Duval Dispatch

Dear Duval Families!

Welcome to an exciting year full of celebrations, new adventures, and great learning! Our theme this year is a decade by decade commemoration of our school, from its opening as Regal Street in the 1950s to the world of the Duval Dolphins today! We invite you to join us for some of the many events we have planned.

The Dispatch comes out weekly (generally) on Sunday evenings. We publish important info for the week(s) ahead while sharing stories and pictures of events from the last week. We always include the upcoming weather, safety tips, nurse notes, and a message from the PTO. Our "Community Corner" has flyers from local organizations or links to Whitman or Hanson special events.

This week begins on Wednesday. Friday is an Early Release Day for Professional Development. Follow the same routines as a regular dismissal but at 12:10 instead of 3:15pm.

Lots of time will be spent this and next week getting used to new routines, teachers, classrooms. We will reinforce our commitment to the Duval Values, and set the expectation that we follow those every day.

We are both very committed to a productive home/school relationship to ensure we have a safe, fun, challenging, and welcoming environment for each and every child. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have ideas, suggestions, or concerns throughout the year!

Wishing everyone a wonderful Year of Celebrations!

Dr. Marcus and Ms. Craig

PS. Here's our Welcome Back Video just in case you've missed it.

Click on "Translate" for your preferred language.

Clique em "Translate" para ler em português.

Klike sou "Translate" pou li sa an kreyòl Ayisyen.

Nhấp vào "Translate" để đọc bài viết này bằng tiếng Việt.

This Week's Weather: Warm!

Everyone at Duval is expected to follow and support the 10 basic values that families, students, and staff agreed on last year. Along with our theme celebrations, we will also be highlighting each of our 10 values over the course of the year. Please take a moment to read through these with your child(ren) and talk about ways we can ALL support the Duval Values.

The WH Elementary Handbook can be found HERE.

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.

One key note: Lunches and breakfasts will be free again this year. Extra snacks or ice cream (when available) need to be purchased separately.

K Meet N Greet will be out back on Monday from 5-6pm. We'll read a story, hand out books, have freeze pops thanks to PTO, and give kids some time to play and say hello. Shirt colors are: Red-Rice, Yellow-Whitehouse, Green-Curley, Blue-Wolongevicz

K-5 Open House will go from 4:30-6pm on Tuesday. We STRONGLY suggest not arriving right at 4:30. If you come during a lull, or we spread things out a bit, kids will have more time to see their rooms, meet the teacher, and say hi to friends.

Backpacks with school supplies will be available by the office for families who need help taking care of those needs.

ALL Chromebooks K-5 will remain at school. We hope this change makes it easier for students and parents, and helps us manage the devices better at school.

If you have a dismissal change from your child's regular routine, a note MUST be sent in ahead of time. Please DO NOT rely on an email or even a phone call during the day.

Please call the Duval main office at 781-618-7055 (Press 1), if your child is going to be absent or late. We take the responsibility to care for your child very seriously and we need to know your child is safe!

A quick shout out to the Duval Staff, each of whom has come in over the last few weeks to help clean, organize their rooms, and get things ready for our students! It fills us with such pride to see teachers so dedicated and creative, helping make our school shine for Day One!

To ensure maximum SAFETY around the building, Duval enforces a set of traffic and behavioral expectations. We maintain a section in each Duval Dispatch to reinforce those concepts.

This is a LINK to our Traffic Protocols. Adjustments or reminders will be placed here in the Dispatch.

Basics:

- Drive slowly and only ONE WAY around the building.

- Do NOT drive around the building when school is in session.

- There is NO PASSING at any time in the driveways.

- Front entry area is only used for emergencies or picking up sick children.

Each Dispatch, we have a section for Nurse Melissa to share the latest health news. While the same link, she updates it regularly to provide pertinent information. Here is the September Welcome Back News from Nurse Andersen. Please check it out HERE regularly.

Thank you.

Welcome back, Duval Dolphins!

We are so excited for a new school year. We are already planning lots of fun activities for our students and families. The PTO will be sending out information on events, meetings and opportunities to volunteer whenever possible. We also keep our private Facebook page up to date- follow here https://www.facebook.com/share/g/14ECagmE7B1/?mibextid=WC7FNe

Visit our PTO table at Open House and please come to our first meeting of the year which will be held on Tuesday 9/9 from 7-8p in the Duval library. We would love to see some new faces! As always, we are also available via email at duvalpto@gmail.com for any questions.

See you soon!

Duval PTO

Dolphin TV is a special Friday morning broadcast brought to you by the 5th Graders. Our Channel is HERE to see all broadcasts.

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

🐣 Be the first to say "I'm not just a Dolphin, I'm also a Regal Beagle!" AFTER ANNOUNCEMENTS on Wednesday to Dr. M or Ms. C, win a prize!

Aug 25- K Meet N Greet

Aug 26- K-5 Open House

Aug. 27- First Day for Everyone!

Aug. 29- First Early Release Day. 12:10 Dismissal

Sept. 1- Labor Day. No School

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Calendar Items for the Year. Click HERE.

Flyers from the community will be posted here. Haven't received any yet.

• 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

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