We Shine at Hyman Fine!

Blue Pride Starts Here!

Good afternoon Hyman Fine Families,

Where has the month of March gone? When March rolls around it always feels like it will be a longest month of the year. As we enter the last week of March, I cannot believe how fast the days have gone by.

Reminders:

• 4th grade families - due to unforeseen circumstances the elementary schools are no longer able to participate in the district concert later this month.
• Thursday, March 28th @ 6:30pm - 2nd Grade music performance - "CARNIVALE" . Doors will open at 6:00pm
• Friday, March 29th is Good Friday and there is no school.
• Grades 3 and 4 Families, ELA MCAS testing will take place the week of April 1st. Please look over the testing suggesting below.
  

March

28 - Grade 2 Music Performance "CARNIVALE" - 6:30pm

29 - No School

April

1 & 2 - Grade 4 ELA MCAS

3 & 4 - Grade 3 ELA MCAS

9 - Opening Day - Red Sox/Sports Day

12 - Patriot’s Day PD - ½ Day - Hat Day

12 - Early Release (12:25 PM)

15-19 - No School - April Vacation

Have a great week.

Noah B. Collins

Principal

Wahoo! Monday, March 4th we will begin ST Math March Madness. The bracket will be posted in the lobby for all to see and track. Again this year we will focus on highest goal progress from week to week, not who has the highest goal progress. We are looking for growth over time-it's a level playing field or should I say- it's a level basketball court!

Like all challenges, March Madness is intended to be a fun way to motivate the use of ST Math. To be fair, ST Math should be completed in school within the recommended minute expectations. Don't fret, we will add in a “wild card” opportunity to allow classes to re-enter the competition at a later stage, even if they are knocked out in an initial round. Please encourage your classrooms to cheer for one another along the way, even after they’ve been “knocked out”. The challenge ends on Thursday, March 28th. Good luck to all!

Any resident of Attleboro or student attending the Attleboro Public Schools (through a guardian) can access the William James College INTERFACE Referral Service. The INTERFACE Helpline helps individuals in subscribing communities become connected with outpatient mental health and wellness resources.

Through the Helpline that operates from 9 AM- 5 PM on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and 8 AM- 6 PM on Tuesday and Thursday, callers will complete an intake which takes about 15-20 minutes and then within a day or so of their call will be assigned to work with a Resource and Referral Counselor who will help them navigate the challenges of finding mental health services, including obtaining a referral match to an outpatient provider, as well as information and resources related to mental health and wellness. Please see What to Expect When You Call the Helpline or visit interface.williamjames.edu for more information.

The INTERFACE Helpline is not an emergency service. If you or the person you are seeking to assist requires a crisis response to meet immediate safety needs, please call 988, 911, go to your local emergency room, or find your local crisis services by calling 833-773-2445 and asking for crisis support.

Each year, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) publishes a report card for each school based on many metrics, including MCAS, attendance, etc. Below, you will find an introductory letter which contains a link to view our 2023 School Report Card.

1) Thank you to all who attended, volunteered for and donated to the Someone Special Dance! We hope everyone had a great time!

2) The 7th Annual Fun Run is scheduled for May 22nd! The PTO is still looking for sponsors for the Fun Run shirt. Please see attached flyer for sponsorship details.

3) The PTO is creating subcommittees to work on Teacher Appreciation Week, Yearbook and 4th Grade End of Year Events. We need your help - please consider signing up!

4) The PTO is collecting Amazon wish lists from Hyman Fine staff. Please consider making a donation from the following wish lists:

Sarah Cerrone

Stephanie Perches

Kelli Gorman

Courtney Daggett

Ripley Devers

Emily Schiller

Questions? Email: hymanfineelementarypto@gmail.com

Make sure to like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hymanfineelementaryschoolpto where you can find updates on all PTO events, meetings, fundraisers, HF spirit wear, and school related information.

2023 - 2024 PTO Board Members:

Co-Presidents: Jenn Rosa and Ben Chalot

Vice President: Ashley Niland

Co-Secretaries: Bonnie Standring

Co-Treasurers: Denise Desrosiers and Kelli Costa

Grades 1 and 2 Families

Dear Parents or Guardians,

We at the Computational Cognitive Developmental Lab at the Harvard Graduate School of Education are interested in how children learn about the world around them. To answer the question of whether young children can learn from a limiting case analysis about the principles of water displacement, we are conducting an online study over Zoom.

Your child will play a game with the experimenter over a video call and will answer questions about what will happen to the water level after an object is submerged in it.

