Welcome Back Family Letter 21-22

I hope that this letter finds you well amidst the anxiety and excitement about starting school in the midst of more uncertainty about the Covid-19. I know that our team has been hard at work to ensure that we have systems in place to keep everyone safe while also providing a robust and engaging opportunity for learning.

• Class Placement - Check ASPEN on Friday, August 27th at 12:00 NOON for your child’s placement. There’s been a change to the policy for this year’s placement announcement. I will NOT INITIALLY BE ALLOWED TO SEND OUT ENTIRE CLASS LISTS. Before publishing class lists publicly, we must provide families with a chance to modify privacy settings. After that opportunity, I will publish class lists. For more information about Aspen, you can visit the Aspen Support Page

• Classroom Visits - September 2nd from 8:10-8:30am - FOR K students, students new to HM, former DLA students: we will host a brief “sneak peek” opportunity for children and families to meet their new teachers and see their classrooms. Staff will be outdoors to welcome children and help them find their classrooms. Due to our current health and safety guidelines, we must ask parents and guardians to wait outside. If your child has been at HM and is anxious about the return, please contact me at nardellimv@newton.k12.ma.us

• Back to School Health and Safety Plan

• Citywide Information Session - Wednesday August 25 at 7:30 p.m. - To provide parents and caregivers with the opportunity to ask questions and address concerns on the Back to School Plan, we will host an informational webinar on Wednesday, August 25. Details are below:

https://newton-k12-ma-us.zoom.us/j/89490608033

Webinar ID: 894 9060 8033

• Horace Mann Information Session - Thursday, September 2nd at 6:30pm - To go over Health and Safety plans specific to Horace Mann

https://newton-k12-ma-us.zoom.us/j/2454370913?pwd=NVhVUzR6WVNCVkw3MVovTTNKSm1idz09

Meeting ID: 245 437 0913

Passcode: Hawks

As has been the tradition, I like to share a few details about our summer. The Nardelli family recently returned from a weeklong trip to Arizona, where we spent several days hiking in Sedona’s beautiful and exceedingly warm climate before heading to the Grand Canyon for a day. We also stayed with Christine’s nephew in the Scottsdale area before returning home. We had some complaints about hiking in the heat, but overall, I think everyone appreciated the chance to see a different part of our country. For me, after touring portions of the Navajo Reservation, the trip sparked an interest in learning more about Native American history and culture. I’ve had a chance to tackle a few memoirs on the topic these last few weeks. In addition to Arizona, we again spent time in Vermont, near Sagamore beach in Bourne, and even camped for a few days at Nickerson State Park. Vincent spent many days rollerblading and playing Legos while gearing him up for Kindergarten. Alora ran a neighborhood camp with friends, went to gymnastics camps, and read a ton of books. Julia practiced driving in anticipation of getting her license in September, played some volleyball, and toured a few prospective colleges in the local area. She is entering her junior year in high school. Eliana finished her final high school graduation requirements by mid July, and we now are getting ready for her big move to Lesley University on September 7th. Hard to believe our baby is actually heading to college.

This summer I spent a good chunk of July reflecting on the previous year and trying to process the loss of Heather Dias. I know for some of us, this will be a longer process that will require our collective efforts to support one another. For those of you who don’t know Heather, she taught both 4th and 5th grade alongside LoriAnn Akdag in one of our co-taught classrooms for the past ten years. She was a truly amazing teacher, committed to her craft and to her students. Her creativity, her work ethic, and commitment to student success were all a hallmark of her career. Some of my favorite moments involved watching her recite poetry while dressed as the winter queen or seeing her transform the classroom into a theater for a performance of The Witches or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Heather will be dearly missed. We will devote time this fall to honor her memory and her contributions to our school community.

I hope that we can also move forward in talking about the important goals of our school:

• Ensuring that all students and families feel welcome and cared for.

• Making decisions in all areas (placement, curriculum, discipline, programming, etc.) to support all of our students, including those who have traditionally been marginalized.

• Meeting children where they are at and providing them with what they need to be successful, both academically and socially.

• Horace Mann hosted two major programs this summer - our ELL summer program, and our Title 1 Summer Success Program. Both of these ran through July. Thanks as always to Kathy and Adel for their work this summer. We were in full swing all of July with two summer programs and all of our classrooms and small spaces were occupied. In August, we again had deliveries of furniture that had to be sorted and moved. Kathy and Adel also washed all of the room carpets and somehow found a place to dry them. They moved office supplies (Rose...thank you as well), got our stuff back from other locations, moved offices, etc. Thank you!!

• We also received a commitment from the City of Newton to restart our school expansion project. I expect that design discussions will resume this fall.

