Learning First Charter Public School
Newsletter September 18, 2020
Sep. 1-Mar. 3: Applications for the 2021-2020 School Year Available Online
Sep. 23: Texas Roadhouse Fundraiser Pick-Up 3:30-8:00 PM
Oct. 9: No School Students/ Staff Professional Development
Oct. 12: No School
Oct. 19: Board of Trustees Meeting 6:00 PM
Wisdom Justice Courage Compassion Hope Respect Responsibility Integrity
Be kind. Be safe. Be responsible.
Texas Roadhouse Drive-thru Fundraiser: Take a break from cooking and help raise money for Learning First Charter Public School.
On Wednesday, September 23rd, from 3:30-8:00 PM, we will have a “Drive-Thru” fundraiser at Texas Roadhouse. How it works is you order in advance up until Tuesday, September 22nd, by clicking the link on the attached flyer or you can go to this web page https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=2fjAeTPwcUSCaMSa59-hsnY7j37GcjRGlIOEym72GvxUNEI5UUhWMFlVMklBVFNVS05YUllMSkIzUS4u and you must respond to a text you will receive on Wednesday, September 23rd in order for your dinner to be ready. Again, all orders must be placed by Tuesday, September 22nd. Please contact Bryanna.startk@texasroadhouse.com or call Ms. Roy at 508-799-7500 x1115 for more information.
Annual Report: Each year, our school submits an annual report to DESE that reports out on our school accountability plan goals and our key design elements, as outlined in our charter. You can find the annual report on our school website under the LFCPS tab. You may contact Kim Wright at 508-799-7500 x1119 if you have any questions.
New Staff Bulletin: Chimdi Uchendu is the son of Nigerian parents raised in Boston. He is a product of the Boston Public Schools (BPS) and graduated from Boston Latin School in 2000. He holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Math and a Master’s of Education.
A 16-year veteran educator, he began his education career in 2006 as a math teacher in Boston Public Schools. Since that time, Mr. Uchendu has taken on multiple leadership roles. He has been the Director of Secondary Math for BPS, as well as the Program Director, Assistant Headmaster and Head of School all for Boston Latin Academy. Within his various roles, he has proven that he possesses strong leadership skills and an ability to develop productive working relationships with students and families, faculty and staff, school and district leadership and various stakeholders. Those that he works with value his interpersonal skills, his work in strengthening both rigor and equity and his deep commitment to the schools and district he worked in. Mr. Uchendu has learned and continues to demonstrate that the cornerstone of effective teaching and leadership is communication, where learning and achievement are products of a school’s environment and culture.
Mr. Uchendu is now a member of the Learning First Charter (LFC) school community as the Chief Innovation Officer. His main goal will be and has always been to ensure educational opportunity, access and success for all students within his charge. Although he takes his profession seriously, at the end of the day, he values a sense of humor. Compellingly, stated by Maya Angelou: “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.” Mr. Uchendu enthusiastically looks forward to the challenge of continuing and supporting the excellent work that has been accomplished over the past few years within the LFC family.
Guidance: Welcome back to another school year with all of us here at Learning First Charter School! Mrs. Burgess just wanted to let you know that she has missed you all and looks forward to seeing you during your open circle lessons. She will be doing asynchronous (recorded) lessons biweekly, K-2 will be one week and then 3-5 the next. Those lessons will be posted and assigned in your specials Google Classroom under Guidance. Mrs. Burgess will also be holding office hours on Fridays for all students K-5; K-2 will be from 9:00am-9:30am and the link is https://meet.google.com/rjd-rugo-ixs; 3-5 will be from 9:30am-10:00am and the link is https://meet.google.com/izn-ujuq-yhj. If for some reason you aren’t able to get onto the weekly office hours you can reach Mrs. Burgess at 508-762-2543 between the hours of 8am and 3:30pm during school days. She will get back to you within 24 hours on a weekday or within 48 hours on the weekend. Have a great school year! <3 Mrs. B
Important Reminders: Student Applications for the 2021-2022 school yearare now available! If you have a child whose sibling is turning five or older by August 31, 2021, please complete an application and return to the main office or you can go online to https://learningfirstcharter.org/admission/. All applications require a birth certificate and two proofs of address to be complete. Completed applications should be submitted before March 3, 2021. The lottery will be held on March 5, 2021. A new application must be completed for each child, every school year. Please contact the Main Office for more information.
Learning First Charter Public School Food Service Department serves free meals (both breakfast & lunch) to all students. Meals will be available for pick up on Eastern Avenue for all Learning First Charter students. Meals will be “grab and go” style and will have 5 breakfast and 5 lunches for the week. There will also be the weekly supply of Fresh Fruit & Vegetables for the FFVP for snack.
Food pickup is available during the following days: Monday 10:00 am – 1:00 pm; Tuesday 10:00 am-1:00 pm; Wednesday 10:00 am- 1:00 pm or 3:30pm-6:00pm; Thursday 10:00 am-1:00 pm. If you have any questions do not hesitate to contact Tasha Griffin, Food Service Director, at 508-799-7500 ext. 1114 or email at tgriffin@learningfirstcharter.org.
The Department of Public Health has added a new influenza vaccine requirement for all grades of school from Kindergarten through Grade 12. This requirement was put in place to reduce influenza-related morbidity and to reduce the overall impact of respiratory illness in a population still facing the COVID-19 pandemic. Students will be expected to have received an influenza vaccine for the current influenza season (July-June) by December 31 unless they have a medical or religious exemption.
All Kindergarten students must have their five year physical and immunizations on file. Please fax to the school at (508) 753-9679 or email Sarah Chysna, School Nurse, at schysna@learningfirstcharter.org.
If your child will be absent, the main office must be made aware by calling the school and leaving a message on the absence/tardy line (ext 4001) as well as messaging the classroom teacher. Please fax doctor notes to (508)753-9679 or take a picture of it and email it to jburgos@learniningfirstcharter.org
To mimic a typical school day, students will be required to wear a school uniform shirt while attending all live lessons. The shirt does not need a school logo, but must be light blue.
Community Connections: This Saturday, September 19th from 1:00-3:00 PM, the Boys & Girls Club of Worcester located at 65 Boys & Girls Club Way, (65 Tainter St) is handling out free school supplies. This is a first come first serve basis.
The REC Mobile Farmers Market goes to several spots throughout Worcester for families to have access to fresh local produce. This fall, the REC Mobile Farmers Market will be at Beaver Brook on Fridays at 9:00 AM and at University Park in Main South on Saturdays at 9:00 AM. They accept cash, credit, debit, EBT/ SNAP card for fruits and veggies and earn matching dollars! For more information go to www.recworcester.org/community-farmers-markets
Starting September 18, 2020 through November 28, 2020 Old Sturbridge Village is offering free admittance for up to three kids 17 and younger when accompanied by an adult paying full admission. For a family with three kids, that is a $42 savings! Current hours are 9:30 AM- 5:00 PM Friday through Sunday. Daytime adult admission rate is $28.00. Address for GPS use 29 Stallion Hill Road Sturbridge, MA. To manage capacity in accordance with Massachusetts reopening guidelines, they are requiring visitors to purchase/ reserve tickets in advance. Read more and reserve your tickets by going to https://www.osv.org/plan-your-visit/
It is perfect weather to get out the house and go hiking! There are several places in Worcester to go take a nice walk, such as Green Hill Park, Mass Audubon Broad Meadow Brook Conservation and Wildlife, Cascading Waters and Parsons Cider Mill. If you would like to venture a little further you can check out Moore State Park in Paxton or Purgatory Chasm in Sutton. Go to www.hikeworcester.com for more places.