The Buzz at Leeds
October 27, 2021
Message from Principal Wenz
This year we will not be having our traditional Halloween Parade. Additionally, students will not be wearing costumes to school on Friday, October 29th. Thank you for your understanding.
Kudos to everyone who had a trunk and provided treats during our Trunk or Treat PTO event last weekend. Currently, our PTO fundraiser is Meadow Farms and Florida Grow. The catalogs were sent home earlier this month. The deadline for this fundraiser is November 5th. Our PTO is looking for volunteers. Please see contact information in the PTO section of the newsletter.
Friendship is in full bloom this month. Our students are "being" good friends to one another. November we will learn about empathy and being empathetic. We have noticed that students have been being kind and sharing snacks with one another. However, we cannot share snacks due to student allergies. Please let them know that they cannot share their food. All students should have a snack each day. Please contact Ms. Bastek, our Adjustment Counselor, if you need assistance. (sbastek@northampton-k12.us or 413-587-1535)
Please remind children not to bring toys from home as they can be very distracting during learning. Some students do have fidgets that have been approved by the classroom teacher or support staff to assist them during the day. These are not to be used as toys.
Our lost and found pile of items is growing quickly. Please label all of your child's items especially with cold weather quickly approaching. If you could label, hats, mittens, gloves, coats, water bottles, and if you can believe it.... boots too. This would greatly assist our staff in making sure your children go home with their items.
Stay safe and be well,
Chris Wenz, Principal
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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.
REAL Updates
REAL (Racial Equity and Learning) brings together NPS teachers, staff, students sixth-grade and older, and caregivers who are committed to developing an anti-racist school district. Those of us involved are deepening our understanding of how race and racism operate in Northampton Public Schools and beyond. We are working together and across our community to create a district that actively opposes racism and promotes racial equity.
Candidate Responses to Equity Questions
In advance of next week’s municipal election, REAL reached out to candidates for mayor, City Council, and School Committee with a few questions pertaining to race equity in Northampton. Please follow the links below to read the responses compiled from each group of candidates. We hope you find this information helpful as you make your decisions about who you would like to hold positions of power locally.
Candidates in all other City Council races
Check out more information on the municipal election taking place on Tuesday, November 2, including sample ballots for each ward. And remember to vote!
Thanks for reading! Please be in touch with any questions.
Leeds PTO
2021 Leeds PTO T-Shirt Design Challenge is back!
T-shirt designs have been submitted. Students will vote on November 1st for their choice. Thank you to everyone who submitted designs.
Volunteers Needed!
Please fill out our volunteer form https://forms.gle/1LhEREB9KvQLZNUm6 and select which events and fundraisers you can help us with. 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!
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 by Thursday, October 28th. Paper forms are being 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
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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