Principal Newsletter 2/12/2021

Friday, February 12, 2021

  •  School will be closed from February 15-19 for vacation.  We will reopen on Monday, February 22 for Cohort A and AB. Students will need their fully charged chromebooks, layers of warm clothes for in the classroom and snow pants, coats, boots, hat and mittens to wear outside for outdoor recess.  We will send students outside for their 30 minute recess if the wind and air temperature combined is 20 degrees or greater.

  • We will be following the guidelines and recommendations put forth by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health if you are traveling during February vacation.  

All visitors entering Massachusetts, including returning residents, who do not meet an exemption, are required to:

  • Complete the Massachusetts Travel Form prior to arrival

  • Quarantine for 10 days or produce a negative COVID-19 test result that has been administered up to 72-hours prior to your arrival in Massachusetts. If not obtained before entry to Massachusetts, a test may be obtained after arrival. However, all such arriving travelers must immediately begin the 10-day quarantine until a negative test result has been received. Failure to comply may result in a $500 fine per day.

More information can be found on their website; https://www.mass.gov/info-details/covid-19-travel-order

  • For student and family safety, there are no bus passes this year.  Friends of bus students will not be allowed to ride the bus home with them.  We are also not allowing siblings to ride the bus to Hillcrest.

  • Arrival at the beginning of the day. Drop off in the morning will be from 8:25-8:35. There will be adults outside at only those times. Everyone, including our busses, will be dropping off and entering the front of the building.    For safety, please keep your child in the vehicle with you until you see an adult. You may park in the parking lot, or please follow the cones and access the drop off lane pulling up as far as you can, stay in your car wearing a mask, and your child will be assisted out of the car.  Please make sure they have everything they need so they can exit the vehicle promptly, which ensures a smooth transition.

  • Dismissal at the end of the day.  Buses, walkers, and car pick ups will all be exiting out the front doors at the end of the day.  Bus students will be loaded and leave Sheffield at 3:05.  The remaining students will leave at 3:15.  We plan to stagger the dismissal by having our 4th and 5th graders exit at 3:10 and our 2nd and 3rd graders exit at 3:15.  There is no car lane in the afternoon and families need to park in a designated parking space to retrieve their child/ren. If you get out of your vehicle, please wear a mask, and when you have your child/ren please exit carefully out of the parking lot.  

  • Thank you to all the students, staff and families who made or wrote out Valentines for our local nursing home, which was sponsored by our Friends of Sheffield (FOS). 

  • With in-person learning on the horizon, now is the time to show your Sheffield Pride by donning swag with our logo on it!  Please access this link for your sweatshirts, shirts, hats, etc.  https://cart.silverscreendesign.com/sheffield/shop/home

  • Just in case you missed it, here is a link to the safety protocols to ensure student safety and well-being made by our district nurses.  Please review with your child/ren. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_40ElTl-gbaa6M0wPzV0A8qgHC63JvP7/view?usp=sharing

  • From the Nurse’s Office:   Please remember that student’s annual Health Forms need to be returned for the start of Hybrid teaching. Also, please register your student through Project Beacon for the rapid Covid test, if you haven’t already. No student that becomes symptomatic at school, will be tested at school without this registration completed. Thank you to all that have submitted their student’s form and registered for the rapid testing.

Please call/email Nurse Sue with any questions at 863-7441. 

  • From Mrs. Burke in the office:  Please return all beginning of the year paperwork preferably before your child starts back to school.  You can drop them off in-person to the office Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday between 8:00-4:00.  You can also fax to 413-863-3259 or email cburke@gmrsd.org.

  • Dress your child in warm layers, windows in classrooms and on busses will be ajar up to an inch to ensure air flow.

  • The district has purchased a cleaner that will be used on their desks called Cleancide: “Approved on EPA's List N - Registered Antimicrobial Products for use against Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2”, which is citrus based and safe for students and staff use.

  • If you are looking to donate items for school or classroom use, we would always accept either white paper towels to aid in cleaning desks with Cleancide, or hand sanitizer.  (We cannot accept Clorox or Lysol wipes due to the chemicals in them.)

With Sheffield Pride,

Melissa Pitrat