Superintendent Jette releases updates for week of April 7, 2022

This week’s highlights include MHS Field Trip to MIT, MFE Celebration Tickets on Sale 4/8, COVID Updates, Pierce Faculty vs. Student Basketball, Elementary Digital Citizenship Team, and more.

From The Desk Of The SuperintendentFrom The Desk Of The Superintendent

The next School Committee meeting is Wednesday, April 27, 2022 and that meeting will be a reorganizational meeting after the Town election on April 26, 2022.  As always, all information about attending School Committee meetings can be found on the Town of Milton webpage under School Committee. You can watch regular 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.

Important Upcoming Dates

• Apr 7 Milton ELPAC Meeting
• Apr 7 Speaker Jessica Lahey
• Apr 8 Wildcat Fun Night
• Apr 9 Milton Music Mattress Fundraiser
• Apr 12 MHS Cabaret
• Apr 15 Good Friday – No School
• Apr 18-22 April Recess
• Apr 26 Town Elections
• Apr 27 School Committee Reorganization Meeting
• May 2-6 Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week

The 2022-23 One Page School Year Calendar (Draft) linked here has been approved by the School Committee.  Please note that this calendar is intended as a guide ONLY. It may be necessary to change this schedule to better serve instructional purposes.

Please refer to the District-Wide Calendar of Events for times and details on current events.  In addition,  the 21-22 one page School Year Calendar can be found here.

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Wildcat Fun Night! The MHS Softball Team is hosting a night of organized activities on April 8, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. for all Milton children grades K-5 in the MHS Fieldhouse. $10 per child, come join the fun! Raffles will be available and you can also support the team on their online store.

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The final MHS Cabaret of the year will be held on Tuesday, April 12th at 6:30 P.M. in the MHS Auditorium. Please come on out and support MHS Students in this talent packed evening of student led performances! A suggested donation of $5 at the door will benefit our Spponsor-A-Lesson Program.

The Milton Music Department’s Seventh Annual Mattress Fundraiser is this Saturday, April 9.

From 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., the Milton High School Auditorium will turn into a showroom for mattresses and more. We will have over 25 name brand mattresses on display, all at 30 to 50% off store prices. EVERY sale will benefit the Milton Music Department!

Additional items for sale include convertible bean bag chairs, pillows, weighted blankets, sheets and more. Financing and delivery are available. Please spread the word and join us this Saturday!

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Save the date for the Milton Foundation for Education Celebration on May 7 at 5:00 p.m.! Get your tickets at this link tommorow! 

Join the fun with the Kentucky Derby Squares Raffle, on sale now.

• Each square cost $25.
• Individuals can purchase as many squares as they wish.
• Individuals’ names are randomly assigned to squares when purchased.
• Horse numbers will be assigned to the grid randomly before the start of the race.
• The winner will receive $1000 when the board is full. If the board is not full it will become a 50/50 raffle.

How to buy a square: Fill out the Google Form linked here with your name, email, phone and number of squares requested. An email will be sent with details on how to pay and the squares will be assigned. Good luck and thank you for your support of the MFE!

Health And Safety

COVID Updates: Milton Public School has reported 51 new student cases and 4 staff cases to DPH for the reporting period March 31- April 6, 2022.  Six cases were reported from Cunningham, Collicot and Pierce middle school with Tucker reporting seven cases, Glover eighteen cases and Milton high school reporting eight.  This week’s data at MPS mirrors local community data which show an increase in reported cases. Local and Norfolk County data can be found here: CDC COVID data tracker  and Milton COVID 19 Dashboard.

Masks: MPS  remains mask optional and is following the most recent published guidance for quarantine guidance and COVID 19 testing.  DESE/DPH Protocols for responding to COVID 19.

Testing: MPS offers symptomatic testing in each school health office after receiving consent from a student’s parent/ guardian through CIC Health.  To opt into this program please click here Symptomatic Testing- CIC Link. In lieu of contact tracing in school settings, Massachusetts DPH and DESE have offered an at home test kit distribution program through April 22.  To opt in to this program and have your student provided with free at home test kits, please download this form and have your student bring into their school nurse Student Opt-In Form  You can report positive results directly to your school here At home test kit positive results

Vaccination: American Academy of Pediatrics, along with CDC and other local health organizations, encourage COVID 19 vaccination for all those eligible.  Current vaccination rates for those > 5 years old in Norfolk County is 82.9%.(COVID data tracker- vaccination rates by county)  Milton Public Schools reports a 76% vaccination rate for elementary students and over 80% vaccination rate for middle and high school students. Information on where to find vaccines or boosters near you Vaccines.gov.

