Green Meadow Weekly Update

Principal, Karen Lindquist - klindquist@maynard.k12.ma.us

Assistant Principal, Kate Murray - kmurray@maynard.k12.ma.us

Administrative Assistant- Kathy Sullivan - ksullivan@maynard.k12.ma.us

Administrative Assistant- Nancy Dangelo - ndangelo@maynard.k12.ma.us

School Nurse, Maria Bourgeois - mbourgeois@maynard.k12.ma.us

Important Phone Numbers to Add to Your Contacts List

Main Office Line - (978) 897-8246

Absentee Phone Line - (978)897-0310

Regular School Hours

Grades K- 3: 8:30 AM – 2:50 PM, student drop-off begins at 8:15 AM

Preschool: 8:40 AM - 2:40 PM (full day)

8:40 AM - 11:10 AM (morning program)

12:10 - 2:40 PM (afternoon program)

Early Release Hours

Grades K- 3: 8:30 AM – 11:45 AM

Preschool: Students who attend our program on Fridays will be dismissed at 11:35 PM on an Early Release day.

8/29 - No School, Labor Day Weekend

9/1 - No School, Labor Day

9/2 - First Day for PreK

9/11 - Green Meadow Back to School Night (Parent/Caregiver Event), 6:00 - 7:30 PM

9/12 - Early Release Day, dismissal for PreK @ 11:35 AM, dismissal for K-3 @ 11:45 AM

9/23 - School Picture Day!

9/26 - Early Release Day, dismissal for PreK @ 11:35 AM, dismissal for K-3 @ 11:45 AM

Green Meadow had our first fire drill today, and we could not be prouder of our students! Under the supervision of the Maynard Fire Department, our students followed the routine calmly and safely. In preparation, each class practiced with their teachers yesterday or this morning, so when the fire department arrived for the drill, everyone was ready. We will conduct three more fire drills throughout the year to continue reinforcing these important safety routines.

The Green Meadow Back to School Night is scheduled for Thursday, September 11, from 6:00 - 7:30 PM. It is an opportunity for parents and caregivers to meet staff, learn about curriculum and visit with other community members. Representatives from the School Committee, ELPAC, SEPAC, the GMS PTO, and others will be present that evening in the cafeteria.

Back to School Night Schedule

• This year it will be held on Thursday, September 11

• 6:00 - 6:30 - Grades 2 & 3

• 6:30 - 6:45 - Welcome by Karen Lindquist and Kate Murray

• 6:45 - 7:15 -PreK, K & 1

• Specialists can be available in classrooms for parent/guardian visits.

Head lice are a common occurrence among school-age children. Head lice are spread through direct contact with or sharing personal items with someone who already has them. Please remind your children how important it is not to share hats, combs, brushes, headbands, hair elastics, helmets etc….

With the knowledge that children have sleepovers, parties, and play dates, we hope sharing this information with everyone in our school community will help decrease the spread of head lice. We recommend that you periodically check your child’s hair for any signs of head lice. It is best to do a head check in natural sunlight. Head lice are small, brown insects, no larger than the size of a sesame seed, that live and feed on the human scalp. Nits are tiny, whitish ovals that are firmly glued to the hair shaft usually close to the scalp. Often they are located at the nape of the neck, behind the ears and at the crown of the head, but they can be found anywhere on the head.

Please inform your school nurse if your child does have a confirmed case of lice so that additional measures can be taken to help ensure effective treatment.

For more information: https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/lice/head/print_resources.html

Thank you!

-Nurses Ria

Welcome to the Counselor’s Corner!

The Green Meadow counseling team would like to welcome back all returning families as well as any new families who are joining us … we’re SO glad you’re here! The counseling team is invested in supporting our students socially and emotionally. We also aim to support you, their parents and caregivers. In an effort to strengthen our home-school connection with you, we will be sharing weekly social emotional learning (SEL) resources here that relate to timely topics and/or connect directly to the GM SEL curriculum that all of our students are familiar with. Meet our team and learn more about what we do! Questions or concerns? Please contact Julie Danforth at jdanforth@maynard.k12.ma.us.

