December 1

Thoreau Monthly: December 2020

I hope you all enjoyed a relaxing Thanksgiving recess. Thanks to the generosity of the Thoreau community, we were able to donate 40+ boxes of comfort food staples to Open Table in honor of our 2020 retirees!  Today marks the 52nd day that we have been open and, as I’ve said before, we wouldn’t be here without your support so thank you!

Wednesday, December 2nd:
On the afternoon of December 2nd, all staff will be attending district-wide professional development.  Specialists who usually zoom on Wednesday afternoons will be unavailable due to their participation in these training sessions.   As a result, students will have an asynchronous specialty assignment in either SeeSaw or Google Classroom but not a zoom meeting on Wednesday.  Wednesday morning is still a regular, in person school day.  This only affects specials on Wednesday afternoon.

Drop Off and Pick Up:
As the weather gets colder, we are starting to have more cars at drop off and pick up than we had in the fall.  I wanted to share a few reminders with families, especially those who might be new to driving this year, to ensure that the process is as efficient and safe as possible:

  • Once you arrive at the drop off location, please make sure your child exits through the passenger side door so that they exit directly onto the sidewalk.  The same holds true for dismissal – please have your child enter your car through the passenger side.

  • For drop off, it helps to move the line quickly by having your child ready to hop out of the car as soon as you pull up to the curb.  We see lots of families have their kids put their masks on and get their bags ready while in line on Prairie Street, which allows kids to jump out right away.  It also keeps the line moving quickly if the driver remains in the car.

  • If you are new to car pick up, please make sure that you have a sign with your child’s name prominently displayed in your window and access Prairie Street via Frances Street and not Chase Road.

Gifts and the Conflict of Interest Law:
As public school educators, the staff at Thoreau is subject to the conflict of interest law, G.L. c. 268A.  This means that we may not accept any gift worth $50 or more that is given because of the positions we hold at Thoreau.  The Ethics Commission recently created an exemption to permit class gifts to teachers. A teacher may accept a gift, or several gifts during the school year, from public school students and/or their parents and guardians, with an aggregated value of up to $150, if the gift is identified only as being from the class, and the identity of the givers and the individual amounts given are not identified to the recipient.  Please call the main office if you have questions about the Conflict of Interest Law as it pertains to teacher gifts.

Flu Vaccine:
Thank you to everyone who has already submitted documentation of their child’s flu vaccination for the year.  If you have not, we are asking families to submit documentation by December 11th.

December Events:
12/11 Professional Day for Staff:  No School
12/13 PTG Meeting, 9:00 AM
12/24-1/1/21 Winter Recess
1/4/21 Classes Resume