Hello Families,

Happy New Year! We are off to a running start as we settle back in after vacation. January is the time for our mid-year assessments and students will be completing a variety of benchmark assessments throughout the month. This information will help guide us in continuing to design instruction to meet all student needs.

COATS!!!!! COATS!!! COATS!!! The cold is upon us! Many students continue to come to school without a coat. We send students outside for recess on most days and are asking parents to make sure their child has a coat. Please talk to your child about making sure they have a coat on or in their backpack.

Respectfully,

Terri and Jayson

Monday, January 8th

• Kindness Day - Students and staff encouraged to wear kindness shirts and/or complete a kind act
• Student Grade Level Meetings w/ Mrs. Gilbert & Mr. Ramalho
• Student Council, 3:30-4:15pm, Gymnasium
• School Council, 5:30pm, Conference Room
• PTO Board Meeting, 6:30pm, Conference Room
• PTO Meeting, 7:00pm, Conference Room

Tuesday, January 9th

• Try it Tuesday - String Beans
• Early Release Day - students dismissed at 11:45am (Teacher Professional development)

• Reminders for Early Release Days:

  • Students are dismissed at 11:45am
  • Car dismissals should adhere to the following times
  1. Last names A-G- 11:40-11:45am
  2. Last names H-N- 11:45-11:50am
  3. Last names O-Z- 11:50-11:55am
• Please communicate any changes to your child's dismissal plans to their respective teacher, Mrs. O'Neill (oneilld@chelmsford.k12.ma.us) and Mrs. Sepe (sepek@chelmsford.k12.ma.us). Be sure to also discuss with your child.
• Lunch is available for take home ONLY through online ordering
• Students will either have specials or recess (rotates every half day).
• Snack time may be adjusted and/or not occur depending on your child(ren)'s schedule.
• Extended Day will be open until 6:00PM for students signed up on TUESDAY. Please provide your child a lunch.
• Please anticipate possible delays with buses as they navigate an early release schedule

Wednesday, January 10th

• no events

Thursday, January 11th

• no events

Friday, January 12th

• no events

January 15th

• No School in observance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day

January 19th

• Tie Dye School Spirit Day

January 22nd

• Beginning of the Kindness Challenge Week
• Kindergarten Magic Mike Bent Enrichment

January 24th

• Kindergarten Term 1 Grades Available via X2

January 29th

• Start of Winter Week in Specialists in conjunction with the PTO

January 30th

• Kindergarten Registration (rising Kindergarten families), 9:00AM-6:00pm, Central Office

January 31st

• Kindergarten Registration (rising Kindergarten families), 9:00AM-6:00PM, Central Office

The cold is upon us! Many students continue to come to school without a coat. We send students outside for recess on most days and are asking parents to make sure their child has a coat. Please talk to your child about making sure they have a coat on or in their backpack.

Save the Date (Family Community Engagement Night): Our School Council is hosting a Family Community Engagement Night on January 31st from 6:30-7:30pm. More information pertaining to topics and activities will be shared next week. This event is for families/caregivers in the South Row community and we will have childcare for the event. We hope you will consider attending.

2024-25 SCHOOL YEAR KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION INFORMATION:

• BY APPOINTMENT ONLY
• (Approximately 15 minute appointments)
• TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30 & 31, 2024
• 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.
• SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION CENTRAL OFFICE
• 230 NORTH ROAD, CHELMSFORD, MA
• Visit the Chelmsford Public Schools website.
• Click on the “RESERVE YOUR APPOINTMENT” link to enter parent/guardian contact information and preferred appointment time within a three-hour window.
• You will then be contacted to confirm a date and time for your registration appointment. Registration packets may also be dropped off at the School Administration Office, 230 North Road, Chelmsford, MA: Monday – Friday; 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., if you are not able to attend these two dates.
• In addition to the completed student registration packet, the required documentation to submit is listed on the CPS Student Registration page.
• For additional information or questions on kindergarten registration, please contact Jane McDonald at mcdonaldj@chelmsford.k12.ma.us; or 978-251-5100, ext. 6901.

Safety and Security: At South Row we continue to be vigilant surrounding safety and security. We wanted to remind and reinforce some of our safety and security measures as we enter the new year.

