Friday, November 20, 2020

   PWS PrinciPal’s News 

We are a community that inspires and develops, engaged, successful learners every chance, every day 

Peter Woodbury School-A Place Where People Care!

November 20, 2020

Dear PWS Families,

Another great week at PWS!  Walking around some students are learning about shadows, how to self check when reading, math word problems and answering comprehension questions.  Thank you for sharing you child(ren) with us!  They make us smile everyday!

The temperature this week got down into the 30's.  It is a good reminder have your child(ren) wear warm clothing.  

As always, we will continue with our yearly tradition of our Annual Food Drive.  Students love to participate in this event while giving back to our community.  

An important reminder: Picture retakes for students are Monday, 11/23 from 8:30-9:30 am.

The Bedford School District Offices will be closed to the public next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in observance of Thanksgiving.  Please have a safe and healthy weekend. We would also like to take a moment and wish you all a relaxing Thanksgiving holiday!

PWS NEWS:

Important Note from School Nurse:

Parents please notify the school nurse of any upcoming travel plans outside New England to determine dates of quarantine and confirm a return to school date. 

A Shift in Contact Tracing:
NH DHHS has informed us that they are no longer able to do contact tracing for positive COVID cases that originate outside of school.  It is now up to schools to assist with the tracing and set the return date for students in these cases.  As such, we are relying heavily on parents/guardians reporting positive cases of family members or others with whom their child has had close contact to our school nurses.  We greatly appreciate you working with us to keep our schools a safe place to teach and learn.

Isolation and Quarantine Guidelines

Governor's Mask Order:
Yesterday, the Governor issued a mask order for NH.  Click HERE to see that order.  While K-12 schools are considered exempt from that order, the Bedford School District will be adhering to it in the areas where we had not been before.  The rationale behind this decision is two-fold.  

1.) An added layer of mitigation is prudent given the rising cases of Covid and transmission rates around us.  

2.)  This additional measure supports our ongoing effort to keep our schools open.  Thank you for your support during these challenging times.  

Hybrid through the Holidays:
The Bedford School District will remain in our hybrid model of education through the holiday season.  Our layered approach to mitigate Covid has proven successful since the start of school.  While we have seen many individual cases throughout the district, we have not experienced transmission, clusters or outbreaks.  Bedford would consider a move to fully remote learning under 3 conditions:
1.) Governor's Order
2.)  Transmission in a school or schools that we are unable to contain
3.)  Lack of staffing to keep a school open

Holiday Travel:

The CDC  recently recommended that families DO NOT TRAVEL for Thanksgiving.  Please keep in mind that individual decisions made by all members of our community can have a direct impact on one another.  The Bedford School District humbly asks that each of us do our part to stay safe, flatten the curve, and maintain open schools.

School Work for Travel:
Teachers may not be able to provide advance work for students who knowingly travel outside of New England and must quarantine.  Even though students are in a hybrid model, their teachers are not.  Teachers are fully engaged with students each day.  They are already working to engage the students who are actively having to quarantine.  The capacity to provide advance work may not be available.   

PTG NEWS:

HANNAFORD COMMUNITY BAG PROGRAM: During this month, the PTG will receive a $1.00 donation for each purchase of the Community Reusable Bag (cost of bag is $2.50) at the Hannaford store located on KILTON ROAD.

AMAZON SMILE: Did you know that every time you make a purchase on Amazon you can support the PTG? Visit AmazonSmile, and select "Bedford NH PTG" as the organization that you wish to support or simply go to Bedford PTG's unique link HERE. We recommend that you bookmark this unique link as only purchases made at smile.amazon.com are eligible for donations. Now every time you shop at Amazon a percentage of your purchase price is donated to the Bedford PTG!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM THE PTG: We wish you a Wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday! We are thankful for the amazing support we receive from families, staff and the community.

We wish you all a wonderful and safe weekend! We will see everyone next week! 

Mrs. Cheryl Daley and Mr. Marc Robitaille 

Friday, November 13, 2020

  PWS PrinciPal’s News 

We are a community that inspires and develops, engaged, successful learners every chance, every day. 

Peter Woodbury School-A Place Where People Care!

November 13, 2020

 

 

Dear PWS Families,

 

It was another wonderful week at PWS as we had some beautiful spring-like weather on Monday and Tuesday. Students and staff had the opportunity to observe Veteran’s Day on Wednesday with the day off. The PWS family would like to recognize all of the veterans in the Bedford community, thank you for your service. Please take a moment to catch up on all that is happening at PWS! We also would like to offer a reminder to review our travel reminder as the holidays are rapidly approaching! Please have a safe and healthy weekend! 

