Tuesday, February 23

BOE Meeting - 7:00 pm

Wednesday, February 24

EARLY DISMISSAL

Monday, March 1

BOE Meeting - 7:00 pm

Wednesday, March 3

EARLY DISMISSAL

Board of Education

There is a BOE Meeting, Tuesday, February 23 at 7:00PM. The meeting will be held electronically and live streamed on www.westportps.org and shown on Optimum Government Access Channel 78 and Frontier Channel 6021. 

Emails to BOE members can be sent to BOE@westportps.org. Comments to be read during the public comment period must be submitted to the meeting’s Googledoc during the submission period. Please use this link for instructions and guidelines. 

Please note the agenda will come later.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

We continue the celebration of Black History Month by sharing these award winning selections, 

Black History in Two Minutes, Hair Love (Oscar winning short film) and a curated list for diverse books.

Join Us for Our Upcoming Webinar: Strategies for Helping Children Make and Maintain Relationships During a Pandemic

Living through the COVID-19 pandemic has changed how we connect with others in the classroom, on the playground, and in afterschool activities. Please join us for this important conversation on February 23 at 12pm ET/9am PT or 7pm ET/4pm PT. This interactive webinar will explore how RULER skills and strategies can help our children maintain existing relationships and create new ones. All RULER families, leaders, and educators are welcome to attend. 

February 23 at 12pm ET/9am PT

February 23 at 7pm ET/4pm PT

Sip N’ Chat

Hi Everyone!

Sip N Chat is returning this month. 

It's been a while. Can we talk?

Here is the info for our February Sip N Chat - the easiest way to connect with other SpEd parents. This month we will only be conducting the afternoon session. 

Do you miss the morning and evening editions? Let us know what you prefer, we are here for you. Please feel free to reply to this email with ANY questions!

Afternoon: Thursday, February 25th at 1:30 pm

All SpEd Sip N Chats will use the following Zoom link:

https://westportps-org.zoom.us/j/4789316133?pwd=RUZ1RXhVamFQclZNSkU3Tjg2cXlRZz09

Meeting ID: 478 931 6133

Passcode: SpEd

We look forward to seeing you then!

GFS PTA Nominating Committee Seeking Members

The GFS PTA Nominating Committee is looking for volunteers to work on assembling the PTA slate for 2021-2022. The committee typically meets 2 to 3 times between March and mid-April to nominate candidates to fill open positions on the Executive and General PTA Boards for the 2021-22 school year. If you are interested in being on the Nominating Committee, please contact Nominating Chairs, Beatriz Vega-Jones at Beatrizvones5@gmail.com or Lindsay Bernsohn at lindsaybersohn@gmail.com. Thank you!

We are really excited to be kicking off Greens Farms Elementary School’s Read-For-Change initiative. This program will mirror that of a read-a-thon. Money raised by our students will go towards purchasing books for students at Luis Munoz Marin School in Bridgeport. CT. Our goal is to put a new book in the hand of each of the 818 students at this pre-k to eighth grade school.

How does this work? Each student will be bringing home a pledge form. Families can decide individually how this will work best for them - pledge per page, per book, per hour of reading, etc. Students will keep track of their reading (something they are most likely already doing). Each Friday, teachers will collect the students’ reading logs for some friendly competition among the classes. We will continue this for three weeks. During this time, students will not only be reading, but also engaging in book talks, have the opportunity to get creative by sharing their favorite books on school bulletin boards, and earn prizes through reading challenges. At the end of the three weeks, we will collect the money our GFS students have earned. We are partnering with Scholastic Books and will purchase new books for the Luis Munoz Marin students.

Our hope is that Read-for-Change will encourage our students to increase their reading endurance and do it with the altruistic goal of helping other students in our Fairfield County Community.

We look forward to a highly successful event and thank you in advance for your support.

If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to reach out to Leigh Cataudo (Leighlee@aol.com) or Liz Leary (Elizabeth.Leary22@gmail.com).

Student Social Emotional Health - Westport Together is Here to Help!

Dear Westport Families,

We would like to reintroduce you to Westport Together, a partnership with the Westport PTA, Westport Public Schools and Town of Westport, which is here for you! Westport Together is a renewed commitment to strengthening the social emotional health and overall well-being of our youth.

Westport Together (formerly Positive Youth Development) works with an alliance of local youth-oriented organizations, to provide valuable up-to-date information, activities, resources, events and programs, while uniting our community by nurturing positive youth development.

The very successful “How To Raise An Adult” event held at the Westport Library last spring was produced in conjunction with the Westport PTA Health & Wellness Committee.  Westport Together continues to provide programming and events that you want, although packaged differently during this challenging time. Please see below for some upcoming events.

Supporting the social emotional health and well-being of our youth is more important than ever during this unprecedented and uncertain time, and Westport Together offers an abundance of resources for you.

