Superintendent Jette releases updates for week of June 16, 2022

This week’s highlights include Good Luck to MHS Baseball!, Thank You to our MPS Retirees, Health Updates, MHS Achieve Class Grow Racks, MFE Teacher of the Year, MPS Summer, and more.

From The Desk Of The SuperintendentFrom The Desk Of The Superintendent

We are in the home stretch of the school year, with just four and a half days of school left for our students. As a reminder, Sunday, June 19 is Juneteenth and there is no school in MPS on Monday, June 20 in honor of Juneteenth. The last day of school, Friday, June 24, is an Early Release day.

Last week, the Pierce community experienced an extended lockdown, a traumatic experience for staff, students, families and the community. We continue to refine our safety policies, keeping student and staff safety at the forefront. If you have not yet done so, you can read my June 12, 2022 follow up letter at this link .

Last night we gathered at Milton High School to celebrate our six MPS staff members who are retiring at the end of this school year.  I invite you to read more here about April Allegrezza, Mike Cleary, Tracy Attaya, Judy Bygate, Sue Hennessey and Joe Dolan (who retired late last year). Please join me in thanking these valued staff members for their service to the Milton Public Schools!

There some some fantastic end of year celebrations, showcases, projects and plenty of fun happening during these last weeks of school. Please read on below for art and music highlights, ways to help our 8th graders advocate for higher Milton voter engagement, health updates from Director of Nursing Kim Coughlin, summer reading information, chromebook details, news from the MHS Achieve Class and much more!

School Committee

The next School Committee meeting is Wednesday, June 29, 2022.  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. Meeting minutes, presentations and other documents related to School Committee can always be found on our website under the School Committee tab.

Important Upcoming Events

• June 20 Juneteenth, No School
• June 24 Last Day of School, Early Release

MPS Calendars: 21-22 One Page School Year Calendar; 2022-23 One Page School Year Calendar; District-Wide Calendar of Events for times and details on current events.

Next year’s calendar includes four Late Start days (9/23, 10/28, 1/17, 3/31) new to the MPS calendar.  These days will be used for Staff Professional Development, similar to Early Release days. Your child’s school day will begin 2 hours later on these days, ESAP will be open for enrolled students at the elementary schools, and lunch and afterschool activities will continue as usual.

Health And Safety

COVID Updates: MPS has reported 7 new student cases and 4 staff cases to DPH for previous reporting period (June 2-8).  Local and Norfolk County data can be found here: CDC COVID data tracker and Milton COVID 19 Dashboard.

All student medications must be picked up from the school nurse’s offices by Friday June 24th.  All medications will be disposed of after this date.  Please make arrangements for pick up with your school nurse.

Incoming 7th and 11th grade students: Updated, current physical exams and immunizations are required for entry into 7th and 11th grades.  Please review the state’s updated School Immunization requirements as a Tdap booster and Meningococcal vaccine are needed for 7th graders and a Meningococcal booster is a state requirement for 11th grade.

Due to pandemic workload, MPS was not able to complete the SBIRT screening for 7th and 10th graders this year and unable to provide postural screening for elementary and middle school students.  If you would like postural screening for your student, please reach out to the school nurse who will coordinate this with your student’s teacher prior to the last day of school.

Milton Foundation For Education

The MFE has been visiting our schools and announcing winners of the MFE Teacher of the Year from each school! Congratulations to Glover Teacher Stacia Kates and MHS Teacher Liz Hallisey who were surprised at Glover and MHS this week. Thank you to the MFE for celebrating our teachers!

MPS Summer

With summer approaching, it’s time for our annual Summer Reading Challenge. Our goal is to have Milton Summer Readers read ONE MILLION minutes over the course of the summer! Teachers will be introducing the Summer Reading Challenge to elementary students next week in class and all details can be found here.

Pierce readers will visit the Pierce Summer Reading 2022 website to choose, read, and respond to texts over the summer.  MHS students will have their own summer work website which will be shared with families this month.

Milton Summer Enrichment is the perfect July option for families who are looking for a way to start the day right. Each day, our MSE kids are engaged in what THEY choose!

We have interesting and fun classes and programs for elementary, middle and preschool kids. MSE has a flexible start and end time, and is competitively priced with a family cap.

In addition, we are excited to be offering a NEW MSE class: A 4 Week Drama Intensive at MSE! This class is for children in rising grades 3 through 8 and will run M-F from 8-12.

Glover Teacher Caprial Harris will lead a dedicated group of performers in a musical theatre dance intensive! A combination of fun theatre games, vocal exercises, voice projection and articulation, scene study, script writing, choreography, and dance movement. After 4 fun weeks together the group will present a well-rounded show for family and friends on the last day of class! Sign up at the MSE link today! You can read more about Ms. Harris and the class here.

