Superintendent Sheehan releases updates for week of November 3, 2022

This week’s highlights include MHS Beauty and the Beast – Nov 10-13!, Superintendent Search Update, School Committee Personalized Learning Forum – Nov 9, SEPAC Nominations, Milton Holiday Shop – Nov 5, Fruit Center Shopping Week – Nov 7-11, and more.

From The Desk Of The Superintendent

We are just one week away from the opening night of MHS Theatre’s production of Beauty and the Beast! This family friendly show is sure to be a crowd pleaser and is offered four times throughout the weekend – Nov 10 at 7:00 p.m., Nov 12 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., and Nov 13 at 2:00 p.m. This is a fantastic opportunity to see a high quality local show with your family while supporting our talented MHS students. We have heard the music and seen the set design and costumes evolve over the many weeks of rehearsal at Milton High School – don’t miss out on this terrific show! Tickets are available at this link. Break a leg, MHS Theatre!

On Tuesday of this week, MPS had the first full Professional Development day of the school year. We are so grateful to the Milton School Committee for making this day possible and to our MPS families who recognize the value of ongoing Professional Development. This day was designed to support key learning across the district.

Elementary staff engaged in Math and Social Studies PD, while Pierce and MHS staff spent time on DataWise and Universal Design for Learning. All staff then received PD on Calm Classroom and Trauma Sensitive Classrooms. We continuously ask for staff feedback on these PD sessions to assure we are delivering the most valuable PD sessions to MPS staff.

Please read below for information about the School Committee Forum on Personalized Learning, Superintendent Search Updates, SEPAC updates, Post Secondary Planning Night on Dec 1, Fruit Center Shopping Week, Milton Holiday Shop, Athletic tournament info and more.

MPS Need To Know

Important Dates

• Nov 5 Milton Holiday Shop
• Nov 9 School Committee Forum on Personalized Learning
• Nov 10 Beauty and the Beast at MHS
• Nov 11 Veterans Day No School
• Nov 12 Beauty and the Beast at MHS
• Nov 13 Beauty and the Beast at MHS
• Nov 16 School Committee
• Nov 17 Early Release P/T Conferences Grades 6-12
• Nov 23-25 Thanksgiving Break

MPS Calendars: 2022-23 One Page School Year Calendar and Link to MPS Monthly Calendar.

School Committee Public Forum

On Wednesday, November 9, from 7-8:30pm, the School Committee will host the first of four public forums for the Milton community. The forum will provide a brief presentation on Personalized Learning,  a pillar of the MPS Strategic Plan. Personalized Learning is an educational approach that creates engaging learning experiences aligned with each student’s strengths, interests, and needs and ensures that students will experience a robust and academically rich school experience.

Community members will be invited to ask questions and share comments about Personalized Learning. MPS Administration, School Committee members, and Personalized Learning authority Cyndy Taymore, who is providing the district with Professional Development, will respond to questions and comments and share their perspectives on the issues.

The public forum will be held at the Council on Aging, at 10 Walnut St, just behind Town Hall. The meeting will be hybrid, with attendees able to participate in person and through this Zoom link (Passcode: 168556).

Superintendent Search Update

As announced at the November 2 School Committee meeting (discussion starts at 1 hour twenty six minutes into the meeting), the School Committee is launching an expedited search process to identify the next Superintendent of Milton Public Schools. This process will include opportunities for stakeholders to share their input and priorities for the Screening Committee to consider as they review applications and interview candidates. One such opportunity is the chance to attend a focus group and make your voice heard. Please save the date for our two Focus Groups for Milton Parents, Guardians, Caregivers, and Community Members!

• November 14, 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., in person, MHS Auditorium
• November 16, 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m., virtual on Zoom – Link will be posted on the MPS website

We are working on setting up a separate focus group opportunity for MPS students, and there will be focus groups for MPS staff. In addition to focus groups, there will be a survey distributed to all community members as another way to share your thoughts with the Screening Committee.

In addition, a Superintendent Screening Committee is being formed to review and interview applicants and recommend 2-3 finalist candidates to the School Committee. The School Committee will then interview and appoint a new Superintendent. There are three seats available for parents/guardians to serve on the Screening Committee. All timeline details and the form to submit interest in participating on the Screening Committee can be found in the letter sent to all MPS parents and guardians earlier today and linked here . The deadline to submit interest is 5:00 p.m. on November 9th.

