Superintendent's Office
8/15/22
Good Morning-
I hope this finds you well. I apologize for not communicating as much as normal the past two weeks. I finally got COVID and became much sicker than I thought I would. I am feeling a little better now and you can expect the same level of communication from me moving forward that you have become used to.
There is a lot of information to share with you, and I will try to keep this message as brief as possible. If you need more information about a topic, please reach out to me at cbrown@mwcsd.org. The items are broken out by topic to make it hopefully easier to find the information you need. Thanks!
Parent Square:
Our last message was sent using Parent Square, and it appeared to be successful. You do NOT need to download the Parent Square app, but if you do, you will be able to use all of the features as we roll out the program more in the Fall. We believe that forty-one of you are currently using the app, based on the date from the last message we sent out.
Schedules, Meet and Greets, Supply Lists, and Transportation:
This is a really busy week at school for our counselors, administrators, and transportation director. If you have children here, you will be receiving all kinds of information from the buildings including schedules, meet and greet dates and times, and classroom placements (for Valley and Gorham.)
In supply list world, we REALLY paired down what supplies need to actually be purchased for the school year. The high school supply lists are class specific so there is no listing, but supply lists for the other buildings can be found here:
Valley: https://www.mwcsd.org/.../middlesex-valley.../supply-lists
Gorham: https://www.mwcsd.org/schools/gorham-elementary/supply-lists
Middle School: https://www.mwcsd.org/.../middle-school/student-supply-lists
Amy Carroll helps us to stay up to date with our social media, and she reached out to find information about supply drives. As she finds them, she places them on our Facebook page, which can be found here... https://www.facebook.com/marcus.whitman.79025 . If you know of places to get school supplies for no cost, please let Amy know (acarroll@mwcsd.org) and she will help to get the word out there.
The Friendship House in Middlesex... https://www.friendshiphousemiddlesex.com/ consistently has supplies and food available. They are great partners of ours. Please reach out to them if you have needs that we cannot meet; they are GREAT to work with.
Transportation is a critical part of our overall operation. LeeAnn Shipman Leslie Jones created a letter that you can find here... https://drive.google.com/.../1Jk7.../view... that contains a lot of important transportation information. PLEASE be patient the first two weeks of school as bus runs get ironed out. We are required to schedule transportation for each student, and that is how bus runs are created. In the first week of school, we learn that some students get rides or find other ways to get to school, and that changes the run times and in some cases, the actual runs themselves. The Here Comes the Bus app will help you with the times. After the second week of school, run times are the way they will be for the rest of the school year.
Food Service:
I am very disappointed that the federal and state lawmakers have not extended the Universal Free Meal Program. A LOT of our families depended on that through the pandemic, and that need continues today. There is still time for them to change their minds, but we have to move forward as if this benefit is going to be going away. Carla Woolston, our Director of Food Service, is great at helping people complete the free/reduced lunch paperwork. The link to the paperwork is here... https://drive.google.com/.../1ol2j0THYkfyI1u6UYYgFns.../view. The Universal Free Meal Program will expire at the end of August, but will take until the end of September to really end. Please do not wait to fill out the paperwork and if there is any governmental action to continue the program, I will let you know IMMEDIATELY. Thank you!
New Administrator:
Our administrative transition is now complete with the addition of Kayle Osika as our new 6-12 assistant principal. She is replacing the position Mr. Sullivan held as counselor/dean of students and will be solely an assistant principal to assist Mr. Pasho with the daily operations of the 6-12. She comes from Pal-Mac and will officially begin in the middle of September. Please give her a warm Whitman welcome when you see her!
Job Fair:
We are in better shape than a lot of district staffing wise, but we do have openings to fill. The list changes daily, so the best thing to do is check out this flyer... https://drive.google.com/.../1ZjRs0sz9MWukWH0Hv.../view. We will be holding a job fair this Thursday from 10AM-Noon at the bus garage. All of the directions are in the flyer. Come join the Wildcat family!
Thank you for taking the time to read this lengthy message. It is my job to keep you up to date and informed. Please reach out of you have questions and enjoy the rest of the week!
Chris
Christopher R. Brown, Ph.D.
Superintendent of Schools