Hello Families,

What an amazing week with the Book Fair and Book Drive. A GIANT thank you to the book fair organizers and Ms. Hamm for helping us to have a very successful week. Over 12,000 books were donated by our community. It is just another example of how this community pulls together for the benefit of others.

We will be having our next High Five Friday courtesy of both the Chelmsford Police and Fire Departments on Friday March 18th. Very exciting! There might even be a fire truck sighting!!

Respectfully,

Terri and Jayson

MONDAY (3.14.22)

• Student Grade Level Meetings w/ Mrs. Gilbert & Mr. Ramalho

TUESDAY (3.15.22)

• Kindergarten Curious Creatures Enrichment Program
• Therapy Dog Visit - (Duncan, Sbordy, Patriquin, Krasnovsky, Stagnone)

WEDNESDAY (3.16.22)

• Pool Testing

Thursday (3.17.22)

• Happy St. Patricks Day!

Friday (3.18.22)

• High Five Friday

SATURDAY (3.19.22)

• Choralfest, Performing Arts Center - Saturday, March 19th, 8:00am-3:00pm

• Gr. 2 Wingmasters Enrichment (rescheduled), Monday, March 21st
• International Festival Meeting, Monday, March 21st, 4:30pm
• Grades go live on portal (1-4), Wednesday, March 23rd
• Culture Spirit Day, Friday, March 25th
• Kindergarten Enrichment (Liquids and Solids), Wednesday, March 30th

Rising Kindergarten Families (Next Registration Opportunity): The April Kindergarten Registration session has been finalized and will be one day on: Wednesday, April 27; 9AM-6PM. The district website will be updated to schedule appointments. Keep your eyes out for updates!

MCAS Dates:

Grade 3 - ELA - April 11th and 12th

Grade 3 - Math - May 11th and 12th

Grade 4 - ELA - April 13th and 14th

Grade 4 - Math - May 9th and 10th

Virtual Science Fair: Click on this link to view our Virtual Science fair. A big shout out to all of the students who completed a project!

Cafeteria: Starting on Monday, March 14th students will be invited to sit at any of the tables assigned to their respective classroom during lunch. For most classes, this will be a choice of 2-3 different tables. We hope this supports students in continuing to develop friendships with their classroom peers.

We would like to wish our beloved retirees the very best of luck in their future endeavors! We thank them for their dedication and commitment to South Row and the Chelmsford Public Schools. Below is a little bit of information regarding their time in education and the Chelmsford Public Schools.

Ms. Susan Thompson-Francisco (Speech and Language Pathologist) - Ms. Susan Thompson Francisco will be retiring in June and has been a Speech Language Pathologist in the CPS for 30 years. Ms. Thompson Francisco began at McCarthy in 1991, moved to Byam in 1992 and then joined South Row in the Fall of 1999.

Dr. Linda Rich (School Counselor) - Dr. Linda Rich has worked as an Elementary School Counselor in Chelmsford for 23 years. Linda began working in Chelmsford in the Fall of 1999 as the Counselor at Harrington Elementary School before moving to her role of School Counselor at South Row Elementary.

Mrs. Judy Hodgkins (Grade 2 Teacher) - Mrs. Hodgkins is retiring at the end of this school year after 19 years of teaching first and second grade in the Chelmsford Public Schools.

Mrs. Terry Driscoll (Grade 4 Teacher) - After 12 years at South Row, Mrs. Driscoll has decided to retire.

Mrs. Eileen Young (Technology Integration Specialist for Elementary Schools) - Eileen has taught in Chelmsford for 15 years. She started at Westlands and then moved to Center when Westlands closed. In 2011 Eileen became the Technology Integration Specialist for the 4 elementary schools.

Thanks for an amazing 2022 Book Fair!

South Row wrapped up its first in-person Book Fair since 2020! It was wonderful to see the students excited about books, and we had an amazing turnout for Family Shopping Night. A special thank you to everyone who made this weeklong event possible, including school administration, Ms. Hamm, the custodians, and of course—our volunteers!

Support Your Classroom!

