It was all smiles returning from Winter Break! With sixteen days until spring (yes, we are counting) we're sharing some of our remaining winter highlights, and upcoming events.

We hope you enjoy this newsletter, and all the newsletters we've started sending through Smore. If you have the time, you can leave us some feedback and let us know what you think of our newsletters here.

• Saturday, March 5: Community Forum: The Future of AAMS at 9:00AM
• Monday, March 7: Community Forum: The Future of AAMS at 7:00PM
• Monday, March 7- AAMS Parent Council at 7PM
• Tuesday, March 8 - Chapman Informational Session
• Tuesday, March 8 - Half Day, Staff Professional Development
• Thursday, March 10 - School Committee at 7PM
• Tuesday, March 15 - Hamilton Parent Council at 7PM
• Wednesday, March 16 - WHS Parent Council at 7PM
• Friday, March 18 - Wear ORANGE - Month of March Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month
• Thursday, March 24 - School Committee at 7PM
• Saturday, March 26 - Wear Purple for Epilepsy Awareness!
• Wednesday, March 30** - Johnson CFCE Parent Orientation Night at 6:30PM via ZOOM CLICK HERE FOR LINK

• Adult English Language Learners - Free Class - March 8 through April 14
• NPR - Parenting: Difficult Conversations - What to say to kids when the news is scary
• Video: How to Administer an At-Home COVID Test
• Town-Wide Parent Council | Meets the Second Tuesday of the Month at 7PM in the Humanities Center at WHS
• WPS Digital Equity Team Update

From WHS Gymnastics, and the entire WPS community, congratulations Maggie Lynch on being selected to the High School Senior National Team for Massachusetts!

PROUD WILDCAT MOMENT: We're giving a HUGE SHOUTOUT to Sophomore Presaya Gomes who quickly noticed something was not right last week with WHS School Counselor, Kimberly Peterson, who has Epilepsy and experienced a breakthrough Complex Partial seizure at school. Presaya jumped into action, called 911 and quickly made sure help was on the way.

Ms. Peterson made a quick recovery and is back to work at WHS. From Wildcat Nation- thank you both for being brave- brave enough to see something and DO something, brave enough to share your stories, and to spread awareness for this important cause.

Save the Date* Wear PURPLE - Epilepsy Awareness Day: Epilepsy Awareness Day on March 26th aims to increase the public’s knowledge of a neurological condition affecting nearly 50 million people worldwide. Also known as Purple Day, people are encouraged to wear purple in support of epilepsy awareness.

For more information from the Epilepsy Foundation, please click here, or the local epilepsy foundation, click here

Mrs. Russell's grade 4 class had a parent visit from Ms. Brown who shared a special activity in honor of Black History Month. Students made candles. The colors of the candles, black, red, and green represent the people, struggle of the people and fertile land.

The Weymouth High Theatre Company (WHTC) kids are thrilled to be back competing in the Mass Educational Theatre Guild (METG) Annual Festival with "The Reluctant Dragon" - an allegory about the importance of acceptance and the perils of prejudice. Break a leg, WHTC!

On February 5th, Weymouth High students (from left to right, Grace Kearsing, Jennifer Nguyen, Jennifer Tran, Sam Cassidy, and Lee Nowicki) participated in auditions for the Southeastern Massachusetts School Band Association’s (SEMSBA) annual festival.

Sophomores Grace Kearsing and Jennifer Nguyen were accepted to the festival based on their strong auditions. Freshman flutist Serene Yang (not pictured) auditioned and was accepted into the Southeastern Massachusetts Music Educators Association Jr. District Festival, and senior clarinetist Luke Seto (not pictured) auditioned and was accepted into the Sr. District Festival. Congratulations to all who auditioned for these exciting opportunities!

Great work WHS students Taylor Whipple and Jamie Murphy promoting Developmental Disability Awareness Month!

Virtual Event: Meet a Neuroscientist

Tuesday, March 29th | 5:00pm EST

Harvard Brain Science Institute is launching a new virtual event series called “Meet a Neuroscientist.” The goal is for high school students and undergraduates across the nation to have a chance to chat with brain science researchers from the Harvard community.

For more information and to reserve a spot, click here.

It’s no secret-- there are some amazing people who make up #WildcatNation. Help us tell their story.

Do you know a Weymouth Public Schools student, staff member, alumni, parent, or other member of our school community who is running the Boston Marathon? Send us an email so we can support them in a future newsletter! Email submissions to: roar@weymouthps.org

A 4 week challenge students work on in their daily math block! They are also allowed to log on and work on the site from home. For challenge details, click here.

What is ST Math?

ST Math is a visual instructional program that Weymouth Primary Schools has adopted to leverage the brain's innate spatial-temporal reasoning ability to solve mathematical problems. Your student can find ST Math and Jiji inside their Clever account.

