Principal, Karen Lindquist - klindquist@maynard.k12.ma.us

Assistant Principal, Kate Murray - kmurray@maynard.k12.ma.us

Administrative Assistant- Kathy Sullivan - ksullivan@maynard.k12.ma.us

Administrative Assistant- Nancy Dangelo - ndangelo@maynard.k12.ma.us

School Nurse, Maria Bourgeois - mbourgeois@maynard.k12.ma.us

Main Office Line - (978) 897-8246

Absentee Phone Line - (978)897-0310

11/8 - Green Meadow Veteran's Day Breakfast

11/11 - No School, Veterans Day

11/20 - Picture Retake Day

11/27-11/29 - No School, Thanksgiving Break

12/5 - Preschool Open House, 5:30 - 7:00

12/6 - Preschool Open House, 9:00 - 10:15

12/13 - Winter Concert for Grades 1-3, 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM

12/14 - Report Cards Published in Aspen

12/16 - 12/20 - Grade 2 Hour of Code Week

12/23 - 1/3 - Winter Break, No School

4/8 - 4/9 - Grade 3 ELA MCAS testing

5/6 - 5/7 - Grade 3 Math MCAS testing

We ended our week with a Grade 3 meeting to discuss some of the issues that have been evolving around soccer at recess. Mrs. Murray worked with some Grade 3 students to develop rules for recess soccer and during our meeting today the rules were presented. Families can view these rules together by clicking on the link to the presentation.

Do you have a rising Preschool student? Please join us for our Green Meadow Preschool Open House opportunities on Thursday, December 5, 5:30 - 7:30 PM, or Friday, December 7, 9:00 - 10:30 AM. Visit our classrooms, meet our staff, and learn about our curriculum opportunities. Application forms will be available. Our preschool is located in the Green Meadow School, 5 Tiger Drive, Maynard. If you have any questions, please call 978-897-8246.

The “Hour of Code” event takes place each year during Computer Science Education Week. It is held annually, typically in December, in recognition of the birthday (December 9, 1906) of Computing pioneer Admiral Grace Murray Hopper. This year it will take place at GMS on December 16-20th. The program was designed to celebrate coding and raise awareness. It was intended to be a quick way to show that anybody can learn the basics of coding and to broaden participation in the field of computer science. Today it’s become a global movement, participating in 180 countries and 45 languages.

Green Meadow Grade 2 Parents and Caregivers are invited to attend a Computer Science class with their student. A Google form sign-up will be available to families through email.

The following is a schedule for Grade 2 classes:

Monday, Dec 16th Mrs. Jones (9:15-10:00)

Tuesday, Dec 17th Ms. LeBlanc (9:15-10:00)

Wednesday, Dec 18th Sra. Taveras (9:15-10:00)

Thursday, Dec 19th Mrs. Holly (9:15-10:00)

Friday, Dec 20th Ms. Norcross (9:15-10:00)

Our new school building project has been well underway since August, and the preconstruction work is on schedule. The majority of the blasting work has been completed and the team is working on building the roadways and preparing the Geothermal well sites. Below are the answers to some of the questions the project team has received about the project work. This document will be posted to the Green Meadow Website, along with the results of all air quality tests.

GREEN MEADOW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PROJECT CONSTRUCTION PHASE FAQ

When will construction of the early site package be completed?

The early site package for the Green Meadow School will be completed by the end of January 2025. The scopes of work included in this early site package are: tree clearing, construction fence boundary install, erosion control install, ledge blasting, earth moving, new retaining walls, geothermal well drilling and install, new building footprint prep, and new roadway prep.

Ledge blasting will be complete by mid-December. The filling and roadway work requires heavy compactors that may create vibrations some are sensitive to. This will go through the end of January 2025. Downsizing / hammering and handling of the blasted rock will continue through mid-January. Crushing of the rock will be mid-November to mid-December. Geothermal well drilling will start mid-November and go through mid-December.

Are modular / “temporary” classrooms being considered to help reduce learning disruptions to the students while construction operations are ongoing?

Having modular / “temporary” classrooms were considered by the Green Meadow Elementary School Building Committee during the Feasibility Study phase, and through all of the evaluation, it was deemed most appropriate to have the existing building occupied and operational during the construction of the new building.

