Fisher Family Update

Dear Fisher Families,

We hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and enjoyed the winter break. The students returned to us rested and excited to begin the new year! Starting next week, Fisher School will be kicking off our WHS/Fisher School Mentor Program. On Tuesday, January 9th, Twenty-Four Walpole High School students will be coming to Fisher to serve as mentors to our students. One student mentor will be assigned to each of our classrooms. The goal will be for these older students to serve as role models and positively impact our students’ social emotional well being, academic performance and peer relationships. By sharing their time and experiences, the high school mentors can boost student’s confidence and encourage them to give their best effort with their schoolwork and social interactions. The mentors will be visiting every other Tuesday afternoon for the rest of this school year. We look forward to working with them and updating you on our progress along the way.

The beautiful mittens you see in the background of this newsletter were made by Stacey Eaton’s (Fisher Special Education Teacher) mom and were given to students before the holidays! Thank you Mrs. Eaton!

Please be sure to read through this edition of the Fisher Family Update and make note of upcoming events and important dates.

Happy New Year!

Brian

Click the picture below to listen to new "Off The Hook" episodes!

January

12 - NO SCHOOL - Teacher Professional Development

15 - NO SCHOOL - Martin Luther King Jr. Day

17 - Fisher PAC Meeting 7pm

February

9 - Early Release (12:25pm dismissal)

19-23 Febrary Vacation

26 - School Resumes

Hello Families and Happy New Year!

We hope that you all had a wonderful winter break. We are glad to be back and to see all of our students! In SWIM lessons for the month of January, students will focus on the topic of Growth vs. Fixed Mindset. Growth Mindset is a positive way of thinking about challenges, set backs, and making mistakes and how taking on these challenges, persevering, and learning from our mistakes will grow our brains and make them even stronger than they already are. Having a Growth Mindset can open up endless opportunities. Fixed Mindset is more of a “stuck” way of thinking, believing that one is either good or bad at something, with no room to practice or expand their way of thinking, skills, or abilities. Students will understand that their brain is a muscle and they can work hard to grow their brain and reach their goals! Students will also learn about the “Power of Yet” which is in connection with Growth Mindset. The word “yet” is a powerful key word and a great way to practice having a growth mindset. For example, “I can’t tie my shoes yet, but I will keep practicing!” We are off to a great start for 2024 here at Fisher!

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to reach out to a counselor at any time!

Thank you,

Fisher School counselors

Visit our website for more information and resources: https://sites.google.com/walpole.k12.ma.us/counselorscorner-callaghan/home

Extended Day February Break Camp Information

Where: Boyden Elementary School
When: February 20-22, 2024 (Tuesdays, Wednesday, Thursday)
Cost: $80/day (10% discount for educators or siblings)
Registration Link: https://forms.gle/TujRsqvz3vsMHzw39

During the week of January 29th, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (DESE’s) Office of Language Acquisition (OLA) will conduct a Tiered Focused Monitoring Review of Walpole Public Schools. The Office of Language Acquisition reviews each district’s and charter school’s ELE program every six years to monitor compliance with federal and state English learner education laws and regulations. Areas of review will include English learners’ student assessments, identification of English learners, what programs English learners are placed in, parent and community involvement, curriculum and instruction, student support services, licensure requirements for faculty, staff and administration, program plans, and evaluation and recordkeeping.

In addition to the onsite visit, parent outreach is an important part of the review process. The district will send a survey to the parents of students whose records the review team examines. The survey focuses on key areas of their child’s English language education program. Survey results will be reviewed by OLA and they will contribute to the monitoring report.

Parents and other individuals may call Andy McDonie, Office of Language Acquisition Review Chairperson, at (781) 338- 3541 to request a telephone interview. If an individual requires an accommodation, such as translation, to participate in an interview, DESE will make the necessary arrangements.

Within approximately 60 business days of the onsite visit, the review chairperson will provide the Walpole Public Schools with a report with information about areas in which the Walpole Public Schools meets or exceeds regulatory requirements and areas in which the Walpole Public Schools requires assistance to correct or improve practices. The report will be available to the public at https://www.doe.mass.edu/ele/cpr/.

We are looking for parent volunteers to come in and read aloud to students (not your own child) from a Battle of the Book selection. We had a "trial run" this week and found that the students really benefitted from the support, and have heard from some adults that it is a rewarding experience for them as well! Click the form below to sign up and get more detailed information. The date available is January 11th. You MUST have a valid CORI form to partcipate.

Read with Me Signup Form

The Daniel Feeney Preschool peer applications for the 2024-2025 school year is available on our website from December 1-22. Once the application window closes on 12/22 a lottery system will be employed to select peers.

Please click on the link below and navigate to "Application" for all information. Please read all information carefully and if you have any questions please contact Julie Martin, Director: jmartin@walpole.k12.ma.us

https://www.walpole.k12.ma.us/o/dfpc

Group 1: Beatty, Blake, Hughes, Barend, Fomenko, Brogan, O'Neill

Dates: Jan 10, Jan 24, Feb 7, Mar 6, Mar 20, Apr 3, Apr 24, May 22

Group 2: Penfield/Vose, Winer, McDonald, Sullivan, Terranova, Wesinger

Dates: Jan 17, Jan 31, Feb 28, Mar 13, Mar 27, Apr 10, May 15, Jun 5

First, a little bit about Fisher’s Finest - For those of you new to Fisher School this year, let us introduce ourselves. Fisher’s Finest is a group that began 17 years ago at Fisher School to support the Jimmy Fund and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Each year, the Red Sox and Dana-Farber team together to sponsor the “Rally Against Cancer”. Schools and companies are invited to raise money for the Jimmy Fund to help offset the costs of patient treatment and support as well as cancer research. We formed our team, Fisher’s Finest, as a way to “rally” our students and families and support this important effort.

Over the years, you have responded in the most amazing way, earning our school THREE Red Sox player visits, two visits from Wally the Green Monster and his little sister, Tessie, and a visit in 2019 from the 2018 World Series trophy!!!! In our first seventeen years participating in Rally Against Cancer, Fisher’s Finest has raised over $100,000.00 for the Jimmy Fund. That is beyond incredible!!! If you mention “Fisher’s Finest” to the staff at the Jimmy Fund Clinic, they know who we are!!! Our students and families have shown such understanding and compassion for those going through trying times with cancer, especially since this has hit home for a number of our families and staff members over the years. We have held a variety of fundraising events in the past, including staff dodgeball tournaments, Change for a Cure, the Green Monster Wall of Honor, Jammies for the Jimmy Fund, Soul Warming Soup, and Boon Supply/Meadow Farm fundraisers. One note, to clear up some confusion we’ve had in the past – Fisher’s Finest is not connected to our Fisher PAC. It is a totally separate group.

This year, we have set our initial goal at $5,000.00. We held our first fundraiser, with Meadow Farms, in November. Very shortly, we will be starting our Change for a Cure and our 2024 Green Monster Wall of Honor. In the spring, we will have our My Grandma’s Coffee Cake fundraiser.

To keep up-to-date on what is happening with Fisher’s Finest, please visit and “like” our Facebook Page – FISHER'S FINEST

You may also support our Rally team by donating here: Fisher's Finest Rally Against Cancer Team Link Thank you all for your support.

If you have any questions are would like to help with any of our fundraising, please contact Carolyn McDonough at cmcdonough@walpole.k12.ma.us.

Students in Ms. Drs' class sharing the animal reports they wrote in Book Creator

Schools are not at liberty to provide student contact information for outside of school activities. If you would like to provide your child (ren)'s information for others to see please click the link below and complete the form.

Fisher School Friendship Directory