Nixon Elementary School
Notables About the Schoolhouse!
Important Dates
JANUARY
1/17/22 No School - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
1/19/22 2:35-3:45 Math Club
School Meeting Release - “Leadership”
1/21/22 Food Pantry Collection
Nixon Spirit Day - Pajama Day
1/25/22 Grade 2 PTO Enrichment - Physical Changes of Matter
Grade 1 PTO Enrichment - Animals in Winter
1/26/22 No School - Teacher Professional Development Day
1/31/22 Grade 1 PTO Enrichment - Light & Color WorkshopCultural Discussion Forum Part II - 1/5/22 - Debrief
We are at a place in the community where we can have these conversations and engage in conversation with families and the community.
During our conversations we discussed:
- Classroom instruction, how students learn about how cooperation builds community in the classroom, and how all kinds of families and individuals contribute to society. The elementary grade Content Standards are designed to introduce students to the drama of the past, its geographical settings, the habits of good citizenship, and everyday economics, a great deal of which can be integrated with English language arts and literacy, the arts, mathematics, and science.
- Educators continue to develop the courage it takes to engage and cultivate historically sound conversations with children. We are developing these skills across SPS through professional development options and refined Social Studies and Historical Sciences curriculum development.
- Meaningful relationships between children and staff is paramount. Nixon staff have strong relationships with students that cultivate the ease of communication. These relationships support the opportunity to openly discuss difficult topics as they arise. Social and emotional perspectives gained from our children through explicit instruction, using evidence-based programs like Open Circle, Harmony, Calm Classroom, and Second Step, and is also integrated across classroom academic instruction.
- Where to go next? An idea came about in conversation to pose scenarios of discussion and collaborate, as a panel and community, on how to respond to our children while providing sound guidance to our children - real life examples of how to broaden cultural perspective and engage productively. More to Come!
- The image below in green lists the inquiries shared from families via the Nixon Cultural Survey. We utilized these inquires to guide our conversation during the community forum. We will continue this momentum in the schoolhouse by participating in an All-School-Read on 2/2/22. *More Information Shared Below!
Kindergarten & Grade 1
Grade 2 & Grade 3
Grade 4 & Grade 5
Each set of grade levels will have the same book read to them on the day of our whole school read aloud. Nixon's Equity Committee members (Mrs. Rivera, Ms. Crockett, Mrs. Dooley, Mrs. Woods) are leading the charge of choosing multicultural children's books. A multicultural children's book is a book that is written by an author of diversity or color from their perspective. Each book will be accompanied by follow up questions that are planned to engage children in looking deeper into the characters and/or story content that addresses cultural awareness topics. Staff are now collaborating on the choice of the book for the grade level spans (K-1, 2-3, 4-5) and also developing the follow up questions to engage children after the read aloud.
By providing children with accurate and positive representations of the many cultural groups that make up the community, society and the world in which they live, books can help children learn to identify stereotypes and biases when they encounter them.
We are very excited about the whole school read aloud and beginning a new tradition of a rich talk about text, to provide students with critical language and reading comprehension skills.
REPORT CARDS
First semester report cards will be posted on January 31, 2022. They will be available in Aspen after 4 p.m.
VOLUNTEERS AT SCHOOL - ON HOLD
SPS has put a temporary pause on in-person volunteers and high school peer leaders. The COVID Pool Testing volunteers will remain planned for and in place with a rapid test on the morning of weekly pool testing. We are also allowing select PTO Educational Enrichment programs so long as the presenter is vaccinated and is negative on a rapid test the morning of the event. It will be wonderful when we can have families back in our schoolhouse, we certainly look forward to that!
UPLOAD YOUR CHILD(REN)’S VACCINATION RECORD
If you haven’t already, use this link to submit your child(ren)’s COVID-19 vaccination record.
SCHOOL WORK AT HOME DURING ISOLATION/QUARANTINE
If your child is ill and not feeling well, the focus is on healing. Children do not need to attend to their schoolwork if they are not well.
If your child must isolate or quarantine at home and he/she will be out of school for more than 3 school days, the classroom teacher will provide work and craft a plan for staying connected. Teachers have 2 school days to put together the plan once they know a student is out for confirmed COVID reasons (isolation or required quarantine) for 4 school days or more. Teachers will contact you when the work is ready for pick-up at school.
When we have a positive pool during our weekly surveillance testing, we take all the students or staff in that pool and we do an individual rapid test to determine who the positive person is. We are no longer emailing or calling you when your child is in a positive pool and testing negative; however, you will receive a notification from CIC Health that your child has been tested and what the result is. If your child tests positive on the rapid, Carol Bradford calls you as soon as possible so you can pick up your child and begin the isolation period. If we have an “inconclusive” pool or an “invalid” pool, we retest everyone individually and the same rules apply. You’ll get a notification from CIC Health with your child’s results.
POOL TESTING - WHEN YOUR CHILD IS IN A POSITIVE POOL
CONTACT TRACING & TEST AND STAY
When at school if people are 3 feet apart or more from a positive case over the infectious period (48 hours prior to symptom onset or positive test), there is no need to quarantine or participate in Test and Stay. This is why monitoring for symptoms is critical and testing if symptoms develop is so important. We still use Test and Stay since we have students who could be closer than 3 feet. If a student is under 3’ from a positive case, we reach out to you to give you the opportunity to have your child quarantine or participate in Test and Stay.
MCAS Schedule Announced
Students in grades 3, 4, and 5 take part in MCAS testing each spring. Sudbury has established our testing schedule for March and April 2022.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
Monday, April 4, 2022 - Grade 4 ELA
Tuesday, April 5, 2022 - Grade 4 ELA
Thursday, April 7, 2022 - Grade 5 ELA
Friday, April 8, 2022 - Grade 5 ELA
Monday, April 11, 2022 - Grade 3 ELA
Tuesday, April 12, 2022 - Grade 3 ELA
MATH
Tuesday, April 26, 2022 - Grade 5 MATH
Wednesday, April 27, 2022 - Grade 5 MATH
Monday, May 2, 2022 - Grade 4 MATH
Tuesday, May 3, 2022 - Grade 4 MATH
Monday, May 9, 2022 - Grade 3 MATH
Tuesday, May 10, 2022 - Grade 3 MATH
SCIENCE
Thursday, May 12, 2022 - Grade 5 SCI
Friday, May 13, 2022 - Grade 5 SCI
General John Nixon Elementary School
Website: https://www.sudbury.k12.ma.us/Domain/12
Location: 472 Concord Rd, Sudbury, MA 01776, USA
Phone: 978-443-1080