Hello Families,

Welcome back South Row families! Hopefully you enjoyed a restful and healthy winter break. Our dedicated staff is back with renewed energy and enthusiasm.

Please make sure to check out the online breakfast ordering system if you would like for your student to have breakfast at school. Information and links can be found below.

Please take care of yourselves as we enter the traditional cold and flu season. Many folks have already weathered illnesses so hopefully the worst of it is already behind us.

Respectfully,

Terri and Jayson

Monday, January 9th

• Kindness Matters Day - wear your favorite kindness shirt and/or complete a kind act!
• Student Grade Level Meetings
• Student Council Group A Meeting, 3:30pm
• School Council Meeting, 5:30pm, Conference Room - CANCELED
• PTO Board Meeting, 6:30pm, Conference Room
• PTO Meeting, 7:00pm, Cafeteria

Tuesday, January 10th

• Early Release Day (Teacher Professional Development), students dismissed at 11:45am

• Reminders for Early Release Days:

  • Students are dismissed at 11:45am
  • Car dismissals should adhere to the following times
  1. Last names A-G- 11:40-11:45am
  2. Last names H-N- 11:45-11:50am
  3. Last names O-Z- 11:50-11:55am
• Please communicate any changes to your child's dismissal plans to their respective teacher, Mrs. O'Neill (oneilld@chelmsford.k12.ma.us) and Mrs. Sepe (sepek@chelmsford.k12.ma.us). Be sure to also discuss with your child.
• Lunch is available for take home ONLY through online ordering
• Students will either have specials or recess (rotates every half day).
• Snack time may be adjusted and/or not occur depending on your child(ren)'s schedule.
• Extended Day will be open until 6:00 pm for students signed up on TUESDAY. Please provide your child a lunch.
• Please anticipate possible delays with buses as they navigate an early release schedule

Wednesday, January 11th

• ELE Review

Thursday, January 12th

• No events

Thursday, January 13th

• No events

Monday, January 16th

• No School - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Friday, January 20th

• Tie Dye Spirit Day - Wear your favorite tie-dye shirts

Monday, January 23rd

• Begins the Great Kindness Challenge Week
• PTO Sponsored Winter Challenges and Activities during specials all week
• Vision and Hearing Screening
• Kindergarten Enrichment: "Mike Bent" Magic Show

Tuesday, January 24th

• Vision and Hearing Screening
• Incoming Kindergarten Registration (Central Office), 9:00am-6:00pm - need appointment more details to follow

Wednesday, January 25th

• Vision and Hearing Screening
• Kindergarten Grades Available on X2
• Incoming Kindergarten Registration (Central Office), 9:00am-6:00pm - need appointment more details to follow
• Save the date: Parent Discussion Night at South Row

Thursday, January 26th

• Save the date: Parent Discussion Night (snow date) at South Row

Winter Activities Week in Specials: The PTO and our amazing specialists will be hosting a winter activity week during students' specials blocks the week of January 23rd. Each specialist will have their own activities with winter based themes. We will be needing some volunteers to execute this successfully. Please click on the link below to view our volunteer opportunities for the week.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0e45a5af2ca6f4c25-winter#/

Water Bottles and Student Belongings: Please be sure your child's name is labeled on water bottles, jackets, lunch boxes, etc. Over the last few months, many families have dropped off items that students may have forgotten at home. The main office can get very busy, and having items labeled would be appreciated and support items in not getting lost and getting to your child in an efficient manner. We do kindly ask that families please double-check backpacks in the morning before students head to school to be sure students have what they need for a successful day. Items that get dropped by the office after school is in session take time to get to your child. Thanks for your partnership.

Smart Watches: Some students have received Smart Watches over break. Although watches are not directly mentioned in our student handbook they do have SMART capabilities (i.e., taking pictures, games, texting) and should not be used or worn in school. Please refer to pages 17 and 18 in the link below for more information.

HANDBOOK: https://chelmsfordschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/English-2022-2023-Family-and-Student-Handbook_FINAL.pdf

ELL Review at South Row: On January 11th, South Row will participate in the DESE’s Office of Language Acquisition (OLA) Tiered Focused Monitoring Review of the Chelmsford Public Schools. The Office of Language Acquisition reviews each district’s and charter school’s English Language Education (ELE) program every six years to monitor compliance with federal and state English learner education laws and regulations. Part of the on-site visit and review process includes a parent outreach component. The district will send a survey to the parents of students whose records the review team examines. The survey focuses on key areas of their child’s English learner education program. Survey results will be reviewed by OLA and they will contribute to the monitoring report. Please see the copy of the notification for more information about the upcoming site visit for this review.

Save the date: Parent Discussion Night: January 25th with a snow date of the 26th. Teachers will be sharing curriculum highlights for parents in a "day in the life of a student" format.

Save the date - South Row Science Fair 2023 - The Science Fair will be held in person on February 28th with a snow date of March 1st. Click here to review information on the science fair and here to register.

2023-2024 SCHOOL YEAR KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION

BY APPOINTMENT ONLY

(Approximately 15-minute appointments)

TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY, JAN. 24 & 25, 2023

9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION CENTRAL OFFICE

230 NORTH ROAD, CHELMSFORD, MA

Book Your Appointment Now

Click on the RESERVE YOUR APPOINTMENT link to enter parent/guardian contact information and preferred appointment time within a three-hour window. You will then be contacted to confirm a date and time for your registration appointment. Registration packets may also be dropped off at the School Administration Office, 230 North Road, Chelmsford, MA:

Monday – Friday; 8 a.m.-4 p.m., if you are not able to attend these two dates.

