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Willett Families,
We hope you’re enjoying the festive season as winter break approaches! Believe it or not, next week is our last full school week in December. We will be in school on Monday, December 22nd and Tuesday, December 23rd. 🌟 Attendance Matters
Every school day matters for your child’s learning and long-term success. While we value family time, cultural celebrations, and enrichment experiences, please remember that vacation and extracurricular absences are considered unexcused and represent learning time that cannot be made up.
If you have questions about attendance or would like support, please reach out. We appreciate your ongoing partnership in supporting your child’s education. 🚌 Bus Safety Reminder: Student Conduct Expectations -
To help us maintain a safe, respectful, and positive environment for all riders, we ask families to review the bus conduct expectations below with their child. Reinforcing these expectations at home helps ensure that every student can travel safely and comfortably.
School Committee Policy Conduct on the Bus
• Outside of ordinary conversation, classroom conduct must always be observed.
• Pupils are to assist in keeping the bus clean by keeping their wastepaper off the floor. Pupils will
not throw refuse out of the windows. Eating and drinking is not allowed on the bus.
• No pupil will smoke or light matches on a school bus.
• No pupil shall at any time extend his or her head, hands or arms out of the windows, whether
school bus is in motion or standing still.
• Pupils must see that they have nothing in their possession that may cause injury to another, such
as sticks, breakable containers, any type of firearms, straps or pins extending from their clothing.
Also, no animals/reptiles are permitted on the bus.
• Each pupil must see that his/her books and personal belongings are kept out of the aisle.
• Pupils should refrain from talking to the driver while the vehicle is in motion except in the
case of an emergency.
• No pupil shall sit in the driver's seat at any time.
• Pupils are to remain seated while the bus is in motion, and they are not to get on or off the bus
until it has come to a full stop.
• Students' misconduct on a bus will be sufficient reason to discontinue providing bus
transportation to those students involved.
• In the event of an actual emergency, emergency exit procedures, as established by the emergency
exit drills, will be followed.
• Cell phones should not be used to record videos or take pictures while on the bus.
• Headphones must be used when listening to music, watching videos, or using devices, to avoid
distracting the driver. Thank you for your partnership in maintaining a safe, welcoming bus environment for all! Sincerely, Mr. Jeffrey Cateon, Principal |
AI Survey for Families
The District AI Task Force is launching a short survey to learn how families are using artificial intelligence, what questions you may have, and what supports would be most helpful. Your feedback will help the district create clear expectations, build shared understanding, and ensure our approach to AI is safe, responsible, and aligned with community needs.
Please take a few minutes to complete the Family AI Survey at the link below. Thank you for contributing your voice. Family AI Survey Link |
Our Student Council’s annual food drive was a huge success — thank you to all the families who donated! 🙌 The Hebron Food Pantry was truly impressed by your generosity. Our wonderful Willett community never ceases to impress us. Great job by the students in the Student Council collecting the donations from classrooms and helping to load up the van. Have a wonderful holiday season!
🙂 Mrs. Raposa and Mrs. Martin, Student Council Advisors ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you to our generous PTO and their donation of $1286 through the Read and Feed Challenge. |
Mrs. Schiller and Mrs. Bower's First Grade classroom spent some time before Thanksgiving break working on creating their own Thanksgiving Break Parade! Students learned all about how the Macy's Thanksgiving Floats are made and then worked in partners to design their own "float." Using their planning page, partners illustrated and labeled the key features of their floats. Next, it was time to use materials to cooperatively build their float. Students really had to work together and think outside the box for this step. Finally, the students attached their floats to BeeBots and coded the parade route. The students really enjoyed watching their floats travel the parade route together. It was a great way to kick of Thanksgiving break!
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Cross Grade Collaboration
Students in grades two and four who work with Mrs. Jervis, Mrs. Slater, Mrs. Craig and Mrs. Ferney have been working together to learn about whales! During our first meeting, students viewed an informational video about whales then discussed facts they learned about whales with their cross-grade partners.
Our next meeting focused on collaborating to create a complex origami whale. This activity required strong listening skills and working with a partner to follow the directions and successfully construct the whale. Next, students brainstormed words related to collaboration to add to the “spout” of the whale.
Our third and most exciting meeting was a science experiment! The students hypothesized about whether or not blubber would protect humans from freezing cold water. Our “blubber” consisted of shortening in a plastic bag. Students placed one hand in the bag insulated with the shortening and the other hand had no protection. Both hands were then placed in cold water and students recorded their observations following the scientific method.
The students have enjoyed working with children in a different grade, making new friends and learning from each other. This project aligns directly with our school wide cross grade collaboration about whales in which whole classrooms of students will work together to learn new information about whales, our school mascot! |
A Note from Mrs. Brierly
Dear Families,
I wanted to share that I will be on medical leave starting Friday, November 21, 2025, and plan to return on Monday, January 5, 2026. While I’m away, our amazing staff will continue to care for and support our students every day.
If something urgent comes up, please don’t hesitate to contact Principal Jeffrey Cateon at jcateon@attleboroschools.com or the main office. I’ll miss seeing all of our students and families during this time and look forward to returning in the new year with renewed energy! Warmly, Mrs. Christine Brierly, Assistant Principal |
Opt In or Opt Out to District SMS Messaging
District/School text messages are sent from the short code 989-00. Per CTIA requirements, recipients must be able to opt out of receiving SMS messages by replying "Stop" to that number. This will stop only text messages (calls and emails will continue as usual).
If you previously opted out and would like to start receiving text alerts again, simply send "Start" to 989-00 to be added back into future SMS communications. |
APS Redistricting is now in Phase 2. During this phase, the Operations & Infrastructure Council continues to review potential boundary change proposals. See the APS Redistricting page for more information. |
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Hello from the Health Office, With the cold weather and an increase in illness throughout the community, please see the attached information to assist families in making decisions about when their students should stay home and when they can come to school.
When is sick TOO sick for school? Reasons to keep me home from school
The first week of December is National Handwashing Awareness Week. According to the CDC, keeping hands clean is one of the most important steps we can take to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others. Many diseases and conditions are spread by not washing hands with soap and clean, running water. Making a habit of good hand hygiene is an easy, effective way to prevent infections and sicknesses. If you’re someone that chooses to skip the handwashing once in a while, read these mind-blowing statistics and you might think again next time! – 80% of communicable diseases can be transferred by touch (person-to-person contact).
– Washing your hands a few times a day can reduce diarrhea rates by 40%.
– Touching your face with dirty hands spreads sicknesses pneumonia, a cold, and the flu.
– Pneumonia is the number one cause of childhood death, and is preventable by regular handwashing. The two most important times to wash your hands are before and after preparing food, and after going to the bathroom. |
Dear Students and Families,
Your child will be sent home with some items provided by the Feinstein Foundation for the 2025 - 2026 school year. Included are a Golden Ticket with your child's name and ticket number, and a Jr. Scholar Card that can be used for free visits to some local spots including Providence Children's Museum, Rock Spot Climbing, and more! Please keep these items safe and see the attached flyers. For more information, please visit www.feinsteinfoundation.org or reach out to our Feinstein Coordinator, Ms. Fisk, at sfisk@attleboroschools.com with any questions.
Thank you! |
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