We recognize that parking at Green Meadow is an issue. Here are some tips to help:

• We strongly encourage families to walk to school, carpool, or take advantage of the bus.

• This year we will be offering a carline drop-off for arrival only for all students in grades PreK-3 starting at 8:15 AM. This drop off location will be on Tiger Drive, just past the staff parking lot. Tiger Drive will be ONE WAY for both Green Meadow and Fowler morning drop-off. Staff will accompany students to the building. Preschoolers can participate in the car line if they are able to unbuckle themselves or an older child is able to help them.

• Parking for families dropping students off or picking students up will continue to be very limited. Cars may not park along Tiger Drive or the entrance to Green Meadow FOR ANY REASON.

• Please do not park at Maynard Motors. They have been a wonderful neighbor and we would like to respect their space.

• Only School Buses and Vans will be allowed to enter the bus circle between the hours of 7:45 AM and 6:00 PM. With the temporary playground location now in the bus circle, cars may not drive into the bus circle for drop-off or pick-up.

• Due to the construction we do not have space for after-school play and our buses and vans are still in the process of dismissal until 3:00 PM.

• Families are welcome to walk to the Fowler Playground for after-school play. We recognize that this is a cultural shift as we wait for the new school to be complete but this is a great option to continue to foster community and outdoor free play.

• Families who opt to play at Fowler after school may want to park in the Fowler lot and walk to Green Meadow for dismissal.

Breakfast and Lunch

The Maynard Public Schools participates in the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program. As part of this program, all schools will be offering healthy meals every school day at NO COST to the students due to the implementation of the Community Eligibility Provision for school year 2025-2026. Students will be able to get their first breakfast and lunch of the day at school without having to pay a fee or submit a household application.

Additional meals and/or drinks are available to purchase. Families can provide additional funds through My School Bucks.Parents may request restrictions around purchasing additional items by contacting the School.

Breakfast opens daily at 8:15 AM.

Breakfast and Lunch menus will be available at this link:

https://www.fdmealplanner.com/

Type Maynard, Green Meadow to view the selections. Allergy information is available through this site and menus can be printed.

Dear Parents and Guardians,

As you may know, all students in the District are able to receive free breakfast & lunch. This has led to an increase the number of students accessing our breakfast and lunch services. Over the past year we noticed that this caused a delay at the cashier when students have to enter their cafeteria codes at check out. This results in students having reduced time to eat their food before they have to get to class. In order to improve the efficiency of the school breakfast check out process, the District began piloting the use of a finger scan device that is a form of biometric ID management last Spring at Green Meadow. The following information provides some more detail about what this new technology is and what it is not.

Our school will continue implementing a biometric ID management system in an effort to provide accurate student identification and improve efficiency and security for our students and their accounts. We are using this new ID management system because we are held accountable for students and the accuracy of their records. This technology will help us reduce the costs and time required in managing student ID while providing an easy, fast and accurate way to identify students. This system will also ensure that no one but your child can charge items to his/her account.

What is biometric identification?

Biometric identification is an automated method of identifying a person based upon physical or behavioral characteristics. Our school has selected the identiMetrics System because it is secure, accurate, cost-effective and non-intrusive. You can learn more about the system at www.identimetrics.net.

How does biometrics work?

We will be using finger scanning biometrics similar to your smartphone. Using a finger scanner, the software scans certain unique points on the finger to create and store individual templates that identify each student. When the student returns, the software again scans the finger and looks for a match in the database. When a match is found, the student is identified. This all happens in about a second.

How does IndentiMetrics Work?

What about the privacy of our students?

The software scans the finger for identification. It does not store a copy of the fingerprints. Instead, the software creates a template of the unique points on the finger. The template is converted to a unique number and is stored in the school’s database with the same high level of security of all of our records. The templates are also protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). FERPA is the same Federal Law that protects all student records.

When your child graduates or is no longer enrolled in the school system, the templates are deleted. At no time is a fingerprint image stored.

