McGovern News!

What a great first two days we had at McGovern School! It was so awesome to see our students return to school. Most had smiles and were excited for the new year and even those who had a few tears, they were short lived.

Our teachers have been working really hard getting to know your children, building class community, and explicitly teaching school and classroom routines and expectations. The first several weeks will be spent building community and reiterating these routines as it creates a strong foundation for all social emotional and academic skills that come throughout the school year. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to your child's teacher.

We appreciate the support that families have played in getting students to school on time. On-time school arrival is one of our goals this year. When students arrive to school on time, they have the opportunity to socialize with friends and settle into the school day. We begin each day as a class community with our morning meeting. As a reminder, school starts at 8:50 am. We will begin to welcome students into the building at 8:35 am. Please do your very best to have your child/children to school on time each morning. It really makes a huge difference in their start to the day.

As a reminder, there is no school on Monday, September 5th, in observance of Labor Day. In addition there are no preschool classes on Friday, September 9th. Please mark your calendars for our Back to School Night on September 22nd. More information will be sent home soon.

Have a great long weekend!

Best,

Amy McDonald, Principal

You can find the 2022-2023 school calendar here. Please take note of the holidays, early release days, and professional development days for your early planning!

We have several new staff members joining the McGovern community. Please join me in welcoming the following new staff members:

Ms. Beth Ann Cornwell, Visual Arts

Ms. Alexandria Dowoit, Paraprofessional

Ms. Alanna Gold, Early Childhood Special Education Teacher

Ms. Yvonne Gilbert, Integrated Preschool Teacher

Ms. Shane Ann Falvey, Endicott Fellow

Ms. Jennifer LaCroix, 1st Grade Teacher

Mr. Kevin Lynn, Evaluation Team Supervisor

Ms. Lillian Klosen, Paraprofessional

Mr. Peter Malagodi, Music Teacher

Ms. Heather Morgan, Early Childhood Special Education Teacher

Mr. Ryan Otto, Wellness

Ms. Stacie Powers, Integrated Preschool Teacher

Ms. Zeina Sader, Paraprofessional

Ms. Katelyn Shattuck, Speech and Language Pathologist

Ms. Cathy Simonini, Paraprofessional

Ms. Ann Tacconi, Paraprofessional

Ms. Priya Tyagi, Paraprofessional

Ms. Jennifer Wakeling, Integrated Preschool Teacher

Ms. Katelyn Whitacker, Paraprofessional

On Thursday afternoon, with the support of the Medway Fire Department, we held our first fire drill. Our faculty and staff did a great job previewing the expectations and routines with students in the morning so they were ready for the live drill.

Our students did a fantastic job of listening for adult directions, getting out of the building quickly and quietly, and staying safe. We explained that this was just a practice drill and that we will do several of them throughout the school year.

Super proud of our faculty and staff for setting students up for success. And super proud of our #minimustangs!

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 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 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.

Please read the 2022-2023 Elementary School Handbook as it has important information for both McGovern and Memorial Schools. Please complete this sign off form by September 20, 2022 indicating you have read and understand the handbook.

In the coming weeks, we will begin our diagnostic assessments for students. Below is a description of the assessments that our students participate in. Please note that these assessments are used to help teachers identify students' strengths and areas of opportunity and they use the data to plan small and whole group instruction.

iReady Reading and Math Diagnostic Assessments:

The information about your K and 1st grade child’s current level of performance, both their strengths and opportunities for growth, are immediately available to their teachers from the iReady Reading and Math diagnostic assessment. Teachers will use this data to inform their daily instruction and a "path" in math is created for each student at their level that teachers use during math instruction and/or their intervention block.

DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills):

Students in K and 1 will also participate in DIBELS. DIBELS is a set of quick probes to assess students acquisition of foundational literacy skills. Teachers will use this information to plan literacy instruction.

Children need healthy meals to learn. Medway Public Schools offers healthy meals every school day. During the 2022-2023 school year, all students will receive free breakfast and lunch at school. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has provided money to do this for one year through the State budget. We need your help to ensure our district receives all the financial resources for which it qualifies. Please fill out and submit the application for free and reduced price school meals. If many families fill out and return this form, we will get more money from the federal government for free school meals now and in the future. We will also get more money for other school programs. Filling out this form also helps our community provide free summer meals to all kids, and free meals to kids in childcare. The information you provide is confidential. We follow strict federal rules to keep your information private.

McGovern School will begin the mandated Massachusetts Department of Public Health screenings for pre-K, kindergarten and first grade students the week of September 26th and continue throughout the fall. Vision screening will be performed on pre-K, kindergarten, and grade 1 students. Hearing screening will be conducted on all kindergarten and 1st graders. Heights and weights will be obtained on grade 1 students.

Please remind your student to bring and wear their glasses every school day, but especially during screening days. Should your child not pass this basic screening, a letter will be sent home asking you to follow-up with your child’s health care provider and/or other appropriate specialists. Parents/guardians may request in writing if they do not want their student to participate. Please notify me by Friday, September 16, 2022.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Thank you!

Penny McKay, MSN, RN

McGovern School Nurse

Tel 508-533-6626 ext 5354

Fax 508-533-3263

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. Please complete the application by September 30, 2022. 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. This is the URL address https://medwayma.infinitecampus.org/campus/portal/medway.jsp 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.

September 5: No School, Labor Day

September 9: No preschool classes

September 22: Preschool Curriculum Night for Parents/Guardians 5:30 PM

September 22: Kindergarten Curriculum Night for Parents/Guardians 5:30 PM

September 22:1st Grade Curriculum Night for Parents/Guardians 6:45 PM
September 26: No School, Rosh Hashanah
October 5: No School, Yom Kippur

October 7: No Preschool Classes

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