Dear Greenwood Families,

Happy Monday, and welcome to what genuinely feels like the third “first day of school” we’ve had this year! You’ll notice many informational blurbs repeated in my letter this week from last week, but that’s because we’re all getting ready for a big shift in routine and need all the reminders we can get. Last week I mentioned how excited we all are for this next phase of learning, and that absolutely still holds true! That being said, I hope everyone is prepared to receive some *tired* children at the end of the school day on Monday. Our former AM cohort students are going to get to 10:55am and think, “Wait, we’re staying longer?” while our former PM cohort students are going to wake up and think, “Wait, I have to BE somewhere by 8:30am”? Changes, changes...

Updated Greenwood Safety Procedures Document

This went out on Thursday via School Messenger, but it never hurts to keep resharing!

We have updated the Greenwood School Procedures & Safety Document to reflect the changes going into effect on Monday, April 5th. This contains information about a number of relevant topics, including arrival, dismissal, lunches, and general safety strategies. Please expect that we will continue to update and expand as we go!

Grab & Go Lunches - April

We also sent this message out on Thursday, but in case you missed it…

Grab & Go lunches will still be available for all families at no cost for the rest of the school year...now kids will just be grabbing them and going to the cafeteria to eat them! In order for us to get a reasonably accurate lunch count and have enough meals available, please fill out the April Grab & Go Lunch Survey if your child will be participating in the program. (Don't panic - we will have some extra lunches on hand each day, just in case. It does really help us to know ahead of time though.)

Loaner Chromebooks

Families who borrowed a Chromebook and will be here for full in-person learning should have received an email late last week about returning devices. The Chromebook and charger should be brought back during one of the following time slots:

Monday, April 5th - 8:15-8:30am; 2:15-2:30pm
Tuesday, April 6th - 8:15-8:30am; 2:15-2:30pm

We will have a table outside the main front door where devices will be checked in. Either a child or an adult may return the Chromebook and charger.

School Day - Starting April 5th

The school day for Greenwood students runs from 8:30am to 2:20pm. Arrival begins at 8:15am, as explained below.

Arrival - Starting April 5th

The arrival window for students in all grades is from 8:15-8:30am. Students will enter the building immediately upon arrival and head directly to their classrooms. Multiple doors will be utilized to facilitate social distancing, per the chart below:

Classroom teachers will be in their classrooms at the start of the arrival block to be ready to welcome students. Other staff members will be assigned to monitor an outside door or inside hallway to ensure smooth traffic flow and proper social distancing.

No car traffic will be allowed in the front driveway during arrival for the safety of our students and families. Students who are dropped off via Greenwood Avenue may need to walk around to the front of the school building to access the appropriate entrance door.

Students arriving after 8:30am must enter through the main front door and pick up a late slip at the office.

Dismissal - Starting April 5th

The official end of the school day for students is 2:20pm. However, classroom teachers will escort their students out the appropriate dismissal door in a staggered manner to help with social distancing. Kindergarten will be dismissed first and their pick up will take place on the ramp side of the school building as it has in previous years.

As has been happening during the hybrid model, students in Grades 2 & 3 who are leaving the building through the front door may be picked up in the front of the building if there are no siblings from other grades to collect and you are leaving school grounds on the Main Street side. Students exiting the front door who have not been picked up after a minute or two will be walked around to the back of the building.

Lunch

Here is a quick overview about lunch, as shared at the WPS School Committee meeting last week:

Students will have a 30 minute lunch block each day, consisting of recess and lunch.
During recess, students must remain masked while moving around the playground/blacktop.
Each grade level will have a separate lunch block to facilitate distancing.
Students will eat in the cafeteria, seated 6 feet apart.
Tables will be cleaned between lunch periods.
We will continue the prepackaged Grab & Go lunch format - there will be no hot lunch option.
Lunches are available for free for any student through the remainder of the school year. It is likely that we will still send out a survey for families to complete, as that not only will help us with lunch counts but also facilitate lunch lines.

More details about the specific grade-level lunch times will be shared later this week in the updated Greenwood Safety Procedures document.

Greenwood Spirit Weeks

A reminder about this week’s “Spirit Days” - information about next week will be sent out later this week.

Just to clarify a bit for Thursday...while we will be making decorations here at school, everyone can also feel free to bring in flowery, spring-y decorations from home as well!

More Important Than Ever...Health Reminder - Stay Vigilant!

Thank you for supporting us in our efforts to keep everyone safe by practicing and promoting safety precautions, which include hand hygiene, mask-wearing, social distancing, and avoiding group gatherings and travel to high-risk states where the rates of transmission are high (here is a link to the MA Travel Guidelines, in case a need to travel out of state arises). We are also asking for you to keep children home if they are experiencing any of the following symptoms:

Fever of 100.0 or higher, and/or chills
Cough (not due to other known cause such as chronic cough, asthma, allergies)
Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
New loss of taste or smell
Sore throat
Headache when in combination with other symptoms
Muscle aches or body aches
Nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea
Fatigue when in combination with other symptoms
Nasal congestion or runny nose when in combination with other symptoms and not due to other known causes such as allergies
Unusual rash when in combination with other symptoms

Our school nurse, Mrs. Doherty, is always happy to answer any questions you may have or provide clarification.

Technology Support

Please email the WPS Tech Department at technology@wpsk12.org if your child is in need of technology support while at home.

As always, please do not hesitate to reach out with questions. Thank you for everything you do to support your children and their learning!

Tiffany Back