2 Parsons Street

Northampton, Massachusetts 01060

413-587-1460 (phone) 413-587-1474 (fax)

Dr. Beth N. Choquette, Principal bchoquette@northamtpon-k12.us

Elizabeth Peterson, Administrative Assistant epeterson@northampton-k12.us

Jordan Celino, Secretary jcelino@northampton-k12.us

Nora DeJasu, Head Teacher ndejasu@northampton-k12.us

Would you like this news letter translated? Here are the steps to have it translated:

At the top of the weekly email, there's a link that reads "View it in your browser," click that and it takes you to the post on a webpage.

Scroll to the bottom where there's a black menu bar and pick the option that says "Translate."

Select the language you would like it translated in and it will then translate it on the webpage.

Le gustaría traducir esta carta de noticias? Aquí están los pasos para traducirlo:

En la parte superior del correo electrónico semanal, hay un enlace que dice "Verlo en su navegador", haga clic en eso y lo llevará a la publicación en una página web.

Desplázate hacia la parte inferior donde hay una barra de menú negra y elige la opción que dice "Traducir".

Seleccione el idioma en el que desea traducirlo y luego lo traducirá en la página web.

It is the vision of Bridge Street School to promote educational excellence and equity for ALL students. Promoting educational excellence and equity will prepare and motivate students to be engaged learners and critical thinkers who strive for high academic achievement, listen to all perspectives, value the multicultural and diverse world we live in, and actively participate in eliminating racial and social injustices so that all people are able to reach their full potential.

Bridge Street School’s faculty and staff, caregivers, and community are committed to providing educational excellence and equity to its students by challenging the injustices that create barriers to high academic achievement, to access and opportunities to learn, to high-quality teaching and learning, and to a climate of belonging. This commitment to educational equity, where all children are successful regardless of their personal, social, or cultural contexts, is at the core of our practices, structures, and policies.

Good afternoon and welcome back to another school year at BSS! We are so excited to see all of our returning students again and to welcome our new students to our school family. I'd like to welcome all of our families and caregivers to our school community and I am looking forward to working together to support all of our students.

Every Sunday I will send out my 'Principal's Weekly.' I will also share the link to the newsletter to your email addresses that we have in the district data-base. All of my communications will go home electronically unless you do not have access to a device and/or the internet. A form will come home on the first day of school regarding this.

You will receive a lot of forms and information on the first day of school. Please be sure to read through all of it and return what needs to be returned as soon as possible to the school. You can either send it in with your child or put in the drop-box outside of the main entrance to the school.

There is a lot of information in this newsletter and many attachments. Please be sure to review them all and if at anytime you have questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to me.

Below is the Resource Guide for Caregivers that you will receive on the first day of school. I do not have the Spanish translation yet, but as soon as I receive it, I will add it below.

Finally, I'd like to thank our custodians, Brian, John, and Steve, for all that they have done this summer to once again set up for another school year of change and uncertainty. They never complain and are willing to do whatever is asked. I am grateful to all three of them for their ongoing dedication to our school and making sure it is ready to go for the start of the year. I'd also like to thank Elizabeth and Jordan. Without the two of them getting mailings out, paperwork copied, first day folders stuffed, budget requisitions, and all of the enrollment paperwork done-we would not be ready to start. The custodians and office staff are what keeps us going. They are amazing people who care a great deal about your kids and our school. Thank you to all of them!

I wish you all a healthy and safe upcoming school year, we are excited to continue our Learning and Growing in collaboration with all of you.

Have a wonderful rest of your day!

School begins at 8:00 a.m. and dismisses at 2:10 p.m.

Morning Recess and Supervision will begin at 7:45 a.m.

First Bell will be at 7:55 a.m. Late Bell at 8:00 a.m.

All students (grades 1-5) should go to the big playground at 7:45 a.m. and should line up at their designated spot with their masks on at the first bell. Students NOT eating breakfast should line up on the sidewalk by the doors closest to the shed.

Above you will find the new BSS vision and mission statements. These came out of a year of collaboration with our instructional leadership team (ILT), faculty and staff, and school council. The work began by using a self-reflection tool on integrated comprehensive services focused on social justice leadership. Our ILT and the faculty and staff took a year to complete the tool. From that we picked high priority areas to focus on, which will be added into our School Improvement Plan (SIP). One of our goals from last year's SIP was to complete the self-reflection tool, pick high-priority areas to focus on, and to develop a vision and mission statement that we all believe in and can put into action. It is important for ALL stakeholders of our school community to not only believe in these statements, but to also practice and put into action the expectations of the statements. We ALL have a responsibility to ensure educational excellence and equity for ALL of our students. If you would like to provide me with feedback that I can share with our faculty and staff, and school council around the new vision (goal for the future) and mission (what we will do to achieve our goal), please email me with the subject line Vision and Mission Statements.

