Dear Fisher Families,

We had another great week at Fisher School! The excitement is building as we head toward summer and the students continue to give their best effort in all that they do. The highlight of this week was the return of our, in person, spring concerts! The incomparable Mr. Holmes directed all our grade level performances that were a culmination of the students' and his hard work this year. It was great to see many of our families join us in the auditorium this week and if you missed the performance a link will be shared soon so you can see your student in action! It was awesome!

Please be sure to read through this edition of our Fisher Family Update and I hope you have a great weekend.

Brian

Check out Fisher School’s new podcast! You can search “Fisher School” on Spotify or you can use this link. Thanks for listening and don’t forget to subscribe!

May

24 Fisher PAC 7pm

26 Wear your Red, White, and Blue to celebrate Memorial Day!

29 No School - Memorial Day

June

5 New student Kindergarten tours (provided by current 5th graders)

6 Ice Cream Social (grades K-5) 5:30-6:30pm

7 5th Grade Party 3:30-5:30

9 Field Day

13 5th Grade "Moving On" Ceremony 9-10am, Auditorium

14 Last day of school - early dismissal

Please click on the virtual backpack for the newest and latest information about sign ups, fundraisers and upcoming events in and around our community.

The Summer Learning Program enrollment form is now open for families to register their children, please click the link below.

One question teachers often get asked is, “Is it okay for my child to use their fingers in math?” The answer is YES! When students are learning mathematical concepts they must move through the stages of concrete to visual and then abstract. Fingers provide a concrete representation of numbers that help students develop one-to-one correspondence and using fingers lessens the memory load on the brain while students are trying to compute because they have the physical representation right there in front of them.

The positive effect of using fingers doesn’t stop once students move beyond counting and simple addition facts. Research has shown that early finger counting/use has an effect on how the brain processes and represents numerical information that lasts a lifetime. Research has also shown that students with good finger awareness are better at performing quantitative tasks because there is a connection between the part of the brain that handles finger awareness and mathematics. Jo Boaler & Lang Chen’s article “Why Kids Should Use Their Fingers in Math Class,” states, “...the quality of the 6 year old’s finger representation was a better predictor of future performance on math tests than their scores on tests of cognitive processing.” Of course, as students move on they will find more sophisticated and efficient methods for quantitative tasks, but using their fingers and strengthening their finger awareness can be one of the catalysts for future mathematical thinking. For even more information check out this second article, too, with linked activities: Should Children Use Their Fingers In Math? - MANGO Math Group.

The Walpole Public Schools Multicultural Alliance invites Walpole Public Schools families to an evening celebrating our multilingual and interracial school community. If you are able, please bring a side dish or dessert to share that represents your family and culture. All food items must be labeled with the ingredients.

Every month Sportsmanship Superstars are selected, one from each grade. These students demonstrate respect and fair play to opponents, teachers, equipment and graciousness in both victory and defeat. Congratulations to our April Sportsmanship Superstars!

Kindergarten: Elle

Grade one: Anthony

Grade two: Ainsley

Grade three: Landy

Grade four: Olivia

Grade five: Chris

Grade 2 Art Classes have been learning about watercolor painting techniques and still life compositions. Artwork from the following students has been selected for the Summer Town Hall Display.

Swathi K., Emma M., Lorelei M., Lilliana D., Vedanth F., Tyler M., LydiaE., Lucas K., Abner D., Aarya G., Emelia B., Nikole P., Sabrina L., Arohi C. Congratulations to our Fisher Artists!

Registration is now open! Don’t miss this historic event! Sign-up now for the 5K, 10K, or highly-popular Youth Mile. All proceeds support the 200+ athletes in the Walpole High School Cross Country and Track & Field programs. Each race participant will receive a finisher’s medal. If you register before August 15th, you’ll also receive a free race t-shirt! Can’t join us live? No problem. We have virtual editions for both the 5K and 10K races. For additional information and to register online, please visit www.WalpoleRoadRace.org.

Thank you for your support. See you on RACE DAY!

Spring has Sprung (as have spring allergies!)

• If your child has started with symptoms of seasonal allergies now is the time to start them on an antihistamine. Please check in with your pediatrician about the best antihistamine for your child to help alleviate their symptoms.

• This article from Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania (CHOP) is a great source of information on seasonal allergies and the effects they can have on your child.

• BCH Guidelines on protecting your child from ticks and Lyme disease

• Ticks begin to hatch as soon as the ground thaws. The early spring nymphal deer tick can be as small as a millimeter. Check your child for ticks each night before bed. Look everywhere; ticks love warm dark places like skin folds and the scalp

• Remove a tick by grasping it firmly with tweezers as close to the skin as possible and pulling it straight out. To transmit

• Look for symptoms of Lyme disease : a red flat rash that expands rapidly — the rash may look like a bull’s-eye, but not every child with Lyme disease will have a rash. Also common is a fever, headache, muscle and joint pain, generalized fatigue

• Call your pediatrician immediately if you suspect your child has Lyme disease. (You don’t need to keep a tick that has been removed from your child.) If the pediatrician suspects Lyme disease, they will prescribe antibiotics.