Post Secondary Planning Night

Please join the MHS School Counseling Department for their annual Post Secondary Planning Night on Thursday, December 1, from 6:15 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Over two hours, families will have the opportunity to attend the information sessions that most interest them. Sessions include How to Pay for College, Services for Students with Disabilities, Start Planning for your Child’s Future, Trade Talk, Admissions Advisory: Private Colleges and Public Universities and College Testing: ACT vs SAT. The evening is targeted to parents and guardians of students in Grades 8-11 but all are welcome to attend. We hope you will join us for this valuable evening as you begin to think about your child’s post secondary plans.

Health And Safety

The Commonwealth, the Northeast and much of the US are seeing increases in respiratory illness in infants and children. As we approach the winter months, please see the suggestions linked in the letter here for preventing respiratory illness, shared jointly by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Please see below from the SEPAC Board.

Participate: Milton SEPAC will kick off our new season on Monday, November 14 by voting in the ’22-’23 board. All are welcome to attend this virtual meeting (link will be available next week). Please visit this Nominations Form and vote for the SPEPAC Board today!

MPS Good To Know 

Fruit Center Shopping Week

Fruit Center Shopping week is November 7-11, and it’s easy to participate and raise funds for your child’s school. Thank you to the Fruit Center for their generous support of our schools!

• Download a shopping voucher for your school here. Print as many as you’d like and share them with friends, family and neighbors. There are also social media promotional graphics and QR codes that you can use to promote this event to your school community.
• Present your voucher when you make purchases at the Fruit Center Marketplace from Monday, November 7 through Sunday, November 13, 2022. Shop as often as you like and use your voucher for every shopping trip you make.
• The Fruit Center will donate 20% of your total purchase back to your school.
• All details can be found here.

2nd Annual Milton Holiday Shop

On Saturday, November 5th from 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. at Steel and Rye, join our school PTOs, MHS Boosters, MHS FAME and more for the 2nd Annual Holiday Shop. Shop all things Milton and MPS in one stop shopping!

MPS Employment Opportunities

Open MPS positions are always posted on the employment page of our website.  We currently have openings for Daily Substitutes, ABA Instructional Assistants, an Early Literacy & Learning Coach and more.  Check out this link and see if there is a fit for you!

In addition, we are hiring food service substitutes. Food service substitutes earn $19.15 an hour and work part-time in a flexible schedule during the school day. Please call Natalia Perez at 617-898-1051 if interested.

MPS Nice To Know

MPS French Immersion Visit

The MPS French Immersion team was recently invited to the “Maison de France” by the French Consul. The evening was in honor of French teachers and programs in New England. Many of our MPS French teachers attended the event, and the group met the new French Consul Mustafa Soykurt and his team from the French consulate and French Cultural Center. The French Consul is looking forward to visiting MPS and our French Immersion classrooms soon.

Technology Coffee Wrap Up

Thank you to the families who were able to attend our Keeping Kids Safe in the Digital World Coffee last week. If you missed the coffee, you can view the recording at this link. More information on keeping our kids safe can always be found on the Family Tech Help Center website which offers a Guardian Monitoring Page and other helpful technology information

Pierce Pages

Students on the Phoenix team recently participated in a Constitutional Convention with students acting as a delegate from the Constitutional Convention. In this mock Constitutional Convention students conducted research and utilized their research and oratory skills as they debated the various topics discussed at the Constitutional Convention.

Inside Our Elementary Schools

Madame Theobald’s Collicot 4th graders recently shared their written stories with their 2nd grade school mates in Mme Kramer and Mme Saidj’s classes. Their stories incorporated the many aspects of texts that they have studied so far this year including time and place, character descriptions and dialogue. The stories are about an encounter between a witch or wizard and another character that they create and students use writers’ techniques that they have been learning about so far this year and incorporate them into the story. We like to say “Said is dead” and have them use words like murmured, cried, shouted, whispered – of course, all in French!

4th graders used a digital story book platform to create their final products complete with voice and sound effects. It was fun for the older students to remember when they were in second grade and on the receiving end of these entertaining stories!

Athletics

There is a lot happening in Athletics this week. Good luck to our teams in tournament play!

Congratulations to the Boys Swim and Dive Team, who won the Bay State Conference meet last weekend by over 200 points! Andrew Scapicchio, Jackson Wagner, Ryan Kelly, Malachi Buchanan, and Colby Moskos won individual events, and overall the team won every event except for two. The girls team is a small but mighty group of 7, and they dropped 10 seconds in both relays to qualify for sectionals and states. Senior Liv DiSandro made her second state cut, and Kaleigh Boyton finished in the top 10 for the 200 individual medley.

Our Cheer Team finished second in the Coed Division at the Bay State Conference Tournament last night and now await their chances at an outside bid for Regionals.