Attending MSE for an engaging morning gives families the afternoon for outings, family time, downtime, play with friends – whatever works for your family. Registration closes on June 20th, so register today for a fun July! Click here for the MSE 2022 Brochure for course offerings and registration information. Questions can be directed to [email protected]

Summertime Stories: The Milton Public Schools is partnering with the Milton Public Library and Milton Early Childhood Alliance to bring some exciting storytime programs for children age birth to 6 years old along with a parent or caregiver. Miss Sara, from the Milton Public Library, will read stories, sing songs, and delight children at four sessions held around town. On July 21st and August 18­­­­­­­­­­­th, the story times will take place at the Tucker Elementary School Playground, located in the back of the school. On July 28th and August 4th the story times will take place at Cunningham Park, on the lawn within the fenced area behind Cunningham Hall. All sessions will begin at 10:00 a.m. Please bring a blanket to sit on. In case of rain, the events will move indoors to the Tucker gymnasium or Cunningham Hall. Registration is not required, but we invite you to sign in upon arrival. Why not bring your soon-to-be Kindergartener and have them wear their yellow “I’m going to Kindergarten” t-shirt? It’s a great way for them to meet new friends who might be in their class in September!

High School Happenings

This week our MHS Band and String students traveled to our elementary schools to give instrument demonstrations to 3rd and 4th graders. The ensembles performed pieces from popular movies including Jurassic Park, Pirates of the Caribbean and The Avengers, then spent time teaching about their instruments. Bravo to all on a job well done.

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Milton High School’s Launch Program is looking for community partners to work with our students during the 2022-2023 school year. The Launch Program, which services students with a range of special needs, is looking for local businesses to support students in the development of their pre-vocational and vocational skills. Your support can help our students become more involved in the community and develop the skills needed for a successful transition to life beyond Milton High School. If you are interested or have any questions, please contact Mark Harrison, Assistant Director for Pupil Personnel Services, at [email protected]. We thank you for your interest and investment in our students.

Pierce Pages

Congratulations to the cast, crew and staff advisors on an impressive run of Golly Gee Whiz! This family friendly production was a lot of fun and well received in the Milton community. More photos can be found  here.

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Great news below from Great East from Dawn Sykes, Debra Miller, Guillermo Ortiz and Aneeka Cheema!

• The Pierce Chorus was awarded the Gold Award at the Great East Festival. The judges were impressed by the skill and understanding of the students and elevated their skill with feedback.
• The Jazz ensemble was awarded a Gold at Great East Festival.  This ensemble scored 9 out of 10 points on improvisation and ee are proud of the hard work and progress this ensemble has made.
• The Concert Band awarded with Gold at the Great East Festival.  This ensemble made a significant progress throughout the school year and continues to grow.
• The Pierce String Orchestra was awarded the highest achievable medal of Platinum at the Great East Festival last Friday.  Congratulations on this achievement!

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Get out the vote!  Pierce 8th graders eighth graders Tahlia Flores, Daniel Lee, Ania Robinson have asked me to share a link to their Voter Turnout Poll with the MPS community. I am happy to share the link and hope that many voters and potential voters in Milton will take the poll to help these 8th graders gather valuable data.

Im addition, 8th graders Luke and Jenson Bushell asked me to share an article they wrote about increasing voter turnout in Milton. The article, which will hopefully appear in the Milton Times in the coming weeks, can be read here. 

Inside Our Elementary Schools

As their final assignment, Cunningham and Collicot ACE students wrapped up an 80’s themed roller skate or rollerblade mixed media project. Students designed their own pair of skates by adding unique touches of color and personality to their work. Once the skates were completed, students worked on a background using fluorescent colors, geometric shapes and a graphic design to really draw on 80s culture. Ms. Bernini promises that these pictures are sure to provide a totally rad smile!

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Collicot and Cunningham students were very happy to return to performing live Music Showcases for their families. Held in the schools’ cafeteria, families were able to see and hear, firsthand, songs and activities from the weekly music class and learn about the music standards that were addressed through each performance. Mr. Gary Good led the kindergarten and first grade concerts, Mrs. April Allegrezza led the fourth and fifth grade music classes in singing partner songs, playing Orff instruments, recorders and ukuleles, while Mr. Good led the combined Collicot and Cunningham 5th grade band and Ms. Kavita Shankar led the combined Cunningham and Collicot string ensemble. Mrs. Allegrezza also directed grades 2 and 3 who performed songs, and played Orff instruments and recorders during their concerts.

A special thank you is extended to the Caitlin Clavette Memorial Foundation for funding a grant to supply ukuleles to each of the four Milton Public Schools’ elementary schools. Miss Clavette was a beloved elementary art teacher in the Milton Public Schools. The ukulele program commenced this year and is currently being presented to all students in grade 5 during their regular in-school music classes.

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Ms. Brandi’s Glover students enjoyed a tour of the outdoor classroom last week and observed some insects, milkweed plants, a blueberry bush and planting beds. Thank you to our parent volunteer, who also read them a book about the famous Glover ducks that have made their nests in our garden over the years.

