McGovern News!

It is hard to believe the first month of school is behind us. Our faculty and staff have been working hard on building classroom community, developing routines, and clearly outlining expectations for students. Staff have spent time getting to know your child and what their interests are.

In addition, we have spent the last several weeks getting to know your students academically. We have engaged in beginning of year assessments which will help us develop differentiated whole and small group instruction. Next week, teachers will send home information on your child's beginning of year iReady data. Although conferences are coming up in November, should you ever have any questions or concerns, you should feel free to reach out to your child's teacher.

Have a great weekend

Best,

Amy McDonald, Principal

Please click the following links for directions on how to translate the newsletter.

Here is the link for the master directions in English.

Here is the link for Spanish.

Here is the link for French.

Here is the link for Russian.

Here is the link for Arabic

Here is the link for Portuguese.

Here is the link for Chinese (traditional).

Here is the link for Tamil.

Here is the link for Telugu.

Haga clic en los siguientes enlaces para obtener instrucciones sobre cómo traducir el boletín.

Aquí está el enlace para español.

Here is the link for Spanish.

Veuillez cliquer sur les liens suivants pour savoir comment traduire le bulletin d'information.

Voici le lien pour le français.

Here is the link for French.

Пожалуйста, нажмите следующие ссылки для получения инструкций о том, как перевести информационный бюллетень.

Вот ссылка на русский.

Here is the link for Russian.

Clique nos links a seguir para obter instruções sobre como traduzir o boletim informativo.

Aqui está o link para o espanhol.

Here is the link for Portuguese.

單擊以下鏈接以獲取有關如何翻譯時事通訊的說明。

這是西班牙語的鏈接。

Here is the link for Chinese (traditional).

செய்திமடலை எவ்வாறு மொழிபெயர்ப்பது என்பது குறித்த வழிமுறைகளுக்கு பின்வரும் இணைப்புகளைக் கிளிக் செய்யவும்.

ஸ்பானிஷ் மொழிக்கான இணைப்பு இதோ.

Here is the link for Tamil.

వార్తాలేఖను ఎలా అనువదించాలో సూచనల కోసం క్రింది లింక్‌లపై క్లిక్ చేయండి.

స్పానిష్ కోసం ఇక్కడ లింక్ ఉంది.

Here is the link for Telugu.

انقر فوق الروابط التالية للحصول على إرشادات حول كيفية ترجمة النشرة الإخبارية.

هنا هو الرابط

Here is the link for Arabic

It’s been three years since the McGovern School last participated in the International Walk to School event and we can’t wait to restart the tradition and celebrate the day with our new “generation” of McGovern students. The walk to school event was created in 1997 by SafeRoutes to help promote healthier habits, a cleaner environment, pedestrian safety, and a number of community benefits such as less traffic and improved accessibility for all students.

Kindergarten and 1st grade McGovern students can be dropped off at the VFW at 8:35 by their family (who are welcomed to walk with their student!) OR their bus, and with staff members, will walk the .5 mile walk to school! To help ensure the students’ safety, Medway Police Department will be on hand to assist with crossing Holliston Street in two different places.

Pre-school students and families….you will be participating in your own “Mini'' Walk to School Day! You or your child’s bus will drop them off at the top of the McGovern driveway and then the preK students will walk to school as a class with their teacher.

This permission slip will be sent home and must be signed and returned by October 7 whether or not your child plans to participate to help us track who is and is not walking. Students not walking will be brought to McGovern on their bus where staff members will be monitoring the children until the rest of the school arrives.

Did you know there are several ways to follow us on social media? Please see below for our links. Please also note that we will not be interacting with our Facebook page, as it is a place for us to post information. As always, if you have any questions regarding your child and/or the school, please reach out to your child's teacher, the front office, or administration.

McGovern Elementary School: Twitter: @McGovernElem

Facebook: @mcgovernelem

Instagram: @mcgovernelem

School council is an important part of any school. Councils work on School improvement plans, provide feedback, and more. At McGovern we are looking for three members of our family community to join. Meetings are at 3:20 PM on Wednesdays and the dates of meetings are: 10/19**, 11/10, 11/30, 1/25, 3/8, 4/25, and 5/24.

If you are interested in serving on our School Site Council, please contact Amy McDonald at amcdonald@medwayschools.org by October 5th at 3:00 PM. If more than three members of our community are interested in serving on the Council, we will hold an election at the first MEPTO meeting on October 24, 2022 at 6:30 PM.

