Center Community Chat
May 22, 2022
It was an exciting week at Center with lots of enrichment and community events. Please be sure to check out the pictures below. Many thanks to Zesty's for partnering with us on the Ziti Supper drive-through event and all of the volunteers who assisted with this. It was fun and the food was delicious.
Be sure to read through the calendar of events as the next 19 days of school will be action packed!!
Please join us in extending our thanks to our interventionists Kristen Cormier, Marsha Gilmore, Beth Stevenson, and Lee Williams for the exceptional support they provided to our students this year. These Title 1 grant positions end on Friday.
Lowell Humane Society Supply Drive
Student Council is running one last drive for the year. We are collecting supplies for shelter animals at Lowell Humane Society. If you have unopened pet food or supplies that you'd like to donate, please send them in with your child. Donations can be dropped off by the music room or Ms. Kielinen's room. Please send what you can to help our furry friends in need! See link below for their 'wish list' items. Thank you all for helping Student Council be kind to the community this year!
https://www.lowellhumanesociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/LHS-Donation-Wish-List-2021-3.pdf
Book Swap
We will once again hold our book swap on field day this year. Here is your chance to bring in those gently used books your students may have outgrown and get some new ones. Students will have an opportunity to choose a book (or 2 or 3 depending how many are donated) during field day to enjoy for the summer. Please place your books on the counters in the lower library.
Center Chirps:
- Title I and Intervention support will end on Friday, May 27th for the school year.
Warm Regards,
Dianna and Donna
Notes from the Nurse
TICKS
The sun is shining and the days are longer! And that means everyone is out enjoying the warm weather and sunshine – including ticks!
Ticks may spread serious diseases when some of their abdominal contents enter the host with a prolonged feed over 24 hrs. So make daily checks all over!
How to check for ticks: Do your check someplace private like the bathroom, and use a mirror or have a partner/parent help. Remember, ticks come in many sizes, with the smallest smaller than the period at the end of this sentence.
· Run your fingers through the scalp, feel for any bumps. Separate hair into sections using a wide-tooth comb and inspect the scalp.
· Check in and around the ears and neck. Be sure to lift long hair to check the neck, especially the nape.
· Inspect between your fingers and toes.
· The underarm area and behind the knees are tick favorites. Ticks love warm places and areas that provide some protection or cover, like skin folds or creases.
· Check in the belly button, around the waist and back. Even on flat open skin, ticks can attach.
· Check the pelvic and private areas and between the legs.
· Scan the entire body. A tick can sometimes resemble a mole.
· Check your pets
Removal
If a tick is crawling on your child, can be brushed off or pulls off the skin easily, it has not been attached and cannot have transmitted any disease. To remove an embedded tick, take the smallest tweezers you can find and slide the tips under the head, right against the skin, and grab the mouthparts (most of which will be under the skin). Pull very gently but steadily upward and outward – it may take 3 to 5 minutes to loosen the adhesive that cements the tick under the skin. Be patient! It's important to get the mouth parts out, so don't pull on the head or body (that just squeezes more "tick juice" into your child!).
Don't try to smother the tick with vaseline or burn it off as that may encouraged the tick to regurgitate more “tick juice” into the host.
If a deer tick has been attached and engorged for more than 36 hours, call your health care provider within 24 hours. Watch for rash, bruise or flue like symptoms. Save the tick in case your health care provider wants to inspect the tick.
Know where to expect ticks. Ticks live in moist and humid environments, particularly in or near wooded or grassy areas. You may come into contact with ticks during outdoor activities around your home or when walking through vegetation such as ,mulch, leaf litter or shrubs. To avoid ticks, walk in the center of trails.
Use a repellent with DEET (on skin or clothing) or permethrin (on clothing and gear). Products containing permethrin can be used to treat boots, clothing and camping gear which can remain protective through several washings. Repellents containing 20% or more DEET (N, N-diethyl-m-toluamide) can be applied to the skin, and they can protect up to several hours. Always follow product instructions! Parents should apply repellents to their children, taking care to avoid application to hands, eyes, and mouth.
Check your clothing and pets for ticks. Ticks may be carried into the house on clothing and pets. Both should be examined carefully, and any ticks that are found should be removed. Placing clothes into a dryer on high heat effectively kills ticks.
Good Things
2K earned an art party outside
Rope Swinging
Throwing, Running, Hopping, Balancing
In Ms. Kivi's Obstacle Course
Kindergarten learning some coding basics with the help of their friends, the Bee Bots.
