Sherwood Middle School
April 4, 2021 Update
This Week's Messages
Active April
To practice these daily goals at home, download or print the calendar here.
Good Morning Sherwood,
I hope you and your family are enjoying your weekend so far!
We are excited to welcome your child back to their remote or in person team, or welcome them to a new team on Monday April 12th. Special thanks to all of our staff who have been working extra hard to ensure a safe and smooth return for your child.
Thank you for your ongoing patience as we made some adjustments to our schedule this week. I recognize that some of these changes may cause a disruption to your child care needs or your child’s typical learning plans. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
As a reminder, the deadline to submit changes to your child’s cohort (in person or remote) has passed. Families that requested changes were notified this past Wednesday from our grade level assistant principals (Grade 5: Heather Gablaski & Grade 6: Karen Gutekanst). Please contact the main office (508-841-8670) if you have any additional questions about our reopening plans.
Please be sure to read through this week's newsletter for more information on reopening and reminders about the next few weeks.
As always, thank you for all you continue to do each day to help maintain a safe and supportive environment for our students and staff.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Kelly, Principal
A Message From Mr. Kelly
This Week's Schedule
Monday, April 5th and Tuesday, April 6th
No Students/Staff in Building: Remote Learning Day - Change
- Cohort A, B, & D: 8:00am-11:30am Synchronous, 12:00pm-2:30pm Asynchronous
- Cohort C will log into Morning Meeting and then work asynchronously (No AFT)
Wednesday, April 7th
Typical Wednesday Schedule- No Change
- Cohort A1 in person ½ day
- Cohorts A2, B, C, & D will follow their typical schedules.
- 1:50pm-2:50pm: Optional tours for remote students signed up to return to in-person
Thursday, April 8th & Friday, April 9th
Typical Thursday/Friday Schedule- No Change
Cohort A & C in person
Cohort B will follow their typical Thursday/Friday asynchronous learning plans.
Cohort D will follow their typical schedule.
What's For Lunch This Week?
Reopening Sherwood
Upcoming Changes to Our School Day Schedule
Open this link for the full list of changes to our school day schedule starting the week of April 5th. Please make note of these changes as they may impact your child's in person/remote days, or any child care plans you have in place. While we certainly wish we did not have to make these schedule changes, we want to ensure we carefully and safely transition students back into the building. Thank you for your flexibility and understanding.
Week of April 12-16 Schedule
Important Reminders About Reopening
We Know You May Have More Questions
- Grade 5: Heather Gablaski: hgablaski@shrewsbury.k12.ma.us
- Grade 6: Karen Gutekanst kgutekanst@shrewsbury.k12.ma.us
Other Sherwood News
Week Four of Voluntary Covid Student Testing
Thanks to those students and families who participated in our free, voluntary COVID-19 testing program last week! The district has contracted with JCM Analytics to provide weekly surveillance testing for all interested students. We will continue with the same schedule this week.
Students that signed up for this week's testing will:
- Receive testing kits in Homeroom on Monday (Cohort B) and Thursday (Cohort C).
- Bring in and drop off completed testing kits to their homeroom on Tuesday (Cohort B) and Friday (Cohort C).
Please see below for some of the details of the program and to sign up for future testing.
Completion of an informed consent form for each of your Sherwood Middle School students is required for participation. The consent form can be accessed by logging into the PowerSchool Parent Portal and clicking the “COVID Testing Consent'' link in the left-hand menu. This process should take no more than five minutes of your time. Consent forms must be completed by 5pm on Fridays n order to participate in the next weeks testing. Those who miss this deadline but wish to begin participating in the second week must also complete the consent form and can access it at any time. Within 2 business days of signing your consent form, you will receive a follow-up email with further instructions on how to create a unique QR code for your student.
All SMS students who are attending school in person are eligible to participate. Testing is not mandatory but is highly encouraged as it will provide us with valuable information about the prevalence of COVID in our school community. The more participation we have, the safer an environment we will create.
- Students who have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 90 days are not eligible for testing due to the higher likelihood of a false positive test result.
- Students in the fully remote cohort are not eligible for testing as the goal is to detect COVID prevalence in the in-school hybrid program.
The district is utilizing pooled testing. Pooled testing involves the collection of individual specimens which are then grouped and tested as a “pool” to allow for more economical testing of large numbers of people. If a pool results as negative, it is safe to presume that all participants in the pool are negative. If a pool results as positive, the existing individual samples will then be tested to determine who within the group is positive, there is no need for a second sample. These results are delivered to SPS within 48 hours, and only the individuals identified as positive will need to quarantine.
It is important to note that pooled testing is intended for people who do not have symptoms and are not known close contacts to a positive case. Anyone experiencing symptoms or known to be a close contact to a positive case must instead follow district protocols for quarantining and individual testing.
Test kits and instructions will be distributed to participating students in their homerooms, and will be collected the next day, between 7:30-8:00AM in the gymnasium.
Tests will be a self-administered shallow nasal swab, and the test should be done at home on the morning of collection day.
