Principal Madden’s Weekly Message—Week of September 8, 2020
Greetings Caregivers!
I hope you had a nice weekend. The weather was certainly lovely. I also hope you are dealing O.K. with the challenging start to this school year and are finding ways to make this remote learning work for your children. Please contact me if you would like to talk.
PTO Directory
If you would like to be added to the PTO School Directory, please email Emily Hindle, PTO Co-President, if you would like to be added to the directory. ehindle@gmail.com
Teaching to Strengths
On Monday, August 31, Lourdes Alvarez-Ortiz, author of the fabulous book, Teaching to Strengths, spoke to the entire District, and she was uplifting. Her messages of focusing on what everyone CAN do, and not what we cannot do, is so timely. It was a great way for staff to begin this year school year.
It was wonderful to get together with teachers and staff last week (virtually and in person!) as we plan together how best to meet your child’s needs in this remote world. They are excited to get in touch with you and to meet your children. You should be hearing from them soon.
The District School Psychologists have put together a letter for caregivers that addresses concerns you might have about your child’s learning during this pandemic.
Letter-to-Caregivers-about-Struggling-Students-and-SSTChromebooks:
I did not realize at the time of our Chromebook Pick Up Day, that we would be running low on Chromebooks because of shipping/availability delays. ARGH! If you have a child in grades 3-5, and you are able to use a device from home until the delivery (set for mid-October), please let me know by calling the office. When the new machines come in, your child will receive a device. Our plan is still to make sure that all students who need a device to start the year will have one. Please call with any questions.
Teachers will be scheduling days with you for materials pick up, and we can coordinate the Chromebook pick up with that visit.
From Superintendent, Dr. John Provost:
Due to delays in the supply chain at the moment, two orders of Chromebooks that were made in June and July are not going to arrive on time for the beginning of school. We have allocated enough devices for all 3-12 students, most staff members and partially PK-2. We are expecting our next delivery by the first two weeks of October.
At this point Northampton Public Schools is reaching out to the generous Northampton community seeking for functioning mobile devices to be used by… our staff for remote learning. These can be ‘loaners’ that would be returned once NPS’ supply chain issues are resolved.
The devices that best fit the city’s needs are Chrombooks (any brand) with at least 4 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage and OS version 80 or Windows 10 Laptops with integrated web camera.
If you have one or more devices that you can lend to NPS until the end of October or donate, please follow the link below to give us the details and schedule a time to drop it at James House, ITS Department, 42 Gothic Street, Northampton, MA 01060
This week’s photos show our student bulletin board made by my fabulous Administrative Assistant, Vanessa Keillor! This is always a treat for students to find their names on the board…and we hope they can do that in person before too long!
Tech Workshops for Caregivers
Our Technology Department is offering Technology Workshops for Caregivers. Check it out! I hope you able to “attend” something that might be helpful for you as you try and support your children online.
Girls on the Run is still offering a program this fall. Check out this link if you are interested.
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgxwJXpLJRdWGNxCHDsDxTnJqpxfm
Important Upcoming Dates
September 16: First day of School!
September 21: First day of School for Kindergarten!
Stay up to date (under normal circumstances or not!) with all of our school activities on our School Website’s Calendar!
I hope that all families feel welcome, comfortable, and valued at our school. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Sarah Madden, Principal