Day School News
March 2, 2024
Dear Day School Community,
Please consider attending the community budget forum on Monday, March 4. Town leaders will be on hand to answer all of your questions about the major budget crisis facing the town. More information can be found in the flyer below. As always we appreciate your support!
Sincerely,
Chris Louis Sardella, Principal
Chrissy Michaud, Assistant Principal
Norman E. Day Elementary School
Parent Teacher Conferences
Parent Conferences will take place on March 18th and 19th, both days will be early release days at Day (dismissal at 11:40 AM). Conferences at Day will be held from 12:30 PM - 5:00 PM. As a reminder, you are not required to attend parent/teacher conferences. We recognize that our teachers communicate with you throughout the year in a variety of ways. Conference times are an opportunity for you to ask questions to teachers that you may not have had the time to do so. Conference sign-up links will be sent on March 6th.
Reading and Writing Celebration
Special Thanks to the PTO for sponsoring our guest authors this week!
Friday, March 1
Movie Night!
Join us for a screening of Bad Guys based on the popular graphic novel series by Aaron Blabey. Tickets are $5 and will be sold at the door. Students who attend will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win one of the Bad Guys books.
Monday, March 4
Drop Everything and Read!
We have a whole school silent reading time to kick off the week.
Thursday, March 7
Celebrity Author Day!
Jen Malone, author of the Art of the Swap and The Sleepover will be presenting to all grade levels on Thursday morning. In the afternoon she will have a special workshop for a select group of fourth and fifth grade writers.
Writing Contest for Fourth and Fifth Graders
If you are interested in attending a special writing workshop with author Jen Malone, please submit a small writing sample to the office by Wednesday, March 6.
Friday, March 8
Pajama and Flashlight Friday!
Wear your Pjs and bring in your favorite book to read.
Monday, March 11
Fifth Grade Author Day!
Fifth graders have the opportunity to meet Rob Buyea, author of the popular Mr. Terupt books.
What Else is Happening?
Other fun events during the week include mystery readers and a March Madness picture book contest. Stay tuned for more news about this event next week.
Community readers will include:
Massachusetts Senator John Cronin
US Representative Lori Trahan
Massachusetts Representative Jim Arciero
Director of Special Education Gerard Coughlin
Officer David Silton
School Resource Officer Tony Bernadin
School Committee Member Kathryn Clear
School Committee Member Valery Young
Humanities Coordinator Erin Hogan
STEM Coordinator Jennifer Cataldo
Superintendent Christopher Chew
Assistant Superintendent Courtney Moran
Youth Librarian Nancy Boutet
Principal Melissa Boylan
School Adjustment Counselor Mikayla Flynn
School Nurse Cheryl Carpenter and Student Nurse Ms. Blocker
Photos of the Week
Wingmasters
Jim Parks from Wingmasters visited the Day School with his magnificent birds of prey. Fourth graders enjoyed watching these birds and learning about adaptations. To learn about this and other arts and education events, please read more in the PTO section of this newsletter.
Robotics
Fifth graders shared their robotics projects with WPS administrators during their monthly leadership team meeting at the Day School.
2024 MCAS Testing Schedule
Family Guides
These guides to the Massachusetts learning standards help families understand what students are expected to know and be able to do by the end of each grade in English Language Arts and literacy, mathematics, science and technology/engineering, and history and social science.
Elementary Lunch Menu
Meals for School Year 2023-2024 will be free for all students enrolled in Westford Public Schools. No pre-ordering is required.
Additional lunch: $3.25; Dessert: $0.50; A la carte Milk: $0.60
Breakfast is free and available daily in the school cafeteria. All breakfasts are served as a complete meal in accordance with USDA guidelines for school meals.
Monday, March 4: Popcorn Chicken Sub with Honey Mustard Sauce, BBQ Sauce or Ranch Dressing, Smiley Fries, Seasoned Corn OR Bagel Fun Lunch Chilled Fruit Milk Choiceun Lunch Chilled Fruit Milk Choice
Tuesday, March 5: No School Professional Development Day
Wednesday, March 6: WG Penne with Meatballs, Marinara Sauce, Texas Toast Garlic Bread, Caesar Salad Cups, Italian Mixed Vegetables OR Make Your Own Pizza Kit Chilled Fruit Milk Choice
Thursday, March 7: Chilled Fruit Milk Choice Egg, Ham and Cheese or Egg and Cheese Breakfast Sandwich, Honey Carrot Coins, Garden Salad with Fresh Strawberries and Canteloupe or Grilled Cheese Ciabatta Sandwich Chilled Fruit Milk Choice
Friday, March 8: Sal's Pizza Farm Fresh Veggie Bites with Homemade Hummus or Turkey and Cheese Lunchable Chilled Fruit Milk Choice
Day School PTO
Mad Science Night
Our next family event will be presented by MAD SCIENCE! Please join us for the “Fire and Ice” program as we celebrate Pi Day on March 14 @ 6:00 p.m.
