DNA - District News & Announcements

February 2023 (Delayed)

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This newsletter is affectionately called the DNA because it's a beautiful collection of unique stories and experiences contributing to the development and function of our school communities. (Also it's an acronym for District News and Announcements ;) )

We hope you enjoy seeing some of these behind the scenes stories and will join your fellow community members at upcoming events!

We recognize the February DNA is arriving on the first day of March and apologize for the delay. The March dates and celebrations is forthcoming this week and the March DNA will be along mid-month.

Acceptance is accepting others for who they are. Last month, the Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum is all connected to this theme/trait and is supported with activities during morning meeting, mindfulness, discussions, books, art, team-building, games and more!

7 Conversation Starters About Acceptance:

• Discuss a time someone did or did not make you feel accepted. How did that impact you?
• What does acceptance look and sound like at home? In the community?
• How can making others feel accepted make you feel better?
• How can adults make you feel accepted?
• How can your peers make you feel accepted?
• Why can accepting others be hard sometimes?
• What steps can we each take to make sure that our words and actions respect everyone’s differences?

Two Acceptance Themed Read Alouds

• It's Okay To Be Different: Todd Parr (Spanish) (Portuguese) Todd Parr wrote this book to make people feel good about who they are and accept differences.

• Whoever You Are: Mem Fox (Spanish) (Portuguese) This story celebrates our similarities all over the world. All over the world children are laughing and crying, playing and learning, eating and sleeping. They may not look the same or speak the same language, but inside, they are all the same. This story weaves its way across cultures and generations, celebrating the bond that unites us.

Open Spirit Videos

In partnership with Open Spirit in Framingham, check out these custom made videos about our theme of the month. They include mindfulness and yoga with our themes.

• Acceptance Yoga

• Acceptance Yoga - Portuguese

• Acceptance Yoga - Spanish

• Acceptance Meditation

• Acceptance Meditation - Portuguese

• Acceptance Meditation - Spanish

If your child's school is not included below, that does not mean they aren't doing wonderful, exciting things! We look forward to sharing even more news and updates in the Good News Network section of future District Newsletters!

Submit your good news to the Google Form for a special shoutout in future newsletters and social media posts!

Spotted! Our Welcome Center Staff color coordinated their outfits in honor of Friendship day!

This last weekend our very own WalshBots hosted the Southern New England Regional Championships Competition for VEX Robotics! For this competition, approximately 48 teams were competing for 9 spots in the World Championship which takes place in Texas at the end of April.

CONGRATULATIONS to

• WalshBots 9791C - Covid Chaos for qualifying for World Championships by earning the Innovate Award, one of nine teams representing Connecticut and Massachusetts!
• WalshBots 9791F McNuggets for earning the Create Award with their robot that performed consistently throughout the two days ending 3rd ranked in qualifying rounds.
  
• Pascal Chesnais for supporting out TENTH year of competitive robotics!
• All of the program advocates and the other robotics teams!

LIVESTREAMS

• Saturday, 2/25/23
• Sunday, 2/26/23

SPIN UP

This season’s game is Spin Up, which looks like Disc Golf (Golf Frisbee) played on a 12’x12’ field. Robots are trying to score by tossing discs in a basket above the field. There are other elements like rollers that spin and your two team alliance gets points showing their alliance color. In last ten seconds teams are allowed to expand horizontally and vertically - pretty much all robots explode strings, chain, etc. to touch as many tiles as possible (spaghetti city!). Kudos to Dr. Tremblay on his victory in the arena!

UP NEXT (UPDATED 8:50PM ON 3/1/23)

If you missed this incredible event, please consider attending the High School competition, also hosted at Walsh Middle School! Originally scheduled for March 4 & 5th, the high school competition has been moved to March 11th and 12th due to snow storm Friday night into Saturday expecting 5-8” region wide. The event is open to the public. Good luck to our competitors!

Thanks to the 4th grade buddies who are helping these 1st graders with in-class reading!

Congratulations to our student athletes for this incredible showing. Look at all of those Personal Records!!

• 55M: 3rd Jasen Jean-Louis (12th) 6.95Q/6.89F --PR
• 55M: 6th Calvin Hodge (11th) 6.93Q/6.98F --PR
• 55M: 8th Matheus Silva (10th) 7.02Q/6.99F --PR
• 300M: CHAMPION Matheus Silva 38.51 --PR
• 300M: 4th Marshall Lewis (12th) 38.95 --PR
• 300M: 6th Jasen Jean-Louis 39.27 --PR
• Long Jump: CHAMPION Jasen Jean-Louis 19'8.25" (3 inches from the indoor school record in a PR)
• Long Jump: 8th Vinicius Silva (9th) 16'6.5"
• Shot Put: 2nd Calvin Hodge 40'2.75" --PR
• 600M: 3rd Amelia Ebel (10th) 1:54.32 --PR
• 600M: 8th Bella Ceruti (9th) 1:58.11 --PR

Dunning Kindergarteners celebrated 100 days of school! Take a look at the amazing projects in their slideshow presentation: 100th Day Kindergarten Projects 2023

Given the District's commitment to spreading and sharing ‘Kindness’, we'd like to take a moment to look back at the holiday season and highlight a recent showing of community togetherness that made a real difference for one King family.