Entering the Building:

• All visitors must enter the main door by the main office (right main door when looking at the front of the building). Our office staff will communicate with you by the intercom system. Be prepared to state your name and why you are visiting the building. Please be advised, if the office team member does not recognize you, they will ask you to show your ID through the camera on the intercom system prior to entering the building.
• Upon entering the building, please do not hold the door for another community member behind you. All visitors must check in by way of the intercom system. We recognize this may not feel welcoming, but this is a safety measure.
• If you plan to dismiss your child early, email is your best bet. Please be sure to email the classroom teacher, Mrs. O'Neill (oneilld@chelmsford.k12.ma.us) and Mrs. Sepe (sepek@chelmsford.k12.ma.us). Please indicate who will be picking up your child. If they are not recognized by our staff, they should be prepared to show their ID through the camera on the intercom system. We recognize that some dismissals are last minute or sudden, but making an effort to communicate with the office staff will support the office staff at a very busy time of the day and ensure a smooth dismissal of your child(ren).

Car Loop:

• As previously highlighted in November, at both arrival and dismissal in the car loop, all cars should enter the loop by way of Mill Road and take left out of the parking lot towards Boston Road (click here for a visual) unless directed differently by staff. These procedures have been determined by our school based incident management team in collaboration with the Chelmsford Police Department and there is signage on these roads to reflect school business is occurring during these times. It is essential that all members of the community adhere to these traffic patterns for the safety of all members of our community. Cars have been exiting out of the loop and taking a right towards Mill Rd in the middle of the arrival/dismissal process which has posed safety concerns for individuals entering the loop. At the end of arrival (9:00am) and dismissal (when all students have been successfully picked up and in cars) we will re-open the access road in both directions for cars to take a right towards Mill Rd. Please DO NOT go through the cones if they are out, as the cones indicate that all students have not been picked up.
• Cars must follow the car loop pattern and not turn around in the parking lot or park in a staff parking spot when entering the car loop. These pose safety issues for students and staff.
• Car numbers display signs issued by the school should be on display when picking up of your child. If a dismissal team member does not recognize the individual picking up or the number is not posted, the individual picking up should be prepared to show identification (ID). If you need another display sign, please contact Mrs. Sepe at sepek@chelmsford.k12.ma.us.
• If you believe your child may need extra time in the morning, feel free to park in the Aldersgate church parking lot and walk your child over. Walking your child to the door or spending extra time in the parking lot by the car with your child in the car loop delays the arrival process and our families in getting to their next destination. Thanks for being considerate of everyone.
• As a reminder, students SHOULD NOT exit cars (arrival) until directed by staff. At dismissals cars should NOT exit the parking lot until directed by staff as students and staff may be still moving in the loop.
• Please do not exit the car loop until directed by staff and please be sure to listen to requests/direction by staff when in the car loop to ensure a safe and orderly dismissal. This is for the safety of students and staff.
  
• You may notice the Chelmsford Police Department visiting during both arrival and dismissal as they are partners with the school specifically pertaining to safety and security measures. Thank you for adhering to our arrival and dismissal procedures that are designed for the safety of all students and staff.

PD Day Calendar Adjustment (Early Release Day Change): The March professional development day has been moved to Tuesday, March 5th which was originally scheduled for Wednesday, March 6th. Therefore, Please see more details on the rationale to this move, please click on Dr. Lang's 12/1/23 update.

Dear South Row Families,

If your student is sick, please check the school’s sick policy on the CPS website linked here.

Below is an excerpt from our current Covid protocol. It is not the full protocol - but I have linked it here CPS COVID Health Protocols

Isolation and exposure guidance and protocols

● Quarantine is no longer required nor recommended for children or staff in these settings, regardless of vaccination status or where the exposure occurred. All exposed individuals may continue to attend programming as long as they remain asymptomatic. A high quality mask should be worn for 10 days, and test 5 days after the exposure on Day 6. If symptoms develop, follow the guidance for symptomatic individuals, below.

● Children and staff who test positive must isolate for at least 5 days. If they are asymptomatic or symptoms are resolving and they have been fever free without the use of fever-reducing medicine for 24 hours, they may return to programming after Day 5 and should wear a high-quality mask through Day 10:

○ If the individual is able to mask, they must do so through Day 10.

■ If the child has a negative test on Day 5 or later, they do not need to mask (please provide documentation for the negative test to the school nurse).

■ If the individual is unable to mask, they may return to programming on day 6 with a negative test on Day 5 or later.

■ Please notify your school nurse of a positive COVID-19 test result.

