"Paw Prints"

Dear Farley Families,

As we approach Veterans Day, I want to take a moment to express our deepest gratitude to all veterans in our school community and beyond. Our country’s freedom and security have been built and protected by the courage, dedication, and sacrifice of these brave men and women. We are incredibly thankful to those who have served, and we honor your commitment to protecting the values we hold dear.

This Veterans Day, let’s teach our children the importance of service and respect for those who have put others before themselves. We encourage families to take a moment to talk with your children about the significance of this day, share stories, or reach out to a veteran to show appreciation. To all veterans, thank you for your service, your sacrifice, and your unwavering dedication. We are proud to have you as part of our community. Specifically, we would like to thank Mr. Chris Segu, our new adjustment counselor, who also currently services in military.

Other special thanks this week goes to the School Committee who have been visiting each school's Home and School Association meetings this month. They helped caregivers get a clearer picture of the budget and enlightened them on what they can do to help.

As shared previously, the Caregiver Conferences link on PTC FAST is now open. Please make sure to sign up for a conference here:

https://www.ptcfast.com/schools/C_A_Farley_Elementary_School

Remember there is no school on Monday in honor of Veteran's Day. Have a wonderful long weekend!

Read Always,

Rachel Scanlon (she, her, hers)

978-567-6153 - rscanlon@hudson.k12.ma.us

#ExplainYourBrain

November 11th:

• No School-Veterans' Day

November 23rd:

• Ms. Susana's Portuguese Story Hour at the public library from 10-11am. More information located in "Other Updates".

November 25th and 26th:

• Half-day for students
• Caregiver/Teacher Conferences (See below for detailed information.)

November 27-29:

• No School

Bravo to Mila Hernandez, Izzy McLaughlin, and Daniel Rufo for getting "caught" being good! Keep up the superb work!

This week, grade 3 student Joao showed incredible courage after he took a spill off his bike on the way to school. Even though he hurt his front teeth, he quickly went to the dentist, got patched up, and came back to school! He is so strong! Look at that beaming smile!

This week, Ms. Gillian Charbonneau's first grade class learned about story elements. Students worked in pairs to describe their own story's characters, setting, problem, and solution. Together they drew pictures and wrote sentences describing each element. They were eager to share with me what they were learning. All students were clearly mastering this high level literacy skill.

Lots of families have been reaching out about how to order Farley Spiritwear. Each year, Home and School organizing this for us. If you would like to order some Farley-inspired clothing and accessories head over to this link: https://www.cafarleyspiritwear.com/

Farley’s entire staff prides itself as being a team and working together with families to create the best possible educational experience for all of our students. We all recognize that communication between home and school is essential to achieving this goal. Caregiver/Teacher Conferences present a wonderful opportunity for teachers, guardians and, in some cases—students—to sit down together to discuss academic and social progress. Conferences are a dedicated time to ask questions, share relevant information, calibrate expectations, celebrate accomplishments, and set short and long-term goals. Caregiver conferences are a platform to make a lasting bond with families and to increase the likelihood of academic and social success for each child. In Hudson, Caregiver Conferences occur twice a year. Each meeting lasts around 15 minutes. In addition to the classroom teacher, other school staff who support your child's learning may also attend the conference, too. Also, please do not worry if you see me sitting in on your conference. I like to attend as many conferences as possible so that I can know all the ways we can support our diverse community of learners.

This year, Caregiver/Teacher conferences will be held on Monday, November 25th and Tuesday, November 26th. Both days will be an early dismissal from school for students at 11:40 am. Evening conferences will be held from 6:00 – 8:00 pm on the night of November 26th. If you would like a conference, you need to sign-up for a specific day and time using a third party website called PTC Fast. Here is the link: https://www.ptcfast.com/schools/C_A_Farley_Elementary_School.

Conference sign-ups are now live. Walk-ins are not allowed at this time. Families will have the option for either a virtual conference via Google Meet or an in-person meeting here at Farley. If you would prefer virtual, please indicate this when signing up for your conference--there will be a space for you to type in "virtual". Your child’s teacher will then send you the Google meeting link via email prior to and closer to the conference. If you choose to be in person for your child’s conference, please be sure to be on time. If you have a student who is part of a team, please be on the lookout for an email from those teachers with additional information about conferences.

As always, interpretation services will be made available to all families during conferences. If you are listed as needing an interpreter in Aspen, please be on the lookout for an email or phone call from one of our district family liaisons. They will help you set up a time for your conference.

If you have any other questions, please reach out to your child’s classroom teacher, please do not contact the main office.

In addition to being proud of our students, we are also proud of caregivers when they do incredible things. This week, it was shared with me that caregiver, Anna McCabe has written and published her own children's book called The Dragon, The Bear and Me. You can meet this amazing author at New City Creamery on November 16th from 1-3pm. Ms. McCabe has also given our school a copy of the book too! If you want to purchase a book, you can do so using the QR code to the right or at the "Meet the Local Author Event". Here is a brief description of the story:

"A Whimsical World of Unlikely Relationships. Ever wondered what it's like to live with a fire-breathing dragon and a cuddly overprotective bear? Meet Betsy, a fearless young girl who wouldn't trade her unusual family for anything in the world! Join Betsy on her heartwarming adventures as she navigates the chaos of her own unique family dynamic. Shed a happy tear or two as you are reminded that love, laughter and joy can be found in the most unlikely places."

Our Lost and Found is overflowing! Please remind your child to take a look in our Lost and Found if they are missing something!

