Dear Sherwood Community,
Congratulations to all of our students who participated in the Spelling Bee this past Friday night and our three finalists (1st Place: Vasudha Madhusudhan, 2nd Place: Zuhaib Syed, and 3rd Place: Dhruv Jain). Special thanks to our judges Mr. Tom Angell, School Committee Member, Mrs. Sandy Fryc and announcer Marc Adler for volunteering their time.
A reminder that reports cards will be available online in the Power School Parent Portal this Wednesday. Please be sure to review this information with your child and follow up with your child's teacher if you have any questions or concerns.
We hope you will consider tuning in to the School Committee meeting on Wednesday night where a recommendation will be made to the School Committee on sleep health and school start times for next school year.
Wishing you and your family a wonderful week!
Jon, Heather, and Karen
This Week's Schedule
Monday, December 12th: Day 6
Sleep Health Webinar @ 7pm
Tuesday, December 13th: Day 1Wednesday, December 14th: Day 2
Report Cards Available Online
School Committee Meeting @ 7pm
Thursday, December 15th Day 3
Grade 6 Say Something Virtual Assembly
Friday, December 16th: Day 4
School Council Meeting @ 8:15am
Ugly Sweater Day
Report Cards Available Wednesday
Sleep Health Webinar Monday Night
Monday Night 7pm-8pm: Live Webinar on Sleep Health with Dr. Judith Owens from Boston Children’s Hospital & Harvard Medical School
Please join us this Monday evening from 7pm-8pm for a live webinar with Dr. Judith Owens, an expert on the sleep health of adolescents and children from Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Owens will speak about the research related to students’ sleep health and school start times. There will be a presentation of information and a Q&A portion. This timely presentation will precede recommendations for potential school start time changes for next fall that will be presented to the School Committee this coming Wednesday evening by the Sleep Health Advisory Committee. Use this link to join the webinar: https://shrewsburyps.zoom.us/j/82608980125
Reminders About Illness
As you are very likely aware, Shrewsbury and surrounding communities are currently seeing an increase in viral illnesses including flu and COVID, and an unprecedented increase in RSV, a virus that causes mostly cold symptoms in healthy individuals but can be dangerous for infants and toddlers or others with pre-existing conditions. In order to keep our school communities as healthy as possible, we would like to remind you of the following:
Keep your child home from school if they have a fever >100, and/or if they are experiencing multiple flu-like symptoms (cough, nasal congestion, runny nose, headache, unusual fatigue, etc); they should remain at home until they are fever-free for 24 hours without medications that reduce fever and their symptoms are improved
Report diagnosed flu, COVID or RSV to the school nurse (this helps in tracking illness rates across the district); keep your child home as directed by your healthcare provider
Remind your child to wash their hands frequently
Vaccinate children who are eligible for flu and COVID vaccines
Children 6 months and older can receive the flu vaccine
Children 6 months and older can receive the initial COVID vaccine series and
Children ages 5 and over are eligible for the updated bivalent COVID booster
Avoid social gatherings if you or your child are ill
Contact your healthcare provider if you believe your child needs medical care
Masks remain optional at school; if you would like your child to wear a mask, please send them to school with a mask and a small supply of replacement masks
Respectfully,
Noelle Freeman, RN, SPS Director of School Nursing
Timothy Gibson, MD, SPS School Physician/UMass Pediatric Hospitalist
Holiday Toy and Food Drive
Community Outreach Crew is looking for donations.
Our crew is hosting a toy and canned drive. We are hoping to collect toys that children up to age 12 would enjoy. All toy donations should come in unwrapped please. All the donations for Toy Drive will go to the Toys for Tots center.
The canned food drive will go to St. Anne’s Food Pantry. We will be collecting non perishable items like canned goods and vegetables, boxes of mac and cheese, and boxed meals.
There will be boxes outside the Main Office for the canned foods and the toys. All donations will be collected until December 22nd.
Friday: Ugly Sweater Contest
The social events crew is excited to announce the Sherwood ugly sweater contest! Both students and teachers are encouraged to participate.
Wear your best ugly sweater! Each team will vote for the team winner who will win BEST ugly sweater. This winner will move up to the next round to be entered in the chance to win BEST ugly sweater of Sherwood for a prize!
