Dear Greenwood Families,
Welcome back!! We’re so excited to start another fantastic school year with our Gator community, and we’re looking forward to lots of learning and lots of fun as we come back together at Greenwood. You’ll notice that some of the items in my letter this week are repeats from my earlier message…but that’s because they’re important. I look forward to seeing everyone on Wednesday morning!
School Hours
Regular instructional school hours for all grades are from 8:40am to 2:45pm Monday through Friday. On Early Release days, which can be found on the WPS website, students will be dismissed at 11:55am, with lunch being served prior to dismissal.
Arrival - First Day(s) of School
The first day of school is Wednesday, September 7th for all students, K-4. On both Wednesday and Thursday, classroom teachers will be outside behind the school building at 8:30am holding a sign with their name. Grades 1-4 will line up with their classes and walk inside together shortly after 8:35am.
For the first day only, Kindergarten students will have a delayed start. At 10:00am on Wednesday, September 7th, Kindergarten teachers will be outside behind the school with their signs.
Our instructional day begins at 8:40am, and students will be marked tardy if they are not at their classrooms by that time. Anyone arriving after 8:40am must enter the building through the front door and check in at the main office.
Dismissal
All students in Grades 1-4 will be dismissed at 2:45pm through the back door onto the playground. Kindergarten students will be dismissed starting around 2:40pm on the K side (shed side) of the building. The end of the day is a very busy time in the office, and we kindly ask families to send notes to school if your child’s dismissal routines are going to change. Last-minute calls to the office at the very end of the day, while occasionally unavoidable, can be challenging and confusing to our dismissal routines. Children like routines, and adults like to make sure everyone goes where they need to be!
School Lunches
While funding at the federal level no longer supports free school lunches for all students, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts put this very important line item into this year’s state budget so that any student who wishes to receive school lunch is able to do so free of charge. Yes, that’s right - free school lunch is still here!
A slight change in procedure - we will NOT be sending out “lunch surveys” to families, at least not to start the year. In conversations with our lunch manager, Mary Peavey, she is confident that she will be able to provide accurate estimates to Food Services for the amount of lunches we will need each day. If we need to readjust our approach, we will certainly do so!
Here is the lunch menu for the upcoming month, so important decisions can be made about lunchtime options! September 2022 Lunch Menu
PowerSchool
As most of you know by now, WPS is in the process of changing our Student Information System from iPass to PowerSchool. And as I’ve referenced in a couple of emails during the month of August, we’re still ironing out some technological issues. One of these issues involves schoolwide and/or district messages not being sent to new-to-WPS families (including our incoming Kindergarten families). We are doing everything we can to make sure important information is getting to everyone who needs it, and we thank you for your patience and understanding.
Please see the following message that was sent out by WPS IT last week:
You should have just received an email with your child's Access ID information to log into the parent portal (NOTE: a printed copy of this Access ID information will be sent home with children during the first week of school). We have created a couple of very quick videos to walk you through the process.
This first video is the process of Registering a Student who is entering the Wakefield Public Schools for the first time: New Student Registration Video
The next video is for creating a Parent Portal Account: Creating a PowerSchool Login for Families
The District Code for the Mobile app is: DPHS. This code as well as links to download the mobile app can be found at the bottom left of the parent portal.
These videos can be found on the WPS web site at: https://www.wakefieldpublicschools.org/district/students-parents/pages/powerschool-resources
Wakefield Academy Before & Afterschool Program
The following message was sent out by Estelle Burdick, Director of Wakefield Academy, on Monday, August 15th:
Wakefield Academy is so excited to announce that we have a new registration system called Eleyo for our enrollment for the upcoming 2022-2023 school year. Our annual registration opened today, August 15th. This new system will allow you to register for our Wakefield Academy before and after school programs. As you explore this new system, please note that you will need to create your own account first. Then you will add your child or children to your parent account. There will no longer be registration through Google Forms. This new system will allow you to register for all WA programs, including our enrichment and camps. Additionally, you will be able to see which days and programs you have enrolled in and check your balance due.
If you want to only complete an annual registration at this time, you must select one day (which you can change at any time) for your application to be processed or you may enter as many days as you know you will need throughout the school year. Invoicing will be done month to month as in the past. You will have the option to prepay as many months as you would like but only a one-month prepayment is required to continue enrollment. I know you will find this new system more user-friendly and efficient!
Please visit our website and click on our "registration" quick link for more information and registration steps.
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