Day School News
September 25, 2021
Dear Day School Community,
We had a wonderful week of learning at the Day School. Check out the pictures of harvesting in the school gardens and a special visit from Day School parent Mrs. Almeida of Fat Moon Farm. It is wonderful to hear our strings and band students playing for the first time in the music wing. We are looking forward to our first choral performances too! If your fifth grader is interested in joining chorus this year, please register using the form in this newsletter.
The PTO is still waiting for about half of our students to order their free t-shirt featuring our new hawk mascot. Please order one using the form in this newsletter. We are fast approaching the kick-off to our biggest fundraiser of the school year. Our goal is to get everyone to register and get involved in the fun. It is free to register your family and all students will participate in the fun events we have planned for fundraising week. See information below to get started.
Don't forget to visit our outdoor book fair this weekend on Saturday and Sunday from 10AM-2PM. We look forward to seeing you at the Day School!
Sincerely,
Chris Louis Sardella, Principal
Hilary Sturgis, Assistant Principal
Norman E. Day Elementary School
Day School Student Information Form
Please complete this form that was due on Friday, September 10. We need up to date contact information and assurance that each family understands the policies and procedures of the school. If your form is not complete by that date, a staff member will call you to assist with the completion of the form.
Link to form:
Day School Gardens
Last Friday, 144 highly engaged Day students participating in harvesting and maintaining our school gardens. They moved the rocks for weed control, picked the tomatoes and some kale, weeded and thinned the carrots, identified disease on one crop, sought potato beetles, and took steps to deter deer. They identified the different parts of a plant we eat, and tried just-picked kale, arugula, and tomatoes.
Next time, we will finish moving the rocks, pick kale, arugula and tomatoes and some carrots. In the final week, we will dig for potatoes and finish picking the carrots. Then we will blow out the irrigation and add compost for the winter.
Saturday, September 25 and Sunday, September 26
10:00AM-2:00PM
Help your children become lifelong readers while supporting your School Library.
The Norman E. Day School Library is hosting its 2nd Outdoor Book Fair and invites you to stop by to shop for new releases and popular titles. The Book Fair will be taking place in front of the Day School on Saturday, September 25 and Sunday, September 26, 2021 from 10am - 2pm!
All purchases support the Day School Library and earn rewards to purchase new books for the Library Collection.
We look forward to seeing parents, students, friends, and family at the event.
Thank you!
Kira McGann, Library Media Specialist, & Paula Palozej, Library Assistant.
Pictures of the Week
We were thrilled to have Mrs. Almeida as our scientist in residence this week! Fifth graders in Mrs. Hummer, Mrs. Green, and Mrs. Lapham's classes learned about mushrooms and their role as decomposers in the ecosystem. At the end of the program, students created their own mushroom growing labs using damp cardboard and just a few pieces of mushroom.
News from the School Nurse
WPS Nurses Website
The new school year is underway. WPS nurses are dedicated to helping your child learn in a safe and happy environment. Please remember to contact your school nurse if your child has any signs of illness or has allergies, medical conditions, medications to be taken at school, or other health concerns. Please be sure to visit the WPS Health Services website for forms, up to date information and resources.
At-Home Tests
Non-Medically Attended At-Home Tests (tests purchased over- the- counter without a prescription and conducted at home without telehealth oversight) are NOT to be utilized for testing for school purposes per MDPH. A PCR TEST is required.
Nursing Students
Some of our nurses will be working with student nurses from Northeastern University Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program starting this September. The nursing students are completing their public health rotations and school nursing is part of their program rotation.
WPS has elected to participate in the DESE sponsored COVID-19 testing program supported by CIC-health. The overall program includes multiple testing options for districts. We are initially exploring the “test and stay” program which will allow students identified as close contacts while at school the opportunity to take a rapid COVID test at school to see if they remain negative in order to stay in school.
All COVID testing requires parent or guardian permission in order for students to participate. The consent form is accessible online and covers all of the potential DESE testing programs. We are asking you at this time to consider consenting to both “test and stay” testing and “symptomatic”. If we ever decide to consider Routine COVID testing, you will be informed ahead of time and given the opportunity to change your consent.
