Learning First Charter Public School
Newsletter January 29, 2021
Sep. 1-Mar. 3: Applications for the 2021-2020 School Year Available Online
Feb. 15-19: No School
Feb. 22: Board of Trustees Meeting 6:00 PM
Mar. 15: Return Date
Dear LFCPS Community,
It is with great pleasure that we announce our approval for another five year charter term. Last week, Commissioner Riley granted our charter unconditionally for the next five years. Learning First met expectations across the board on all criteria set forth by the Department of Education. We want to thank our students and their families, teachers, leadership team and board members for their continued efforts in making LFCPS the amazing community that it is, and are eagerly looking forward to working together over the next charter term to strengthen our efforts and educate your amazing children to become successful students, workers and citizens. Please feel free to contact Leo Flanagan or Kimberly Wright if you have any questions or comments regarding the charter renewal. Thank you.
kwright@learningfirstcharter.org
lflanagan@learningfirstcharter.org
From the Art Studio: Learning First Virtual Pet Show!
Students in grades K-3 have been drawing their very own pets or a pet they wish they had for entry into the LF Virtual Pet Show.
When your child’s drawing is complete, please help her/him to upload a photograph of it to the Pet Show slideshow located in Google Classroom under the Pet Show assignment. All entries will receive an award. (Pet owners may also choose to enter a photograph of your pet along with your child’s drawing).
Learning First SNOW ART Contest
Bundle up and put on your gloves and hat. Head outside into the fresh air to create SNOW ART! Bring the whole family! Top winners will be awarded a prize. ALL students will have their work displayed in the Learning First Snow Art Contest Gallery. **For contest details please visit your child’s Google Classroom Specials Page. Have fun! ~ Mrs. Choiniere
REMINDER! Lottery Applications for the 2021-2022 school year are available online at https://learningfirstcharter.org/admission. If your student has a younger sibling at home that will be five by August 31, 2021, please submit all application before March 3, 2021 to get a slot for next year. Also, please remember to complete a new application for any child that is on the current waitlist.
P-EBT UPDATE: All Learning First Charter families should have received their P-EBT funds for October, November and December on January 25th. For the remainder of the 2020-2021 school year, each month DESE will collect the data on the students who are eligible for P-EBT benefits during the prior month. The school will submit the data on the 10th of each month and the DTA will use this data to issue benefits to families on the 25th of each month.
Families that do not receive SNAP benefits should have received a separate P-EBT card for each child. If you have not received this card please go to the link for lost cards to request one. If you have not activated your card, please go to the link for card status and activation related question.
For questions related to P-EBT card status and activation go to https://www.map-ebt.org/
For questions related to lost P-EBT cards go to https://dtaconnect.eohhs.mass.gov/pebt
Food Service: 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.
If you have any questions do not hesitate to contact Tasha Griffin, Food Service Director, at 508-799-7500 ext. 1114 or email tgriffin@learningfirstcharter.org.
Monday 10:00 am –1:00 pm
Tuesday 10:00 am-1:00 pm
Wednesday 10:00 am- 1:00 pm or 3:30 pm-6:00 pm
Thursday 10:00 am-1:00 pm or 3:30- 6:00 pm
Message from the Nurse: The Flu Vaccine is no longer a requirement. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is removing the requirement for flu vaccination for attendance in childcare/ preschool, primary, secondary and postsecondary education. Preliminary data show that this has been a mild flu season to date, presumably as people have received their seasonal flu vaccine and have been adhering to mask-wearing and social distancing due to COVID-19. Given the intensive Commonwealth-wide efforts regarding COVID-19 vaccination, DPH wants to alleviate the burden to obtain flu vaccination and focus on continuing our COVID-19 vaccination efforts.
DPH continues to strongly recommend that everyone age six months and older receive seasonal flu vaccine each year.
Student Support Department: Throughout the school year our Student Support Team will be emailing electronic documents to parents labeled Frontline. These documents are important for your perusal or signature. Please be sure to read in entirety then submit electronically if needed. If you have questions you may contact the Student Support AdminMs. Andino candino@learningfirstcharter.org or 508-312-6209.
SEMSAPAC: Our SEMSAPAC team would like to welcome all parents to join us every Tuesday and Thursday from 5:00-6:00 pm to an open forum where you will be able to voice any concerns, ask questions, share great ideas and also receive information about community resources. Please use this link to join us. https://zoom.us/j/91794647795?pwd=U2JlVFUySzVnb1kzUm5LbEVEWVZKdz09 Meeting ID: 917 9464 7795 Passcode: 9Wg0SM
We would like to invite you to a night of camaraderie. Come join us on February 12 at 7:00pm for our Parents Virtual Game Night of Bingo! During the game you will have the opportunity to “chat” with us about any concerns or questions you may have. So come enjoy grown up game time all while letting us here your Voice. Look out for more information in the following Newsletter. ~Mrs. Bryan & Ms. Rosario
Information from Our Guidance Department
Support Groups: Learning First Charter has partnered with Enlightened Interventions Counseling Agency to offer three support groups during the pandemic and remote learning. Two of the groups are for students and one is for families. Please see the attached flyer about the groups. They are free so you only have to reach out to our guidance team to refer yourself and you do not have to worry about insurance. Please take advantage of these groups, we know many of you and your children are experiencing loss, or feelings of isolation during this time and we want to help support you. Please reach out by Jan 29th to: lmoore@learningfirstcharter.org or you may call or text 508-374-3577.
Grade 8 Families: Upcoming dates to put on your calendar:
Notre Dame Academy: Financial Aid deadline: February 15, 2021
Bancroft: Application and financial aid deadline February 1, 2021
The Worcester Tech application portal is open. I have encouraged the students to go into the technical areas first on the website and review all 22 trades and watch the videos to familiarize themselves with their choices before they fill out the application. Please encourage your child to fill out the application with you or myself. There are questions on there that may be tricky and if it is not filled out correctly it may be considered an incomplete application. I have posted several office hours and used guidance class time to assist them. Common questions have been about the WPS ID # (they don’t have one, they are not Worcester Public School students it is ok to leave it blank) and Yes, they do have to number ALL of the trades 1-22. The application is located at techhigh.us
Worcester Public Schools Tech Ed (career Pathways) application portal is also live!. You can check out this website for the application and more information on all of the programs that are offered. https://worcesterschools.org/academics/career-pathways/ If your child fills out the application, they must notify Mrs. Moore.