Hello JGW Community,
It was a fantastic week here at JGW! Scholars brought their energy to be back at school and our teachers matched that excitement. It was a wonderful week with scholars learning our core values and school routines. It was punctuated by our FRESH STARt party where our scholars got to practice their core values at a school wide event.
JGW DRAMA CLUB: The JGW Drama Club was voted Haverhill’s Best After School Program 2023!! Congratulations to The JGW Drama Club for their outstanding season last year.
*There is an informational meeting on The Addams Family auditions next Thursday, Sept. 7th, after school in the Music Room/Cafe area until 3:45pm. Please see the music teacher, Mr. Gariepy, for more information. robert.gariepy@haverhill-ps.org
Afternoon Pick Up: The first week of school always has hiccups and a learning curve for scholars knowing how to get home. Overall between late buses and new scholars to the building we are in pretty good shape as a school. We are asking a few things from families to help make end of the day even smoother:
- Please review this weekend how your scholar is getting home- bus or walker.
- If your scholar is a bus student and needs to be picked you MUST CALL BEFORE 2:30PM. If you call after 2:30pm (unless a real emergency) we might not be able to get the child off the bus and scholars will have to use your pre planned way to get home.
We thank you for your help making our dismissal safe for all our scholars
8th Grade Haverhill High LOOP PROGRAM: The Loop Program at Haverhill High School will begin on Wednesday, September 6th. This is for students who have previously signed up. If you have any questions, please contact Mrs.Vlahos, School Counselor, at jvlahos@haverhill-ps.org.
Culture Week/WIN Block: As a part of our Social Emotional Learning curriculum and community building activities we are doing in WIN Block over the next few weeks, students will be creating culture bags in school next week!
This is an opportunity for students to bring in photos, drawings or small items that represent their culture or individual identity. We encourage you to discuss ideas with your scholar as they prepare for this activity.
Discovery Club:
ENROLLING SOON!
Discovery Club has no cost before & after school programs at Bradford, Golden Hill, Pentucket Lake, Silver Hill, & Tilton Elementary Schools, and Consentino, J.G. Whittier and Nettle Middle Schools. All of these sites offer one hour of before school care, Monday through Friday. After school, programs for these grades meet for two hours Monday through Thursday. Transportation home is provided after school. Elementary sites also offer programming on Fridays after school; however, transportation home is not available on Fridays.
Applications will be available soon through the Haverhill Public Schools’ website. https://discoveryclub.haverhill-ps.org/
Morning Basketball: Morning Open Gym Basketball will begin next week. Open gym is on Wednesday and Friday mornings starting at 7:40 am the JGW gym. You will need your own transportation. If you have any question please email Ms. Hamel mariclare.hamel@haverhill-ps.org
JGW Cross Country Team: Cross Country sign ups will begin next week in the cafeteria during all lunches and is open to anyone in grades 5-8. We will also hand out a packet containing a permission slip as well as practice schedule information. Be sure to take a packet when you sign up. Please see Mrs. Tarbox with any questions or for more information. Looking forward to a strong turnout of JGW runners! melanie.tarbox@haverhill-ps.org
Blue Flag: On rainy, cold, or snowy days JGW will put out a BLUE FLAG in front of the school. On those days scholars will come into the building. If they eat breakfast they will go to the cafeteria. Once they finish or if they don’t eat breakfast scholars will report to their homeroom and have indoor morning recess. This happened this past Wednesday and the scholars did a great job adjusting to their already new routines.
Chromebook Insurance:
HPS has chosen School Device Coverage (SDC) to insure the Chromebooks that students have been issued. The cost of coverage for the year is $20 and includes accidental damage, loss, fire, and theft. As of right now, families have the option to sign up during the month of September (we will let you know if it extends). After sign up closes, only new students will be given a special code to sign up at registration. Our website explains SDC and has instructions on how to signing up online:
https://www.haverhill-ps.org/technology/device-insurance/
Digital Safety
Qustodio is FREE for HPS Students/Families. Qustodio is a digital wellbeing platform that helps parents/guardians control their child’s access to the internet on their school issued devices. More information and how to sign up for Qustodio can be found on our website at:
https://www.haverhill-ps.org/technology/athome/student-safety-and-digital-wellbeing-platform/
Calendar: Whittier website is update and we have added community events to our calendar
https://whittier.haverhill-ps.org/events/
Community Events:
- Open House: Aug. 28th 6pm-7:30pm
- First Day of school: Aug. 29th
- JGW Drama Meeting: Sept. 7th 2:45-3:45pm
- 8th Grade Washington DC Meeting: Tuesday Sept. 12th 6pm (JGW cafe)
- Picture Day: Tuesday September 26th
- PTO Movie Night: September 29th 7pm
- Pumpkin Stroll and Trick or Trunk: October 18th 6:30pm-8pm
- Parent Teacher Conferences: Oct. 26th 6pm-7:30pm
- Thanksgiving Dinner: Nov. 15th
- 7/8th Grade Dance: Dec. 1st 5pm-6:30pm
- 5/6th grade Dance: Feb. 2nd 3pm-4:30pm
- Trivia Night: Feb. 8th
Staff Emails: We also updated the website to include email and all current and new staff to the building. https://whittier.haverhill-ps.org/staff-listing/
Water Bottles: Since COVID the school has replaced the old water fountains with water filling stations. For our scholars to access water they need a water bottle. PLEASE ADD THIS TO YOUR LIST OF SCHOOL SUPPLIES.
PTO/Site Council Meetings Dates and Times:
PTO: please join our monthly PTO meetings at JGW. This group of family members helps support our teachers and scholars here at Whittier.
School Site Council: A school council is a representative, school building-based committee composed of the principal, families, and teachers. This group helps make building based decisions on the School Improvement Plan (SIP), programs, building upgrades, and supports the budget process. If you would like to be a part of the School Site Council please email me directly at matthew.condon@haverhill-ps.org.
Location: JGW
Time: Site Council 5pm-6pm and PTO 6pm-7pm
Dates:
- 9/13/2023
- 10/11/2023
- 11/8/2023
- 12/13/2023
- 1/10/2024
- 2/7/2024
- 3/13/2024
- 4/10/2024
- 5/8/2024
- 6/12/2024
Matt Condon
Principal
JGW
#LEGACY