Learning First Charter Public School
Newsletter January 28, 2022
Dear Families,
Our school will be starting a new COVID 19 testing protocol recently introduced by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. This new program is voluntary, but we hope for participation.
A few of the details include:
· We will still be asking families to keep their child home if not feeling well
· Students who ‘opt-in’ to the program will receive at home test kits to be used once each week on Tuesday after school. Students will receive a kit containing two tests every other week.
· The program is open to both vaccinated and unvaccinated students
· Close contacts will no longer be identified in school
· Students who become symptomatic in school can still be tested
It is the hope that this new program will allow students more time in class while maintaining a safe school environment for students and staff.
Please complete the attached form for your student to let us know if you would like to opt-in or out of this program.
Please reach out with any questions or concerns. Thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Learning First Charter Administration
Learning First Charter will be offering free ESL (English as a Second Language) classes to parents and guardians of our students. These classes will be held weekly after school hours. We would like to gather information from interested adults on whether you would prefer to attend these classes virtually or in-person. If you are interested in getting ESL tutoring, please email Mrs. Kennedy at ckennedy@learningfirstcharter.org or Ms. Ortiz at niortiz@learningfirstcharter.org with your preference to virtual or in-person by February 2, 2022 so that we may start planning accordingly. Based on the results, we will make a decision whether to have classes online or at the school building. More information to come. Thank you!
Lottery Applications for the 2022-2023 School Year are available! If you have a child or sibling that will turn five years old by August 31, 2022, please complete an application available in our main office or online at https://learningfirstcharter.org/admission/ . The application deadline is March 2, 2022. All applications require a birth certificate and two proofs of address. Reminder, a new application must be completed for any child that is on the current waitlist. Please contact Sally Ustaitis at (508)799-7500 x1031 or email sustaitis@learningfirstcharter.org if you have any questions.
Reminders from the School Nurse: This week we have had 19 cases of Covid-19 in our school. If your student was a close contact then you were notified by the school nurse. It is not required for your child to receive a Covid-19 vaccine, however if your child has had it and you are willing to let us know it would be appreciated and helpful in cases when we need to do contact tracing.
Stay healthy! ~Nurse Sarah and Sammi
SEMSAPAC: Parents you are invited to come and join us on February 8th from 4:00-5:00 PM as we come together and talk about nutrition and how it correlates with student achievement. Light refreshments will be served.
ACCESS Testing: Both state and federal laws require schools to assess the English proficiency of all English Language Learners (ELL’s) during each school year. To comply with these laws, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) require schools to administer the ACCESS for ELL’s 2.0 Assessment to students in grades K-12.
At Learning First Charter Public School, the ACCESS for ELL’s 2.0, which evaluates students’ skills in reading, writing, speaking, and listening, will be administered January – February, 2022 to EL students in grades K-8. EL Teachers will oversee the administration of this assessment.
This test will provide important information to you about your child’s English proficiency level and progress. In addition, we will use the results of the test to make curricular improvements and further promote the acquisition and development of students’ English skills. Thank you for your cooperation with the testing period.
JA Guidance (grades 6-8): Grade 8 families: Worcester Technical High School has submitted a new attendance policy to the state last month. They met with all of the middle school guidance counselors this week to go over it. I am attaching the link to it here for you to review. It is somewhat confusing and we had many questions for the Admissions Team at Tech that they are working on answering for us.
If you have questions I will do my best to answer them for you with what information I have. I will also be sending out an email to all 8th grade families with the link and answers to the questions that I had and were able to be answered at that meeting. The application will go live on their website on Monday the 31st. (techhigh.us) Lisa Moore
Please read the new admissions policy here:
https://worcesterschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/AdmissionsPolicy-WTHS-2021_2022.pdf
A Valentine’s Day fundraiser: The Girls and Boys basketball team will be selling roses with a message for a dollar! Roses will be delivered on Monday, February 14th to students. Anyone wishing to send a rose to a student can see Mrs. Bryan. All proceeds will benefit the girls’ and boys’ basketball teams.
Extracurricular Activities: The Girls Basketball will play this Sunday January 30, 2022 at 1:00 PM.
The Boys Basketball will play on Friday, January 28, 2022, at 6:30 PM.
All basketball games will be held at Venerini Academy located at 27 Edwards St. Entry fees are as follows: $5 per Adult and $1 per student (players are free)
Girls’ practices are on Monday and Wednesday from 4:00-6:00 PM.
Boys’ practices are on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:00-6:00 PM.
Parent pick up is on Gage Street at 6:00 PM sharp. Please encourage your student athlete to bring an extra water bottle to practice. Stomp practice is on Fridays from 12:45-3:30 PM sharp. Parent pick-up is on Eastern Ave. Please remember your $2.00 dues.
Feb. 8: SEMSAPAC Meeting 4:00-5:00 PM
Feb. 21-25: No School
Feb. 28: Board of Trustees Meeting 6:00 PM