Principal's Notes 2/5/21

Message of the Month

Identity - (Being unique and celebrating you)

Important Dates

• February 14 – Happy Valentine’s Day!

• February 22-26 – Winter Vacation

• March 9 – District Workshop Day – NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS
• April 2 – End of Quarter 3
• April 4 – Happy Easter!
• April 9 – Report Cards Released Online
• April 26-30 – Spring Vacation
• May 31 – Memorial Day Observed – NO SCHOOL
• June 11 – Tentative Last Day of School

Parent Resource Documents

K-8 Hybrid Calendar                                           

Hybrid Parent Guide 

Remote Parent Guide

Bedford Reopening Plan

Memorial School Welcome & Orientation Video

Daily Health Screening for Students 

COVID-19 Overview Dashboard

Testing Options

Quarantine Guidance

BSD has moved to GREEN
Going green in this instance refers to the Metrics Team's assessment of the COVID-19 impact on our schools. This designation moves our district's plan to Phase 2 of our Reopening Plan.  As a result, the following will occur: 

• Kindergarten and first grade hybrid students will return for 100% (Monday-Friday) in-person learning beginning Monday, February 8^th.  
• Grades 2-8 hybrid students will return to in-person learning on Fridays, beginning on Friday, February 12^th.
• Remote students will continue with their remote instruction.

Below is updated protocol information for K/1 (everyday) and all students on Fridays: 

Distancing:  We will now maintain 3 feet rather than 6 feet of distancing.  Staff members will continue to maintain 6 feet of distancing.  *NH DHHS still requires 6 feet for contact tracing purposes.

Lunch:  Students will be seated 3 ft apart with plexiglass barriers between them.  They will sit 3-4 to a table, spaced 3 feet apart.  Lunch tables will continue to be disinfected and rinsed after each lunch period. Please be sure to continue to pre-order meals. This is extremely helpful in the planning and production of meals. Pre-ordering meals can be done through www.sendmoneytoschool.com. If you have any questions or concerns please contact Emily Murphy (603-472-3755 x 21242) email murphye@bedfordnhk12.net. FYI all school meals remain free until the end of the school year.

Recess:  Students will play with their classmates in their designated recess areas with masks on.  Classes will not be mixed during this time. 

Drop off/Pick Up:  These procedures will remain the same, but will definitely take longer, especially on Fridays.  Please have your child's name showing in the passenger car window for easy loading.  Once we have a baseline for how the procedures are working, we will make adjustments, if necessary.

Buses:  Buses, most likely, will be fuller.  Students will sit 1 to a seat until they fill up, and then they will sit 2 to a seat.  Students will continue to sit by grade level, wear masks and windows will be open/cracked.  

Attendance:  Kindergarten and K+ are full time programs.  Students will not be able to attend kindergarten on a part time basis.  The curriculum moves at a full time pace and teachers would not be able to “catch up” students who only attend part time.  The same rule and logic applies for grades 1-4.  There is no part time option for students to stay home on days that they are scheduled to be in school.

All other mitigation procedures will continue.  We will do our best not to mix cohorts outside of the classroom, but there may be some circumstances when that is not possible (i.e. support services, etc.).

**Please take a look at Superintendent Fournier’s note about the implications of bringing the students into school more.  You can find it HERE. 

*** You can see my video regarding the changes at MEM HERE

Quarantine vs. Elective Travel

As some families start to plan for February Vacation, I wanted to send a reminder about elective travel. It is important to note that the CDC and NH Department of Health and Human Services are strongly discouraging travel, especially with the new variants of COVID-19.  If you do plan to travel outside of New England at any time, please make sure that you contact our nurse, Anna Cook (in addition to your child’s classroom teacher) as she is responsible for setting quarantine dates for our students and staff members.

Our schools have an obligation to provide an education to students who are required to quarantine and be excluded from school due to exposure. These students are a priority for our teachers (aside from the ones in front of them, of course). Families who elect to stay home or travel will not receive the same service as those students who are required to be excluded.

Free Screening for Children 2.5 - 6 years old

Please see this FLYER to make an appointment and learn about a free screening for our child.

Scholastic News Parents Night

Scholastic's 2nd Parent Night will take place on February 10th with the focus being Keeping Kids Engaged as Readers.  More information can be found HERE.

