Dear Center Community,

A huge thank you to Ellen Ellis and her team of dedicated volunteers (Some who no longer have students at Center!!) for the countless hours of their time they joyfully gave to ensure the gift room was a smashing success. The gift room is a significant fundraiser for the school and a nice way for students to show kindness and give to those they love.

Center Cares Program

The Center School community is known for its care and concern for community members and its generosity. I know people are often looking for ways to support a local family in need, so in order to do this we have established a "Center Cares Program". This program will give interested Center families, community members and staff an avenue to donate gift cards that will be distributed to Center families throughout the year. This type of donation has traditionally been done around the holidays but we would like to maintain the program throughout the year as hardships often arise. The principals, school counselor and nurse work with families in need to determine recipients of the gift cards. Some suggested gift cards include Market Basket, Stop & Shop, Hannafords, Walmart, Target and Kohls. If you would like to make a donation please submit it to the front office. We ask for gift cards in $25 denominations to make distribution easier.

Center Chirps:

• We have a few spirit days this week. Festive sweater day is on Wednesday and PJ or Chelmsford spirit wear will be on Friday. Have fun with these. :)
• Students will be going out for recess if the real feel temperature is 20 degrees or warmer and it is not raining (snow or a slight drizzle are fine)during your students' recess time slot. Please make sure they have appropriate outerwear. If this is a hardship, please reach out to our counselor or nurse.

Warm Regards,

Dianna and Donna

We are now in the middle of the respiratory illness season and I hope that you and your family stay healthy. Because a variety of illnesses are going around this time of year, please review some reminders for families to help keep our students and our Center community safe and healthy:

1. Support heathy immune systems by helping students to get 9-12 hours of sleep each night, eat healthy food and drink plenty of water, get daily exercise outside and wash their hands frequently.

2. Stay up-to-date with flu and covid vaccines and take a test for flu and covid when symptoms are present.

3. Follow the CPS illness policy when students are not feeling well and call the nurse if you are not sure if they can attend school.

• We recommend that children do not come to school if they appear to be ill. We advise caregivers to keep students home if they have a sore throat, severe cold, rash, fever over 100, vomiting and/or diarrhea. Students need to stay home if they have any of the following:

• A fever over 100: May return to school when he/she is fever-free for 24 hours without fever-reducing medication (e.g. Tylenol or Advil).

• Strep Throat: If strep throat is suspected and the child either has had a negative throat culture or has been on antibiotics and fever-free for a full 24 hours (without Tylenol or Advil)

• Vomiting and/or diarrhea: May return to school 24 hours after his/her last vomiting and/or diarrhea episode.

• Red or pink itchy eyes with crusty and or green/yellow drainage: May return to school the day after treatment for 24 hours and has no further eye discharge.

• Head Lice or nits (eggs)

• A rash of unknown cause: May require MD clearance at the discretion of the school nurse.

• After a major illness, injury or hospitalization, a doctor's note may be required to return to school.

• All of the CPS health policies can be found on the district website: https://chelmsfordschools.org/departments/health-services/health-policies/

1. Please be aware that there has been an increase in Pneumonia cases recently and call your child's doctor if they are not feeling well.

https://www.healthychildren.org/Pneumonia

Rose Remmetter Felzani, MSN, RN

Center School Nurse

Want to have some fun and foster your child's social skills? Check out these recommendations from our speech and language pathologists.

December

• Wednesday, December 18, Festive Sweater Day

• Friday, December 20: Chelmsford Spirit Day/PJ day

• Winter Recess: December 23 - January 3

January

• School back in session on Monday, January 6

• Monday, January 6: Be Kind Spirit Wear day

• Wednesday, January 8: Gr K, Term 1 End of marking period

• Friday, January 10: co-president’s meeting; 9:15-10:15

• Tuesday, January 14: Half Day (Professional Day)

• Tuesday, January 14: Dining to Donate the Establishment

• Friday, January 17: Gr K, Teacher deadline for posting grades

• Monday, January 20: No School- Martin Luther King, Jr. day

• Friday, January 24: Chelmsford Spirit Day

• Wednesday, January 22: Gr K, T1 Grades available online for parent/guardian

• Wednesday, January 22: CSPTO mtg Center Library, 6:30-7:30

At Center School, there are a number of free and reduced cost programs and donations, offered throughout the year, for example, free backpacks and school supplies, gift cards, holiday support, Thanksgiving meals etc. If these resources would be helpful, please fill out the attached 2 question form This information is confidential and will remain exclusively with the administration. You will not need to provide any additional documentation and we will reach out as options arise. Please contact Mrs. Fulreader if you have any questions.

https://forms.gle/zotYEnqVWCjcuuii8

This year, and moving forward, Massachusetts is offering all school lunch and breakfast at no charge to students. This does not automatically make families eligible for any other benefits. We strongly encourage families that feel they are eligible for transportation or extended day reduced tuition to fill out the online free and reduced meal application. The links can be found below. https://cpsnutrition.com/index.php?sid=1478035692058&page=lunchapps

If you do qualify for benefits you most likely will be eligible for SNAP benefits. https://www.mass.gov/snap-benefits-formerly-food-stamps

Some examples of SNAP benefits are discounts on gas, electric utilities and internet services.

Please visit our school nutrition website at https://cpsnutrition.com/index.php?sid=1478035692058 for more information about our program and also a link to the free and reduced lunch application.