DNA - District News & Announcements

January 2023

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This newsletter is affectionately called the DNA because it's a beautiful collection of unique stories and experiences contributing to the development and function of our school communities. (Also it's an acronym for District News and Announcements ;) )

We hope you enjoy seeing some of these behind the scenes stories and will join your fellow community members at upcoming events!

Kindness is being nice and considerate towards others. This month, the Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum is all connected to this theme/trait and is supported with activities during morning meeting, mindfulness, discussions, books, art, team-building, games and more!

6 Conversation Starters About Kindness:

• Discuss a time someone did something kind for you.
• What does kindness look and sound like in a classroom?
• How can being kind to others make yourself feel better?
• What kind choices can adults make?
• What kind choices can kids make?
• What ways can we improve our kindness to each other in the classroom?

Kindness Themed Read Alouds

Kindness Is My Super Power: Alicia Ortego (Portuguese) (Spanish)

This book features little Lucas, a boy who learns about kindness and teaches your about good manners and positive behavior in different settings, whether at home, at school, in the store, or on the playground.

Under The Lemon Moon: Edith Hope Fine (Spanish)

In this story set in rural Mexico, a young girl named Rosalinda awakens one night to find that a man has taken the lemons from her beloved tree that her family intended to sell at the market. Soon after this event, the tree begins to sicken. Rosalinda asks her parents, some neighbors, and her abuela (grandmother) for advice. This story invites students to consider responding to others' transgressions with kindness.

Be Kind: Pat Zietlow Miller

In this story when Tanisha spills grape juice all over her new dress, her classmate contemplates how to make her feel better and what it means to be kind. From asking the new girl to play to standing up for someone being bullied, this moving and thoughtful story explores what a child can do to be kind, and how each act, big or small, can make a difference--or at least help a friend.

The Invisible Boy: Trudy Ludwig (Bilingual Spanish)

A gentle story that teaches how small acts of kindness can help children feel included and allow them to flourish. A simple act of kindness can transform an invisible boy into a friend.

How Full Is Your Bucket?: Tom Rath and Mary Reckmeyer (Portuguese)

In this story Felix begins to see how every interaction in a day either fills or empties his bucket. Felix then realizes that everything he says or does to other people fills or empties their buckets as well.

In partnership with Open Spirit in Framingham, check out these custom made videos about our theme of the month. They include mindfulness and yoga with our themes.

• Kindness Warriors
• Kindness Warriors - Portuguese
• Kindness Warriors - Spanish
• Meditation to Spread Kindness
• Meditation to Spread Kindness - Portuguese
• Meditation to Spread Kindness - Spanish

If your child's school is not included below, that does not mean they aren't doing wonderful, exciting things! We look forward to sharing even more news and updates in the Good News Network section of future District Newsletters!

Submit your good news to the Google Form for a special shoutout in future newsletters and social media posts!

Thank you to Jonathan Levi and Philip Gray from Jonathan Levi Architects who recently shared that Fuller Middle School Building is beginning gain international recognition. While we hope and believe there will be more awards in the future, you can see below two awards received so far.

Chicago Athenaeum American Architecture Award: Honorable Mention: American Architecture Awards 2022

Global Design and Architecture "Rethinking the Future" Award: Runner Up (Public Building)

Congratulations to the Cameron Middle School Chorus and Orchestra for an amazing Winter concert on January 18th!! We had a full house and many smiles. We also wish our students luck on the to-be-rescheduled Winter Band Concert!

We had a successful 12 Days of PBIS in December. Students were able to use Cameron cash to buy into activities such as free gym, a movie at lunch, World Cup soccer viewing, or a fun craft as well as use their cash to purchase things from the Cameron store. The 12 Days of PBIS improved overall student behavior at Cameron.

Sponge Bob the Musical will be performed at Cameron on February 10th and 11th with a special Sensory Friendly Performance on February 9th (see below for details)! We look forward to seeing our students on stage. Break a leg!

