Dear R.H. Conwell Families,
Happy Friday! Hope you have a wonderful weekend.
School Committee Update: SC community update 11:21.docx
Friendly Reminders: We are respectfully asking that all families understand that not all families will share the same opinions and beliefs regarding Covid-19, masks and vaccinations. Students should not be bringing the opinions expressed at home into school with them. We want all students to feel welcome and respected each and every day, and these conversations have no place in the classroom. Instilling fear and disrespect towards others because of their opinions and beliefs will not be tolerated. Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
Equity Advisory Committee: We have completed four dialogue sessions with the facilitators from the Collaborative. At this time the district would like to invite anyone who may be interested in serving in any capacity on the advisory committee to contact me at gmorsedobosz@hr-k12.org. We plan to meet monthly beginning in December.
Preschool Paraprofessional: I am happy to announce that we hired Ana Vilma Walkowiak for the preschool paraprofessional position. Ana believes in the importance of fostering kindness and independence in young children and looks forward to working with the preschoolers.
Recording Secretary needed for School Committee Meetings: The district is looking to hire a recording secretary for the monthly school committee meetings. The position pays $62.50 each meeting. This position begins in December. Please contact me at gmorsedobosz@hr-k12.org if you are interested.
Article: I came across this article and wanted to pass it along. At Conwell we talk about empathy with our students, and there are specific lessons in the district’s MindUp curriculum that the teachers use in their classrooms. This article states the latest research identifying empathy as an important leadership skill.
Empathy Is The Most Important Leadership Skill According To Research
Virtual Meeting with Superintendent/Principal: Please join me on November 17 at 7:00 for our monthly virtual meeting. The meeting agenda will include guest speaker, Brian Smith, from TDS. Mr. Smith has been working with our students at Conwell to support them and teachers with social skills. We hope you can join us!
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Passcode: 551638
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New Indoor Lunch Procedures: Effective today, November 12, 2021. All lunches have moved indoors in the cafeteria (unless we have a beautiful weather day and students will eat outdoors). Students will have assigned seating for contact tracing purposes, and will be permitted to talk while masks are removed during lunch at an indoor voice level. Students will remain in their seats for the entire duration of the lunch period, except to clear their lunch trays, trash, etc., masks will be replaced to do so. Students will also replace their masks as soon as they have finished their lunch, and may socialize at their seats for the remainder of the lunch period. Indoor snack times will occur either in the classrooms with the windows open, or in the cafeteria, following the same guidelines as lunchtime.
**These new lunch procedures will remain in place until we welcome back warmer weather months, in which students will return to outdoor eating. These procedures are subject to change in the event we have significant in-school transmission of Covid-19. If that happens, students will remain indoors, but talking during meal times will not be permitted.**
WINTER WEATHER: Please click to link to review the winter weather delay and closure procedures. Greetings Conwell Community,
Updates from Nurse Sam:
The Covid-19 Vaccination from Pfizer-BioNTech has received emergency authorization for children ages 5-11!! This vaccination is a two dose series, but is a smaller dosage than the adult vaccine.
DESE notice about student vaccination: Please see the attached letter from the Department of Secondary and Elementary Education regarding student vaccinations against Covid-19. If a school can reach 80% vaccination rate in the building, the school can make the decision to remove masks for the vaccinated individuals within the building!!
Student Covid-19 Vaccination Clinic: In partnership with the Hilltown Community Health Center and the Northampton Department of Public Health, we will be hosting a Covid-19 vaccination clinic for students ages 5-11 on Saturday, November 20, 2021 from 9-12 in the Cafeteria. Flyers regarding this clinic were sent home this week in your child(ren)’s green folders. Pre-registration is highly encouraged to ensure you get an appointment – https://home.color.com/vaccine/register/northampton
*A second dose clinic for those vaccinated at this clinic will be scheduled for 3 weeks after this clinic on Saturday December 11, 2021 from 9-12.
Additional Pediatric Covid-19 Clinics:
- Northampton Area Pediatrics is hosting Covid-19 Vaccination clinics for 5-11 year old patients of NAP each weekend starting tomorrow November 6. Registration is available on your patient portal.
- Wednesday November 17, 2021 from 4-6pm at Hampshire Regional High School. Register at https://home.color.com/vaccine/register/northampton
- Ongoing clinics for all ages 5+ at the Huntington Health Center every Thursday and Friday from 8:30am-4pm. Call 413-667-3009 to register.
- Visit https://www.mass.gov/covid-19-vaccine for additional vaccination information and locations to receive vaccinations for all ages 5+.
| Covid-19 Data Dashboard | |||
| This Week (11/12/21) | Last Week (11/5/21) | Changes from last week | |
| Positive Cases at R.H. Conwell | 0 | 0 | — |
| Internal Close Contacts | 0 | 0 | — |
| External Close Contacts in Quarantine | 0 | 0 | — |
| BinaxNOW Rapid Antigen Tests Conducted | 1 | 1 | ↓ |
| Positive Cases in Worthington (last 7 days) | 1 | 3 | ↑1 (new case) |
| Positive Cases in Hampshire County | 283 | 231 | ↑52 |
| Positive Cases in Massachusetts | 17,738 | 16,063 | ↑1,675 |
Upcoming Events:
November 17, 2021: Virtual Zoom with Parents – 7:00p.m. Guest Speaker is Brian Smith from TDS who will talk about the social/emotional lessons he is facilitating in classrooms.
November 18, 2021: School Committee Meeting
November 23, 2021: Noon Dismissal
November 24- 26, 2021: Thanksgiving Recess
December 9, 2021: School Committee Meeting
December 13, 2021: Noon Dismissal
December 16, 2021: Virtual Zoom with Parents
Have a wonderful weekend!
Gretchen Morse-Dobosz
Superintendent/Principal
Worthington School District
147 Huntington Road
Worthington, MA 01098
413-238-5856
gmorsedobosz@hr-k12.org
I was just reading the friendly reminder in the SC mins, That stated that the children can’t express there feeling/talking about mask mandate.
First of all they can talk about how they feeling about the mast.
2nd you are violating their First Amendment Rights… Just because you not want them talking about it, does not give you there right to put gag order them.
Also on November 6, 2021, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the Biden Administration’s COVID -19 vaccine mandate the decision stops the mandate from effect pending further action by the court, not only for 100 plus employer but for all mandates Local, State & Federal employees.