The Buzz at Leeds
November 2, 2021
Message from Principal Wenz
Tonight is our PTO Meeting @7:00pm. Scroll down to the PTO section for the Zoom details.
Yesterday, our students were able to vote for their PTO t-shirt design and color. Students were able to have a voting experience under our pavilion. Our garden lessons are coming to an end for the fall. Grow Foods Northampton will be providing a cider pressing experience this month.
November is our Be Empathetic month. Be on the lookout for more information. Some posters that students created about friendship are below.
We will be honoring our Education Support Professionals (ESPs) on Wednesday, 11/17 for ESP Appreciation Day. Each and every day our ESPs support our students, caregivers and educators. We are so thankful to have such dedicated ESPs at Leeds.
Just a reminder that we will not have school on Thursday, 11/11 in honor of Veterans' Day. Additionally, our Thanksgiving break will begin with an early release @11:30 on Wednesday, 11/24 and no school on Thursday, 11/25 and Friday, 11/26.
Stay safe and be well,
Chris Wenz, Principal
Leeds PTO
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Leeds PTO Meeting tonight 11/2 @7:00pm
General Meeting Agenda
November 2, 2021
7:00 p.m. Zoom
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83105736589?pwd=aFhwbHVTUzEvMkhDK1E5b2FLTklodz09
Meeting ID: 831 0573 6589
Passcode: 068282
Please add your child’s teacher name to your screen name. Ex. Jean Monska/Foster
Welcome
President’s Message
Treasurer’s Report
Events and Activities
A) Completed
i)Trunk or Treat
ii) T-Shirt Design Contest
iii) School Council Elections-Kara and Joy
B) Current
i) Meadow Farms and Florida Grove Fundraiser October 18-November 5
ii)PTO Gives
C) Future
i) Food Frenzy Fundraiser
ii) Brick Fundraiser
iii) Auction Virtual with an in-person celebration at the end
D) Ongoing
i) Florence Bank Community Choice Grants
ii) Amazon Smile
6. Principal’s Report
7. Teacher’s Report
8. New Business
9. Adjournment
Next PTO General Meeting January at 7pm via Zoom
This year we partnered with both Meadow Farms Catalogue Fundraising and Florida Indian River Groves Fruit Fundraising. All orders must be completed online and orders ship directly to the purchaser.
For Meadow Farms you can either create an account for your student and share the link with family and friends or use the school link:
https://shop.meadowfarms.com/index.asp?PID=3039582
For Florida Indian River Groves you can order using this link:
https://shop.floridaindianrivergroves.com/ecommerce/1024674
If fundraisers aren't for you and you would prefer to make a donation to the PTO checks can be made payable to Leeds PTO and sent to the school or you can click here https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=U53FHT9RT736A to make you donation online.
If you have any question please email Jean at Jean@leedspto.org.
Volunteers Needed!
Parents, Caregivers, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, etc.. We need your help to keep the PTO running! We are looking for volunteers for to help us with our events and activities throughout the year. We cannot be successful and accomplish our mission of supporting our school and students without your help.
Please fill out our volunteer form https://forms.gle/1LhEREB9KvQLZNUm6 and select which events and fundraisers you can help us with this year. Attending monthly meetings are not required and neither is a big time commitment. If you have any questions on the events or fundraisers below please reach out to Jean at jean@leedspto.org. We appreciate your help in making this a successful school year for our children!
Leeds Equity & Inclusion Committee - A Subcommittee of our School Council
The next meeting of the Leeds Equity & Inclusion Committee will take place (virtually) on Wednesday, November 10, from 6:30 to 8:00 PM. New folks are warmly welcomed and encouraged to join! Please reach out to leedsequityandinclusioncomm@gmail.com for the meeting link. We plan to meet the second Wednesday of every month throughout the year (6:30-8:00 PM).
The Leeds Equity & Inclusion (“E&I”) Committee is a group of Leeds parents, caregivers, teachers, and staff who work toward creating a school community that honors self-exploration, meaningful relationships across difference, and every person’s dignity and belonging. We are a subcommittee of the Leeds School Council. Read about some of our recent projects on our website!
E&I participation is completely flexible--you can choose to commit to as much or as little as you’d like. This might mean staying in the loop via our email listserv (email us at leedsequityandinclusioncomm@gmail.com to be added), attending the occasional meeting or every meeting, initiating or joining existing committee work, or some combination.
Thanks for reading! Please be in touch with any questions.