King Elementary School has two students, a 4th grader and 2nd grader, who recently moved with their mother and 4-year-old and 3-year-old siblings to a home in Framingham from a shelter. Three of the four children have a rare genetic disorder, Ornithine Transcarbamylase Deficiency, which makes it impossible to process proteins and can have a deadly effect. The 4-year-old has already had a liver transplant and the 2nd grader recently began the process of joining a donor list for a liver transplant. Due to the many medical needs of the children the mother is unable to work. The cost of purchasing healthy foods that are low in protein and driving back and forth to Children’s Hospital for medical appointments and hospitalizations have been a burden due to gas and parking fees.

Read about the family’s journey and how local community members came together to support these significant medical and financial challenges: Thank You from the King Community

Framingham Public Schools K-12 Visual Art Show at the Framingham Public Library opened today - March 1 and will be up through March 30th.

March is a big month for all things Fine & Performing Arts! Fine and Performing Arts Department has lined up some amazing exhibitions and performances to highlight Arts in Our Schools Month, Theater in Our Schools Month and Music in Our Schools Month! See all the upcoming events on their website: https://www.framingham.k12.ma.us/Domain/74

Every year the ChileMass initiative brings Teachers from Chile for training at Framingham State. In February, a cohort of 14 teachers came to FPS and two were placed at Cameron Middle School, for the first time this year. They were two student teachers who were interested in observing language teachers in the US. They visited Cameron and spent time observing, shadowing, participating and teaching over 12 -16 hours during that time.

This was a great opportunity for teachers and students to interact with international educators and for all of us to learn about the educational reality from Chile. It was a cultural and linguistic exchange which built new friendships and relationships between South America and Framingham.

I had the honor to host one of the amazing student teachers. It was a great experience for me and for all my emergent bilingual students. (Submitted by Simone Clinton and Crystal-Mae Waugh Barrios)

In order to support our students with being able to automatically distinguish between the letters b and d, which can be confusing for students, we had a B and D Day Celebration. On Monday, February 6th we had a full day celebration at Hemenway in grades K-2. Students were able to participate in multi-sensory activities throughout the school day in all content areas. Students used a variety of materials throughout the day to create the letters, listened to read alouds, and some went on a scavenger hunt around the building. This was such a fun and meaningful learning experience!

Winter Concert Success

• Barbieri 3rd and 4th graders put on incredible winter concerts showcasing a range of songs that celebrated different cultures and areas of the world. It was great to see our district colleagues, staff, students and their families joined together to celebrate our students!
• 4th graders worked hard to learn "Lift Every Voice and Sing" in February, known as the Black National Anthem. It's beautiful and powerful lyrics have inspired generations of Americans to think about the past and work toward a better future. Not only did they sing this at the concert but they have sung it every Friday during Black History Month over the loudspeaker for the entire school to hear. Enjoy a listen here: Lift Every Voice and Sing by Barbieri 4th Graders

Library Media Poetry Contest

Congrats to 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade students in Mrs. Trossello's Library Media Class who entered and six poets that won Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts awards at the state level! The theme was "Seeds, Trees, and Bees… Oh-My – Celebrating the Diversity of Nature." The purpose of this annual contest is to encourage young people to express their creative thoughts through different types of poetry. During Library Media, students learned about and read poems. They then wrote their own poems and those who wanted to could submit their poems to the contest. We are excited to share that Congratulations to the winners listed below!

Grade 3

2nd Place: Lizzie Adelman: “The Willow Tree”

3rd Place: Giovanna Hurtado: “Seasons"

Honorable Mention: David Tejada Rivera: “When it is Winter I Feel Like a Tree"

2nd Place: Tessa Martin: “My Dad’s Potatoes Don’t Grow on Trees”

3rd Place: Beatrice Randell: “Save the Bees”

Grade 5

Honorable Mention: Genevieve Johnson: “Trees, They Never Change"

1000th Day of School: Marquessa de Mil

Barbieri 5th graders celebrated their 1000th day of school this month! The 5th grade class got to celebrate with a special Community Meeting featuring not just the 'Reina de 10' but the 'Marquessa de Mil'! At the special Community Meeting, 5th graders also participated in activity to take 1000 steps together around the auditorium. They reminisced with pictures from their first 100 days. The Barbieri 5th grade is now working on a project to collect 1000 items to donate to Daniel's Table food pantry!

