January 22, 2021 - Week 16

Hello Dale Street Community!

Thank you! I want to start with these 2 words to share my gratitude and admiration to students, staff, and families as we started synchronous learning this week at Dale Street.  Although the first hour on Tuesday was not terrific, the interruptions were rectified quickly and the rest of the week was amazing. As I walked around the school this week, I was in awe of the teaching and learning that was happening all around our school.  Not only that, but the modeling of our school's Core Values: Respect, Compassion, Collaboration, and Continuous Growth were all so present at Dale Street as well as by our students and families at home.  I am blessed to work in Medfield in the Dale Street community. Thank you!  Here are a few photos, updates, and reminders for you as we head into the weekend.     

This week in Mrs. Ross' and Mrs. Seaver's fifth-grade class, students shared screens and viewed stories in breakout rooms then collaborated on deep thinking about a text. Wow!!

As a follow-up to the email that went out to parents this week from Dr. Marsden, beginning on February 10th, Wednesdays will become a half-day of in-person learning for alternating cohorts. These days will be fully synchronous for the cohort not in-person.  This will allow for more in-person learning and students at home will still be participating in real-time.

 

The Dale St Wednesday schedule beginning on February 10th will be as follows:

  9:00 a.m. -12:30 p.m. 

Lunch will be served to students at 12

Dismissal will be at 12:30 p.m.

 

This week 3 outstanding educators were recognized by the MCPE and the PTO as Heroes Under the Mask.  Congratulations to Ms. Plympton, Ms. Slachta, and Mrs. Hauptman!  

Our Student Council initiative to support local restaurants during the pandemic continues!  Each week, 2 restaurants will be sponsored by the Dale Street Student Council and their classmates.  Be sure to help our local restaurants!  Our sponsored restaurants next week are Italian Groceria (Ms. Plympton's class) and Subway (Mrs. Ross and Mrs. Seaver's class).

First, Italian Groceria has seen an increase in business since not a ton of people wanted to dine in, but everyone wants take-out. Next, there is their chicken parm and pizza. Trust me when I talked to them, I got their food. It is the best!!! Finally, they have a great sense of what to do because of covid - 19. They have hand sanitizer. They wear masks and when you type in your pin there is plastic on the numbers. 

Ever on the way from a late sports practice and need a quick meal? Well, no need to worry, go to Subway in our very own town. They have delicious Subs and you can get just about any delicious combo you want. Subway is open from 8:30 pm to 9:OO am. Subway also just got new protein bowls! Sounds delicious And who could forget about the desert? Subway has cookies that will just melt in your mouth!

Check out the great article highlighting this amazing Student Council project.

Dale Street Student Council Takes on Project for Local Restaurants 

Here are some Dale Street Rockstars promoting Sethjis Indian Meals-to-Go!

We had a great Student Council meeting on Wednesday.  I thoroughly enjoy hearing students' feedback and ideas - they are AMAZING leaders! At our most recent meeting, the Student Council has decided it would like to create cards for residents of the Thomas Upham House for Valentine's Day.  What a wonderful community connection!  Here are some things Student Council representatives and alternates will be sharing with their classmates:

• As we do not have the names of the residents, cards do not need a 'Dear XXXX' introduction  Cards can be generic with sayings like 'Happy Valentine's Day', 'Thinking of you', etc.
• Be creative: possible ideas - make a poem, make a drawing,  share kind words that may put a smile on their face
• Student Council members can create a space in their classroom to collect cards as students complete them.
• Cards are due by 10 a.m. on Friday, February 12th.  Please bring all class cards to the office by 12:30 p.m. on 2/12.

The Student Council also voted to have a Pajama Day Spirit Day on Tuesday, February 9th (for Cohort A) and on Friday, February 12th (for Cohort B).  Cohort D students can pick whichever of the Spirit Days works best for them.  

On Thursday, students in Mrs. Flynn's classroom paired up to solve multi-step math story problems on a choice board. Students showed all information, operations, equations, drawings, and final answers on their answer sheets. Live-streaming success!

 

Please join me in welcoming Joe Davanage to our Dale Street staff.  Joe will be teaching our Gr 4 Cohort D students.  Mrs. Dowd will continue to teach our Grade 5 Cohort D students. Welcome, Mr. Davanage!

Math Challenge #8 is now available.  It is due February 4th.  

Students are free to solve as many problems as they can and will have about a week to turn in their work. Students can hand in a hard copy of the challenge to the office or email it to Mrs. Perachi (bperachi@email.medfield.net) prior to the due date. 

More information, including a calendar of important dates and a link to download and print the challenges and solutions, is available here. Questions regarding the math challenge program can be directed to Dale Street math specialist, Mrs. Perachi.

This week Grade 4 students in Ms. Slachta's class had fun using Komodo dragon fun facts as they learned more about Chunk It reading strategies to summarize non-fiction texts.  Bravo, young learners! 

Join us! MCPE is looking for new board members-men and women from the Medfield community with various skill sets and interests who want to have a voice in the improvements that reach our classrooms! Board members do not need to have kids currently in the school system—just a desire to support and enrich the Medfield Schools. Board members will serve a 3-year term and attend meetings one evening a month during the school year. The time commitment required to join the Board can be organized to fit the schedules of both stay-at-home and working parents. Interested? We’d love to hear from you! Apply here by March 8th: https://www.medfieldcoalition.org/volunteer-application-form

Reminder: The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is removing the requirement for flu vaccination for attendance in childcare/preschool, primary, secondary and postsecondary education.  Preliminary data show that this has been a mild flu season to date, presumably as people have received their seasonal flu vaccine and have been adhering to mask-wearing and social distancing due to COVID-19.   Given the intensive Commonwealth-wide efforts regarding COVID-19 vaccination, DPH wants to alleviate the burden to obtain flu vaccination and focus on continuing our COVID -19 vaccination efforts.  

DPH continues to strongly recommend that everyone age six months and older receive their seasonal flu vaccine each year. 

If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Thompson at kthompson@email.medfield.net 

On Day 2 of live streaming, students in Mrs. Nee's fifth-grade classroom created fantastic projects highlighting their Notice and Note reading signposts.  

Challenge Success Parent Webinar

Navigating School During Uncertain Times 

Tuesday, Jan 26, 7pm

Click here for details.

Feeling stressed, down or anxious? Need to talk to someone about it?  Medfield Outreach is offering drop-in hours.  Check out this flyer for details.

You are invited to join the Medfield Cares About Prevention Community Coalition and help us make change in the Medfield community. To learn more about how to get involved, email Meri Haas at mhaas@medfield.net.

February 2 - Cohort A report cards distributed

February 4 - Cohort B and D report cards distributed

February 10 - First In-Person Wednesday  9-12:30

Thank you for your continued support.  Have a great weekend!

Best,

Steve

Respect * Compassion * Collaboration * Continuous Growth