Principal's Corner

Happy Fall Killam Families!

The last few weeks our educators have worked tirelessly to establish strong routines and rituals with your students! They have reviewed bathroom, cafe, hallway, playground expectations and so much more! We have also placed a heavy emphasis on understanding and catching our core values in action. We encourage you to also catch your student(s) being TRRFCC at home!

Now we have made the shift into our curriculums. While strong social emotional supports will remain in play, you'll start to see noticings of our ARC literacy take home bags, math fluency work, and some exciting science labs. You might also hear your student mention being assessed by their teacher or our literacy specialist (K-3). Over the next month we will complete benchmark assessments & be ready to communicate some baseline data at our fall family conferences.

I hope this week brings you lots of happiness and joy! Looking forward to seeing your students tomorrow morning. :)

Warm regards,
Lindsey Fulton, Principal

Please complete the online emergency and district forms by 10/1 in Plus Portals!

*to access CLICK FORMS at the top of the browser (see pic below). Please email jaculen.maglio@reading.k12.ma.us if you need assistance logging into the portal.

There are 3 forms:

1.Reading Public Schools Pupil Information Form sent to the primary contact of the student to update demographic and emergency contact information, and indicate yes or no to permissions such as using online tools/allowing photos online, etc. which are tracked by office staff.

2. Contact Information Update Form: This is sent to all contacts of the student to update contact information including email, address, etc.

3. 2024/2025 Parent/Guardian Technology Agreement Form also known as the PCUP. This is our Acceptable Use Policy broken down in detail.

• Please be mindful of our Killam neighbors. Neighbors should be able to enter and exit their driveways, so please leave space at the end of their driveways.

• Absences should be reported to jwkabsences@reading.k12.ma.us or called in the morning of the absence.

• We wanted to inform you that our District METCO Director, Mr. Kurtis Martin, will be leaving the role and transitioning to the Boston Public Schools in their “Operations Leader” role. This role will come with a significant increase in job scope and salary. It is with deep gratitude that we thank Kurtis for his leadership service, and impact on the METCO Program. We have decided to name two of our current METCO SACs as co-interim METCO Directors for the remainder of the 2024-2025 school year: Elementary Interim Co-Director - Cindy Marte, and Secondary Interim Co-Director - Jerika Santiago. These leaders will remain in their current METCO SAC roles and receive a stipend for their additional responsibilities as co-interim METCO Directors. The co-interim director role represents the best path for investing in our own leaders and minimizing impact on our students. We will move forward with a process to hire a permanent METCO Director in the spring of 2025.

This Week:

Wednesday, September 25th- 5th Grade Field Trip (Flaherty & Stanley)

Thursday, September 26th- 5th Grade Field Trip (Palmieri & Travis)

Friday, September 27th- Family Picnic 6:00-7:30 PM

Next Week:

First Week of October!

Save the date:

Monday, October 14th- No School

Friday, October 25th- Fall Costume Parade (tentatively for 9 AM)

Second Grade Teacher, Mrs. Gramolini, has been implementing the visual schedule previously mentioned with her class. You can see below that students monitor the day's progress as each subject or block is complete!

Time management and awareness is a top-notch executive functioning skill!

To learn more about Reading SEPAC, please visit our website: Reading SEPAC Website

Should you wish to receive our monthly newsletter, please send an email to SEPACReading@gmail.com

Please note that Reading SEPAC IS OPEN TO ALL parents/caregivers and not only families who have a child with special needs as we offer various opportunities to connect with other families and provide learning experiences.

Tackling the Patterns of Anxiety, Depression and Avoidance:

Come join us virtually for a presentation by Lynn Lyons on Tackling the Patterns of Anxiety, Depression, and Avoidance. She will share the following. Registration is required for this event.

• Strategies for managing anxiety, moods, and social pressures, including school avoidance;

• Strategies for prevention and collaboration;

• What may make problems worse;

• What are better approaches

• Please click here to register for this virtual event with Lynn Lyons.

Team Chair Meet and Greet

In person on Wed., Sept 25th at the Reading Public Library

Refreshments provided. Registration requested.

Please click here to register

Email: lindsey.fulton@reading.k12.ma.us
Website: https://killam.reading.k12.ma.us/en-US
Location: 333 Charles Street, Reading, MA, USA
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JWKillamSchool
Twitter: @smorenewsletter