Unity Day, Wednesday October 20th
Douglas will celebrate Unity Day this Wednesday, October 20th. Unity Day is the signature event of National Bullying Prevention Month, which has been observed in the U.S. during October since 2011. To participate in Unity Day, individuals, schools, communities and businesses are asked to wear orange to unite for kindness, acceptance, and inclusion to prevent students being bullied. Please remind your child to wear orange on Wednesday.
Join us for the Inaugural DOUGLAS TRUNK OR TREAT
Saturday, October 30th in the Douglas School Parking Lot.
Decorate your vehicle in any theme you choose and pass out candy or treats to children/families as they pass by. If you want to provide a game or activity for kids to partake in that is fine too! Trunk participants will line up at 3pm. Participants can drop in anytime during the event time from 4:00pm-6:00pm.
Prizes will be awarded to the most original and fun themed trunk! Costume not required but encouraged. Hope to see you there! Questions? Email Brittany.
Annual Veteran's Day Program
Every November our community honors the relatives of our families who have served our country. Here are ways you can help us make this event a success!
Veteran Visits: Does your family include a veteran who can Zoom with a class to tell his or her story? Or would they like to visit in person, any day in the month of November?. Here is a link to a Google form for you to fill out with your veteran's contact information. (We will also invite them to tune in to our YouTube presentation of patriotic music and a guest speaker on the morning of Wednesday, November 10th.)
Display of Names: Do you have a relative who is/was a veteran? Even if your veteran relative cannot participate in our program, we would like to acknowledge his/her service to our country. On a 3 x 5 white index card please print (large and clearly) the following information: name of veteran; military branch; relationship to the student. Feel free to also include the veteran's dates of service. Please use a separate card for each veteran’s name. We will display the cards on the large bulletin boards on the way down the stairs. (We HAVE saved cards from prior years, and will use them again this year!)
Photo Display: We love to display pictures of relatives who are veterans! Any photos that you have submitted in the past HAVE been saved and will be used again this year. We always need new pictures too! All we ask is that you do not send original photographs, since we laminate the pictures and do not send them back until your family graduates from Douglas School. Please label your pictures with the name of the veteran, the military branch; the student to whom the veteran is related; and (optionally) when/where the photo was taken. A brief paragraph that relates to the story would be an added bonus! Please mark your youngest child’s name and year of graduation from Douglas on the back, so we’ll know when to retire the photos.
DEADLINE: Photos and index cards must be received at school no later than Wednesday, Nov. 3! Send them in to the front office in an envelope marked “Veterans Day Program.”
REMINDERS
Pooled Testing Program to Begin Monday October 18th
The Pooled testing program at Douglas will take place on Mondays beginning tomorrow, October 18th. Pooled testing involves mixing several individuals’ test samples together into one “pool” and then testing the pooled sample for COVID-19. For a quick overview of pooled testing, check out this video from Salem Public Schools. This approach increases the number of individuals that can be tested at one time and allows us to regularly test our school community for COVID-19. DESE has partnered with CIC Health for the pooled testing program.
Students who are not vaccinated, have not had COVID in the last 90 days, and who have consent on file will participate in pooled testing. We will receive the pool results within 48 hours. If the result of the pool is negative, then all students in that pool are presumed to not have COVID-19. If the result of the pool is positive, then all individuals in the pool must be retested individually. Because pooled testing does not provide individual student results, you will only be notified of the results of follow-up testing in the case of a positive pool. We will use the Abbott BinaxNOW rapid antigen diagnostic tests for follow-up testing so that students in a positive pool can be tested as soon as possible and receive individual results in 15 minutes.
Our staff has been thoroughly trained on how to administer pooled testing, as well as the Abbott BinaxNOW Rapid Antigen Diagnostic Tests, if they are needed for follow-up testing. In the case of a positive pool, we will conduct follow up, or ‘reflex’, testing for students in that pool. In this case, we will email you your child’s test results and what to do if your child is positive or negative. For even more information on pooled testing, please visit this COVID-19 Educational Testing site.
