
The Buzz at Leeds
November 8, 2021
Message from Principal Wenz
Vaccines are available for children ages 5-11! Please see information below.
In keeping with the season, some of our students will learn how to use a cider press, as well as taste apples and cider this month. It is getting colder outside. We will go outside if it is above 15 degrees. Please remember to label your child's clothing and boots. Our lost and found is growing daily.
Just a reminder that we will not have school on Thursday, 11/11 in honor of Veterans' Day. Additionally, our Thanksgiving break will begin with an early release @11:30 on Wednesday, 11/24 and no school on Thursday, 11/25 and Friday, 11/26.
Stay safe and be well,
Chris Wenz, Principal
Free COVID-19 Vaccine for children ages 5-11!
November 5, 2021
Dear Caregivers:
The FDA and CDC recommend COVID-19 vaccinations for children ages 5 to 11 years old. We’d like to provide you with current information and resources on vaccination for students in this age group and encourage you to have your child vaccinated to protect themselves, your family, and the entire school community.
While COVID-19 is generally less serious for school-age children than for older adults, children can become infected, and some may get very sick or suffer serious complications. Children can spread COVID-19 to others. Fortunately, the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for children 5 years old or older. The COVID-19 vaccine has been shown to be safe and effective against infection, serious illness, hospitalization, and death. Over 70 percent of Massachusetts youth ages 12-17 have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Getting your child vaccinated will help limit COVID-19 spread in our school and community, and it can help keep your child and their schoolmates in school.
Please speak to your child’s doctor about their plans to administer the vaccine once it is made available and raise any questions or concerns you have about the vaccine and your child.
To facilitate the vaccination of students in the 5-11 year-old age group, the Northampton Public Schools is working with the Northampton Health Department to provide a number of local and school-based vaccination clinics. Clinic sites are being planned based on safe traffic flow and accessibility to all regardless of transportation needs or healthcare status.
Please see attached flyer.
There are also hundreds of vaccination sites across the state that have indicated their willingness to vaccinate children 5 to 11. Many accept walk-in appointments, including CVS and Walgreens pharmacies, Market Basket and other grocery chains, and community health centers. More information on these sites, as well as safety information and helpful questions and answers, are all available at www.mass.gov/covidvaccine.
As a reminder:
· The COVID vaccine is free for all, and no ID or insurance is needed to be vaccinated;
· You can get vaccinated even if you are undocumented. Getting a vaccine will not impact your or your family’s immigration status. The Public Charge rule does NOT apply to getting the vaccine.
Getting your family vaccinated is the best way to protect yourself and your loved ones. We appreciate your help to keep all of our students, faculty, staff, and volunteers, as well as our community, safe and healthy this fall and all year long.
Sincerely,
John A. Provost, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
Lisa Safron, BSN, RN, NCSN
Director of Health, Safety & Equity Programs
No insurance needed.
Appointments are open for all children at all sites regardless of which school they attend.
To make appointments and find more information:
https://www.northamptonma.gov/2219/Vaccine-Clinics
Or go to www.northamptonma.gov and click on Vaccine Clinics
Ryan Road School
Tuesday, November 9th: 4-6 pm
JFK Middle School
Saturday, November 13th: 12-3pm
Jackson Street School
Thursday, November 18th: 4-6 p.m.
Elks Lodge, Florence, MA
17 Spring Street
Sunday, November 7th: 10am-4pm
Mondays in November: 4-6pm
Thursdays in November: 3-6pm
Additional clinics are being planned in the downtown neighborhood that will be accessible on foot or bus to make vaccine access equitable across families’ transportation needs and healthcare status. Vaccine is also available at several local pediatrics offices.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine approved for 5-11 year olds will be given.
A second dose must be at least 21 days after the first dose. You will be able to make the appointment for your child’s second dose at any of the above sites as soon as your child receives their first dose.
One caregiver should plan to be with their child for their vaccination.
