Fisher Family Update

Dear Fisher Families,

At our most recent PAC meeting, families were provided with an overview of the safety procedures of the Walpole Public Schools and Fisher School. Resource Officer, Tommy Hart and WPD Officer Patrick O’Connor discussed our critical incident protocols and how we implement them at Fisher School. It was shared that our teachers are all trained in these procedures and we practice with the students regularly throughout the year. In addition to these safety measures, at Fisher School:

• All entrances are locked before, during and after the school day.

• All visitors to the school are admitted through the main entrance, only.
  
  

• Security cameras allow office staff to visually screen any visitors to the school prior to admitting them into the building.

• The intercom system allows secretaries to question who is visiting and their purpose for the visit

• Visitors enter the school using a buzzer system, unlocking the door momentarily

• Please DO NOT hold the door for anyone behind you. They need to also check in before entering

• Visitors sign in and wear a sticker that identifies them as having checked in at the main office
  
  

• Security cameras are installed throughout the building

• All classrooms have a telephone

• All classrooms have a “go bag” with class rosters, first aid supplies, door jams and other resources

• Fisher Staff have a group contact for text messaging/instant communication

• Walkie talkies are strategically located throughout the building

• Walkie talkies taken outside with students to enhance communication

• Emergency alert buttons are strategically placed for staff to contact Walpole Police and summon help immediately
  

• Fisher School crisis/response team that convenes in the event of a school-based emergency.

• Fisher has a Threat Safety Assessment Team that monitors the well-being of our students.
  
  

• Fisher staff work closely with the Walpole Police Department and Walpole Fire Department in the development, review, and implementation of emergency procedures.

• Police, Fire Department and DPW officials walkthrough our school and make safety recommendations

• All staff members have been asked to maintain heightened vigilance in monitoring our school environment

The safety of our students and staff members is always our number one priority. We are confident that we have comprehensive and effective plans in place should an emergency situation ever arise. Please contact Resource Officer Hart thart@walpole.k12.ma.us or me if you have any further questions or concerns regarding school safety.

Thank you and have a great weekend,

Brian

Check out Fisher School’s new podcast! You can search “Fisher School” on Spotify or you can use this link. Thanks for listening and don’t forget to subscribe!

May

1 Town Meeting 7pm

2 MCAS - Gr. 5 Math Session 1

3 MCAS - Gr. 5 Math Session 2

3 District Art Show 6-8pm at the Walpole Library

4 MCAS - Gr. 4 Math Session 1

5 MCAS - Gr. 4 Math Session 2

9 MCAS - Gr. 3 Math Session 1

10 MCAS - Gr. 3 Math Session 2

11 MCAS - Gr. 5 Science and Technology Session 1

12 Early Release - Dismissal at 12:25pm

12 Fisher Carnival

16 MCAS - Gr. 5 Science Session 2

17 Kindergarten Orientation 7pm

24 Fisher PAC 7pm

29 No School - Memorial Day

June

9 Field Day

14 Last day of school - early dismissal

Please click on the virtual backpack for the newest and latest information about sign ups, fundraisers and upcoming events in and around our community.

The Summer Learning Program enrollment form is now open for families to register their children, please click the link below.

4th Grade students working on perimeter problems with ribbon and rulers

Science ==> Materials, Properties, & Engineering: Can you build a tower strong enough to hold a book using paper?

5th Grade Egg Drop

Fisher Fish drops the last one!

5th Graders enjoying the new soccer nets donated by PAC!

Looking for something sweet for Mother's Day? Here are some perfect treat options to give as a gift or to keep for yourself, and a part of the proceeds go to the Fisher PAC. Melt in your Mouth is a local small business that offers all natural desserts with no artificial colors, flavors, ingredients or high fructose corn syrup. It is owned/operated by a Walpole elementary mom. You can place your orders here.