Please visit this link to the online consent form through CIC-health: https://www.cic-health.com/consent/ma?district=Westford#consent
Additionally, you can access this link to receive more specific information about Contact Tracing and Quarantining under the most recent DESE/ DPH protocols: Family Information Regarding DESE testing and Quarantining Protocols
Cheryl Carpenter, MEd, BSN, RN, NCSN
Norman E. Day Elementary School Nurse
(978) 692-5591 ext. 3655
Fax (978) 692-8476
Grade 5 Chorus
Happy September! For those of you who I have not yet met, my name is Brendan Ferrari and I am so excited to join the team as a music teacher at Day School! I also wanted to share some...
AWESOME news!!! Singing is back in school this year! The Massachusetts Music Educators Association has issued guidelines for singing in person: students may sing inside, three feet apart, and with their masks on.
As a result, I am so excited to be offering 5th Grade Chorus to all interested 5th Graders. Any 5th grader who enjoys singing, likes to work as a team, is looking for a place to belong, and can commit to our rehearsal schedule is highly encouraged to join!
There is also no fee for this activity!
Rehearsals will be held on Thursday afternoons from 3:00-3:45 PM in the Music Room at Day School beginning on October 14, 2021.
Performances TBA (depending on Covid guidelines).
*Please Note – Pickup for Chorus is at 3:45 PM; promptness is expected and appreciated! Students should bring all belongings with them to the music room before Chorus begins.
To register, click here to fill out the Google Form by Friday, October 8th, 2021.
Thank you!
Brendan Ferrari
bferrari@westfordk12.us
Music Teacher
Abbot, Crisafulli, and Day Schools
Westford, MA 01886
Day Elementary families!
We are excited to kick off our Day Elementary Fun Run on 10/4. Our goal is to raise $20,000 for the Day School Arts and Education programs and to strengthen our school community.
Registration to help our school is now open. Go to mybooster.com in order to register.
Here’s what all students can get excited about:
Fun, engaging character development lessons
A high-energy event to give our school a much needed boost of fun!
Our school has always relied on fundraising to provide exceptional opportunities to enhance student learning. And this year, we have more needs than we’ve ever had before, which means we need your support more than ever.
We completely understand if your family is not in a position to financially support the school right now. You can still be involved by simply SHARING about our fundraiser with friends and extended family online at mybooster.com. Sharing IS supporting!
Just as we worked to safely begin school this year, we are also safely hosting this essential fundraiser based on our school’s current guidelines. We currently plan to host this outdoors and will keep grades separate for the races and events.
We are grateful for our Day Elementary family!
Thank you for supporting Day Elementary through the Day Elementary Fun Run.
Meet our New Mascot
We are proud to introduce the hawk as our new mascot. You may have already seen the hawk on student agendas and school communications. Our plan is to have a celebration to welcome the newest member of our Day School community. To help celebrate, the PTO is purchasing a t-shirt with our mascot for every student in the school. Please complete the form below to order your t-shirt.
Is your child interested in entrepreneurship?
Young Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow is a nonprofit organization started in 2020 by high school students with the aim of teaching children about business and entrepreneurship while fundraising for underprivileged communities. Now, it is run by two Westford Academy students, Suryaa Rajinikanth (grade 12) and Devesh Khamitkar (grade 10). In the past year, our organization has partnered with the worldwide nonprofit, Ekal, to use the signup fee/donation for our classes to build new schools in rural India. We have raised thousands of dollars already to go towards this important cause. Our plan is to run another session of these business classes this year.
The class itself will be a 10-week paid program with one meeting per week over Zoom. Our course is designed to teach elementary schoolers business terms, ideas, and skills in a collaborative environment. We build teamwork and critical thinking skills in all of our students. A typical class will consist of structured learning time through slideshows and an activities section where students collaborate to apply the ideas they learned. The end goal is to prepare the students to make their own presentations and pitch their ideas to professionals in the field.
To get a better idea of this course, we ask all interested students and parents to sign up for our FREE trial class on October 10, 2021. We will go over all the details including the schedule, class structure, and an example lesson. With your help, we can build schools for the underprivileged while learning real-life skills and concepts! Feel free to contact us with questions.