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Student Physicals: If you have trouble securing an appointment for a physical this summer, MinuteClinic will be offering a $25 off discount for Sports Physicals between June 17 and September 14  this year. Patients can go online here  to make an appointment or just scan the QR code below. Find a local clinic at this link. 

High School Happenings

Thanks to MHS Sophomore Kyla Miller for sharing the paragraph below about a field trip to MIT this week.

Students in the MHS computer science program took a field trip to MIT to attend the UAT High School Conference on Tuesday, April 5. MHS students watched MIT students perform short 10 minute Ted-Talk like presentations on computer and electrical engineering. A fan favorite among students was the “How Bees Can Teach Us About Optimization” presentation which taught students how to optimize resource distribution problems using honeybees. Another favorite was the “Cake Cutting for Selfish People” presentation with the basic principles of “I cut, You choose” which talked about game theory and how to be the ultimate peacemaker within society. Overall the students had a great time visiting MIT and engaging with over 60 presentations.

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On Tuesday, April 5 the Milton High School and Pierce Jazz Ensembles performed at the first Spring Jazz Night since 2019! The Milton Public Schools Jazz Program consists of students that meet outside of the school day, either before or after school. The evening included performances by the MHS Saxophone Quartet and the MHS Little Big Band which are student run ensembles led by senior Max Hollingsworth-Hays, Pierce Middle School Jazz Band and Milton High School Jazz 2 and Jazz Ensemble. The evening culminated in a performance by the combined Pierce and Milton High Jazz Students performing “Second Line” a traditional closing to our Jazz Night Concerts.

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After School Enrichment is looking for Counselors 16 and up to join our team. We are looking for candidates that enjoy working with children, are responsible and are willing to learn and follow the program expectations. All details can be found here. Interested? Please Contact Angie Van Allen, CIT Coordinator at [email protected].

Work at MSE this summer!  Spend July working as a Red Shirt at MSE, all details are here. ALL applications are due by April 12th at 3:00 p.m. Late applications will not be considered. Please note the following guidelines for qualification and process of acceptance as a Red Shirt Volunteer or Paid staff member. All guidelines and the link to apply are here. You must use your student email address to apply.

Pierce Pages

The Pierce Faculty-Student Annual Basketball game last week was a big success! Thank you to all who attended and cheered our teams on!

Inside Our Elementary Schools

In February, Collicot K-2 classes enjoyed a visit with author Antwan Eady, author of Nigel and the Moon. During his visit, Mr. Eady read us his story and shared a little about all the things he wanted to be when he was a child. After his visit, Ms.Tran’s and Ms. Lopez’s classes wrote Antwan letters to thank him for sharing his story with us. The students also had the opportunity to share what they want to be when they grow up, or ask the author a question in their letter. This week, Antwan posted on his instagram that he received our student’s letters and that “each letter brought [him] to tears”.

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Last week, our the Glover “Gotta Have Sole” 4th and 5th grade Student Leadership Team, mentored by Mrs. Kates, counted the money that was donated to our second annual Gotta Have Sole drive. The grand total? $800! Students also counted the donated socks (500!) and the personalized cards (600!) that were beautifully decorated and created by our amazing Glover Kids to accompany the shoes!. Finally, our student leaders counted just over 250 cans of donated soup. Way to go, Glover Community!

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4th grade Collicot students have been observing terrestrial organisms, mealworms, in the classroom . They set up a mealworm environment at two temperatures and observe the life cycle over time. Students also considered the question: How do mealworm structures and behaviors help them grow and survive? Students enjoyed making observations about mealworms and recording observations and scientific drawings in their science notebooks. Some students were more enthusiastic than others to be working with their insects, as you can see from faces in the pictures! Students will continue to observe these mealworms in their classrooms over the next few weeks and are excited to see changes as the life cycle progresses.

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Good luck to our 5th graders  – Kehdary Noel, Carter Kahn, Violet Shue, Ben Nass, Zeke Leary, Luke Powers, Catheline Daniel, Eloise Martland, Ellis Lim, Danica Carino – who are  competing in the Future Problem Solvers State Bowl this weekend! We know you will crush it!

Technology

Join the Elementary Digital Citizenship Team: The saying goes that it takes a village to raise a child, but when that saying was first said, that village probably didn’t have WiFi. There’s also a good chance the people in that village weren’t too concerned with Instagram captions and when too much screen time is becoming a problem.

