MHS/WES Newsletter

MHS Open House (PreK - 1)

Thursday, October 3rd

5:30-6:30 p.m.

Please join us at MHS for our annual MHS Open House Night! Students are excited to show their families around Meetinghouse School. The whole family is welcome to attend this very special event. Families are welcome to come anytime between 5:30-6:30 PM. Our PTO, SEPAC, Local Scouts, and other organizations will be present as well. Please be sure to stop by their tables to learn more. We can't wait to you!

MHS/WES Walk to School Day! (Grades K-5 only)

Wednesday, October 9th ~ 8:40 AM

Starting at the VFW Field, all students K-5 will walk to school. It's like a school parade! Our Police and Fire Departments will be there to help and join in on the fun.

MHS & WES are partners of the Massachusetts Safe Routes to School Program, a federally-funded initiative of MassDOT, promoting safe walking and biking to school to decrease traffic congestions, increase physical health and better the environment.

On October 9th, MHS & WES students (K-5) will be participating in the International Walk to School Month, an internationally recognized walk to school day promotion. Students will be picked up at their regular bus stops in the morning and will be dropped off at the field behind the Westminster VFW, next to Cumberland Farms. The first bus (after they have dropped off their students) will then go to WES and pick up the students from Extended Day and bring them to the VFW Field. From the VFW Field location ALL children will walk with teachers and staff to their schools.

The Westminster Police and Fire Departments are also partners in this event and will be on hand to help ensure both pedestrian and traffic safety.

The walk is intended to serve many purposes. These goals include:

• To remind children and parents about the range of transportation choices;
• To teach students important lifelong walking safety skills;
• To create an awareness among drivers;
• To demonstrate the health benefits for our children through regular exercise;
• To improve the physical health, environmental health, and safety of our students;
• To have fun and strengthen our community connection.

Preschool: Normal drop off. After arrival, our preschoolers wait outside with the fire and police departments to welcome the K-5 students to school.

AM Drop-offs: Those children who are usually driven to school and who wish to participate can also be be dropped off at the VFW. (8:20-8:30)

Breakfast: Will only be served to students who attend extended day in the morning. If your child does not attend extended day in the morning, please make sure your child has breakfast at home tomorrow morning.

Extended Day: Students will ride a bus to the VFW from WES.

Instruments: Students who have an afternoon music lesson will need to have their instruments dropped off at school by a parent. If a student has a morning music lesson they will ride a bus to the VFW with their music teacher after their morning lesson.

If you request that your child not participate, please call or email the school by Friday, October 4th.

School Improvement Council

We are in need of 1 parent and 1 community member to join our School Improvement Council. Our School Improvement Council serves as an advisory board to the administration of Meetinghouse School and Westminster Elementary School. The council gives input to the school improvement plan, as well as budget implications and programmatic changes throughout the school year. School Improvement Council meetings are held monthly and are open to the public. If you are interested, please email Kathy Taylor at ktaylor@awrsd.org.

The School Improvement Council meets once a month on Thursday from 4:15-5:30 p.m.

OCTOBER 10, NOVEMBER 21, JANUARY 9, MARCH 6, APRIL 3, MAY 15

Did you know that MHS/WES is on Instagram? Check it out!! principalkt24

October 3: Thursday ~ MHS Open House 5:30 - 6:30 PM (See more info. above)

October 9: Wednesday ~ Walk to School Day (K-5)

October 9: Wednesday ~ Nature's Classroom 5th Grade Parent Only Informational Meeting; 6:30 PM WES Cafeteria.

October 10: Thursday ~ PTO Meeting 6:30PM MHS Library

October 14: No School ~ Columbus Day/Indigenous People's Day

October 15: Tuesday ~ Flu Clinic at Oakmont Regional High School 3:00-6:00 PM

October 19: Saturday ~ Cracker Festival 10:00 AM -5:00 PM

Both the MHS/WES Nurses would like to remind students that they need to bring their own snacks from home. The nurses do not provide snacks.

Also, both nurses are in need of gently used or new sneakers in children sizes only, new underwear, socks and soft pants. Any donations would be greatly appreciated.

We are offering a la carte items to 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade right now. We will begin to offer for second grade when their lunch line speeds up. We have baked chips available daily and will rotate a few other items. All items are $1.25 or less and we follow Massachusetts À la carte Food & Beverage Standards.