Tickets are $5 per student/sibling (adults are free). Please purchase tickets HERE A reminder please that this is NOT a drop off event.
To learn more about the 1-hour show, check out this link: FIRE & ICE with MAD SCIENCE
Join the PTO! Find out what is going on and be part of events that fit your schedule by joining us on SLACK.
Our most recent meeting was Wednesday, Feb. 28th. Please find our meeting minutes HERE to see what is coming up and how you would like to participate.
Get your Day School SWAG! Our Apparel Store is open!
Arts & Education
Happy March! We have had a fun week celebrating Leap Year and sponsoring the Wingmasters Program for our 4th graders. A fun, feathered time was had by “owl”!
5th graders have author Rob Buyea coming on March 11th! Remember to bring your books for him to sign!
3rd graders will receive an arts & education program from Wildlife Encounters, “animal adaptations” on March 13th!
4th graders will participate in the Discovery Museum’s program “Sound waves” on March 20th & 26th.
PLEASE CONSIDER joining our Arts & Education Committee to choose programs for 2024-25!
Movie Night
Thanks to the parents and families who helped and attended our first movie night of the year! We watched the BAD GUYS and we look forward to the next Movie Night in the Spring.
Substitute Teacher Job Opportunity - Interested in being a substitute in WPS? We are looking for substitutes across all grade levels. If you are interested, please see the following application - Substitute Teacher Application
Traducciones de este Boletín Disponibles
¿Sabía que puede traducir este boletín a varios idiomas? Asegúrese de descargar el navegador Chrome en su dispositivo. Luego haga clic en los tres puntos a la derecha de la barra de navegación para elegir Traducir. Desde allí puedes elegir cualquiera de los 133 idiomas. También puedes descargar la aplicación Google Translate de forma gratuita en tu dispositivo móvil. Incluso puedes traducir archivos PDF de folletos subiéndolos a tu aplicación. Si desea ayuda para descubrir esta tecnología, comuníquese con la oficina principal. También podemos proporcionarle traducciones de este boletín en formato PDF en su idioma preferido.
Translations of this Newsletter Available
Did you know you can have this newsletter translated in multiple languages? Make sure you download the Chrome browser to your device. Then click on the three dots to the right of your navigation bar to choose Translate. From there you can choose any of the 133 languages. You can also download the Google Translate app for free on your mobile device. You can even translate PDFs of fliers by uploading the PDF to your app. If you would like help figuring out this technology, please contact the main office. We can also provide translations of this newsletter as a PDF in your preferred language.
News from the School Nurse
Parents, guardians and caregivers join us to learn about possible resources and skills and receive support from others if needed. Two sessions run the second Thursday of each month: 10:30 a.m. or 7:00 p.m. at St. Catherine’s Parish Center - Mezzanine Room - 107 N. Main Street.
For more info email nlaviolette@westfordma.gov or call 978-399-2503. **There is no affiliation with St. Catherine's Parish, they have allowed us to reserve their meeting space.
Community Wellness Assistance
Westford’s Community Wellness Coordinator, Nicole Laviolette, will be available the 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month from 2:00 – 4:00 PM at the J.V. Fletcher Library, Mary Atwood Room. Get help with mental health referrals, substance use disorder referrals, parenting support resources, and linkages to other town and community resources.