These specific clinics are by appointment to accomodate the needs of children and for safe distancing in the vaccination area.
This is the same vaccine that is available also at local pediatrics offices.
Please note: The Pfizer vaccine approved for ages 12+ will NOT be available at these clinics. Booster shots will NOT be available at these clinics.
Leeds Equity & Inclusion Committee - A Subcommittee of our School Council
The next meeting of the Leeds Equity & Inclusion Committee will take place (virtually) on Wednesday, November 10, from 6:30 to 8:00 PM. New folks are warmly welcomed and encouraged to join! Please reach out to leedsequityandinclusioncomm@gmail.com for the meeting link. We plan to meet the second Wednesday of every month throughout the year
E&I participation is completely flexible--you can choose to commit to as much or as little as you’d like. This might mean staying in the loop via our email listserv (email us at leedsequityandinclusioncomm@gmail.com to be added), attending the occasional meeting or every meeting, initiating or joining existing committee work, or some combination.
Today we’re sharing a few resources for talking with kids about race and racism:
Raising Race Conscious Children offers this great list of “100 Race-Conscious Things You Can Say to Your Child to Advance Racial Justice.” RRCC also hosts regular interactive Zoom webinars/workshops (stay tuned for details on the next one!)
EmbraceRace, based right here in Western Mass, offers a great collection of online resources, including recorded webinars (and transcriptions) that you can watch/read anytime. Check out this conversation about “Why & How to Talk to Young Kids About Race” or this Action Guide offering “16 ways to help children become thoughtful, informed, and BRAVE about race.”
Looking for some good books? You can borrow these through our local CWMARS library system or order a copy through your favorite bookstore:
Parenting 4 Social Justice: Tips Tools and Inspiration for Conversations & Action with Kids, by Angela Berkfield, with co-authors Chrissy Colón Bradt, Leila Raven, Jamie Lynn Kessell, and Abigail Healey
Social Justice Parenting: How to Raise Compassionate, Anti-Racist, Justice-Minded Kids in an Unjust World, by Traci Baxley
Podcast fans, check out this list of eight podcast episodes that offer insight for parents/caregivers on talking with kids about race. It also includes podcast suggestions for kids.
Thanks for reading! Please be in touch with any questions.
Leeds PTO
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Leeds PTO T-Shirt Design & Color
We would like to congratulate Oliver Yau, fifth grade student, as his submission has been chosen for our Leeds t-shirts this year. Students and staff voted and the color black was chosen as the first choice.
Leeds PTO T-Shirt Order: The t-shirt order forms are for extra t-shirts. Each student and staff member will receive a t-shirt. Here is a link to the order form (online version). Here is a link to the paper copy. The paper copies were put in your mailboxes. If families are ordering, they are due by November 15th.
Next PTO General Meeting January at 7pm via Zoom
Volunteers Needed!
Parents, Caregivers, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, etc.. We need your help to keep the PTO running! We are looking for volunteers for to help us with our events and activities throughout the year. We cannot be successful and accomplish our mission of supporting our school and students without your help.
Please fill out our volunteer form https://forms.gle/1LhEREB9KvQLZNUm6 and select which events and fundraisers you can help us with this year. Attending monthly meetings are not required and neither is a big time commitment. If you have any questions on the events or fundraisers below please reach out to Jean at jean@leedspto.org. We appreciate your help in making this a successful school year for our children!
Caregiver Workshops
Register for First Aid or Parents & Professionals Workshops
with Laura at lfrogameni@northampton-k12.us
Early Bird / Late Bird / LEAP
- Our November & December sign ups are now closed. If you need assistance, please contact our coordinator, Gabrielle Hollender.
Payments: Pay Online (preferred) or make checks payable to "City of Northampton"
*Note: UniPay seems to have an aversion to Visa cards... so please try another card for payment
Please be sure to choose the dates you need for after school care. We have a limited number of staff and may not always be able to accommodate drop ins.
- Late Bird - 2:10-5:15 (Please send your child with a snack from home.)
