Superintendent Jette releases updates for week of November 4, 2021

This week’s highlights include MHS Theatre’s Chicago – Starts Tonight!, MFE Monster Dash, Health and Safety Updates, MHS Athletic Schedules and Highlights, INTERFACE Referral Service, and more.

From the Desk of the Superintendent:

Thank you to the Milton Foundation for Education for another wonderful Monster Dash last weekend! Hundreds of costumed runners filled Cunningham Park, participated in the Fun Run and traversed the streets of Milton for the 5K. The Monster Dash is held each year in memory of Sam Cichello, a Tucker student who tragically died in a playground accident. All funds raised support science in all six of our schools, because Sam loved science! Thank you to all who organized, volunteered and participated in this successful event.

I also want to send a special thank you to Kimberly A. Harte, DMD and her team at Harte Dental for their thoughtfulness and generosity. Dr. Harte sent the “Mom on the Go” food truck to Milton High School this week and provided lunch for all teachers and staff during this week’s Professional Development day. The food was delicious and our staff was incredibly grateful for this midweek treat.

The Fruit Center is a generous supporter of the Milton Public Schools and this coming week is School Fundraising Week. From Monday, November 8 through Sunday, November 14, simply shop at the Fruit Center, show your school’s voucher linked here: Collicot, Cunningham, Glover, Tucker, Pierce, MHS and The Fruit Center will donate 20% of your total purchase back to your school. Our schools have received thousands of dollars through this program over the past decade. All details can be found here.

Good luck to our student-athletes as we have some exciting things happening this week for Milton High School Sports! Ryan Madden, Director of Athletics, shares all details below in Athletics section. There are many games, matches, and meets in this jam-packed week of postseason play! Please note that per the MIAA, spectators must pre-purchase tickets via GoFan at this link for Friday night’s football game. Please see here for the link to purchase tickets.  No tickets can be sold at the door.

School Committee 

The next regular Milton School Committee meeting is on November 17 at 7:00 p.m.  All information about attending School Committee meetings can be found on the Town of Milton webpage under School Committee. You can watch School Committee meetings live on Milton Access TV online, live on Milton Access cable channels (Comcast 22, RCN 15) or watch on-demand in the days following the meeting.

At last night’s meeting the School Committee voted on Policy ILD, Student Submission to Educational Surveys and Research. Policy ILD is posted on our website at this link and will be included in the Student Handbook going forward.

Health And Safety

This past Tuesday, the federal government gave Pfizer’s pediatric COVID 19 vaccine for ages 5-11 final approval and doses are available in Massachusetts starting today. The state will be updating the their website as new vaccination sites become available.  The Vaxfinder tool can be used along with links to retail pharmacies  CVS’s scheduling site or Walgreens’ scheduling site to schedule appointments. Manet Community Health Center will also welcome all pediatric patients to 180 Old Colony Ave, in Quincy on the following days: November 12 from 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. and November 13 from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Test and Stay: If you have not yet opted in to Test and Stay and Symptomatic testing, please consider doing so now. All details can be found here. Superintendent Jette’s September 9, 2021 letter about the Test and Stay Program can be found here. You must OPT IN to Test and Stay to participate.  You can opt in at this link.

For the time period of Thursday, October 28 – Wednesday, November 3, MPS had  3 positive student cases, and 1 positive staff cases. All health and safety information can be found on our Health Services website.

Flu Clinic: Town of Milton 2021 Seasonal Flu Clinic for the General Public. Preregister at this link.

• When: Tuesday, November 9 from 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
• Where: Pierce Middle School, 451 Central Avenue Milton – Front Entrance
• Who: Ages 4 years & older
• Seasonal Flu Vaccines are available in injection form only
• For ease of vaccination, please wear a short sleeve shirt.
• Please call the Board of Health at 617-898-4886 with any questions.

Important Upcoming Dates

• Nov 4, 6, 7 Chicago at MHS
• Nov 11 No School – Veterans Day
• Nov 17 School Committee Meeting
• Nov 18 Early Release Day K-12 (PT Conf Gr 6-12 only)
• Nov 24-26 Thanksgiving Break

Please refer to the District-Wide Calendar of Events for times and details. The 21-22 School Year Calendar can be found here (Revised 10/27/21 to reflect updated last day of school)

Ms. White’s Culinary Arts classes worked leading up to Halloween to create 3D sugar cookies in the shape of a coffin.  Student’s objectives were to: explore various mixing methods; create and cut out design templates; mix, cut, and bake cookie dough from scratch; pipe frosting using various techniques; pratice teamwork and time management; and outline their process, including narration, graphics and outcome.

These 3D cookies will prepare students for a holiday baking project. Each class will create a Gingerbread Village to be auctioned off and all proceeds from the auction will be donated to the Milton Residents Fund.  Students will earn community service for the project. By the look of these cookies, our classes are going to come up with truly spectacular Gingerbread Villages!

