Superintendent Sheehan releases updates for week of September 1, 2022

This week’s highlights include Welcome Back to MPS!, Food Service Updates, Instrumental Music Lessons, MHS Theatre Program, MPS Employment Opportunities, Fall Athletics Begin, and more.

From The Desk Of The Superintendent

As you’ll see below, this week, we enthusiastically welcomed back our MPS staff and students in grades 1-12. To start the week, over two days of Professional Development, all staff received updated safety and security training, school law updates, trained in new curriculum, reconnected with colleagues, and readied their classrooms. On Wednesday, we welcomed students back to our buildings.

After the summer break, seeing all six of our schools full of laughter and learning was an absolute joy. This week, routines were introduced, old friends were reunited, and new connections were fostered. I hope that your children settled in easily to the new school year but rest assured that if they feel a bit unsettled in their new class or grade, your children’s teachers, adjustment counselors, and principals are here to help. A strong home-school connection is vital to the well-being of our students, and we are your partners in ensuring your children have a successful school year. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to your child’s teachers or principal with any concerns. The adults who work in MPS could work in other fields or districts, but they have chosen to work here in large part because of our positive and welcoming MPS community. Thank you for entrusting us with your children, and we look forward to a fabulous school year!

As a reminder, MPS is closed on Friday, September 2, and Monday, September 5, in recognition of Labor Day. On Tuesday, September 6, we will welcome our Kindergarten and Preschool students for their first day. I wish you a relaxing long weekend and look forward to seeing the entire MPS community together on Tuesday.

As we shared last week, we are changing the layout of the blog to start the school year. Below you will find many of the same categories as before, but now organized into three larger “buckets”: MPS Need to Know, MPS Good to Know, and MPS Nice to Know. If you missed the blog last week, you can read more about this change at the top of last week’s post, linked here.

MPS Need To Know

Important Dates

• Sept 2 No School
• Sept 5 No School, Labor Day
• Sept 6 1st Day of School for K/PreK
• Sept 6 State Primary Election Day
• Sept 7 Milton School Committee
• Sept 8 Pierce Open House
• Sept 12 Applied Music Lesson Reg Night
• Sept 13 Cunningham Open House
• Sept 15 MHS Open House
• Sept 21 Milton School Committee
• Sept 22 Tucker Open House
• Sept 22 Collicot Open House
• Sept 23 Late Start for Students
• Sept 28 Katie Greer Presentation
• Sept 29 Glover Open House
• Oct 5 No School Yom Kippur

MPS Calendars

• 2022-23 One Page School Year Calendar
• Link to MPS Monthly Calendar

As noted in previous newsletters, this 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, Before School Programs will be open for enrolled students at the elementary schools, and lunch and afterschool activities will continue as usual.

Food Service

Thank you to our long-time Director of Nutrition Services, Jackie Morgan, for over two decades of exemplary service to the Milton Public Schools. We wish her all the best in her next venture as she pursues her career goals, and we will miss her presence at MPS. We are forever grateful for all she has done for the students of the Milton Public Schools.

Mrs. Morgan has both a detailed transition plan and a strong existing team of Food Service professionals, which will ensure that Food Service operations continue uninterrupted. Thanks to Mrs. Morgan’s leadership and our outstanding food service employees, it will be business as usual in our cafeterias.

Need lunch menus? They are always posted on the MPS Food Service website linked here.  As a reminder, Massachusetts has extended free school meals for all students through the 2022-2023 school year. This means that one breakfast and one lunch each day will continue to be served at no cost to all students!

Health And Safety

Covid-19 Information September 2022: Please see this link from MA DESE for details on COVID testing in schools. MPS will not be providing in school testing or supplying at home kits as these programs are no longer offered at no cost by the state. Please see this link for quarantine and isolation guidelines. The CDC has updated its guidance for people who know they have been exposed to COVID-19.

The joint early childhood & K-12 guidance for students and staff has also been updated to reflect the updated CDC guidance on exposure and isolation in these settings. This guidance is further acknowledgment that, while COVID-19 is still with us, for a majority of people, COVID-19 no longer severely disrupts their daily lives.

MPS Good To Know

Instrumental Lessons Program  

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 by September 6 to begin the registration process. To complete your registration, you must attend the Beginner Registration night on September 12th at 7:00 p.m. at MHS. Email Lesson Program Director Rebecca Damiani at [email protected] with questions.

MHS Theatre Program

Our MHS after school theatre program is excited to introduce our new Theatre Directors along with a message from Backstage Boosters on how you can support this amazing program. Meet the new Creative Team on Wednesday, September 7 at 3:00 p.m. at MHS.

Coming to MHS this fall – Beauty and the Beast! The Backstage Booster’s letter can be found here and the Theater Meet and Greet and tryout information can be found here. 

Back To School Webpage

We have created a Back to School webpage with information and links to everything you need to know for a smooth transition back to school! Chromebooks, start times, health forms, lunch menus, and much more can be found on the Back to School webpage. You can access the page here or on our MPS homepage.

MPS Employment Opportunites

Now that the kids are back, are you wondering what to do with your time? Consider working at MPS!  There are school day and after-school positions available, and we are always looking to increase our substitute pool. Check out this link and see if there is a fit for you!

Athletics

Fall Sports are underway! Find all the schedules here. You can follow any team and receive updates by email or text. You can also receive reminders before each game and create a link to your Google Calendar.

The first Varsity home match is today, as our Golf Team takes on Canton High School at 3:30 p.m. at the Hoosic Club. The first Football Game is next Friday, Sept 9th at 7:00 p.m. as the Wildcats host the reigning Division IV State Champions, Scituate Sailors. There is no admission charge for any home regular season contests this year.

Please welcome our new coaches to the MHS Athletics staff.

• Courtney Chester is our new Fall Cheerleading Coach. Courtney cheered at Curry College and won a National Championship coaching with the Colonels in 2019. Kerin Cox joins her as the JV Assistant. Kerin cheered at Providence College and brings a ton of coaching experience!
• Genevieve Connelly returns to coach with the Cross Country Program, having run as a Wildcat during a great stretch in program history from 2015-2018. Genevieve continued her running career as a Stag at Fairfield University.
• Molly O’Toole joins the staff as our new Dance Coach for the Winter 2022-23 Season. O’Toole won 8 straight State Champions as a member of the Braintree Dance Team, serving as their captain in two seasons. O’Toole studied and performed Jazz, Tap, and Ariel Dance at the University of New Hampshire.

Superintendent Shoutout  

Thank you to the MHS Marching Band, who welcomed the MPS staff back on Monday. We all enjoyed their wonderful performance!

Community News

MHS Senior Mia Gilmore is the Director of Outreach for the Greater Boston STEM Program (gbSTEM) and shares the following information about upcoming programs.

gbSTEM is a non-profit enrichment program that delivers free introductory computer science, math, engineering, and science courses to elementary and middle school students in the Greater Boston area. Since March 2020, our team of dedicated high school volunteers has brought free lessons to over 1000 Massachusetts youth. Classes will be held both through Zoom and in-person, and we pride ourselves on our innovative curriculum and collaboration-based learning model.

We are delighted to announce that we will be offering a fall semester of gbSTEM to students in K-8th grade, which will run from September 17th to December 17th, 2022! The registration deadline is September 9th, 2022.

Information about our program and the registration form can be found on our website.  If you have any questions, please email [email protected]. We are so excited to work with your family this spring!

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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 Dr. Garth McKinney, (617) 696- 4808/4809.