Dear Greenwood Families,
Happy Monday! I’m writing this on Friday afternoon, so depending on who you ask we’re either getting blanketed with snow to end the weekend or we’re once again falling prey to meteorological media hype that will amount to nothing. That’s winter in Massachusetts for you! We’ll see how it plays out…
Reminder - Snacks
Right before the break we noticed a slight uptick in students who were coming to the office because they did not have a packed snack for their morning break. Please know that while school lunches are provided free of charge to any student who wants one, we do not have that same capacity when it comes to snacks. We appreciate your assistance with making sure your child has something with them!
Midyear District Assessments
If your child happens to come home and say, “I did a reading activity with a different teacher today!” or “I logged into i-Ready to do math today,” that’s just a sign that we have entered the midyear elementary assessment window. As a reminder, there are three times over the course of the school year where we collect benchmark information about students in reading and math to better refine our general classroom instructional needs, identify and form intervention/enrichment groups, and monitor overall student growth. Once the data is collected, we will be sharing DIBELS and i-Ready assessment information out with families.
NOTE: For our DIBELS midyear assessments, we will be using a districtwide team model to complete testing more efficiently. Reading specialists and literacy interventionists from all four elementary schools will be scheduled to travel to different schools in order to focus their efforts and minimize disruptions to classroom instruction. Because of this teaming model, most literacy intervention groups will be paused between 1/26and 2/5. After that point, midyear data will be used to determine the next round of groupings. More information to come about that!
Report Cards - FYI
Nobody has really been asking yet, but I know the questions will come! Report cards will be shared via email with families on Thursday, February 12th. A letter will be sent home earlier that week with more information about the report cards and what information they provide..
Grades 3 & 4 - MCAS Dates
While we’re still a couple of months away from the testing windows, planning and scheduling for this year’s MCAS tests is underway! Students in Grades 3 & 4 will complete computer-based testing in both English Language Arts (ELA) and Math. There are two sessions for each subject area, and tests must be scheduled within the window provided by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. We are sharing these dates now in the effort to avoid scheduling appointments that would remove your child from school on the MCAS testing days.
ELA - Monday, 4/6 & Tuesday, 4/7
Math - Monday, 5/11 & Tuesday, 5/12
If you have a known conflict with these dates, please let me know ASAP. We do have some leeway for makeup dates as long as we stay within the mandated testing window.
Fall 2026 Kindergarten Registration
Do you have a child who will be entering Kindergarten in the fall of 2026? Do you know someone else who does? It’s just about time for us to start looking ahead and thinking about welcoming next year’s crew! Here is the general plan - more information to come!
In early January, WPS will send a mailing to all families of kindergarten-age children in Wakefield. Information will also be posted on the WPS website, WPS social media and in the Wakefield Daily Item. Families will be asked to complete the online registration between January 8th and January 29th. There will be a virtual WPS District Kindergarten Information Meeting with elementary principals for families on Thursday, March 26th at 7:00pm. Kindergarten screening dates will be in June - exact dates will be finalized and shared once we know the date for the last day of school.
Lunchroom Volunteers
Do you have any free time between 12:00-1:15pm on school days? Looking for a way to help out at Greenwood? Come join us as a lunchroom volunteer! If you’d like to come in and help support students while they’re eating lunch, please see the linked Sign-Up Genius to select time slots up until the FEBRUARY break! Single days, multiple days, one time slot, the whole lunch block…we welcome any and all helpers!
Lunchroom volunteers will help students with those tricky thermoses, hand out napkins and utensils, support students while they sort items into composting/food rescue/trash, and help clean tables at the end of each lunch. Oh, and the most important thing - bring smiles and laughter!
NOTE: You will need to have a CORI form completed before coming in for any lunch shifts - please contact Ms. Paiva about the process or to check if you have a current one on file.
Greenwood School Social Media
We are on Facebook and Instagram, and one of my personal goals this year is to show off the fun we’re having throughout Greenwood! Check us out - @wpsgreenwood on both Instagram and Facebook!
As always, please do not hesitate to reach out with questions.
Thank you for everything you do to support your children and their learning! Let’s have a great week!
Tiffany Back
Principal, Greenwood School