The John C. Stalker Institute of Food and Nutrition (JSI), a partnership of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and Framingham State University, publishes the “A-List” (or Acceptable List) which was first developed as a resource to find products that met the Massachusetts Action for Healthy Kids’ Massachusetts À la carte Food & Beverage Standards. This list of products has been revised to reflect the Massachusetts School Nutrition Standards. Please see www. johnstalkerinstitute.org/alist.

Dennis Mueller | Director of Dining Services | O. 978.827.5907 x 2167

Ashburnham Westminster Regional School District

Dennis.Mueller@compass-usa.com

Welcome Our New Preschool Teacher!

We are excited to introduce Mrs. Jennifer Brown as our new half day preschool teacher! Mrs. Brown brings a wealth of experience and a passion for early childhood education. She is eager to get to know each student and create a fun and nurturing environment. Please join us in welcoming her to our preschool family!

Beginning of Preschool

As we kick off the school year, our little learners have been settling into their new routines. We've been focusing on creating a safe and welcoming space for everyone. Daily activities include storytime, art projects, letters, numbers, colors, shapes, and outdoor play, all designed to foster creativity and social skills.

All About Me Posters

To celebrate our individuality, each student has created an "All About Me" poster. These posters feature pictures and information about their favorite things, family, and hobbies. Thank you for your continued support as we embark on this exciting journey together. We look forward to a wonderful year filled with learning, laughter, and lasting friendships!

We are so happy to welcome students back, and we hope that it was a wonderful and relaxing summer! It has been a successful start to the year, especially now that life is seemingly “back to normal”. We have been spending some extra time setting up classroom expectations and creating a classroom community.

This week, we couldn’t be any more excited for our field trip to the Wild Robot! Such a perfect way to tie in our Wit and Wisdom Module Essential Question: What does it mean to have a great heart literally and figuratively? We will be looking deeper into how our favorite robot with no literal heart grows into a creature who shows countless times having a figurative great heart!

Academically, we are beginning our BRIDGES math unit focusing on multiplication strategies, factors and multiples. It is so important for students to memorize their fast facts. Please work with them at home to practice skip-counting multiples, and memorizing fast facts. In science, we have started a plant and animal structures unit. In October we look forward to hearing from our district’s Vision Specialist about some causes of vision problems and how to use other senses to help us adapt to the environment.

Welcome back everyone, I hope your school year is starting off great! This is my 30th year of teaching, and I love teaching your children! Here is my news for each grade level general music class, as well as the Bands, and the Chorus!

Grade K+1 -Our Meetinghouse kids are getting used to singing some fun songs and doing hand motions while they have fun doing the ABC’s, Twinkle Twinkle, various versions of Happy Birthday, and the Animal Fair. They also have learned how to echo rhythms by drumming. Grade 1 also reviewed singing their patriotic songs for fun too.

Grade 2+3 -They have been working at learning rhythms by rote and by reading quarter notes, eighth notes, and quarter rests. Both grades also reviewed singing their patriotic songs for fun. Both grades did a lesson on Beethoven and his piece called “Fur Elise”, seeing/comparing different versions

Grade 4+5 -They have been reviewing their level 1 keyboard notes in class, and have also been working on a unit on rhythm. Grade 4 did a lesson on This Land Is Your Land, learning about Woody Gutherie and seeing/comparing different versions. Grade 5 did something similar but it was with the song My Country ‘tis Of Thee and seeing/comparing different versions.

BAND!!! -Our Beginning Band (B Band) has been starting to form and we have another big crop of beginners ever at WES, with OVER 50 NEW students and it keeps growing every day! It is not too late to sign up, so just email me at the school, I can have my assistant Director, Mrs. Jean Popik help you get squared away. Come join our band, and do a highly educational/worthwhile activity that is both challenging and fun! Lessons have started this week before/after school and the B Band rehearsals will start on Oct. 25 from 3-4pm. A google classroom will soon be set up with videos for the students to practice with, so be sure to remind your children to use them to help them progress faster. For additional questions, please contact my assistant director, Mrs. Jean Popik at wemusicprogram01473@gmail.com for more details.

