Notes from Mr Dupius
In the coming weeks within our Physical Education classes, we will begin our fitness unit. With that, I have included a quick explanation as to what we do in grades 1 through 5. This takes place at all 5 of the Winchester Elementary Schools.
Each school year, students in grades one through five participate in a bi-yearly (fall and spring)
physical fitness assessment. Our fitness assessments are:
· curl-ups: (stomach and trunk strength)
· sit and reach (leg and back flexibility)
· jog/walk (endurance)
Recorded on the student's progress reports are their percentile in accordance to their gender and age. This percentile is compared to the national average (not our school average).
As mentioned, the numbers you see in the boxes for the fitness tests are percentiles. Percentiles compare your child's scores to those of other students who took the test throughout the United States. Say, for example, your child's raw Sit and Reach score is 32cm. If the national percentile for a score of 32 is 80, then this means your child did better than 80 percent of the national group of students for their age group.
If the student was medically cleared for the assessment we record that they did not participate (MDX). If a student recorded below the 25th percentile in all three categories, we consider this - Needs Improvement
Two other notes to pass along:
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Our school is in need of recess equipment. If you have any used balls or unused equipment (i.e. hula hoops, jump ropes) that is safe for our students to play with at recess, please feel free to drop off to me in the gymnasium or leave in the main office.
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I would like to start a Lynch "Student-Athlete" bulletin board outside of the gymnasium. If you or your child has any pictures, team pictures, or "baseball" cards of them being active or on a team - please drop them off
to me in the gymnasium.
I hope to share with the Lynch community how active our students are outside of school!
Mr. Dupuis
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Nurse's News
In the coming months, the Winchester School Committee will be discussing and eventually adopting both a new Wellness Policy and a Life Threatening Allergy Policy. In their current state, these policies do not ban food for celebrations or as part of the curriculum. However, they strongly encourage that the district moves away from the use of food as a means of celebrating myriad holiday observances and student birthdays due to the influx of students with allergies as well as the nation-wide obesity epidemic. Thus, we are recommending that we begin to move away from the use of food at classroom parties. There are other very meaningful and fun ways to celebrate holidays and birthdays and we encourage all Lynch families and staff to move in that direction. A list of these options has been shared with the Lynch Staff.
That said we know there will be times when food will be brought into a classroom. Guidelines have been and will remain in place to ensure the safety of all our students. This would mean that all parents and "room parents" should check with the classroom teacher and Mary Murphy before any edible treats are brought into the classroom. It also means that whatever is brought in for the class to share should be safe and healthy for all students in that class. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to get in touch with either Stephen Goodwin or Mary Murphy.
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The procedure for management of pediculosis (head lice)
The procedure for management of pediculosis (head lice) in the Winchester elementary schools was recently revised and approved by the superintendent. The new guidelines have been written based on recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Harvard School of Public Health, among others.
Our stated goals include effective management of head lice, minimizing student absences, and education of the school community regarding prevention, treatment and management of head lice.
The school nurse will no longer check the entire school population. In the past we have checked the students twice yearly, usually in September upon return from summer vacation, and in January after the December break. This routine practice has actually given parents/guardians a "false sense" of security. Some may feel as though they are "safe" since their child's head was checked in school, yet sporadic episodes of head lice occur during the remaining months of the year. By educating parents and encouraging them to check their child's head frequently, we hope to keep cases of head lice to a minimum.
It is understandable that many parents do not know what to look for when checking their child's head. The guidelines provide websites that teach parents how to identify head lice, as well as, its treatment, prevention and management.
As always, your child's school nurse is an excellent source of information regarding head lice. Please see the guidelines below and contact us if you have any questions.
WINCHESTER PUBLIC SCHOOLS
PEDICULOSIS (HEAD LICE) GUIDELINES For ELEMENTARY GRADES
GOALS:
Provide effective management of head lice infestation in school.
Minimize student absences due to head lice infestation.
Educate school community about head lice: prevention, identification, and management.
PROCEDURE:
When an elementary grade student is found to have head lice they will be referred to the parent or guardian for appropriate treatment.
The student may return to school after adequate treatment in consultation with the school nurse.
The school nurse may exclude a student until the treatment is deemed satisfactory for re-entry.
When a case is identified, the school nurse will check their classmates.
If there are two or more identified cases in one classroom, the school nurse will send notification to the parents/guardians of that class. Confidentiality will be maintained at all times.
Parents will be provided with educational information and current supporting websites via newsletter annually, and on an as needed basis.
www.headliceinfo.com (includes a video tutorial)
www.hsph.harvard.edu/headlice.html
www.mass.gov/dph/cdc/factsheets/pedicu.htm
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