Dear Greenwood Families,
Happy Monday! I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend and got to do something fun for at least part of it. We have a nice solid stretch of school days ahead of us before our next break for Thanksgiving, and you can be sure everyone will put that time to great use!
Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day - Thursday, November 14th
Thanks to the efforts of a group of California elementary school students in 2018, Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day was created to honor the bravery of Ruby Bridges in integrating her elementary school in New Orleans. Last year we participated in the celebration for the first time, and we are excited to be part of it again this year! We will have an assembly on Thursday morning to learn more about Ruby Bridges and why she is recognized and celebrated, and we will also have our own Greenwood School walk in honor of Ruby’s walk after the assembly. Wear purple on Thursday to join in the celebration!
Greenwood All-School Meeting - Grade 4 Hosting
For many of our upcoming All-School Meetings, each grade level will be responsible for hosting an assembly to share about a positive attribute that we want our Greenwood community to embrace and embody. Our 4th graders will lead us off to talk about “cooperation” on Monday, November 25th at 9:45am, and we would like to invite 4th grade parents/guardians to attend if you are able to do so. (Seating will be up in the balcony.) We look forward to seeing you!
WPS Community Zoom Call - Tuesday, November 12th
The first WPS Community Call will take place on November 12th at 4:00 pm, hosted by Superintendent Doug Lyons. Please join us if you can, to hear district updates, learn about different school-related topics, and have the opportunity to ask the administrative team questions. These calls will take place 4 times over this school year. Here is the list of meeting dates for the year and the Zoom link.
Community Zoom Call Dates:
11/12,1/30,3/27,5/8
Zoom Link:
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 947 4810 5139
Passcode: 864060
From the Wakefield Educational Foundation (WEF) - Online Auction!
The Wakefield Educational Foundation is happy to announce WEF's Annual Auction! The auction will begin on Wednesday, 11/13/24. Linked here is a preview of the items that are available so far. Shop for the holidays and support WEF at the same time - thank you for your support!
Massachusetts Partnership for Youth - Free Resource for Parents & Caregivers
Massachusetts Partnerships for Youth (MPY) is continuing to sponsor a free Parenting Solutions Library. MPY is offering this valuable resource in partnership with Peace At Home Parenting Solutions, a non-profit organization located in Mansfield, Connecticut. Through this partnership, MPY is providing proven resources to help students’ families thrive.
Peace At Home Parenting Solutions specializes in empowering parents with evidence-based strategies to foster nurturing connections that safeguard their children's mental well-being. The Parenting Solutions Library is easily accessed using the link on MPY’s home page. No log in or passcode is needed.
WPS Community Forum - The Science Behind Later School Start Times
The Wakefield Public Schools Student Services Subcommittee and the WPS Administration welcome community members to hear from Dr. Judy Owens about the science behind later school start times. The community forum will take place at Galvin Middle School Auditorium at 7:00 p.m on Wednesday, November 20th. This is the first of three community forums that will be held in the coming months to hear about the science behind sleep and later school start times, along with opportunities and challenges communities have faced in making this change. At the close of the three community forums, the administration and the subcommittee will present recommendations to the larger School Committee.
If you have questions about the upcoming meeting, please contact Deidre Sandonato, Assistant to the Superintendent at deidre.sandonato@wpsk12.org.
Contacting the Main Office
Again, since Ms. Paiva is out on leave, anything you would normally email her about can be sent to both me (tiffany.back@wpsk12.org) and Majed Chankhour (majed.chankhour@wpsk12.org), who is filling in for Marie during this time period. And as always, don’t forget to include the classroom teacher as appropriate!
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 month of December. 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