Dear Franklin Families,
I hope that all of you are doing well as we head into the season of holiday gatherings and celebrate the many reasons we have to be thankful in our community. I join all of our school staff in saying, “Thank You,” for the opportunity to be partners with you in the education of your children. We are grateful that you entrust us with their well-being each day, and we enjoy giving our best efforts to help them grow into people who will make the world a healthier and happier place for themselves and others. We are also grateful that you support our work in so many ways. You support the work of our school team when…
you prepare your children for school by making sure they get a foundation of rich background experiences on which they can build a structure of new ideas and skills.
you talk to your children about their school experiences and communicate with teachers about their academic and social/emotional progress.
you volunteer and support our PTO with your gifts of time, thought, and financial resources.
This Wednesday morning, we will enjoy our November All School Meeting, and the Fourth Grade Team will be leading us in thinking about both the practice of thankfulness in our daily lives and the meaning of Veterans Day as we honor those who have served our country. We will be meeting virtually for this assembly, and the creativity of our teachers and students is on full display as we use our technology tools to gather together even as we remain in our separate classrooms. These are wonderful times of community-building, and we look forward to these events each month.
Another important community-building experience in the near future will be our first Franklin Friendship Walk, in which buddy classes will walk together, side by side, through our school's neighborhood. Our walk will take place on Wednesday, November 24th at 10:45 a.m. and proceed along the following route: Start in the driveway between the school and field; West on Derby; Right on Parmenter; Right on Falmouth; Right on Arlington/Arbor; Right on Cherry; Right on Russell; Through the back gate into the field and back to the school. This is a one-mile route that has a continuous sidewalk and does not involve any street crossings. We invite families to be spectators along the route! At the walk’s end, students and staff will enjoy a special activity with their buddy classrooms.
Our next gathering for families will be a Parent Coffee on Friday, November 19th. Weather permitting, we will gather outside the school building for that conversation, during which I will share more information about our work to strengthen our school community through Culturally Responsive Teaching. In the increasingly likely case of inclement weather or chilly temperatures, we will gather on Zoom. A final decision for the format will be announced this Thursday.
Understanding our Differences: Understanding Our Differences is a non-profit organization founded in Newton in 1978 that works in partnership with the Newton Public Schools to teach elementary school students about disabilities. The curriculum fosters inclusion of people with disabilities in our schools and in our community. Students in 3rd grade will learn about: Blindness/Low Vision and Deafness/Hard of Hearing. Students in 4th grade will learn about Physical Disabilities and Chronic Medical Conditions (or Learning Disabilities). Students in 5th grade will learn about Autism and Intellectual Disabilities. To learn more about UOD CLICK HERE.
Weekly COVID Case Numbers: This week, Franklin School recorded two COVID cases. Information on districtwide COVID cases and vaccination rates can be found on the Newton Health and Human Services website here: NPS COVID Case Count and Vaccination Rates.
Parent Coffee/PTO Evening Meeting Dates: This year, we have a mixture of morning Parent Coffees and evening PTO Meetings through which we hope to engage all of you in conversation about life and learning in our school community. Please join us on the following dates. We will meet in-person when feasible and rely on virtual meetings when necessary. At this point, in-person meetings will need to be outdoors, so we expect to be limited by weather or lack of daylight as we move farther into the fall. We will let you know the format for each meeting as the date approaches.
November 19th 8:30 a.m.
January 20th 7:30 p.m.
February 18th 8:30 a.m.
March 24th 7:30 p.m.
April 29th 8:30 a.m.
June 2nd 7:30 p.m.
CAP Parent Meeting – Nov 23 at 8:45am via Zoom
Second and Fifth Graders will attend CAP (Child Assault Prevention) workshops during December. CAP is an empowerment program teaching that all children have the right to be SAFE, STRONG and FREE. Your permission is requested for your child to participate. If you have any questions, please join this CAP Parent meeting for a detailed description of the children’s presentation.
Passcode: 127753 Meeting ID: 867 9007 9279
One tap mobile: +16465588656,,86790079279#,,,,*127753#
Absences: If your child will be absent from school for any reason, please call the Student Absence Line at 617-559-9509 before 7:50. Also, please be sure that teachers have accurate information about dismissal routines for your child.
Early Release Dates: We will have dismissal at 12:10 p.m. on the following dates: December 9th, February 3rd, March 24th, and May 12th.
With best wishes,
Mark Chitty
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