PUBLICATION INFORMATION – Please submit any submissions for the Community section to: [email protected] by Wednesdays at 1:00. Online attachments must be compressed (less than 500KB) and in PNG format. Call x100 with any questions.
DATES TO REMEMBER
Monday, Jan. 4 – Friday, Jan. 15
REMOTE LEARNING FOR ALL STUDENTS
Monday, January 18
NO SCHOOL, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Tuesday, January 19
PreK – 2nd Grades Return to Hybrid Learning Mode
Thursday, January 21
School Committee Meeting, 7:00pm
January 8, 2021
Dear Moose Community,
2021 has arrived. Its arrival has brought some devastating and heavy national events. The Union 28 Leadership Team crafted a letter to our communities with a statement and some resources that can help support you in your discussions or question answering with your children. We will reattach the letter to this RTN for your convenience. Our strength as a kind and supportive school community feels more important and valuable than ever. Thank you.
As we are all aware, our entire school is remote learning until January 15th, as we ensure the health and safety of students and staff after the break and holidays. The Board of Health has informed us (this morning) that the current COVID case count in Shutesbury is 3 positive cases isolating and 3 close contacts in quarantine. Early next week we will be reaching out to the older grades around family decisions on choosing hybrid learning or remote learning for their students. Currently, our hybrid schedule is 8:30-11:30 in person and 12:30/1:00- 3:10 remote learning each day (except Wednesdays). More information around logistics and possible starting dates for each grade will be communicated next week.
Our 1st grade paraeducator, Val Wisniewski is retiring! Val has worked at SES for the last 7 years. She has been an educator in the Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grades. Val's experience teaching early elementary school students, her lessons on nature and tracking and her love and compassion for our students will be very missed. Congratulations Val!
Over the break we had two contactless water filling stations installed at SES! Students and staff will now be able to fill water bottles easily without having to touch a shared source. This is helpful in COVID times, but will also be awesome in "normal times"!
Jackie
***SCHOOL NEWS***
Dear Families,
Happy New Year! I have enjoyed visiting virtual classrooms this school year, and getting to know your children. In some grades, Jessica and I have had the opportunity to facilitate lessons using the Choose Love curriculum. Choose Love is a social and emotional learning and character education program designed to teach students (and adults!!) how to “choose love” in various circumstances to foster personal growth, as well as a safer, more connected school culture. Please ask your children what they’ve learned about Choose Love! The four ingredients of the Choose Love formula are Courage, Gratitude, Forgiveness, and Compassion in Action. Most grade levels have wrapped up our discussion of Courage, and are now moving onto the Gratitude unit. Research consistently shows that taking time to reflect on what we're grateful for improves emotional well-being and even physical health, making it especially important during these difficult times. We're very proud of SES students for making this part of their daily lives at a young age! You can practice at home by using the Gratitude Breath (flyer attached to Roadtown News) as a family and sharing the big and little things that you are thankful for.
Given that daily schedules are changing somewhat with the new year, we are also changing the way we teach Choose Love in grades K-5. Jessica and I will lead afternoon lessons in multiage grade spans (K/1, 2/3, 4/5... PK and 6 will continue using the curriculum in their classroom meetings). We're excited to give students the chance to connect with students outside of their classes. K-5 students will access a link to the combined grade Choose Love meeting from their Google Classrooms. As always, please reach out if you have any questions or thoughts you'd like to share.
With Gratitude:)
Amadee
([email protected])
Please remember to report student absences whether they are remote or hybrid to your classroom teacher or to Jessica in the office: [email protected] or 413-259-1212x0. Nurse Katie will be following up with a phone call to you if your student is absent and not reported by a caregiver. Thanks!
***COMMUNITY NEWS***
Northampton Area Pediatrics Parenting Workshop
Picky Eating from Toddlers to Teens
with Ana Maria Moise, MS CNS LDN
and Kristen Deschene, MD
Sunday, January 10th
from 4 pm - 5:30 pm
through Zoom
Don’t want to raise a picky eater? Then start early! Already have a picky eater? Then join us to discover what steps to take to get kids to eat healthier foods in an age appropriate and supportive way.
For Zoom link or more information, please contact us at:
[email protected]
