Haynes Elementary School
The Month of February
News and Updates
February 27, 2023
February Edition
Principal's Message
Dear Families,
We hope you have enjoyed your February vacation and were able to find some time for rest and relaxation. I am still on my journey back to Massachusetts from New Zealand and heard I will be coming back to some snow and much cooler weather. Please remember to have your children arrive to school with their winter attire as we would like to have them enjoy the outside as much as possible.
As we return to school tomorrow, we will begin a new "hawk sighting" experience, thanks to the ideas of our student advisory council members. At Haynes, we have a stuffed hawk (mascot), who will require a name (based on student vote). This hawk will visit a classroom for an entire week. The class who receives the mascot determines which classroom will receive the hawk the following week. These determinations will be based upon the classroom who models the four school rules and goes above and beyond to support others. The students are truly excited about this new mascot idea. Each classroom will have an opportunity to create a hawk's nest for our mascot. The materials and process for creating this nest will be decided upon by the individual classrooms.
We hope you enjoy this week's newsletter. As always, thank you for your continuous support for Haynes.
Sincerely,
Nadine Ekstrom, Ph.D.
Interim Principal
Composting Update
We have started our third week of composting! Parents have been helping the students learn what can be composted and helping them separate out the food waste from the trash waste. Parents and Mr. Stan report that the students are doing a great job and need minimal help. We are hopeful that all students, with the regular supervision in the cafeteria, will be able to separate their trash into compostable and non-compostable waste.
HOP will be providing some “grabbers” that could be used if necessary to extract items that are thrown into the compost bins by accident. The bins are picked up each Thursday.
We ask families to please discuss the composting process with your children. Your discussions will assist this process. Below are a few items you may want to talk about with your children. We thank our parents who have volunteered at Haynes with the school's composting efforts.
Items that CAN be composted:
All food waste
Milk (no cartons)
Napkins
Paper trays
Items that CANNOT be composted:
Plastic containers
Milk cartons
Wipes
Plastic cutlery
Thanks so much for supporting the composting initiative!
Lysol Wipes
The Frontline Impact Project was founded in 2020, to support frontline workers through natural disasters and significant events like COVID-19. The Frontline Impact Project teamed up with Lysol, Kids in Need Foundation, and Impatico to donate over 665 million lysol wipes to the school. Dr. Ekstrom submitted a request to the organization, as the Frontline Impact Project considers educators as frontline heroes. Sudbury Public Schools was selected to receive 30,000 packages of lysol wipes, which will be delivered on March 1st at 9:00 AM at Ephraim Curtis Middle School. These lysol wipes will be distributed to each school upon delivery. We are very grateful to the Frontline Impact Project, Empatico, and Lysol for supporting healthy schools!
If parents from Haynes are available to assist with the distribution of these wipes, could you please contact Marcy Sawin to sign up? marcy_sawin@sudbury.k12.ma.us
Parent/Teacher Conferences
Please remember to sign up for parent/teacher conferences, which will begin this Wednesday, March 1st. These conferences will be offered on March 1, 8, and 15. Please reach out to your teachers and schedule these sessions if you have not done so already. We look forward to seeing you soon!
2023-2024 School Calendar Released
Sudbury Public Schools 2023-2024 Calendar is now available.
Reading Buddies
Lincoln-Sudbury is beginning a session of reading buddies at our local library. Bring your child to the Goodnow Library to read with high schoolers for half an hour to increase their comprehension and reading skills. These 6-week sessions will take place on Wednesdays between 4:30-6:30pm. Visit https://forms.gle/seseuwaMioBLjN3Q6 to sign up.
6-week sessions
Wednesdays between 4:30-6:30pm
Email lsrb404@gmail.com with questions.
Haynes Principal - Announcement by Superintendent Crozier
Haynes Principal Finalist Announcement
Dear Haynes Community,
Please mark your calendars for the upcoming Haynes Principal Finalist Visits on Friday, March 3rd. You will have the opportunity to meet each of the finalists and ask questions.
I’ve included brief biographies for each of the candidates, by means of introduction. The candidates will spend the better part of the day at the Haynes School interviewing with different members of the SPS team. The candidates will also have an opportunity to tour the school and meet with a group of designated students.
Bryant Amitrano currently serves as the Interim Principal at Merriam Elementary School, a project-based looping school in Acton. Prior to his position as Interim Principal, Mr. Amitrano served as the Assistant Principal at Merriam, beginning in 2018. During his time at Merriam, Mr. Amitrano has been a member of a district-wide STEAM committee which works on developing a STEAM vision for the district. Bryant taught fifth and sixth grade at the Healey School in Somerville before receiving his CAGS in School Administration and becoming the Interim Assistant Principal at Healey in 2017. Bryant holds a postgraduate Certificate of Study in School Administration from the American International College and a Masters Degree in Elementary Education from Regis College where he served as a graduate assistant in the athletic department. Bryant also completed his undergraduate degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Management from Bryant University. Mr. Amitrano was voted Captain of his collegiate, division 1 men’s lacrosse team, worked as a head youth lacrosse coach in Somerville, an assistant coach for the Northeastern University men's lacrosse program and as an associate head coach for a youth lacrosse program in Arlington. Mr. Armitrano earned his Eagle Scout badge in 2005.