More curious creatures visit Center
Ziti Supper Drive-through a tasty success
Enjoying the spring weather with a giant game of hopscotch
Students Caught Being Kind
CSPTO Pulse
Upcoming Events
MAY
Wednesday, May 25: Gr 2 Enrichment - Plant mobile
Wednesday, May 26: 3rd grade Tea Party field trip
Monday, May 30: No School - Memorial Day
JUNE
Wednesday, June 1: Therapy Dog Visit 9-11
Wednesday, June 1: 4th grade visit to McCarthy
Wednesday, June 1: ELL Picnic, 6:00-7:30 McCarthy Middle School
June 1 - June 7: Book Fair in the library
Thursday, June 2: Center Culture & Arts Festival, 4:30 - 6:30
Friday, June 3: Gr 4 Enrichment - Mass Audubon Society
Monday, June 6: Kindness spirit wear day
Tuesday, June 7: End of Marking Period All Grades
Wednesday, June 8: PTO meeting at Center Library, 7 PM
Thursday, June 9: Field Day
Thursday, June 10: Field Day rain date
Tuesday, June 14: Flag day
Tuesday, June 14: Gr 3 Enrichment - Wingmasters 9:30 - 10:30
Wednesday, June 15th: 4th grade Moving On Ceremony and events, starts at 12:30 in the gym
Thursday, June 16: Move up Day, 9:15-9:45
Thursday, June 16: Half day - last day for Students:
Friday, June 17: Half day - Last day for Staff
End of the year Spirit Days
- June 9- Wear your grade level colors for field day
- June 10-TBD
- June 13- TBD
- June 14-
- June 15- Chelmsford/Center Pride
- June16- It is Center tradition to end the year on a tropical / Hawaiian theme note
Center School Book Fair
I am excited to share that the Book Fair will be coming to the Center School Library from June 1 - June 7. The Book Fair will take place during regular library time and during the Center School Culture and Arts Festival on June 2nd.
To learn more about the book fair, click here
To see the library schedule and volunteer information, click here
Best Regards,
Meaghan Engdahl, Librarian
Resources and Information
COVID Update
We have unfortunately seen an uptick in the number of positive cases reported on our dashboard this week. The vast majority of our positive cases in school can be attributed to exposures in the home. However, the good news, is that due to the high vaccination rates, the symptoms experienced in most cases have been relatively mild and most individuals testing positive can recover safely at home. As we look forward to many important and fun events to end the school year on a high note, we must remember to protect the health of our school community. We ask for your help to follow the best practices to ensure a safe learning environment for students and staff. We cannot stress enough the importance of remaining vigilant in the efforts to decrease the spread of illness in our schools.
We will continue to implement the mitigation strategies that we know will decrease the spread of COVID-19. We strongly encourage those who are eligible to be vaccinated and to receive the booster. Our mitigation strategies include the following:
- Weekly Pooled Testing
- Weekly Rapid At-Home Antigen Testing
- Promote good hand hygiene
- Masking (recommended) for those who are unvaccinated or have significant health concerns
- Frequent cleaning and disinfecting of surfaces
- Monitor your child for symptoms daily before coming to school
- Stay home if unwell and test for any symptoms of COVID-19
- Follow the appropriate quarantine and isolation guidelines
It is required the positive individual isolate for 5 days from symptom onset or if asymptomatic, 5 days from the date the positive test was collected, and should be released from isolation on Day 6 if the following condition are met:
- Fever free for 24 hours (without taking fever-reducing medications); and
- Experienced improvement in other symptoms; and
- Following the 5-day isolation period, individuals must strictly mask for 5 additional days when around others, except when eating, drinking, or outside.
- Note: Return to school should be based on time and symptom resolution.
- Please notify Nurse Rossman and your healthcare provider of a positive test result to ensure appropriate guidance and follow up
We have reviewed our current protocol and our positive cases with the MA Department of Public Health, the Chelmsford Health Department and our School Physician and we are assured our public health response is in line with the current recommendations. The public health experts maintain it is vitally important to receive the vaccination if eligible, to stay home if not feeling well and test if experiencing symptoms of COVID-19. Following the mitigation strategies mentioned above will also go a long way in protecting our collective health. As always, we thank you for all your cooperation and continued efforts to protect the health of our school community
4th Grade Information
Center Elementary School
Email: fulreaderd@chelmsford.k12.ma.us
Website: https://www.chelmsford.k12.ma.us/Domain/9
Location: 84 Billerica Road, Chelmsford, MA, United States
Phone: 978-251-5155
Twitter: @Center_CCS