If your child hasn’t experienced any tests involving a nasal swab, it would be extremely helpful if you practice a quick nasal swab or two at home using a cotton swab. This video of a child self-swabbing is really helpful, and we recommend you watch this together and then practice. Our school nurse will also be working with teachers to demonstrate swabbing.
We are extremely grateful to our committed staff and families that continue to show great flexibility and resilience as we navigate through this school year. It takes all of us working together to contain the spread of this virus. The District is excited to add pooled testing as another mitigation strategy for our school community, as we continue to work together toward the safe return of all students and staff to school.
Greetings from the Douglas School Library
The Acton Memorial Library Book Sale is being held Saturday, October 23, 9am-4pm at the Acton Memorial Library. The Friends of the Acton Libraries has been a generous supporter of our public school libraries for many years.
Please let me know if you would like to sign-up to help out with our fabulous March Reading Challenge. The committee will meet once in November or December (virtually), select a theme, and begin planning!
Thank you!
Sasha Opel
Help Douglas Earn Money!
Fall is in full swing! The Eagle Rewards Team wants you to remember TWO easy ways you can help earn money for Douglas.
1ST: Sign up for Amazon Smile and designate CT Douglas School PTO as your charity. Invite family and friends to do the same! When you use smile.amazon.com for all your Amazon orders Douglas automatically earns a percentage of all qualifying sales.
- Make sure your Amazon App is set to include your phone purchases in your Smile donations! Open the App and find 'Settings' in the main menu (☰). Tap on 'AmazonSmile' and follow the on-screen instructions to turn on AmazonSmile on your phone.
2ND: You can help Douglas earn $ from Box Tops for Education this school year!
Here's how YOU can participate.
Please see step by step instructions below.
- Download the Box Tops for Education app onto a mobile device.
- Play the “Unlock Brighter Futures” using one of these reuseable combinations - (46, 32, 03) or (16, 47, 49) or (12, 94, 60) or (84, 40, 01)
- Prizes include gift cards, laptops, backpacks, and BTFEs (credited to Douglas). Gift cards and other prizes are yours to keep!
- Play up to 20 times per day (until the game ends on Nov 30).
- Douglas PTO receives a check twice a year.
Douglas has earned over $736 so far this school year!
We Appreciate Your Efforts to Help Support Douglas!
The Eagle Rewards Team
Douglas Amazon Wish List is Back! Help Make our Teachers' Wishes Come True!
Douglas parents have put together an updated Amazon Wish List that includes various items our teachers have wished for. If you would like to help make some of the wishes come true and support our teachers and students, please pick an item or two from the list to donate. The items will be shipped directly to the coordinator, who will then organize, label, and deliver them safely to the school. The list will remain active throughout the school year and we will continue to add new items as more wishes come in. There are wishes small and large, and you can also purchase gift cards in any amount that will be put toward purchasing additional items. For questions, please contact Emmy Whitney at emmywhitney@yahoo.com or 617-633-1862. Thank you!
Updates from the Health Office
Experts recommend mid to late October as an ideal time to get the Influenza vaccine. There are multiple locations in Acton and Boxborough for families to receive the influenza vaccine. Please see the 2021 Flu Vaccine Clinic information provided by ABRSD.
Family Financial Assistance
Families in the Douglas community may face financial difficulties--short-term or ongoing--for a variety of reasons. There are programs in place that can help bridge the gap. The district has summarized the types of assistance they have available (for example, fee waivers, reduced lunch prices, etc.) and how to access them in their "Financial Assistance Letter".
In addition, the Douglas PTO always has funds set aside specifically to help families cover costs for special programming and events, or for things like classroom magazine subscription costs.
The process is confidential and simple. If you would like further information on this, please contact Ms. Sullivan or Mrs. Bonnell.
Lost and Found Protocols
Parents, please be sure to mark any of your child's important belongings (coats, lunch boxes, etc.) with their name. Items clearly marked will be returned directly to the classroom. Items not marked will be placed in the Lost & Found white cabinets in the cafeteria. Students should check for missing items there.
Questions?