I know we were hoping that things could be back to normal at the start of this school year, but unfortunately, there are protocols we still need to have in place in order to keep everyone safe. In addition to the letters attached below, there is also the student consent form that must be filled out in order to get tested. You will notice in the DESE letter that they discuss Test and Stay, but currently the district has put Test and Stay on hold which is stated in the letter from the district.

Things to Know:

• No inside meetings for external groups including PTO. School Councils can meet in the building, but we will start the year via zoom.

• No visitors, with the exception of student teachers and practicum students unless their colleges are locked down

• No volunteers in the building

• Team Meetings- Zooms preferred, in person if needed

• K / PreK orientation - Outdoors

• Caregivers have a right to request to observe classrooms. Need to follow the observation policy. Principal determines what is reasonable.

• Contractors are allowed in the building

• Garden

• Hitchcock Center

• Grow Food Northampton

• No rugs in the classrooms

• Maintain 3-feet of distance whenever possible

• All students MUST have assigned seats in the cafeteria

• All adults and students MUST wear a mask inside the building unless there are documented medical/behavioral needs that prevent the student from wearing a mask

• The main office is open

• HEPA filters MUST be on at all times

• No Gaga Pit

• 3 students allowed at a time in the club house

• Once seated in the cafeteria, students should remain in seats except when needing to use the restroom. Adults will pick-up trash at the tables

• Grades 3-5 will eat lunch outside under the tents when weather permits

• Students do not need to wear masks outside, however, they should just keep them pulled down below their mouth so they do not lose them. Masks must be put on when students line up to come inside

Dear Caregivers,

We know that keeping your children safe and engaged in their education remains at the forefront of your thoughts right now. Like last year, we ask that we all work together in order for all to be safe.

As we prepare to start the school year, please know the following requirements we ask of you:

• Send your child with a fresh mask every day. If your child’s mask gets soiled we can offer a fresh one. Please launder cloth masks regularly. Neck gaiters, scarves or masks with vents are not allowed.

• Keep your child home when sick. Children with COVID-like symptoms will be sent home. Some of these symptoms are

• Fever above 100 or chills

• Cough

• Muscle or body aches

• Headache

• Congestion or runny nose

• Diarrhea, nausea, vomiting

• New loss of taste or smell

• Sore throat

• Fatigue

• Nasal congestion not related to allergies

• Any new onset and persisting symptom

Students will continue to practice hand hygiene (hand washing or using hand sanitizer) throughout the school day.

We are confident that by implementing the health and safety requirements from the CDC and DESE that we will continue to minimize outbreaks of COVID-19 in our schools. Feel free to contact your student’s school nurse or Lisa Safron, Director of Health and Safety, with questions or concerns. We are here for you and your student.

Health Information

Your child may develop health issues during the school year. Many of you keep your child’s teacher apprised of this information but I urge you to also contact me so that I can record any new allergies, keep an eye out for possible infectious diseases, and offer support when I can. Feel free to send me an email if you’re not able to drop in. (jlacroix@northampton-k12.us)

As part of DPH guidelines, I do vision and hearing screenings for all students as well as scoliosis checks on our 5th graders. However, if I have on file your child’s recent health form filled out by the pediatrician, he/she/they will not need to be screened. Always send in your child’s health form and vaccines so that I always have the latest health information. You may opt your child out of screenings with a written note to me.

Shoes

Your children are active at recess! Students wearing sandals or flip-flips may not climb the structure at recess.

Food

Bridge Street School does not permit food treats brought into the classroom for celebrations/birthdays because we have so many different types of life-threatening allergies.

Lice

While lice is nothing more than a big headache, it strikes fear into the hearts of most of us parents. I can't urge you enough to check your child’s head weekly. I do not check the heads of entire classrooms but I will check your child upon request. Please encourage your children to keep their hair pulled back and to avoid sharing brushes and/or hats.

Please come by and introduce yourself if you are a new member of our BSS family.

Warmly,

Nurse Jessica LaCroix

Hello!

Spread the word...school meals are FREE for all students for the entire school year!

