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Mill Falls News
October 302020
IN THIS ISSUE
Important Dates
at a 
Glance

10/30-11/1  
Material Pick Up
for Remote MFCS Families 

11/1
Daylight Savings Time
Turn the clocks back one hour.

11/3
Election Day

11/25 -11/27 
Thanksgiving Break No School



 
CORPORATE SPONSORS

We gratefully acknowledge the ongoing contributions from the following corporate partners: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Snow? So soon...

2020 - full of surprises! And today's ? The snow! 

After an admittedly very modest amount of research, it was a relief to learn that an early snow doesn't necessarily mean that we are in for a hard winter, weather -wise that is! 

So it looks like we will still have time to clean up those leaves after all. ;-))

Beyond the snow, and the buzz for many around tomorrow's Halloween, this week featured the annual Kinder Pumpkin Study, as well as the first in our series of Tea with Laura. We hope you enjoy taking a look at what's been cooking shared here in pictures and a link to the recorded Tea. 

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 A reminder that we need to turn back those clocks this Sunday for Daylight Savings Time, just ahead of next week's Election Day on Tuesday. Please note, since Mill Falls is not a polling site, Election Day is a school day for us. 


 Tea with Laura: Recording Available!


** Recording of first Tea now available**

A new series...
Tea with Laura

If you weren't able to join us, 
please take some time to access the recording by clicking here



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This series is designed as an informal opportunity for Laura to speak with the adult members of our Mill Falls Families about educational structures and expectations as they relate to our public Montessori program as well as offer guidance to our parents/guardians in support of our students. Please stay tuned for details about the next Tea.

Have an idea for the next Tea topic? 
Please send us your thoughts to office@millfalls.org

 Attention Hybrid Families - K & 1st Year Families

There have been some articles about how the cold weather is beginning to impact morning Wellness Temperature Checks at schools. We have not yet experienced this, but we ask for your help in advance. 

While you are waiting in car line for drop off, please do not blast the hot air. The no-touch COVID safe thermometers are sensitive and some schools are finding this is impacting the true read.


Thank you for your ongoing partnership in keeping our students and staff safe!

 Snow Days...Will They Still Exist?

There's nothing quite like the unexpected Snow Day. And even though COVID has changed many things this year, we plan to continue our Snow Day Practice at least a few times this year. 

The childhood experience - the chance to play in the snow, stay in PJ's, watch a movie and just generally relax into the season - remains an important element to the New England school year, and one we don't want to lose. 

Where to check for Snow Day Info:
We will post any closings, as usual, on WMUR's website, and THIS unusual year, we will also utilize our ALMA emergency messaging system so that everyone in our community is aware.
 Family Tech Support


This year, Ms. Jody is serving as our Family Tech Support person. 
She is available by email and Zoom on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays (note, she is not available on Wednesdays). 

She can be reached by email at techsupport@millfalls.org

She can be reached on Zoom (for live chats via the waiting room one at a time) from: 
10am-12pm, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday
Meeting ID: 797 9462 3236    PW: 6nEvDQ
If Jody cannot answer your question, she will reach out to our team to get an answer for you. 

Academic questions? These should be sent to your child's classroom teacher(s).

 Health & Wellness Reminders in the Age of COVID

Health & Wellness Reminders:

Students exhibiting symptoms must present a negative Antigen Test AND improvement of symptoms before returning to school. 

If the COVID test is positive, your child will need to isolate at home for at least 10 days, including the final day without fever (and fever reducing medication). We strongly advise family members to also seek testing, as they will be considered 'close contacts' by the Health Department. Remember, while no one can test out of the 14-day close contact quarantine, the testing is to help trace and limit community spread!

If you or anyone is your household is found to be a close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID, your or your household member will need to quarantine at home for 14 days after that close contact. Again you and your household members are strongly advised to seek testing. Remember, while no one can test out of close contact quarantine, the testing is to help trace and limit community spread!

If testing is not accessedthen your child will need to stay home for 10 days including the final day without fever (without fever reducing medication). 