100th Day Celebration for Kindergarteners

Barbieri Kindergartners celebrated the 100th day of school this month! With help from la Reina de 10 (the Queen of 10s) the entire Kindergarten paraded through Barbieri! Students created groups of 100 on their clothes, on posters, in their classrooms and around the building. It is pretty amazing to reach your first 100 days of school and the whole community came out to celebrate!!!

Campus Aides

Under the direction of the Principal or their designee, the campus aide provides supervision and direction to students in areas of the school campus and maintains classroom continuity to ensure that students continue to learn in their teacher’s absence in order to promote a safe environment for students and staff during classroom and non-classroom activities and to deliver Framingham Public Schools’ high expectations for achievement, equal access to high levels of instruction, the achievement of academic proficiency for all students, and the closing of the achievement gap among subgroups within the schools.

To RSVP, see the Smore from the ASA: www.smore.com/507vf-multicultural-night-at-fhs

On Thursday, March 2nd more than 40 eighth-grade students from Fuller Middle School will team up and compete in science experiments that apply heating and cooling concepts similar to those used in a first-in-the-nation networked geothermal pilot program, which is being built in the neighborhood near the McCarthy / Fuller / Farley (Mass Bay) Campus. Women engineers and scientists from Eversource will serve as mentors for the students, share their experiences in STEM-related fields and encourage students to explore everything STEM has to offer. More to come on this experience!

Thursday, March 9th from 7 - 8pm: Biliteracy Awards for Grades 5 and 8

This will be a virtual session for caregivers of 5th and 8th grade students who are pursuing more than one language. Students have the opportunity to earn a Language Opportunity Coalition Biliteracy Award which is a pathway award celebrating students' individual language development trajectory, promotes multiliteracy as an asset, and rewards students’ hard work and dedication to becoming multilingual and multiliterate world citizens.

Thursday, March 16th from 6:30-7:30pm: Dual-Language Program Information Session for Incoming Kindergarten Families

The Department of Multilingual Education is hosting a Dual Language Bilingual Education Program Information Session at the Framingham Public Library. This event targeted to incoming Kindergarten families currently completing their school choice forms, and all community members interested in learning more about the program goals and structure.

Dedicated emails with event information are forthcoming.

Hosted by the nonprofit organization "Peace Flag Movement" founded in our backyard, this program will consist of 3 gatherings with youth ages 13-14 years old, to discuss the Peace Flag Movement and for youth to share ideas from their perspective. Meetings will involve discussion, games, creative projects, and ideas generated by participants. They will meet at Framingham Public Library but will also offer zoom as an option. Although this is free, space is limited and registration is required.

Contact them via email: human@peaceflagmovement.org or register here: https://bit.ly/peaceyouth

To learn more about the Movement, check out their website PeaceFlagMovement.org

An Offering of the Chris Walsh Center for Educators and Families of Metrowest at Framingham State University: A virtual support group for parents and caregivers seeking to learn more about 504s, IEPs, and the special education process in Massachusetts

Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/support-for-caregivers-navigating-the-iep-process-registration-534126575967

When: 5 Thursdays in March from 7:00 - 8:15 PM EST. ( March 2, 9,16, 23, &; 30)

Where: Virtual via Zoom (link to be provided upon registration)

Who: A group of 15 parents of children and young adults in Massachusetts between the ages of 3 and 22, interested in learning more about the process of identification, eligibility determination, evaluation, services, accommodations, and more.

Facilitators: The group will be facilitated by Courtney Edman, MS, PT, CEIS, and Carol Cohen, M. Ed, CAGS. Courtney is the Founder and Director of 2tametheshamE, a company whose mission is to coach, educate, inform, and advocate for the needs of neurodivergent individuals and their parents and Carol is an educator who has worked in a variety of roles in public and private schools, including guidance counselor, teacher, and assistant principal. Since 2020 she has been the special education administrator in a public school district in Massachusetts.

Cost: Free. Space is limited to 15 participants. All participants must register prior to the start of the first meeting.

Topic: What is a 504? What is an IEP? Does my child need a 504 or an IEP? How does my child get evaluated for one? What does eligibility determination mean? What services are provided in an IEP? What is an advocate, and do I need one? What is my role as the parent of a child on an IEP and how do I support my child that is on an IEP? What is my child’s role? What do I do if I am told my child doesn’t need an IEP and I disagree? If you have any of these or other questions about the special education process and system, you are not alone! Supporting your child who is on or might need a 504 or an IEP can be very confusing and daunting. We want to help you by providing information, answering your questions, and providing support so you can navigate the process for your child.

For More Information: If you have any questions or concerns or would like to have a virtual meeting with a member of the Chris Walsh Center Staff, please email the Chris Walsh Center.

Check out the recent newsletter including highlights from the Early Childhood Alliance of Framingham! It is jam-packed with news, info, and events from Framingham's youngest learners.

The Media and Communications Office hopes to increase the frequency of these good news and opportunity compilations. We are improving and refining the submission process over time and always appreciate hearing from staff, parents/guardians, and students with events, accolades, shoutouts, and more.