McGovern News!

We are five days into the new school year and our students are doing an exceptional job of learning the routines and getting back into the swing of things. Our educators are doing a terrific job of modeling expectations and using clear and precise language to help students understand all of the "new."

Many teachers have begun the diagnostic assessments and we will continue with ELA and math diagnostics for the next few weeks. In addition, as part of our universal screening, we are adding the DIBELS 8th Edition to our battery of assessments. DIBELS stands for Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills and assess literacy skills through short fluency measures. Finally, teachers will continue this year with the Panorama assessment, which assesses students' social emotional learning competencies. You will hear more about assessments at our Curriculum Night.

Just a friendly reminder about car drop off and pick up. This s a rolling drop off and for the safety of all, please do not get out of your car OR pass any car in the loop. If your child is having a hard time separating from you, staff can help your child out of your car. If that is not successful, we ask that you please pull into a parking spot in our parking lot and help your child out of the car. Staff can assist you there, if you would like. If your child needs help buckling or unbuckling, you can pull ahead to our "Help Area" so you are out of the live drop off loop. Our primary concern is safety of all. We know this can be a stressful time of day, especially at the start of the school year. Please do not get frustrated with staff if they remind you of our procedures- their job is to keep everyone safe!

Finally, please read the updates below and have a great weekend!

Best,

Amy McDonald, Principal

As you know, Curriculum Night will take place at the end of this month. Keeping safety measures, distancing requirements, and capacity challenges, in mind, we will likely need to adapt our typical practices for this event. Principal Kelley and I developed a survey which we shared with families earlier this week.

If you haven't already, please fill out this survey when you have a moment. We will use this information and relevant public health data to develop our Curriculum Night event for parents.

We are asking families to complete this survey by this Tuesday September 14th.

During the 2021-2022 school year Medway Public Schools plans to support student nutrition by offering student-friendly food items and nutritional staples to all interested families. The intent of this survey is to gauge interest in our program and to gather feedback on how to best design it to meet student and family needs. We ask that all interested families please complete this survey by Friday, September 17. Thank you for your help!

As we begin the new school year, we want to ensure that we continue to provide updated information about the impact of COVID-19 within our schools. Please find important updates and information related to COVID-19 in the weekly communication sent from the District titled: Weekly COVID-19 Updates.

The District will be sending this information out weekly, and contains information about COVID data in the District, testing updates, and District protocols. The first communication was sent Friday, September 10th at 3 PM.

Our Wellness Department developed Flow Charts to better explain how our Test and Stay program will work. Please see the the information below to understand how the program will work.

Test and Stay Flow Chart

Car placards have been distributed to families and are required for all families at dismissal. Even if we know your family from previous years, for the safety and security of our students, car placards are required this year for each family daily. If you are a car pick up family and do not have car placard, please reach out to Jennifer Suttill in our main office (jesuttill@medwayschool.org). Ms. Suttill will ensure you get your car placard in your student's backpack. If you need multiple placards for multiple cars, please let us know.

A few parents have reached out about school supply lists. There are no specific materials needed for families to purchase for in school participation. We also recognize that at home school materials can be a burden for families. McGovern school has brand new backpacks and basic materials for home, for any families that need this support. If interested, please reach out to Angela Slevin (aslevin@medwayschools.org) our School Adjustment Counselor, and we'll send your student home with a backpack and some school supplies.

Our car drop off and pick up is back and running smoothly. Please ensure that you follow the guidelines below to ensure safety for all and to keep the line moving!

• Do not leave your car to load and/or unload your child Please stay in your vehicle at all times and staff will load and unload your child into your car (we will not buckle/unbuckle car seats)
• Pull all the way up when approaching the school
  Follow the directions of the staff guiding cars and pull all the way down the driveway. This may mean driving past your student waiting for you. By pulling all the way up, we are able to get more students in their cars, and this speeds up the process
• If picking up your student at McGovern please use the car pick up lane
  Please refrain from parking on the surrounding streets and wait in the "walker area".
• Please hang the car placard daily
  For the safety of all students, please place your car placard in the passenger's side front window daily. This ensures that we are putting the correct students in cars.
  
  For additional information on how dismissal works, please see the Drop Off & Pick Up section below

When dropping off your child(ren) enter the McGovern School driveway by staying in the right hand lane. At the top of the driveway, bear right into the faculty parking lot. Proceed

to the end and turn left into the student drop-off and pick-up lane.

Drop off, for all grades, is between 8:35-8:50 AM. Please stay in your car and staff will begin unloading cars at 8:35. This is a live drop off that goes until 8:50 AM. Once teachers have helped your child(ren) out of the car, please proceed immediately to the exit lane to leave the complex. At no time should vehicles pass other cars, be parked, or left unattended in the pick-up and drop-off lane. If you arrive after 8:50 AM, please do not get in the drop off loop, but park in the front circle and escort your child to the main office as they will be marked tardy.

Important Notes:

• Please do not drop-off your child at the school before 8:35 AM. There is no supervision for the children prior to this time.

