 iReady ELA

Friday, September 25

• Grade 4 iReady ELA

Monday, September 28

• Grade 5 iReady Math

Tuesday, September 29

• Grade 3 iReady ELA

Wednesday, September 30

• iReady Make-Ups

October

Thursday, October 1

• Grade 4 iReady Math

Friday, October 2

• Grade 3 iReady Math

• Grade 4 and 5 iReady Make-Ups

Monday, October 5

• Grade 3 iReady Make-Ups

Wednesday, October 7

• Walk to School

Thursday, October 9 - Early Release - 10:40am Dismissal

Monday, October 12 - NO SCHOOL - Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Wednesday, October 21

• Unity Day - Wear Orange (everyone, staff and students)

Tuesday, October 27 - Conferences - Early Release - 10:40 Dismissal

Wednesday, October 28 - Conferences - Early Release - 10:40 Dismissal

Thursday, October 29 - Conferences - Early Release - 10:40 Dismissal

Friday, October 30

• Spooky Run

• KNO - 6pm

November

• November 4: Picture Day
• November 10: Early Release/ Dismissal at 10:40
• November 11: No School
• November 25: Early Release/ Dismissal at 10:40
• November 26 and 27: No School

BOY=Beginning of the Year

Don’t forget to visit ashland.k12.ma.us/Flyers where we feature announcements and events offered by organizations, clubs and teams throughout our community that serve to enrich the lives of our students, families, faculty and staff.

Design and Architecture: A Makerspace Program

Prepare to build! Utilizing equipment and provided materials, participants will learn the general fundamentals of architecture. Following the direction of their mentors, participants will exercise the necessary skills of stability, creativity, and collaboration. Throughout the program, the creative freedom and critical thinking of the participants will be brought to action! Sign up today for design & architecture!

• Dates: (Every Wednesday) September 30th; October 7th, 14th, and 21st
• Time: 2:50 - 3:50 pm
• Seats: 20
• Participants will be bussed from the Mindess School to AHS
• Participants must be picked up at 3:50 pm at AHS (no late bus available)
• $60 fee