The SECOND draft of the Farley Family directory is now available. Thank you to Sarah Tracy for creating this resource. If you still want to be part of the directory, please still sign up!

24.25 Farley Family Directory

Here is the link to last year's directory: Farley Family Directory

Still want to sign up? Click this link: https://forms.gle/eEQg6ZaSBnDqoDko7

Please email her @ sarah.tracy97@gmail.com if you have any questions

Farley's Home and School Association's next meeting is December 4th @ 6:00pm. Please join in person or online. We will meet in the library. Free childcare is provided! This month, some School Committee Members will be joining the start of our meeting to share news about the upcoming school budget for 25-26 school year.

Here is the link to join online: meet.google.com/goh-pzio-oev.

We are now one month into the 2024-2025 school year and I know that you have many hopes and dreams the days to come. To make sure those hopes and dreams are realized, I want to ask for your commitment to making sure your child attends school every day possible this year. The evidence is clear: children with good attendance are more likely to be successful in school and in life. Research shows that high attendance rates in elementary school are directly linked directly to high student achievement. Every day counts. Missing school even 10% of the time has a significant negative impact on reading and math achievement as children progress through school.

Good attendance starts early. Research has shown that the attendance habits established Kindergarten through Grade 2 have lasting effects on students throughout their education: children with high attendance in the early grades continue to have good attendance; and students with low attendance in the early grades are more likely to have low attendance—and lower academic performance—throughout their elementary and middle school years.

As caregivers, you are your child’s most influential teacher, I am asking for your support in helping your child get to school every day and to get to school on time by 8:35 every day. We realize that every family faces challenges. Please let your child’s teacher know if your family needs help dealing with a challenge to your child’s good school attendance. We will do our best to help you and your family ensure that your child’s school attendance stays on track.

Like last year, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has mandated that families, whose children have 5 or more absences or 5 or more tardies be formally notified, in written form, of their child’s attendance. While Farley keeps accurate records of which absences are “excused” and “unexcused” the DESE does NOT distinguish between “excused” and “unexcused” absences.

Each school in the district will be emailing these letters home twice month. Please do not worry if you have received one of these notifications. We understand that kids, especially elementary age, get sick more often, have medical appointments, etc. We also understand that Covid-19 and the flu are still an issue. Farley staff always reaches out personally if attendance or tardies are a true concern. We like to work with families to help rectify any attendance issues that arise.

For the past few years, Ms. Susana has been organizing a "Traveling with Books Project". This Portuguese Story Hour is open to all students and takes place on the weekends at the Hudson Public Library. This year, Ms. Brenda and Ms. Dione are also helping out. The main goal of the reading event is to develop students’ Portuguese language literacy as well as establish relationships and connections between multilingual students and different resources in the community. See the fliers below for more detailed information.

For the safety and well-being of both students and staff, the Farley teachers at car pick-up and drop-off kindly ask that drivers not use cell phones while in line. They would like caregivers to refrain from taking pictures and videos of kids walking into school as well. Thank you in advance for help with this.

Students get Paw Print Stickers for going above and beyond. When a staff member "catches" them doing something spectacular, they get two stickers-one to wear and one to put on their homeroom Fox poster. When their classroom Fox poster fills up with stickers, they get to have a classroom celebration. If you see a paw print on your child's clothing or backpack, please ask them what good deed they did to receive the sticker!

A few of the residents who live on Lincoln Street asked me to remind all car pick-up drivers, to please refrain from parking in front of the driveways on Packard or Lincoln Streets while waiting for pickup. Blocking driveways makes it difficult for residents to access their homes. Within the next few weeks, car pick-up will be so fast that this shouldn't be problem. But for now, please be mindful of where your care is idling. The residents thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Farley is in need of substitutes. We are looking for both day-to-day subs and permanent building subs. Day-to-Day subbing offers employees a flexible schedule. Our Permanent Building Substitute works every day but in a variety of classrooms. The Permanent Building Substitute job is a salaried, benefit eligible position. If you are interested or would like more information, please click the link below. Also, feel free to email Mrs. Duke directly @ amduke@hudson.k12.ma.us if you have any questions or plan to apply.

https://hudson.tedk12.com/hire/index.aspx

Vision:

Farley Elementary School prepares all of its students with the academic and social-emotional skills they need to thrive as thoughtful, creative, and curious citizens who value diversity and lifelong learning.

Mission:

Farley Elementary School is a safe and inclusive community where everyone feels seen and valued. We inspire and empower all of our members to grow, explore, and ignite a love of learning. We value creativity, curiosity, global citizenship, and equity and believe our cultural and linguistic diversity makes us stronger.

Instructional Focus: #ExplainYourBrain

Email: rscanlon@hudson.k12.ma.us
Website: https://cafarley.hudson.k12.ma.us/
Location: 119 Cottage Street, Hudson, MA, USA
Phone: 978-567-6153

Civil Rights Coordinator- Jennifer Allard jnallard@hudson.k12.ma.us

Title IX Coordinator- Jennifer Allard jnallard@hudson.k12.ma.us

Director of Student Services- Catherine Kilcoyne cakilcoyne@hudson.k12.ma.us

District 504 Coordinator-Catherine Kilcoyne cakilcoyne@hudson.k12.ma.us

McKinney Vento Contact-Catherine Kilcoyne cakilcoyne@hudson.k12.ma.us

Foster Care Point of Contact-Catherine Kilcoyne cakilcoyne@hudson.k12.ma.us