Shaw Community Update

Dear Parents, Guardians, Students, and Community Members,

At Shaw, we are committed to nurturing an environment where everyone feels a genuine sense of belonging, where student voices are not only heard but celebrated, and where ownership and agency over learning drive every experience.

We value every student's perspective, actively encouraging them to share their thoughts, ideas, and concerns. By elevating their voices, we aim to ensure students are not only involved in their education but also integral to shaping it. Students and families will both have an opportunity to share their perspectives through the YouthTruth Student and Family surveys taking place this month; see below for more information.

Our goal is to build a school community where every student feels valued, respected, and included. By listening to their voices and understanding their needs, we strive to better meet each student's unique requirements, fostering a deeper sense of belonging.

We encourage our students to take ownership of their learning journey. By involving them in goal-setting, decision-making about their education, and promoting self-reflection, we empower them to become active participants in their learning and recognize the impact they can have on the world around them.

Your input and support continue to be invaluable to us. Our doors are always open, and we encourage you to reach out to us at any time.

Warm regards,

Andrew Tuccio & Erin Rosenkranz
Raymond E. Shaw Leadership Team

We will be asking your child to participate in the YouthTruth Student Survey starting next week. The YouthTruth Student Survey is a nationally recognized survey used in hundreds of schools and districts across the country, surveying hundreds of thousands of students. The confidential survey asks students about their experiences in school and with their teachers, including how engaged they are at school, the rigor of their coursework, and their preparedness for the future. Our school, other schools, and researchers may use such information to develop plans to help schools and teachers improve. For information about this survey, please visit https://youthtruth.org, or speak to a school administrator.

Although we want to hear from all students, participation in this survey is voluntary. If you do not wish to have your child participate in this survey, please email Mr. Tuccio at atuccio@millburyschools.org

Please be aware that under federal law, you have the right to review a copy of the questions to be asked of your child. The survey questions can be found here.

Here is an opportunity for you to make your voice heard about experiences at our school! Please remember there are no right or wrong answers to the questions and your responses are 100% confidential. The information obtained in the surveys will be used to guide the vision of our district going forward. Please check your email for a link to the surveys.

If you have any questions please reach out to Mr. Tuccio at atuccio@millburyschools.org

Did you hear the BIG news?!? Author, Jarrett Krosoczka is coming to visit in December and we are so excited!!!! Shout-out to the Parents’ Club for funding this event. We will be going all out this year to prepare for Jarrett’s visit, including a school-wide read aloud and a grade level hallway decorating contest. Woohoo!

• October 3rd: Boosterthon Fun Run

• October 4th: Woolie Pride & World Smile Day (Wear Yellow)

• October 8th: Reverse Roles Spirit Day

• October 10th: Half-Day Dismissal is at 11:20 (Professional Development)

• October 11th: No School (Professional Development)

• October 14th: No School (Indigenous Peoples' / Columbus Day)

• October 15th: Hawaiian Spirit Day

• October 18th: Progress Reports Issued

• October 22nd: Around the World / Culture Spirit Day

• October 23rd: School Council 3:30PM at Shaw

• October 31st: Halloween Parade (More information to follow)

Millbury Public Schools School Calendar 2024-2025

Student-Led Conferences (SLCs): Save the Dates

This year we will be hosting student-led conferences in person. The dates of the conferences will be December 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 11th.

The Shaw Spirit School Store is open, and we need your help to keep it going. Shaw’s school store allows students to use their Woolie Bucks to purchase various fun and educational items. We're seeking your support to help start keeping it stocked. If you’d like to help enhance our selection, please consider donating items from our Amazon Wishlist. Your generosity will benefit our students, giving them more choices and encouraging DREAM behavior. Some more expensive items will be used for school-wide raffles as part of the school store. Thank you for supporting our school community!

During this first month of school, grades three and four general music classes were assessed regarding their ability to recognize and perform rhythmic patterns using drum circle activities. Grade five general music classes expanded on their understanding of rhythmic patterns using bucket drumming activities.

Band recruitment has been another major activity at the start of the school year. Most of last year’s beginner band class decided to continue their instrumental music studies as part of our grade six concert band! Concert band students have been reviewing rhythms and notes previously learned in addition to their reading skills in preparation for learning multi-part band compositions.

Grade five classes were invited to an instrument demonstration provided by the Millbury High School Marching Band on September 4th. After the demonstration, approximately forty-three students signed up to be a part of this year’s beginner band. After two lessons, students have already learned how to produce a sound, put together and hold their instruments, and play their first notes.

