Dear Families,

We can’t believe it’s already November! The first few months have flown by, filled with lots of learning and fun events.

Recently, I attended a Massachusetts Partnership for Youth workshop, EXIT PLAN: How Schools Can Help Lead the Way Out of the Youth Mental Health Crisis, presented by Kathleen MacKenzie, EdD, LICSW, CIMHP. Two things stood out to me. First, the presenter shared that the current recommendation is for children to wait until age 16 to have a smartphone. If a child needs a phone before then, a flip phone is the suggested option. (Yes, they still sell them!) Second, she shared that many kids return to their devices after their parents have gone to bed. This costs them valuable sleep they need to process their day and regulate their emotions.

If you’ve struggled to pull your child away from screens, you may find this article helpful. Dr. MacKenzie, who specializes in youth mental health, explains how small changes can make a big difference: Can’t Pry Your Kids Away from Electronics? While some of these ideas, especially those around social media, may feel more relevant as children get older, healthy habits start early, and the elementary years are a great time to begin building them.

Here are some of Dr. MacKenzie's suggested harm-reduction strategies for helping children learn to manage their own screen use:

1. Reduce exposure. Consider cutting back on social media from daily to every other day, or every third day.
2. Think portion control. Set time limits, such as one or two hours, rather than allowing unlimited use.
3. Offer replacements. Replace some screen time with activities your child is less likely to overdo. For example, swap gaming time for exercise or outdoor play.
4. Encourage healthier uses. Frame the computer as a tool for learning rather than for social media.
5. Make small, gradual changes. Small changes over time tend to be more effective and less stressful for children and families than sudden, large ones.
6. Model healthy habits. Children learn best by watching the adults around them, so involve the whole family.

Thank you, as always, for your partnership in supporting our students. We are always happy to hear from you if have questions or ideas to share.

Warm regards,

Kathy and Mike

School Improvement Council - We need volunteers

We are in need of 2 parents and 1 community member to join our School Improvement Council. Our School Improvement Council serves as an advisory board to the administration of Meetinghouse School and Westminster Elementary School. The council gives input to the school improvement plan, as well as budget implications and programmatic changes throughout the school year. School Improvement Council meetings are held monthly and are open to the public. If you are interested, please email Kathy Taylor at ktaylor@awrsd.org. Our first meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, November 10th at 4:00 p.m.

As Thanksgiving approaches, Veterans Inc. is organizing its Holiday Harvest effort to provide food and other holiday essentials to Veterans and their families in need across Central Massachusetts.

This year, the WES Student Council is proud to join in by hosting a non-perishable food drive to support local Veterans. We warmly invite students to bring in non-perishable food items and Thanksgiving favorites, such as:

• Boxed stuffing
• Gravy
• Chicken or turkey broth
• Bakery items
• Other non-perishable foods that families can enjoy

Donations will be collected from Monday, November 2nd through Thursday, November 19th. All items will then be delivered to Veterans Inc. to help Veterans and their families enjoy a more comfortable Thanksgiving. To keep everything safe to distribute, we kindly ask that all items be unopened and in their original, undamaged packaging.

Thank you for helping us show our appreciation for those who have served!

November 10: Tuesday ~ MHS/WES School Improvement Council 4:00 PM

November 11: Wednesday ~ No School, Veteran's Day

November 12: Thursday ~ PTO Meeting, MHS Cafeteria 6:00 PM

November 25: Wednesday ~1/2 day of school

November 26-27: Thursday/Friday ~ No School, Thanksgiving break

A friendly reminder that we require notes or emails when there is a change in your student's end of day dismissal. Be sure to include the date and student's last name. If you need to send an email to either school you may use mhsoffice@awrsd.org for MHS and wesoffice@awrsd.org for WES.

Fourth graders enjoyed our Great Heart Day on Friday, October 30th. Students interested in dressing up looked absolutely fantastic! It’s a great way to celebrate what we’ve learned about taking care of our literal heart while also displaying a great figurative heart. Once we wrap up our Great Heart unit, we will move into Extreme Settings! 

In math, we are finishing our first unit about multiplication comparisons, and we will begin to work in Unit 2 - Multidigit Multiplication and Early Division. 

Thank you to all parents and guardians who met with us earlier this week– we love having the opportunity to invite you into the classrooms and discuss the successes of your children. We appreciate your support at home and open communication, our partnership is so important to us! Our Vocabulary Parade was a huge success. Students showed their creativity and imagination with their costumes. Thank you for the help and support at home, pictures will be shared with Fifth Grade Families soon!

