Nurses Corner
Dear South Row Families,
I hope you all have a great weekend. For those of you who celebrate Halloween, here are some quick safety tips!
Trick or treat with care
Before your children start trick-or-treating, review these safety rules:
Get in on the fun. Accompany trick-or-treaters younger than age 12. Pin a piece of paper with your child's name, address and phone number inside your child's pocket in case you get separated. Encourage older kids to trick or treat with friends, parents or older siblings. Make sure someone in the group has a flashlight with fresh batteries.
Set ground rules. If your child will be trick-or-treating without you, plan a familiar route and set a curfew. Review safety rules, including staying with the group, walking only on the sidewalk, approaching only clearly lit homes, and never going inside a home or car for a treat. Have your child carry a cellphone.
Inspect treats before indulging. Don't let your child snack while he or she is trick-or-treating. Feed your child an early meal before heading out, and inspect the treats before your child eats them. Discard anything that's not sealed, has torn packaging or looks questionable. If you have young children, weed out gum, peanuts, hard candies and other choking hazards. If your child has food allergies, check candy labels carefully.
Ration the loot. If your child collects lots of goodies, consider doling out a few pieces at a time. You might ask your child if he or she would like to swap some — or all — of the candy for something else, such as a toy, book or outing.
Stay safe and sweet on the home front
To prepare for trick-or-treaters:
Clean up. Put away tripping hazards, such as garden hoses, toys and bikes. Clear wet leaves, snow or other debris from the sidewalk.
Turn the lights on. Replace burned-out bulbs to ensure visibility at the walkway and front door.
Control your pets. Take no chances that your pet might be frightened and chase or bite a child at your door.
Consider sugar substitutes. Instead of handing out sweets, try stickers, fun pencils, rubber insects or colored chalk.
If trick or treating isn't right for your child, consider planning a candy swap party with friends or neighbors. You might have a food-free costume contest and plan games and prizes. Or check local schools or community centers for other options.
And if you'll be driving on Halloween, watch for children crossing the street. Be especially careful entering or leaving driveways and alleys. Extra caution can help ensure Halloween safety for everyone.
Source: Mayo Clinic, 2021 https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/childrens-health/in-depth/halloween-safety/art-20044976
PTO Corner
Fruit Sale Fundraiser
For the month of November, we will be running a fruit sale through Florida Indian River Groves. Fruit will be shipped within 24 hours of being picked and will arrive at its destination in just a couple of days from the time of ordering. Information is coming home in folders about this fundraiser on Friday, October 29. To order online, visit www.foridaindianrivergroves.com and use our school ID code, which is 1026389.
PTO Meeting
Please join us for our next PTO meeting on Monday, November 1 at 7pm. This will be our first hybrid meeting, so please jion us either in the cafeteria or via the following link.
Google Meet joining info
https://meet.google.com/vjo-askr-out
Or dial: +1 208-718-2591 PIN: 368 894 906#
Volunteers Needed for Playground Painting
South Row PTO is organizing a playground painting day (stencil paintings on the pavement, including: Four Square, Hop Scotch, Mirror Me). We are planning to work late morning (10:30am) to early afternoon (no later than 3:30pm) on Sunday 10/31, with a rain date of 11/7. We need 3 to 5 CHS students and/or South Row parents. PTO organizers will sign off to confirm volunteer hours for CHS students that help. In addition, we are buying pizza for all the volunteers.
Currently, we have enough volunteers for this Sunday, and we are still hoping to paint this week, but the weather is a little iffy. We could still use a few more people to set aside time for next week in case we need to postpone.
Here is the signup genius form where CHS students or South Row Parents can volunteer: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0B4BACAA2BA0F58-playground .
PTO Online Directories
We are happy to announce that the PTO Family Directory and Parent Business Directory have been published to our website for this year! The Business Directory is easily accessible via a link in the sidebar of every page on the website, or directly through this link: https://www.southrowpto.com/p/parent-business-directory.html
The family directory is under password protection to keep our contact information secure. The password for this year is "AmongUs". Please do not share this password with anyone. If you forget the password, you can contact the main office for a password reminder. You can find the directory page at http://www.southrowpto.com/p/family-directory.html.
We have received a number of emails from parents who had not realized that this whole-school directory was separate from the class contact lists. We apologize for not being clear enough about that. If you missed the notices about being included in the directory, didn't realize that this is separate from class lists, or expected your information to carry forward from last year (we don't know everyone's class for this year and can't do that automatically) and would like to be added, or if you need to change your contact information at any time, please email southrowpto@gmail.com.
Enjoy keeping in touch with classmates and supporting South Row families' businesses!
Contact the South Row Administrative Team!
Principal
Mr. Jayson Ramalho, M.Ed.
Assistant Principal
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
Contact the Main Office Staff
- 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
