Green Wave Nation

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted!.

--Aesop

We have been watching kindergarten class sizes in all of our elementary schools for the past few weeks, and we are seeing an influx in enrollment over the past few days alone and anticipate continued enrollment in the coming days. This is exciting news to share - growth in our school district is a good thing for the schools and the city.

With that in mind, it does mean we need to reorganize some classrooms at every school to ensure that every Greenfield Public School student gets the high quality education they deserve. We have a district priority on literacy this year at all grade levels, and it is especially important at the earliest stages of education that we keep our class sizes small so that our youngest students start their reading and writing road in learning environments that set the stage for success in the future.

Therefore, we will be adding one additional kindergarten teacher at each elementary school while staying mindful of our budget. Each hire will be budget neutral. Elementary principals are working on reassigning students across the kindergarten classes and information will be shared with families directly from the principals shortly.

If you have not registered your child for kindergarten, please contact our Registrar, Connie Thacker, at 413-772-1300 for more details. If you have any other questions, please contact your building principal.

Please see the Bus Routes for 2024-25 with bus stop times.

For the first weeks of school, please have your students at the bus stop at least 10 minutes early. To assist our elementary students with becoming more familiar and comfortable on a bus, especially our Kindergarten students who might be first time riders, Travel Kuz will have a bus parked at each elementary Meet and Greet on Monday, August 26 from 5:00-6:00 pm. Students and families will be able to access the bus and practice good bus etiquette that evening. Thank you to Travel Kuz for this opportunity!

Tune in every Friday to WHAI 98.3 radio and get updates about Greenfield Public Schools! Each week we will be highlighting different aspects of the schools that air on the radio. Hope you are listening and catching the Green Wave!

Do you have a few hours a day? Once a week even? Want to help the schools by becoming a volunteer? If so, please sign up as a volunteer for Greenfield Public Schools at the following link:

https://forms.gle/op8JBFyZRdnCHXHn8

The elementary schools are really looking for volunteers for the following times to assist with lunch and recess coverage:

Federal Street School 10:45 am -12:45 pm

Discovery School at Four Corners 10:55 -1:20 pm

Newton School 10:15 -12:15 pm

Please indicate on the volunteer sign up which school you would be willing to assist and help! Once you have filled out the Google Form, Connie Thacker, our Registrar/Receptionist will be in contact for next steps. All volunteers do need to be CORI and fingerprinted, but we reimburse volunteers for fingerprinting and they can easily be done at Staples in Greenfield. We hope to assist folks in making this process easier so that those of you who want to support our schools are able to do so with ease! Thank you!

Are you looking for more ways to get involved in your child's school? Well, do we have the role for you. Come join your child's school Parent/Teacher Organization. Each PTO is looking for parents/guardians to join their teams and work collaboratively to plan, create, and implement schoolwide and districtwide events for the good of Greenfield Public Schools students. If you are interested in joining the PTO of your child's school, please reach out to the Building Principal and they will connect you to the right person.

UPCOMING EVENT: The GPS PTOs will be crafting a float for the Franklin County Parade. If you are interested in assisting with construction of the float, they are looking for volunteers for the next three Sunday mornings (8/18, 8/25, and 9/1) and the day of the parade (9/5). Please contact Sarah Marchefka at smarchefka@gmail.com for more details.

You asked; we answered! Hope folks have been taking advantage of following the Greenfield Public Schools on Facebook and Instagram. If you haven't done so yet, please use the following links to do so:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61561436008802&mibextid=LQQJ4d and on Instagram at the following link: https://www.instagram.com/greenfieldpublicschools?igsh=MWl4a3MyeWJraHdueQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr. Instagram at #GreenWave, #GreenfieldPublicSchools or #GreenWaveNation!

The Greenfield Harvest Supper Celebration which is put on by The Stone Soup Cafe for the whole community is held on the Greenfield Town Common on Saturday, August 24, 2024. Supt. Patenaude will be one of the servers in the dinner line from 4:00-5:30 pm. If you are looking to volunteer, Stone Soup still has many opportunities for folks to help out that day. We look forward to seeing many students and families there in support of this great event.

Welcome back! For the 2024-2025 school year, Greenfield Public Schools is once again

participating in the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program. All GPS

schools will offer healthy meals every school day at NO COST to students due to the

implementation of the Community Eligibility Provision. Families do not need to complete a

household application for free and reduced price meals.

• While first meals are free, a charge will apply for any additional meals or a la carte items purchased in the cafeteria.
• NEW! We have switched our point-of-sale system to SchoolCafé. All existing student balances will carry over from last year. To check your student’s balance and load funds onto their account for a la carte items, please visit family.schoolcafe.com.
• If your child has a new or previously documented food allergy, please provide your School Nurse with an up-to-date signed doctor’s note or a signed copy of the Meal Modification Request Form available on our webpage as soon as possible.

We are excited to share that the Community Health Center of Franklin County (CHCFC) will be providing Fall & Spring dental services in our schools this year!

Preventative services are necessary for your child’s oral health. Tooth decay can lead to

toothaches, missed school and poor grades. It is important for your child to have two

cleanings per year. CHCFC can provide services (listed below) right at school, eliminating

missed school for the child and missed work for the parents.

The goal is to promote dental access and provide students with dental cleanings, x-rays, placement of sealants, and fluoride varnish applications. CHCFC can provide ALL or SOME (you choose). CHCFC will also offer a once a year Dental Screening for free!

A report of findings, treatment and recommendations, will be sent home after each visit.

Be on the lookout in the next several days for the arrival of the dental packets with more information and sign up instructions. Please complete the forms promptly and return to your child’s school.

For questions regarding the school dental program, please contact Melissa Bednarski, District Nurse Leader, @ melbed1@gpsk12.org