On Tuesday, Katie Greer came to speak to our 7, 8, 9, and 10th-grade students. She also hosted an evening session for parents. Katie specializes in internet safety, specifically social media. I found it interesting to feel the energy in the room change when Kaite showed a slide that stated, “If someone published a book with all of the comments you left on social media, would you be proud?” She continued by letting kids know that she did “a little search of Hamilton-Wenham social media accounts last night.” Then she displayed a list of the things that students post publicly including personal pictures, birthdates, family information, etc. As an example, she talked about posting birthdays. Katie explained to students that someone could open a credit card with the information they were posting as public. Fascinating and scary stuff.
On a less serious note, I was observing a kindergarten class with Ms. Clifford and Ms. Butler on Thursday. The teacher took a moment to introduce us, to tell the students what our roles were and stated that Ms. Butler wears lots of hats. After a 10 second pause, one of the students turned back, looked at Ms. Butler, and said, “You’re not wearing a hat”. To which, the adults laughed behind our masks.
School Committee Elections
The Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District Committee is seeking candidates for election to membership on the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School Committee. The number of members elected in 2022 shall be three (3) members; each for a term of three (3) years. Nomination papers for prospective candidates were available beginning on Monday, January 10, 2022, at their respective Town Clerk’s Office to ensure that the “the candidate” is a registered voter before gathering the signatures of at least 40 registered voters from either the Towns of Hamilton and/or Wenham. It is highly recommended you obtain 50-60 signatures to ensure at least 40 are certified. The nomination papers must be returned on or before 5:00 PM on Thursday, February 17, 2022.
The Annual Town Election of Hamilton and Wenham will be held Thursday, April 7, 2022, from 7:00 AM-8:00 PM, respectively in the Towns of Hamilton and Wenham.
Half Way!
Most of the Kindergarten classes celebrate the 100th day of school in some way shape or form. I can’t wait to see what they do! This week marks the crossing of the halfway point of the school year (90th day). At the MS and HS, the students have started the second semester and both principals report a smooth transition. It is also the last second semester in school together for our seniors. Time flies!
School Committee Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (D, E, I, B) Training
I’d like to thank the school committee members who spent two and a half hours with me, Stacy Bucyk, and the DEIB trainer, Regis Shields in a training that is directly connected to the journey our district is embarking upon to learn more about DEIB in our district. They were able to experience the training that our staff and faculty were involved in earlier in the year.
ILAS Program working on Safe Serve Certification
The high school IL/AS students are going to participate in ServSafe training this Monday and Friday after school. The goal is to have the students ServSafe certified so they can work within the cafeteria on select days and outside in a restaurant if that is the path they choose. This is a credential they can keep with them for five years! Wendy Ng has been incredibly supportive and helpful with the program and will be talking to the students during the Monday school day about certification.
HS Accreditation
As you may know, the HS continues to work on its accreditation. Assistant Principal Kirsten Losee and math teacher Kevin Beckwith are the co-chairs of the decennial report committee. They have assembled teams of faculty members that are responding to NEASC’s feedback from the Fall 2019 visit. In March, a team from the New England Association of School and Colleges (NEAS&C) will spend 4 days at the HS to examine the work the HS staff and faculty have been doing to prepare for the visit.
- The primary purpose of the visit will be to hold schools accountable for improvement and growth on their identified priorities – not necessarily improvement or alignment with every Principle in the Standards.
- The visit will be organized largely based on observing and discussing the school’s Priority Areas for Growth.
- The visiting team will employ a growth mindset in meetings, interactions, and debriefs with school personnel.
- The spirit of the visit will be based on trust, inquiry, collaboration, and support.
- The visiting team will place a large emphasis on observing learning and teaching practices through classroom observations and talking to teachers and students about their work.
A final report will be delivered to us from NEAS&C by the end of the school year.
New At-Home Covid Testing Program
Students who have enrolled to receive free at-home tests will receive their two-pack of rapid at-home tests on Thursday 2/3. The intent is for your student to test before coming to school on Friday. The two-pack is designed to be used for Friday 2/4 and Friday 2/11. If you have not signed up and are interested you can complete the form linked here. If you have questions, please contact Thomas Geary – t.geary@hwschools.net or Rebecca LeBlanc – r.leblanc@hwschools.net.
Safety Training
Both the MS and HS will be revisiting safety training protocols with their staff and students over the next few weeks. You should receive an email from the building principal with more details.
Literacy and MTSS
Professional study groups continue as the focus of our PD this month, with classroom teachers studying books or online study modules related to the science of reading. Mid-year literacy assessments are taking place through January 28. Grade level data meetings are scheduled for the first two weeks of February.
DESE released a small competitive grant in mid-December for districts to obtain core reading curriculum materials. We have put forth an application for K-2 resources and will be reviewing possible choices with our MTSS Literacy Leadership Group.
The MTSS Literacy Leadership Group was scheduled to meet on January 12 but was postponed in order to prioritize teacher contact with students during the peak of absences. The leadership group will convene instead on February 16.
Welcoming Jenn Hogan-Caley to the HWRSD:
Jenn joined the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District as a district-wide Behavior Specialist this fall and brings over 23 years of Prek-12 Special Education experience to the district. She lives on the North Shore with her lacrosse-loving family and two, 100 lb. English labradors named Stella and Mabel. Jenn is thrilled to be a part of the Hamilton-Wenham school community. Favorite quote: “Calm seas never made a skilled sailor”.
Stiiiiiill looking for help
We still have a large number of positions open. Please pass the word and this link to anyone who may be looking for a part-time or full-time position and wants to work in a great district! We have positions available in the areas of classroom support, math tutoring, food service, HR, IT, speech pathology, special education, substitute nurses, and classroom substitutes.
Snow?
Looks like lots of snow coming our way. Since it isn’t a school day, I have been trying to decide if I should still get up early and practice canceling school. From what I can tell, I would have nailed this one if it was a school day.
Seriously, I hope everyone fares well with this storm. I still remember being sent to the corner store ( I was 10 yrs. old) in the middle of the Blizzard of ‘78 by my mother who thought it was no big deal to have her kids walk to the store to get her something (unnecessary). Good thing we had those cool snorkel jackets that zipped up around your face. As strange as it was at the time, it is still a great memory for me and my brothers today. Hopefully, our kids have great memories of big storms too.
5 School Street 