Willett Whaler - September 5, 2025

Dear Families,

The first few days of school have been filled with energy, excitement, and lots of smiling faces. Our students and staff are already building strong connections, and learning is off to a wonderful start. It truly feels like we are embarking on a magical journey together this year.

A special note for our kindergarten families: Kindergarten Orientation will take place on Tuesday, September 9th, and our youngest learners will officially begin their educational journey on Wednesday, September 10th.

On Tuesday, September 9th, we invite all families to join us for the first Willett PTO Community Meeting at 6:00 PM.in the Library Media Center. This will be a wonderful opportunity to connect with other families, hear about upcoming events, and discover ways to get involved in supporting our school community.

We look forward to seeing you there!

📌 A few quick reminders:

PTO Community Meeting is Tuesday, September 9 at 6 PM
Kindergarten Orientation is Tuesday, September 9
Kindergarten begins on Wednesday, September 10

Mr. Jeffrey Cateon, Principal

Attleboro Families:

Attleboro High School greatly appreciates the support of families at all AHS sporting events. While most students are there to watch the games and enjoy the event, a number of students have been left/dropped off unsupervised. This has created safety concerns and disruptions for other fans in attendance.

ALL middle school aged students and younger MUST be accompanied by an adult at all high school events. We appreciate your support keeping all in attendance supervised while allowing an enjoyable environment for all.

Please know this expectation is currently in place for AHS events moving forward.

We look forward to seeing you all soon.

GO BLUE

Mark Houle - AHS Athletic Director

Craig Levis- AHS Principal

From the APS Welcome Center:

Welcome back, APS families! Visit the New School Year Information page for back-to-school information, resources and tips for a successful school year: https://www.attleboroschools.com/o/apswc/page/new-school-year-information

September/October - Project Connect CFCE | Smore Newsletters

Student Handbook Sign Off

Please review the student handbook and complete the sign off process in ASPEN. It is expected that all students have a parent/guardian complete this.

Student Handbook

Title I Programming Newsletters

MA Mandated Screenings

All health screenings conducted in school are required by Massachusetts Law. Screenings are ongoing throughout the school year. Parents and legal guardians shall be provided with an opportunity to request, in writing, that their child not participate in the program. This request must be written each year and be specific to which screening you do not wish your child to participate.

Elementary Screenings are as follow:

Vision Screening
Vision screening is conducted for all grades K – 4. Parents are notified if the student does not pass for referral to their physician for follow-up.

Hearing Screening
Hearing screening is conducted for all grades K - 3. Parents are notified if the student does not pass for referral to their physician for follow-up.

Growth Development Screening
Growth screening is conducted for students in grades 1 and 4. Heights and weights are measured and calculated into BMI or Body Mass Index.

Vision Screening for Kindergarten students will be on September 25th.

Willett School Supply Lists By Grade

🔊🔊 Join our email list and be the first to hear about school events, volunteer opportunities and community meetings!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeeCbfHvms1hvYUdPJihRsJC5mBsrBhzSKVGT2ICzcMTUFQPA/viewform?usp=send_form

Kait Nardini

President

Willett Elementary PTO

SEPTEMBER 2025

Sept 9 – Willett Community Meeting @ Willett Library, 6pm

Sept 25 – Welcome Back Night + Book Fair Kickoff (Details Forthcoming)

OCTOBER 2025

Oct 2- Parent Mixer at Morins (Details Forthcoming)

Oct 3 – Apex Fun Run

Oct 7 – Willett Community Meeting @ Willett Library, 6pm

Oct 27-31 – Book Fair

NOVEMBER 2025

Nov 1 – Fall Festival @ Willett, 11am–2pm

Nov 4 – PTO Board Zoom, 8pm

Nov 13- Tavern in the Square Restaurant Night, 5pm-8pm

DECEMBER 2025

Dec 2 – PTO Board Zoom, 8pm

Dec 18 – Deck the Halls Event (Details Forthcoming)

Bus Students

Bus students will be met by staff at the front circle drop off and supervised during loading and unloading.
You can see the bus stop location and pickup time by logging into the Aspen Family Portal and clicking, "Transportation." You can also view all of the stops by visiting the District's Transportation Page. As a reminder, please be out 15 minutes early for the first two weeks as drivers are learning their routes and routes change which can cause the buses to be earlier or later than expected.
Please be at your stop at least 10 minutes before the estimated time of pick up/drop off every day. Once three full weeks have gone by, you will have a more realistic, regular time that the bus arrives/drops off at the designated bus stop.
A reminder that the first 2 – 3 weeks of the bus route, times may be off by 5-15 minutes or more as everyone adjusts to more traffic on the roads when school begins as well as those families who take that extra minute to give a good-bye hug or words of positive encouragement.
If your child normally takes the bus but will need to be picked up instead, please notify the classroom teacher in writing.

