Hello Families,

We wish our South Row community a happy holiday season and restful winter break. This home link newsletter will feature some of the fun from December and also inform you on the happenings when we return from break.

When we welcome our students back in January we hope they are excited and are ready to being their 2025 learning adventure. January is assessment month and students will be taking the iReady diagnostic as well as other mid-year benchmark tests. These enable us to customize our instruction to meet every student where they are.

During this season many students receive gifts that while appropriate for home create distractions at school. Please do not send your student to school with smart phones and smart watches. We cannot be responsible for these expensive items and students have proven to be especially distracted from their learning when wearing smart watches. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

See you all in 2025!

Respectfully,

Terri and Jayson =)

Monday, December 23rd - Friday, January 3rd

• Winter School Vacation

• School Resumes on Monday, January 6th

Monday, January 6th

• School Resumes - Happy 2025!
• Kindness Matters Day - Students and staff encouraged to wear kindness shirts and/or complete a kind act

Tuesday, January 7th

• No events

Wednesday, January 8th

• End of Term 1 for Kindergarten

Thursday, January 9th

• No events

Friday, January 10th

• No events

Monday, January 13th

• Student Grade Level Meetings w/ Mrs. Gilbert & Mr. Ramalho
• Student Council, 3:30-4:15pm
• School Council, 5:30pm, Conference Room
• PTO Board Meeting, 6:30pm, Conference Room
• PTO Meeting, 7:00pm, Lab

Tuesday, January 14th

• Early Release Day - Teacher Professional Development - Students dismissed at 11:45am
• Try it Tuesday

Friday, January 17th

• Tie Dye School Spirit Day

Monday, January 20th

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

Tuesday, January 21st

• Winter Activities Week in Specials (all week)

Wednesday, January 22nd

• Mike Bent Magician Kindergarten Enrichment Program

Thursday, January 23rd

• Multicultural Festival Committee Meeting, 3:45pm, New Members welcome!

Friday, January 24th

• Chelmsford/South Row Spirit Day

Monday, January 27th

• The Great Kindness Challenge Week begins

Tuesday, January 28th

• Rising Kindergarten Registration at Central Office, 9:00am- 6:00pm

Wednesday, January 29th

• Rising Kindergarten Registration at Central Office, 9:00am-6:00pm
• Family Engagement Night - 6:15 - 7:30pm

Smartphones and Smart Watches: We strongly discourage sending your child to school with smart phones or watches. If your child brings either of these devices to school the expectation is that they are turned off and in their backpack.

Colder Temperatures: As the winter months approach us, please be sure your child comes to school dressed appropriately for outdoor recess (ie. jackets/sweatshirts, etc).

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.

Dear South Families,

Most of the hearing and vision screenings are complete. I will continue to screen students who were absent and re-screen students who did not pass vision the first time. For students who did not pass the hearing, I am required to wait at least 2 weeks. I will start hearing re-screens when we return from Winter break.

We continue to see positive cases of strep throat and walking pneumonia. If your child has persistent stomach pain, nausea, or vomiting, that could be strep! Consider calling your pediatrician and reviewing your child’s symptoms. If your child has a persistent cough and/or a persistent fever, that could be pneumonia! Call your pediatrician to check in.

Feel free to reach out to me with any questions.

Warmly,

Nurse V.

vandevoordts@chelmsford.k12.ma.us

We will be offering a virtual option for those that would like to join the monthly PTO meeting but can't make it in person. Please use this link to join the meeting virtually.

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