Mr. Rollins

The Millbury Parents Club is excited to get started on a new school year and continue our work with our members, the community, and the MPS faculty to provide additional enrichment programs for the students of Millbury. If you want to learn more about the MPC, who they are, what they do, and how you can get involved, MPC invites you to join their kickoff meeting on Tuesday, October 8, 2024, at 7pm in the Elmwood Library. If you want more information, please follow Millbury Parents Club on Facebook to stay up-to-date on all events, meetings, and activities.

It was another successful Scholastic Book Fair. Thank you to Goretti’s for donating shopping bags to be used at the Scholastic Book Fair.

Thank you to all our volunteers - especially the Millbury High School student volunteers and National Honor Society members who helped to make the book fair a success!

Every month our 3rd grade has a community meeting. For our first one, we had some special guests. Our SROs Officer Dean and Officer Fortunato, along with their pups Mikah & Dusty, joined us. They read a book and spoke to students. The focus was on A.L.I.CE. safety in the new building.

As we kicked off the 2024/2025 school year, our 4th graders have been focusing on building a strong and supportive community both within their individual classrooms and as a grade level. During the first few weeks, students have rotated through all the 4th-grade classrooms, participating in a variety of engaging team-building activities. From collaborative STEM projects to exciting minute-to-win-it games and fun getting-to-know-each-other exercises, our students are laying the foundation for a successful year ahead.

Our goal is to instill the values of self-efficacy and perseverance, setting the stage for a year filled with growth, learning, and achievement. The 4th-grade team is thrilled to see our students working together, building friendships, and embracing the challenges ahead with enthusiasm!

This month, 5th graders met with Officer Dean and Officer Fortunato, along with Mikah and Dusty to review ALICE protocols. Students did a great job participating and listening to them, and Mikah and Dusty showed off some cool tricks, too!

We hope this letter finds you well. As the days of summer come to a close and green leaves begin to change color, we wanted to take a moment to share some updates about our sixth-grade class.

September marked the start of a new school year, and we were thrilled to welcome your children back to our classrooms. We've been working hard to create a positive and engaging learning environment where students can feel safe, supported, and inspired to explore new ideas.

We want to express our gratitude to those who attended our Open House Night. It was a wonderful opportunity to connect with you and learn more about your children's interests and backgrounds.

As we enter October, our students will wrap up their first WIN cycle. Based on their recent i-Ready assessments, they will be placed in new groups to ensure they receive the support they need to succeed.

After term 1, our science program will shift our focus from how sound works to its connections with force. We are in need of old speakers (any size will do). Students will be investigating how speakers work by making incisions to the housing and opening them up. Needless to say, the speakers will no longer function after that and will be disposed of accordingly. If you have old speakers from a device that are mold and mildew-free that you no longer need, we will happily take them for our experiment.

Thank you for your continued support. We're confident that together, we can make this a truly exceptional year for our sixth graders.

Do you want to help promote the love of reading for students at Shaw? This year at Shaw we will once again have The Birthday Book Cart. Every day after a student has their birthday recognized during morning announcements they will get to choose a book they WANT to read and keep from The Birthday Book Cart. If you would like to support The Birthday Book Cart you can purchase a book from our Amazon Wish List or please feel free to drop off new books or donations to purchase new books at the main office at any time.

We are thrilled to continue offering lessons from the Choose Love curriculum to all students at Shaw. This curriculum teaches foundational concepts and skills of social-emotional learning through lessons on courage, gratitude, forgiveness, and compassion in action. Click the following link for an introduction to Choose Love.

Curriculum information can be found on the District's Office of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment website.

• District Curriculum Resources

• MA Curriculum Frameworks

School Nutrition Services is looking forward to a great year! We are mainly going digital. Please fill out the following information if you would like to sign your children up for half-day lunches or to sign off on sharing information with other departments in the district.

• Half-Day Lunch Order Form
• Millbury Nutrition Services Website
• Millbury Nutrition Services Facebook

Email: shawadmin@millburyschools.org

Website: https://shaw.millburyschools.org/
Location: 58 Elmwood Street, Millbury, MA, USA
Phone: (508) 865-3541
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/raymond.shaw.3150

The Millbury Public Schools ensures equal employment and educational opportunities for its employees and students and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex or sexual orientation, gender identity (M.G.L. c. 151B and 151C, Title VI, Title VII, and Title IX), or on the basis of disability (Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973/ADA) or homelessness. In addition, the Millbury Public Schools does not discriminate against its employees on the basis of age (M.G.L. 151B/ADEA) on the basis of veteran's status, or genetic information.