This is WINTER themed - ugly sweaters can include anything, it does not have to be holiday! They can be homemade out of old decorations, tinsel, markers, felt, leftover art supplies, etc. They can also be shirts, sweatshirts, or hoodies - whatever is available to you! :)
Mental Health Services Research Study Sign Up
You are invited to take part in a research study that explores how the mental health services provided by schools relate to the well-being of students (e.g., life satisfaction, emotions, psychological well-being, mindfulness). The study is led by an honors undergraduate student at Assumption University, Angelina Davis, and her supervisor, Dr. Maria Kalpidou, a faculty member in the psychology department at Assumption University. This study is approved by the Institutional Review Board of Assumption University. The study is not in any way associated with Shrewsbury Public Schools.
The study involves the participation of one guardian (10-15 minutes) and one child (20 minutes). If you are interested in participating, you may click on the link below. The link will first bring you to a consent form with more specifics regarding yours and your child’s participation. If you consent, you will be brought to the questionnaires. Please note, there is one link for both you and your child. After you consent, you will be directed to your survey. Upon completion, you will be instructed to allow your child to complete their part. Your child will have the opportunity to consent before they are directed to their respective surveys. You may not exit the survey and return at a later time to continue, so your child needs to be present to complete their parts immediately following your participation. We ask that both you and your child respect each other's privacy as you complete your respective surveys. We hope you will decide to participate as both caregiver and student responses are needed for the project. Your participation is voluntary and does not affect your relation with the school. If you participate you will be given the opportunity to submit a family email address to be entered into a raffle for one of eight $25 gift cards. This will also enter your child into a raffle to win one of thirty $5 gift cards. The surveys are set up in such a way that your email address will not be linked to yours or your child’s surveys. Thank you in advance for your time and involvement in this important research!
Link to survey: https://aupsych.iad1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8wEnsvoYzSR5wDs
Reminder If Your Child is Absent or Tardy
If your child will be absent or tardy, please call the Child Safe line (508-841-8670) by 8:00am. You may also call the day or night before. An automated phone call goes out every morning at 9:15 and if we do not receive a message by 8:00am you will receive a phone call.
This is a child safety procedure that is in place to ensure the well- being of all of our students.
Say Something Grade 6 Virtual Assembly
The Say Something program teaches middle school students to recognize the warning signs of someone at-risk of hurting themselves or others and how to say something to a trusted adult to get help.The Say Something program aligns seamlessly with any school’s existing social-emotional learning (SEL) curriculum, instruction, and programming. Students build essential SEL competencies, including how to empathize with others and seek help when needed (relationship skills) and how to identify problems and analyze situations, as well as solve problems in an ethically-responsible manner (responsible decision-making).
If you want more information about the Say Something program or helpful hints on how to talk to your child about this topic at home, open this Parent Guide.
FAIR TRADE CARAVANS
** ORDERING ENDS TOMORROW NIGHT (12/12) !!! ***
Check out all the unique, high quality, handcrafted gift items available in our holiday fundraising catalog. 25% of everything you buy goes directly to SMS PTO. And with your purchase, you will support academic enrichment programs, media center materials and student field trips.
Shop now: https://fairtradecaravans.com/fundraiser/sherwood-middle-school-pto/
JANUARY PTO MEETING
The December PTO meeting will be Monday, January 9th, @ 7PM in the Oak Media Center.
Join us as we plan the Sherwood Winter Night Out, and look forward to our future events!
**The PTO is looking for members to join and help fill roles. including fundraising coordinator and communications, as we have current members leaving at the end of the school year.
The SMS PTO serves both Sherwood and Oak and we welcome parents from grades 5-8!
https://www.facebook.com/events/1340571766703443/
Additional Reminders
DISMISSAL
If you are dismissing your child early, you must call the Main Office at 508-841-8670 (instead of emailing team teachers).
LATE BUS
We are now offering a FREE late bus services for all Sherwood students on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. The buses will depart from Sherwood at 4:00pm.
- There are three bus routes with centralized stops coming from each campus. Please look at the middle schools map to decide which route and stop is best for your family.
- Times are approximate and the actual time your child gets off the bus may be different from the time posted in the schedule.
- Parents are responsible for making arrangements for their students to get home from the centralized bus stops.
- Families will need to sign up for the late bus via the middle schools Google form by noon on the day your child will take the bus.
Please contact April Yu (transportation@shrewsbury.k12.ma.us) with questions.
Sherwood Middle School
