Fisher Family Update

Dear Fisher Families,

It was a great week at Fisher School! We celebrated Kindness Week by recognizing all the ways in which we can be kind to others and ourselves. This was done through classroom discussions and read alouds, morning announcements and recognitions of positive student behavior. We also had a school wide game of Kindness Bingo and the students enjoyed videos created by teachers and staff, sharing what kindness means to them. We hope all our students remember how good it feels to do something kind for someone else and how grateful we are when someone does something kind for us. Kindness Week came to a crescendo on Friday with "Zeeshan Day". As I shared with you last week, Zee is currently in and out of the hospital and will be until the spring. Our entire Fisher Community dressed in his favorite color, orange, to remind him that we are all thinking of him and cheering him on in his fight! One very generous act of kindness is all of the donations the Fisher School community made to the Jimmy Fund and Zeeshan's family. We were able to collect over $4,000 in just a few days. This is a reminder to all of us about the awesome community to which we belong and the kindness that exists among our Fisher Families. Thank you for your generosity and I hope you all have a great February vacation!

Take care,

Brian

The links for our spring parent/teacher conferences will go live at 9am on February 27th and will close at 4pm, 2 days before the conference date you selected. Please contact the office if you have any difficulty signing up for the time you'd prefer.

March 8th (evening)

March 10th (afternoon)

March 16th (evening/virtual)

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!

February

20-24 February vacation

27 Classes resume

March

8 Parent/Teacher Conferences 6-8pm

10 Early Release

10 Parent/Teacher Conferences 1:15-3:15

15 PAC Meeting 7pm

16 Parent/Teacher Conferences 6-8pm

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

New peer applications for the 2023-2024 school year will be available on January 3, 2023, at 8:30 AM on the DFP website. It will also be emailed through our email list and shared via the elementary Principals' weekly notes.

Please note: returning peers and siblings are prioritized.

*Children must be three years old and toilet trained to be considered for a peer slot.

Grades 3, 4, and 5 have been competing in the Battle of the Books for the past few months. On Thursday we held our competition and had a fantastic day. All teams enjoyed a breakfast in the cafeteria that was decorated with tablecloths, balloons, and streamers by our amazing Fisher PAC parents. The 16 teams then competed in Round 1 and eight teams then moved onto Round 2. By lunch time we were down to just our Final 4 teams.

A huge congratulations to the Final 4 teams: The Blue Battling Pigeons, The Yellow Reading Minions, The Red Raptors, and The Reading Blackbelts. In the afternoon classes were able to zoom into the Final Battle that took place in the auditorium and after a very close final round, the Reading Minions won the championship round! Congratulations to all of our students who read over 1600 books!!

A HUGE thank you to Sara Barend and Robin Hughes for spearheading the "Battle" and all the staff members who helped out throughout the entire Battle season. Also would like to thank our wonderful Fisher PAC members who checked out books weekly, decorated the school and paid for the snack bar!

We look forward to next year’s competition. Below is a picture of the winning team with their coaches Mrs Pratt and Mrs O'Neill

Every month Sportsmanship Superstars are selected, one from each grade. These students demonstrate respect and fair play to opponents, teachers, equipment and graciousness in both victory and defeat. Congratulations to our January Sportsmanship Superstars!

Kindergarten: Abiral

Grade one: Helena

Grade two: Madeline

Grade three: Owen

Grade four: Karolina

Grade five: Jacob

Thank you so much for the incredible support so far for our Rally Against Cancer! The Green Monster Wall of Honor is filling up with baseballs. There is still plenty of room for more! Remember to stop by and see the names and photos of all the amazing loved ones who have been honored and remembered. The “wall” is in the hallway leading to the auditorium. If you need another form, please send me an email and I can send one home or email you a copy to print. Checks should be made payable to “The Jimmy Fund.”