• At no time should vehicles be parked or left unattended in the pick-up and drop-off lane.

• Please respect the handicapped parking policy.

• It is most helpful if students are able to get into car/booster seats and buckle themselves safely and independently.

• No vehicles are allowed in the circle area in front of the building during the drop-off and pick-up period.

• Buses only will be utilizing the middle lane in the driveway. Other vehicles will be restricted to the outside enter and exit lanes.

• Children should never be dropped off or picked up in the faculty parking area as crossing the parking lot alone poses a safety issue.

• Pick-up and drop-off is restricted to the designated areas.

• All students who arrive after the start time of 8:50 should go to the school office. They will be marked tardy. For safety reasons, all students must be accompanied by an adult and be checked in at the office. Please do not bring your child to his/her classroom. Teachers are unable to converse with parents after the arrival of their students.

Bicycles

Children in Grade 1 may ride their bikes to school if an adult accompanies them both to and from school. Helmets must be worn.

Changes to Transportation Routines

If you absolutely need to change your child’s typical dismissal or transportation routine, please send a note into school that morning with your child describing the change. Note that children are not permitted to ride home on another child’s bus for the purpose of play dates.

Pick Up:

We follow the same process as drop off. Please have the school issued name plate/placard in the front passenger side window. This not only allows us to organize students quickly, but is a safety measure to ensure we are putting children into the correct car. Once staff has loaded your student into the car, please pull away and exit the complex. At no time should vehicles pass other cars, be parked, or left unattended in the pick-up and drop-off lane. This is a rolling pick up line, so please pay attention to the driver in front of you.

For the safety of all, please acknowledge a slow speed limit, especially if you are running late, In addition, please do not text or be on your phone during pick up and drop off.

The 2021-2022 School calendar was approved at the February 25 School Committee meeting and can be found here.

On August 31st, School Committee voted to reinstate last year's Face Covering Policy. Click here for the complete policy. This outlines the types of masks to be worn in school and when wearing a mask is required. Please see the face covering requirements for anyone inside the school building:

A face covering that covers the nose and mouth must be worn by all individuals in school buildings and on school transportation. Bandanas, neck gaiters, single layer face coverings, and face coverings with vents, ports or perforations of any kind are not permitted as an approved face covering.

Additionally, face masks or face coverings will not be required:

• during mask breaks;

• while eating or drinking;

• while outside.

Every child needs a healthy, nutritious meal to learn. Medway Public Schools offers nutritious meals to children each school day and breakfast and lunch will continue to remain free of charge through this school year. Please be sure to check out the menu here to ensure your child likes what is being served that day. You can find the menus by clicking on this link.

Please feel free to make an appointment with our school nurse, Mrs. McKay if your child/children have any medical needs, allergies, and/or questions. She can be reached at pmckay@medwayschools.org.

MPS requests that all guardians complete the Online Registration process, better known as the “beginning of year packet”, within the Parent Portal application by September 30, 2021. 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 by clicking here, 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.

In addition to the beginning of year packet being completed through Online Registration, MPS would like to advise guardians that email and phone number changes can be submitted through the portal anytime during the year. Simply select MORE > Family Information from the menu options, then Update on the individual you wish to change information for. Please note that address changes can not be made through this system as they require proof of residency. Please forward any address changes to parent@medwayschools.org, including a copy of the proof of residency. Click here for POR information.

It is the intent of MPS to continue our 1:1 program for all students in grades k-12. Students in grades k-4 will have a dedicated device for use in the classroom. In the event there is a school closure or special project, the device may be sent home with the student. Students in grades 5 through 12 will have a dedicated device with the expectation the unit travels to and from school daily. The device should be fully charged and kept in good working order according to our 1:1 Initiative information found here. In the event the device needs repair, please email support@medwayschools.org for assistance and we will schedule a pick up or drop off.

Insurance - We encourage families with students in grades 5 through 12 to purchase insurance for the devices in the event they may incur accidental or malicious damage. Repair costs are the responsibility of the family and can range from a $15 keyboard, a $160 touchscreen, to $350 for full replacement. The cost of insuring a device is $20 per year and covers most repair incidents. Insurance is a wise investment when considering the cost of repair. We offer one to four year policies for devices through Worth Ave Insurers. Please note the portal to purchase insurance will be open in mid August. In the event your device is in need of repair, please contact support@medwayschools.org and we will assist you. Families with students in grades k-4 are not encouraged to purchase insurance as the devices will remain in school. In the event they are sent home, MPS will manage any repairs for accidental damage. Families receiving free or reduced lunch will be automatically insured by MPS for one year for all grade levels.

If you are not receiving email communications from the district or the schools, we are here to help. Please email parent@medwayschools.org and a team will work to ensure that you are connected.

Please read the 2021-2022 Elementary School Handbook prior to the start of the school year. It has important information for both McGovern and Memorial Schools.

Sept. 16: No School, Yom Kippur

Sept. 30: Back to School Night, time TBD

Oct. 1: No Preschool Classes

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