Update from Superintendent Judy Evans

Dear Winchester Families and Colleagues:

I hope you and your family are well and able to enjoy today's sunshine and brisk spring weather. I wanted to provide a couple of quick updates for you:

• In response to guidance from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, we are working to develop a clear and simple summary of the Individual Distance Learning Plan for students who usually receive special education services. This will document our plans to support students with disabilities during school closure. We appreciate your patience as we develop and send these plans to families.
• If your family is in need of support for our breakfast and lunch delivery program, please contact Ellen Whittemore (ewhittemore@winchesterps.org). Winchester Got Lunch, EnKa, WFEE, and other community groups continue to support Winchester families/students in need and are grateful for your financial contributions if you are able to give at this time.
• There is a link on our website for technology device support, along with other helpful resources: https://sites.google.com/winchesterps.org/wps-covid-19-info/home.
• We are hopeful for a regular opening in the fall according to the calendar on our website, but planning for a number of possible scenarios related to social distancing and re-orientation strategies for our students. Stay tuned for a survey soon to collect more information about distance learning and fall plans. Incoming kindergarten families should look for communication soon from building principals about virtual orientation. 
• It is likely that many of our summer programs will be cancelled due to the continuing need for social distancing. We will communicate more information in mid-May about these programs.
• We are planning a big event on Friday May 1st to celebrate our seniors: Senior Parade. We miss all our students very much and look forward to this chance to honor our graduates.

Until we meet again, I hope you stay safe and well.

Judith A. Evans, Ed.D.

Superintendent

Mindfulness Resources for Staff and Parents - Please Take A Look!

LIVE and Online Mindfulness Resources April 29: Special LIVE Event Family Strategies for Shelter in Place Learn practical tools for these challenging times at home with author, psychologist, and parent, Dr. Chris Willard. May 1: Online Course Mindfulness Fundamentals Mindful educators, mentors, and parents feel more calm, effective, and creative. Learn the science and practice of mindfulness.   May 21: Online Course Mindful Educator Essentials Learn research-backed K-12 curriculum and strategies to teach mindfulness to your students. Earn credits.   May 26: LIVE Online Workshop Executive Function w/Dr. Bertin Dive into Executive Function: what it is and why it matters. Learn research and actionable strategies to support your students – with author and developmental pediatrician, Dr. Mark Bertin. Explore More Programs Mindful Schools Research Update Our research update offers an overview of the benefits of mindfulness for youth and current highlights in research studies.  If you enjoy our these resources, please share with friends and visit us at www.mindfulschools.org to explore how you can bring mindfulness to your school community. Mindful Schools is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and our everyday work is training educators to bring mindfulness to their K-12 classrooms – we've trained over 50,000 teachers, parents, and school leaders!

Lincoln School Virtual Parade

Come to Our Lincoln Parade!

If the video is not playing, click here.

Patriot's Day

                                                             

Patriot's Day

In 1894 the Lexington Historical Society petitioned the Massachusetts State Legislature to proclaim April 19 as "Lexington Day". Concord countered with "Concord Day". Governor Frederic T. Greenhalge opted for a compromise: Patriots' Day. However the biggest battle fought on this day was in the town of Menotomy, now Arlington, Massachusetts.^[3] Menotomy was on the Concord Road between Lexington and Concord and Boston.^[4] While the fighting was going on in Lexington and Concord, 5,100 militia men arrived in Menotomy from Middlesex and Essex Counties^[5][6]. These men took up positions along the road the British troops would take on their retreat to Boston.^[7] They placed themselves in and around houses, stone walls, fields and barns. The bloodiest fighting of the first day of the American Revolution took place inside a single house, the Jason Russell House, in Menotomy^[8][9]. Eleven militia men died in this house fighting British troops trained in bayonet fighting.^[10]

Patriots' Day was first proclaimed in Massachusetts in 1894 by Gov. Greenhalge replacing Fast Day as a public holiday.^[2] The idea was introduced to the Governor by the statesman from Lowell, Isaac Henry Paige. It was established on April 19, commemorating the date of the Battles of Lexington and Concord and the larger Battle of Menotomy in 1775, and consolidating the longstanding municipal observances of Lexington Day and Concord Day. It also marked the first bloodshed of the American Civil War in the Baltimore riot of 1861, during which four members of the Massachusetts militia were slain and 36 injured. In Menotomy, now Arlington^[11], 25 militia men died and 40 British soldiers were killed.^[12] The dual commemoration, Greenhalge explained, celebrated "the anniversary of the birth of liberty and union". It is likely that the battles that took place in Menotomy are not as well known as the smaller battles in Lexington and Concord because the town has had several names since that day in 1775. In 1938, with the generation that had fought in the Civil War largely off the voter rolls, the Massachusetts legislature passed a bill establishing the holiday "in commemoration of the opening events of the War of the Revolution".^[13]

Maine followed Massachusetts in 1907 and replaced its Fast Day with Patriot's Day.^[2] On June 10, 2017, Governor Dannel Malloy signed a bill establishing Patriots' Day as a statewide unpaid holiday in Connecticut.^[1] On April 16, 2018 Connecticut became the 4th state to recognize the holiday.^[14][15]

The holiday was originally celebrated on April 19, the actual anniversary of the battles (fought in 1775). Since 1969, it has been observed on the third Monday in April in Massachusetts^[16] and in Maine^[17] (which until the Missouri Compromise of 1820 was part of Massachusetts). The Monday holiday creates a three-day long weekend. 

Minutemen and citizens marching from Acton to Concord on Patriots' Day 2012

Observances and re-enactments of the battles occur annually at Lexington Green in Lexington, Massachusetts (around 6:00 am) and the Old North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts (around 9:00 am) and in Arlington, Massachusetts on the Sunday before Patriot's Day. Tours are available of the Jason Russell House in Arlington, Massachusetts on Sunday and Monday^[20][21]. On Monday morning, mounted re-enactors with state police escorts retrace the Midnight Rides of Paul Revere and William Dawes, calling out warnings the whole way.^{[citation needed]}

The most significant celebration of Patriots' Day is the Boston Marathon, which has been run every Patriots' Day since April 19, 1897 to mark the then-recently established holiday, with the race linking the Athenian and American struggles for liberty.^[13]

Happy Easter Lincoln Families and Staff

HAPPY EASTER TO ALL!

From My house to Yours!

Dear Lincoln Families,

Lahey Health has asked if Winchester students and their families would make "Thank You" and Appreciation Cards for health care workers at Winchester Hospital.  This is a wonderful way for students of all ages, and parents, to give back to people on the "front lines" in our community.  A sample card is posted below.

Here are the instructions:

- Make cards out of 8 1/2" X 11" paper folded, or smaller

- Card makers can sign their first names and their school 

- Cards should be dropped off in the marked bin outside the front doors of Winchester High School.  

The bin will be there between 9 am Wednesday, April 15th to 3 pm Friday, April 17th. 

-  The paper cards will be aired out before being delivered, so it is important that only paper cards are deposited in the bin.

- For the health and safety of our custodial staff and administrators, please do not try to enter the high school, and do not leave anything if there is no bin.

- If you miss the collection times and would still like to contribute, contact Anne Marie Edenhofner at aedenhofner@winchesterps.org.

Thank You!

Sincerely, Ms. Clough

Plant a Kiss read by Mrs. MacLeod

Little Tree read by Mrs. MacLeod