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Tucker and Glover students have been showing their creative skills by doing some 3D printing in Technology class over the past month. Check out some of the projects they’ve been working on:

Glover 2nd Grade Insect Habitats: Students have been learning about insects. During our Technology time, students were able to create their own insect species using the scribble tool in Tinkercad. Each insect had to have a head, thorax, abdomen and six legs, just like real insects. After we 3D printed the insects, students came to the Makerspace to create a habitat for their insects. Check out these creative habitats!

Tucker 3rd Grade 3D Printing Boat Challenge: Students have put their design skills to the challenge during Technology class. Using the 3D modeling software Tinkercad, students worked in small groups to design a boat that could hold as many pennies as possible before capsizing or sinking. The students could make their boat any shape they wanted as long as it met the size requirements. When they were finished designing, we printed them out on the 3D printer. On testing day, each group was able to test their boat in a bin of water to see how many pennies they could hold.

Glover & Tucker 4th Grade 3D Printed Bookmarks: Students have put their creativity to the test. For their 3D printing project, students were to pick a book that they have read this year. Then using the 3D modeling software Tinkercad, students created bookmarks that represented their book using simple shapes. Tinkercad also has a scribble tools where students can draw their own shapes. Check out some of their amazing freehand designs!

SEPAC

PARTICIPATE, EDUCATE and ADVOCATE: Please read our 2021-2022 SEPAC Annual Report to learn about what SEPAC has been doing this year. What issues could have a subcommittee as part of SEPAC, like out-of-district folks and other inclusion concerns and practices?After reading this report, please fill out our SEPAC Survey 2022 to inform our plans for 2022-2023.

Art And Music

On Wednesday, June 15th our Annual Instrument Petting Zoo made a successful return after two years away! Students were given the opportunity to try out instruments to help them choose which one they may want to learn next year. A big thank you to the MHS string and band students who came to help out for the evening by answering questions and demonstrating their instruments as well as our vendors, Needham Music and Johnson Strings.

Is your student interested in learning an instrument? Come be a part of the Instrumental Lesson Program in Milton! All information for beginning students can be found here: Beginner Instrumental Lesson Information

Please fill out the form found HERE to begin the registration process. In order to ensure the best chances of getting your first choice instrument, fill out this form now! Please reach out to Lesson Program Director Rebecca Damiani at [email protected] with questions.

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Check out our MHS Senior Music Spotlights below. This is our final spotlight of our graduating seniors. Click the photos below to enlarge the information. Best wishes to our talented student musician.

Residency Re-establishment

The Milton Public Schools Residency Policy linked here states that students who attend the Milton Public Schools and Out of District placements shall be required to re-establish residency prior to entering Grade six (6) and or Grade nine (9). Re-establishment of residency will take place between June 6 – 20, 2022.

On June 6, an email with “re-establishment” in the subject was sent to all families who must re-establish residency. If you did not receive an email and think you should have, please check your spam or promotions mailbox and email [email protected] with questions. That Re-establishment of Residency Letter is linked here. In addition, the MPS required residency documents can be found here.

Technology

Have questions about Chromebooks? We’ve got answers here! Wondering who uses them, how to get one,  do you need insurance? This document has answers for every grade.

Transportation

Bus registration for the 2022-23 school year will close on June 24, 2022. Please visit our Transportation Page for all details and links.

Milton Community Schools

Community Schools online enrollment for the 2022-23 school year is open!  Community Schools offers After School Enrichment (ASE) and Early School Arrival Program (ESAP). This link has detailed information. Questions? Email us at [email protected].

From Hula Hooping to Jump Rope Competitions to Puzzle Mania and everything in between, we are soaking in the final filled days of our ASE and ESAP programs for the 21-22 school year.

Food Service

Last week our students in the MHS Achieve class showcased their Indoor Garden Racks to their fellow MHS students and staff. Working in the MHS cafeteria, our students harvested the basil while their peers asked questions and sampled fresh basil.

This garden rack has been a joy to our students and they take well deserved pride in the produce they have grown. Thank you to our students for your ongoing care of our produce Grow Racks.

Community News

Director of Athletics Ryan Madden will share an end of year wrap up next week. The big news this week is MHS Baseball! For the 1st time in 48 years, baseball is headed to the State Finals!

The Division II State Finals #1 Milton v #2 King Philip Saturday, Saturday, 6/18  at 6:00 p.m. at Fitton Field, Holy Cross College, Worcester, MA. No bags, water, food, or noisemakers allowed. Tickets must be purchased in advance at this link.

More exciting athletic news – the 4×800 Relay Team, consisting of Katie O’Toole, Marilyn Roche, Mia Jilani and Gretel Schewe earned their spot at the New Balance Nationals in Philadelphia this weekend!

Best of luck to our MHS Wildcats! 

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.