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MHS students in Robotics and AP Computer Science were able to attend virtual field trips over the past two weeks. Robotics students had two Software Engineers from iRobot discuss what the day in the life of a Robotics Software Engineer is like. They also showed how Roombas use their sensors to navigate a house. On October 28,  students in AP Computer Science A and Robotics were able to watch  MIT seniors present 10 minute projects exposing students to what is happening in the fields of electrical engineering and computer science. When asked to share what they learned about CS students said they learned that robots can use probability and guess and check to navigate a dark room, how Amazon uses low pass filters to filter outside noise to hear your voice, how zero knowledge proofs are cool logic problems that may appear impossible at first, how you can find the length of DNA sequences by friction, how websites predict your likes by comparing what you like to people who have similar taste as you, and how AI make decisions by probability and desire. Both virtual field trips were informative, interesting and valuable. The MIT field trip was sponsored by Schools to Careers and we thank them for their support.

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MHS Best Buddies enjoyed some after school trick-or-treating this week, after their annual Spooky Party. Great costumes, good friends and lots of fun!

Pierce Pages

Pierce Color Wars! Last Friday, Pierce hosted a successful Color Wars, a fun competition between grades to show off school spirit, camaraderie and connection. 8th graders dressed in black, 7th graders dressed in blue, and 6th graders in red. Many thanks to the Pierce Culture Club for their leadership in making this school-wide event happen!

Inside Our Elementary Schools

Ms. Bonner’s Glover 1st graders had fun with gooey pumpkin seeds last week. Students estimated how many seeds were in the large pumpkin and used teamwork to count a plate of seeds. They then totaled their findings for a grand total of 616 seeds.

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Ms. Bernini’s 3rd grade students in the Collicot and Cunningham art room have finished these adorable ceramic owls. Students learned how to roll their clay into a slab and then curl the top over to create a loop for their owl’s head. Students then reviewed the technique of “scratch and attach” to create their owl’s face and wings. The final step was adding texture with the end of a popsicle stick to imply feathers. Once the owls were in the bisque stage, students applied glaze to their owls and the final results are stunning as you can see below.

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Senora Brown’s students worked to create Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) sugar skulls and have them displayed in the Tucker hallway.

Education Equity

Senior Director of Education Equity, Somaly Prak-Martins, shares this week’s Behaving Equitably Newsletter linked here. Director Prak-Martins includes information about National Native American Heritage Month, Diwali, Hanukkah and more.

Family Resources

In an effort to support and foster a strong home-school connection MPS knows that families may sometimes need resources for their children and family beyond the classroom.  In addition to the Milton Public School Resource Guide we will be highlighting local community resources families may find beneficial in our Family Resource Newsletter.  If you need additional assistance please don’t hesitate to reach out to Marti O’Keefe McKenna, MPS Family Outreach Liaison at 617-980-7343 or by email at [email protected]. If your family needs assistance with fees for athletics, clubs, activities, please email Ms. McKenna, your principal or adjustment counselor. All calls and emails are confidential.

Special Education

Administrator for Pupil Personnel Services, Sue Maselli shares her most recent newsletter at this link.  This newsletter has information about a Parent Coffee on Thursday, November 18.  This open forum is a great time to connect on issues related to special education. All our Team Chairs will be in attendance, so this is a great time to come and meet folks you may not have met yet!  The newsletter also contains news from the SEPAC and information about upcoming trainings.

Food Service

MPS Food Service is hiring for all positions – permanent and substitute, both full and part-time. Pay is $17.28. Email Jackie Morgan at [email protected] for details. Come join our MPS team!

Art And Music

FAME, Friends and Advocates of Music Education, the Milton Music Boosters organization, shares the following.

We hope our Milton music supporters will shop our holiday fundraiser to raise money in support of our music students.  You’ll find one-of-a-kind handcrafted goods from farmers and artisans from around the world, including holiday décor, gifts, jewelry, accessories, and home goods as well as chocolate, teas and coffee. All details can be found at this link. 25% of your purchase goes directly to FAME!

You’ll be helping us raise money to support Milton youth musicians and programming at all levels of music education, including scholarships for seniors, entry fees for Districts and SEMSBA, and needs that are not allocated in the music budget.

Plus, you’ll also be supporting fair trade, which means you’re saying YES to NO child labor, fair pay, safe working conditions, and sustainable practices.

Our fundraiser ends on November 15, so start your holiday shopping now at this link. These affordable items will be loved by all on your gift giving list!

Athletics

The William James INTERFACE Referral Service is a mental health resource and referral Helpline available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. It assists Milton residents and/or public school students to access outpatient mental health services. What makes INTERFACE unique is that we do not provide merely a list of providers, but rather matched referrals to mental health professionals and practices who best meet the caller’s needs, insurance or fee requirement, specialty request, location, and availability. The Helpline is staffed by mental health professionals, as well as graduate level students from William James College. For more information about INTERFACE, please visit their website.

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The Milton Public School system does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, gender identity, transgender status, gender transitioning, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its programs, activities or operations. These include, but are not limited to, admissions, equal access to programs and activities, employment, provision of and access to programs and services, as well as a selection of volunteers, vendors, and employers recruiting at the Milton Public Schools.  We are committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all members of our staff, students, volunteers, subcontractors, and vendors. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies: Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Human Resources Janet Sheehan, (617) 696- 4808/4809.