Monday, November 16, 2020

News to Use, November 16, 2020

Upcoming Important Dates:

Virtual Parent Coffee with Superintendent & Principal            Tuesday, November 17, 7pm
No School: Thanksgiving Recess                                                    Thurs & Fri, November 26 & 27
School Pictures, Cohort A & remote students                              Tuesday, December 1
School Pictures, Cohort B                                                                Thursday, December 3
No School: Winter Recess                                                                December 24-January 1

We will still eat outside and take as many breaks as possible outside this week, please pack layers, hats, and mittens as the seasonable weather sets in!

A friendly reminder that playground supervision begins at 8:30am. Please do not let students out of cars before this time. Even if a car in front of you lets students out, you do not need to follow suit until a staff member is outside to supervise. Thank you for helping us maintain safety for all.

As we started to lend books from the library last week it became clear that we are still missing a number of books from last spring. If you know where these books are in your house, please send them in! No worries about sending them now, we will take them at any time and are just happy to have them in circulation so all students can benefit from them. All books are set aside when for at least 72 hours before we put them back into circulation.

Parent Coffee
Parents and guardians are welcome to join Jenn Clifford and Mary Beth Banios for a virtual coffee hour again on Tuesday, November 17 at 7pm. We will be able to have a casual conversation during this virtual coffee hour. The Zoom link will be emailed directly to families on November 16. https://zoom.us/j/99253709354?pwd=ZTFya1p5R2lXTmo4OTl2M2ROYThpdz09

HW Health Office Thanksgiving Updates

November 13, 2020

Are you traveling for Thanksgiving? Do you have college students returning to your home after being away at school? Are you concerned about how you can celebrate Thanksgiving and at the same time protect yourself and your family?

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health has provided advice on how to have the safest possibleThanksgiving during the COVID-19 pandemic.

If you have college students returning home from an out of state college, please check the COVID-19 travel order to determine if the state they are coming from is designated as a lower risk state. If it is not a lower risk state, your college student needs to quarantine for 14 days (ideally from the other members of your household) and/or seek COVID-19 PCR testing. They can seek a free COVID-19 PCR test at a Stop the Spread location. Please talk with your college aged children about physical distancing and being safe. We all need to do our part to stop the spread of COVID-19.

If you are traveling for Thanksgiving, please be aware that all Massachusetts residents are required to comply with the COVID-19 travel order. On this website you can see a map for which states are designated as lower risk states. If you are traveling to a non-lower risk state, you need to follow the travel order which requires that you quarantine for 14 days upon return to MA or seek COVID-19 PCR testing no earlier than 72 hours prior to your return to MA. A negative COVID-19 PCR test needs to be submitted to your school nurse prior to your child(ren)'s return to in-person learning. If your children are 10 years old or younger, they are not required to receive a COVID- 19 test, but you will need to share documentation of your adult household members' negative tests to your school nurse prior to their return to in-person learning. 

Additional Nurse Notes
  • Flu shots are required for all students by 12/31/20.  Please email, fax or send in documentation with your child to pass into the school nurse, Lynne Nardella.  Documentation can be emailed to l.nardella@hwschools.net or faxed to (978) 468-5314.
  • Emergency medical forms: if you have not already done so, please log on to your Aspen family portal account and ensure that all contact and medical information is updated in case of an emergency.

School Pictures

O'Connor Studios will be here on Tuesday, December 1st (Cohort A & fully remote students) and Thursday, December 3rd (Cohort B).

Here are some notes of how picture day will work;

  • Photographers will have the whole day to photograph. This ensures that we meet all social distancing guidelines.  
  • Photographers keep their mask on at all times and remain 8’ at a minimum from the students and staff.  
  • No more exchanging any paperwork between photographer and student.  Everything is now done electronically.
  • Students remain standing for their photo, and cannot remove their mask until instructed by the photographer

Ordering:
  • All ordering must be done online this year and photos will be mailed to your home address.
  • PLEASE NOTE:  O'Connor Studios will offer an Opt-In Ordering Program.  This program allows you to sign up and receive an email to place your order directly with O'Connor Studios.  
  • Please click on the following link and fill out your information to opt-in if you plan to purchase school pictures from O'Connor Studios;
  •   The opt-in program will be open from 11/16/20-11/24/20.  If you opt-in during this timeframe, then you will receive a separate email on Wednesday, 11/25/20 from O'Connor with your child's unique identifier code, which will securely link you to place your order for your child's photo.  Each student will receive their own unique identifier code, so even if there are siblings in the same school, each will receive their own identifier code for security reasons.

FoC “News To Use”: Week of November 16th

 

Thank you to all who joined us for our Friends of Cutler meeting on Thursday night (11/12/20).  It was wonderful to see some familiar faces (without masks 😊) and meet a few new friends!  We’d also like to thank everyone who, so generously, donated to the Acord Thanksgiving Food Drive - your contributions are so greatly appreciated! Finally, a special thanks to all who participated in the “Signs of Thanks” and Teacher/Staff Snack Cart, especially Rachel Barstow and Karen Stevenson for coordinating!  This is truly what makes Cutler such a special place!

 

Scholastic Book Fair:  Last chance…there are 7 days left of our Scholastic Book Fair (fair ends on November 22nd)!  Let’s keep our kids reading and raise some funds for Cutler while doing so (every dollar you spend will benefit our school directly - 25% back in rewards)! Our reading events and virtual family get-togethers surrounding the Fair have been a huge success, with the community gathering together to support our kids and our school.  Enjoy this last week of events, fun, and books by visiting the following link:  https://www.scholastic.com/bf/cutlerelementaryschool3


As always, the FoC thanks you for your support!  Have a great week!

 


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