Willett Whaler

Happy New Year! We are excited to have your children back in school. They have made a seamless return to school in the new calendar year. They come back with fun stories to share. We look forward to their continued success.

Starting on Monday, January 9, Attleboro Public Schools will adjust the way attendance alerts are sent to a student’s contacts. Moving forward, the primary contact for any student who is marked absent will be sent a text and phone message, regardless if you have already notified the school. If you do not receive a message from the school, please reach out to the main office at your student’s school to confirm your mobile number is correct in our database. Alternatively, families may complete the “APS Student Contact Update” workflow in Aspen. Instructions on how to complete this workflow can be found here: https://5il.co/1ldxt

APS is currently updating the mobile phone numbers on record so that we can send school cancellations and other urgent notices via text message. We ask that you update your contact information in Aspen using the workflow directions listed here: https://5il.co/1ldxt If you have multiple students, please complete the workflow for each one. Families who wish to have their child(ren) receive text messaging from the district/school, should provide student cell phone number(s) through this workflow as well.

January

13 - Early Release (12:25)

16 - No School - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

23 - Virtual PTO Meeting - 6 PM

Happy New Year's to everyone! I hope you all had a safe and happy winter break. It's always fun to learn more about how other's might celebrate a holiday so I have included a few videos about New Year's traditions in our nation and around the world!

"Research supports that student attendance has a direct correlation to student achievement and graduation rates. Therefore, communication between schools and families regarding student attendance is critical in supporting academic success. All schools will follow the notification schedule outlined below. Students and parents should consult the Student Handbook for details about the procedures and consequences associated with excessive absenteeism at each school."

In order to prevent the spread of illness in our school, I would like to take some time to review the health policies regarding communicable diseases/illnesses.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health recommends the following guidelines to keep children home from school:

• Fever: Your child must stay home for 24 hours after the fever has dropped and no fever reducing medication has been given in a 24 hour span of time.
• Diarrhea: Your child must stay home until there is no more diarrhea for 24 hours.
• Vomiting: Your child must stay home until vomiting has stopped for at least 24 hours.
• Cold symptoms: Frequent cough, runny nose, sneezing (not necessarily associated with a fever)-Please test for COVID 19. If negative, please use your best judgment when sending your child to school. If positive, please call the health office.
• Remind your child to cough or sneeze into elbow and not into hands. Encourage frequent hand washing.
• Contagious illnesses: (Strep throat, conjunctivitis), Your child needs to have taken at least 24 hours of prescribed medication before coming back to school.
• Rashes: Rashes need to be evaluated by a doctor to determine cause and treatment
• Head Lice: A child found to have live lice at school will be sent home. The child should be properly treated and may return to school on the day after treatment. Before being allowed back in the classroom, a parent or other adult, must accompany the student to school so the school nurse can check the student.

Please provide documentation when your child has been evaluated for an illness and for any treatments that may be needed at school with a proper doctors order form and parent permission slip.

Families with students in grades 3 and 4 - please note the dates below. We ask that all efforts are made to have students present during testing days. Please do your best to avoid these dates when scheduling appointments and vacations.

ELA:

Grade 4 - April 3,4

Grade 3 - April 5,6

Math:

Grade 4 - May 8, 9

Grade 3 - May 10, 11

You may notice that an additional button, called Rooms, will be visible at the bottom right of our Attleboro Public Schools mobile app. This button is part of our integrated system of communication and will allow for your child’s teachers/coaches/and other staff to share detailed information (assignments, special events, practice schedules, etc.). More information is forthcoming, and we will have a table set up at Welcome Back Night.

Lunch applications can be found on the Food Services website, including the online application, a downloadable version in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, and a link to access all other languages. Please note that even the online application can be completed in many languages. Direct link can be found here: https://www.attleboroschools.com/page/food-services

Did you know that the APS Welcome Center is open and continues to serve all APS families, students, and staff?

The Welcome Center is here to:

• Offer support for families to complete district tasks, included but not limited to New Student Registration, Transportation, Food Services, “how-to” tutorials, translations and interpreting

• Strengthen relationships between APS and the Attleboro community by:

• Connecting families and staff to local resources and supporting this access

• Providing referrals to local support agencies

• Sharing information on behalf of and about community organizations through community fliers and the Welcome Center webpage

• Within the Welcome Center you can find:

• Staff ready to assist with district tasks, clarification of APS information, connections to local resources

• Computers with internet access for APS families and students, hotspots available for load to APS families

• Information detailing local resources, programs, and events

• Access to translations and interpreters

• Contact the Welcome Center:

• If you, a student, or a family is in need of resources or assistance understanding district information or systems

• If you would like to connect with a community resource or organization

• If you would like to make a suggestion

• Get in touch at: welcome@attleboroschools.com

Did you know that each school building has a Community Resource and Support Liaison?

The building-based Community Resource and Support Liaison serves as the primary point of contact for students, families, and staff in need of community resources for each school building. Formerly the MV Liaison, this newly expanded role not only supports McKinney Vento/Homeless families and Foster Care students within each building but is here to support all families in need. This individual is the point-person for everyone in your school community to access Welcome Center resources and community agencies and supports. If you’d like to learn more, please contact the Welcome Center or Willett's Community Resource and Support Liaison, Alyson Ferney.

The APS Welcome Center is happy to share the Family and Community Resource Guide. This guide is for the APS Community, including families, students, and staff, to access local resources and support. You can access the guide by visiting the Welcome Center webpage, or using this direct link:

https://coredocs.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/3035/APSWC/2421108/Family_Community_Resource_Guide.pdf

All APS Community Fliers can be found within the Welcome Center website. To view this week’s fliers, including information from throughout Attleboro please visit the Welcome Center webpage or click here for current fliers.

Please go to the App store and search Attleboro Public Schools. There is a new app which will be an excellent means of finding information in one location. You will see updates both from the district and our school. As we use this new tool, administration will be using less of the ASPEN email function.

• Apple Store
• Google Play Store