Duval Dispatch

Dear Duval Families!

The big event everyone has been waiting for is on Friday! We hope to see all the families who signed up and all the great costumes for the Monster Mash! Please sign up below to help out so we can make this the BEST Monster Mash yet!!

We had a wonderful celebration of the 50s last Thursday! Many thanks to 5th grade for kicking it all off! We learned about toys, fashion, and school life, and then the 5th graders taught the whole school the Bunny Hop, Twist, and the Hand Jive. We are now into the 60s! ANYONE with a connection to the Regal Street School in the 60s is more than welcome to come in or be interviewed as a special guest.

We were a bit ahead of ourselves on Digital Citizenship Week, which is THIS week! Many thanks to Mrs. Salamone and the team for putting together some nice lessons!

Regarding Oct. 31st. While we don't celebrate Halloween per se, students are invited to wear Black and Orange on the 31st as we enjoy the 2nd Annual Pumpkin Day!

Have a great week everyone!

Dr. Marcus and Ms. Craig

This Week's Weather: Mixed

The conference portal (PTC Wizard) will open to parents/guardians for booking on 10/29/2025 at 8am and will close on 11/04/2025 at 3pm. Conferences are held on 11/5/2025 - in person afternoon and virtual evening. Please be on the lookout for information later this week.

Please send in any and all of your supermarket receipts with your kids. WE will do the scanning for you! So easy, and a great way to work together to raise funds for Duval!

Our teachers have many ways to check your child’s reading and mathematics development and growth, including our District’s reading and mathematics screening tools. Please note, we are required by law to screen students in grades K-3.

Our district screens students K-8, using the following tools:

DIBELS 8th Edition for elementary students.

i-Ready Diagnostic in reading and mathematics for K-8 students.

Both of these assessments are approved by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Your child will be screened three times during the school year. Your child’s results from the first screening can be accessed following these instructions:i-Ready Diagnostic Letter to Families 25-26.pdf. All students receive a 35 minute "What I need Block" (WIN) four times each week to develop their strengths and work on areas of need identified by these screeners. In addition, all students have their i-Ready Path which uses the results from i-Ready Diagnostic to create a personalized path of online lessons at their independence and instructional level in areas where they need the most support.

The kids have LOVED the soccer and football coaches so far. We are looking for a few more volunteers to come to recesses one day a week to be the Ump/Coach for either soccer or football games on the turf. You definitely DON'T need to be an expert!

Please email Dr. Marcus with your availability. This is a great opportunity to hang out with kids, have fun, and help make recess that much better!

This week is Digital Citizenship Week. Let's take this opportunity to help our children become positive users of various digital media, emphasizing Kindness, Responsibility, and Welcoming as key values in this evolving age of electronic communications.

Speaking of Digital Citizenship: To clarify WH policy, there is to be NO texting, taking photos/videos or calling at all during the day. Watches may only be used as a watch during school. Any other use and they will be taken away.

Please send in a NOTE for dismissal changes. A quick call in the midst of a busy morning or afternoon may not get the information to the teacher/student.

Please make sure your phone and email info is up to date with the office.

Getting ready for our big Oct. 31st event, Pumpkin Day. We're asking folks to send in a big pumpkin for each classroom. Please check with your child's teacher.

Here is the October News from Nurse Andersen. Please check it out HERE.

Thank you.

Hello Duval Families!

It’s Monster Mash week and we still need help to keep all our stations up and running. This event is a great time to give a little bit of time to make a huge difference, the students love this event and it’s lot of fun!

Unfortunately, if we don’t get the stations filled we will not be able to keep them open the entire night.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090849A8AC2EA5FA7-45106037-monster

There are a few slots left for food donations and the spooky snack contest too-

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090849A8AC2EA5FA7-45397111-monster#/

The next event we are super excited for is our Annual Basket Raffle and Auction. This event is held on 11/21 at the Whitman VFW at 6pm. Classrooms basket collections have begun. Please see flyer for classroom themes and some ideas. We appreciate ALL donations and will be sure everything ends up in the right place.

Our 2 grand prize raffles have officially opened and these can be shared with friends and family. We have a scratch ticket board with $250 in tickets and $100 cash and we have some amazing Celtics tickets that would make a great holiday gift. So much more to come on this event so stay tuned!

Upcoming dates to save:

10/24: Duval Monster Mash 6-8p

11/18: November PTO meeting 7p

11/21: Basket Raffle @VFW 6p

12/8-12: Holiday Shop during school

12/9: December PTO meeting 7p

12/12: Brain Show @ Duval 6:30p

As always, the easiest place to stay up to date is our PTO Facebook page- https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1FUCwwUi5g/?mibextid=WC7FNe . Send any questions to duvalpto@gmail.com.

Have a great week!

-Duval PTO

Dolphin TV is on Youtube for YOU to see!!

Our Channel is HERE to see all broadcasts.

Please click on Subscribe so our livestreams can be seen by more people!

Oct. 24- Kindergarten Fire Safety Visits by WFD

Oct. 24- Monster Mash

Oct. 31- Pumpkin Day!

Nov. 5- Parent Teacher Conferences

Nov. 6- Picture Retake Day

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Calendar Items for the Year. Click HERE.

• WH Elementary Handbook

• School Lunch Menus

• Infinite Campus Log In for grades, class info. Need help? Contact Tech: 781-618-8100

• School Status (emails, texts from WH or Duval)

• YMCA Before/After School Care Information

• The WHRSD and Duval School PTO Facebook pages.

• Anonymous Bullying or Harassment reporting: call 781-618-7086

Please check out our Family Welcome Packet as it has LOTS of information for families both new and old! Pacote de boas-vindas à família em português.

John H. Duval Elementary provides a safe, supportive environment where children are able to reach for the stars!

Email: john.marcus@whrsd.org
Website: https://whd.whrsd.org
Location: 60 Regal Street, Whitman, MA 02382
Phone: 781-618-7055
Twitter: @DuvalElementary