Hello Cardinal Community,

Today was the sweetest day at the Cardinal. We celebrated friendships and love! We also enjoyed having our friend Hugh Hanley visiting with all of our classrooms for music! Be sure to scroll through to see a few pictures of the day!

Remember, school is closed for Winter Break. We will reopen on Monday February 24th! We wish you a wonderful break together. See you soon!

Warmly,

Kerry Wilcox

Principal at the Cardinal

Project Bread's Food Hot-Line

• If you live in Massachusetts and need food assistance start by calling the food hotline at 1-800-645-8333

• No matter what you’re going through, we understand that food is a must. We want to help you. We can connect you to programs that will help you afford groceries and put food on the table.

• Calling us is always free, and confidential. Our counselors can assist you with:

• Finding out if you are eligible for SNAP (financial assistance for groceries) and help you apply.

• Finding free meals for your kids in your community

• Learning about how to use your HIP benefits

• Finding meal programs and food pantries

We have had an increase in children arriving and leaving school in our carpool line who are not properly secured in their car. According to MA car seat laws, children under 8 years old or 57 inches tall must be in a federally-approved car seat or booster seat and buckled in the back seat. All of our students here at the Cardinal meet that criteria and must be buckled in a booster seat every day when arriving and leaving school. We have been instructed by our SRO (Safety Resource Officer) that when students are not properly secured, it is our responsibility to file a report with the Department of Children and Families (DCF).

We want to support our families in this effort and help you keep your children safe. We will be checking students in our carpool line and if your child is not properly restrained, we will check in with you to see how we can assist and help you meet this requirement before making a report to DCF.

If you are in need of a booster seat, please click this link and sign up. We will do our best to assist getting your child a seat. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me. Let's work as a team to keep out students safe!

https://forms.gle/AGLZGnkPtDkbfRfE9

Best,
Jennifer Williams

Social Worker
(978) 446-7000

Showing up on time every day is important to your child's success and learning from preschool forward.

Missing 10% of school (1 or 2 days every few weeks) can make it harder to:

*Gain early reading and math skills.

*Build relationships.

* Develop good attendance habits.

High quality preschool and kindergarten has many benefits!

*The routines your child develops will continue throughout school.

*Make the most of early grades by encouraging your child to attend every day.

Check the district calendar below for more details

February

• 17-21 School is closed for Winter Break
• 24-School reopens

Did you know you can follow us here on Class Dojo (your child's teacher can help you connect!), on Facebook and on our website? Check us out: https://www.facebook.com/lpsdcardinal and https://www.lowell.k12.ma.us/cardinal

If your child is not feeling well at school, you might get a call from the office to come pick them up. Please be ready to come get them as soon as you can!

To help your child get better quickly and to stop germs from spreading to other students and teachers, please remember these important health rules from the district:

When Children Must Remain Home

Children must remain home if they have any of the following:

• A contagious illness like chicken pox, flu, or strep throat, until the doctor says it's safe to return or the child has been on antibiotics for 24 hours
• A rash or skin condition not diagnosed by a doctor
• A fever that causes chills, sweating or muscle aches
• Temperature over 100.0° within the past 24 hours
• Vomiting or diarrhea within the past 24 hours
• Red or pink eyes, or drainage from eyes
• Head lice (live lice)
• Have been notified by the school nurse/health department that immunizations are not up to date (exclusion notice is given after the 3rd warning)

Returning to School

When can a child return to school after an illness? Before returning to school:

• A child must be fever-free without medication for 24 hours
• A child must be symptom-free for 24 hours
• A child with a diagnosis of strep throat, impetigo or conjunctivitis must be on medication for 24 hours before returning to school

• On stormy days, a NO SCHOOL or DELAY OF SCHOOL announcement will be made by the Central Office through the ConnectEd System (a call to home) and posted on the Lowell Public Schools website.
• Announcements will also be publicized on WCAP radio 980 AM and on television (Channels 4, 5, 7 and 25)
• When there is a DELAY OF SCHOOL there is NO half day preschool-both morning and afternoon sessions are canceled.

21 Carter Street

Lowell, MA 01852

(978)446-7000

Principal: Kerry Wilcox kwilcox@lowell.k12.ma.us

Social Worker: Jennifer Williams jennifer.williams@lowell.k12.ma.us

Administrative Assistant: Laurie Carney lauriecarney@lowell.k12.ma.us

Our website

Follow us on Facebook