Paul McKnight has over 23 years in education, both as an educator and as an administrator, most recently serving as Assistant Principal at Raynham Middle School. Prior to this role, Mr. McKnight worked as an Elementary Assistant Principal in the Randolph Public School District. Mr. McKnight holds a certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies in School Administration from American International College as well as a Masters Degree in Special Education from The University of Massachusetts - Boston. Mr. McNight started his career as a Paraprofessional while pursuing a higher degree in Special Education. After a one year position as a Special Needs Teacher at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, Paul taught as a Special Educator for 12 more years at Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School and Walpole High School. Throughout the course of Mr. McKnight's professional career, he has supervised staff in all school positions and facilitated professional development on topics such as MTSS, Social Emotional Learning, critical response training, and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Paul has also participated in Diversity Equity and Inclusion training to explore injustices within educational institutions as they relate to racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse students. He currently serves on his district’s DEI Advisory Committee which has helped him build a reputation as a supportive and compassionate leader who seeks equitable outcomes to issues that challenge students' growth and success. Mr. McKnight served as an Anti-Armor Weapons Specialist with the Massachusetts Army National Guard from 1994-2000, during which time he was awarded the Army Achievement Medal.
Lisa Williams is the Assistant Principal at both Josiah Haynes and John Nixon Elementary Schools in Sudbury. Prior to joining Sudbury in July 2022, Lisa worked in the Lexington Public School District where she served as a K-5 teacher for 28 years and an Assistant Principal for 3 years. Throughout her career, Lisa has worked with students with diverse learning profiles across all grade levels and is a staunch advocate for all students. Her background includes collaboration with district leaders to implement and directly support highly specialized programs for students with autism, language-based learning disabilities, neurological and/or communication disabilities, and social emotional disabilities. Her work in Lexington focused on building a positive school culture through the implementation of a school-wide SEL curriculum, leading her school-based Equity Team, facilitating the EL Mentor Program, and developing school-wide projects to support the METCO program. Her commitment to equity was further enhanced when she joined the SPS administrative team in their work with Dr. Benson’s Anti-Racist Leadership Institute. This intensive training informed her work as an SPS METCO liaison and a building leader tasked with planning staff meetings focused on district and school-based DEI data and responding to findings from the 2022 SPS Equity Audit. Lisa holds her B.S. in Elementary Education from Framingham State College, M.Ed. in Computers in Education from Lesley College, and is a graduate of the MSAA Leadership Licensure Program with Teachers21.
I want to extend my appreciation to the selection committee who reviewed resumes and conducted initial interviews. We had a robust pool of qualified candidates and are confident that the Haynes community will be well served by its next principal.
Sincerely,
Brad Crozier,
Superintendent
Thank you to SERF!
SERF has assisted Haynes significantly this year. Our most recent award is for our "Tournament of Books". The Haynes Equity Committee has been working on identifying a variety of books for our school that supports an appreciation of culture and racial diversity. We are pleased to report that SERF has approved of this investment for our Haynes Community.
Sudbury Girls' Softball is Open!
We are offering the following leagues this spring:
Kindergarten Clinic - Sunday mornings
Minor League (Grades 1 & 2) - Monday (practices) & Saturday am (games)
Junior League (Grades 3 & 4) - Tuesday (practices), Friday (games), Sunday (games)
Intermediate League (Grades 5 & 6) - Wednesday (practices), Saturday (games), Sunday (games)
Senior League (Grades 7, 8, & 9) - Wednesday or Thursday (practices), one game per week (Friday, Saturday, or Sunday)
Register and pay by February 1st to get a $20 early bird discount! The spring season begins April 24th. Get all the details http://www.sudburysoftball.org/
Kate Marchand
katemarchand@hotmail.com
978.580.9111
FY2022 - FY2023 Calendar
Please look at our FY2023 school calendar for Josiah Haynes Elementary School
UPCOMING EVENTS
Wednesday, March 1
1/2 Day Wednesday (dismissal at 11:45)
Parent/Teacher Conferences (by appointment)
Friday, March 3
Staff Appreciation Breakfast (hosted by Kindergarten Families)
Principal Coffee (8:15 am) - RSVP to haynes_office@sudbury.k12.ma.us
Bingo Night: Session 1: 5:30-7pm
Session 2: 7:30-9pm
Tuesday, March 7
Principal Coffee (5:30 pm) - RSVP to haynes_office@sudbury.k12.ma.us
Wednesday, March 8
1/2 Day Wednesday (dismissal at 11:45)
Parent/Teacher Conferences (by appointment)
Friday, March 10
Sudbury Food Pantry Collection
Wednesday, March 15
1/2 Day Wednesday (dismissal at 11:45)
Parent/Teacher Conferences (by appointment)