April 6, 2022
Dear PAWS Families,
Just a reminder that tomorrow evening, April 7th at 7:30pm, we will be hosting a Zoom meeting for caregivers of students who are age eligible for kindergarten and have an Individualized Education Program (IEP). This Special Education Transition to Kindergarten meeting is for the caregivers of children with special education services. During this presentation, PAWS staff and staff from the elementary level will describe the special education transition process from preschool to kindergarten.
Next week, on Monday, April 11th at 7:30pm, we will be offering the same Transition to Kindergarten presentation but without the special education information. All parents and caregivers interested in learning more about the general transition to kindergarten can Zoom in then. The Zoom links will be sent out the day of each event.
Nurse’s Notes:
Hello PAWS families,
I wanted to let you know that I’ve already begun working on the required vision screenings and hope to complete all classes by next week. I will send home a written letter to you if I notice anything that requires follow up. I also wanted to provide you with a health update. We are seeing a lot of colds, GI bugs, and even some flu. We are also still seeing students test positive for Covid. I would like to remind you of our illness protocols.
Is it Covid?
- Please test your child before sending them to school with mild symptoms. Rapid tests are sufficient, but know that serial testing is the best way. In other words, continue to test your child each morning if they have symptoms.
- If your child tests positive (even a faint line), keep them home from school and notify Nurse Zinta.
- Please contact Nurse Zinta if you do not have access to rapid tests.
- If you have access to a PCR test–great! PCR tests are more reliable. If you have a known exposure and symptoms, a PCR test is best.
Has your child had a fever?
- Your child needs to be fever-free for 24 hours without medication before returning to school.
Is your child well enough for school?
- Unfortunately, I am seeing a lot of children with symptoms early in the school day. Please keep them home if they have a heavy cough or congestion. If your child needs cold/flu medication to feel well enough for school, they are not well enough for school! We do not have a mask policy surrounding non-Covid illnesses, but I have been recommending a mask if your child has cold symptoms and you are doing the serial testing. Testing negative initially is quite common.
Please contact me if you have any questions. Happy to help you navigate these tricky decisions. Thank you for keeping our school healthy!
Best,
Zinta
Thank you!
Thank you to the Hall family for seltzer and popcorn this week and to the Deustch Family for sending the assortment of granola bars, salty snacks, seltzer and soda. The staff really appreciate and enjoy the treats that you’ve provided!
Conferences: Thank you to our parents and caregivers for coming together for conferences! It is wonderful to have the time to connect with you about your child’s development and to hear about what you are seeing at home.
Thank you to the PTO for purchasing bulbs for the children to plant! The daffodils are popping up under the windows in the front of the PAWS building by the playground! Click HERE to see our pretty bulbs in bloom!
Thank you to all of you for your ongoing support and positive contributions!
Best,
‘Becca Z.
Important Dates:
April 6 – Parent/Teacher Conferences
April 7 – Special Education Transition to Kindergarten Meeting, 7:30pm via Zoom
April 11 – General Education Transition to Kindergarten Meeting, 7:30pm via Zoom
April 15 – No School – Good Friday
April 18-22 – No School – April Vacation
May 4 – 8th Grade Day of Service* – send in tools and brown bags
*The 8th Grade Day of Service is a day when a class of Wellesley Middle School 8th graders will come to PAWS to help with some yard clean up and planting. If anyone has any gardening tools such as rakes or shovels, please put your name on your tools and send them in on May 3rd. We will return them to you at the end of the day May 4th. We also will need brown yard bags/any size brown bags to hold the yard waste. Thank you!