-Our Advanced Band (A Band) has been practicing already and will be performing two times in October! First they are part of the District Marching Band Night on Friday Oct. 18 at the Oakmont football game. Then on the next morning, they perform at the Westminster Cracker Festival on 10/19 from 10-11am. Rehearsal times will be changed slightly on October 3, 10, and 17, to be from 3-3:45pm, to allow the jazz band to practice from 3:45-4:30pm. By the way, Mr. Lucander will also be performing with his classic rock band Mr. Strickland at 1:20pm! The A Band will perform at the town Veterans Program at 11am on November 11. The Holiday Concerts are scheduled for Friday December 6 (Grandparent/Veterans Concert) at 9am at WES, and Thursday, December 12 (9am at WES for students, and 6:30pm at Oakmont for parents/public). A google classroom will soon be set up with videos for the students to practice with, so be sure to remind your children to use them to help them progress faster.

-Last year’s Jazz Band will reform soon to practice for the Westminster Cracker Festival. Please see the rehearsal times/dates above in the A Band blurb. Then we’ll take a break, and start a brand new season in January. An announcement on specific rehearsals will be coming soon.

Chorus!!! -Sign ups for Chorus have been passed out and our roster is now set! Rehearsals will be each Wednesday from 3-4:15pm, starting October 2. The Chorus will perform at the Town Tree Lighting on Sunday December 8, at 5:30pm. The Holiday Concerts are scheduled for Friday December 6 (Grandparent/Veterans Concert) at 9am at WES, Thursday, December 12 (9am at WES for students, and 6:30pm at Oakmont for parents/public). A google classroom will soon be set up with videos for the students to practice with, so be sure to remind your children to use them to help them progress faster.

NOTE: Complete Schedules for each group from the A Band have been passed out. The B Band and Chorus will be given out soon and will include rehearsal dates/times and performance dates.

That’s all for now, I’m looking forward to a great year of music at MHS/WES!

Sincerely,

Mr. Lucander - Music Teacher/Music Director of Ensembles

Mrs. Popik - Assistant Director of Ensembles

“This year the Westminster Cultural Council will distribute approximately $11,400 for community oriented arts, humanities and science programs. Funds can be used for variety of projects and activities in Westminster, including exhibits, festivals short term artist residencies, workshops, lectures, performances, etc. These programs can service children, teens, adults, or our elderly.

Grant applications are currently available through the Massachusetts Cultural Council at:
https://massculturalcouncil.org/communities/local-cultural-council-program/application-process/

The online process must be completed by Wednesday, October 16, 2024.

For details about the Westminster Cultural Council and the results of the “Needs Survey” indicating the types of programs the community would enjoy please visit: https://www.westminster-ma.gov/cultural-council

Applicants are welcome to reach out to local contacts Sammi Dawley scdawley@yahoo.com and Pat Gendron pgendron@yahoo.com”

Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Sammi Dawley

Nashoba Board of Health 2024-2025 Flu Clinic Calendar

Grade 5 Nature's Classroom at Camp Cody 2025

Monday, May 19th - Friday, May 23rd

Each year our 5th grade students travel to Camp Cody in Freedom, NH for an outdoor classroom experience. The trip is 5 days/4 nights. Next year we are going the week of May 19-23rd. We want to prepare families that the cost of this trip has increased and is estimated to be about $450-475 per student. Please note this trip in your calendars, more information will go home with students in a few weeks.

All students have a bus number assigned to them as well as stops. Please click on the button at the end of this newsletter to see your child's bus number and stop. HOWEVER, if your child is going to be a parent pick up, walker, walker to MHS, or going to extended day, it is VERY IMPORTANT to send in a note with your child's first and last name to the school. One note is sufficient for the year with their schedule, but if it changes at all, we need to know. The safety of your child is our priority. Thank you

Emergency Early Dismissal Policy

In the event of an unforeseen emergency that necessitates the dismissal of students prior to the end of the school day, parent notification will be provided through the automated phone and email system. Typical emergency situations that may precipitate an early dismissal include, but are not necessarily limited to, severe weather conditions, fire and absence of heat or water.

Since it is impractical for school officials to personally contact every parent in the event of an early dismissal, parents and particularly the parents of elementary age children, are encouraged to develop a clear and well-defined plan with their children in case of an early dismissal. Since children will be dismissed to their home, it is imperative that children know how to gain entry into their home and how and whom to call once they are there.