LEAP
Gabrielle will begin looking for enrichment program instructors for courses that will run on Mondays and Fridays beginning in January. If you or you know someone who would like to be a LEAP instructor, please reach out to Gabrielle with more information. (ghollender@northampton-k12.us)
Online payments are accepted for Early Bird/Late Bird and the LEAP program.
Online payment instructions: I know some of you had difficulty with our online payment system, so we have created a document with instructions. Here is the link.
BEHAVIOR POLICY: All staff and students will adhere to the Northampton Code of Conduct found at http://www.northamptonschools.org/project/code-of-conduct/
COVID NEWS
Daily Self-Checklist
We are continuing to do Self Checks in the morning. Here is a link to the checklist. We are sending a paper copy home in your child's red folder.
Health & Safety Protocols COVID 19 GUIDELINES: 10/2021 from Nurse Beth
Significant symptoms of concern:
- Fever of 100.0 or higher
- Chills
- Shortness of breath
- Cough
- Muscle aches or body aches
- Loss of taste or smell
These symptoms require a PCR test, which we do not have in school.
A student/staff member will be sent home if significant symptoms of concern arise at school, and may return with resolving symptoms AND the results of a negative COVID PCR is sent to the school nurse.
Please keep your child/ staff stay home if any significant symptoms of concern occur, and obtain a negative PCR test prior to returning to school.
Mild symptoms of concern:
- Headache
- Congestion, runny nose (without another cause, such as allergies)
- Sore throat
- Diarrhea
- Nausea or vomiting
- Fatigue (without another known cause such as lack of sleep)
A student/staff member may return to school if there is one mild symptom of concern WITH a negative rapid ANTIGEN or PCR test.
If two or more symptoms, a negative PCR will be needed.
These tests are provided at Walgreens, CVS, and MedExpress and must be administered by a healthcare professional.
Your child’s provider may prefer to provide the school nurse with a letter documenting an alternative diagnosis instead of testing your child.
*Please remain home if one or more mild symptoms of concern are present, new or persisting until a negative test is obtained.
*Any result must be submitted to the school nurse or district contact tracers before returning to school.
**HOME TESTS ARE NOT ACCEPTED AT THIS TIME.
***RAPID TESTS WILL BE CONDUCTED IN SCHOOL WITH THE BinaxNOW ANTIGEN TEST FOR STUDENTS/STAFF THAT START WITH SYMPTOMS WHILE IN SCHOOL IF CONSENTS HAVE BEEN SIGNED.
****BinaxNOW WILL ADDITIONALLY ONLY BE USED FOR REFLEX TESTING ON A POSITIVE POOL FROM WEEKLY ROUTINE COVID SAFETY CHECKS.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP IN KEEPING OUR CLASSROOMS SAFE!!!
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Calendar of Events
11/2 No School - Election Day
11/2 Leeds PTO Meeting via Zoom @7:00
11/5 Last day for PTO fundraisers
11/5 COVID Testing at Leeds
11/10 Last day for Lift Off Learning until 11/30
11/10 Leeds Equity & Inclusion Committee Meeting @6:30
11/11 No School - Veterans’ Day
11/16 Leeds School Council Meeting @6:15 via Zoom
11/17 Leeds Safety Drill #3 - Fire Drill @9:15
11/24 Early Release Day @11:30 Thanksgiving Break begins
11/25 & 11/26 No School - Happy Thanksgiving!
11/30 Lift Off Learning begins again
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Contact us:
(sharondewitt@northampton-k12.us)
Laura Ziomek, Administrative Assistant
Gabrielle Hollender, Early Bird/Late Bird Afterschool Coordinator
(ghollender@northampton-k12.us)
Chris Wenz, Principal
Email: sharondewitt@northampton-k12.us
Website: http://www.northamptonschools.org/project/leeds-elementary-school/
Location: 20 Florence Street, Leeds, MA, USA
Phone: (413) 587-1530