Principal Newsletter 11/4
Sheffield Spotlight
NOVEMBER 4, 2022
PICTURE RETAKE DAY = NOVEMBER 9
ALICE IN WONDERLAND AT TFHS
Turners Falls High School and Great Falls Middle School presents: Alice in Wonderland!
Shows will be performed Thursday 11/17 at 7 PM, Friday 11/18 at 7 PM, Saturday 11/19 at 2 PM and 7 PM.
This show is short (approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes in total) and kid-friendly. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for students/seniors and $5 for kids 5 and under.
FRIENDS OF SHEFFIELD (FOS)
Trunk-or-Treat
We greatly appreciate the many families, teachers and community members who volunteered to decorate a trunk and pass out candy during Trunk-or-Treat. We were so impressed by your creativity, and our event would not have been possible without you! Thank you to all of the families who donated extra candy! We had several trunks run out, and it certainly was put to good use. Many thanks to the Newt Guilbault Baseball League for giving us access to the bathroom in their clubhouse during our long event. We also need to thank the amazing Paul Wonsey for loaning us his audio equipment to play our spooky tunes!
A special thanks goes out to the following organizations for joining us: Captain Luke Hartnett & Captain Geoff Ellis of Turners Falls Fire Department with their Ambulance, Officer Dan Miner with K-9 Mack & Officer Jim Ruddock with K-9 Artie of Montague Police Department, and Angela & Meghan of Montague Public Libraries.
209 people cast their ballot for their favorite trunk. Our 1st place trunk was #17, Día de los Muertos by Alison Ovalle-Perez & family with 26 votes. Our 2nd place trunk was #39, High Tech Monster Music by Chris Brown, with 23 votes. Our 3rd place trunk was #9, DJ Marshmellow/Glo Dance Floor by Cassandra Millet with 18 votes.
We'd like to thank the following businesses for donating amazing prizes to our event! Cinemark At Hampshire Mall and XD, Arizona Pizza Company Hadley, MA, French King Bowling, and Watershed Restaurant!
Erik Semb of French King Bowling was so generous that we were able to have two runner-up trunks: trunk #8, Hocus Pocus by Kristin Currier, with 15 votes and trunk #27, Stranger Things by Ashley Sicard with 13 votes. Thank you Erik!
On behalf of Friends of Sheffield & Friends of Hillcrest we'd like to congratulate the winners, and thank everyone for an amazing event!!! We hope the kids had as much fun as we did!
Wreath Fundraiser Extension
There's still time to get your wreaths! We've extended the order due date until Wednesday, November 9th. Acceptable payment includes: cash, checks payable to Friends of Sheffield & Venmo. If you need an order form, it can be found here. Our scheduled pick up date will be Monday, November 28th from 3-4 pm in the Sheffield parking lot. If you'd like to receive text reminders, please join our remind class created specifically for this fundraiser here.
FOS Meeting
Our next meeting will be held on Monday, November 28th from 6:00-6:45 PM in the teachers' lounge. It will also be held virtually, and our meet link can be found here: https://meet.google.com/zgs-mrzo-adv. We desperately need new members.
TRUNK OR TREAT
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LETTER FROM MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND THE MASSACHUSETTS CHAPTER OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS
November 1, 2022
Dear Families,
The Commonwealth, the Northeast and much of the US are seeing increases in respiratory illness in infants and children. Some of these infants and children are requiring hospitalization for support with breathing and hydration. Emergency departments and other acute care health facilities have been managing significant increases in the number of patients requiring care.
Most of these illnesses are caused by respiratory viral infections, including common seasonal viruses like respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), rhinovirus and enterovirus, and influenza. Infants and children may be particularly susceptible to seasonal respiratory viral infections during the 2022-2023 fall and winter because they have had limited previous exposure to these respiratory viruses. We anticipate that there could be more respiratory illnesses as RSV continues to spread and influenza season ramps up.
The Department of Public Health and the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics want to remind parents and families about steps to take to prevent illness and stay healthy this season:
- Vaccinate your children ages 6 months and older against influenza as soon as possible.
- Vaccinate your children ages 6 months and older against COVID-19; children 5 and older who had their primary series more than 2 months ago should receive an updated COVID-19 booster as soon as possible.
- Remember, you can get a COVID-19 vaccine and flu shot at the same time.
- If your infant has been offered treatment with protective antibodies due to their prematurity or another condition, keep on schedule with their monthly treatments.
- Practice hand hygiene frequently with soap and water or hand sanitizer. Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue, or if a tissue is not available, cover them with an elbow, not a hand.
- Clean high touch surfaces in your home frequently with household disinfectants.
- Keep children home from daycare or school who have fever, especially with a cough, difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, congestion, runny nose, or sore throat, until they are fever-free for 24 hours without medications that reduce fever.
- Avoid social gatherings if you or your children are ill.
- Contact your pediatrician or healthcare provider if you believe your child needs medical care. Your provider can offer advice on whether your child needs to be evaluated in person, tested for COVID or flu, and the best location (doctor’s office, urgent care, emergency room) for care.
Thank you for doing all you can to keep you and your family healthy during this fall and winter season.
Dr. Estevan Garcia, Chief Medical Officer
Massachusetts Department of Public Health
Dr. Mary Beth Miotto, President
Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics
ALL SCHOOL SING
Thank you Ms. King!
On Wednesday, September 2, she held our first All School Sing since prior to the pandemic.
TURKEY TROT ON NOVEMBER 23 AT 9:15 AM
On Wednesday November 23, 2022 Hillcrest and Sheffield will hold their 1st Turkey Trot. Students will be running or walking on a marked route between the two school campuses. The route will start and finish in the field between the two schools.
All students will participate in grade specific ways. Grades 2-5 will run/walk the longer route, the PreK-1 will have a shorter route to run/walk. Students in grades preK-1 are able to run the longer route with a parent/guardian.
As you can imagine, many volunteers are necessary to help this day run smoothly. Please consider volunteering! If you are willing to volunteer please fill out and return the volunteer sheet. The route will be marked with cones, staff and volunteers.
All school rules are in effect.
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As with any athletic event, the possibility for injury is always present.
I will participate with my child _________________________in the Turkey Trot long route on Wednesday November 23, 2022.
_________________________________________
parent/guardian signature
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I will volunteer to help with the course for the Turkey Trot on Wednesday November 23, 2022.
Email or text for contact information ___________________________________
________________________________________
parent/guardian signature
SAVE THE DATE!
November 6 - Daylight Savings Time Ends
November 9 - Wreath Order Forms due with Payment
November 11 - No School - Veterans Day
November 16 - Early Release at Noon
November 18 - All School Meeting at 2:15 pm (All Welcome!)
November 23 - Turkey Trot (All Welcome!) & Early Release at Noon
November 25 & 25 - No School - Thanksgiving Break
November 28 - Wreath Pick Up from 3-4 pm & FOS Meeting from 6 - 6:45 pm