Good evening FLRSD,
Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Duit (Happy St. Patrick’s Day) to all of our families of Irish ancestry. In the mid to late 1800’s Boston was established as home to more than 50,000 new Irish families and the Boston parade/celebration continues to be an annual event. A continued celebration to all of our families who are in the midst of Ramandan. Our schools have done a wonderful job all year celebrating diverse people in history and present day, that have an impact on who we are as a people.These past two months in particular buildings have focused on celebrating both Black History Month in February and Women’s History month the learning has been empowering, educational and vital for our students.
Thursday, March 21st is World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD), where the Down Syndrome community creates a single global voice advocating for the rights, inclusion and well being of angels with Down Syndrome. The Down Syndrome Association provides this insight “Down Syndrome is due to an extra copy of the 21st chromosome. This gives someone with DS three copies of this chromosome instead of the typical number of two. Since there are three 21’s, World Down Syndrome Day is March 21st (3/21)”
The powerful and necessary message of WDSD must also be blended with the reminder from so many lessons we have learned over the past few years. We MUST as a community unite, support, empower, understand, and listen to the experiences of everyone in order to come together and truly be an inclusive place for our students. I ask for WDSD that we pause and look at the experiences of all our special needs angels, that we applaud our special education educators & paraprofessionals, that we attend a SEPAC meeting (even if we do not have a special needs student in our home) and that we continue to work to support all of our students. We must commit our educational community to look deeply at ensuring that we have safe spaces throughout our schools for ALL of our students.
I hope that this poem by a profoundly astute teenager, should you choose to read it, resonates with you and that in some subtle, or not so subtle way, you are able to positively unite this week with someone you previously had not listened to. This was sent to me a few years ago and as the father of a special needs angel, who does not have Down Syndrome, it is a perfect reminder about how we must see ALL our students. This poem has always touched me and it weaves perfectly within the district’s continued focus on equity for ALL as it is a reminder that we understand, listen and share open space with all people. Our students must see the world model “conversation not confrontation”.
It is our continued goal that we converse kindly rather than idly attack on social media which only perpetuates confrontation and impedes progress. As Audre Lourde reminds us “it is not our differences that divide us, it is our inability to recognize, accept and celebrate those differences that divide us”.
As Gabrielle states so perfectly in her poem, we must begin to walk with each other, to listen and to understand and it is long overdue. I witness daily, with the lens of an educator for everyone who walks our halls and as a special education parent, the work of our Principals, Assistant Principals, Faculty, Paraprofessionals, Staff, Library and IT Staff, Nurses, SRO, Counselors, Coaches, Advisors, Custodial Maintenance and Food Service Staff, as well as our Central Office Administrators and Staff, School Committee, Town Employees, First Responders, and our Community Partners most of whom work for creating understanding, and supporting all of our students. The theme of World Down Syndrome day is to recognize differences and celebrate differences and a piece of this is celebrating with crazy sock day on Thursday. We ask that you wear a crazy pair of socks, mismatched or otherwise and that everyday you try to listen, understand and hear the experiences of those around us. It will change the trajectory of our lives and our wonderful communities.
May your week be filled with sharing happiness, colorful socks, a smile or two and may others bring the same to you two fold.
Alan
Alan Strauss, Superintendent
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Before/After School Programs- Please click here to view the upcoming Spring programs beginning March 25th! Spring Session-After the Bell
SEPAC- Join us for our meeting- Tuesday, March 19th from 6:30-7:30.
Does your student have an IEP or 504? Do you have questions about special education? Are you interested in being more involved in the District's Special Education program and an advocate for District needs? Please join SEPAC and Mrs. Kelly Steele on Tuesday March 19th at 6:30 to meet other parents/guardians and learn more!
This month we will be virtual-- join us :
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/kbm-hjur-jjp
Or dial: (US) +1 219-281-4827 PIN: 626 192 119#
AES PLAYGROUND
The AES playground will be closed 24/7 from March 18- approximately the beginning of April break for repairs. Although this is an inconvenience for a few weeks the results will be well worth it.
ARHS Career Day
On April 5th, ARHS will be hosting a Career Day for our students. We are in need of presenters. If you are interested, please see our Career Day invitation or reach out to jcronin@freelake.org for more information. Thank you!
PCC Summer Program at Stonehill College
If you or your student, grades 7-10 are interested in the magnificent summer residential enrichment sessions at Stonehill College please click on the presentation below and attend one of the informational sessions. FLRSD has always supported this wonderful opportunity and provides partial scholarships to a number of our students. There are information sessions on March 6th and April 8th at 7 pm @ the Stonehill College Welcome Center Auditorium. Parking is next to the auditorium. Contact pcc@stonehillcollege.edu for more information
Cradles to Crayons
Shaan Barnick and Kora Santangelo, our Project 351 Ambassadors, are hosting a clothing drive. . Project 351 is a leadership and service organization that focuses on young people who strive to lead service projects in the towns that they represent. We will be running a spring service for Cradles to Crayons from March 25th to April 5th. The mission statement of Cradles to Crayons is to: “enable our volunteers and donors to turn compassion into action and provide the essential items that children in struggling families need to thrive at school, to participate more fully in life, to just be a kid”. These donations will go to children all across Massachusetts to help fight clothing insecurity.
Freetown Lakeville Regional School District School Links
Please click on the link(s) below for district information and easy access to your child’s school news
FLRSD: News | Freetown Lakeville Regional School District
ARHS: Apponequet Regional High School News
FLMS: Freetown Lakeville Middle School News
GRAIS: George R. Austin Intermediate School News
AES: Assawompset Elementary Schools News
FES: Freetown Elementary School News
Below please find links to important forms and information. These are located on our website but hope this may assist you in locating them quickly.