NES Update
Tuesday, October 12, 2021
Latest News
Dear Families,
I hope that you are all doing well and that you were able to enjoy some extra family time this past weekend. Sometimes, we all just need that one extra day. For me, it was about catching up on things that I had previously run out of time on. In addition, I was so excited on Sunday to watch the NY Giants play football on my television. Unfortunately, they lost in an absolutely horrible fashion. No matter where I live, I will always be a Giant fan. Feel free to start poking fun at me now.
We are very excited to share that we will have our first family night this week. On Thursday, 10/14, we will celebrate English Language Learners night from 5:00 - 6:00 pm. Families are welcome to come to school and join us in the blue cluster to learn more about our programs for supporting students who are learning English. On Thursday, 10/28, from 5:30 - 6:30 pm we will have our second family night to celebrate Math learning. There will be all kinds of fun math activities. Masks are required for all attendees.
Our test and stay program is going really well at NES. We are able to reassure families, keep kids in school, and support the safety of everyone. In order to do this, we are so grateful for your continued assistance. Please be vigilant about doing the home screening (link below) each day before your child comes to school. If they have illness symptoms, you should keep them home until they are 24 hours fever/symptom free. Upon their return, the nurse will happily do the antigen test (if you have signed for permission). This takes roughly 15 minutes. If the test for the child is negative, they are sent right to class. If they are positive, they will be sent home and a COVID PCR test is required.
Jessica Douglas
(Substitute nurse through 11/20/21)
Meri Lepore
(Returning 12/1/21)
Last week, the Superintendent, Dr. Beth Hallett, sent a message to all families regarding bikes on school property. It is so important that all bikes and scooters be walked across all sidewalks on campus. This is to protect the safety of all students, staff, and parents standing as well as bike and scooter riders. Please be sure to reiterate to your children that we love their healthy habits of riding to and from school, but they must walk the bikes and scooters on all sidewalks.
We also want to repeat the information that school lunches are once again free for all students for the whole year. You do not need to send money in or put money on your child's account. Each morning the homeroom teacher takes attendance and counts the number of students who want a school lunch. The teachers take that lunch count and share it with our food service department. Kindergarten lunches are delivered to each classroom, and lunches for the first and second graders are passed out in the cafe each day. Linda Peterson is the Food Service Director for NPS. She shared this information in an email to all families before school started. Yet, I have recently been asked the question about lunch costs a few times, so it bares repeating.
Linda Peterson, NPS Food Director, has asked me to share the following documents regarding nation food chain supply information. See below.
Message from Chartwells K12 Regarding National Supply Chain Issues
September 2021
Over the past few months, you may have seen news stories about disruptions in the supply chain across the country, resulting from effects of the pandemic. Industries, including food and foodservice, as well as construction and automotive, have been impacted by manufacturing and labor shortages across the country in ways that we’ve never experienced before.
At Nantucket Public Schools, we are currently seeing a few issues that have impacted our menus. Students and families can continue to count us for great-tasting meals kids love to eat every day, but we anticipate there may be more menu changes based on product substitutions from our suppliers.
Understanding these supply chain challenges will likely continue for the next several months, we wanted to reach out and let you know we’re doing everything we can to proactively address issues before they inevitably arise. Working in partnership with Foodbuy, our group purchasing organization and the largest procurement organization in North America, some of the proactive steps we have taken, include:
· We have changed our ordering schedules to allow distributors more time to identify new sources for out-of-stock products in the event it occurs.
· We’ve identified alternate suppliers and products where we found that existing ones wouldn’t be able to meet our needs. For example, we learned our previous supplier for pizza dough would not be able to commit to serving our schools, so we contracted with a new one that can.
If there’s one thing the past 18 months has proven, it’s that flexibility is in our DNA. From turning cafeteria operations into emergency feeding programs overnight when the pandemic hit to serving kids in classrooms and through meal pick up sites through the past school year, our team is passionate about the meals we serve your students and they’re skilled at quickly adapting to ensure that kids are always fed.
One additional note for families with students who have allergies: please remind your child to be sure to check with the cafeteria manager regarding product substitutions that may not be reflected in the menu posted. We will make every attempt to update Nutrislice in real-time, but out of an abundance of caution, please do not solely rely on the digital nutrition panels to accommodate allergies or medical conditions.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding your student’s meals, please don’t hesitate to reach out to: petersonl@npsk.org
Thank you in advance for your patience and flexibility during this time.
Linda A. Peterson
Jeanne Clark also shared information about setting up rules in each household. The best two rules are about safety and respect. See these attachments below!
Know that Mrs. Kimberly Albertson, Assistant Principal, and myself are always available to support you. Feel free to call the school to set up appointments, call to speak with us, email us, or catch us outside in the morning and/or afternoon. We love feedback and want you to feel comfortable reaching out to us as needed!
Warmly,
Kim Kubisch and Kim Albertson
Upcoming Events
SAVE THE DATES!!
- 10/9 and 10/16 - Children's Beach - A free puppet show and art project will be presented at Children’s Beach at 10 am. Rain date the Sunday the 10/10 and 10/17. Griffin Saves His Tree is a book published by the Land Council and created by Maria Zodda. Appropriate for ages 4-10 the runs about 20 min and the art project 15. Learn about our wonderful elms and laugh as Elvira the Elm introduces you to her many tree friends who have been on island for over 100 years. Elvira lives at the Five Corners so you might have seen her already. See at Children’s Beach for a fun time.
- 10/14 5:00 - 6:00 pm ELL Night NES
- 10/28 5:30 - 6:30 pm Math Night NES
Please review this information below.
Nantucket Public Schools has it's most updated Safety Protocols shared with this link -
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wZp0MkpY7QEnj8diRVLt9Ek1aPlvuI2sgszsoBVIobI/edit?usp=sharing
Great link for supporting healthy habits!
https://www.nasn.org/nasn/nasn-resources/practice-topics/covid19/nasn-return-to-school-video-series