McGovern News!

I am so excited to announce that beginning on December 16th, we will return students for full days on Wednesdays! We know students learn best in person and I am thrilled that we have migrated to a 100% return. This has been no small feat and has required a high level of collaboration and flexibility from all of our community members. While we are ecstatic that our students will be returning for a full five day a week experience, there are some adjustments we needed to make to accomplish this goal.

This will absolutely mean there will be a change in the students' experience with allied arts classes. Please keep in mind that we have added multiple classes in order to bring students back to school safely, which means we have more classes to cover. As such, not all homerooms will have the exact same experience and I will make every effort to have consistency to the greatest extent possible. The schedule, even at the early childhood level, is complex as there are multiple layers to it. Once the allied arts classes are scheduled, we then need to schedule lunch, recess and tier 2 intervention services. This takes a great deal of coordination and is like one giant jigsaw puzzle.

I am still in draft phase of the updated schedule and it could mean that there is more than one change before the end of the school year. I will keep you updated as this process unfolds.

Finally, with the full return of students, beginning in January, one Friday per month, there will be no preschool classes to allow for team assessment and collaboration. This has been our practice in previous years and over the last few months, we have accomplished this on Wednesdays when students were not in school. Below are the dates that there will be no preschool classes:

January 8, 2021

February 5, 2021

March 5, 2021

April 9, 2021

May 7, 2021

June 4, 2021

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions. Stay safe and healthy!

Best,

Amy McDonald, Principal

Looking ahead to the Thanksgiving Holiday, the CDC has developed info-graphics, related to health and safety. Ultimately, the CDC writes, "Traditional Thanksgiving gatherings with family and friends are fun but can increase the chances of getting or spreading COVID-19 or the flu. Follow these tips to make your Thanksgiving holiday safer. The safest way to celebrate Thanksgiving this year is to celebrate with people in your household. If you do plan to spend Thanksgiving with people outside your household, take steps to make your celebration safer." If you are traveling, please be sure to read and follow the Statewide Travel Order. Please review and feel free to share these resources with friends and family as we continue to discuss what a healthy and safe Thanksgiving will look like for 2020. My hope is that you get to relax, recharge, and perhaps find some new Thanksgiving traditions this year!

Important Resources

• Medway Public Schools Official COVID-19 Information Hub
• Statewide COVID-19 Updates

Teachers will be distributing their classroom conference sign-ups for the December 2nd and December 9th conference days. If you do not receive one from your student's classroom teacher by Friday, November 13th, please reach out to them directly. Conferences always give families an opportunity to understand their child's strengths, current academic performance and opportunities for growth.

In addition, first term report cards will be distributed via students' backpacks on December 22, 2020.

Thank you to all students, families and staff who supported the Girl Scout Troop 74922 food drive. It is so important to teach our young students a sense of citizenship. I am proud of the contributions McGovern made to our larger community. Tomorrow is the last day to send in food.

We request that all families complete the beginning of year packet [Online Registration] in the parent portal to ensure we have the most up to date information for you and your child. To access OLR in the portal, login and choose MORE > Online Registration. Please follow the prompts to complete this information. If you are new to Medway or in need an access code to create an account, please email support@medwayschools.org.

We are only at an 18% completion rate and it is critical that all families update their information so that we have the most up-to-date contact information.

Please be sure to have your child's sign displayed in the front window of your car. If you need a new sign, please contact the main office and Mrs. Suttill will be happy to send another one home. It is easiest to read if they are the school issued signs and helps to make dismissal go a little bit faster!

In addition, please do not park in the gravel parking lot by the field and walk up to pick your child up. This area is usually used for families to pull into and buckle their child in. We realize that the line for picking up your child is much longer than it used it be, but we are all in this together, so let's work cohesively to make the process as smooth as possible. I really appreciate your cooperation with this and I promise, we are moving as fast as we can to load students into cars!

We have learned a great deal over the last 4+ weeks in school and continue to refine and grow our instructional practices.

As we work to bring more synchronous (virtual, live, scheduled) time to our students during their at home learning days and also continue to enhance our practices to ensure readiness SHOULD we need to transition to a fully remote learning model, we have crafted some "rules of engagement" to support students, their families, and our faculty and staff. The success of this work is dependent on all of us working together to ensure compliance and partnership. Please sit and review the information found through the links below WITH your child, regardless of their grade level.

The second section of this form asks for your partnership and agreement with these guidelines in support of all. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me.

You can access the form here and we would like all students and families to electronically sign the form.

Please be sure to dress your child in layers. Students go out for recess daily for 25 minutes. In addition, students may have music or wellness classes, which are also taught outside for 40 minutes.

Here is a helpful graphic to ensure that students are arriving to school with the best layers and apparel as we transition from warmer temperatures to the crisp cooler air. What is also hard is weather like this week and have a 23 degree morning on Thursday as compared to a 46 degree morning on Friday. Please remember that we keep windows open on the bus and in the classroom to increase air flow. When it is really cold outside, teachers will have one window that is cracked. Even this can increase the air flow throughout the classroom.

Finally, on snowy days, students will need boots, snow pants, a hat, mittens, and winter coat. Flexibility... the key word to this year! Students can always take a layer off if they are hot, but the same can't be said if they are cold.