In the event modular / “temporary” classrooms were utilized, they would need to be in close proximity of the existing building to ensure proximity of the students and staff to the spaces in the existing building that would need to continue to be utilized, i.e. Gymnasium, Cafetorium, Library, etc. Because of that proximity issue, the modular / “temporary” classrooms would not be any further from the construction than the existing building.

Construction of the building envelope and structural system of modular / “temporary” classrooms would not prove to be any more sound-proof, nor vibration-proof than the existing building.

Given the precautions and procedures put in place for school occupant safety, the staff and students will be no less safe in the existing school than if in modular / “temporary” classrooms.

Is there a plan for monitoring air quality within the existing school during construction operations? Is there any concern linked to the building’s asbestos issue in 2019?

The project is utilizing the hazardous material consultant to perform dust sampling and testing and airborne asbestos sampling and testing, throughout the construction project, to ensure the results are within the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) regulations.

Also, the District is increasing the frequency in which air filters are changed within the HVAC units.

During the asbestos abatement project that was performed in 2019, all known friable asbestos containing material (ACM) ceiling tiles were removed per DLS guidelines.

What structural measures are being taken during ledge blasting for the existing Green Meadow School?

The General Contractor is reviewing the existing building’s structural integrity on a daily basis while blasting is ongoing to ensure there are no structural, or the like, concerns with the existing building. There is a seismograph placed at the school to monitor the vibration and air over pressure generated by the blasts. The blasting subcontractor has designed all blasts to stay below vibration levels that would cause any damage to the existing building. The blasting subcontractor and the project’s geotechnical engineer will review blast data after each blast to ensure the blast designs are appropriate based on the information generated from previous blasts.

For more information about our new school building project, please visit:

https://www.maynard.k12.ma.us/o/green-meadow-school/page/gm-building-project-information

We continue to meet and work through the MSBA design development process. We recently held a hybrid meeting to share where we are in the process.

Click on the link to read the lastest school lunch menu options: https://www.fdmealplanner.com/

Calling All New Families - Check out our PTO website and join our email list to stay on top of news and events. We can't wait for you to get involved!

https://greenmeadowpto.membershiptoolkit.com/

The next PTO meeting will be virtual on Tuesday, October 8, at 7:00. Please see the PTO website for the meeting link.

ELPAC (English Learner Parent Advisory Council) Resources

SEPAC (Special Education Parent Advisory Council) Resources

Multilingual Learner Resources

Come join us for a virtual Special Education Team Meet and Greet and learn about the new IEP format November 21, at 6 PM. Link: https://meet.google.com/yyk-kmwq-naa

Save the date! MHS Play Nov 21st & 22nd

Fun for the whole family! Follow us down the yellow brick road to the Maynard High School auditorium to see the one-act play When Bad Things Happen To Good Actors by Ian McWeathy and Jason Pizzarello, Thursday, November 21st and Friday, November 22nd at 7pm. We hope to see you there! Next week, we will share a link to purchase tickets. Sign up on this Google sheet to receive a personal notification as soon as tickets go on sale.

Maynard High School junior Katie Truch in coordination with Global Goods a local nonprofit, is

working on a community service project to raise money for global schools in Guatemala and

Indonesia. She is organizing a fundraiser with Epilepsy Foundation to collect clothing and

household fabrics. There will be a drop off day on Saturday, November 16, from 9-12 and on-

going drop off at MHS from November 4 -22, school hours. Please support Katie with this

worthwhile project and help students from underserved areas gain education.

The Open Table Food Pantry (www.opentable.org; 33 Main St, Maynard) is open on Tuesdays, 3:30 - 6:30 PM and Thursdays, 1 - 4:30 PM and offers free bags of groceries 1x/week. Open Table also allows families to pick up frozen meals for family members weekly.

The Maynard Food Pantry (www.maynardfoodpantry.com; 82 Main St., Maynard) is open on Mondays from 10 AM - 12 noon 1-2x/month

The Maynard Food Pantry offers a weekly Backpack Program for all students in PreK-Grade 5 that aims to offer food assistance to families. Each backpack is filled with nutritious, non-perishable food at no cost. Forms were sent home to families in backpacks last week. If you need a form, they are available in the Green Meadow main office. You can also request one by emailing Kate Murray at kmurray@maynard.k12.ma.us.

Interested in learning more about the Maynard community and the many wonderful things happening around town? Check out the monthly Maynard Advantage Newsletters by subscribing at maynardadvantage.org

Learn what's happening at the Fowler School by clicking here.

Learn what's happening at Maynard High School by clicking here.