Duval Dispatch

Hello Duval Community!

We had a busy week last week as students took on lots of academic projects, enjoyed some fun times at recess, and enjoyed a fun and lively Brain Show assembly on Friday! Families who came out Friday night also had a blast playing the quiz show! These kinds of assemblies and events are made possible by our hardworking (and really fun) PTO. Looking ahead, in the next month or so, there are some big PTO events, and your participation and support are critical to helping make for even more great activities for our students and community!

Through a great grant, our food services team has had fruit and veggie tastings on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Kids have tried blueberries, snap peas, and cucumbers so far. (We are being very careful with food allergies.) Kids have really enjoyed trying out new fresh foods!

Please see the article below for this week's big theme where Going Gold helps our Garden Grow!!

Have a great week everyone!

Dr. Marcus and Ms. Craig

Duval is excited to participate in an important fundraiser to support childhood cancer research and awareness. This is an issue that has touched the lives of many Duval Dolphins, especially with one of our wonderful students last year, so we are adding an extra touch to really make this effort shine like GOLD!

Along with bringing in a dollar or two that students have earned outside of school, they will also be receiving gold ribbons for showing acts of respect, to be placed on their classroom door. On Friday, the class that has the most ribbons (respectful acts) and has added the most money to the golden boot in the office, wins a Gold Medal for their room. Second gets a Silver, and third gets a Bronze! Everyone is encouraged to wear Gold (yellow) or purple on Friday!

Let's work together to raise funds and awareness about childhood cancer this week and show our whole WH community that Duval rocks!!

Rainy Day. Many thanks to families for your patience and caution this last Friday. Overall, it was a smooth and safe dismissal. Remember, No passing anywhere on campus driveways.

Please do not arrive for Parent Pick Up before 3pm. Thank you!

Placards: Please email Mrs. Brandon if you need one or more yellow placards. If you don't have one and the person doing pick up doesn't recognize you, getting out your license and checking for allowed pick up REALLY slows everyone down.

Walkers/Bikers: Parents on foot picking up should be on the grass by the bike rack, far left of school, NOT down by car pick up.

Buses. Please be outside or clearly visible to the bus driver at least 5 minutes before expected pick up or drop off time.

LAST CHANCE this week! Please click on the link below or use the QR code to learn about the Chromebook Insurance program.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cLaBnEVwgMkztuVQAiIo_rK5nL05NDU7/view?usp=sharing

Nurse Melissa will keep this area updated with information regarding health and wellness within our community.

Many thanks Duval PTO and Whitman Cultural Council!

Sept. 23-27- Go Gold for Cancer Research Week

Sept. 24- Bus Evacuation Drills

Sept. 27- 5th Grade Trip to the Movie Theater

Oct. 8- PTO Meeting and Papa Gino's Night

Oct. 8- Katy Boucher Parent Program at WHRHS

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Calendar Items for the Year. We'll have a link HERE permanently and update it frequently.

We are proud at Whitman-Hanson of the high quality instructional materials in reading and mathematics that we provide your child, and we are pleased to share with you that this year we will begin a three-year training for our elementary teachers in a research-based writing approach. Writing, and the ability to express oneself in writing, is an essential life skill. These strategies will help teachers develop those skills and hopefully a love for writing among our students. We are pleased to be selected to partner with Providence College in this opportunity. As part of the partnership, our teachers receive feedback about writing samples and instructional practices, which are collected anonymously. For more information about this partnership and your child’s participation, please see this link.

With the changing of seasons comes a wave of PTO events!

We had so much fun playing The Brain Show on Friday. Thank you to the Whitman Cultural Council for the generous grant that made this program available and to all of you who joined us.

Next up is our annual Monster Mash on Friday, October 25th from 6-8 PM. Please join us for a night of dancing, games, snacks, and more. Flyers will be coming home with your students this week with more information about the event.

Our first fundraising effort of the year will also be getting underway as we prepare for our Basket Raffle and Auction. Between our themed classroom baskets, local business donations, and one of a kind experiences offered by our families and staff, there will be over 100 prizes up for grabs. On Friday, November 15th we invite you to the Whitman VFW from 6-9 PM. Please stay tuned for more details.

These events and more will be discussed at our upcoming meeting on Tuesday, October 8th at 7 PM in the Duval Library. Childcare will be provided for Duval students by Whitman-Hanson National Honors Society students.

We hope to see you all soon,

Marshall Ottina

President, Duval PTO

• Families can log into Infinite Campus for classroom information. Need an Infinite Campus Parent Portal Account? Please contact the Technology Department at 781-618-8100

• YMCA Before/After School Care Information

• The WHRSD and Duval School PTO Facebook pages are excellent social media resources for staying connected and informed.

• WHRSD Academic Calendar includes holidays, vacations, and early release date.

John H. Duval Elementary provides a safe, supportive environment where children are able to reach for the stars!

Email: john.marcus@whrsd.org
Website: https://whd.whrsd.org
Location: 60 Regal Street, Whitman, MA 02382
Phone: 781-618-7055
Twitter: @DuvalElementary