Due to logistics, we were unable to offer teacher Wish Boxes at this year’s fair. Online gift cards for teachers may be purchased by visiting https://shop.scholastic.com/giftcard/purchase.

Need more books?

Our online fair is open through March 20, 2022! Online orders will be shipped directly to your home. Visit http://www.scholastic.com/bf/southrow.

CPS K-12 Youth Art Month Exhibit: The Chelmsford Library is hosting our K-12 art show through the month of March. Families are welcome to visit at any point after March 4 to see the student artwork. The McCarthy Meeting Room (where the hanging artwork will be) will be open to the public on Mondays through Thursdays from 9:30 am – 8:15 pm, Fridays and Saturdays from 9:30 am – 4:45 pm, and on Sundays from 1pm – 4:45 pm. We hope you can check it out!

The students names listed below work is on display! Join us in congratulating our South Row artists! We hope you are able to check it out!

• Finley Bonner - grade 4 - Circle Weaving
• Penelope Fredette - grade 4 - circle weaving
• Paxton Chew - Grade 4 - circle weaving
• Jackson Mix - gr 4 - circle weaving
• Anisha Varma - grade 3 - 3 prints
• Emma Limauro - grade 3 - mushroom collage
• Jenna Cormier - Grade 4 - tin mandala
• Jameson Mix - grade 4 - tin mandala
• Emmanuella Nakalanzi - grade 4 - tin mandala
• Ava Servideo - grade 4 - tin mandala
• Eloise Duhamel - grade 1 - Lunar new year Tiger
• Jonathan Cannon - grade K - Penguin collage
• Marnie Stone - Grade 2 - Cardinal Painting
• Colton Begay - Grade 3 - clay pot
• Gia Sherpa - grade 3 - Clay pot
• Miranda Marino - grade 3 - clay pot
• Blake O’Donnell - grade 3 - clay pot
• Nate Morais - grade 3 - clay pot
• Madison Manning - grade 3 - clay pot
• Kora Ayes - grade 3 - clay pot
• Norah Fogg - grade 3 clay pot

Dear South Row Families,

Stomach Virus:

There is a mild stomach virus that seems to be going around our community. We are continuing to have students use hand sanitizer throughout the day and classrooms are cleaned and disinfected on a regular basis. Classrooms that have had students out with the stomach bug are being cleaned more frequently. As a reminder, if your student has vomiting or diarrhea they may return to school once they have been symptom-free for 24 hours. If your student has fever, please run a Covid Test and report the results to me prior to them returning to school. If they have vomiting and diarrhea, please run a Covid test and report the results to me prior to them returning to school. Vomiting alone and diarrhea alone do not require Covid testing.

At Home Test Kits:

If you would like to sign up for free Covid Tests to be send home biweekly from the school, please click this link: Student and Staff Opt In/Register for At Home Antigen Testing Program

If you signed up for At Home Testing and/or Pool Testing but would like to opt out, please email me at vandevoordts@chelmsford.k12.ma.us

Third Grade Physicals

Please continue to send in your third graders updated physicals. If you have already done so, thank you!

Warmly,

Nurse V.

March PTO Meeting

If you were unable to join us for our March PTO meeting, you can view the meeting recording here.

Thank You

Many thanks to the amazing Book Fair committee - Denille Ruth, Liz Haugner, and Chrystal Begay - and all other parents who volunteered for a shift at the fair and everyone who contributed books for Up With Books!

Help Wanted

There are a few roles that we are seeking volunteers for:

Board Positions

Our May meeting with Board elections will be here before you know it! Each Board position (President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer) are elected annually, so if any position interests you, don't hesitate to reach out to southrowpto@gmail.com to learn more.

Teacher Appreciation Lunch Committee and Chair/co-Chair

We are bringing back the big staff luncheon this year! Every year the PTO takes over the gym for a day in May to show our staff just how much they mean to us with a big themed potluck lunch complete with decorations and swag. It is probably the most fun committee you could be part of. Please reach out to southrowpto@gmail.com if you would like to join the party!

Please send photos to Mr. Ramalho (ramalhoj@chelmsford.k12.ma.us) to be featured in our Home Link newsletter!

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