Hansen Weekly Update

Hello Hansen Families,

Entering October this week has been truly exciting, mainly because it's been SO much fun using our NEW Front Playground! With a zipline, new climbing elements, a cool multi-use play structure, stand-alone spinning elements, and new swings, students have been so excited to give everything a 'test drive', and the results are a resounding big thumbs up (above) from our in-house 'playground experts'!

This week's Hansen Weekly Update has a final reminder on mandatory parent forms that are due, openings in our after school activities, and more! Please make sure you've filled out mandatory parent forms by Monday, and encourage your student to consider some after school programs we offer.

Hispanic Heritage Month:

September 15th to October 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month. This month celebrates the anniversary of independence for five Latin American countries: – Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, and El Salvador. Mrs. Kohl created the posters of well-known people of Hispanic Heritage, pictured below, to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month.

Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah represents the beginning of the Jewish New Year, translating from Hebrew to mean the “head” of the year. It's commemorated in different ways, including special prayers, foods and gatherings. We hope all of our families who are celebrating are enjoying a 'Happy New Year'!

With Hansen Pride,

Paul McKnight

Principal

Hansen Elementary School

• Change of Date due to Rain! Oct. 8th: CAPT Walk&Roll to School Day
  

• • Oct. 14th: No School, Columbus Day

  • Oct. 23rd: Early Release, 11:50 a.m.

  • Oct. 25th: CAPT Fall Dance

Parents, we're starting to notice a concerning trend of student tardiness in the morning at arrival time. The importance of helping students value being on time is reflected in many areas. Being on time to school every day can help students develop the habit of being punctual, illustrates to them your commitment to their learning and social connections in school, and helps reduce classroom interruptions and distractions for all students. Missing just 15 minutes of school twice a week equates to 3 missed school days per year!

Also, students arriving to school with time to spare have the benefit of morning recess time, greeting their teachers and classmates, getting organized for their school day, and focusing their minds on the lessons to come. Students arriving late miss out on these benefits, and chronic tardiness may cause students to struggle with learning and feeling a full part of their classroom community.

However, arriving late to school on a consistent basis results in students starting their day under stress, can lead to confusion with their academic lessons, and eventually has long-term academic effects. Ultimately, we want to help students build life-long habits for success for their future in school, college and the world of work.

Mr. McKnight and Ms. Fahey will look to schedule meetings with families of students who have been tardy multiple times, beginning in October. Please help your student(s) benefit from daily on-time arrival to school, so that they have the best school year possible!

Thank you!

When students arrive to school, they can either go to breakfast or they go to morning recess. Students in grades 3-5 will have morning recess on the front playground. Students in grades K-2 will have morning recess on the back playground. Students in K-2 will enter the building through the side door, K & 1 students leave their backpacks outside their classroom door, grade 2 students keep their backpacks, and go to the back playground.

Thank you!

While classrooms and offices at Hansen may have different toys or fidgets that students are allowed to use at appropriate times, we ask that you do not send your student in with any toys, stuffed animals, Pokemon cards, or fidgets.

We want to prevent toys or personal items, from being misplaced, broken, or accidentally put into someone else's backpack. Please check your student's backpack for any toys, stuffed animals, Pokemon cards, or fidgets and kindly make sure they stay at home. Thank you!

Book Character Day on Thursday, Oct. 31st:

Students and staff have the option to dress like a book character for school! This is a wonderful opportunity for all to share their favorite book or characters with their peers. If your student is participating we ask that their costume or outfit follows our Code of Conduct. Students do not wear masks or bring in toys or accessories, and that their character is school and age appropriate!

Attention Parents! - School Picture Retake Day is November 15th! If your student missed School Picture Day, or wants a Retake, please have them ready for picture retakes that day.

Also, if any families would like assistance in purchasing their child's Picture Day Package, please reach out directly to Mr. McKnight at mcknightp@cantonma.org

Thank you!

Thanks to Absolute Landscaping, our Outdoor Classroom spaces now are looking as good as new - Thank you, Absolute Landscaping!!

For important information on our STAR Assessment Reports, click here. Translated versions of this letter are found below:

Haitian Creole Translation

Chinese Translation

Russian Translation

Arabic Translation

Spanish Translation

Parents, please see the CPS Parents Right to Know 2024-25 Letter, by clicking here.

Thank you.

Even though school lunch is universally free for all students again this year, we'd ask you to please fill out the Free & Reduced Lunch Form regardless, so that we have the ability to know how many families may need financial assistance with field trips, enrichment opportunities and in other payment situations. Please help us by filling it out!

Thank you!

If you are interested in working to to ensure equity exists within the Hansen School Community, join the Hansen Equity Team. You can indicate your interest in joining us in this important work by clicking the link here. Information on our first meeting will be coming soon!

Hello Hansen Families,

We are grateful for the opportunity to run these after school programs with the Hansen Elementary School. Please take a moment to look through the flier and see if our programs are of interest. We are offering grades K-2 Super Sports. Students will play a variety of sports and games each week. We are also offering grades 3-5 Flag Football and Dodgeball. When the weather is nice we will be outside playing flag football and on rainy days we will have dodgeball in the gym. We hope you will join us for all the fun this fall. (See Flier Below for Sign Up Info!)

Please Note - Registration is ONLINE ONLY, the form below is informational only!

Thank you!

