Dear Greenwood Families,
Happy Sunday! We have had a busy week for our first full week of the school year! And you can tell there’s a lot going on by how much is in my letter to you this evening…
Fire Drill
Greenwood had our first fire drill of the year on Friday, and everything went very smoothly! Kids moved with their classes quickly and quietly to exit the building and waited patiently until we got the “all clear” signal from the Wakefield Fire Department to reenter the building and continue on with our learning. Practicing safety routines is important!
Greenwood Back to School Night
Greenwood Back-to-School Night is on Thursday, September 19th! Please read below for the format of the evening.
If your child is in Kindergarten, 1st grade, or 2nd grade: (6:00-7:15pm)
When you arrive at Greenwood, you will go directly to your child’s classroom on the 1st floor. We will have staff members helping to send families in the right direction. Classroom presentations will begin promptly at 6:00pm. The classroom portion of the evening will be followed by a whole-school presentation in the gym from 6:35-6:55pm. Following this, specialist teachers, representatives from the Greenwood PTO, and a representative from the Wakefield Educational Foundation (WEF) will be available to meet in the gym from 6:55-7:15pm.
If your child is in 3rd or 4th grade: (6:15-7:30pm)
Your evening at Greenwood will begin in the gym. If you would like to meet with any of our specialist teachers or representatives from the Greenwood PTO and the Wakefield Educational Foundation (WEF), they will be available at tables in the gym to chat about their programs from 6:15-6:35pm. There will be a whole-school presentation in the gym from 6:35-6:55pm. You will then go to your child’s classroom on the 2nd floor for the classroom presentation from 7:00-7:30pm.
To sum it up…
6:00-6:30pm Kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd grade classroom presentations
6:15-6:35pm Specialist teachers, Greenwood PTO, Wakefield Educational Foundation (WEF) tables in the gym
6:35-6:55pm Whole-school meeting in the gym
6:55-7:15pm Specialist teachers, Greenwood PTO, Wakefield Educational Foundation (WEF) tables in the gym
7:00-7:30pm 3rd & 4th grade classroom presentations
Just a reminder - this is an event for adult family members only. We look forward to seeing everyone on Thursday night!
School Pictures - Save the Date
A couple of folks have asked - O’Connor Studios will be at Greenwood to take individual student photos and class photos on Monday, October 7th. Information about photo packages available for purchase will be emailed to families directly by O’Connor prior to that date.
Science Letter Regarding Allergies
In order to keep families informed about organic materials being used in science classes, the linked letter was sent out via School Messenger on Thursday morning. Any questions can be directed to me or your child’s science teacher (Laurel Laroche - Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd; Jennifer Holder - 3rd, 4th).
Safety Practices
Wakefield Public Schools is committed to reinforcing and improving our school safety practices and protocols. Our WPS District Crisis Team meets throughout the school year to plan and prepare for all things related to school safety. On the Greenwood side, our staff meeting next week will address this topic, and throughout the months of September and October we will be scheduling dates for fire drills, shelter-in-place events, and ALICE drills. While we always hope that we do not need to utilize them in an actual event, it’s extremely important to know what to do just in case. We will keep families updated as appropriate (we cannot announce fire drills to families ahead of time, but we do give advance notice for other types of drills). If you have any questions, please reach out to me.
Early Release Days - Grab & Go Lunches
We piloted this last year on some of the early release days, and this year we will be making a full shift. Due to the necessary adjustments to our instructional schedules on shortened school days, we will NOT have a scheduled lunch block during the morning on early release days (kids will still have snack!). However, we WILL be offering the opportunity for children to pick up a “Grab & Go” lunch before they leave the building or go to Wakefield Academy. While still free to access, families will have to sign up in order for their child to take a lunch on any early release day. I will be sending out a separate School Messenger with the sign-up link no later than the Monday before each of these days. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions about this!
Lunchroom Volunteers
Keep the volunteers coming! Kids love to see everyone at lunchtime!
Do you have any free time between 12:00-1:10pm on school days? Looking for a way to help out at Greenwood? We are finally bringing back lunchroom volunteer opportunities! If you’d like to come in and help support students while they’re eating lunch, please see the linked Sign-Up Genius to select time slots through the end of September. Single days, multiple days, one time slot, the whole lunch block…we welcome any and all helpers!
Lunchroom volunteers will help students with those tricky thermoses, hand out napkins and utensils, support students while they sort items into composting/food rescue/trash, and help clean tables at the end of each lunch. Oh, and the most important thing - bring smiles and laughter!
NOTE: You will need to have a CORI form completed before coming in for any lunch shifts - please contact Ms. Paiva about the process or to check if you have a current one on file
Greenwood School Social Media
We are on Facebook and Instagram, and one of my personal goals this year is to show off the fun we’re having throughout Greenwood! Check us out - @wpsgreenwood on both Instagram and Facebook!
As always, please do not hesitate to reach out with questions.
Thank you for everything you do to support your children and their learning! Let’s have a great week!
Tiffany Back
Principal, Greenwood School