Worthington School District
147 Huntington Road
Worthington, MA 01098
October 15, 2021
Dear R.H. Conwell Families,
Last Friday I drove to Maine to pick up Owen from college, and the vibrant leaf colors made the drive north much more interesting. The CBS Sunday Morning show had a short clip about a town in Colorado and their fall foliage traditions! It takes leaf peeping to a whole new level! Enjoy this quick video.
WATCH: Taking leaf-peeping to new heights
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/taking-leaf-peeping-to-new-heights/
Beginning of the year assessments: During this week’s School Committee meeting, Emily Lak shared the beginning of the year assessment results. Attached is the powerpoint.
Powerpoint: 2021-2022 Worthington School District Data Powerpoint
Hilltown Family Center: Check out the newest StoryWalk. AMC Fairy Houses StoryWalk PDF
MCAS: Students in grades 3-6 will take the MCAS test in April and May. Please see the tentative dates for the Worthington students to test this school year.
- ELA: April 5 and April 7
- Math: May 3 and May 5
- Science: May 10, 2022
Lunch: Until further notice students will eat snacks and lunch outside.
- Friday lunch: Caregivers are welcome to join Friday lunch. We are limiting lunch to three caregivers per class. The K-2 lunch begins at 12:00 and the 3-6 lunch begins at 12:35. Please sign up to attend Friday lunch using the following link. The next family lunch will be Friday, October 22, 2021. The LAST Parent Lunch will be October 29th. Please come to the front door and sign in at the office first.
- If you (the caregiver) will be purchasing lunch please include this into the comment section when you sign up. School lunch costs $4.00. While attending family lunch, we expect that caregivers will sign in at the front office, will wear a mask while they are inside, and find a spot outside with their child. At that time, we ask that families be mindful of social distancing since masks are not required while outside.
Nurse’s Office Update: Health Screenings will begin next week, please see the notice that was sent home last week for more information. If you are choosing to opt your child out of these screenings, please return the opt-out form, along with the medical documentation of these screenings already performed within the last 12 months prior to screenings beginning Monday morning.
Covid-19 Policy Update: Last night, the school committee voted in favor of a Covid-19 vaccination mandate for all staff, adult volunteers, and adult visitors of R.H. Conwell. This policy is in alignment with the town staff vaccination policy, as well as recommendations from all stakeholders involved. Please see the attached policy for more specifics. This policy is effective November 1, 2021. Any school related activity or event that falls after November 1st until the end of the school year (or until this policy is rescinded) will be subject to this mandate.
Exceptions: This policy does not apply to pick up and drop off procedures, or parent/teacher conferences in which no students will be present and meetings will occur outdoors.
Please reach out to Mrs. Dobosz or Nurse Sam with any questions or concerns regarding this policy or acceptable documentation of vaccination status and/or exemptions.
| Covid-19 Data Dashboard | |||
| This Week (10/15/21) | Last Week (10/8/21) | 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 (last 7 days) | 1 | 1 | — |
| Positive Cases in Worthington (last 7 days) | 0 | 0 | — |
| Positive Cases in Hampshire County (last 14 days) – Updated 10/12/2021 | 252 | 352 | ↓100 |
| Positive Cases in Massachusetts (last 14 days) – Updated 10/12/2021 | 18,528 | 19,840 | ↓1,312 |
Upcoming Events:
October 21, 2021: 7:00: Virtual Zoom with Parents
Virtual Zoom with Parents
- https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83768785785?pwd=OVVsQ205VVdUUmc2aXlJK3NIVlVXZz09
- Meeting ID: 837 6878 5785
- Passcode: 551638
October 25, 2021: Noon Dismissal
October 28, 2021: 3:30 – 5:30 – Equity Advisory Committee
October 29, 2021: Halloween Parade beginning at 2:00 p.m. followed by a PTO cider and donut party out by the tents.
November 4, 2021: Noon Dismissal for Parent/Teacher Conferences
November 5, 2021: Noon Dismissal for Parent/Teacher Conferences
November 11, 2021: No School
November 23, 2021: Noon Dismissal
November 24- 26, 2021: Thanksgiving Recess
Have a wonderful long weekend!
Gretchen Morse-Dobosz
Superintendent/Principal
gmorsedobosz@hr-k12.org
413-238-5856