Community Ed continues to offer several engaging opportunities for students. They recently put out their fall brochure with all of their clubs and activities. This fall may look a little different but there is still plenty for students to do. If you have questions reach out!

Phone: (508) 533-3222 and select option 4 from the menu
email: communityed@medwayschools.org

Registration Link: https://www.familyid.com/medway-community-education/school-programs-fall-2020-mcgovern-burke-memorial-middle-schools

In an effort to continue to stay connected to families, my next office hour session is on Friday, December 4, 2020 at 1:00 pm. There is no formal agenda, rather this is an opportunity for families to ask individual questions or wonderings.

Here is the link to the meeting.

I hope this finds everyone healthy.

Please remember that if your child has not received immunizations yet, whether he/she is an in-person or virtual learner, this needs to be completed by November 30, 2020. Here is the mandate by the MA Department of Public Health. In addition, an in-person physical exam is needed for students entering the McGovern school for the first time; typically pre-kindergarten or kindergarten students or a student transferring from another district and documentation is required.

Finally, as many of you are aware, Massachusetts now requires that all students, pre k - grade 12, receive an influenza vaccine by December 31, 2020. The only exceptions allowed are for medical or religious reasons.

Please provide the appropriate documentation as soon as possible so we are not out of compliance. All forms are to be sent to the attention of the nurse. They may be sent to school with you child, scanned and emailed to pmckay@medwayschools.org or faxed to 508-533-3263.

Feel free to contact me with any questions at the above email address or at 508-533-6626 x5354.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Penny McKay

So it's snowing outside. Enough said. With that, it is important to clarify how a snow day would be treated for the 2020-2021 academic year.

• Dr. Pires will provide the notification of school not meeting
• Students will follow a full remote schedule for that day

To provide families with the latest information and resources related to COVID-19, we have created a COVID-19 information hub, which can be accessed here, and by visiting our district’s homepage. Please visit this site for information about school/community COVID-19 health data, positive test reporting, student protocols, and local testing sites.

In order to ensure confidentiality and begin Contact Tracing as soon as possible, the District has established lines of communication if ever you need to report a positive COVID Test.

Report a student positive COVID test results by either emailing or calling the hotline below:

• covid@medwayschools.org
• 508-321-4779

The state of MA now requires that all students receive the influenza vaccination. Students will be expected to have received a flu vaccine by December 31, 2020, for the 2020-2021 influenza season, unless either a medical or religious exemption is provided. This new flu immunization requirement to enter school in January is in addition to existing vaccine requirements for all students attending school in Massachusetts. Elementary and secondary students in districts and schools that are using a remote education model are not exempt.

In order to ensure that children’s nutritional needs are satisfied during this period of remote learning, we are offering any Medway resident under the age of 21 the opportunity to access free school meals every day of the week and/or food to prepare meals at home. For more details about these offerings and to sign-up for remote meals please click here.

If you are not receiving email communications from the district or the schools, we are here to help. Please email parent@medwayschools.org and a team will work to ensure that you are connected.

MEPTO's Creative Arts program chair has created a fun calendar for the K-4 families, for the month of October. Check out the calendar for some fun activities! You can view the calendar here.

Please read the letter below regarding square 1 art:

Dear Family,

Welcome to Square 1 Art! The Square 1 Art art project provides you the opportunity to purchase keepsakes and gifts featuring your child's art and every order profits your school. This year will look a little different as all artwork will be done at home and will be submitted virtually.

Your 3 Simple Steps:

1. Your child creates art. Art Creation instructions and art/order deadlines will be provided by your Square 1 Art coordinator.

2. Take a photo of your child's art with your phone or tablet.

and upload the art online at square1art.com/shop/upload

3. You may then begin to shop for keepsakes!

Together, we can help support the school, and create keepsake memories of your child's art to enjoy for years!

More detailed instructions coming soon...

Square 1 Art

square1art.com

888.332.3294

McGovern School Square 1 Art Coordinator

Meagan Wilde

meagan.mckenna@yahoo.com

Memorial School Square 1 Art Coordinator

Julie McMenamy

juliemcmenamy@yahoo.com

Nov 25: Early Release 12:00 pm for kindergarten and 1st Grade

Nov 26-27: Thanksgiving break, no school

Dec 2: Early Release Days (12:00 pm dismissal), Parent/Guardian-Teacher Conferences
Dec 9: Early Release Days (12:00 pm dismissal), Parent/Guardian-Teacher Conferences

Dec 9: McGovern School Site Council, 3:15 PM

Dec 16: FULL Wednesdays for students begin

Dec 24 - Jan 3, 2021: Winter Vacation

Jan 4: School resumes

Please click the following links for directions on how to translate the newsletter.

Here is the link for the master directions in English.

Here is the link for Spanish.

Here is the link for French.

Here is the link for Russian.

Here is the link for Arabic

Haga clic en los siguientes enlaces para obtener instrucciones sobre cómo traducir el boletín.

Aquí está el enlace para español.

Here is the link for Spanish.

Veuillez cliquer sur les liens suivants pour savoir comment traduire le bulletin d'information.

Voici le lien pour le français.

Here is the link for French.

Пожалуйста, нажмите следующие ссылки для получения инструкций о том, как перевести информационный бюллетень.

Вот ссылка на русский.

Here is the link for Russian.