● Symptomatic individuals should be sent home and allowed to return to their program or school if symptoms remain mild and they test negative, or they have been fever-free for 2 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication and their symptoms are resolving, or if a medical professional makes an alternative diagnosis. A negative test is strongly recommended for return. Best practice would also include wearing a mask, if possible, until symptoms are fully resolved. For symptomatic individuals, MDPH recommends a second test within 48 hours if the initial test is negative.

● Upon return to school, students who test positive for COVID-19 must complete the “Return to School Form Post COVID-19 Diagnosis” to the Health Office. The form will be emailed to you by the school nurse. Guidelines for return to physical activity and/or sports after testing positive are included in the form and are as follows:

Below is the full list of symptoms for which caregivers should monitor their children, and staff should monitor themselves.

COVID-19 Symptoms List:

• Fever (100.0° Fahrenheit or higher), chills, or shaking chills

• Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath

• New loss of taste or smell

• Muscle aches or body aches

• Cough (not due to other known cause, such as chronic cough)

• Sore throat, when in combination with other symptoms 3

• Nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea when in combination with other symptoms

• Headache when in combination with other symptoms

• Fatigue, when in combination with other symptoms

• Nasal congestion or runny nose (not due to other known causes, such as allergies) when in combination with other symptoms

Feel free to reach out to me with any questions.

Warmly,

Nurse V.

We welcome you to check out our December and January Connections Calendar and provide feedback using this link.

Please click on the "button" below to access resources and supports available. Do not hesitate to reach out to any support team member with any questions you may have.

**Please note: We continuously update the button below with new resources as they arise.

We hope you can join us for our first PTO meeting of the new year! If you want to see what is on the official agenda it is posted on our website SouthRowPTO.com If you feel like you can't attend the meetings because you don't have childcare, don't worry, you can bring them along. We'll have volunteers who will run supervised activities with the kids. We're also hoping that some of you can stick around to help prep this month's staff appreciation gifts.

Her's what we have in the works so far for the rest of the school year:

- Movie Night

- Winter Week with the Specialists

- Kids Shop Gift Shop

- Scholastic Book Fair

- Meadow Farms fundraiser

- Sunshine Dance with basket raffle fundraiser

- Staff Appreciation Luncheon

THANK YOU so much to all the volunteers who are coordinating these! We couldn't provide so much fun without your hard work.

This section is comprised of the following items pertaining to food services

• Website
• Breakfast Information
• Tentative Breakfast/Lunch Menus

Dear Parents and Families --

Chelmsford Public Schools is utilizing on-line breakfast ordering again this year for ELEMENTARY STUDENTS ONLY.

Instructions on how to set up an account are below. If you need any help, please reach out to the school nutrition department at: (978) 251-5111

Set Up Your Account Now

Directions to set up your account and order:

1. URL Link: family.onlineordering.linq.com
2. Sign up now: Email, create password.
3. School District: Chelmsford Public Schools
4. Student ID: This can be found on x2- Child’s Student ID Number
5. Last Name: (You can also search and add siblings/family members at this time). Once this is completed, the student’s name should appear on page.

How to order meals

1. School Menu-breakfast online ordering
2. Scroll to day/week you are selecting breakfast (top right of page)
3. Find date, select meal option
4. Add item to cart/Select Add to order
5. Click on shopping cart icon at top right of page
6. Click Check out
7. Select pick up location: Elementary pick-up location classroom
8. Place order

Mrs. Terri Gilbert

Principal

gilbertt@chelmsford.k12.ma.us

Mr. Jayson Ramalho, M.Ed.

Assistant Principal

ramalhoj@chelmsford.k12.ma.us

Email: gilbertt@chelmsford.k12.ma.us
Website: https://www.chelmsford.k12.ma.us/Domain/15
Location: 250 Boston Road, Chelmsford, MA, USA
Phone: 978-251-5177
Facebook: facebook.com/SouthRowElementary
Twitter: @CPSSouthRow

• Mrs. Terri Gilbert, Principal: gilbertt@chelmsford.k12.ma.us, 978-251-5177 ext. 4
• Mr. Jayson Ramalho, Assistant Principal: ramalhoj@chelmsford.k12.ma.us, 978-251-5177 ext. 3
• Mrs. Shannon Vandevoordt, School Nurse: vandevoordts@chelmsford.k12.ma.us, 978-251-5177, ext.2
• Mrs. Debbie O'Neill, Secretary: oneilld@chelmsford.k12.ma.us, 978-251-5177, ext. 0
• Mrs. Kim Sepe, School Clerk: sepek@chelmsford.k12.ma.us, 978-251-5177, ext.0
• Absentee Line: 978-251-5177 ext. 1