Dear Community:
Yesterday was the 100th Day of School! Students celebrated the 100 days of learning in various ways! As of now, the last day of school is June 17, 2022 with a noon dismissal.
Masking Update: On Wednesday February 9, 2022, DESE Commissioner Riley and Governor Baker announced that the mask mandate for K-12 schools will be released on February 28, 2022. In accordance with the DESE and Massachusetts release of the mask mandate in schools. Nurse Sam and I are recommending that the Worthington School District adjust our current health and safety protocols to reflect those updated guidelines, and we will discuss this recommendation with the Worthington Board of Health.
Girls on the Run (GOTR): We are excited to announce that we will be starting a Girls On The Run program in March for girls in 3rd through 6th grade. This program will run in conjunction with the Enrichment program on Tuesday and Friday from 3:15 – 5:00. We are also excited to share that DESE Afterschool and Out of School Time grant will cover the costs for the girls to sign up. This unique program not only offers an opportunity for physical activity but a time for encouragement, building self confidence and team bonding all the while building up to a 5K run in June with other girls from other school districts. We will be having a short assembly on Tuesday at 1:00 and will be sending home flyers with more information For additional information, please check out the website https://www.girlsontherun.org/what-we-do/3rd-5th-grade-program/
Enrichment: Session Three of the After-School Program will start Monday, February 28th. Registration forms will be available next week. Registration will be emailed via Community News and will be sent home with students. The After-School Program will also be offering an Outdoor Adventure Summer Camp. More information will be available in the next couple of weeks. Both programs are free to families due to our DESE 21st Century Community Learning Center grant and two DESE After-School and Out of School Time grants. For more information you may contact Shannon Madden at smadden@hr-k12.org.
Dungeons and Dragons: Fellow Conwell student, Bella Coon-Drawe, will be running a Dungeons and Dragons group at the Worthington Library on Saturday’s from 12:00 – 2:00. It starts this Saturday, 2/12. Anyone interested is welcome to join.
Nurse Sam Update:
- Positive Case: On Wednesday this week, we had our first positive individual identified through our Routine Covid Safety Checks Testing Program. This individual would likely have not been identified without using this testing program! We were able to isolate the individual and begin close contact identification. While our new protocols state we will not be conducting contact tracing, I have notified all families that would have had a potential exposure to this individual as a precautionary measure. If you were notified of a possible exposure, please be sure to monitor your child for symptoms for the next 10 days, and notify me immediately. Even mild symptoms should be taken very seriously after a potential exposure.
- At-Home Covid Tests: You may still sign your child up to receive our weekly at-home covid tests. WE ARE HIGHLY ENCOURAGING ALL FAMILIES TO TEST PRIOR TO RETURNING FROM FEBRUARY BREAK. If you would like to begin receiving these tests, please reach out to me at spease@hr-k12.org.
*Covid Test Reporting Form: At-Home Covid Test Reporting Form
- Routine Covid Safety Checks: If you would like to have your child begin participating in our routine covid safety check program, please reach out to me at spease@hr-k12.org.
- Covid Protocols Updates: In conjunction with the recent DPH and DESE updates to the testing programs available to schools, there have been some minor changes to our current covid protocols. Please see this document for more information.
- Covid Updates:
| Covid-19 Data Dashboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2/11/22 | 2/4/22 | Trend | |
| Positive Cases at R.H. Conwell | 2 | 1 | ↑ |
| External Close Contacts in Quarantine | 0 | 1 | ↓ |
| BinaxNOW Rapid Antigen Tests Conducted | 0 | 2 | ↓ |
| Positive Cases in Worthington (last 7 days) | 1 | 8 | ↓ |
| Positive Cases in Hampshire County (last 7 days) | 1,686 | 2,425 | ↓ |
| Positive Cases in Massachusetts (last 7 days) | 60,674 | 107,769 | ↓ |
| Weekly Routine Covid Safety Checks | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date Safety Checks Completed | 2/8/2022 | 2/1/2022 |
| Number of Individuals Participating | 43 | 39 |
| Number of Pools Tested | 5 | 5 |
| Number of Positive Pools | 1 | 0 |
| Number of Negative Pools | 4 | 5 |
| TOTAL NUMBER OF WEEKLY CHECKS COMPLETED: 5 TOTAL NUMBER OF NEGATIVE POOLS: 53 TOTAL NUMBER OF POSITIVE POOLS: 1 |
Upcoming Events:
February 16, 2022: Virtual Parent Zoom Meeting beginning at 7:00 p.m.
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83768785785?pwd=OVVsQ205VVdUUmc2aXlJK3NIVlVXZz09
Meeting ID: 837 6878 5785
Passcode: 551638
February 17, 2022: Virtual PTO Meeting beginning at 7:30 p.m.
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86444347629?pwd=R3ZiRmRxTjBpYXIwK2dLc1oybU1Tdz09
Meeting ID: 864 4434 7629
Passcode: 659216
February 21- 25: Winter Recess
March 10, 2022: School Committee Meeting beginning at 6:30 p.m.
March 24, 2022: School Committee Budget Meeting at 6:30 p.m.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns. As always, we appreciate your continued thoughtful feedback and support.
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