Principal Newsletter 12/11/2020

Friday, December 11, 2020

  • The district will not be having our Phase 1 students back to in-person learning before the winter holiday.  We hope to bring them back some time in January, a date to be determined. Superintendent Beck will be sending out more information soon.

  • Math materials are in the office if you were unable to attend one of our pick-ups.  Please call us at 863-9326 to set up a time to collect your child’s math manipulatives.  

  • For families that still need or want to receive the Flu vaccine, there will be two more District clinics. The Montague Board of Health will host these clinics, along with the District Nurses:Hillcrest Elementary  Wednesday  12/16/20 3:15p-5:15p.  Turners Falls High School  Thursday  12/17/20 3:15p-5:15p. Please bring insurance cards with you and wear loose clothing that is easy for the shot administration. You can call Melissa Bednarski, RN at 863-2638, Amy Killay, RN or Melissa Lynde, RN at 863-7313 or 863-7219  with any questions.   

  Thank you!  Nurse, Suzanne Martino   

  • Our two  reading interventionists; Iris McGrath and Stephanie Lofland, have been supporting classroom teachers with their Guided Reading  groups.  Starting on January 4 we will have them working with Leveled Literacy Intervention  (LLI) groups 4 to 5 days a week for 30-40 minute blocks of time.  The time will be dependent on the reading level.  LLI is an intensive, small-group, supplementary literacy intervention targeted for students who find reading difficult and are slightly below grade level expectations.  Once student groups have been made and your child would benefit from this extra support, you will be notified by one of our reading staff.

  • We are investigating software to monitor and filter online distractions to student learning.  Many families have asked why we cannot block sites they’ve seen their child access during learning time, and we have heard you and will be rolling out this software soon!       

  • Next week is a full week of school, and Thursday, December 17th  is the last day to drop off a non-perishable food item for our food drive.         

  • Wednesday, December 16th’s Social Emotional Learning ( SEL) book topic is going to be on Cultures.

    • With Sheffield Pride,   Melissa Pitrat

 

Joyce A. Phillips, Executive Producer/Gala

Gill-Montague Education Fund

December 7, 2020

 

GMEF Annual Gala Cancelled Due to Death of Philip Bauer

The Gill-Montague Education Fund Annual Gala - “The Legend of Johnny Cash” has been cancelled.    Joyce Phillips, Executive Producer, said “It is with extreme sadness that we learned that Philip Bauer passed away on November 24, 2020 of stage 4 colon cancer.  Philip Bauer had been scheduled to perform on April 20 for the 2020 GMEF Annual Gala.  It was postponed to 2021 due to the Pandemic.  Philip Bauer was known world-wide as the number one tribute artist of Johnny Cash.   He brought the sound and charisma of ‘The Man in Black” to life in his 90 minute stage show.   W.S. Holland (Johnny Cash’s' only drummer) recognized Philip as “the best I have ever seen."

Because of the Pandemic, the GMEF was unable to raise money with the Gala which results in the support of student enrichment.  Phillips said, the GMEF will continue to award 3 scholarships in June and their annual ‘roses for the seniors’ at graduation.  

Anyone who purchased advanced tickets for the 2020 Gala, may wish to donate their ticket money towards student enrichment.  Please contact us via our website: www.thegmef.org  or email: info@thegmef.org.  We will send you a letter recognizing your 2020 tax deductible contribution.

Patrons may must return their tickets to The GMEF – TICKETS, PO Box 383, Turners Falls, MA 01376 for a full refund. 

Our Annual Galas will return when it is safe for everyone to gather.  Thank you for your support.