On May 17, up to 1500 numbered golf balls will be dropped onto Turco Field at Walpole High School. Chances will be sold for $20 per ball and the person whose number matches the golf ball that lands closest to the graduation cap placed in the center of the field will win $1,000! The goal is to raise $25,000 for the scholarship foundation.

For 39 years the Walpole Scholarship Foundation has assisted Walpole families with the cost of post-secondary education. This spring we will award $220,000 in scholarships to deserving Walpole students! You can purchase your chances using the link below OR by scanning the QR code in the flyer.

Purchase Ball Drop Chances

Spring has Sprung (as have spring allergies!)

• If your child has started with symptoms of seasonal allergies now is the time to start them on an antihistamine. Please check in with your pediatrician about the best antihistamine for your child to help alleviate their symptoms.

• This article from Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania (CHOP) is a great source of information on seasonal allergies and the effects they can have on your child.

• BCH Guidelines on protecting your child from ticks and Lyme disease

• Ticks begin to hatch as soon as the ground thaws. The early spring nymphal deer tick can be as small as a millimeter. Check your child for ticks each night before bed. Look everywhere; ticks love warm dark places like skin folds and the scalp

• Remove a tick by grasping it firmly with tweezers as close to the skin as possible and pulling it straight out. To transmit

• Look for symptoms of Lyme disease : a red flat rash that expands rapidly — the rash may look like a bull’s-eye, but not every child with Lyme disease will have a rash. Also common is a fever, headache, muscle and joint pain, generalized fatigue

• Call your pediatrician immediately if you suspect your child has Lyme disease. (You don’t need to keep a tick that has been removed from your child.) If the pediatrician suspects Lyme disease, they will prescribe antibiotics.

Health Office Guidelines

• If your child has an EpiPen prescribed, they will need to have an unexpired one in the health office in order to attend a field trip. Please make sure your orders are up to date.

• Please remember if your child is ill with a fever (greater than 100F) they need to remain at home for 24 hours without the use of an antipyretic (Tylenol, Motrin, fever reducing medication) per WPS Policy.

• If your child has a viral stomach illness with symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea, please keep them home for an additional 24 hours after symptoms have subsided.

• Please make sure you have notified the health office if your child is recovering from an injury that requires any accommodations or restrictions with a doctor's note.

• If your child has been diagnosed with an infection requiring antibiotic treatment such as Strep Throat, Conjunctivitis, Impetigo, etc. they must be treated with the antibiotic for at least 24 hours before returning to school.

• In addition, for Conjunctivitis, your child's eyes must be free of drainage. For Impetigo, lesions may not be oozing

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

• Here is the Fisher health office wish list.

Please send a note in the morning with your student, it is the best way to inform all who need to know. Teachers are unable to check their emails during instruction time and the office needs to interrupt important learning time with messages. We do understand emergencies arise, however, whenever possible, please send a note.

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

Please do your best not to dismiss your student during their lunch/ recess block.

Please have your child eat lunch prior to returning, if they were out during their lunchtime.

Please do not dismiss after 3:00 PM.

• Grade K R 11:40 -12:10 L 12:05 -12:35
• Grade 1 R 11:10 - 11:40 L 11:40 - 12:00
• Grade 2 R 10:30 - 11:00 L 11:00 - 11:20
• Grade 3 R 12:10 -12:40 L 12:40 - 1:00
• Grade 4 R 12:40 - 1:10 L 1:10 - 1:30
• Grade 5 R 1:10 - 1:40 L 1:40 - 2:00

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.

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

Please be aware that we are required to see you in the office with your CORI form. We need to ascertain that whoever we are checking is in fact the correct person. We will take a copy of your license while you are here. Also, please try to avoid arrival and dismissal times if possible when you are coming in.

If you are interested or think that you will be later this year, please complete the "Volunteer Contract" and the CORI form below. The contract has some general "agreements'' that we need all volunteers to abide by and we appreciate your cooperation. We know the students really enjoy seeing their adults involved in the school and we hope you sign up to join us.

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.

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