Harrington Happenings
March 28, 2021
Happy Sunday Harrington Families
I sure hope everyone had a chance to enjoy the beautiful weather yesterday and are presently relaxing on this cloudy Sunday. So, we have one more week to go before we shift to a full return of students learning model. We have spent the past few weeks diligently preparing and planning for the return of a more normal school schedule of 5 days a week all day. I cannot believe it has been over a year since we ran a norma full day schedule and I am very excited to have the students back in school all day long in a more normal rotation that they are accustom to. For our students this will be a learning process and a re-introduction to the formal process of the school especially for our kindergarteners. I know that our amazing teachers will have our students excited, motivated and ready to experience a normal school day after such a long time without one. I am also quite sure that as excited as we are about this, many of you are just as excited, motivated and ready for April 5th to arrive so that you can also get back to a normal schedule and routine. All that you have done over the past year is exceptional and I thank you for your continued support.
For families that are new to the school and coming in person and for those families that are already attending school in person, I wanted to provide some updates on how the school day will look. As you can imagine, switching from a truncated school day to a full day has some logistical challenges especially while complying state and CDC safety guidelines. Starting on April 5th we will shift to a normal full day schedule (8:47 - 3:18) which will include lunch, recess and specials being taught in person. Here are some of the changes to the day that will support the full day return and schedule:
Classrooms/snack: Student desks will be spaced 3ft apart per CDC guidelines, students will be masked while they are in the classroom. Snack break will occur outside of the classroom in areas designated out side of the building. Unfortunately, due to limited indoor spaces during inclement weather, there may be days students may not be able to have a snack break. The only areas that can facilitate classroom snack breaks indoors are the gym and the cafe. The gym is going to be used for lunch and will not be available during those hours and the cafe will be used for PE which limits its availability as well. The only out door space that can facilitate a full class of students unmasked is the front awning, classroom teachers will be able to reserve that location using a calendar. The 6ft safety requirements when students are unmasked controls this aspect of the student's day and are not flexible and will be adhered to for everyone's continued safety.
Arrival/Dismissal: This past week, we shifted back to our previous process of student drop-off/pick-up. As I explained this shift back to our original process was due to the increase of attending students and the need to safely move two points of traffic rather than three like we did this year. If you are new to Harrington and plan on dropping off or picking up your students, you will need to get a pick up number from the main office. Please call 978-251-5166, Ms. Fidler or Ms. Page will assign you a number that you will need for pick up prior to April 5th. If you are a returning student and was previously assigned a number you can use that number this year, please notify the main office as well so that they can re-add you to our tracking system. Student drop off begins at 8:45, staff will let families know when they can let their students out of their vehicles, please do not do so until directed by a staff member. Dismissal starts at 3:18, please ensure that you have your vehicle number displayed so that staff can see your number which will help to expedite dismissal safely. All drop-off/pick-up vehicles are to use the driveway that goes around the building through to the PODs. Please DO NOT arrive at school for pick-up earlier than 2:45 as the gate will be closed and students may be outside for PE if the weather is nice.
Buses: If you are new to Harrington or new to coming in person, bussing is available to students who live outside of a mile from the school. If you have not done so already, please register your student to take the bus if that will be your form of student transportation for the remainder of the year. The number for district transportation is: 978-251-5100 ex. 6942.
Recess/Lunch: Lunch will be provided for all students daily. Students will be eating on desks in the gym and in a 15ft x 45ft tent in accordance with the 6ft social distancing requirements while eating is taking place. There will be a section of desks reserved as a "allergy free" area for those students that require it. The use of the gym and the tent will allow for our recess/lunch aides to be able to supervise lunches and to allow classroom teachers a space where they can eat lunch. Students will also be participating in recess in designated areas on the school grounds that will rotate daily per classroom so all students can have recess in different areas.
Breakfast: Students will be receiving breakfast at the end of the day to be brought home for the next day.
At some point this week, you will be hearing from your student's classroom teacher either as an introduction or regarding the student's schedule for the day and classroom expectations. Remote students will be following the same full day schedule as in person students. The hybrid schedule that has been in place since the beginning of the year will no longer be followed after this week. It will be important for remote student families to plan accordingly for the full day schedule that will be shared with you this week as it will differ from grade to grade.