ABSENCES: Please call WES (978-874-2043) or MHS (978-874-0163) when your child will be absent or late for school. Please state your name, your child’s name, teacher, and the reason for absence. If you must speak to someone, please call after 7:45 AM. This system is to ensure the safety of your child. If we do not hear from you, we will contact you at home or work, and if we can’t reach someone we may send a school resource officer to the house to do a well child check. Absent notes are required when children return to school.

AM Arrivals: Bus drivers do not let children off the bus until 8:20 a.m. There is NO Supervision before 8:20 a.m. Walkers/students being dropped off should not arrive before 8:20 a.m. School starts at 8:30 a.m.

PM Dismissals: The school day ends at 2:55 p.m. The office needs to know your dismissal plan. If your child is a car-rider, you will be given a sign to display on your car dashboard to be used each day. Car riders will be dismissed to the cafeteria and called outside in the order cars line up. Please remain in your car. Signs will be posted. If you would like your older sibling to walk from WES to MHS pick-ups for dismissal in the afternoon, please send a note to the office and your child’s teacher.

If your child needs to be dismissed early, please send a note to his/her teacher stating the time and reason for dismissal. Early dismissals will be handled through the main office.

NOTES: Please use student’s (and parent’s) last names in all notes to the teacher/office. Please also date all notes so that we can be sure we are dealing with current messages. Notes are required for any change in dismissal. You may also email a note to mhsoffice@awrsd.org (MHS) or wesoffice@awrsd.org(WES).

MEDICATIONS: ALL Medications must be brought to the nurse by an adult at the beginning of the day. Medication is NOT TO BE TAKEN by any child on his/her own. The school nurse under the following circumstances will administer medication:

• A signed and dated note from a doctor and a parent is sent with the child’s name, dosage, reason for medication and time to be given.

• The prescription bottle is sent with only the amount which will be needed for the administration at school. (Pharmacies will dispense in two bottles if you ask.)

School Announcements:

Please make sure all phone numbers and email addresses are updated throughout the school year to ensure you receive all messages sent from the school or district.

RESTRICTIONS: Please provide the office with any LEGAL DOCUMENT which indicates any legal restrictions on the release of your child as per district policy. These restrictions CANNOT be honored unless we have a copy of the legal documents in your child’s file. Please remember that it is MOST IMPORTANT that your child knows who he/she is allowed to leave school with and restrictions of the same.

TARDINESS: It is important that your child be at school on time. Tardy students need to stop at the office for a tardy slip when they arrive later than 8:30 a.m. If excessive tardiness continues, it will be necessary for the parent and child to meet with the Principal so that we may remedy the situation.

ARRIVAL

8:20 - 8:30 AM

DISMISSAL

2:55 PM

HALF DAYS - DISMISSAL

12:00 PM

AM Session 8:45-11:10 AM

PM Session 12:00-2:30 PM

Full Day Session 8:45-2:30 PM (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday Friday)

Please reach out with any questions you may have. We are happy to help!

• MHS - Kathi McCarthy 978-874-0163 ext. 0
• WES - Liz Maillet 978-874-2043 ext 0

Hey fourth graders! See America’s natural wonders and historic sites for free.

https://everykidoutdoors.gov/index.htm

General Ashburnham-Westminster Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) membership is open to all AWRSD parents/guardians of children with Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and Section 504 Plans and other interested parties. We need volunteers to help plan workshops, staff tables at local school and community events, become future leaders, assist other parents, and plan new activities and projects. Learn more about us and our work on our website https://sites.google.com/view/ashburnham-westminster-sepac. You can also follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ashwestsepac.

Bus passes will be issued for students riding their ASSIGNED bus but getting off at a different stop. A note or phone call from the parent/guardian is required to your child’s school office. The office will then issue the bus pass. Bus passes to ride a DIFFERENT bus will ONLY be issued in the event of an emergency. The school office must be notified by a parent/guardian that there is a circumstance beyond their control/emergency causing a student to ride a different bus. Bus passes are not issued for going to a friend’s house, dances, etc.

If you have specific questions or concerns regarding your child’s bussing, please reach out to bussing@awrsd.org.