Harrington Happenings
November 7, 2021
Happy Sunday Harrington Families
I hope everyone has had a nice weekend up until this point. The weather has been very nice this weekend, apart from some rather chilly mornings. It looks like the week ahead will be above average in temperature so that is good news. On Tuesday, November 9th, members of the school committee and administration will be holding the second public visioning session with consultants from Dore & Whitter Architects at 6:00 p.m. at the Chelmsford Elks Club. It would great if you are available to come to this meeting representing Harrington to review current facility condition information and updates pertaining to plans for our future school needs. As always, your input and ideas are valuable and will help shape the district's decision-making process for the schools.
With Veteran's Day coming up on Thursday it is unfortunate that due to COVID, we will not be able to hold an assembly to recognize the Veteran's within our community again this year. That is not to say that as a school classroom teachers won't be discussing with their students the importance of this day. However, please as families, remember to take time to think about our Veterans. Thank the ones you know, say a prayer to the ones that are no longer with us but please don't consider Thursday as just another day off from school or work. Veterans Day is a time for us to pay our respects to those who have served and continue to serve. For one day, we stand united in respect for our Veterans.
I sent a notification out to everyone on Friday regarding ALICE. We will be holding our first ALICE drill of the year this coming week. As I stated in that notification, the purpose of this drill is to continue practicing and introduce the options-based ALICE protocol. As always, If you think your child might need extra support before or after this drill, please do not hesitate to reach out.
I will send a communication following the drill to let you know how it went. I hope you will take some time to debrief with your own child(ren) that evening and reach out should you have any questions.
As always, thank you for your continued support of our Harrington community. Please reach out to me or Karen with any questions or concerns as always.
Once again, remember to…"Push through your day, Smile, Be Happy, Stay Positive!"
Be safe! Stay well!
Rob & Karen
Let's Stay Connected!
SCHOOL REMINDERS -
HPTO Meetings: On that first Wednesday of each month we hold our HPTO meetings at 6:30, in person and virtually. Our PTO gives parents and teachers the opportunity to work together to supplement and enrich the educational experience for all. Harrington Elementary is incredibly fortunate to have such a strong, dedicated, motivated, well-functioning PTO. Our HPTO is the teacher's and community's most important ally when it comes to achieving curricular and fundraising goals throughout the year. I know that everyone leads busy lives, as does this amazing PTO board, so, I would ask all of you to try to take some time at the beginning of each month to support our HPTO by attending their meetings either in person or virtually. If you have a Facebook account, join the HPTO page for important news and information of upcoming events and links to the meetings.
Lost and found… Lost and found is getting full. If your child has lost items please encourage them to check the lost and found. It is located outside of the café. On both conference days we will lay out the items in lost and found so families to check to see if any of the items belong to them. After conferences are over we will be donating the items not claimed.
Approaching Cold Weather: As we approach our cold weather season, please make sure students are coming to school with the appropriate clothing. Unless we reach a specific threshold in regards to temperature, the plan will always be to go outside as much as possible for mask breaks and recess.
Mrs. Graham's 3rd Grade Class
School Counselor Information from Ms.Albert
Families in need of assistance for the holidays should reach out to our school counselor, Lindsay Albert, via email at albertl@chelmsford.k12.ma.us. A few local Chelmsford community programs generously provide help for the holidays and Lindsay Albert can help coordinate this with any family in need.
Secret Santa (due 11/8) forms are attached below. Paper copies are available in the main office at Harrington. Rob Asselin and Karen Grabowski can sign any forms that require a staff member signature. Please note the individual deadlines since as they are approaching soon.
COVID-19Information
Pooled Testing:
- The testing will begin at 9:30am, once per week, and if they have signed up for Pooled testing.
- Pooled testing is for symptom free individuals who have signed consent to participate.
- If your child has had COVID in the last 90 days, they are not eligible to participate in Pooled testing, but may join in AFTER the 90-day mark has passed.
Attesting to Wellness
- PLEASE- if your child is not feeling well, keep them home and they can return when they are symptom free and feeling better! We need your help to keep our students and staff so that we can have a safe learning environment for all.
- We have seen too many cases where individuals were not feeling well and have been in school and then subsequently tested positive for the COVID virus.
