Jordan/Jackson News You Can Use
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
School-Based Return to In-Person Learning
I would like to emphasize one important point - the Virtual Remote Cohort will still be available to families.
At this point, we do need to ask families who are considering a change from either the school-based model to Virtual Remote Cohort or from the Virtual Remote Cohort to the school-based model, to notify me of those intentions. If you are intending to have your child move to or from the Virtual Remote Cohort, please email me by Wednesday, March 17th. (john.nieratko@mansfieldschools.com)
As Superintendent Murphy discussed during last night's School Committee meeting, we will need to assess the amount of transitions to and from the Virtual Remote Cohort to determine whether or not staffing will be impacted. We hope that transitions will be minimal or balance out and changes can be avoided.
We will continue to implement district-wide, layered mitigation, as outlined in the DESE guidelines. Although the social distancing within the classroom settings will decrease from the current 6-foot spacing, we will still be well within the 3-foot, minimum distance requirement. The specific spacing will vary from class to class. However, we are fortunate that Jordan/Jackson is the most-recently constructed building in the District (1992) and the square footage is most supportive of the distancing requirements.
Most of our efforts will be directed to reinforcing existing procedures and implementing additional logistical changes to allow for efficient transitions. We are also increasing social-distance signage, hand sanitizer pumps and will continue to support students by reinforcing healthy practices.
As students will still need to maintain a 6-foot distance during lunch, we will need to add the gym as a lunch location. The intent will be to utilize the outdoors as much as possible for Physical Education classes. If the weather is inclement, students will remain in their rooms for Physical Education lesson activities.
Next Monday, March 15, we will increase student transitions within the building. Since September, we have followed the DESE guidance by minimizing student transitions within the building. As the year has progressed, we have collaborated with our Health staff to strategically increase those transitions. Beginning Monday, we will return to the pre-COVID process of students transitioning from their classrooms to all Specials (Art, Music, Health & Physical Education). As we progress through that change, we will look to add transitions for our students who are in "Team Teaching" settings. This has been a methodical process and the timing is proving to be very beneficial. We will be able to implement these changes prior to the full in-person date.
In addition, I will be hosting an informational Family Meeting on Monday, March 22nd at 6:30pm to review our school-wide plans.
I will include more information in upcoming newsletters, as well.
We are eager to work through this process and embark on what feels like another "first-day of school" for this year! Thank you all for your continued support.
SIncerely,
John Nieratko
Principal
MCAS Postponed - Grades 3 - 8
"On Friday, March 5, DESE announced new tentative MCAS administration dates for grades 3-8. The updated tentative testing windows for grades 3-5 has been changed to Monday, May 10 through Friday, June 11 for tests in English language arts, mathematics and science and technology/engineering. Testing dates are still to be determined for grades 6-8."
Jordan/Jackson will be working to construct a building-based schedule within this revised testing window. We will communicate those specific dates to families in a future edition of this newsletter.
UPCOMING EVENTS
March 14 - Daylight Savings Time
March 18-19 - Report Card Distribution
March 24 - Parent Conferences Day and Evening - Early Release @ 11:10am
March 26 - Parent Conferences Afternoon - Early Release @ 11:10am
May 10 - June 11 - MCAS Testing Dates
THIS WEEK'S SHOUTOUTS!
Mrs. Franklin's entire class for reaching 100,000 math facts in our IXL math program!!
Micayla M in Mr. Cripps class has been working very hard on all of her school work. She is friendly and kind to others and always very helpful.
Tinna S in Ms. Keller's class has been working so hard and loves participating in class.
Ted S in Ms. Keller's class is a hard worker that loves to learn. He even takes on more challenging work to take things one step further.
Zayna S in Ms. Keller's class is a consistently hard worker, is always responsible with her work and on time for Google meets. She seeks help and wants to do well.
Declan M in Ms. D'Onofrio's class always works hard and sets an amazing example in class. His hard work and positivity does not go unnoticed! He makes me so proud!
Nevaeh P and Devin M in Ms. Crummet/Mrs. Norige's class are amazing! They join every meet with a huge smile and a positive attitude, are always eager to learn something new and work very hard to complete their work.
Grace L in Ms. Shruhan's class is such a hard working student! Ms. Shruhan can always count on Grace to participate and try her best each day, whether she is at home or in school. Grace is so kind to her classmates and works wonderfully with others.
Ved P in Mrs. Reeder's class is a funny student who is a good friend to everyone. He always participates in our activities, from spirit days to art projects and everything else in our Google meets. Ved is also very knowledgeable about technology and he always shares tips with our class. Good work Ved!
Read Across America
In the cafeteria, some lucky students sat at a "lucky seat" during lunch and were awarded a prize. The lucky students were:
March 4, 2021: Brady K in Mrs. Shevlin's class Grade 3, Micayla M in Mr. Cripps' class Grade 4 and Kyla C in Mrs. Parsons class, Grade 5
March 5, 2021: Michaela L in Mrs. Gentili's class Grade 3, Ethan D in Mr. Curry's class Grade 4 and Jonah N in Mrs. O'Connell's class, Grade 5
Here are just a few of our J/J kiddos with spirit! Click on the pictures below ~
Mrs. Reeder and Ms. Crawford's Class Getting in the Spirit for Read Across America Week
Mansfield Youth Lacrosse Spring 2021
Mansfield Girls Softball Spring 2021
MESA Fundraiser through March 31
SMARTS 2021 Summer Institute
MESA's Fundraiser - Cookie Decorating Kits through March 31
Check out MESA's fundraiser running from now until the end of March. When you buy DIY Lucky Hornet cookie decorating kits from Cookiecasions, 20% of all sales will be donated to MESA! Click on the following link for more information: MESA Fundraiser
NEEDED!! SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS/PARAPROFESSIONALS AND LUNCH/RECESS MONITORS!!
Substitute Teachers and Substitute Paraprofessionals
Applications should be mailed or dropped off at Central Office, 2 Park Row, Mansfield Attention: Human Resources
Applications should be mailed or dropped off at Jordan/Jackson, 255 East Street, Mansfield
Attention: Denise daGraca