Hello Families,

It is hard to believe it is already October. Students have settled in nicely and are hard at work with their academics and following classroom routines. Enrichment for many grades will be starting this coming week. Thank you to our dedicated PTO for funding these activities. Thank you also to our enrichment coordinators: Sarah Sullivan, Mia Bosinger, Cait Csakai, Melissa Dunne, Emily Finch and Laura Boisvert.

The October PTO meeting will take place on Monday October 7th at 7pm. We will be offering a virtual option for those that would like to join but can't make it in person. Please use this link to join the meeting virtually.

Respectfully,

Terri and Jayson =)

Monday, October 7th

• Kindness Matters Day - students and staff encouraged to wear kindness shirts and/or complete a kind act
• Student Grade Level Meetings w/ Mrs. Gilbert & Mr. Ramalho
• School Council Meeting, 5:30pm, Conference Room
• PTO Board Meeting, 6:30pm, Conference Room
• PTO Meeting, 7:00pm, Computer Lab

Tuesday, October 8th

• Grade K-2 Author Visit Enrichment Program, Christie Matheson

Wednesday, October 9th

• Explore the Ocean World Kindergarten Enrichment Program (Patriquin and Needham)

Thursday, October 10th

• Explore the Ocean World Kindergarten Enrichment Program (Rigby and Cassidy)

Friday, October 11th

• No events

Monday, October 14th

• No School

Wednesday, October 16th

• Walk to School Day, "Its Fall"

Friday, October 18th

• Discovery Museum Sound Enrichment Program, Grade 1

Saturday, October 19th

• Pumpkin Fair, 11:00am-3:00pm, South Row

Thursday, October 24th

• Early Release Day - Students dismissed at 11:45am

Friday, October 25th

• South Row/Chelmsford School Spirit Day

Tuesday, October 29th

• Playful Engineers, Grade 2 Enrichment Program at Aldersgate Church
• Playful Engineers Family Night, 6-7pm, Aldersgate Church

Thursday, October 31st

• Orange and Black Spirit Day

Our Fall Reading Challenge is underway! Teachers will be provided with a page of leaf templates on colored paper to send home with each student. Each leaf will represent 20 minutes of reading and include a spot for the student's name and the date. Students and families will be asked to cut the leaves out each time they read for 20 minutes and send them in to school. We will add the leaves to a bulletin board in the main lobby to highlight our students efforts with reading at home. There will be a challenge amongst grade levels to see which grade level reads for the most minutes. The winning grade level will decide on the reward for their students. In order to include all levels of readers, families can read to or with a student as well as students reading independently. We will wrap up the challenge on October 11th. See the photo above highlighting all the reading occuring! =)

Arrival Reminders: Please review the following items for reminders for arrival in the car line.

• If the cones are up, please do not enter the car loop. At 9:00am and beyond please bring your child to the main office door. Do not send up your child independently to the side door as it may be closed.
• Please support us in encouraging independence with our students and allow them to walk to the door on their own. Additionally, bringing your child to the door delays the process.
• When exiting the loop, please take a left out of the loop towards Boston Rd.

Visiting the Building: If you are volunteering and/or visiting the building, please expect to present your photo ID. The Chelmsford Public School District has implemented a new visitor management and screening service at every school building. The system is called Visitor Aware, and it is designed to ensure that only safe visitors are allowed access to our buildings. Visitor Aware provides an additional layer of security for your children by validating the identities of anyone entering the premises, determining if they are a potential threat, and keeping accurate records of all school visits.

Visitors are required to have a valid state issued identification card, such as a driver’s license, to check in to ensure the accuracy of the information provided. Valid identification is also used to ensure that the person checking in is the same as the ID holder. The identification card must be non-expired and contain a picture of the visitor.

Snacks: Please remember to send your child in with a snack. The school has a very limited supply that gets depleted quickly and it is not to every students liking.

Volunteering: If you are interested in volunteering in our school (should an opportunity present itself) please be sure to contact Mrs. O'Neill or Mrs. Sepe to make an appointment to fill out a CORI form. All volunteers must have a CORI on file to volunteer.

If your child is interested in applying for Student Council, they will need to submit this application by October 14th.

Grade 4 Families
The grade 4 Team will be hosting a “kick off” to grade 4 activities on Wednesday, October 23rd from 6:30-7:15 in the South Row cafeteria.

Items to be discussed: T-shirts, memory book, class gift, field day and fundraisers.

We will need volunteers to take the lead on organizing these events.

If you cannot attend the meeting, but would like to help, please email Shannon Semenza at semenzas@chelmsford.k12.ma.us

The October PTO meeting will take place on Monday October 7th at 7pm. We will be offering a virtual option for those that would like to join but can't make it in person. Please use this link to join the meeting virtually.

Pumpkin Fair is FAST approaching! We are looking for volunteers to help out with this HUGE event! Donating your time or items is greatly appreciated to make this event a success!

To volunteer your time: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E45A5AF2CA6F4C25-51511653-2024

To donate items: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E45A5AF2CA6F4C25-51939848-donations

We welcome you to check out ou Connections Calendar and provide feedback using this link.

Please click on the "button" below to access resources and supports available. Do not hesitate to reach out to any support team member with any questions you may have.

**Please note: We continuously update the button below with new resources as they arise.

This section is comprised of the following items pertaining to food services

• Website
• Breakfast Information
• Tentative Breakfast/Lunch Menus

Dear Parents and Families --

To better estimate the demand for lunches on half days, CPS Nutrition utilizes online lunch ordering for HALF DAYS ONLY.

For the upcoming half day Wednesday 9/18/24 orders must be received by Friday 9/13/24.

2024-2025 CPS Upcoming Half Day/Early Release dates

● 9/18/24

● 10/24/24

● 11/20/24 (Elem & MS Only)

● 11/27/24

● 12/12/24

● 1/14/25

● 2/6/25

● 3/12/25

● 4/1/25

If you would like your child to have lunch on future half days, the online ordering is open for you to go ahead and select those dates. 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, the student's name should appear on the page.

How to order meals

1. School Menu-select online lunch ordering (all schools)

2. Scroll to week of half day/early release date (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. Middle/high school pick up location cafeteria.

8. Place order

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