F.A.S.T. Athletics

The Galvin Middle School Project is heading toward two key town votes. Save the Dates: November 18 Special Town Meeting and an Anticipated Ballot Vote on December 10.

Want to learn more about the GMS Building Project, see design renderings, or review timelines, please click on this LINK. If you have any questions, please email info@galvinmsproject.com.

The Galvin Middle School Project Team will be at the Sunday, October 20 Fall Fest at the Canton Farmers Market, and there will be a Community Forum at GMS on Wednesday, October 23 at 6:30 p.m.

Thank you!

Derek Folan

Superintendent

Canton Public Schools

960 Washington Street

Canton, MA 02021

foland@cantonma.org

We're excited to enhance our communication with you through Powerschool, our new portal for student information. To access your child's academic progress, attendance records, and more, please visit the PowerSchool Parent/Guardian sign in page. If you need to request your credentials to set up an account for the Powerschool Parent Portal, please submit a request here.

In addition to the portal, we're introducing a convenient text messaging feature to keep you updated on important school announcements. To opt in, simply text Y or yes to 67587.

Also, PLEASE NOTE: Parents, we need you to please review and update your demographic information, as well as manage media, handbook and device permissions for your student. This process will help ensure that your contact information is current and that you’ve provided the necessary permissions for the use of media and technology in our educational programs. Please click here for information on how to do this. These updates and form-completion steps are due now, so please complete them at this time.

Thank you!

Parents, please click on the following link for the CPS Elementary Student / Family Handbook

It has a lot of important information that we'd like to share with you, so please make sure to review it.

Recently two of our more intrepid and philanthropic 5th graders met with Mrs. Foley and Mr. McKnight to pitch their idea to organize a fidget and toy drive, to donate to Hansen adults who work with students in office spaces in our school. Their proposal was approved, and now we're excited to welcome donations of toys and fidgets to benefit students meeting with adults in Hansen's office areas. Please see the flier the two students put together for details on how you can donate below!

Canton Association of Parents and Teachers (CAPT) Membership Renewal OR Registration

Now is the time to renew your Canton Association of Parents and Teachers (CAPT) Membership or join for the first time! Thank you in advance for your annual contribution. Without you, our organization could not provide the support for Hansen in-school programming, field trips, community-building events, and more!

Renew or register here: https://forms.gle/u7FEc3KRVj5wi3Et9. (Printable membership forms are

here and can be returned at an upcoming meeting or to the school. Questions about CAPT? Visit our website: https://sites.google.com/view/hansen-capt

Upcoming Events

DUE TO RAIN - NEW DATE: Oct. 8th - Walk & Roll Join us to walk, bike, scooter, etc to school with Hansen classmates. We will meet at St. Gerard's parking lot (1860 Washington St.) at 8am. Children who do not regularly walk to school already must be accompanied by an adult. See flyer attached.

October 25 - Hansen Fall Fest Dance 6:30-8:30pm.Parents must accompany their children - costumes are welcome. No weapons or sharp objects. Volunteers needed - sign up here. See flyer attached.

Fundraising

Halloween BOO bags

Order BOO bags from the Hansen CAPT for $10 to have them secretly delivered in the month of October (Venmo @Hansen-CAPT with “Boo Bag” in the comment, or contact hansenboobags@gmail.com for alternate payment methods).

- Visit the google form to order! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdf0MXxhedwSBq0IdbuR1XM4iN7WtkQMG65NaHPYj3uoCCOgg/viewform?fbzx=-1163630823135397564

- To find out who BOO'ed you, email hansenboobags@gmail.com and make a $3 donation to the Hansen CAPT

Fall Mini Sessions

Local photographer Moira Sweetland will be doing 15 minute mini sessions October 19 and November 3. $20 of each session will benefit CAPT Sign up: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C084DA5A62FA5FD0-51524302-hansen

Save the Dates

• October CAPT Meeting - October 8: Hansen Library and via Zoom.
• Fall Mini Book Fair - November 18 week (during parent/teacher conferences)

Fun Run Future Planning

Several Hansen families have voiced interest in hosting an in-house "Fun Run" in the future as an alternative to the Boosterthon Fun Run that Hansen has hosted for the past several years. For such an event to come to fruition, planning must begin early!! If you are interested in joining the planning team, please contact hansencaptpresident@gmail.com. Meredith will connect those who are interested in joining the committee to organize the event, which will take place during the '25-'26 school year at the earliest.

The second annual Champions of Wellness 5K race/walk is officially open for sign-ups! The race will take place on Sunday, November 24th at 9am starting at the Canton High School track. Registration is $25 and all money raised goes towards Canton Public Schools mental health education for students and scholarships for seniors.

Please be sure to register using the link below. Same day registration closes at 8:15am. Start your training!

Champions of Wellness 5k Registration

This is our second year using our new SEL curriculum, Wayfinder. For access to a visual outlining Wayfinder's 'Core Skills + Competencies' which the instructional curriculum is based upon, click here. Thank you!

Need Family Assistance?

Family Resources

Canton Helpline

Canton Food Pantry

Canton Farmers Market

The Canton Farmers Market also accepts SNAP and HIP

Canton Holiday Helpers

Quincy Family Resource Center

My Brother's Keeper

How to Get Help | The Society of St. Vincent de Paul Boston

More support:

Suicide Prevention Lifeline

Chat online or call 800-273-8255

The Trevor Project Lifeline

Support For LGBTQ+ Youth

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)

Text NAMI to 741741