Mathewson Elementary School
PAWprint October 27, 2023
Hello Bulldog Families,
We hope to see you at the Halloween Hoot tonight! Thanks to so many PTA volunteers and families that have helped to make this event happen. This week was beautiful weather wise, next week we are supposed to have more fall-like temperatures so dress accordingly. We look forward to having families come see our Halloween parade next Tuesday. If anything changes and the weather does not look good we will send out communication. We should also be ready to open our BIG PLAYGROUND FINALLY next week. Yahoo! Have a PAWmazing weekend ahead!
With Love,
Melissa Currier, Principal
Important Dates
*10/27: Friday, PTA Sponsored Halloween Hoot at night--see info
*10/31: Tuesday, Mathewson Halloween Parade at 9:15a (Families welcome!!! Let’s hope for good weather. If inclement weather it will have to be inside and then students and staff only)
*11/7: No School for Students! This is a full staff Professional Learning Day.
Upcoming Information to Know:
Our PTA is excited to offer another round of afterschool Giggling Pig Art Classes! This session will run November 14, 21, 28 and December 5th. Please click the links to register/pay and see the flyer. Space is limited.
Registration Link Giggling Pig Nov/Dec Classes
News from Nurse Sam. Milford Dept of Human Service and Youth and Family Services is pleased to present What Every Girl Needs to Know for Mothers and Daughters. We are pleased to announce an exceptional opportunity for mothers/guardians and their daughters in Grades 4 or 5. What Every Girl Needs to Know is a discussion on the subject of physical and emotional changes of puberty. Diane Frankel-Gramelis, a long-time friend of the Milford Health Dept. and Milford Public Schools, will lead this very important conversation. Diane serves as the Yale Student Wellness Counselor and has been lauded for many years on her approach and the valuable information attendees learn during this presentation. The event is FREE to all attendees. See info here.
We’ve got spirit, yes we do! Here are our November Spirit Days for you!
Mathewson will be celebrating Veterans Day on Thursday 11/9/23.
Do you know a Veteran who would like to visit Mathewson for our Veterans Day Assembly? If so, please complete this form by Friday, November 3rd with the information about the Veteran who would be interested/available to attend and indicate which session (or both) that they will be attending on the afternoon of Thursday 11/9/22 . We will welcome the Veterans with coffee and light refreshments prior to the start of each assembly.
The Assemblies will feature patriot songs sung by our students and also a brief Q&A opportunity for our students to ask Veterans age-appropriate questions about what life/food/leisure in the military may have been like in your experience etc. We look forward to celebrating our Veterans!
Please see information here about a Community Resource Fair on November 15th! MPS Provider Resource Fair
We are happy to participate in the Thanks 4 Giving Collection Drive again this year. Please see the information of how to help here!
Mathewson Costume Parade
Tuesday, October 31, 2023 9:15 am
Students will come to school in their costumes! Please have students wear their costumes over their regular clothes and bring a labeled bag for their costumes. (It's a long day to stay in your costume).
Children must have a costume appropriate for elementary school aged children. Gory/violent images are not good for our little ones.
No props, toy weapons, face masks, or make-up, etc., are allowed.
All guests must stay outside for the duration of the parade. If parents are assisting with a learning activity after the parade, it must be pre-arranged with the classroom teacher and we ask that you please wait until the parade is completely finished prior to entering.
We ask that families line up in the front lawn by the West River Street entrance or the side field of the school to get a great view of children marching . Parking will be limited so arrive early but not earlier than 9 am please this way buses can complete their drop off routines! Please use side streets for parking rather than the lot.
The parade will start from the back of the school and walk along the soccer field, and sidewalk all the way to the West River Street entrance. You will have plenty of photo opportunities. Please know we walk by grade level with a short break in between each grade so the next set of parents/guardians can be ready for their photo opp.
*Should there be inclement weather that morning, the parade will be held indoors. In that case we will only have enough space for all staff and students. We will be sure to post lots of pics on Twitter should this happen.*
Any family who does not wish their child to participate should contact the teacher in advance so that we may make appropriate arrangements.
We look forward to sharing this festive event with your children and family!
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Mathewson PTA News
Our next meeting is…..
Tuesday, November 14, 2023
IN PERSON in the Library
We will be offering child care (Foran, Law and Harborside Key Club Members)
We are excited to offer our first Mathewson Parents Night Out on 11/2!!
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Getting to Know Your Bulldog Staff!
Meet Mrs. Klein
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News Already Shared But Still Important….
We love to celebrate your child’s birthday and make holidays throughout the year special; however, we do not allow goodie bags of any kind to come into school. Please reach out to your child’s teacher if you wish to come in and be a guest reader for the class or hand out a pencil, crayons or bookmark instead. To ensure all items are safe for all children we just ask that a gift bag of any kind not come in for birthdays or holidays. Thank you.
Family Arrival and Dismissal Reminders (sent out in opening letter)
Student Absence Reporting Procedure:
The school attendance line is no longer the means for reporting student absence. A new requirement is for parents/guardians to fill out the Attendance Absence Form within PowerSchool any time their child is absent.
The procedure for notifying the school of your child’s early dismissal or late arrival is the same as previous years. If your child will be arriving/joining late or leaving early, please email the building secretary, the greeter and classroom teacher.
This form must be completed on the day the child is absent and must be completed on each day
Absent. If you fill out the form more than once in a day, only the latest will be seen.
You can watch the steps below in this video:
The purpose of this form is to keep everyone safe and healthy by verifying the child’s symptoms.
1) Start by logging into PowerSchool (https://gradebook.milforded.org)
2) After logging in, click Forms in the left navigation.
Note: If you are on a phone’s browser and don’t see Forms at first, tap the little right-facing
arrow in the upper-left corner to show the left navigation.
3) If you have more than one child, make sure you click/tap the correct child’s name in the
upper-left corner first.
4) On the Forms page, look for the Attendance section. Click/tap the Attendance Absence Form -
Parents link.
Note: If the form never loads, please make sure you are not using the Firefox web browser.
5) Answer Yes or No to the questions and then click/tap Submit.
6) If you answer No for the following question “Even though your student is out sick today will
he/she be participating in class as a distance learner” a follow up question will appear.
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District News….
Chromebook Insurance: You Can Renew Right on the Parent Portal: Our low-cost Chromebook Insurance program is WELL worth the annual renewal fee ($25 per year). If you’ve got kids, then you already know there’s always the potential for something to happen to the Chromebook during the year: lost (~$230 replacement cost), replacement mainboard (~$90), cracked screen (~$40), broken hinges (~$15), or broken keyboard (~$60), just to name a few. For $25, you can have peace of mind and save a lot of aggravation when something goes wrong. You can reserve your Chromebook insurance right on your Parent Portal account. If you have any questions, please contact our BIDS dept. at (203) 783-3446.
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Community Connections Center News
This week's CCC News contains information and links for the Milford's Public Library's News letter, Park & Recreation swim lessons and City Seeds Farmers Markets. Fun for your family can be found by clicking on links for New Haven's Common Grounds, Free Farm Day and a schedule for Milfords Halloween Activities.
Remember that the CCC Website is updated with links to community resources.
Have a Great Weekend!
To locate the CCC’s web page go to Milford’s main page and click on the Menu tab & scroll down under district Information to find the Community Connections Centers!
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Mary-Kathryn Williams, Coordinator
Milford Community Connection Centers
203-882-6094
Mwilliams@milforded.org
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@ BePAWsitiveMPS