Girls Volleyball was excited to see Pierce teacher Mrs. Rhodes at their Senior Night! This class was the first volleyball team at Pierce and Mrs. Rhodes was their coach.  Pictured L-R Stephanie Needham, Grace Ryan, Caroline Heelen, Mrs. Rhodes, Coco Lee, Molly Shea, Riley Donovan and Bridget McCoy.

Volleyball (13-5) earned another berth into the Division 2 Tournament, just missing a home match. As the #17 seed, they will travel to Burlington High School for a 5:30 p.m. match!

Our Football Team (7-0) finished as the #1 seed in the Division 3 Tournament. They will host Minnechaug Regional High School tomorrow, Friday 11/4 at 7:00 p.m. on the turf field. Tickets can be purchased here.

The Cross Country Boys and Girls Teams will travel back to the Wrentham Development Center, this time for the Coaches Invitational. Their races start at 9:00 a.m.

The Field Hockey Team (8-8-2) qualified for the Tournament for the second year in a row, finishing as the #15 seed in the Division 2 Tournament. They will host North Attleboro on Saturday, 11/5 at 6:00 p.m. on the turf field ! Tickets can be purchased here.

The Swim and Dive Team will trek out to Worcester Polytechnic Institute for the MIAA Sectional Championships on Sunday, 11/6!

The Boys Soccer Team (4-6-7) finished as the #13 seed in the Division 2 Tournament. They will host East Longmeadow on Monday, 11/7 at 6:00 p.m. on the turf! Tickets can be purchased here.

There will be a meeting for all Parents/Guardians of Winter Student-Athletes on Wednesday, November 9th at 6:00 p.m. in the Copeland Field House. While not mandatory, we encourage all Parents/Guardians and Winter Student-Athletes to attend to learn more about High School Athletics and meet the Coaches.

Winter Registration remains open and the user fee should be paid prior to the start of tryouts. Information can be found here.

Community News & Events

Please use the links below or visit the MPS Community News & Events page for information on these terrific community events and opportunities!

Milton Parks and Rec has two great winter programs for kids!

• Winter Youth Basketball for kids in Grades K-3 starts in December and registration opens TONIGHT, November 3 at 7:00 pm. All details are here and space is limited. 
• Ski Program at Blue Hills  for ages 7-15 is five days of great fun and learning on the snow at the Blue Hills Ski Area. Ski begins in January and registration opens Tuesday, November 8 at 4:30 p.m. All details are here.

Mackie’s Barber Shop will hold the 6th Annual Veterans Day Cut-a-Thon on Saturday, November 12th from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. All details can be found here. 

The Run to Change Lives is on Saturday, November 19 and starts and ends at Cunningham School. Run, Walk or Roll in support of Cardinal Cushing Centers programs that help individuals with intellectual disabilities! Register online here.

Milton Early Childhood Alliance: Meet and make new friends while learning how animals get ready for winter. There will also be stories, songs, and fun activities on November 5 at the Trailside Museum at this free event!

The Milton Public Library’s calendar of November programs can be found here. 

• Saturday, November 12 at 11:00 a.m. – Kids in Grades 1-5 are invited to come meet and read to a lovable (and a very good listener) volunteer dog! Each child will have the opportunity to read to the dog in a private 10 minute session to practice their reading aloud skills.
• Thursday, November 17 at 3:30 p.m. – Calling all cooks in Grades 6-12! Join us for a hands-on cooking class with local chef and cookbook author Didi Emmons. Learn how to make a cruelty- and animal-free Thanksgiving day dinner while absorbing basic cooking skills.

Sign up today for these programs here.  To learn more and to register for programs for kids, teens, and adults, please visit the MPL website.

The Forbes House Museum is offering two virtual events in November. On November 10, Professor Dane Morrison will speak about his book “Eastward of Good Hope: America in a Dangerous World.” Then on November 15, Geralyn Hughes will speak about the ancient Chinese practice of acupuncture. For more information and to register for these Zoom events, visit our website  and click on “Events.”

Come visit the farm! The Brookwood Community Farm season will end within the month but we continue to harvest. The farm stand is open Tuesday & Thursday 2- 6:30 and Saturday 9 – 1:00 p.m. through November 19.  Our annual End of Season Sale is on Sunday, November 20, 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. In addition, pre-purchase a Family Box for $60 here to pick up at the End of Season Sale on Sunday, November 20.

The DCR site, Brookwood Farm, is our original site. It is open to the public to explore. Walk on the farm road and the paths in the rear. Park in the front lot and enjoy this part of the Blue Hills Reservation.

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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.