WINTHROP WEEKLY

Happy New Year! We are so thrilled to welcome our Pre-K through Grade 5 students back to the building. There is a wonderful energy in the air as we kick off the second half of the school year with excitement for upcoming activities, events, and—most importantly—a continued focus on positive learning.

Our Values in Action: The "Big Three"

As we transition back into our school routines, we are taking time to re-emphasize the core values that make Winthrop School a great place to learn. You may notice new posters around the building highlighting our focus on:

• Respect: Treating others, our building, and ourselves with kindness.

• Responsibility: Owning our choices and taking care of our tasks and belongings.

• Safety: Moving and acting in ways that keep everyone protected and comfortable.

The "January Reset"

To ensure every student feels successful, our teachers are currently conducting a building-wide review of behavior expectations. We are visiting the cafeteria, hallways, and bathrooms to practice what these values look like in action. By "putting our best foot forward" now, we create a calm, predictable environment where every child can focus on their growth and discovery.

How You Can Help at Home

We invite you to chat with your student about their day! You might ask:

1. "How did you show responsibility in the cafeteria today?"

2. "What does it look like to be safe in the hallways?"

3. "How can you show respect to your classmates during recess?"

Thank you for your continued partnership and for helping us make Winthrop School a positive community for all. We look forward to a fantastic year ahead!

Thank You,

Winthrop School Administration

We are happy to let you know that $2200 was donated to Ipswich Caring in honor of Winthrop Staff. We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all who made donations to this worthwhile cause that directly supports our school community.

Dear Families,

As the weather gets colder, we’ve noticed many more families using the car line. This has led to longer wait times and traffic spilling onto Central St. To keep our students safe and the line moving efficiently, we kindly ask for your help with the following:

• Pull Forward: Please pull up as far as possible within the designated zone before letting your student in or out.

• Be "Exit Ready": Before reaching the curb, please ensure your student has their bags, instruments, and gear ready to go.

• Need Extra Time? If your student needs help getting out of the car or unloading bulky items, please pull into a designated parking spot rather than waiting in the live line.

Thank you for your patience and for helping us keep Central St. clear and our students safe!

In the event that we need to cancel, delay, or close school earlier than the regular dismissal time, we will make announcements on the following TV stations and send notifications via email and phone message. Additionally, a message will be posted on the school district’s website (www.ipsk12.net).

TV Stations:

• WBZ – Channel 4
• WCVB – Channel 5
• WFXT (Boston 25) – Channel 25

Delayed Openings

In the case of a delayed opening, schools will begin two hours later than usual, and buses will pick up two hours later than their normal times. The morning Extended Day Program (EDP) will also start two hours late.

Dear Winthrop Families,

Happy New Year! I would like to formally introduce myself as your new school nurse. I have been loving getting to know your kids over the past month of my time here. Thank you so much for all the kind wishes and for allowing me to adjust to this new role!

With all of the unpredictable winter weather, please have students dress in layers as well as snow pants, boots, hats, and gloves/mittens when appropriate. We love to send them outside for recess when the weather permits. We follow the “Child Care Weather Watch” guidelines for safe outdoor temperatures. There are extra boots, snow pants, and gloves here at the school thanks to previous donations, but sizing is unpredictable. If anyone has any outgrown gear at home that they are willing to donate we would be so grateful! In addition, it's always nice to have an extra change of clothes in backpacks for the wet weather. I have been building a collection but any donations for new/unused underwear, new/used/good condition socks are greatly appreciated!

A healthy reminder that Students should not come to school if they are feeling ill. This includes not only fevers, but also deep/uncontrollable coughing, diarrhea/vomiting, rash of unknown origin, and severe sore throat and/or headache. Please remember to use the Dismissal Manager or call the school to let us know your child will be absent. It is always helpful to send in a doctor's note if your child was seen.

We are seeing so much illness in the community as well as the country. Remember that flu can present with abdominal pain/nausea/vomiting as well as fever, sore throat, headache, congestion/cough, body aches. The biggest thing to watch for is secondary infection, especially pneumonia.

Students may return when they are fever free for 24 hours without medication and generally feeling better. The COVID guidelines are similar: Students may return when fever free for 24 hours without Tylenol/Motrin and generally feeling better, plus it is recommended when they return to activity to take extra precautions for five days including: mask wearing, physical distancing when possible, and good hand/cough hygiene.

Thank you so much for keeping your children home when they are ill and continuing to inform the school as we track trends. Please remind students to wash hands and cover coughs. Stay healthy!

Alison Moon, BSN, RN

Winthrop School Nurse

Please join us for our upcoming Integrated Preschool Information Night on January 22nd at 6 PM. This evening will provide you with valuable details about the curriculum, enrollment, and the unique benefits of our preschool.

What is an Integrated Preschool?

The Ipswich Integrated Preschool offers a multi-age learning environment where children engage in play, exploration, and hands-on experiences. Our program is designed to meet the varied needs of children with diverse abilities and learning styles. By integrating both peer models and students with disabilities, we foster an inclusive setting that promotes social, academic, and language development.

Targeted areas of growth include social-emotional skills, literacy, math, science, fine and gross motor skills. A unique feature of our program is that preschoolers are integrated within the broader school community. They participate in weekly Art, Physical Education, Music, and Library classes, as well as school-wide Assemblies. This exposure to the larger school setting helps ensure a smooth transition to Kindergarten. If you have a child who will be 3 or 4 years old by September 1, 2026, and are interested in learning more, we invite you to attend our Information Night to explore our program further. Please see the flyer below.

Winthrop FRIES is happy to announce a new series of fundraisers, FIT FOR FRIES, that benefit our school community, thanks to the generosity of our Winthrop families! The first event, hosted by the amazing Winthrop parent Liz Rogers from Precision Pilates, will take place on January 25 from 11am-12pm at True North Ale Company. All are welcome, no experience necessary!

There are only 35 spots available so please register now: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/fit-for-fries.

More info to come on the additional events this year. Thank you to our volunteers who are helping to make this happen.

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. For our first selection, we chose The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt.

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 January 22nd and March 3rd. Sign up here: https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/10C0E4EAFA92EA7F5C34-60967215-parentcaregiver
• Group B: Meets January 29th and March 5th. Sign up here: https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/10C0E4EAFA92EA7F5C34-60976580-fries -