Dear Franklin Families,
I hope that all of you enjoyed your Thanksgiving weekend with family and friends. Next week, we will reach Day 60, which means one third of the school year will be behind us. Busy holiday and vacation weeks are ahead of us, and I wish all of you a joyful ending to 2021.
This week’s temperatures remind us that we are heading into winter. We will continue to have outdoor recess on all but the most frigid (or rainy) days, and students need to be prepared for playing outside in snow and colder weather. They will need to have these 5 Snow Gear Essentials: 1. jacket 2. hat/hood 3. gloves 4. boots 5. snowpants Please plan ahead with your children so that they are prepared for the winter weeks ahead!
HAPPY HANUKKAH to all of our families who are celebrating this week!
NPS Health Self-assessment Tool: Please remember to complete the following self-assessment each day before sending your child to school.
1. Do you/your child have any of the following symptoms?
Fever (100F or higher), chills, shaking chills
Cough (not due to other known causes, such as a chronic cough)
Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
New loss of taste or smell
Muscle aches or body aches
Sore throat (when in combination with other symptoms)
Headache (when in combination with other symptoms)
Nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea (when in combination with other symptoms)
Fatigue (when in combination with other symptoms)
Nasal congestion or runny nose (not due to other known causes, such as allergies and when in combination with other symptoms)
2. Have you/your child been told by a public health official to isolate or quarantine?
If your answer to either of the questions above is ‘yes’, stay home and do not come to school.
Notify the school nurse, building principal, or principal’s designee
Staff should also follow standard procedures for reporting an absence
If symptomatic, contact your health care provider for assessment and testing. As always, if you are experiencing a medical emergency, call 911.
Newton Public Schools Gift Policy: As we enter this season of holidays and vacations, we ask that families please be mindful of the Newton School Committee’s policy stating, “Newton Public Schools allows a group gift to an individual staff member only if the gift is identified as being from the entire class, the identity of the givers and the individual amounts are not disclosed to the recipient, and the gift does not exceed $150 per school year. This differs from a gift for the classroom. Individual gifts of appreciation in the form of sentimental tokens are allowed. Gifts of commercial value are not permitted. NPS allows and encourages giving to charitable organizations such as school PTO’s or the Newton Schools Foundation’s Honor Thy Teacher Program, which honors staff while supporting our schools.”
Weekly COVID Case Numbers: This week, Franklin School recorded no COVID cases. Information on districtwide COVID cases and vaccination rates can be found on the Newton Health and Human Services website here: NPS COVID Case Count and Vaccination Rates.
Parent Coffee/PTO Evening Meeting Dates: This year, we have a mixture of morning Parent Coffees and evening PTO Meetings through which we hope to engage all of you in conversation about life and learning in our school community. Please join us on the following dates. We will meet in-person when feasible and rely on virtual meetings when necessary. At this point, in-person meetings will need to be outdoors, so we expect to use Zoom during the winter months. We will let you know the format for each meeting as the date approaches.
January 20th 7:30 p.m.
February 18th 8:30 a.m.
March 24th 7:30 p.m.
April 29th 8:30 a.m.
June 2nd 7:30 p.m.
Absences: If your child will be absent from school for any reason, please call the Student Absence Line at 617-559-9509 before 7:50. Also, please be sure that teachers have accurate information about dismissal routines for your child.
Early Release Dates: We will have dismissal at 12:10 p.m. on the following dates: December 9th, February 3rd, March 24th, and May 12th.
With best wishes,
Mark Chitty
Comments