Fisher Family Update

Dear Fisher Families,

Earlier this week we let you know that one of our secretaries, Mary Ellen McGrath, would be leaving. Yesterday was her last day. On behalf of the Fisher School Community, I'd like to thank Mary Ellen for all she did for the students, staff and families of Fisher School over the past three years. Our secretaries, Patti Clark-Conway and Mary Ellen play a critical role in the success of Fisher School. They ensure students' attendance, answer the phones, buzz people in at the front door, arrange coverage and assign substitutes, record changes in student dismissal, walk students to class, deliver lunches/waters, get students a band aid.....often before 9am! It takes a very special person to be able to perform all these tasks and we are fortunate to have Patti on our team and Mary Ellen will be missed! We all wish her the very best!

Joining our team soon will be Ms. Tara Murphy. Tara joins us from Bird Middle School and is very familiar with the Walpole community and our schools. Please be sure to welcome Tara to Fisher School when you get the chance.

Please remember that any communication with the front office should be emailed to fisher-secretaries@walpole.k12.ma.us. This goes to both secretaries and ensures that if someone is out of the office your communication will be seen

Enjoy the weekend

Brian

October

4 Lifetouch Picture Day

6 Fisher School Open House 6-7:30pm

7 Early Release Day - Dismissal 12:25

10 No School - Columbus Day

19 Fisher PAC - 7pm Fisher Library

10/24-11/3 - Scholastic Book Fair

26 Parent/Teacher Conferences 6pm-8pm

28 Early Release Day - Dismissal 12:25

28 Parent/Teacher Conferences 1pm-3pm

November

3 Parent/Teacher Conferences 6pm-8pm

11 No School - Veterans' Day

16 Fisher PAC Meeting - 6pm-8pm Fisher Library

16 Lifetouch Picture Make Up/Retake Day

23 Early Release - Thanksgiving Break

24/25 Thanksgiving Break

28 School Resumes

Lifetouch picture day will be held on October 4th. We are aware that there have been some issues on LifeTouch's end with the order portal. When it is up and running you will recieve an email from Lifetouch that you can now place your orders. Please use code EVTHGS8Q2

We look forward to having conversations with our students' families in just a few weeks. Our conversations will focus on your student's transition to their new classroom, academic and social emotional progress and our learning goals for the year. Please come to the meeting ready to share about your child's experience so far and some goals you may have for your student this year.

Please choose a date and time from the link below to schedule a 10 minute conference with your student's teacher. The teachers are listed ALPHABETICALLY, you will need to scroll down to find the teacher name you are looking for. Please double check that you are signing up for the correct teacher. A virtual option (zoom call or phone call) will be offered on November 3rd only, the other dates are in person. If you are scheduling conferences for more than one student, please allow time between them to get to the next classroom. This link is under "For Parents" on the Fisher School website.

CLICK HERE TO SCHEDULE

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

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

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.

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.

We are looking forward to welcoming parents and guardians to Fisher School's Open House on Thursday, Ocotber 6th, 2022. Teachers will be sharing curriculum expectations along with information specific to the classroom. Parents and guardians will also have time to ask general questions. Any questions specific to a child should be reserved for a more confidential setting. The Open Houses at all of the Walpole Elementary Schools are for Parents and Guardians only. Students, other family members, and guest should not attend. Thank you for your understanding

Schedule:

6:00-6:30 Families with Last Name Beginning with A-L*

6:45-7:15 Families with Last Name Beginning with M-Z*

*If you have more than one child, email the teacher for an exception to the assigned times.

Fisher School is looking for a parent reresentative to join our School Council. Meetings are held once a month on Tuesdays from 3:45-5:00pm. If you are interested please contact Brian Bemiss

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

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.

We are excited to announce that we have partnered up with Linewize by Family Zone, a leading education technology company, to provide our school communities with the highest quality of online safety and digital wellness education. Linewize's global team of experts work together to empower families to navigate the online world with greater ease and confidence. This partnership provides our district with tools, resources, and expert advice on all the latest online safety issues you and your family may be encountering. As members of our school community, you have direct access to our custom-designed Online Safety Hub, where you can access a wide array of research-backed tools and educational materials that will help you implement online safety measures at home.

