The Leeds Equity & Inclusion (“E&I”) Committee is a group of Leeds parents, caregivers, teachers, and staff who work toward creating a school community that honors self-exploration, meaningful relationships across difference, and every person’s dignity and belonging. We are a subcommittee of the Leeds School Council. Read about some of our recent projects on our website!

Our meetings are held on the second Wednesday of each month.

E&I participation is completely flexible--you can choose to commit to as much or as little as you’d like. This might mean staying in the loop via our email listserv (email us at leedsequityandinclusioncomm@gmail.com to be added), attending the occasional meeting or every meeting, initiating or joining existing committee work, or some combination.

Thanks for reading--we hope to hear from you! Please be in touch with any questions.

Are you an artist, handy with markers or crayons? We’re looking for a new design for our Leeds school t-shirts for this year! Send us your Leeds t-shirt design and it could end up on our school t-shirts this year. The winning designer will win 4 shirts to share with their family!

Designs are due October 25th and can be submitted via email to meghan@leedspto.org or dropped off at the school.

Important things to remember:

• T shirt design challenge is open to kids and grown-ups!

• Include first and last name as well as teacher’s name on the entry

• Design must be submitted on 8.5 x 11 size paper or in jpg or png formats emailed to meghan@leedspto.org

• Only original artwork; NO copyrighted material allowed

• If the design does not incorporate “Leeds Elementary School” it will be added to the final design. We’re the Leeds Leopards, but we can always “bee” Leeds!

• Ideally, designs are drawn in black ink; shirts will be printed in one color and on one side of shirts.

• Select designs will be chosen at the general PTO meeting in November for a final vote by students at Leeds.

Register for First Aid or Parents & Professionals Workshops

with Laura at lfrogameni@northampton-k12.us

• Our November & December sign ups are now open. Please complete the form by Thursday, October 28th. Paper forms are being sent home for those who are not able to fill in the Google form.
• Please be sure to choose the dates you need for after school care. We have a limited number of staff and may not always be able to accommodate drop ins.
• Late Bird - 2:10-5:15 (Please send your child with a snack from home.)

LEAP

Gabrielle will begin looking for enrichment program instructors for courses that will run on Mondays and Fridays beginning in January. If you or you know someone who would like to be a LEAP instructor, please reach out to Gabrielle with more information. (ghollender@northampton-k12.us)

Online payments are accepted for Early Bird/Late Bird and the LEAP program.

Online payment instructions: I know some of you had difficulty with our online payment system, so we have created a document with instructions. Here is the link.

BEHAVIOR POLICY: All staff and students will adhere to the Northampton Code of Conduct found at http://www.northamptonschools.org/project/code-of-conduct/

Daily Self-Checklist

We are continuing to do Self Checks in the morning. Here is a link to the checklist. We are sending a paper copy home in your child's red folder.

Health & Safety Protocols COVID 19 GUIDELINES: 10/2021 from Nurse Beth

Significant symptoms of concern:

- Fever of 100.0 or higher

- Chills

- Shortness of breath

- Cough

- Muscle aches or body aches

- Loss of taste or smell

• These symptoms require a PCR test, which we do not have in school.

• A student/staff member will be sent home if significant symptoms of concern arise at school, and may return with resolving symptoms AND the results of a negative COVID PCR is sent to the school nurse.

• Please keep your child/ staff stay home if any significant symptoms of concern occur, and obtain a negative PCR test prior to returning to school.

Mild symptoms of concern:

- Headache

- Congestion, runny nose (without another cause, such as allergies)

- Sore throat

- Diarrhea

- Nausea or vomiting

- Fatigue (without another known cause such as lack of sleep)

• A student/staff member may return to school if there is one mild symptom of concern WITH a negative rapid ANTIGEN or PCR test.

• If two or more symptoms, a negative PCR will be needed.

• These tests are provided at Walgreens, CVS, and MedExpress and must be administered by a healthcare professional.

• Your child’s provider may prefer to provide the school nurse with a letter documenting an alternative diagnosis instead of testing your child.

*Please remain home if one or more mild symptoms of concern are present, new or persisting until a negative test is obtained.

*Any result must be submitted to the school nurse or district contact tracers before returning to school.

**HOME TESTS ARE NOT ACCEPTED AT THIS TIME.

***RAPID TESTS WILL BE CONDUCTED IN SCHOOL WITH THE BinaxNOW ANTIGEN TEST FOR STUDENTS/STAFF THAT START WITH SYMPTOMS WHILE IN SCHOOL IF CONSENTS HAVE BEEN SIGNED.

****BinaxNOW WILL ADDITIONALLY ONLY BE USED FOR REFLEX TESTING ON A POSITIVE POOL FROM WEEKLY ROUTINE COVID SAFETY CHECKS.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP IN KEEPING OUR CLASSROOMS SAFE!!!

Click here for the School online calendar.