This weekend we get to experience what I consider the best part of the year- Daylight Savings! Although the morning ride into school will become dark again, it is refreshing to know that the evenings will be brighter longer into the night! It also means that Spring is on its way and that we are closer to baseball season!

There are lots of amazing things happening around here at Fowler and within our Maynard community. Please look at the many new flyers below to catch up on some fantastic events happening in and around town. One particular event is the upcoming Annie play which will be performed at Maynard High School by Maynard students. Today, several members of the play joined our grades 4 and 5 students to perform a few songs from their performance. It was fantastic! Going to see the play is such a great way to support the student performers. It's a win-win for everyone!

Two Student Surveys that are coming up:

1. Youth Risk Behavior Survey: March 13th

2. UMass Survey: March 14 or 15th: Superintendent Haas sent out a letter to caregivers earlier this week. In case you missed it, here is a copy of his correspondence.

Good morning everyone,

I hope this email finds everyone doing well as we rapidly head toward spring.

As we continue to recover from the effects of the COVID pandemic on our students academically, socially, and emotionally, we are all aware that students, their families, caregivers, and staff members are all feeling unprecedented levels of stress and concern regarding how our children are doing in school. More effectively and precisely understanding the nature of these feelings would greatly help our whole school community formulate thoughtful and effective responses to these challenges.

A difficulty that all districts face is getting quality and complete information about how community members, staff, students, and families/caregivers feel about their experiences in school or related to school in order to respond more effectively to people's concerns.

Surveying stakeholder groups can address these concerns. Still, district-made surveys need more field testing and refinement to be called reliable and valid. Response rates can be low, resulting in limited use. Concerns about the anonymity of the survey participants can also contribute to low response rates. Analyzing the results generated by surveys can also be very challenging and time-consuming.

To help overcome these challenges and obtain reliable, valid, and high-quality survey results on the important topic of how students are feeling in school, the Maynard Public Schools has partnered with the Education Commonwealth Project (ECP), now located at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, to administer student surveys on Friday, March 15th. ECP was formerly housed at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell until this academic year.

This is the second year our teachers and students are being surveyed with the support of ECP, and we are now beginning to build data over time to help us see trends and inform district decision-making. Last year, nearly 95% of teachers completed ECP surveys across the state designed for faculty, and 95% of students completed surveys designed for them. We are anticipating similar results this year.

These surveys have been extensively field tested in districts across the state for more than 7 years thanks to a grant from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, are available in multiple languages, and different versions of the survey have been developed, depending on grade level, for students in grades PreK-12. More than 10% of all public school students in Massachusetts are now taking the ECP surveys, which help districts across the state assess areas of strength in programming and areas in need of additional support.

The research creating the surveys has also gone through the Institutional Review Board process at the University of Massachusetts, which ensures the materials are safe and appropriate for student use and guarantees participant anonymity.

ECP oversees the survey process. The surveys are administered through links generated by ECP, and responses are encrypted and sent directly back to ECP at Umass/Amherst, ensuring anonymity for the students and staff.

Student LASIDs (student identification numbers) are required on each survey, not to reveal the student's identity but to gather demographic information to generate meaningful data analysis of student subgroups. For example, do female students feel the same way as male students on a particular question? Do students learning English respond in a particular way to a given question differently from native or fluent English speakers?

ECP compiles student responses to help us look at such questions and sends aggregated data stripped of all identifying information for individual students back to the Maynard Public Schools. Should any aggregated group contain 10 or fewer students, that result is not reported separately to prevent students from being identified even inferentially.

Part of the work the ECP team has done for Maynard is creating a data dashboard based on the survey results. This dashboard allows us to examine student responses from a wide array of demographic perspectives, enhancing data analysis.

Since all of the work the ECP team has done is state grant funded, there is no cost to the Maynard Public Schools for any of this work.

The District has also partnered with ECP to develop a parent/caregiver survey for future use. We anticipate using the parent survey for the first time later this spring, as we have a draft that is very close to completion and undergoing final field testing at this time.