 

PWS NEWS:

Contact Tracing through NH DHHS:

It has been our experience lately that NH DHHS is very delayed in contacting families with contact tracing information, and as a result, it’s possible that students come to school without knowing they have been in close contact with a COVID positive person (and should be quarantining).  Please know that if your child has been contact traced as a result of contact within school, you will be called by the school (most likely, Sam Ewing, our nurse) rather than wait for DHHS.  However, if the contact happens outside of school, we will not know about it.  My ask is that if your child tests positive, you contact the parents/guardians of any child who has been contact traced as a result of outside of school activities, so that the child can quarantine and/or get tested in a timely fashion.  Hopefully, things will slow down soon at DHHS.  Thank you!

 

Travel Reminder:

As you begin to plan for Thanksgiving and the rest of the holiday season, please keep in mind the NH DHHS Travel Guidance, which the Bedford School District is following:

If a staff member or student travels outside of New England, do they need to self-quarantine for 14 days upon their return to New Hampshire? Yes. The general recommendation from the NH DHHS General and Employee Travel Guidance is that those who have traveled outside of New England need to self-quarantine and self-monitor for COVID-19 symptoms for 14 days upon their return to New Hampshire. Exceptions to this recommendation can be made for “essential employees” or for staff who have to conduct “essential travel” as outlined in the public health guidance linked above, and the Universal Guidelines. Schools/districts should develop policies to address situations in which students may need to travel for child custody and/or education related purposes (e.g., visiting colleges).  You can find a link to this document HERE (pg. 6).

Also, students cannot test out of quarantine with a negative COVID-19 test.  They must complete the entire 14 days. Please take a look at our Quarantining Protocol/Flowchart for more information.

In order to ensure the health and safety of our students and staff, it is essential that we adhere to the policies and procedures outlined in our Hybrid plan.

School Closings and Delays:

If school is to be closed or if there is a delayed opening, the District will notify parents/guardians using the School Messenger Notification Service. This system will send a telephone call to the primary emergency number, email message and/or text message designated by the parents/guardians at approximately 5:30 AM.  In addition, the following television stations will be contacted: WMUR TV (Channel 9, Manchester), and BCTV (Channels 16 and 22).  It is also posted under News and Notes on the District website and District Facebook page.

If it is necessary to call a 2-hour delay in the start of school, buses will make their normal pickups 2 hours later than the usual time and the morning kindergarten classes will be cancelled. The school day will end at the regular time.

Picture Retake Update: 

Please take a moment to view this link for an updated picture retake option for PWS students. 

Long Term Substitute Opportunity:

PWS is looking for a long term substitute for 4 days a week. The purpose of this position to substitute for any staff member that is absent.  Teacher certification required. Competitive daily salary.  Please reach out to daleyc@bedfordnhk12.net if you are interested.  

Substitutes:

Looking for ways to be involved in the schools? Bedford School District is in need of substitute teachers. New increased pay rate of $100/day. Flexible schedule based on your availability. You will need to be available and able to work in-person and you will be responsible for managing the classroom and daily duties of the absent teacher. Bachelor degree preferred but not necessary.  Prior experience working with school age students is helpful. For more information contact the SAU at 472-3755. 

PTG NEWS:

GIFT CARD FUNDRAISER: ONE order only this year (order due date is at the end of next week, November  20th). We are featuring many local area merchants, along with your favorite national businesses. Purchasing gift cards through the PTG provides support for the Bedford schools with no additional cost to you!

For Hybrid Student Families: To download an order form and memo with program information, please click HERE.

For Remote Student Families: To download an order form and memo with program information, please click HERE.

For more information about this program on the PTG’s website click HERE.

HAPPY SHOPPING!

HANNAFORD COMMUNITY BAG PROGRAM: During this month, the PTG will receive a $1.00 donation for each purchase of the Community Reusable Bag (cost of bag is $2.50) at the Hannaford store located on KILTON ROAD.

AMAZON SMILE: Did you know that every time you make a purchase on Amazon you can support the PTG? Visit AmazonSmile, and select "Bedford NH PTG" as the organization that you wish to support or simply go to Bedford PTG's unique link HERE. We recommend that you bookmark this unique link as only purchases made at smile.amazon.com are eligible for donations. Now every time you shop at Amazon a percentage of your purchase price is donated to the Bedford PTG!

We wish you all a wonderful and safe weekend! We will see everyone next week! 

Mrs. Cheryl Daley and Mr. Marc Robitaille 

Friday, November 6, 2020

  PWS PrinciPal’s News 

We are a community that inspires and develops, engaged, successful learners every chance, every day. 

Peter Woodbury School-A Place Where People Care!

November 6, 2020

 

 

Dear PWS Families,

 

Another great week of learning at PWS! We hope you had a great day off! Teachers worked hard at continuing to plan on what students can do to be engaged in their work on distance learning days. At PWS, staff is committed to keep moving forward and educating the students! Please remember to reach out to your child's classroom teacher, me, or Mr. Robitaille if you have any questions. Please read the important updates below.