Milton Public Schools is looking to bring together elementary family members who are passionate about digital citizenship to discuss how we, the Milton community, can support each other to raise healthy digital citizens. Topics of discussion may include but will not be limited to: the pitfalls of social media, ways to monitor social media accounts and internet use at home, and identify strategies on how families can help raise healthy students who live in this constantly changing digital world.

If you are interested in joining the Elementary Digital Citizenship Team, please complete this short Google Form.

Milton Community Schools

Both programs for April Vacation Camp and Camp Cunningham have reached capacity. We look forward to April Vacation and some summer fun! In the meantime, as you can see below, we are currently enjoying a lot of fun activities at our ASE/ESAP programs.

Art And Music

Do you have instruments that are no longer used at your home? Please consider donating them to the Milton Music Department! MHS’s chapter of the Tri-M Music Honor Society is holding an instrument drive to collect new or used instruments for use within music programs across the district. We are especially interested in guitars, electric basses, hand drums/percussion instruments, and traditional band & orchestral instruments. Please only donate instruments that are in playable condition or reach out to Ms. Hanna ([email protected]) to discuss special situations. We are unfortunately not able to accept pianos.

If you have an instrument in playable condition that you’d like to donate, you may drop them off at the MHS main entrance on Saturday 4/9 – 12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. (FAME Mattress Fundraiser). If you have any questions or need to arrange an alternate drop-off time, please reach out to Tri-M Faculty Advisor, Julia Hanna at [email protected].

Athletics

Please see below from MPS Athletic Director Ryan Madden.

Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020, we awarded two students a Student-Athlete of the Month Award. I am happy to announce we are bringing that back. We have two very worthy sophomore winners for February/March!

Lila Chamoun, Sophomore, Girls’ Hockey

• The girls varsity hockey team won four games in the month of February, with Lila Chamoun leading the way in goal. She recorded 3 shutouts (2-0 against Wakefield, 1-0 against Newton, 2-0 against Weymouth) and also had a 2-1 victory over Walpole in overtime. She made 8 total starts during the month of February, facing 257 shots on net with a .930 save percentage. In three of the eight games, she had 40+ saves. Lila was named Bay State Conference All Star as a Sophomore!

Mason Pellegri, Sophomore, Wrestling

• Mason finished 34-3 in the regular season. Teams would constantly game plan to avoid Mason on the mat. He finished as the D2 Central Sectional Champion and then went on to win the Division II State Championship! He is Milton’s First State Champion since 2000! Mason also finished 3rd at All-States the following weekend and was named the MVP of the Herget Division in the Bay State Conference!. “Mason is a leader, works incredibly hard, a great teammate and ambassador to the sport. A pleasure to coach and to be around and an honor roll student” – Coach Carroll.

More congrats are in order for our Winter Bay State Conference All-Stars!

• Track: Mia Jilani, Sophomore;
• Hockey: Lila Chamoun, Sophomore; Ryan Dexter, Senior; Joe Pender, Senior; Jimmy Fallon, Junior
• Wrestling: Mason Pellegri, Sophomore – MVP; Alex Paxhia, Senior

Cheer and Ski will be announced when they are released.

Our Spring Season is fully underway and we have had a great start! Girls Lacrosse is 2-0 after beating Brookline and Fontbonne on Monday and Tuesday! Boys Lacrosse started their season on the road against Boston Latin School, picking up a 9-5 win! Baseball lost a tight game to Austin Prep 1-0, with some excellent pitching on display from two of the best high school pitchers in the State. Boys Tennis beat Dedham and Weymouth to start their season 2-0 as well. Check out our Twitter (@MHS_Wildcats_) for updates and the Athletics website for any and all information!

A big shoutout to Keyon Jones, MHS ’15 for signing his first professional contract to play Basketball in the Ivory Coast! Keyon was part of the New Mexico State Men’s Basketball Program that qualified for the NCAA Mens’ Basketball Tournament in 2018-19. As a Junior at Milton High School, Keyon guided the 12-8 Wildcats to a South Sectional Title in 2014. As an Aggie, Keyon helped guide his team to a regular season, WAC Title, and 2nd straight NCAA Tournament Berth. Congratulations to Keyon and best of luck in the Ivory Coast!

Milton Boosters is hosting a meeting to discuss preliminary planning for improvements at Brooks Field – Milton High Stadium on  April 13 at 6:30 p.m. at the Milton Public Library. All are welcome – those with young children and teenagers, community members, representatives from town youth sports- we want your input and help! We are looking to make this an inclusive process for the benefit of the whole community.

Finally, the MHS Rugby team will be hosting the first Car Wash of the spring season from 9 am to noon on Saturday, April 9th at Cunningham School.

Community News

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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.