Franklin Avenue Elementary School

Students at Franklin Avenue Elementary School are getting a close-up view of their future elementary school as it is built beam by beam and brick by brick, right next door. The kindergartners and first graders, who are on the side of the building closest to the construction and will spend the most time in the new school, are especially engaged. “It’s perfect for me and my sister,” said kindergartner Daniel Swider, on his first day of school this year. “Wonderful! It has so many advantages of learning in a new environment with new technology. Emma is so excited to start kindergarten today,” said Kimberlee Cartwright, a new kindergarten parent. First grade teacher Wendy Bard said the start of the construction, when workers had to level the ground, was a bit disruptive, but it’s become part of school life. “Last spring, the construction was initially difficult because of the large trucks and the daily vibrations. It was loud and we could not open the windows. It was distracting to both students and teachers. But after a few weeks, Fontaine Brothers set up two trailers that blocked the activity, and that helped,” Bard said. “We have used the construction for teachable moments, such as how a big excavator can balance on a pile of dirt,” she added. New first grade teacher McKenna Mortimer said her students are taking it in stride. She said when they ask about a particular noise from the site, she explains about the different equipment that they could be hearing. “I notice the vibration, but it doesn’t affect my teaching. The students are engaged in learning, so they don’t notice it much,” Mortimer said. Principal Chris Tolpa commented on the rapid progress of the building, which is anticipated to open in December 2024. “Since July 1, every day two loads of steel have come in, and every day two loads of steel have gone up,” she said. Tolpa said the students at Franklin Avenue and Abner Gibbs elementary schools, who will move into the new school, are going to be signing their names on one of the beams to be included in the frame. Tolpa, who also serves on the School Building Committee, said although the structure seems to be going up quickly, work on the interior will take a long time, with wiring, heating and piping to be installed. At a building committee meeting on Sept. 12, Dan Pallotta, owner’s project manager from P3 Project Planning Professionals, said the project is going extremely well for a public construction project. He said the underground plumbing and electric are already in, and workers will be done with the concrete work at the end of the third week of September. In the kitchen area, where they are getting ready to lay concrete, the piping is all installed. Next, they will work on the flat roof portion, where they have been installing duct work on the north end and roof drains. The front facade of the school will have slanted roofs. The committee also voted in favor of the interior color palette for the school that had been selected by a subcommittee, with a lot of natural wood browns, blues and greens, and some maroon or plum accents. The floor in the public entrance area will have a river motif that runs throughout the building, with dark green lattice work around the stage in the gymnasium meant to reflect the Great Bridges in Westfield. A unique color has been chosen for each of the pre-K through grade 4 “neighborhoods,” and panels throughout the school will have complementing accent colors. Pallotta said actual color boards with real samples are available for public view at Purchasing Director Tammy Tefft’s office in City Hall, Room 101. City Hall is at 59 Court St., Westfield. https://www.thereminder.com/localnews/westfield/westfield-elementary-school-pupils-see-their-futur/

At the School Committee meeting on Sept. 18, Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski and School Business Administrator Shannon Barry asked members to approve the creation of a new Arts Gift Account, for monetary gift donations to the district earmarked for the arts. Czaporowski said he was contacted by the trustees of the estate of Gerald Patrick, a Westfield alumnus who had a successful career as a professional artist and designer. The trustees said Patrick left a $100,000 donation to the arts programs in the schools in his will. https://www.masslive.com/westfieldnews/2023/09/estate-of-artist-raised-in-westfield-donates-100k-for-arts-in-city-schools.html

On Monday, we launched Ignite! Reading at Franklin with much success. Grade 1-3 students who need support in reading met their on-line tutors to much laughter and smiles. These tutors will meet with students 15 minutes each day to provide 1-1 learning of foundational reading skills. We are grateful to this grant-funded program that gives us yet another avenue to support a child's ability to read.

If you missed "Superintendent's Spotlight" this morning, click on the link below. This week we talked with our Director of Curriculum and Instruction Susan Dargie about our curriculum renewal process and our new Social Emotional Learning Curriculum PreK-12. Thanks for watching! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL0RBFEBDVk

While we were expecting a cooler day on Friday, September 8, the latest forecast from the National Weather Service predicts that the Heat Index tomorrow will remain between 95-100 degrees. The Heat Advisory also remains in effect. As a result, Westfield Public Schools will dismiss staff and students early again tomorrow. High School students will be dismissed at 11:00 a.m., Middle and Intermediate School students at 11:30 a.m., and Elementary School students at 12:15 p.m. Fort Meadow Early Childhood Center will be closed. Thank you.

We invite all families to come to our first Franklin VIRTUAL PTO meeting tonight at 6:00 p.m. Please join us by using the link below. We need your support to make great things happen for our kids! meet.google.com/sko-jmxv-quk

Hello Families, We are excited to announce that all back-to-school forms and medical information will be completed through the PowerSchool Parent Portal and SNAP Student School Health Portal this fall rather than using paper forms. You should have received 2 emails with instructions about how to do this today. If you did not receive two emails, please check your SPAM folder. If you don't receive either of these emails, please contact your child's school

This evening's SEPAC Meeting is postponed (September 7). We apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you.