 

PWS NEWS: 

 

Report Cards

As an FYI to our new parents and a reminder to our returning parents:

Student report cards are available online only in the PowerSchool Parent Access Portal.  To access your child's report card online, log into the PowerSchool Parent Portal and you will see a Report Cards icon in the left hand pane.  When you click on this icon your child's report card will appear on the screen.  You can scroll to see the entire report card and choose to print it, if you'd like.  Anytime you click on the Report Cards icon, the most recent report card will generate.  Quarter 1 report cards will be available to view on Friday, November 6th at 2:45 PM.  For Quarter 1, report cards are issued in grades 2-4 only.  Grade 1 will receive report cards in Quarter 2.

Contact Tracing through NH DHHS

It has been our experience lately that NH DHHS is very delayed in contacting families with contact tracing information, and as a result, it’s possible that students come to school without knowing they have been in close contact with a COVID positive person (and should be quarantining).  Please know that if your child has been contact traced as a result of contact within school, you will be called by the school (most likely, Sammie Ewing, our nurse) possibly before DHHS.  However, if the contact happens outside of school, we will not know about it.  My ask is that if your child tests positive, you contact the parents/guardians of any child who has been contact traced as a result of outside of school activities, so that the child can quarantine and/or get tested in a timely fashion.  Hopefully, things will slow down soon at DHHS.  Thank you!

 Travel Reminder

As you begin to plan for Thanksgiving and the rest of the holiday season, please keep in mind the NH DHHS Travel Guidance, which the Bedford School District is following:

If a staff member or student travels outside of New England, do they need to self-quarantine for 14 days upon their return to New Hampshire? Yes. The general recommendation from the NH DHHS General and Employee Travel Guidance is that those who have traveled outside of New England need to self-quarantine and self-monitor for COVID-19 symptoms for 14 days upon their return to New Hampshire. Exceptions to this recommendation can be made for “essential employees” or for staff who have to conduct “essential travel” as outlined in the public health guidance linked above, and the Universal Guidelines. Schools/districts should develop policies to address situations in which students may need to travel for child custody and/or education related purposes (e.g., visiting colleges).  You can find a link to this document HERE (pg. 6).

Also, students cannot test out of quarantine with a negative COVID-19 test.  They must complete the entire 14 days. Please take a look at our Quarantining Protocol/Flowchart for more information.

In order to ensure the health and safety of our students and staff, it is essential that we adhere to the policies and procedures outlined in our Hybrid plan.

School Closings and Delays

If school is to be closed or if there is a delayed opening, the District will notify parents/guardians using the School Messenger Notification Service. This system will send a telephone call to the primary emergency number, email message and/or text message designated by the parents/guardians at approximately 5:30 AM.  In addition, the following television stations will be contacted: WMUR TV (Channel 9, Manchester), and BCTV (Channels 16 and 22).  It is also posted under News and Notes on the District website and District Facebook page.

If it is necessary to call a 2-hour delay in the start of school, buses will make their normal pickups 2 hours later than the usual time and the morning kindergarten classes will be cancelled. The school day will end at the regular time.

Picture Retake Update: 

Please take a moment to view this link for an updated picture retake option for PWS students. 

Long Term Substitute Opportunity:

PWS is looking for a long term substitute for 4 days a week. The purpose of this position to substitute for any staff member that is absent.  Teacher certification required. Competitive daily salary.  Please reach out to daleyc@bedfordnhk12.net if you are interested.  

Substitutes:

Looking for ways to be involved in the schools? Bedford School District is in need of substitute teachers. New increased pay rate of $100/day. Flexible schedule based on your availability. You will need to be available and able to work in-person and you will be responsible for managing the classroom and daily duties of the absent teacher. Bachelor degree preferred but not necessary.  Prior experience working with school age students is helpful. For more information contact the SAU at 472-3755. 

PTG NEWS:

GIFT CARD FUNDRAISER: ONE order only this year (order due date is November  20th). Get a head start on holiday shopping! We are featuring many local area merchants, along with your favorite national businesses. Purchasing gift cards through the PTG provides support for the Bedford schools with no additional cost to you!

For more information about this program on the PTG’s website click HERE.

For Hybrid Student Families: To download an order form and memo with program information, please click HERE.

For Remote Student Families: To download an order form and memo with program information, please click HERE.

HAPPY SHOPPING!

 

UPCOMING: HANNAFORD COMMUNITY BAG PROGRAM:For the month of November, Bedford PTG will receive a $1 donation from each purchase of the $2.50 reusable Community Bag at the Hannaford store located on KILTON ROAD

COMMUNITY SPIRIT 9/11 MINI-GRANTS PROGRAM: The Bedford PTG is the proud recipient of the Community Spirit 9/11 Mini-Grants Program funded by Harvard Pilgrim. This $500 grant was awarded due to the generous nomination of a Bedford family.

Enjoy the beautiful weather this weekend!

 

Mrs. Cheryl Daley and Mr. Marc Robitaille