• School Hours- Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri - 8:20am - 2:50pm. Doors will now open at 8:10am Wednesdays - 8:20am - 12:20pm

• Horace Mann will NOT be a Title 1 School this year based on the formulas provided by the state and our rankings within the city of Newton. However, I was able to secure funding for one year to keep our literacy intervention program in place so there will be virtually no impactful change to our support offerings this year.

New Staff Roles

• Alex Salvatore - Will be shifting over from a behavior therapist position to be the special educator in our 5th grade co-taught, alongside LoriAnn Akdag.

• Darlene Atkins - Will also be returning from DLA to work as ISS and the monitor on our Boston bus.

• Amira El Amri will return from DLA to work as a Kindergarten aide in Ms. Seyferth’s classroom.

Summer Departures

• Laura Heras - Laura worked in multiple classrooms last year, supporting both teachers and students. She originally planned to return this fall but needed to focus on her family’s business. We wish Laura the best.

• Anna Mignon - Has worked with us as a special education aide and kindergarten aide over the past several years. This summer, Anna made the decision to move on to a job closer to her home. Thank you to Anna for being a kind, collaborative partner in the classroom who truly fostered and encouraged student perseverance and independence. Congrats and good luck!

• Elissa Matloff - Elissa has made the decision to move on to new adventures prior to the start of the school year. I want to thank Elissa for her contributions to our school and for keeping children and staff safe during what has arguably been the most challenging time to be a healthcare professional. Elissa has been diligent, knowledgeable, and caring in her approach, and we will miss her expertise and commitment to our families. Thankfully, Elissa offered to help out with paperwork and the transition to a new nurse prior to the start of this year. Below is a message directly from Elissa…

I am writing to announce that I will be relocating and will not be returning to Horace Mann this fall. I want to express my gratitude to all my colleagues for your support, encouragement and dedication.

I was happy to be part of such a great team. Everyday I went to work knowing I would find support and a team that would work together to solve whatever difficulties would come our way. Horace Mann is a one of a kind place where staff come together to fulfill a mission to provide a safe, healthy and welcoming environment for students to learn and grow.

I have worked at many schools in Newton and Horace Mann will always stand out in my mind as unique and special. Its emphasis on inclusiveness makes Horace Mann a special place to be associated with.

I will have many fond memories of my days at Horace Mann and will miss working with you.

Best regards,

Elissa

New Staff

• Alex King - Alex King will be our new music teacher for the fall, having taught for several years in the Worcester Public Schools and two years in an urban setting in Washington, DC. Alex is a talented musician with a focus on percussion and an interest in performing arts. We look forward to welcoming Alex to our team.

• Lauren Atkinson - Lauren Atkinson comes on board as a special educator to work with students in grades K, 1 and 5. Lauren has been teaching at the Newton South Preschool for the past 18 years and is an exceptional teacher. Lauren will bring a wealth of experience to our program.

• Maddy Peterson - Maddy will be joining the HM team as a special education aide after spending time at Learning Prep in Needham.

• Mackenzie Beatrice - Mackenzie brings nine years of experience as an aide at the NECP preschool to our Horace Mann team. She will also work as a special education aide.

• Tasmia Hussein - Currently a student at Brandeis, Tasmia will be interning with Priscilla Bartley in her 2nd grade classroom for much of the school year.

Classroom Teacher Lineup Summary

Kindergarten: Bonzey, Ferland, Seyferth

1st Grade: Chatfield, Gower, Rose

2nd Grade: Bartley, Sandison, Thorne

3rd Grade: Bard, Berardi/Deehan, Rosen

4th Grade: Fischer/Cox, Harris, Lewis

5th Grade: Akdag/Salvatore, Moore, Oldmixon

School Supplies - If you participated in the school supply program last spring, kits are scheduled to arrive...although a bit late this year. As soon as they arrive, we will distribute to classrooms. If you chose not to participate, a copy of each grade’s supply list is posted on the Horace Mann website at https://www.newton.k12.ma.us/Page/2636. You can take advantage of sales and buy the items on your own. Please be sure to send your child into school with these supplies ready to start a great year of learning. The PTO can sponsor any student for whom the purchase of supplies would create a financial hardship. Please contact me for information.

The school calendar has been integrated into our website and will be updated regularly. You can access the calendar at this link: http://www.newton.k12.ma.us/horacemann. You can also follow us on Twitter @HoraceMann687.

Important Dates

August 30th at 5:30pm - K Playdate* (please note that this is a PTO event, teachers will not be present)

September 6th - Labor Day

September 7th and 8th - Rosh Hashanah

September 9th - 1st Day of School for all students

September 13th - Back to School Picnic