Caregiver Workshops
Register for First Aid or Parents & Professionals Workshops
with Laura at lfrogameni@northampton-k12.us
Early Bird / Late Bird / LEAP
- Our November & December sign ups are now open. Please complete the form. Paper forms were sent home for those who are not able to fill in the Google form.
Payments: Pay Online (preferred) or make checks payable to "City of Northampton"
*Note: UniPay seems to have an aversion to Visa cards... so please try another card for payment
Please be sure to choose the dates you need for after school care. We have a limited number of staff and may not always be able to accommodate drop ins.
- Late Bird - 2:10-5:15 (Please send your child with a snack from home.)
LEAP
Gabrielle will begin looking for enrichment program instructors for courses that will run on Mondays and Fridays beginning in January. If you or you know someone who would like to be a LEAP instructor, please reach out to Gabrielle with more information. (ghollender@northampton-k12.us)
Online payments are accepted for Early Bird/Late Bird and the LEAP program.
Online payment instructions: I know some of you had difficulty with our online payment system, so we have created a document with instructions. Here is the link.
BEHAVIOR POLICY: All staff and students will adhere to the Northampton Code of Conduct found at http://www.northamptonschools.org/project/code-of-conduct/
COVID NEWS
Daily Self-Checklist
We are continuing to do Self Checks in the morning. Here is a link to the checklist. We are sending a paper copy home in your child's red folder.
Health & Safety Protocols COVID 19 GUIDELINES: 10/2021 from Nurse Beth
Significant symptoms of concern:
- Fever of 100.0 or higher
- Chills
- Shortness of breath
- Cough
- Muscle aches or body aches
- Loss of taste or smell
These symptoms require a PCR test, which we do not have in school.
A student/staff member will be sent home if significant symptoms of concern arise at school, and may return with resolving symptoms AND the results of a negative COVID PCR is sent to the school nurse.
Please keep your child/ staff stay home if any significant symptoms of concern occur, and obtain a negative PCR test prior to returning to school.
Mild symptoms of concern:
- Headache
- Congestion, runny nose (without another cause, such as allergies)
- Sore throat
- Diarrhea
- Nausea or vomiting
- Fatigue (without another known cause such as lack of sleep)
A student/staff member may return to school if there is one mild symptom of concern WITH a negative rapid ANTIGEN or PCR test.
If two or more symptoms, a negative PCR will be needed.
These tests are provided at Walgreens, CVS, and MedExpress and must be administered by a healthcare professional.
Your child’s provider may prefer to provide the school nurse with a letter documenting an alternative diagnosis instead of testing your child.
*Please remain home if one or more mild symptoms of concern are present, new or persisting until a negative test is obtained.
*Any result must be submitted to the school nurse or district contact tracers before returning to school.
**HOME TESTS ARE NOT ACCEPTED AT THIS TIME.
***RAPID TESTS WILL BE CONDUCTED IN SCHOOL WITH THE BinaxNOW ANTIGEN TEST FOR STUDENTS/STAFF THAT START WITH SYMPTOMS WHILE IN SCHOOL IF CONSENTS HAVE BEEN SIGNED.
****BinaxNOW WILL ADDITIONALLY ONLY BE USED FOR REFLEX TESTING ON A POSITIVE POOL FROM WEEKLY ROUTINE COVID SAFETY CHECKS.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP IN KEEPING OUR CLASSROOMS SAFE!!!
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Calendar of Events
11/2 No School - Election Day
11/2 Leeds PTO Meeting via Zoom @7:00
11/5 Last day for PTO fundraisers
11/5 COVID Testing at Leeds
11/10 Last day for Lift Off Learning until 11/30
11/10 Leeds Equity & Inclusion Committee Meeting @6:30
11/11 No School - Veterans’ Day
11/16 Leeds School Council Meeting @6:15 via Zoom
11/17 Leeds Safety Drill #3 - Fire Drill @9:15
11/24 Early Release Day @11:30 Thanksgiving Break begins
11/25 & 11/26 No School - Happy Thanksgiving!
11/30 Lift Off Learning begins again
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Contact us:
(sharondewitt@northampton-k12.us)
Laura Ziomek, Administrative Assistant
Gabrielle Hollender, Early Bird/Late Bird Afterschool Coordinator
(ghollender@northampton-k12.us)
Chris Wenz, Principal
Email: sharondewitt@northampton-k12.us
Website: http://www.northamptonschools.org/project/leeds-elementary-school/
Location: 20 Florence Street, Leeds, MA, USA
Phone: (413) 587-1530