Good afternoon, There is a heat advisory in effect for our area on Wednesday, September 6 and Thursday, September 7. Heat indices are expected to reach between 95-100 degrees. These temperatures make teaching and learning especially difficult in the majority of our buildings that are not air conditioned. For that reason, Westfield Public Schools staff and students will be dismissed early the next two days. High schools will dismiss at 11:00 a.m., Intermediate and Middle Schools at 11:30 a.m., and Elementary Schools at 12:15 p.m. Fort Meadow Early Childhood Center will be closed on Wednesday and Thursday as well. Sincerely, Superintendent Czaporowski

There is a heat advisory in effect for our area on Wednesday, September 5 and Thursday, September 6. Heat indices are expected to reach between 95-100 degrees. These temperatures make teaching and learning especially difficult in the majority of our buildings that are not air conditioned. For that reason, Westfield Public Schools staff and students will be dismissed early the next two days. High schools will dismiss at 11:00 a.m., Intermediate and Middle Schools at 11:30 a.m., and Elementary Schools at 12:15 p.m. Fort Meadow Early Childhood Center will be closed on Wednesday and Thursday as well. Sincerely, Superintendent Czaporowski

A reminder that schools are closed on Monday, September 4, 2023, for Labor Day. Schools will reopen on Tuesday, September 5, 2023. Thank you.

We are so excited to welcome back our students next Wednesday, August 30. Our doors will open at 9 a.m. and like last year, a free breakfast and free lunch will be available to all of our students every day. What a wonderful year it will be!

Westfield Public Schools is hiring: Speech and Language Pathologists Special Education Teachers ESL Teachers Paraprofessionals Click on the link below to view our current openings. Thank you! https://www.schoolspring.com/jobs?employer=11953&fbclid=IwAR1GNsNa8Kvxp-JJN--3K6AuBq0q3d6vHQUsWwUIrmfgXYI1N6IrLcygiMg

Click below for the latest newsletter from P3 Project Planning Professionals who are working on the new Franklin Ave/Abner Gibbs Replacement School Project and to sign up to receive email alerts about progress on the construction. https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Construction-on-the-new-Elementary-School-continues--July-2023-Newsletter.html?soid=1127583543316&aid=I1JZJHddeBs

There has been some real progress on the construction of our new school building. Two new truckloads of steel are delivered to the Franklin Street site each day and used to construct the foundational structure of what will be Franklin Avenue's and Abner Gibb's students' new state of the art facility for learning. If you would like to keep up with the progress being made, the link is below to access the contractor's newsletter. You can even sign up for these newsletters to be sent to you personally. https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Construction-on-the-new-Elementary-School-continues--July-2023-Newsletter.html?soid=1127583543316&aid=I1JZJHddeBs

Christine Shea, Westfield public schools’ director of assessment and accountability, said 152 new English language learners moved into the district this past year. English language learners are students whose native language is not English and who are not yet able to complete ordinary classroom work in English. According to state and federal laws, each school district must arrange for them to receive instruction from certified ELL teachers trained specifically to work with students still learning English. Most of the new families in Westfield are coming from Ukraine, a total of 102 students this past year, some from the same families. Other students are from Russia, Moldova and Turkey, and 15 are from Afghanistan, families that are still trickling out after the end of the U.S. occupation. There are also several families from Ecuador that recently arrived. https://www.masslive.com/westfieldnews/2023/07/families-from-ukraine-afghanistan-among-english-learners-in-westfield-schools.html

With school ending today, the Westfield Athenaeum is offering a fun program with prizes that is aimed at helping children and teens stay engaged with reading over the summer months. The Athenaeum’s annual Summer Reading Challenge program has reading challenges for all ages, complete with different levels of activities. One program is for children up to grade 6, and a second one is for teens from grades 7-12. There’s even a reading challenge for adults who want to join their kids in summer reading. All participants are challenged to read at least 20 minutes a day. Reading challenges run from June 26 to Aug. 12 — at least 1,000 minutes of reading, total. Signups are being taken at westath.beanstack.org/reader365. The Athenaeum uses a program called Beanstack, which allows participants to sign up, track their reading and earn extra raffle tickets toward prizes online instead of using a paper log. https://www.masslive.com/westfieldnews/2023/06/summer-reading-programs-for-youth-adults-begin-next-week-at-westfield-athenaeum.html

A reminder that Westfield Public Schools are closed on Monday, June 19. Tuesday, June 20 is the last day of school, and it is an early release day. High school students will be dismissed at 11:00 a.m., Middle and Intermediate school students at 11:30 a.m., and Elementary school students at 12:15 a.m. Thank you.

If you missed the season finale of "Superintendent's Spotlight" this morning, please click on the link below. This week, we talked about the new elementary school project timeline, progress, and shared photos and drone footage of the work completed so far. You can actually see the footprint of the building already. Westfield Technical Academy Culinary Arts students also helped us celebrate National Fudge Day. Thanks for watching! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Cf6fPKjKqE

Did you know students in grades 4,7, and 10 are required to submit a physical exam within 30 days of school entry. Students in grades K-12 are also required to be fully immunized against certain diseases. Please click on the image for more information.