If the COVID test is negative
, please keep in mind that your child must still remain at home until there is an improvement of symptoms and no fever or vomiting for 24 hours, as per our usual health and wellness protocol.


Testing note: The NH Department of Health and Human Services as well as the Manchester City Health Department expects those with concerns but NO symptoms to seek a PCR Antigen test that must be sent to a lab for processing. ONLY those with symptoms are instructed to seek a rapid test. At this time, the rapid antigen tests are only considered effective by our state's public health teams when there is a presence of symptoms. 

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To assist in everyone's understanding of the protocol we've designed, we ask that you review the COVID Handbook Insert (esp. pages 6-8) as well as the chart below. Thank you so very much for your ongoing partnership in keeping our school community well!



A reminder that the NH State Epidemiologist strongly urges the following: Persons experiencing symptoms related to COVID, or concerned that they may have been exposed to the virus, are strongly urged to seek Antigen Testing. This assists in our overall ability to keep our school community safe and informed about COVID and viral spread. Thank you!
 COVID & Community Resources


Family Support Hot Line:
Waypoint Family support can help with anything from where to get covid testing or child care. 
Call: 800-640-6486 
M-F 8:30-4:30


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Free COVID Tests
Families who live in the Greater Manchester area may call the Manchester COVID-19 Hotline to arrange for a free testing appointment. East and West Side locations available. This is NOT an antibody test. The hotline is available Monday - Friday from 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM. Call: 603-668-1547. Testing appointments are required.  

 Laura's Corner



Student & Family Support
Below is some information from Ms. Laura W. about supporting students who are learning from home. 

The Importance of the Prepared Environment:

Fostering Student Independence During Remote Learning

A Deeper Dive into the Importance of Independence

The Power of Accomplishment

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Tea with Laura
October 30,2020: The Importance of the Prepared Environment
Click here for the link to the video

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Other Resources:

And here are some books that staff have suggested for families with young children in these COVID times. 

A reminder, we do try to talk about the need for keeping space between people these days using the term Physical Distancing, rather than 'social distancing':



 Share Your Images & Stories from Home!
We would once again like to ask our Mill Falls Families to share images and stories from their Remote Learning experience - daily work as well as Big Work Wednesday Projects, which we can share in our newsletter. 


Please send your photographs, brief stories (remember sharing humorous moments will help keep us all healthy!), and quotes to Ms. Meryl at: stories.pictures@millfalls.org.
 
Please be sure to send the photos at small to medium resolution, and send along a description / story about what is going on in the photos. Thank you!
 
 Montessori Moments From Near & Far...

Please enjoy some photographs from this week here at school and some sent in from families working remotely:

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Below: This week, Ms. Melissa's Art Students continued their dive into Pop Art. They discussed some creations by Pop Artist, Roy Lichtenstein, who is known for using small dots, called Benday Dots, on his paintings which often have strong colors, action words, and black outlines. Students were then asked to create their own art in his style. Here are a few examples:


 

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Big Work Wednesday
Big Work is a Montessori practice where children work on projects that are driven by student interest - something that sparks excitement and motivation to learn more about a certain subject. In the process this helps to develop a number of skills related to academics, problem solving, independence and so much more! 
Here are some examples from this week:

Below: Wyatt Cooking


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This week, Quinn's Big Work was especially sweet. He decided to make something to help teachers talk with kids about emotions. His mom, Kim, shared some information she had learned from her conversation with Quinn about his work. Quinn told her that there was a student in his Lower El class that had a lot of emotional challenges. Quinn always liked to make sure that this classmate was able to join in classroom activities, and was especially tuned in to his many emotions. Quinn 
made this stop-motion animation as a teaching tool for teachers! We loved it, and hope you will too! 

Please take a moment to view the stop motion animation video Quinn made this week, by clicking here: 

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Quinn's brother, Myles, has also taken up stop motion animation. This week, he created a stop motion animation of a time travel machine using an old lego car from his dad's childhood collection of legos from the 70s! 

Please click here to check out the video, where the car goes through the time machine and it comes out as a Ferrari!
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Below: This week, some of our students learned how to sew!