CLICK HERE to check out the Online Safety Hub

Welcome Back! I hope you all had a healthy, safe and relaxing summer. If you have not already, please remember to turn in your child's Epi Pen/inhaler along with a medication order or Anaphylaxis/Asthma Allergy Care Plan for the 22-23 school year.

• Here is a link to the WPS Health Services website. On this site you can find links to forms (ie medication administration, over the counter medication consent forms), medication policies, and information regarding illnesses, concussions and injuries.

• Please pack a reusable water bottle for your student. They will have opportunities to refill at our filtered water fountain. The health office will gladly accept donations of water (i.e. case of disposable water bottles) or reusable water bottles for those students who do not have one in school. Thank you!

• Please pack an extra outfit in your child’s backpack in case of emergencies, (especially for the younger grades as we are getting used to the new schedules. Remember to send a sweatshirt/long sleeve shirt for cooler days. Please be mindful of your child wearing appropriate shoes to minimize injuries at recess and PE.

• The Health Office will gladly accept donations of new or gently used clothes of all sizes and gender. We are in need of kids shorts and pants presently. We really appreciate it!

As always, please feel free to send me an email with any questions or concerns regarding your child.

Please see the COVID update at the bottom of this page for guidelines on quarantine and mask updates from the school nurse leader, Linda Anderson.

Dr. Gough shared in her latest update that the Leadership Team, various staff and support personnel have been working to prepare for the return of our students. DESE and DPH issued a joint memo with COVID information for the upcoming school year that aligns with the new CDC guidance. This upcoming school year, school districts will focus their COVID mitigation strategies towards vulnerable and symptomatic individuals, while minimizing the need for more restrictive districtwide COVID policies. Other than the health offices, there is no longer a masking mandate in schools. As always, any individual who wishes to continue to mask, including those who face higher risk from COVID19, should be supported in that choice. Masks will be made available at all schools. Surveillance testing of asymptomatic individuals, contact tracing, and test-to-stay testing in schools have also ended. Our schools still have the capability to test symptomatic students and staff. Free COVID-19 vaccination clinics for everyone 6 months of age and older are available around the state. Please read this letter from our Head Nurse, Linda Anderson, regarding isolation and quarantine guidelines

Attention Fisher Parents and Guardians,
The Fisher School PAC is happy to announce that the Friendship Directory is back for the
2022-2023 school year!
We invite you to visit https://fisherpac.membershiptoolkit.com to access the online
directory. Please create or re-activate your account and pay the $5.00 membership fee to
access the directory.
Here's what you need to do:
1. Go to https://fisherpac.membershiptoolkit.com or
scan the qr code. →

2. Click on the Register/Login button:
- Returning users, use your existing user name and
password
- New users, create a new account and fill out your
name, email, and password information
- You will be prompted to verify your email. The link sent to your email will
expire within 2 hours. Please check your spam or junk folder if you do not
see the email right away.
3. Registration process:
- Complete the Parent/Family and Student Information.
- Complete the Directory/Publish Preferences
- Click on the Friendship Directory Access and follow instructions to
complete payment (payment can be made by credit card or PayPal
account)

Once the primary account is set up, the primary user can "invite" other email addresses to
access their family record. This allows the secondary user to have their own login
information and still have access to their family account.
Not only does this help you to connect to your child’s classmates, it also raises money for
them! If you have any questions, please reach out to fisherschoolpac@gmail.com
Thank you!

The Walpole Public Schools Music Department is pleased to announce the fall session for our Private Lesson Program for students in grades 4 - 12. If your child is interested in taking private instrument or voice lessons, here is your chance. Lessons are offered in flute, oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, baritone horn, tuba, piano, percussion, violin, viola, cello, guitar and voice. All lessons are taught by accomplished performers on their respective instruments. Most lessons are currently being taught virtually.

Session 1 will run September 26 to January 27. Registration is open until Monday, September 19th.

For more information, visit:

https://sites.google.com/walpole.k12.ma.us/wpsmusic/private-lesson-program/overview

To register, visit:

https://www.familyid.com/walpole-public-schools/private-music-lessons-2022-2023-session-i

For questions, email:

Tim Fleming (K-12 Music Coordinator) at tfleming@walpole.k12.ma.us