No appointment necessary. For questions, please email: nlaviolette@westfordma.gov or 978- 399-2503
Cheryl Carpenter, MEd, BSN, RN, NCSN
Norman E. Day Elementary School Nurse
(978) 692-5591 ext. 3655
Fax (978) 692-8476
ccarpenter@westfordk12.us
Assabet Valley Summer Music 2024
Location: Fowler School, Maynard
Session 1: July 29th - August 2nd
Session 2: August 5th - August 9th
Monday - Friday 9:00am-1:00pm
Grade 5 - 12 (entering)
www.assabetvalleysummermusic.com
www.facebook.com/assabetvalleysummermusic
Instagram @AssabetValleySummerMusic
Email: avsmdirector@gmail.com
Day School Library Wishlist
Wishlist link: https://a.co/7QNNGQX
The Norman E. Day School Library has an Amazon Wishlist! Ms. McGann, our School Librarian, has created an Amazon Wishlist of books consisting of popular and award-winning titles, teacher recommendations, and requests by students. At this time, Ms. McGann is encouraging Parents/Guardians/Caregivers to help build our School Library Collection by donating a book from the List. Once a book has been received, it will be added to the Day School Library Collection and a personalized, permanent bookplate will be added to thank those individuals who donated the book. We greatly appreciate your generosity to our School community and thank you for your continued support.
Click this link to register for Literacy Information Night or scan the QR code in the flyer above.
Grade 5 Adventure Days 2024 Volunteer Information
We are excited to announce that 5th Grade Adventure Days will be happening at East Boston Camps on Thursday, May 30th & Friday, May 31st with a rain date of Monday June 3rd. In order to make it a success WE NEED PARENT VOLUNTEERS!
Our volunteer sign-up isn't ready quite yet, but we wanted to send a reminder that in order to volunteer at 5th Grade Adventure Day you MUST be CORI'D and FINGERPRINTED.
CORI DEADLINE: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2024
A CORI must be done EVERY YEAR. If you have already had a CORI done through Westford Public Schools for the '23-'24 school year you are all set, if you have not you must do this NO LATER THAN WEDNESDAY JANUARY 31ST at either Abbot, Crisafulli or Day.
FINGERPRINTING DEADLINE: FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2024
FINGERPRINTING is done once and is good forever. The one time fee is $35. There are fingerprinting locations in Lowell, Marlboro, Leominster, Waltham, Haverhill and more. You will be able to choose an appointment convenient to your location based on each individual location's schedule.
https://www.identogo.com/locations/massachusetts Choose Digital Fingerprinting,
Choose agency/sector: Pre-K-12th Grade Education (ESE), Choose all other school personnel, enter Provider ID 03260000 for Westford Public Schools.
Someone who has been fingerprinted for another school district can have a Suitability of Determination letter sent directly to kristyobrien@westfordk12.us
Do not wait until the last minute to fulfill the fingerprint requirement as appointments can fill up and it will take up to 3 weeks to process.
Westford Youth Baseball & Softball League
Registration for the Westford Youth Baseball and Softball League Spring 2024 Season is currently open for all divisions! Visit www.wybsl.com for more information.
And, WYBSL kindly requests that our Winter Indoor Baseball & Softball Clinics (a new offering for WYBSL) also be posted through 3/15/2024.
Winter Indoor Baseball & Softball Clinics
The Westford Youth Baseball & Softball League is now offering winter indoor developmental clinics for children ages 6 to 12 of all abilities who do not participate in travel baseball and softball clubs. Clinics will be held at the Brickyard Cages at the Millworks, 22 Town Farm Road in Westford on Saturday or Sunday afternoons January 6th/7th through April 6th/7th, and not on holiday weekends. Visit www.wybsl.com for more information.
Recycle Sneakers and Raise Money for Day School
Did you know that in the U.S., roughly 200 million pairs of shoes and sneakers end up in landfills each year?
Did you know that more than 600 million people worldwide don’t even own a pair of shoes?
The GotSneakers recycling organization will help us to recycle our sneakers! We will ONLY accept athletic sneakers and sports related footwear. Ideally, unused and gently used sneakers will raise the most money for our school. But, if you have sneakers with holes, mold/mildew or detached soles, GotSneakers will take them as well. By participating, you’ll help keep sneakers out of landfills while also putting shoes on the feet of people living in the Caribbean, Central America, South America, West Africa, and Europe. Some of the unusable sneakers will even be made into new athletic surfaces! Your old sneakers will make a huge difference; reducing what we throw away and raising money for our school is a win-win!
Please drop off all donations to the box outside near the Day School’s main entrance doors. We encourage you to bring all non-athletic shoes/boots to the drop-off bin in the St. Catherine’s Church parking lot, to Savers in Nashua, or to other local thrift shops for resale. Thanks so much for your support!