Christie White, our amazing ELL teacher, started a winter drive at McCarthy with the goal to supply every child with boots, snowpants, winter coats, hats, and gloves. There have been many donations from people in the community, retired McCarthy staff, and current staff. Staff members have volunteered to bring the clothing home to wash and store until needed.

Our wonderful PTO has supplied plastic bins to store the items. Many of our students have never seen the snow before and are so excited to play in it. Thanks to Christie and her efforts, they are ready for snow!! McCarthy is lucky to have her!! - Submitted by Lisa Zanella

Side Note: To see Ms. White's annual compilation of "Top 9 Children's Picture Books" that were published in 2022, please visit her Smore: https://www.smore.com/y4t80

Submitted by Michaela Fischer

My brand new English elective at FHS, called "Detective Fiction & True Crime Narratives", held an interactive true crime museum! Students spent weeks researching any crime of their choosing (solved or unsolved). They had to use many credible sources, including books, websites, podcasts, documentaries, and YouTube videos to research their crimes. The crimes/criminals they chose to research included Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, The Turpin Family, Aileen Wuornos, etc. and even a local Framingham murder ("The Burnt Ziti Murder"). We invited students and staff (including Dr. Tremblay) into our classroom to visit our exhibits and learn more about the crimes. These students did an incredible job showing off all of their hard work!

There are events, activities, and new reading material available in the FHS Library! Take a look inside: https://www.smore.com/np06m-fhs-library-quarterly

The District is proud to share that three eighth grade students have been selected as Framingham’s 2023 Project 351 Ambassadors for their inspiring ethic of service and values of kindness, compassion, humility, and gratitude. Congratulations to Kimberly Deplessis of Cameron Middle School, Jesily Esponilla of Fuller Middle School, and Nala Thermora of Walsh Middle School for being named Project 351 Ambassadors this year.

Project 351 is a non-profit organization that empowers a youth-led movement for change powered by an eighth grade student representing every city and town in Massachusetts. Stay tuned for more information on this accomplishment and what it means for these three students!

Following the Character Trait of the Month, Barbieri Elementary School is finding all kinds of creative ways to celebrate KINDNESS!

On January 10, 2023 BLOCKS hosted an Open House for new applicants for the school year 23-24. Approximately 35 families were in attendance, where they learned about the history of BLOCKS, current programs offered, philosophy of thematic based learning and received a tour of classrooms and the building. Families had a firsthand opportunity to meet with teachers, ask questions and learn about the program they were interested in. We are celebrating and appreciate how wonderful it was to return to an "in person" Open House and welcome interested families!

Dunning Students created cards and sent them to the troops overseas. The troops received them and shared the photos with our school. The smiles on their faces say it all!

At Harmony Grove, grade 2 SEI teachers partnered with a school in Brasilia, Brazil for a Pen Pal experience. The students in Brazil were the first ones to write letters to ours. We got the letters in December and then students started writing the response after the winter break.

The students in Brazil are 2nd graders too and study at a bilingual English/Portuguese International School in Brasilia, Brazil called School of the Nations! Here are some photos of the students receiving their letters and writing back.

This is a brief moment to spotlight the efforts of our Walsh Middle School students, led by Vice Principal, Marguerite Simpson - Lackard, who volunteered to support the final ProjectDash of the calendar year. This group of peer leaders organized and packed three bags of groceries for over 80 families for the holiday break. In addition, students were joined by Central Office staff members and Wraparound Coordinators who also dedicated their afternoon in the rain to unload and pack groceries as well!

Fuller Middle School recently wrapped up another successful Pennies for Pages Read-a-thon! Thanks to all our dedicated readers and generous sponsors, they were able to raise $3,500 to support Fuller families! AMAZING!