Specimens will be assigned to random pools and shipped to the lab for processing, and results will be available within 36-48 hours. You will be notified by a school nurse if your result is positive. You will not receive notification for a negative result (no news is good news!).
For more information on our surveillance testing program please click here. For other questions not covered here or on our webpage you may email covidtesting@shrewsbury.k12.ma.us
Calling All Artists: Yearbook Cover Design
Calling all artists!
Time for our annual contest to design a cover for our 2020-2021 yearbook. The winning
entry will appear on the front cover! The entries of the runner-up covers may appear
on the back cover of the yearbook.
Submit art on:
1. 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper- regular copy paper
2. Vertical orientation
All entries:
1. Must include the words Sherwood Middle School and school year 2020- 2021.
2. Depict some of our core values - (cooperation, responsibility, compassion, acceptance, honesty, kindness, confidence, respect, creativity,
perseverance)
3. Must be turned in to the office no later than Wednesday, April 14th.
4. Write your name and your teacher’s name in *pencil* on the BACK of your entry.
Tips for a successful entry:
1. Not a lot of white space – use lots of color (including background) 2. Use bold colors! You may use crayons, markers, paint, colored pencils, or any other medium to draw and color.
3. Use up the whole sheet of paper. Keep what’s important in the design (ie: our school name) away from the paper edges to avoid the artwork being cut in the trim process.
Entries due by 3:00p.m. on Wednesday, April 14, 2021. – There will be an envelope in the lobby. Sorry, no late entries will be accepted.
Please make sure to add the student/artist name on the back in pencil. Do not include your name to the front of your artwork. We will do our best to return artwork submissions.
Recognize These Items?
We have several lost and found items (lunch boxes, water bottles, and articles of clothing) in the Main Office. If any of these belong to your child, please have your child stop by the Main Office between now and Friday, April 16th. All unclaimed items will be donated or recycled. Contact the Main Office (508-841-8670) with any questions. Thank you!
For Grade Six Families Only
Please go to the attached link to read information about signing up your child for foreign language class at Oak Middle School next year. Please be sure to read the information carefully and watch the video with your child before making a choice. You will be able sign up through Power School from April 15th through April 30th.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE SELECTION LINK
From the Nurses' Office
ALL STUDENTS
Please make sure you continue to do wellness checks each morning to ensure that your child does not have any visible COVID symptoms.
Important Health Reminders
REMOTE STUDENTS RETURNING TO IN PERSON
Please have your student watch the attached visitor health and safety slides if they are returning from a remote team to an in person team. If you have any questions please reach out to us. Thank you very much and we look forward to welcoming your student to in person learning!
Regards,
Linda Berard, BSN, RN
Sherwood Middle School Nurse
lberard@shrewsbury.k12.ma.us
Phone: 508-841-8678
Fax: 508-841-8677
Kristin Franger, BSN, RN, NCSN
Sherwood Middle School Nurse
Phone: 508-841-8678
Fax: 508-841-8677
Week Three Fundraiser Raffle Winner
Congratulations to Colin on 6 Orange for winning the second pair of Apple Air Pods!!!
Power of Purpose Fundraiser Week Two!!!
Thanks to all of those students and families who participated in the Power of Purpose (POP!) fundraiser!
Thank you for your patience as we work to organize and package up all the prizes. Stay tuned for more information about when students will receive additional prizes.
From the Main Office
Attendance
Attendance is taken every morning during Morning Meeting. Please make sure your child is present and ready to go by 8:00am. Thank you!
Student Absence
Any child, regardless of hybrid or remote learning program, must inform the office if their child will be absent or late to school. SPS requires that you telephone us either the night before or first thing in the morning on the day of the child’s absence at 508-841-8690. If we have not received a call to report an absence, the school will be in contact with the parent to confirm the child’s safety.
Technology Support
If students or families are having trouble with Schoology or Zoom, you can get tech support at ParentTechSupport@shrewsbury.k12.ma.us. Please remember that Team teachers are not immediately available for this support as they have students in class.
If students or families have other questions or concerns abut technology please go to this link: Frequently Asked Questions about Technology. This link includes parent access for Schoology; password help; school email help, broken iPad, and more!
District News
SORA READING APP
The media centers across the district are excited to share that we now have a K-12 subscription to an iPad app called SORA that provides access to ebooks and audiobooks that students can read or listen to on their iPads. SORA enables users to borrow up to 3 books at a time. Users can also place holds on an additional 3 books at a time.
Here is a video overview of SORA.
Here is the link to a step-by-step tutorial that explains how to get started using SORA on your child's iPad: https://bit.ly/2JZa2SZ
All adults with a child enrolled at SPS are welcome to attend.
No registration needed; use this link to join our Zoom meeting.
1st Monday of the Month, 7:30 - 8:15pm
December 7 | January 4 | February 1 | March 1 April 5 | May 3 | June 7
1st Thursday of the Month, 12:15 - 1pm
December 3 | January 7 | February 4 | March 4 April 1 | May 6 | June 3
CONTACT: MS. MADDOX, JMADDOX@SHREWSBURY.K12.MA.US
28 Sherwood Ave
Shrewsbury, MA 01545
508-841-8670