Attached is the menu for September. This menu and the current free/reduced price meals applications can be found on our website: http://www.northamptonschools.org/project/food-services/

School nutrition programs continue to be impacted with supply chain shortages and delivery issues. Our menu options could change at short notice. We will do our best to keep the website updated when this occurs.

September 2nd: First Day of School for Grades 1-5

September 2, 3, and 8: Preschool and Kindergarten Orientation Days (outdoors)

September 6 and 7: No School (Labor Day and Rosh Hashanah)

September 9th: First Day of School for PreK and Kindergarten Students
September 16th: No School (Yom Kippur)

September 22: DATE CHANGE (was 9/23) Welcome Back Picnic

September 29: DATE CHANGE (was 9/30) Open House (TBD if we are having it). This has not been corrected in the district calendar yet.

As you already know, Anne Ross (PreK ESP) and Laura Nagle (2nd grade teacher) have left BSS. Additionally, Ann Carpenter (ESP) retired at the end of the school year. I'd like to thank them all for their dedication and service to our students at BSS, they will be missed.

We have many new staff this year, so please join me in welcoming:

Laila Copperansky (2nd Grade Teacher)

Alice Carusi (PreK ESP)

Elizabeth Parker (PreK ESP)

Christina Haseltine (PreK ESP and Building Sub on Fridays)

Kelly Callahan (Long-term ESP Sub Kindergarten until October 29)

Allison Courtney (PreK ESP)

Ashley Horrigan PreK ESP)

Shevaun Keogh Walker (BASE Coordinator)

Natalie Baker (PreK RN)

I'm sad to say that we will not be holding weekly celebrations open to caregivers or the community at this point. I am hopeful that we will be able to have people in for them in a few months or so.

The BSS Walking School Bus will start running this year on Thursday, September 8th. Due to the change in school start time, the Sheldon Field route will now leave the Route 9 commuter lot at 7:40 a.m. and the Lumber Yard route will leave the Lumber Yard courtyard at 7:30 a.m. The WSB operates each morning, rain/snow or shine. All students are welcome to participate in the WSB and no advance sign up is required.

More information can be found in the attached flyer or you can visit the WSB website. Email Stephanie Pouliot with any questions or if you would like to volunteer as a WSB driver.

I am happy to announce that we have hired a BASE coordinator to run a 5-day a week program. Shevaun Keogh Walker will begin in September with the hope of getting a program off the ground by October. Once she officially starts, she will be sending out information regarding what we will offer as far as programs this summer.

BASE is a fee based program only runs if we have people who offer programs for our students and students who sign up for the programs. If you are intersted in being an instructor and have a special talent or hobby you'd like to teach please or if you know anyone who may be interested, please apply at www.schoolspring.com

The LLP is being offered to students on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 2:10-3:30p.m. We will be offering targeted academic support to students who qualify based off of their spring benchmark assessments (Aimsweb) and their raw MCAS scores. Grades 3-5 students who qualified were sent a letter inviting them to participate earlier this summer. If your child was asked to participate it does not mean they are doing poorly in school. This is an opportunity to address any missed learning opportunities experienced over this past school year. Transportation will be available for all students who meet the transportation regulation guidelines (live more than 1.5 miles from the school). A posting has been placed for teachers and ESPs interested in teaching in this program. More information will be coming soon. We are scheduled to begin on September 14, 2021.

The YMCA will continue to offer after school care this year starting at 2:10 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. You may visit the child care page on the Hampshire YMCA’s website or contact Kim Allore at Kim.Allore@hrymca.org or Mackenzie Sullivan at Mackenzie.Sullivan@hrymca.org for more information. The school does not register students for this program, registration happens through the YMCA. I understand that the cost of this program is high for many families. I've attached applications for financial assistance as well as the link to the program.

https://www.hrymca.org/school-age-child-care/

Financial Assistance:

• New England Farm Workers Council (NEFW) Childcare Voucher - Application Here

• HRYMCA Financial Assistance - Information Here & Application Here

Girls on the Run is back at BSS!

GOTR offers a structured curriculum integrating movement/running, interactive discussions and a community project to teach life and social-emotional skills to girls in Grades 3-5. The culminating event is a really fun 5K for students. Visit the GOTR Western Mass website to learn more about the program.

Registration for the BSS Girls on the Run fall team is now open to students in Grades 3-5. The team will meet Monday and Friday afternoons from 2:15-3:45 starting on Monday, September 13th. Cost is based on a sliding scale and no student is ever turned away for financial reasons. Caregivers are required to provide transportation from school to home.

Email Stephanie Pouliot if you have questions or need additional information.