- This is in turn has impacted many students and staff in the classroom.
- We are requesting families to complete a wellness check on their child each morning prior to coming to school.
- Staff members are asked to assess for wellness prior to coming to school.
Close Contacts:
- It is also important to note, the district is following protocols from the Department of Secondary and Elementary Education (DESE), with input from the MA. Department of Publlic Health (DPH), as well as from input from the American Academy of Pediatricians (AAP).
- Our school-based protocols differ from community-based protocols.
- For example, if a vaccinated student is identified as a close contact to a positive case in school, the vaccinated close contact is exempt from quarantine and testing response protocols.
- In the school setting, a vaccinated close contact would be required to monitor for symptoms for 10 days and if feeling well may attend school, where masks are required.
- The school has many mitigation strategies in place to decrease the spread of the virus and the exposure is not considered as high a risk as an outside of school exposure.
- In the community, because it is a higher risk exposure, if a vaccinated close contact is exposed to a positive individual, the Chelmsford Board of Health would recommend the vaccinated close contact be tested on day 3-5, wear a mask until they receive a negative covid test and may attend activities as long as they are feeling well.
Test and Stay:
- If a student is exposed to a positive case in school, they may participate in Test and Stay, as long as consent has been received prior to the exposure.
- DESE released the Test and Stay protocol for districts for this statewide testing program.
- Students are strongly encouraged to utilize this protocol option to minimize the amount of time they are out of school due to a COVID exposure.
- This initiative is intended for asymptomatic close contacts due to a school exposure with confirmed COVID-19.
- This program will allow for students to stay in school if they receive a rapid antigen test (Binax NOW) each school day (5 -7 days) and test negative and remain symptom free.
- If an individual has an exposure in the community setting, they are not eligible for Test and Stay and must follow the traditional quarantine protocol. For example, an exposure at Dance class, Chelmsford Youth Hockey, Pop Warner Cheerleading, Book Club, Pottery Class..etc-must follow the guidelines for an outside exposure which includes the at home quarantine protocol.
- Consent for Test and Stay must be received by the school a minimum of three days prior to an exposure to be eligible for participation.
- A vaccinated close contact is exempt from testing and quarantine response protocols and therefore would not participate in Test and Stay
Close Contact Notification Letters:
- We understand there has been some confusion surrounding notification of close contacts.
- As a district, we are notifying parents/guardians when there is a positive case in the classroom.
- Teachers are keeping seating assignments so that we can identify close contacts and determine if any students were within 6 feet of the positive case while indoors for 15 minutes or more.
Mask Policy
- Lastly, in addition to not sending your child to school if they are not feeling well, we need your help in reinforcing with your child, the importance of wearing their mask properly in school.
- The mask mandate from DESE requires all students in K-12 wear a mask, unless there is a medical exemption that has been documented by a health care provider.
- Masking is a critical measure to contain the spread of COVID-19! Masks must completely cover the nose and mouth and fit snugly against the sides of the face without gaps.
Thank you for working together to ensure a healthy school environment for all!
HPTO
Thank you to everyone who came out and participated in the Glow Run this weekend! We hope you all had so much fun!
Please see the attached information regarding the Table Talk Math book discussion with Harrington parent and Math Specialist, Dr. Molly Rawding. The deadline to sign upfor the event has been extended untilNovember 12th.
File attachments: table talk math.jpg
Calling all fourth-grade parents! We are now forming our fourth-grade committee and need volunteers for helping with things like the yearbook, class gift and end of year activities. If you’re interested in helping out, please harringtonpto@gmail.com
Save the date for our next Dine to Donate at the Establishment on Tuesday November 16 at the Establishment. The Establishment will generously be donating 30% of all dine in and take out orders to the Harrington PTO!
Our next PTO meeting will be held on Wednesday December 1 at 6:30pm in the Harrington Library and live online. Keep an eye on our Facebook page that day for a link to join!
We hope you join us!
Harrington's Glow Run
C. D. Harrington Elementary School
Email: asselinr@chelmsford.k12.ma.us
Website: https://harrington.chelmsfordschools.org/
Location: 120 Richardson Road, North Chelmsford, MA, USA
Phone: 978-251-5166
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/harringtonelementarychelmsford/