McGovern News!

This week marked a milestone for our students...100 Days in school! What a fun day we had at McGovern! Faculty, staff and students dressed up (check out the photos below) and students participated in 100 day activities throughout the day. Of course it was freezing on Tuesday, so we had to move our 100 Day Parade to Wednesday! We worked with the high school and Medway Police Department to surprise our students and cheer them on. Such a fun day!!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Best,

Amy McDonald, Principal

Medway Public Schools is happy to announce our Online Student Registration for Kindergarten is LIVE! If you are looking to register a kindergarten student for the 2021-2022 school year, you can view the Online Registration directions here. If you already have children in the district, you can simply add the new student to your existing profile by logging into your existing Parent Portal account. Click MORE from the left menu, click Online Registration, and during the OLR process add the student as described in Step 2 of the Online Registration Directions.

If your child is in preschool and matriculating up to kindergarten, you do not need to complete the registration process, as your child is an existing student.

Families New to MPS can start the registration process using this website: Infinite Campus Online Registration Portal. The link to Registration directions can be found in the previous paragraph. To help with this process, we have included a Virtual Registration Checklist. If you have any questions about registration, please contact Karen Downing at kadowning@medwaypublicschools.org . If you have technical questions about the online registration process, please email parent@medwayschools.org to assist with the technical process.

Finally, please click here for a list of all of the events (including Kindergarten Camp) on the Road to Kindergarten.

Welcome to Medway Public Schools!

The summer kindergarten program, Kindergarten Camp is for incoming Kindergarten students; it will be held during the week of July 12-16, 2021. The program will introduce our incoming kindergarten learners to the kindergarten experience and help them to begin to feel comfortable with a typical kindergarten day. This experience also allows the students to become better acquainted with the McGovern School. You can find out more information about our program by clicking on the Kindergarten Camp Flyer.

Please click here for a quick overview of the registration process for community peers. The preschool lottery, for community peers, will take place on Monday, March 8, 2021

at 10:00 AM-11:00 AM. We will notify families of lottery results by March 10, 2021. Students that have been identified as getting a preschool seat through the lottery process must register online by April 14, 2021.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at the school at 508-533-3243 or via email amcdonald@medwayschools.org.

Each year we assess our English Language Learners (ELL) in four areas: listening, speaking, reading and writing. This helps us to better understand their English language acquisition and better plan instruction at their level. Mrs. Rutowicz will begin ACCESS testing next week with our ELL students.

Mr. Kelly and I did a webinar with community members earlier today. You can find the recording here. We shared a few updates and an overview of our mid-year data.

I am pleased to report that we are making steady progress at McGovern School and are working hard to ensure all students meet end of year benchmarks. You can find today's slideshow here.

The state updated their guidance on school transportation. The District has studied this guidance and will be making changes to bus transportation. The guidance shifts capacity limits to allow more students on the bus, doubling capacity.

The state guidance can be found here

The state updated their guidance to include singing in music classes. Students must remain masked and be 10 feet apart. Since we cannot have students 10 feet apart in classrooms, Ms. Pratt will continue to find creative ways to teach music in the classroom. When the weather gets a little warmer, our students will return to music class outside, be 10 feet apart, and be able to sing.

The state guidance can be found here.

We have been working with LifeTouch to develop safety procedures and protocols in order to make picture day a reality this year. Student Picture Day will be Friday, April 30th. This will include virtual school students as well! More details coming soon!

It's hard to believe, but the end of the second trimester will close on March 19th. Report cards will be sent home via backpacks on Tuesday, March 23, 2021.

In addition, there will be minor schedule changes made for the last trimester, which begins on March 15th. We planned our allied arts schedule in this way to give the most equitable experience as possible for students across a grade level. If you have any questions about the schedule change, please feel free to reach out to your child's teacher.

As a friendly reminder, drop off ends at 8:50 am each day. After arrival, our faculty return to the classroom to support instructional needs, which is a priority. If you are running late, we totally understand (happens to us too!). Instead of racing to catch the tail end of the line, please park in the front loop and walk your child to the front door. Thank you for your cooperation.