In addition to the completed student registration packet, the required documentation to submit is listed on the CPS Student Registration page.

For additional information or questions on kindergarten registration please contact Jane McDonald @ mcdonaldj@chelmsford.k12.ma.us; or 978-251-5100, ext. 6901

Dear South Row Families,

I hope everyone had a restful and fun Winter break!

We will be conducting health screenings at the end of January.

HEALTH SCREENINGS January 23rd, 24th, and 25th

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health Regulation requires students be screened at Chelmsford Public Schools at certain intervals. In elementary school, your child will be screened for:

• Hearing: Grades *K, 1, 2, 3

• Vision with stereopsis testing: Grades *K, 1, 2, 3

• Visual acuity: Grade 4

• Height/Weight Grades 1, 4

*Kindergarten: Upon entering kindergarten ,or within 30 days of the start of school, the guardian shall present to school the Health Care Provider documentation from within the previous 12 months that the child has passed a vision screening. If your kindergarten child is missing a hearing or vision screening, it will be done at school.

Please make sure your student brings or wears their prescribed eyeglasses at school for the vision screening. Alternatively, if your child is currently under the care of an optometrist and you would like to opt out of the vision screening, please email me at vandevoordts@chelmsford.k12.ma.us

If you choose to have your child opt out of any of these screenings, please email me to exclude your student from participating. Please email me opt out requests by Wednesday January 18th. vandevoordts@chelmsford.k12.ma.us

Feel free to reach out to me with any questions.

Warmly,

Nurse V.

Our first meeting of 2023 is THIS Monday the 9th, at 7:00 in the cafe (you can enter through the doors by the loading dock). Along with school updates and information, we'll hear from Donna Newcomb our school board rep, AND we'll be talking about some upcoming events (many of which need some parent volunteers for). Please consider attending if you want to help in ANY way for the rest of the school year or if you just want a night out of the house, we are a fun bunch.

The PTO is sponsoring a winter activity week during students' specials blocks the week of January 23rd. Each specialist will have their own activities with winter based themes. We will be needing some volunteers to execute this successfully. Please click on the link below to view our volunteer opportunities for the week.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0e45a5af2ca6f4c25-winter#/

Please find below:

• Tentative Lunch Menu
• Direct Link to Food Services webpage

Dear Parents and Families --

Reminder CPS Nutrition has initiated online breakfast ordering for elementary students beginning after the holiday break. This initiative is to help manage food waste and due to labor shortages.

Orders must be placed the Wednesday prior to the week you are selecting. If you would like your student to receive breakfast next week please place your order by Wednesday (today), Jan. 4, 2023.

If you are having difficulty setting up an account, please reach out to contacts below and we will gladly assist you.

Nancy Antolini, Director of Nutrition Services

• Email: antolinin@chelmsford.k12.ma.us

Holley Ready, School Nutrition Office Manager

• Email: readyh@chelmsford.k12.ma.us
• (978) 251-5111 ext: 5641

Thank you- School Nutrition

Set Up Your Account Now

Directions to set up your account and order:

1. URL Link: family.onlineordering.linq.com
2. Sign up now: Email, create password.
3. School District: Chelmsford Public Schools
4. Student ID: This can be found on x2- Child’s student ID number
5. Last Name: (You can also search and add siblings/family members at this time). Once this is completed, student’s name should appear on page.

How to order meals

1. School Menu-breakfast online ordering
2. Scroll to day/week you are selecting breakfast (top right of page)
3. Find date, select meal option
4. Add item to cart/Select Add to order
5. Click on shopping cart icon at top right of page
6. Click Check out
7. Select pick up location: Elementary pick-up location classroom
8. Place order

Please send photos to Mr. Ramalho (ramalhoj@chelmsford.k12.ma.us) to be featured in our Home Link newsletter!

Mrs. Terri Gilbert

Principal

gilbertt@chelmsford.k12.ma.us

Mr. Jayson Ramalho, M.Ed.

Assistant Principal

ramalhoj@chelmsford.k12.ma.us

Email: gilbertt@chelmsford.k12.ma.us
Website: https://www.chelmsford.k12.ma.us/Domain/15
Location: 250 Boston Road, Chelmsford, MA, USA
Phone: 978-251-5177
Facebook: facebook.com/SouthRowElementary
Twitter: @CPSSouthRow

• Mrs. Terri Gilbert, Principal: gilbertt@chelmsford.k12.ma.us, 978-251-5177 ext. 4
• Mr. Jayson Ramalho, Assistant Principal: ramalhoj@chelmsford.k12.ma.us, 978-251-5177 ext. 3
• Mrs. Shannon Vandevoordt, School Nurse: vandevoordts@chelmsford.k12.ma.us, 978-251-5177, ext.2
• Mrs. Debbie O'Neill, Secretary: oneilld@chelmsford.k12.ma.us, 978-251-5177, ext. 0
• Mrs. Kim Sepe, School Clerk: sepek@chelmsford.k12.ma.us, 978-251-5177, ext.0
• Absentee Line: 978-251-5177 ext. 1