Dear Cunniff Families,

We hope you all have a wonderful week off of school and routines! I know the Cunniff team is looking forward to some rest, some travel, and some time to enjoy whatever snow is on the ground.

We had an absolutely AMAZING week with Literacy Week! It was so great to see so many of you on Tuesday evening, and we had an excellent time with author and illustrator Thyra Heder on Wednesday, and so much fun dressing up on Thursday for Book Character and Leader Day!

Please make sure to fill out the 5 Essentials survey if you have not already done so - we value your feedback!

Read on for lots of important info, and have a wonderful February Break!

Julia

With the Winter season here, there are more germs and illness going around. In recent weeks, we have seen an increase in stomach, gastrointestinal-related illness, the flu, and covid-19 at school. Make sure your children are washing their hands, covering their cough, are to update with their flu shot, eating healthy and getting enough sleep. Here are the updated district sick protocols that align with CDC guidance, when to keep your child home when sick:

Staying home when sick can lower the risk of spreading infections. Under routine circumstances, some illness spread among school communities is expected. In general, children with improving symptoms should be able to participate in school. If a child’s needs while sick with an infectious illness would interfere with school staff’s ability to teach and care for other students, the child should stay home. Schools must balance the risk of infectious disease spread with educational, social, and mental health needs of children when determining when students should stay home. Schools, parents, and caregivers often do not know what specific illness a child may have; rather, children present with symptoms. If someone has the following symptoms, they should stay home because their illness could affect their ability to participate in school and there is concern that they might spread an infection to staff and students:

When a person can return to school depends on the nature of the illness. In general, a child returning to school should be well enough to participate in school (e.g., can adequately manage improving cough and congestion on own, not overly fatigued), and care of the returning child should not interfere with the school staff’s ability to teach or care for other students. Students and staff returning to school following an illness may still be contagious, but are likely to be less contagious as symptoms improve, depending on factors like duration and severity of illness. Parents and caregivers should consult their child’s health care providers with specific questions about their child’s condition or recovery. For the general symptoms described in the stay at home when sick section of this guidance, policies can allow return to the school setting when:

Massachusetts requires annual health screenings at school. Screenings will be taking place over the next few months:

February and March Vision (Prek-5) and Hearing (K-3)

April Postural (5th grade) We will be sending a letter to 5th grade about the postural screening, if you would like your child to opt in to this screening, send back the form.  

BMI (Grade 1 and Grade 4)

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Online registration for Watertown Community Education's 2025 April Vacation Program - Heroes Week, being held at the Hosmer Elementary School, opens at 7:00 PM on Thursday, February 27th! Spaces are limited, please register early. Registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis. Click the link to the 2025 April Vacation Week Program Smore Flyer for full details including cost, dates, daily sub-themes, and to access the online Google Form registration link https://secure.smore.com/n/ne8qz 

Please reach out to Debi Cornelius at debora.cornelius@watertown.k12.ma.us and Jeff Bodner at jeffrey.bodner@watertown.k12.ma.us with any questions regarding the 2025 April Vacation Program.

Registration is open and will run until 10:00 AM on Tuesday, February 25th. Please use the catalog link below to view an electronic version of flier. Paper fliers will be distributed to students beginning next week. 

 

Courses for the spring session include:

8 Tuesdays: 4/1, 4/8, 4/15, 4/29, 5/6, 5/13, 5/20, 5/27 (no class on 4/22)

8 Wednesdays: 4/2, 4/16, 4/30, 5/7, 5/21, 5/28, 6/4, 6/11 (no class on 4/9, 4/23, or 5/14)

Use the links below to see the full course catalog and to register online. Please note that there is a max capacity for each course and registration does not guarantee confirmed enrollment. Registration is open until 10:00 AM on Tuesday, February 25th. A lottery will be held for spaces in any course that exceeds its maximum capacity prior to the deadline. Please view the catalog link below for more information.

Cunniff CFK Spring 2025 Catalog 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PXgyhh5zUVkNyC-pd8RxCf_zn8qvRTOp/view?usp=sharing 

Cunniff CFK Spring 2025  Online Registration Form

https://forms.gle/tMnaWsAmD9ZMeNdm7 

The dancing was on point today! It's so fun to have a couple of whole-school movement breaks!

Our next Friday celebration will be on Friday, February 28th, and we will all be giving out Cool Cougar Compliments!

Every 6 years the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education reviews English Learner Education (ELE) programs. There are 12 ELE criteria that target implementation of the requirements related to ELE programs under state and federal law and regulations:

Targeted and Focused Monitoring includes a self-assessment, a verification process including a visit by the Office of Language Acquisition (OLA), and a Continuous Improvement and Monitoring Plan (CIMP) process where the OLA makes recommendations to the school district. The Watertown Public Schools ELE program completed their self-assessment in the spring of 2024 and OLA visited our programs in the fall of 2024. We have successfully implemented 9 of the areas they review, so our program is meeting standards in notifying parents, assessing, maintaining paperwork, and exiting students from our ESL program. We also are continuously training teachers to work with English Learners (ELs). 

We have received 4 items of feedback in 3 areas. The findings were about our online registration system, our ESL curriculum, the ability of ELs to participate in Spanish classes, and ensuring that all teachers have their SEI Endorsement (meaning that any content teacher has received state mandated training to work with ELs). 

To address the findings we plan on doing the following:

Finally, please know that we are continuously working to improve our program offerings and supporting the ELs in our district to be successful students both in their classrooms and in the school community. We will be working on curriculum changes over the next 2 years. If you have any questions or concerns, please email Kate Phillipson (kathryn.phillipson@watertown.k12.ma.us) or call/text 617-581-8200. 

As we experience some of the coldest days of the year, I want to share what our process is for determining if students should go outside for recess. We turn to our district nursing department for guidance, but our general rule of thumb is that if the "feels like" temperature outside is below 23 degrees Fahrenheit, our wonderful nurse, Jen Cullen, will advise an indoor recess.

Please make sure you are sending your students to school with appropriate cold weather gear (coats, gloves/mittens, hats, scarves), so that they can comfortably enjoy outdoor recess. We strongly recommend labeling your student's clothing/winter gear with their name!

The Department of Children and Families is seeking to keep Watertown children in their

schools and communities. In order to accomplish this, DCF is looking for Watertown parents

who would consider opening their homes and hearts to a student in need of short-term

care.

Please complete this brief survey if you are interested in opening your home and your

heart to a student in need.