In addition, now that the nice weather is here, we are seeing a lot more four legged friends joining the ride for drop off/pick-up. For the safety of all, please ensure that your car window is up and your dog does not get out of the car during drop off/pick up. Thank you!

During the February 25th School Committee meeting, the early release day scheduled for March 10th was changed to March 24th. There will be NO early release day on Wednesday, March 10.

The early release times for all schools for Wednesday, March 24 will be as follows:

McGovern Elementary School (including McGovern Virtual School students): 12:00 p.m.

Burke-Memorial Elementary School (including Burke-Memorial Virtual School students): 11:30 a.m.

Medway Middle School (including Medway Middle Virtual School students): 11:02 a.m.

Medway High School (including Medway High Virtual School students): 11:34 a.m.

Please see the latest update from the district regarding student COVID-19 testing.

Dear Medway staff and families,

We wanted to share some COVID-19 related updates including details of our student testing program and an updated COVID-19 Data Table.

We are excited to begin implementing a regular COVID-19 testing program for our students. We are pleased to share that we are planning to begin testing next week for students in grades 5-12. Students in cohorts A and C, as well as all 5th grade students, will be tested every Tuesday starting February 9. Students in cohort B will be tested every Thursday starting February 11. As mentioned in a previous communication, this program is voluntary.

If you would like your student to participate, you must complete a consent form on their behalf. Please note that students who are 18 must sign their own consent form. As noted above, student testing in grades 5-12 will commence on February 9. Additionally, we plan to start offering testing for students in grades 2-4 the week of March 1 and potentially in grades K-1 during the week of March 8. Families of children in any grade who would like their child to participate in pool testing, may indicate their interest now by completing the consent form which is linked below.

Please download, complete, scan, and return the form below, via email to: testingconsent@medwayschools.org.

Student COVID-19 Testing Consent Form

If you would like a paper copy of the consent form, you can pick one up at your child’s school. Also, we received helpful information about how to easily scan and email a document from your smartphone. A brief explanatory video can be found here.

The consent form must be completed by Monday, February 8 in order for your student to participate in the first week of testing. Questions or concerns about the consent form or the testing program can be directed to Kylie O’Neill at koneill@medwayschools.org.

For more information regarding Medway’s response to COVID-19, click here.

For more information about pool testing, click here.

We also wanted to share some opportunities to learn more about our testing partner. Concentric by Ginkgo is offering parents the opportunity to participate in a webinar and ask questions. Please find the registration link here. There is also some additional helpful information from Concentric by Ginkgo that can be found here.

Hello families, the Chromebooks are here! Hip hip hooray!

I would like to make a request that you please do not change your child's landing/home page from Clever. This is incredibly important when we are working on technology in the classroom, as it ensures a smooth classroom flow and helps build a child's independence when navigating their Chromebook.

Thank you so much!

Mrs. Fogaren

From Dr. Pires' recent communication:

As a friendly reminder, as you prepare for February break, please keep in mind the State’s travel policy and general guidelines. The Governor’s order requires you to quarantine for 10 days or produce a negative COVID-19 test result that has been administered up to 72-hours prior to your arrival in Massachusetts. If not obtained before entry to Massachusetts, a test may be obtained after arrival. However, all such arriving travelers must immediately begin the 10-day quarantine until a negative test result has been received.

For additional information, please refer to the gathering guidance and the Massachusetts Travel Form, click on the links below:

CDC Guidelines on Safe Celebrations

Massachusetts Travel Form

In addition there have been changes to the travel restrictions regarding children. Testing for children, 10 years and younger, who are traveling with an adult from their household is not required. Children 10 years and younger should mimic the quarantine requirement and testing options completed by the household adult they accompanied for travel. If the accompanying adult chooses to quarantine, the child must also quarantine. If the accompanying adult chooses to obtain a test, the child and adult must quarantine until the adult’s negative test result is received. The complete Travel Order can be found here.

Please see the below message from Dr. Pires regarding an update on the close contact definition.

DESE recently updated their guidelines to reflect an updated definition of a close contact. The new definition is An individual who was within 6 feet of an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period.

An important caveat to this definition is that multiple brief or transitory interactions (less than a minute) throughout the day are unlikely to result in 15 minutes of cumulative contact and do not meet the definition of close contact.