Stay tuned for more information about the student surveys on March 15th. We’ll also keep you posted about developments regarding the parent/caregiver survey work, which is rapidly approaching completion.

This message includes a link for the handout and script that teachers will use before the start of the online survey for your reference - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1byOij9MQ2SxPJxyX9kfw45jN1TlfwsbQ?usp=sharing

Finally, any parent or guardian who does not wish to have their child take the survey may opt-out. Contact your students' schools and let them know you do not want them to take the survey.

Sincerely yours,

Brian Haas

Superintendent

Maynard Public Schools

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Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has a new IEP form. The information below may be of interest.

Massachusetts has a new IEP Form! The new form is written in easier to understand language and is designed to increase collaboration among IEP Team members. Centering on student’s strengths and vision, a goal is to help students take an active part in the IEP planning process. Come to our virtual Introduction to the New IEP Form presentation to learn what has changed!

This workshop is free and open to all families, educators, school committee members, and administrators in your school district.

Date: Thursday, March 21, 2024

Time: 7:00PM-8:00 PM

Presenter: Leslie M. Leslie, MassPAC Project Director

Please register to get the zoom link to participate: https://fcsn.org/masspac-introduction-to-the-new-iep-form-on-3-21-2024/

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Earlier this week I sent a message to all caregivers regarding our grade-level community meetings. In case you missed it, here is a copy of that outreach

Today, March 4th each grade level at Fowler School gathered in the auditorium to discuss the recent anti-Semitic graffiti. Together with staff and administration, the Fowler students made connections to the importance that safety plays in the school environment and how having a safe and emotionally supportive place is vital to learning and growing. The main topic of the graffiti was discussed and the students were guided in a way that hopefully helped them understand that certain symbols elicit fear and intimidation such as the swastika. The students learned that in 1920 the swastika emblem was adopted as a symbol of the Nazi party. They also learned that 6 million innocent Jewish lives were lost under the Nazi regime and that the swastika is a symbol that is a reminder of the discrimination and hostility toward people of the Jewish faith.

To end the discussion each class took part in a minute-to-win-it challenge which promoted teamwork and the need to be supporters of each other. This activity was intended to build the Fowler sense of community and belonging. In the days, weeks, and months ahead this work with continue here at Fowler. Through continued activities that focus on community and acceptance, Fowler School will continue to grow together.

Thank you!
Keith Kinney- Fowler Principal

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And....FINALLY! This week we kicked off our annual fundraiser. Our amazing PTO sent this out and our students gathered together to learn about the fundraiser and to launch our efforts. In both school gatherings this week our students were awesome.

Dear Fowler Families,

Our Next Level fundraiser launches today, thanks to our amazing partners at POP! This direct donation fundraiser is a great way for students to reach out to friends and family to raise money for Enrichment Programs, School Programs, School Needs, Special Events and Teacher Appreciation events. Get ready to empower our kids, make a difference at our school, win cool prizes along the way, and celebrate all the fundraising efforts in a few short weeks with a field day called the Best Day Ever, last year known as Day of Awesomeness! All we need is for YOU to complete the Golden Ticket materials coming home with your child today! If you need a copy please find a copy of it here. Let's make a difference together. #NextLevel #GoldenTicket #GetReadyToSoar #FundraiserAdventure #MakeADifference #Fundraising

Check out the promo video about last year's event! POP for kids fundraiser - Next Level (vimeo.com) Can’t wait to see what we can do together for the Fowler School!

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Some upcoming Student Council Events:

1. Red Nose Day: Monday, March 18th. Red noses will be sold for $2.00 and will be for sale from March 11th- 18th.

2. Rock Your Socks: Thursday, March 21st. Socks (and they are cool) will be sold for $1.00 (per sock- not pair) and will be for sale from March 11th- March 20th. The idea is that socks are mismatched!

I hope everyone has an amazing weekend! Thanks for your partnership!

Keith