Our “Change for a Cure” campaign is beginning next week. Each student and family is invited to look around (under couch cushions, on the floor, under car seats, in jacket pockets, etc.) for spare change or to perform a chore at home, and raise money to contribute to a jar in their classroom. Another option is to donate the money received from refunding bottles. One of the ideas we are trying to demonstrate to students is that many small donations add up to make a big difference. Student Council representatives will collect the money weekly from each classroom. On March 31st, they will make the final collection and the class that has averaged the most money collected per student will receive authentic Jimmy Fund Rally baseball caps to wear. Should we raise the most money of any school participating in the rally this year, and win the visit from a member of the Red Sox team, the winning class will also receive VIP (front row) seating for the assembly and a Meet and Greet with that player, including photos and autographs! Thank you for your support.

In early March, we hope to have our annual, and very popular, coffee cake fundraiser, working with My Grandma’s of New England, a local company. Watch for more information regarding this.

One of the most important ways you can help is by joining our Fisher’s Finest team online. To show your support, please visit our team’s official fundraising page, http://danafarber.jimmyfund.org/goto/fishersfinest2023, and click on the red “JOIN TEAM” button located on the right side of the page. If every family in the school joined with a minimum $5 gift, we would be able to provide Dana-Farber with enough money to provide treatment and support to countless families battling cancer. After you’ve joined the team, you can also create your own personal fundraising page. Please share this with your family and friends, inviting them to make a gift to the Jimmy Fund as well. The more people who join, the bigger the team, and the more money we can raise to help find a cure for cancer.

Thursday, March 30th - Red Sox Opening Day, students and staff are encouraged to wear their Red Sox shirts, caps, etc., or Red Sox colors, red, white, and blue, to school to show their support for both the Red Sox and Fisher’s Finest.

There may be an opportunity drawing for some pretty spectacular items, too. We are currently working with the Jimmy Fund on that to see if we can make that happen!!! Stay tuned for updates.

Our initial goal is to reach $5,000 for Rally. We are already halfway there! We’re thinking bigger, though, and will increase that goal when we hit the $5000. With just a little bit of support from every family, we can certainly reach and hopefully exceed even a “stretch goal”! As we have stated previously, we certainly don’t expect families to participate in every fundraising event – we want to provide you with some choices and hope we provide something for everyone! If you have any questions, please contact team coach Carolyn McDonough.

Thanks for your support!

Carolyn McDonough

cmcdonough@walpole.k12.ma.us

The culmination of Ms. Fomenko's rocks and minerals science unit.

Valentine Fun and ST Math Journey Completion Certificates

Valentine’s and Kindness Week Fun- Buddy Class Crafts, Bingo Game, Valentine sharing, and compliment circles!

During this STEM cycle, groups of 3-4 students were randomly paired and tasked with building the tallest tower possible with exactly 100 Kapla Blocks. Concentration and collaboration between teammates was essential when completing this task

ST Math Conference!

"We are excited to be partnering with FUN PASTA FUNDRAISING! Shop now and order some creative, delicious pasta goodies. It's simple, and you'll love the selection. Check out the sports, music and other fun options! There are also soups!

-Orders over $65.00 earn 40% of the sale for the PAC and free shipping!

-Orders under $65.00 earn 35% of the sale for the PAC and a flat rate of $8.95 for shipping!

-Your order will be shipped from Nashville, TN within 3-5 days."

The Fisher PAC is happy to roll out our Teacher Wish Lists!!! Click on our website and look through the grade levels to see what they want. If you can help out, great! We have also included the Math Household Items wish lists on here, too, to keep it all in one place!!! Teachers will be updating these lists throughout the year so keep checking back!

Fisher PAC

https://sites.google.com/walpole.k12.ma.us/fisherpac/home?authuser=3

Winter Greetings!

• Please remember if your child is ill with a fever (greater than 100) they need to remain at home for 24 hours without the use of an antipyretic (Tylenol, Motrin, fever reducing medication).
• 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.
• 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.
• Please pack an extra outfit in your child’s backpack in case of emergencies, this can be stored at the school in their locker or cubbies. Please be mindful of your child wearing appropriate shoes to minimize injuries at recess and PE- sneakers are best.
  

• Here is the Fisher health office wish list.

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

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.

Now that the snowy weather and conditions are upon us, please be sure to send your child to school with boots, snow pants, gloves etc. if they want to play in the snow at recess

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.

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