This week, we will be receiving the tent I mentioned above, as well as, 300 desks and 100 chairs to help facilitate the full return. Once the desks arrive I will be repopulating classrooms and gym with those desks so that when staff and students arrive back to school on April 5th their classrooms and the gym (new cafe) will be ready to go. The staff has worked incredibly hard all year long, and I am sure they are all ready to return to some form of normalcy before the end of the year. Even though there will still be some differences to our school day, the full return of students and the full daily schedule will hopefully provide a sense of normalcy we have all longed for over the past challenging year.
As always, we appreciate all that everyone does for the Harrington community and for the continued support during this challenging year.
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
Kindness Library Gift Program
Cameron Bishop, one of our first graders in Mrs. Ashdown's class and his mom Ali nominated Harrington for the Joseph Middlemiss Big Heart Foundation "Kindness Library Gift Program." Below is the congratulatory notification of being the recipient of the "February 2021 Kindness Library."
CONGRATULATIONS! The Harrington Elementary School has been carefully chosen by The Joseph Middlemiss Big Heart Foundation "Kindness Library Gift Program" selection committee as the recipient of the February 2021 Kindness Library! Your school was nominated by one of your students, Cameron Bishop, and his mother, Ali Bishop. Ali described the school as having the feeling of community, inclusion and kindness that radiates. Cameron contributed "I want everyone to learn how to be kind so everyone can be friends. It doesn't matter what you like. Different people like different things. It doesn't matter what you look like. It doesn't matter if you are not good at some things. I want everyone to know that." We were touched by his words and are happy to provide this gift on his behalf.
We are honored to be able to provide the gift of a kindness library to The Harrington Elementary School!
Harrington Family Fun Fitness Challenge
Week of 3/29-3/31 – Family Fitness Challenge
Don’t forget to enter your minutes from this past week: Google Form to submit minutes:
This weeks information….
- Click here to view the flyer on the Family Fitness Challenge (BY, HA,SR)
- Google Form to submit minutes: Byam Week 5; Center Week 5; Harrington Week 5; South Row Week 5
- Exercise Challenge: Encourage an adult at home to exercise with you each day
- Ideas for Movement: March Calendar
Quote/Fun Fact on Wellness: “Every day is another chance to get stronger to eat better to live healthier and to be the best version of you.”
LIVE Specialist Schedule for the week of 3/29- 4/2
Harrington PTO
Hannaford is offering their yearly fundraising opportunity to our community though May 29! Shop items in the following link to earn money for Harrington. Your cashier will give you “school dollars” you can put into Harrington’s pouch on the school fundraising board at the front of the store.
Our students have been doing an INCREDIBLE job reading every day and raising funds for a shade structure for the playground. Donation envelopes will be due to school week of March 29th. Please include parent contact email on the envelope. Remote students should return their donation envelopes to the Harrington main office during school hours. The following donation link is still active and can be shared with family and friends:
https://forms.gle/fnr443tqvjCrXnPx7
We want YOU to join our PTO! We are currently seeking new members and board members to continue the wonderful events and fundraisers for the school community. All board positions are available at this time for the 2021-2022 school year and need to be filled. If you have any interest in joining or learning more about how you can help, please reach out to us at HarringtonPTO@gmail.com.
***************************
Our PTO meetings are held virtually the first Wednesday of every month. We post the link to our GoToMeeting on our Facebook page on the day of the meeting. Please keep an eye out for it and join if you can! All are welcome as we discuss fundraising for activities for the students, as well as hear from Principal A and our School Committee Chairperson, Maria Santos, for their monthly updates. These meetings are very informative, so make some time to schedule a sit down with us! We would love you meet you!
Tips on Increasing Student Engagement
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xZ1Vm32Wf1OpUf5u_7O1vY7RZ7L6PAduTSo_aF_qTCw/edit?usp=sharing
C. D. Harrington Elementary School
Email: asselinr@chelmsford.12.ma.us
Website: https://www.chelmsford.k12.ma.us/Domain/12
Phone: 978-251-5166
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/harringtonelementarychelmsford/