• Don’t miss an event, program or any new social emotional health information!
  Join the Westport Together mailing list at westporttogether.org/contact-us & follow on Instagram and Facebook! Visit Westporttogether.org for a “one-stop-shop” of local youth, family-friendly & all ages events, presentations, resources and information!

• The Westport Prevention Coalition needs parents like you! Under the Westport Together umbrella, the Westport Prevention Coalition utilizes the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF), a comprehensive process for addressing substance misuse and related behavioral health problems, to increase awareness of the possible harm from alcohol, tobacco and other drugs (ATOD) among residents and providing prevention programming throughout the year. Learn more at westporttogether.org/prevention-coalitionor fill out form at tinyURL.com/westportcoalition to join the efforts!

UPCOMING EVENT

Westport Together sponsors various events and programs for K-12 youth and their parents. Please be sure to sign up for the  Westport Together mailing list in order not to not miss out!

• Do you know how to talk to your kids about alcohol? The Westport Prevention Coalition will be offering MADD Power of Parents program this month on February 26th at 11am via Zoom (flyer). MADD’s Power of Parents program empowers parents of middle and high school students to have ongoing, intentional conversations about the dangers and consequences of underage drinking.  As a parent, you have power to equip your child to make smarter, safer choices and to help prevent tragedies. Register by contacting Margaret Watt at mwatt@positivedirections.org

We hope that you utilize Westport Together and all the helpful resources that it provides. Please look for more Westport Together and Health & Wellness updates!

Thank you!

PTA Council, Health & Wellness Committee

Westport Public Schools

Kindergarten Registration

2021-2022

The 2021-2022 Kindergarten Registration is underway.

If your child turns five years of age on or before January 1, 2022, please register him/her as soon as possible.  Registering now allows the District to optimally plan for your new kindergartener. All registration information is located on the district website under the Kindergarten Registration link on the homepage https://www.westportps.org

All information regarding Parent meetings will be forthcoming.  If you are unsure as to what elementary school your child should attend, please go to our school locator website:

https://www.westportps.org/parents/school-locator-and-directions

If you need further assistance, please contact the Superintendent’s office at (203) 341-1026.

Minted

We are excited to announce that Minted’s Fundraising Program will now be offered year-round! 

Enjoy 20% OFF Minted cards & gifts throughout the year when you use promo code FUNDRAISEGREENS at www.minted.com, and 15% of each order will be donated back to the GFS PTA. Please feel free to share the code with family and friends!

As always, don’t hesitate to reach out to Melanie Heiser or Kate Grijns if you have any questions! 

Amazon Smile 

Support GFS When You Shop on Amazon! Did you know that you can support the GFS PTA all year long every time you shop on Amazon?  AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to contribute to GFS every time you shop, at no cost to you. All you need to do is use the smile.amazon.com URL for all of your purchases and Amazon donates to the GFS PTA. Please note if you use the regular amazon URL no donation to GFS PTA will be made. Thank you for your support by shopping on smile.amazon.com.  Questions?  Please contact Kate Grijns or Melanie Heiser

Turn on AmazonSmile in the Amazon Shopping app

1. Make sure you're signed up for AmazonSmile (use your web browser to visit smile.amazon.com)

2. Download or update to the latest version of the Amazon Shopping app

3. Open the app and find “Settings” in the main menu (☰)

4. Tap on “AmazonSmile” and follow the on-screen instructions to turn on AmazonSmile in the app.

Mabel’s Labels

Did you know that an item that ends up in the GFS Lost and Found will be returned to its owner by the PTA if it is LABELED with your child’s name?!    

Get your Mabel’s Labels today and encourage your family, relatives and friends to do the same!  Free shipping to your door.  Your purchase helps support the GFS PTA.  Mabel's Labels offers a wide variety of labels and tags, including: clothing labels, bag tags, household labels and labels for sports.

Ready to order?  Visit Mabel's Labels: Kids Labels, Name Stickers & Clothing Labels.  Click on "Support a Fundraiser" at the top right of the page and type "Greens Farms Elementary School" in the search window to find and select our fundraiser!  Once you've selected GFS, all purchases you make from Mabel's Labels will support our fundraiser

Questions? Email Kate Grijns or Melanie Heiser

Stop & Shop Rewards Program 

Our school is participating in the Stop & Shop A+ School Rewards Program, a great school fundraising program that runs from September through March. This is an easy way for you to help our school earn CASH each time you shop at ANY Stop & Shop Store.  Please help our school and register your Stop & Shop Card NOW to our SCHOOL ID#40658. You can ask non-GFS friends and family to register using our School ID as well!! Questions? Contact Kate Grijns or Melanie Heiser.

Join the PTA and Support GFS!

Never too late to join the GFS PTA. Please use the following link to join: MobileArq 2020!  

Please see this flyer for helpful instructions on how to join using the mobile app. 

Contact GFS PTA Membership Chair Catherine Gardiner with any questions.