Dear Greenwood Families,
Happy Monday! Last week was a bit of a whirlwind around these parts, and it doesn’t look to be any less so this week! Greenwood kids and staff had a wonderful time at the Visual & Performing Arts Day on Wednesday. We are so lucky to be in a community like Wakefield where the arts are prioritized and celebrated - I look forward to seeing some of today’s Gators up on stage in a few years!
April Break - No School
No reminder needed, I’m sure! However, just so we’re all on the same page…there is no school Monday, April 17th through Friday, April 21st for April break.
No School - Tuesday, April 25th
There is a professional development day for all WPS staff on Tuesday, April 25th. This means there will be no school for students. We know it’s strange timing coming back from break, however, the PD day was placed here to align with Wakefield’s election day due to the use of Galvin Middle School for townwide voting.
Grade 4 Ukulele Concert - Monday, April 10th
One last reminder! 4th grade families should have already received information from Mrs. Brighenti about the upcoming ukulele concert on Monday, April 10th at 9:00am. We invite 4th grade families to join us for this much-anticipated performance! Your balcony seating awaits!
Grades 3 & 4 - MCAS Testing This Week
The wait is over! MCAS testing for English Language Arts in grades 3 & 4 will take place on Wednesday, April 12th and Thursday, April 13th. Testing begins at the start of the school day. Children who are absent or significantly tardy on the day of testing will take that day’s session during a makeup time on a different day. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions.
WEF Celebration of Learning
Congratulations to our 4th grade students, Greenwood parents, and Greenwood staff members that will be honored at the WEF Celebration of Learning on Wednesday, April 12th at the Galvin! This wonderful celebration highlighting excellence in education is sponsored by the Wakefield Education Foundation. The following 4th graders were nominated by their peers as students that best represent our school’s core values: Nora Bonner, Stella Centore, Anthony Collura, and Nate Sloane. Parent volunteers to be recognized as having made significant contributions to the Greenwood School Community are Brie Reynolds and Monica Chaffee for all their efforts with the Greenwood Garden. Staff members to be honored this year are our fabulous science teachers, Grace Gleason and Laurel Laroche. We are so lucky here at Greenwood to have many deserving nominees!
Staffing Update - Speech & Language
Ms. Palumbo, our Speech & Language Pathologist, is heading out on maternity leave and the district has contracted a Speech & Language Pathologist from OWL Pediatric Therapy to take on her caseload for the remainder of the school year. Alexis (Lexi) Daneau is a certified Speech Language Pathologist. She is a graduate from Emerson College in Boston, MA with a Master’s degree in Speech Language Pathology. Lexi has worked with people with communication disorders across the lifespan. Recently, she has worked with school-aged expressive, receptive language disorders, and fluency disorders. Ms. Daneau also has extensive experience in behavior management and communication disorders in the Autism community. We look forward to working together with Ms. Daneau here at Greenwood!
Food Rescue Program - Volunteer Drivers Needed
Our lunchtime composting and food rescue programs are going strong! However, we could use some help in getting the food donations picked up at Greenwood and delivered to the designated locations in Wakefield, Stoneham, or Melrose. Food pickup can be done anytime after 1:30pm on a selected date. Please visit the link below for more information and to sign up. Thanks in advance!
Lunchroom Volunteers
Thank you to everyone who has given us some of your valuable time over the past few weeks! Updated time slots are being added at the current link and now go through the end of April.
Do you have any free time between 12:00-1:15pm on school days? Or 10:30-11:50am on early release 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 over the next two weeks. Single days, multiple days, one time slot, the whole lunch block…we welcome any and all helpers!
As an FYI, we will be incorporating our lunchroom volunteers into the food rescue/composting program work. Don’t worry…it’s easy!
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! 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