• So proud of Susan Ferraro, a member of the Early Childhood Alliance of Framingham (ECAF) team, for completing the MetroWest Nonprofit Network/Framingham State University Nonprofit Management Certificate Program. Congratulations Susan, you did it! (Photo Below)
• A big shout out to Sharon and Timothy Gilbert, Timothy's Toy Box, for once again fulfilling the holiday wishes of all our ParentChild+ families. Their generous donation of high quality toys brought smiles to the parents, who are now able to give presents to their children.
• Thank you Noelle Fournier from Danforth Art for demonstrating at one of our Play, Learn, and Grow Together family playgroups how you can make homemade gifts for the holidays with the natural materials around us and it costs nothing but a little inspiration. (Photo >>)
• If you need or know of any families seeking activities for young children, please check out the recent Strengthening Families Newsletters from ECAF

FHS Multilingual students Kaillane Gomes, Carlos Estrada, and Rose Boulay interned with the Framingham History Center this semester, working with the FHC curator to create the "Making Framingham Stronger" traveling exhibit in four languages. The exhibit consists of 5 multilingual text panels and three glass display cases of historical objects. After its week at FHS, the exhibit will move to each FPS middle school, the Framingham Public Library, BRACE, and various other locations throughout the city for the next several months.

On January 23rd School and District leaders, as well as, community partners attended a kick-off reception for this incredible exhibit. Learn more by visiting the website: http://exhibitions.framinghamhistory.org/support-translated/

If your organization is interested in hosting the exhibit, please contact curator@framinghamhistory.org.

On Tuesday, Staff Members from the Framingham Public Library hosted an in-class activity with Hemenway's Library Teacher, Ms. Karen Rothwell. It started with a reading and led into a craft activity where 1st graders cut red-painted plates, coloring dragon heads and tails, and gluing the heads and tails to the dragon body.

Kudos and gratitude to Miss Tremlett, a fourth grade teacher at Brophy Elementary School, for compiling resources and a live storytelling experience that was shared with staff. As we honor Holocaust survivors and victims today (1/27/23), it is important to remember that there is still so much work that needs to be done to make our world a more inclusive and safe place. Please feel free to explore resources or conversation starters: International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

If any community members are interested in watching Miss Tremlett's presentation titled, 'Remembering the Holocaust: The Story of Eva Schuster', please email the Communications Office.

Cameron Drama Company is proud to present a sensory-friendly performance of The SpongeBob Musical that welcomes families with children and adults with sensory needs, including people on the autism spectrum and other developmental disabilities. The musical is performed in a friendly, supportive environment with slight adjustments to the production, including the reduction of any jarring sounds or lights focused into the audience area. The cafeteria will also be set up with a small, quiet and play area, if family members need to leave their seats during the performance.

School Nurses

To provide direct support to students by assisting them to maintain, improve or adapt to their health status. To contribute significantly to the attainment of optimal health and educational potential of each student, in order to deliver Framingham Public Schools’ high expectations for achievement, equal access to high levels of instruction, the achievement of academic proficiency for all students, and the closing of the achievement gap among subgroups within the schools.

Campus Aides

Under the direction of the Principal or their designee, the campus aide provides supervision and direction to students in areas of the school campus and maintains classroom continuity to ensure that students continue to learn in their teacher’s absence in order to promote a safe environment for students and staff during classroom and non-classroom activities and to deliver Framingham Public Schools’ high expectations for achievement, equal access to high levels of instruction, the achievement of academic proficiency for all students, and the closing of the achievement gap among subgroups within the schools.

The Media and Communications Office is extremely proud to share that all schools have new websites! While some sites are still awaiting finishing touches such as updates to staff directories and highlight reels, as well as ongoing content updates, all sites now function the same way. The translation feature works and the mobile experience is better. As always, if you cannot find something, please contact Rochelle Santos so that adjustments can be made! We appreciate your patience as we work collaboratively to update site content, including staff directories with photos!

Between last year and this year, the Media and Communications Office has increased these good news and opportunity compilations from quarterly to monthly! In the future, we hope to see a continued increase in the submissions each month. We know amazing things are happening, we just need the details :) We are refining the submission process over time and always appreciate hearing from staff, parents/guardians, and students with events, accolades, shoutouts, and more.