McGovern News!

Greetings from McGovern School! I hope this emails finds you well and that you have found time to rest and recoup from last year. As I turned the calendar to August earlier this week, I have noticed the pace has certainly picked up! August brings with it a sense of excitement, nerves, long "To do" lists, and lots of nuts and bolts to consider.

To open the lines of communication, I will be sharing bi-monthly updates with you in the form of this newsletter. In order to help structure the information, I’ll include new information at the top and keep other relevant information under heading such as Reminders, District Information, Resources and Important Dates so that you may review. My goal is to keep information at your fingertips.

As always, if you have any additional questions, concerns, or needs please email or call Mrs. Suttill (jesuttill@medwayschools.org) or me (amcdonald@medwayschools.org).

I look forward to working with you and your child/children. Please see below for some summer updates.

Best,

Amy McDonald, Principal

Please join me in welcoming the following staff members to McGovern School:

Ms. Shelby Holt, Curriculum and Instructional Leader

Mr. Scott Foley, Wellness (M-TH at Memorial; F at McGovern)

Ms. Erica Macedo, Evaluation Team Facilitator

Ms. Angela Slevin, School Adjustment Counselor

Ms. Emma Wallace, Visual Arts Teacher

I will provide more staffing updates as they become available. We are so excited to welcome new members to our community!

We have spent time thinking carefully about placement for the fall. Class lists are ready and you will receive a welcome letter from me along with a welcome letter from your child/children's teacher(s). These will be mailed out on Friday, August 13, 2021. If you do not receive a letter by Wednesday, August 18, 2021, please reach out to Mrs. Suttill in the main office.

I am thrilled to share with you that the McGovern School's open pod spaces have been painted and it has certainly brightened up our school. I can't wait for staff, students, and families to see the upgrades!

We have emptied our storage containers and teachers are in the process of going through the material that we put away at the start of last year. We have moved classrooms back to their pre-COVID spaces.

Our exterior pathway around the back of the building will be repaved next week which will provide a better traveling path for all.

We are also making some upgrades to our playground area. We will have new adjustable basketball hoops installed, which will make it easier for our littles to score a basket! We will also be partnering with MEPTO to have volunteers paint sensory paths in our recess area.

Our school nurse, Mrs. McKay will be in her office on August 19, 24-26 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM to accept medications for the upcoming school year, develop and/or review health plans, and answer questions.

If you would like to speak with Mrs. McKay, please email her at pmckay@medwayschools.org to make an appointment.

You are invited to a self-guided tour of McGovern School on Thursday, August 26, 2021 from 2:30-4:00 PM (this is a new time). We changed the time so students attending "Summer of Discovery" could attend. You can come with your child/children and tour the school, find his/her classroom, the lunchroom, etc.

There is no official agenda for this day and is completely voluntary. We like to offer our new and returning students the opportunity to see their class prior to the start of the school year. Please note that teachers are not required to be at school that day, but some may be there adding final touches to their classroom. We may have some last minute furniture and other things that need to be rearranged and/or organized; please know on the first day of school everything will be organized and tidy.

For students/families that were virtual last year and have questions about returning to In Person, I will hold a Question and Answer meeting from 3:30-4:00 PM in the McGovern Cafeteria.

Please join us on September 1, 2021 for preschool and kindergarten orientation. Families and students visit McGovern School, meet the teachers, tour their classroom and the school, and learn more about what they will be doing in preschool & kindergarten. It's an exciting start of the school year. Please see the times below:

Kindergarten, AM and FULL Day Preschool: Sept 1, 2021 at 9:30 AM

PM Preschool: Sept. 1, 2021 at 1:15 PM

We are thrilled to get back to a long-standing McGovern tradition: Kindergarten Playground Night. This special event is sponsored by MEPTO and provides students and families with an opportunity to meet new friends prior to the start of the school year.

The event will take place at McGovern on the lower field on August 18, 2021 from 5:30-6:30 PM with a rain date of August 25, 2021 from 5:30-6:30 PM. Please see the MEPTO newsletter or Facebook event page for additional information. We hope to see you there!

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.

On Friday, July 30th, the Department of Public Health (DPH) and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), released their most recent update. The complete guidance from DPH and DESE may be found here.

The Medway School Committee will be hosting a public forum on Monday, August 9, 2021, at 5:00 pm in the Presentation Room at the Medway Middle School (Door 7) to hear feedback from families about this topic before we make a decision on the policy that will be implemented in Medway. If you are not able to attend the forum, but would like your comments to be added to the record and reviewed by the School Committee, please send an email to School Committee Chair Susan Dietrich at: sdietrich@medwayschools.org, with a cc: to Central Office administrative support team members Ellen Quinn and Kylie O'Neill at: (equinn@medwayschools.org and koneill@medwayschools.org).

As soon as more information is available about school policies, I will update you.

We are currently fully enrolled for our first ever Summer of Discovery Program and registration has closed. On August 16, we will welcome nearly 400 Medway K-12 students to this program that will take place at the Burke-Memorial Elementary School (grades K-5) and Medway High School (grades 6-12). The goal of Summer of Discovery is to provide students with a supportive and energizing summer-to-school-year transition opportunity.

As we are all aware, prevalence of COVID19 across the nation and locally continues to increase. At this time, mask wearing for students participating in the Summer of Discovery will be optional, but encouraged; all staff will be masked. Please note that this may change as the guidance connected with safety measures associated with the pandemic could very likely change prior to the start of our program. We will communicate updates as they become available.

Families will be receiving details about their registration at the start of the week of August 9 and should contact Josh Thompson, Community Education Program Coordinator, at jothompson@medwayschools.org with any questions.

Medway Schools will offer free meals to anyone under the age of 18 this summer. Those interested can pick up a week’s worth of breakfasts and lunches (14 meals) on Tuesday mornings between 7:00 a.m.-9:00 a.m. at Medway Middle School, door 24 (enter from Kelley St.). To order, please complete the Summer Meal Order Form each Sunday at 5:00 p.m. If you have questions or need special accommodations (food delivery, allergies, etc.), please contact Shawn Fallon, Director of Food Services, at sfallon@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.

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

Aug. 18: Kindergarten Playground Night, 5:30-6:30 PM

Aug. 26: McGovern Open House, 2:30-4:00 PM; Returning Virtual Students Q & A, 3:30-4:00 PM

Sept. 1: First day of school, 1st grade

Sept 1: Kindergarten, AM and FULL Day Preschool Orientation, 9:30 AM

Sept 1: PM Preschool Orientation, 1:15 PM

Sept. 2: First day of school, Preschool and Kindergarten

Sept. 3: No School

Sept. 6: No School, Labor Day

Sept. 7: No School, Rosh Hashanah

Sept. 10: No Preschool Classes

Sept. 16: No School, Yom Kippur

Sept. 30: Back to School Night, time TBD

Oct. 1: No Preschool Classes

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

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.