Currently in math, we are working through our second unit– adding and subtracting fractions. Next we will get into place value and decimals. In ELA, we are still in module one– Cultures in Conflict. We are well into our novel Thunder Rolling in the Mountains. Students have been enjoying it and get excited on days we read new chapters. We are working up to our next writing assignment, which will focus on comparing and contrasting two of the main character’s beliefs and values. 

In Physical Education, we just finished Soccer which is the most popular sport in the world and is played in most countries. Soccer is a non-contact sport that teaches coordination, builds strength, flexibility and endurance, plus it is great for fitness and cardiovascular health. Soccer is a team sport that everyone can play and students developed skills such as dribbling with their feet, running, passing, communication, and decision-making. Students used these skills and transferred them into game play which promoted physical fitness, teamwork, and most of all fun! Students in the younger grades worked on skills such as dribbling with control, passing, scoring, and defending. They played lead up games and at the end of the unit, the older grades played a modified soccer game. 

Many students shared stories about the skills they learned during practices and how they played on soccer teams. I was very excited to hear about so many students being active outside of class and enjoying it so much. Great job keeping them active! 

Next up, we will be starting a Team Building/Cooperative Games unit, in which students will need to work together to solve challenges. During this unit, students will work on communication, listening skills, and brainstorming to come up with many different strategies to help make their group successful. 

I also encourage you to be active at home! Play a flag football game in the yard, rake leaves, or play pass. Not only will this be good practice for students to master skills learned in PE class, but it is also a great way to spend time together! Any movement is good movement that will make a difference!

We recognize that parents provide their children with cell phones and smart watches for safety reasons. Therefore, we understand that students may occasionally bring these devices to school.

• Cell phones must remain turned off and stowed away in your child’s bag during the school day, this includes the bus.

• Smart watches must have text and call settings turned off during school hours.

Students are not to call, text, or message their family members or peers during the school day. If students need to reach a family member, they can use one of the phones in the main office. Students may also not photograph or take videos of any staff members or other students in and outside of the building or on the bus. You can help us enforce this policy by not texting your children and calling/answering their calls during the school day.

If a student should bring any electronic device, cell phone, or multi-media device etc. to school, MHS/WES is not responsible for any lost or stolen items.

Cell phones and smartwatches that are being used to make calls, text (family or peers) or play games during the day will be confiscated. Parents will be asked to pick up the device from school.

Please reach out with any questions you may have. We are happy to help!

• MHS - Kathi McCarthy 978-874-0163 ext. 0
• WES - Liz Maillet 978-874-2043 ext 0

AM Session 8:45-11:10 AM

PM Session 12:00-2:30 PM

Full Day Session 8:45-2:30 PM (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday)

ARRIVAL

8:20 - 8:30 AM

DISMISSAL

2:55 PM

HALF DAYS - DISMISSAL

12:00 PM

For questions about transportation, please email bussing@awrsd.org and provide your child's full name, school, address, and the question/issue.

• IMPORTANT BUS NOTES for 2026-2027:

  • All students are expected to be present at their stop and visible to the driver 5 minutes before the bus is scheduled to arrive. This includes all door-to-door stops as well as group stops. 

  
  

  • All K and 1st Grade students must have an adult at the stop to receive them in the afternoon, unless authorization to get off the bus alone or with an older sibling has been given to the school office or busing coordinator.

  
  

  • All 2nd & 3rd Grade students must have an adult/older sibling/designated person visible to the driver when dropping off. They don’t have to be at the stop location, they can be on a porch, in a doorway, etc., as long as the driver can see them.

  
  

  • Students who miss the bus in the morning can board at any other stop along the route, but the buses will not stop if it isn’t a designated stop location, for legal and safety reasons. However, in the PM, unless there is a pass indicating otherwise, the student will only be dropped off at their stop of record for legal and safety reasons.

  
  

  • Due to transportation limitations and the increasing number of requests, separate bus trips will no longer be provided for any student group traveling to a local organization for scheduled club or activity. For any outside organization in the student’s hometown/community, if a student’s designated bus goes by the organization location, the school may issue a bus pass. If the student’s designated bus route does not go by the organization’s location, and an alternate bus has space, the school may issue a bus pass. The district CANNOT guarantee a specific drop off time (i.e. start of the outside program) or space on an alternate bus. If there is a new request from a community organization to offer bus passes to students, it will need Superintendent’s office approval via bussing.