It is important to understand that we are not fingerprinting students. In addition, fingerprints cannot be recreated or delivered to any agency - governmental or otherwise.

Opt-Out

If for whatever reason, you do not want your student to participate in using the IdentiMetrics scanner, you may opt-out. There is a form attached to this packet that can be used to inform us of your decision. Fill it out and return it to the Business Office and your student’s profile in the food service POS system will be updated with your opt-out request. Your student will use another form of identification (barcode, PIN, or ID Card).

Maynard Opt-Out Form

Formulario de exclusión voluntaria

Formulário de recusa

Thanks for your attention!

It is important to us that your child’s experiences in school are educational and rewarding. This new way of identifying our students is safe, easy, accurate, efficient and secure. If you have any questions or do not want your child to participate, please contact us.

Wayne White

Business Manager

Maynard Public Schools

This week the construction team has been busy installing new temporary sidewalks from Crowe Park and from Tiger Drive. These sidewalks were disrupted over the summer and repaved to make it easier for families to get to Green Meadow. The sidewalk from Tiger Drive will be used by staff and students to move safely from the morning carline to the building.

The children have really enjoyed our new playground. We will be adding fencing around part of the playground where the drop-off is greater than 8 inches. The fencing will be installed in the next two weeks.

The Maynard Public Schools anticipates hiring Daily Substitutes for the 2025-2026 school year. This role provides flexibility. Daily Substitutes can determine which days, which grade-levels, and which of the three schools they would like to work in. For more information, please email Kate Murray, kmurray@maynard.k12.ma.us, or Colleen Andrade, candrade@maynard.k12.ma.us.

If you are interested in working for our Food Services Department, please reach out to Sue Mitchell-Tang for information at smitchelltang@maynard.k12.ma.us. Whitsons is currently hiring cooks and food service workers. They offer flexible shifts. no nights or weekends, and summers off.

Calling All New Families - Check out our PTO website and join our email list to stay on top of news and events. We can't wait for you to get involved!

https://greenmeadowpto.membershiptoolkit.com/

ELPAC (English Learner Parent Advisory Council) Resources

Multilingual Learner Resources

SEPAC (Special Education Parent Advisory Council) Resources

The Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley, Maynard Police Department, and the Maynard Public Schools are participating in the Stuff a Cruiser event to benefit the Maynard Food Pantry.

On Saturday, September 13th, students from both the MHS National Honor Society and Fowler School National Junior Honor Society in conjunction with the Maynard Police, the Maynard Food Pantry, Market Basket of Maynard and the Rotary Club of Nashoba Valley will be participating in Stuff a Cruiser at Market Basket in Maynard from 10am - 1pm.

Stuff a Cruiser is a friendly competition between the surrounding towns of Hudson, Stow, Lancaster, Bolton, Concord and Clinton to see who can collect the most food and/or money for their local food banks. The town with the greatest total weight collected earns bragging rights for the year. Last year Maynard collected over 3,700 pounds of donations (over 2,100 pounds of food and $800 in cash) and missed out on winning by just 14 pounds.

Beginning Wednesday, September 3rd until Friday, September 12th there will be bins located in each school building where items can be dropped off. There will also be a cash donation box in each of the main offices if you would like to make a monetary donation. Every dollar donated is equivalent to 2 pounds of food. All donations will go to the Maynard Food Pantry.

The Open Table Food Pantry (www.opentable.org; 33 Main St, Maynard) is open on Tuesdays, 3:30 - 6:30 PM and Thursdays, 1 - 4:30 PM and offers free bags of groceries 1x/week. Open Table also allows families to pick up frozen meals for family members weekly.

The Maynard Food Pantry (www.maynardfoodpantry.com; 82 Main St., Maynard) is open on Mondays from 10 AM - 12 noon 1-2x/month

Interested in learning more about the Maynard community and the many wonderful things happening around town? Check out the monthly Maynard Advantage Newsletters by subscribing athttps://maynardvoice.com/

Learn what's happening at the Fowler School by clicking here.

Learn what's happening at Maynard High School by clicking here.