If you are interested in having your child participate in the study (the study is open to 6-, 7- and 8-year-olds), please fill out the following super short survey to provide us with your contact information.

https://harvard.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1zXmkcSVYw9IeTs

If you do so, we will be in touch to schedule an online 30-min appointment outside school hours that works for you. We will be able to offer a $10 Amazon gift card as a token of appreciation for your participation.

Sincerely,

Igor Bascandziev

If you have any questions, please contact me at: igor.bascandziev@gse.harvard.edu

We know that families play an essential role in reinforcing timely and regular student attendance. See the link below for some tips on encouraging and supporting your student. As a reminder, all APS Attendance Policies can be found in the student handbooks.

The APS Community Resource Guide has moved! Click the link below to access the updated list of local resources and community supports: https://www.attleboroschools.com/o/apswc/page/community-resource-guide

Has your child come home from school mentioning staff members that you do not know? Well, we'd like to introduce a few of them to you. We are very grateful to have paraprofessionals in our building to support students both within and outside of classrooms. They often meet with small groups or individual students in order to support and/or extend learning. Paraprofessional roles and responsibilities are flexible and fluid, student groups can change daily or monthly based upon teacher input and classroom data. These valuable staff members often cover classes due to classroom teacher meetings or absences. So if your child mentions the following staff, these are the people they are referring to: Mrs. Cody, Miss Fritz, Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Aoun, Mrs. Best-O'Connell, Mrs. Martin, Miss Cristina, Miss Z, Mr. Adam, Mrs. Sedensky, and Mrs. Castro. We are so very lucky to have this additional layer of teaching instruction which is a big part of what makes Hyman Fine SHINE

While we prefer a note for change of dismissal plans we do understand there are times when life happens. If you need to change dismissal plans please follow the guidelines below.

• If you are not able to send in a note you may email our office staff and your child’s teacher prior to 10:30.

• Office staff email: dmorgan@attleboroschools.com or pcooper@attleboroschools.com

• If you do not receive a confirmation email please call the school to confirm receipt of transportation change. 508-223-1560

• Arrival begins at: 8:30 AM
• School Day: 8:45 AM – 3:25 PM
• Dismissal is at 3:25 PM
• Early Release Dismissal: 12:25 PM

Attendance is critical to the success of your child. They cannot learn if they are not in school. We are asking that your child attend school daily and be on time. We only have them for 180 school days and want to make the most of it. With that being said, there are real and valid reasons why a child needs to be absent, and we 100% support that. Please keep communication open with the school regarding attendance. We are here to support you.

Please see these important newsletters for information about our Title I programming.

Title I Home School Compact

Title I Family Engagement Plan

Spring 2024 MCAS Dates

We have selected dates for our MCAS testing in the Spring of 2024. Please do your best to not schedule vacations on these dates:

Grade 3

• ELA - April 3rd and 4th
• Math - May 8th and 9th

Grade 4

• ELA - April 1st and 2nd
• Math - May 6th and 7th

New School Year Information

Please check out this highly informative back to school information from the district.

ttps://www.attleboroschools.com/o/apswc/page/for-families-aps-welcome

Visit the APS Community Fliers page to view the most recent events, opportunities, and resources happening within the Attleboro Community.

The district is steadily making progress with helping families access Rooms. In addition to contact Kim Janssen(@Kimberly Janssen), there are two websites that can provide information/help with Rooms:

• Apptegy’s Help Site

• APS Rooms’ Help Site

Please check out the food menus. Here you can see the options for breakfast and lunch. https://www.fdmealplanner.com/#Attleboro

BREAKFAST & LUNCH

Massachusetts has extended free school meals for another year. This means that breakfast and lunch will continue to be served at no cost to all students. Please note that even though meals will be free for all, it remains essential for families to complete the household Application for Free and Reduced Price Meals for the 2023-2024 school year. We strongly encourage ALL families to submit this form as it allows us to determine eligibility for P-EBT benefits and waive or reduce transportation, athletics, and other fees. Documenting qualifying families also significantly impacts state funding for our district, so completing the form is a direct way to support our schools.

We ask that lunches from home are nut free when possible.

SNACKS

While sending your child to school with a snack please keep in mind our classrooms are nut safe and no student will be allowed to eat a snack if it is not nut free.

Much like the transportation application process, we will not be sending home paper copies of the SY 23-24 Free/Reduced Lunch applications this year. We will be sending out a series of notifications to families with this information and it is included in the New School Year Information document above. We will send a small number of paper applications to each building so that you have them available if they are requested. Lunch applications can be completed online and are found on the Food Services webpage here:

https://attleboropsma.sites.thrillshare.com/o/aps/page/food-services2

Email: ncollins@attleboroschools.com
Website: hfes.attleboroschools.com
Location: 790 Oak Hill Ave, Attleboro, MA, USA
Twitter: @Attleboro_HFES