**date may need to change

The McGovern School library is now open! Kindergarteners and First Grade students are all welcome to check out books when they visit the library during their weekly library special. Students may check out one book at a time and keep them for a week. Books can be returned to classrooms or the school library any time before their next library session. We hope you all have fun and enjoy reading the books!

If you have any questions please let our wonderful library team know:

Julie Overstreet - juoverstreet@medwayschools.org (Librarian)

Mathew Holt - mholt@medwayschools.org (Library Media Specialist)

Picture Day will be held on Wednesday, October 26th!

Retakes will be held on Tuesday, November 8th.

Information on how to order prints will be sent out in the coming weeks.

Please click here to view the Geskus Families FAQ's for our upcoming picture day.

Our Fall Scholastic Book Fair will be held Monday October 31st through Friday November 4th.

More information to come !

At least 4 families in Medway have been helped by Shriners Hospital for Children in Boston over the years. The Jackson family, the Davis family, the Fagerson family, and most recently the MacLeod family this summer. All at no cost thanks to the incredible Shriners Hospital!

Shriners hospital collects can tabs for money. If you would like to join us in thanking Shriners Hospital on behalf of these families you can collect can tabs and drop them at the fire station or police station. If you have a student at McGovern School you can have them bring them to school to drop in a container in our main office. Thank you for your support!

This past week our faculty and staff engaged in a 2 hour safety training in collaboration with Synergy and the Medway Police Department. We are committed to this yearly training which reviews our internal procedures, Inforce 911 system, and we practice specific drills with the assistance of the Medway Police Department.

We are excited to welcome volunteers back to the McGovern School! Due to COVID-19 safety guidelines, it has been a while since we have had regular volunteers in our building. If you would like to volunteer on a more regular basis, it is required that you complete a training, complete a CORI form (yearly), bring your license to school, and complete a volunteer form. A link to the training and all related documents can be found here.

If you are interested in coming to school as a Mystery Reader or only for one event, you do not need to complete the training. The training is intended for regular volunteers in the school setting. If you are interested in being a more regular volunteer, please complete the training and then we will reach back with volunteer opportunities.

Medway Schools and Public Health Department have partnered to offer a COVID-19 and influenza vaccine clinic. The COVID-19 vaccine will be offered to children ages 6 months to 11 years old, and the flu vaccine will be offered to anyone over 3 years old. The vaccine clinic will be held at the Burke-Memorial Cafeteria on October 6 and November 3, from 3:30-6:00 PM. For more details and to register, please click here.

This school year, Medway T.H.R.I.V.E. is offering opportunities for parents/guardians to learn how they can promote student self-efficacy and sleep. Joanie Geltman, MSW, will share best practices for growing children’s self-efficacy, and Judith Owens, MD, will help parents and guardians understand the impact of sleep on academic and athletic achievement. Full event details can be found here.

Children need healthy meals to learn. Medway Public Schools offers healthy meals every school day. During the 2022-2023 school year, all students will receive free breakfast and lunch at school. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has provided money to do this for one year through the State budget. We need your help to ensure our district receives all the financial resources for which it qualifies. Please fill out and submit the application for free and reduced price school meals. If many families fill out and return this form, we will get more money from the federal government for free school meals now and in the future. We will also get more money for other school programs. Filling out this form also helps our community provide free summer meals to all kids, and free meals to kids in childcare. The information you provide is confidential. We follow strict federal rules to keep your information private.

MPS requests that all guardians complete the Online Registration process, better known as the “beginning of year packet”, within the Parent Portal. Please complete the application by September 30, 2022. Completing the online registration ensures we have the most accurate and up to date information for your child(ren) and helps us stay in touch with families. To access the Online Registration Process, please login to the Parent Portal via a computer. This is the URL address https://medwayma.infinitecampus.org/campus/portal/medway.jsp then choose MORE > Online Registration from the left menu. Follow the prompts to review and confirm the information we have on file. Please note that it may be difficult to complete the forms via a smartphone. Guardians without a portal account can email parent@medwayschools.org for an activation code.

October 5: No School, Yom Kippur

October 6: COVID-19/Flu Vaccine Clinic, 3:30-6:00 PM- Burke-Memorial School

October 7: Arena Day, No Preschool Classes

October 10: Columbus Day, No School

October 19: School Site Council, 3:20-4:20 PM

October 20: THRIVE Event: Promoting Self-Efficacy with Elementary Students, 6:30 at Burke-Memorial

October 26: Picture Day

October 31: Halloween

November 3: COVID-19/Flu Vaccine Clinic, 3:30-6:00 PM- Burke-Memorial School

November 4: Arena Day, No Preschool Classes