Placentino School News & Updates

• Wednesday, October 9 - International Walk, Bike and Roll to School Day
• Monday, October 14 - No School - Indigenous Peoples' Day
• Wednesday, October 16 - School Picture Day
• Thursday, October 17 - Unified Arts Back-to-School-Night
• Friday, October 25 - Preschool & Kindergarten Pumpkin Stroll
• Wednesday, October 30 - Parent/Guardian & Teacher Evening Conferences
• Thursday, October 31 - Early Release Day for Students - Parent/Guardian & Teacher Afternoon Conferences

*Please note: all of these dates and more can be found on the Placentino Family Google Calendar.*

At Back to School Nights last month we shared our efforts to support students and families with student attendance. You may recall learning that each school has formed school-based attendance teams who meet weekly to review student attendance totals and to determine family outreach and interventions as needed. We are grateful for your support and we have seen an improvement in attendance this year thanks to you! If you have questions or wonders about our health guidelines, please see our health website.

The following action steps are taken by Placentino's attendance team:

Weekly Monitoring:

• Students with 3 consecutive absences will be contacted by nurse
• Our school-based attendance team will review students with 5 absences and/or tardies

Monthly Monitoring:

• ALL families receive a monthly attendance update for their student(s) notifying them of totals.
• September's attendance report was digitally sent to you on Friday, October 4th.

Quarterly Monitoring:

• Chronically absent students, those with 10% or more absences and/or tardies
• These families will receive an electronic letter regarding their child's absences and an invitation to meet to help support their child's attendance at school.

As a reminder, Placentino's doors open for kindergarten through grade 2 students at 8:35AM. Students are considered tardy when they arrive after 8:55AM. AM preschool students are marked tardy after 9:00 AM and PM preschool students are marked tardy after 12:50PM.

We ask for your assistance in assuring that your child consistently attends school and is on time to begin the school day.

• Please DO NOT PASS other cars in the loop in the morning or afternoon for safety purposes.
• Please have your child seated on the passenger side of the vehicle.
• In the morning, please wait for an adult to greet your car and open the car door, DO NOT have your child let themselves out of the car without a staff member present.
• In the afternoon, your child will wait at a cone until a staff member greets them and opens your car door. Staff cannot assist with any buckling or car seats.

Students will have their individual portraits and class photos taken on Wednesday, October 16th. Families are encouraged to order photo packages online.

If you need any assistance paying for school portraits, please reach out to one of our school counselors, Anne Marie Cohen or Heather Dalton.

The PTO helps the school coordinate volunteers every year for our school picture day. If you are able to assist and volunteer for part of the day we would truly appreciate it. Please click here to learn more and sign up to volunteer.

Join the Holliston SEPAC for a spooktacular at their annual Trunk or Treat at Miller Elementary School where families can enjoy a safe, fun, and inclusive Halloween event! Dress up in your favorite costume and visit creatively decorated car trunks for candy, toys and games! All participants can cast their votes for their favorite decorated trunks! Awards are given to the top three decorated trunks! Decorate a Trunk or just come for the treats, we hope you will join us for a fun evening!

• Admission is $5 per a person or $20 per a family
• Decorate your trunk for $20 - Help us make this event a success by decorating your car trunk, for a chance to win prizes! Trunk decorating begins at 5:30pm.

*This is not a school sponsored event*

During the month of September teachers and students in preschool and kindergarten engaged in a read aloud of All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfield.

School is a community where diversity is celebrated and people of all backgrounds, abilities, and appearances are welcome. This book is a rhythmic, colorful tour of the first day of school and all of the activities taking place. The pages are filled with diversity of all types, warmth, and an inclusive “all are welcome here” mantra. One page has the text that is the theme of the book, "We’re part of a community. Our strength is our diversity."

Conversation Starters:

• Have you ever wondered whether other children will welcome or include you or want to be your friend?
• How do you think your friends are like you and different from you?

During the month of September teachers and students in first and second grade engaged in a read aloud of Our Class is a Family by Shannon Olsen.

This story shares the message that families come in many shapes and sizes. It emphasizes that family is more than the people you are related to. It also establishes norms around how classmates should treat each other and can help educators create a sense of community in the classroom.

Conversation Starters:

• What does the word “family” mean to you?
• Who is in your family?
• How are the members of your family alike and how are they different?
• How can we be good members of a family?
• How is our class like a family?

We administer universal screenings in both literacy and mathematics three times a year for all students. We will share the results of these screenings at parent/guardian conferences in October/November. We will mail home the mid year and end of year results of for all kindergarten through grade 2 students.

The group will leave Blair Square at 8:30 and arrive at Placentino at 8:45

Families are welcome to join, too!

Come 10 minutes early to enjoy snacks in Blair Square!

Kindergarten through Grade 2

• The school day begins at 8:55AM
• Students can begin getting dropped off to school at 8:35AM (breakfast is available starting at this time)
• The school day ends and students begin dismissing at 3:20PM

Preschool

• AM Preschool: 9:00AM to 11:30AM
• PM Preschool: 12:50PM to 3:20PM
• Full Day Preschool 9:00AM to 3:20PM

We kindly ask that there is a parent/guardian at the bus stop each afternoon. Students will be brought back to school if there is no one at the bus stop to greet them. As bus drop off times vary due to traffic we ask that you leave a window of time each day to wait for the bus.

Sincerely,

Dr. Slaney, Mrs. Cordero, and Mrs. Robinson