Car- drop off/pick up

Drop off and pick up using the car line on Riverbank Road only.
Please do not pass another car in the queue, make a u-turn or stop and leave your vehicle.
Parents remain in their vehicle. School personnel will assist your child as needed.
Please have your child exit the vehicle on the crosswalk side only. It is not safe to exit the vehicle on the street side.
If your child uses a booster seat, please have them practice how to unclip themselves once it is their turn to exit the vehicle.
If your child needs helps being clipped into their seatbelt or a booster seat at dismissal, please pull slightly forward to the large tree (about 30 feet) where there is more space for you to pull your car over so that you can help them.
Student name placards will be distributed to Kindergarten families who will be picking up students using the car line. They should be displayed in the front windshield during pick up time at dismissal. They contain the child's name which helps us to dismiss children efficiently.
If your older child (grades 1-4) still has their placard from previous years, please use that one. If you need to have your placard from previous years replaced, please send an email to cbrierly@attleboroschools.com and krebelo@attleboroschools.com

The line looks daunting but we do have an excellent, safe and efficient system for getting students dismissed quickly to their vehicles. Please be patient. The line gets quicker after the first few weeks of school.

Early Dismissal Pickup

If you are picking up your child early for an appointment, please notify the classroom teacher in writing. Please pull in front of the school, park along the curb and ring the bell. Your child will be directed to meet you at the door once you arrive. We ask that all early dismissals are planned for before 3:00 p.m.

Breakfast/Lunch

Breakfast and Lunch is free for all students. A lunch count is taken each day in the morning to ensure the correct number of school lunches are prepared.
You can find food menus on the website at: https://www.fdmealplanner.com/#Attleboro.

Breakfast:

For those students who need to eat breakfast, we ask that you drop them off at 8:30AM. We try to get them back to class for the start of school at 8:45AM. This helps them start the day on time with all their classmates.

Lunch:

Please review lunch choices with your child, and make sure there is something they will like. For younger students, talk to them about which choice they want, so making the choice in the classroom is easier for them.
We ask that lunches from home are nut free when possible. Safety precautions will be followed if nut products are packed in a lunch.
If your child has any food related allergies, please be sure to directly contact our nurse, Vicky O'Malley, at vomalley@attleboroschools.com or call the school and ask to speak with her.

Please complete the household Application for Free and Reduced Price Meals for the 2025-2026 school year. We strongly encourage ALL families to submit this form as it allows us to determine eligibility for P-EBT benefits and waive or reduce transportation, athletics, and other fees. Documenting qualifying families also significantly impacts state funding for our district, so completing the form is a direct way to support our schools.

Snacks

Classrooms will remain nut safe during snack time. All snacks that will be eaten in the classroom must be nut free. A snack should be sent with your child every day. Please be mindful of the packaging difficulty of snacks. We encourage healthy eating for snacks.

Recess

Held outdoors whenever possible.
Indoor recess if the "feels like" temperature drops below 25 degree or there is rain, snow or ice.
Parents should help students choose clothing appropriate for the weather.

Extra Clothes

Please send a seasonally appropriate change of clothes that will stay in your child’s backpack for needed changes that won’t require a visit to the nurse to borrow clothes. This is for ALL grades as occasionally, we will have a child spill something on them in lunch or Art and need a change of clothes in addition to bathroom accidents that may occur

School Technology Devices:

Entering K and 1- No devices will be assigned to individual kindergarteners. No devices will be brought home by K students. There will be devices available inside of the classroom for use at school, as determined by the teacher.
Entering 2- Incoming grade 2 students will be assigned a device.
Entering Grades 3-4- Every grade 3 and 4 student who currently has a device (chromebook), will continue to use that device for school purposes, as determined by the teacher. We ask that you please send it fully charged into school daily.

ID Badges:

All children will be issued an ID badge and lanyard early in the school year. The ID will be in your child’s backpack or looped through the strap when they leave school each day. Please work with your child to establish a routine to remember their ID every day. They need their badge for breakfast and lunch, so its very important for them to keep it safe and not lose it. Even when breakfast and lunch is free, students must have their badge as we still need to accurately account for all meals given.

Communication:

Please make sure you go through your child’s backpack on the first day and every day.

Keep checking your email for updates and additional information.

We send out the Willett Whaler newsletter through Apptegy weekly, on Fridays.

Again, we look forward to working together with our students and families to ensure a safe, engaging and productive school year. Please reach out to us with any questions.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Cateon, Principal

Christine Brierly, Assistant Principal

September 9th - Kindergarten Orientation at Willett

Student Last Name A-L - 10:00 AM
Student Last Name M-Z -1:00 PM

Sept 9 – Willett Community Meeting - Willett Library, 6pm

Sept 25 – Welcome Back Night + Book Fair Kickoff (Details Forthcoming)

For other important dates, please review our website as well as the district calendar - 2025-26_District_Academic_and_Events_Calendars.pdf

Willett Whaler September 5, 2025