The Buzz at Leeds
October 4, 2021
Message from Principal Wenz
I have terrific news. We have a new Early Bird / Late Bird Afterschool Coordinator and new Late Bird staff. Please check out the Early Bird / Late Bird section below for more details.
Please remember to do the daily self-checklist for each student. Thank you all for keeping your students home if they are ill or have symptoms. If you have questions, please reach out to Nurse Beth (bsavidge@northampton-k12.us) or (413) 587-1544.
This Friday, October 8th will be our first early dismissal at 11:30 for kindergarten through grade 5. Session 1 (8:10-10:40) of preschool will be in session, but session 2 (11:30-2:00) will NOT be in school. Additionally, preschool through grade 5 will not be in school on Monday October 11th in observance of Indigenous People's day. I hope everyone is able to enjoy the long weekend.
Classroom teachers will be reaching out with more information about our virtual open houses very shortly.
Thank you to some of our caregivers who did turn in chrome books from last year. We are still looking for more chrome books. If you still have a chrome book at home from last year, we could use it back at school for our students this year.
We are looking for 2 cafeteria monitors to assist in supervising our cafeteria during lunches from 10:00-12:30 and 2 recess monitors to assist in supervising students from 10:00-12:05. If you know anyone, please have them contact Principal Wenz at (413) 587-1530 or cwenz@northampton-k12.us
Stay safe and be well,
Chris Wenz, Principal
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School Council
Get involved in the LES School Council
Our School Council will meet at 6:15pm via Zoom. Here are the Zoom details:
Learn about how Leeds Elementary School operates, and help the school to grow and improve.
Officially, school councils are to assist principals in:
- Adopting educational goals for the school that are consistent with local educational policies and statewide student performance standards
- Identifying the educational needs of students attending the school
- Reviewing the annual school building budget
- Formulating a school improvement plan
Beyond that, a School Council’s identity is determined by the members working in tandem with the Principal. It can entail many things. The council the last few years focused on community and engagement. As a result, we created the Class Representative program, the parent survey, Literacy Night and Technology Night, Math Night, the World Cafe, social justice projects, and the all-school read.
What’s the difference between the School Council and the PTO? At LES, the PTO runs fundraising and social events, whereas the School Council is involved more with curriculum and school priorities - though the two groups occasionally work together.
How do I become an elected member of the School Council? Contact Jean Monska, PTO President at Jean@leedspto.org. There are currently one or two open caregiver positions on the council. If more than two people are interested in serving as official council members, we’ll have an election in October.
If I don’t become an elected member of the School Council, can I still come to meetings? Yes. You are welcome at any/all meetings, and you can help out on projects and sub- committees, if you want. Much of the time, there’s little difference between the roles of elected and unelected members. The meetings are friendly and relaxed, so feel free to drop in on one.
How much work is involved? We meet approximately six times a year. Meetings generally last 60-90 minutes. Outside of meetings, you may choose to work on some of the Council’s initiatives, like the Class Rep program. Or maybe you’ll bring something new to the group...
Leeds Equity & Inclusion Committee - A Subcommittee of our School Council
The first meeting of the Leeds Equity and Inclusion Committee for the 2021-22 school year will take place (virtually) on Thursday, October 14, from 6:30 to 8:00 PM. (Please note this new time to avoid a conflict with the Leeds virtual Open House on 10/13.) New folks are warmly welcomed and encouraged to join the meeting to get a better sense of what we’re about! Please reach out to leedsequityandinclusioncomm@gmail.com for the meeting link. Following this first meeting, we plan to meet the second Wednesday of every month throughout the year (6:30-8:00 PM).
The Equity and Inclusion 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. Check out some examples of our recent projects here!
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), attending the occasional meeting or every meeting, initiating or joining existing committee work, or some combination.
