Dear Greenwood Families,
I hope that your families remain healthy and safe as we head into a new week. As we continue to adjust and refine our learning opportunities for students, we are so appreciative of your patience and understanding. Greenwood teachers and staff are working hard to make sure we’re connecting with families and engaging children in a variety of ways. Now that we’re facing an extended closure, this is more important than ever. The “Shared Beliefs and Goals for Student Learning” statement sent out by twelve districts, including Wakefield, ended with this paragraph:
“Our school communities will continue to make connections, value relationships, develop learning skills, understand service and community, maintain health and well-being, and focus on a greater good. In remaining focused on the social and emotional needs of our students and offering learning experiences that support those needs, we believe that our students, your children, will be well served during this school closing.”
We can do this together as a Greenwood community. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have questions or need support.
Updated Information About School Closure
As I’m sure you are aware, last Wednesday Governor Baker updated his directive for school closures to extend through the month of May. All public schools in Massachusetts, including Wakefield, are currently scheduled to reopen buildings on Monday, May 4, 2020. If there are any updates to this plan based on state guidance, WPS will communicate with families as soon as possible.
Greenwood Playground
It has been on my radar for a bit that Greenwood was in line for a new playground sometime during this school year, with my last understanding being that work would be done around the time of April vacation. So you can imagine my surprise when I heard on Thursday that our playground structure had been removed! It’s good news though—this work was done by DPW as prep work for the arrival of our new playground equipment. Naturally, it makes sense for this work to be done while students are not at school. I have not received information on an installation timeline, as it will depend on delivery schedules. Here are the plans that were developed and shared with me by the town, so that you can see what’s in store!
Weekly Theme
As a way to structure my video message each morning, we will have a different “theme” each week. Some weeks will be about sharing something interesting each day, some will have challenges or activities attached, and they all will have the goal of teaching something! For this next week, I will share a “historical figure of the day” with some fun facts and the chance to hear about new people!
Video Picture Book about Social Distancing
A theme that came up multiple times last week during Zoom online meetings was how hard it is for kids to understand what is going on right now, especially the social distancing aspect. A Kindergarten parent who teaches in another school district shared with me the story “Time to Come In, Bear,” which was shared out by her school to primary-grade families. All four elementary principals in Wakefield thought it could be a helpful resource. Please check it out!
Greenwood School Instagram & Facebook Account
Just another reminder about following the Greenwood School Instagram and/or Facebook accounts (@wpsgreenwood) to see the daily videos!
Thank you for everything you do to support your children and their learning—let’s have a great week!
Tiffany Back