This change will certainly make the definition of close contacts more challenging and will likely lead to more close contacts being identified. It is important that all staff are aware of this definition and take active steps to ensure that we are not unnecessarily creating close contacts, particularly with other staff.

We request that all families complete the beginning of year packet [Online Registration] in the parent portal to ensure we have the most up to date information for you and your child. To access OLR in the portal, login and choose MORE > Online Registration. Please follow the prompts to complete this information. If you are new to Medway or in need an access code to create an account, please email support@medwayschools.org.

We are only at an 18% completion rate and it is critical that all families update their information so that we have the most up-to-date contact information.

To provide families with the latest information and resources related to COVID-19, we have created a COVID-19 information hub, which can be accessed here, and by visiting our district’s homepage. Please visit this site for information about school/community COVID-19 health data, positive test reporting, student protocols, and local testing sites.

In order to ensure confidentiality and begin Contact Tracing as soon as possible, the District has established lines of communication if ever you need to report a positive COVID Test.

Report a student positive COVID test results by either emailing or calling the hotline below:

• covid@medwayschools.org
• 508-321-4779

In order to ensure that children’s nutritional needs are satisfied during this period of remote learning, we are offering any Medway resident under the age of 21 the opportunity to access free school meals every day of the week and/or food to prepare meals at home. For more details about these offerings and to sign-up for remote meals please click here.

Please be sure to dress your child in layers. Students go out for recess daily for 25 minutes. In addition, students may have music or wellness classes, which are also taught outside for 40 minutes.

Here is a helpful graphic to ensure that students are arriving to school with the best layers and apparel as we transition from warmer temperatures to the crisp cooler air. What is also hard is weather like this week and have a 23 degree morning on Thursday as compared to a 46 degree morning on Friday. Please remember that we keep windows open on the bus and in the classroom to increase air flow. When it is really cold outside, teachers will have one window that is cracked. Even this can increase the air flow throughout the classroom.

Finally, on snowy days, students will need boots, snow pants, a hat, mittens, and winter coat. Flexibility... the key word to this year! Students can always take a layer off if they are hot, but the same can't be said if they are cold.

If you are not receiving email communications from the district or the schools, we are here to help. Please email parent@medwayschools.org and a team will work to ensure that you are connected.

Calling all Artists! Participate in the 2021 Shamrock Shuffle Logo Design Contest! The Medway Elementary PTO is looking for logo design submissions for the 10th Annual Shamrock Shuffle. The winning logo will be featured on the official 2021 Shamrock Shuffle t-shirts and the winner will receive a $25 giftcard to the Muffin House! Entries should be relevant to both St. Patrick’s Day and the race; please include your name and age upon submission. All entries must be sent to MEPTOshuffle@gmail.com through January 31, 2021. Good luck!

The 10th Annual MEPTO Shamrock Shuffle is going virtual!

The pandemic can’t stop us – please join us for the 10th Annual MEPTO *VIRTUAL* Shamrock Shuffle in March! Details can be found here.

March 8: Preschool Lottery, 10 AM

March 10: Preschool Lottery Notification

March 12: 2nd Term Ends

March 14: Daylight Savings Time, turn clocks 1 hour ahead

March 15: 3rd Term begins, new schedule starts

March 17: Virtual School, Materials Pick Up Day

March 24: Early Release Day (PK-12), dismissal 12:00 PM

March 31: School Site Council, 3:30 PM

April 2: No School, Good Friday

April 14: Virtual School, Materials Pick Up Day

April 19-23: No School, Vacation

Please click the following links for directions on how to translate the newsletter.

Here is the link for the master directions in English.

Here is the link for Spanish.

Here is the link for French.

Here is the link for Russian.

Here is the link for Arabic

Haga clic en los siguientes enlaces para obtener instrucciones sobre cómo traducir el boletín.

Aquí está el enlace para español.

Here is the link for Spanish.

Veuillez cliquer sur les liens suivants pour savoir comment traduire le bulletin d'information.

Voici le lien pour le français.

Here is the link for French.

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Вот ссылка на русский.

Here is the link for Russian.