Wellness Newsletter

Memorial's Wellness Team helps provide the Memorial community of parents and teachers with support and tools that we're using to educate our students. The newsletter is updated every week with resources and ideas for everyone to enjoy. Please click HERE to access the Wellness blog. You'll also receive a friendly reminder over the weekend.

Mrs. Davison's Enrichment Riddle of the Week

Brainstorm as a family and have fun with this.  Mrs. Davison has added her "Riddle of the Week" to her blog and it includes a form where people can submit answers.  Check it out HERE.

LOVE YOUR SCHOOL - THIS VALENTINE’S DAY! From now- Feb 12th, “Love Your School” by donating to the Bedford PTG to help us continue our focus on organizing virtual programming and events, enhancing outdoor spaces, COVID mitigation supplies for teachers/classrooms, and assisting with student needs through guidance and nursing department support. Along with these efforts, a portion of funds raised during this drive will be used to do something special for our staff and administration at each school.

To donate via PayPal, click HERE or simply send a check made out to Bedford PTG (turn into your child's school or mail to PO Box 10077 Bedford, NH). Anyone who donates this week will be entered for a chance to win a $50 BVI or $50 T-Bones gift card. We appreciate your continued support!

BLUE RIBBON AWARD:The Bedford School District received the Blue Ribbon Award for each of our six schools.
“The NH Partners in Education (NHPIE) Blue Ribbon Award recognizes the extraordinary efforts of school volunteers for the achievements realized during the previous school year. The 2020 Blue Ribbon Award is given to successful and effective school volunteer programs during the 2019-2020 school year. This is a testament to the extraordinary job our school volunteer coordinators and volunteers do in each of our schools during the school year.”

COLOR BLAST FUN RUN: We're bringing the Color Blast Fun Run/Walk to your front door! Just because things are a little different this year doesn't mean we can't have any fun. Join us for a virtual Color Blast Fun Run/Walk over the week of May 22. We will miss throwing color at you but we'll make sure you have enough color to throw at your family. Registration opens March 22nd. Click HERE for more information. If you have a business and would like to sponsor the Color Blast click HERE for how you can be involved

Reminders

Kindergarten and 1st Grade Registration (2021 – 2022)

Starting Monday, February 1st, you may download and print out registration packets from the MEM Website (under the School Information tab—New Student Registration) or stop by our school to pick one up. 

*Forms are being updated, and will not be available until February 1st.

The packets need to be returned to the school by Thursday, March 4th. A $525 deposit is required with the K+ registration (checks made out to Bedford School District).

• A child must attain his/her 5th birthday on or before September 30, 2021 to be eligible for kindergarten.
• A child must attain his/her 6th birthday on or before September 30, 2021 to be eligible for first grade.

Students currently enrolled in our BEEP Program do not need to register for kindergarten, information will be sent to the appropriate school.

Kindergarten students who are currently enrolled at MEM (or anywhere in the district) do not need to register for 1st grade.

Blue Ribbon Volunteer Award

Once again, Memorial School has earned the Blue Ribbon Award for excellence in volunteerism for the 2019/2020 school year. This is a tribute to all of you who volunteered and supported our school, especially during the Remote Teaching in the spring, thanks to all of you.   I would like to recognize Danielle Brimblecom, our Volunteer Coordinator, and our PTG Liaisons, Marc Murai  and Kenn Archibald for their involvement and dedication!

Memorial Remote and Hybrid Learning Success Site

On this site you will find a wide variety of resources to assist you and your child while away from school, whether that is remote learning or on their distance days. These resources are meant to be used as a framework; every student learns differently. If a resource doesn't fit perfectly for them, please feel free to edit it to make them as successful as possible. 

Here is the LINK to the website.

Important reminders from the Health Office:
If your child misses school and the absence is related to illness please call the absentee line (school nurse monitors absentee line). Please leave a reason for the absence (this helps school nurse with decreasing calls she has to make).  If the illness, even mild symptoms or singular symptoms, is related to the covid screening criteria the recommendation is to get tested for covid. Please leave a message on the absentee line to the nurse if you plan to have your child tested and then follow up with the nurse about the results. If your child is ill please keep them home and have them tested. Please call the school nurse with any questions.