Wildcat Cafe is OPEN to the public from 11:45AM - 1:00PM Wednesdays - Fridays

A look inside the progress at Chapman Middle School during winter construction. Thank you AAMS Video Club for the featured videos below, which were part of a Chapman construction series that includes:

• Full Tour - https://vimeo.com/679206111
• Entry Court - https://vimeo.com/679235442
• Lobby and Media Center - https://vimeo.com/679237488
• Auditorium - https://vimeo.com/679235741
• Classrooms - https://vimeo.com/679234863
• Neighborhood Collaborative - https://vimeo.com/679238609
• Expeditionary, Broadcast, Maker Space - https://vimeo.com/679236632
• Theater Arts and Culinary - https://vimeo.com/679237955

Click here to view all of this week's Chapman update photos!

**The first round of at-home COVID test kits were distributed this week. Moving forward, test kits will be distributed every other Friday. Read the full announcement here.

At-Home Testing Resources:

• Opt-In Form for students and staff
• WPS At-Home Testing Information & FAQs
• About the Test: iHealth is a 15-minute at-home rapid antigen test
• Video: How to Administer an At-Home COVID Test
  
• Text Guide: How Do I Administer an At-Home COVID test?
  
• Positive test results should be reported to your student's school through the main office or nurses department, and require five days of isolation.

Kindergarten Registration is OPEN!

Register your student for the 2022-2023 school year today!

Robert Wargo, Superintendent

Melanie Curtin, Assistant Superintendent

Brian Smith, Assistant Superintendent

Rich Bransfield, Executive Director of Elementary Education

Allyson Bell, Director of Special Education

Meg Verlicco, Asst. Special Ed. Director

Maggie Murphy, Special Ed. Coord.

Teri Fleming, Curriculum & Instruction Director

Brett Lindholm, Director of Educational Technology

Maryann Foley, Human Resources Director

Gena O’Hara, Coordinator of Health Services

Robert O’Leary, Athletic Director

Julieanne Gamache, CTE Director

Alyssa Haggerty, Communications Coordinator

Elizabeth Sauro, Food Services Director

Robin Howard, Director of Transportation

Eileen Pitts, Assistant to Superintendent Robert Wargo

Kelly Powers, Administrative Asst. to Brian Smith

Karen Spellman, Administrative Asst. to Melanie Curtin

Website: www.weymouthpublicschools.org
Location: 111 Middle Street, Weymouth, MA, USA
Phone: 781 335-1460
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/weymouthpublicschools
Twitter: @WeymouthSuper

Principal Maura Perez

Virtual Backpack

Website: https://www.weymouthschools.org/johnson-early-childhood-center
Location: 70 Pearl Street, Weymouth, MA, USA
Phone: 781-335-0191

Principal Patrick Higgins

Virtual Backpack

Website: https://www.weymouthschools.org/academy-avenue-primary-school
Location: 94 Academy Avenue, Weymouth
Phone: 781-335-4717
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AcademyAvenuePrimarySchool

Principal Patrick Costello

Virtual Backpack

Website: https://www.weymouthschools.org/frederick-c-murphy-primary-school
Location: 417 Front Street, Weymouth, MA 02188, USA
Phone: 781-331-2862
Twitter: @murphyprincipal

Principal Kathleen Connelly-Day

Virtual Backpack

Website: https://www.weymouthschools.org/ralph-talbot-elementary-school
Location: 227 Ralph Talbot Street, Weymouth, MA, USA
Phone: 781-335-7250

Principal Jeremy Angelos

Virtual Backpack

Website: https://www.weymouthschools.org/thomas-v-nash-jr-primary-school
Location: 1003 Front Street, Weymouth, MA, USA
Phone: 781-340-2506
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Thomas-V-Nash-Primary-School-105389748066476
Twitter: @pride_nash

Principal Kathleen Guilfoy

Virtual Backpack

Website: https://www.weymouthschools.org/lawrence-w-pingree-primary-school
Location: 1250 Commercial Street, Weymouth, MA 02189, USA
Phone: (781) 337-2974
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Pingree-Pride-228055661405130/
Twitter: @PingreePride

Principal Jeremy Burm

Virtual Backpack

Website: https://www.weymouthschools.org/thomas-w-hamilton-primary-school
Location: 400 Union Street, South Weymouth, Weymouth, MA, USA
Phone: 781-335-2122
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Hamilton-Happenings-312110695938257/
Twitter: @HamiltonROARS

Principal Lindsay Fratolillo

Virtual Backpack

Website: https://www.weymouthschools.org/wessagusset-elementary-school
Location: 75 Pilgrim Road, North Weymouth, Weymouth, MA, USA
Phone: 781-335-2210

Principal Nancy Schuhwerk

Virtual Backpack

Website: https://www.weymouthschools.org/william-seach-primary-school
Location: 770 Middle Street, Weymouth, MA 02188, USA
Phone: (781) 335-7589
Twitter: @SeachPrincipal

Principal Matthew Meehan

Virtual Backpack

Website: https://www.weymouthschools.org/middle-school-adams-campus
Location: 89 Middle Street, Weymouth, MA, USA
Phone: 781-335-1100
Twitter: @AbigailAdamsMS

Principal Alan Strauss

Principal's Corner

Website: https://www.weymouthschools.org/weymouth-high-school
Location: Weymouth High School, 1 Wildcat Way, Weymouth, MA, USA
Phone: 781-337-7500
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/weymouthhighschool/
Twitter: @WeymouthHSpride