Indigenous People’s Day is Monday, October 11. Here are a few relevant resources for both kids and grown-ups:
Download the Native Land app or visit the website, to see your location in relation to indigenous territories, languages, and treaties. Find the app in the App Store or Google Play.
Check out this list of Five Ideas for Celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day from the National Museum of the American Indian. Though published last year, it contains many great ideas and resources, including several geared toward elementary aged children.
The Celebrating Indigenous Languages project is an interactive resource that allows you (and kids!) to listen to greetings recorded by indigenous language speakers from around the world.
Though written with a focus on dismantling the myth of a “first Thanksgiving,” this resource and book list offers a wide range of book ideas to help kids learn about indigenous history and heritage - and can be a great starting point for thinking ahead toward Thanksgiving, too.
For adults, Season Two of the This Land podcast is a gripping report on “how a string of custody battles over Native children became a federal lawsuit that threatens everything from tribal sovereignty to civil rights.” (To reiterate, this is *not* a podcast intended for young children to listen to - but it’s a powerful investigation of issues that are crucial for Native children and families).
Thanks for reading--we hope to hear from you! Please be in touch with any questions.
Leeds PTO
General Meeting Agenda
October 5, 2021
7:00 p.m.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83924729786?pwd=dzF4dXd1V2N0blAxZmp1Q0l0Ry9TZz09Meeting ID: 839 2472 9786
Passcode: 748571
Please add your child’s teacher name to your screen name.
Ex. Jean Monska/Foster
Welcome:
Treasurer’s Report
Events and Activities
Current
Trunk or Treat-October 23rd Rain date October 24th
Meadow Farms and Florida Grove Fundraiser October 18-November 5
School Council Elections
Future (Food Frenzy Fundraiser, Brick Fundraiser, Auction-Virtual or In Person?)
Ongoing (Florence Bank Community Choice Grants & Amazon Smile)
Principal’s Report
Teacher's Report
New Business
Adjournment
Next PTO General Meeting
November 2nd at 7pm via Zoom
2021 Leeds PTO T-Shirt Design Challenge is back!
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.
Volunteers Needed!
Please fill out our volunteer form https://forms.gle/1LhEREB9KvQLZNUm6 and select which events and fundraisers you can help us with. Attending monthly meetings are not required and neither is a big time commitment. If you have any questions on the events or fundraisers below please reach out to Jean at jean@leedspto.org. We appreciate your help in making this a successful school year for our children!
Caregiver Workshops
Register for First Aid or Parents & Professionals Workshops
with Laura at lfrogameni@northampton-k12.us
Early Bird / Late Bird / LEAP
Welcome to .......
We have also hired more staff to work for our Late Bird program. Welcome to Caroline James, Amelia Arnold, and Meg Largey. We are still looking for more staff to fill our after school staff needs.
- 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.)
- Our October sign ups have closed. If you need to add students to days, please contact Gabrielle to see if we have space.
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/
We are also looking for staff to be part of our program from 2:00 - 4:15
Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.
If you know someone, please have them contact Principal Wenz.
COVID NEWS
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
We have a letter regarding Health and Safety Protocols from Dr. Provost, Superintendent and Lisa Safron, Director of Health, Safety, & Equity Programs. Dr. Provost updated this letter with a robo call that states, "Runny nose and congestion without an underlying cause such as documented seasonal allergies continue to be significant symptoms of concern and should have been included on the list of symptoms that require individuals to stay at home and seek COVID-19 P.C.R testing." (Carta escrita en español)
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Calendar of Events
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Contact us:
(sharondewitt@northampton-k12.us)
Laura Ziomek, Administrative Assistant
Gabrielle Hollender, Early Bird/Late Bird Afterschool Coordinator
(ghollender@northampton-k12.us)
Chris Wenz, Principal
Email: sharondewitt@northampton-k12.us
Website: http://www.northamptonschools.org/project/leeds-elementary-school/
Location: 20 Florence Street, Leeds, MA, USA
Phone: (413) 587-1530