Health Office Guidelines

• If your child has an EpiPen prescribed, they will need to have an unexpired one in the health office in order to attend a field trip. Please make sure your orders are up to date.

• Please remember if your child is ill with a fever (greater than 100F) they need to remain at home for 24 hours without the use of an antipyretic (Tylenol, Motrin, fever reducing medication) per WPS Policy.

• 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.

• Please make sure you have notified the health office if your child is recovering from an injury that requires any accommodations or restrictions with a doctor's note.

• 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

• 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.

• Here is the Fisher health office wish list.

Please send a note in the morning with your student, it is the best way to inform all who need to know. Teachers are unable to check their emails during instruction time and the office needs to interrupt important learning time with messages. We do understand emergencies arise, however, whenever possible, please send a note.

The four elementary schools rotate start and end times every three years. The 2022-2023 School Year represents year one of the next rotation. For the next 3 years, Boyden and Fisher School will start at 8:55 a.m. and end at 3:25 p.m.

Doors open at 8:45am and the doors will be locked at 8:53. If your child arrives after 8:53 they will be marked as tardy. Instruction/learning begins promptly at 8:55am

Please do your best not to dismiss your student during their lunch/ recess block.

Please have your child eat lunch prior to returning, if they were out during their lunchtime.

Please do not dismiss after 3:00 PM.

• Grade K R 11:40 -12:10 L 12:05 -12:35
• Grade 1 R 11:10 - 11:40 L 11:40 - 12:00
• Grade 2 R 10:30 - 11:00 L 11:00 - 11:20
• Grade 3 R 12:10 -12:40 L 12:40 - 1:00
• Grade 4 R 12:40 - 1:10 L 1:10 - 1:30
• Grade 5 R 1:10 - 1:40 L 1:40 - 2:00

We are excited to have our students back at Fisher School! Please see below some guidelines for attendance. Any questions can be emailed to fisher-secretaries@walpole.k12.ma.us

If your student will be absent or tardy for any reason, call 508 660 7234 and press 1 and leave a message as to the reason before school begins at 8:55 am. Our automated absence calls go out at 9:30. If we do not have a reason noted for the absence you will receive an automated phone call and email. This is for your student’s safety, to ensure that all are accounted for.

The front doors will be closed at 8:53 as students are expected to be sitting in their seats at 8:55. If your student is arriving tardy, please ring the front doorbell and you will enter the building to sign your student in. A student must be accompanied by a parent/guardian when arriving. There is a sign in sheet with a column to indicate the reason for the tardy arrival.

Please note: We mark all students having school lunch in Aspen with a “L”. This does not mean the student was marked Late. We use T for tardy.

If you are dismissing your student early or changing the way they go home, send a written note on the day of dismissal that includes your student’s first and last name. The teacher will note the dismissal and plan accordingly, and the note goes to the office so we can enter it into our Aspen system. An email sent during the day may be missed by your student’s teacher. If

Please avoid calling with an early dismissal change or a change in the way your student goes home. When this happens we need to call the classroom to let the teacher know and this disrupts learning time.

We cannot change the way a student goes home based on them telling the office or their teacher. We need to hear from a parent/guardian via note or phone call to make that change. If they are scheduled for Extended Day and we do not hear otherwise, we will send them to Extended Day.

Arrival/Dismissal procedures will be the same as they were last year. Please click HERE for all details regarding car drop off and pick up. Staff will be outside everyday to assist you student. Please do not exit your vehicle.

If your student is a "walker" at dismissal time.....

• Please do not park in the Fisher parking lot - You could park on Cobb terrace and walk down but the parking lot is not a safe option at dismissal time
• You may walk down to door 18 (by the Fisher Garden) to pick up your student

Please be aware that we are required to see you in the office with your CORI form. We need to ascertain that whoever we are checking is in fact the correct person. We will take a copy of your license while you are here. Also, please try to avoid arrival and dismissal times if possible when you are coming in.

If you are interested or think that you will be later this year, please complete the "Volunteer Contract" and the CORI form below. The contract has some general "agreements'' that we need all volunteers to abide by and we appreciate your cooperation. We know the students really enjoy seeing their adults involved in the school and we hope you sign up to join us.

We are pleased to share that Massachusetts will continue to fund free school meals for all students, regardless of household income, under a one-year expansion of a free federal school lunch program. The state’s budgetary commitment will ensure 400,000 students statewide, who would not otherwise qualify for free school meals, continue to have access to free school lunch and breakfast for the next year.

What does this mean?

All Walpole Public School children will receive free school meals while at school.

Important: We still encourage all families to submit a school meal application if they believe they are income eligible to receive free meals. While your child will receive a free meal regardless of their free or reduced-price meal status, the meal application can qualify your family for additional benefits beyond free school meals.

You can access our on-line meal benefit application here: https://www.myschoolapps.com/Application

This on-line application is available in multiple languages via a drop-down menu "Language" on the toolbar.

HERE is the school calendar for 2022-2023, including start dates, holidays and early dismissal days. This is continually updated over the course of the year if we have snow days.Please note that there are different start dates for Kindergarten students