Important Dates:

December 23 - January 1: No School - Winter Break

January 2 - School Resumes

District

Substitute teaching can be a wonderful opportunity for those interested in education and our schools. Substitute teachers can choose when and where they want to work. Even if a person is available only one day each week, this can still be a great opportunity. For information on how to apply, please check out the Milford Public Schools website. Our first Multilingual Parent Advisory Council (MPAC) meeting of the year was held at MHS in the Media Center on Wednesday, Oct. 30. Over 100 parents and caregivers were in attendance, and over 40 children were in our childcare room. What a great turn out! We had a dual language programming update and formed smaller groups to facilitate discussions. Our interpreters, notetakers, and EL Coordinators joined the small groups to facilitate conversation and support notetaking and discussions.

Woodland School & Stacy

School held different ceremonies on Nov. 10 to recognize Veterans’ Day, while other schools commemorated the event with other activities. At Woodland, students gathered to hear about different branches of military service, sing patriotic songs, and hear from Mr. Art Caswell, Woodland staff member and veteran. Thank you to Woodland’s student leaders, staff, and chorus for organizing this tribute. Meanwhile, at Stacy, there were 8 veterans who attended an event and shared their service experiences. Thank you to the Stacy Student Council and their advisors, Ms. Burke and Ms. Barrett; the 8th Grade band; chamber choir; and, all of the Veterans’ Day essay or poster entries.

Milford High School

Congratulations are in order for Mr. Neal Sherman, Math Teacher at Milford High School. Mr. Sherman was presented the Promising Practices in Education Award by the Blackstone Valley Superintendents’ and Curriculum Consortium at a breakfast awards reception this morning. Mr. Sherman showcased his “Rethinking Assessment Practices” approach to grading, in which feedback to students and opportunities for revision are prioritized over a singular, “one time only” grade. This approach emphasizes building toward mastery of content over time, and providing students and teachers with actionable strategies for growth and improvement. Congratulations Neal on this recognition!

Stacy Middle School

Stacy had two very successful and fun dance parties right before Halloween. Students were dressed in great costumes, enjoyed many snacks, and had a lot of fun!

Stacy is also celebrating their ELA/Reading teachers! They've implemented a new program to teach our curriculum. While it has been a learning experience for everybody, the teachers have been hard at work and flexible in their approaches to instruction, while the students have been engaged and exposed to different genres and texts. 

Woodland Elementary School

The Christa McAuliffe Center for Integrated Science Learning, located at Framingham State University, has hosted our Woodland 5th Graders numerous times over the past several years. In addition to many rich opportunities to explore STEM concepts and learning, it also features the Challenger Learning Center Mission, which allows students to virtually experience a space launch, and the Framingham State University Planetarium program. We want to thank the McAuliffe Center for sponsoring our visit, and the Milford Cultural Council for taking care of the transportation costs associated with our visit. Also, thanks to Mr. Wood, Dr. Gilmore, and the 5th grade staff for organizing things. This “free of charge” trip was a wonderful opportunity for our students to do some community-based learning, and experience some pretty cool simulations!

Woodland Elementary School and the Woodland PTO held the "Fun Run Fundraiser" on November 6th. The proceeds from this event will go to support enhanced learning experiences for our students such as field trips and guest presentations. Woodland raised over $10,000, so Principal McGovern was pied in the face by a lucky Woodland student 

Woodland School welcomed about 150 guests to their annual Multilingual Family Potluck Dinner on Nov. 7. The Milford Public Library and Milford Public Schools passed out donated books for families. There was also a steady line of parent-conference sign-ups all evening. The Youth Center and Community Use brought programs and calendars to distribute. Three MHS Spanish Honor Society members helped interpret at the tables with teachers/families, and as always, our Family Resource Center interpreters were there as well! A local dance group, "Virgen de la Nube," performed a beautiful, traditional Ecuadorian dance. It takes a village, and the village showed up!

Brookside Elementary School

Brookside classrooms created a Pumpkin Book Report, decorating the pumpkin as the main character of a read aloud book their class chose to read. Brookside hosted a family/community Pumpkin Gallery Walk along the Brookside Bus Loop, featuring 30-35 pumpkins.

Brookside sends a shout out to Dee Risio and Gel Gambardella, two of our ST Math Champions for attending the ST Math Champion Day! We look forward to them sharing with staff ideas that they learned. Nine ST Math and One Eight Foundation guests visited Brookside to observe the great ways ST Math is being implemented in Milford.

Memorial School

On Nov. 21, a drop-in informational session for the Kindergarten Dual Language Program was held, attended by the program's Kindergarten teachers, as well as district and building administrators, and interpreters. The session welcomed several Spanish- and English-speaking families, many of whom expressed strong interest in enrolling their children in the program for the upcoming school year. Some attendees already have children attending Memorial School, while others learned about the program through their preschool networks.  The evening included a raffle, with a gift basket of bilingual books and fun school supplies as the prize, creating a welcoming and engaging atmosphere. The event provided valuable insights about the program, fostering connections between families and educators.

Shining Star Early Childhood Center

Shining Star wants to recognize some students who displayed outstanding character traits. Way to go Stars!

• Cooperative: From Mrs. Verdura's class Natalie.

• Kindness: From Mrs. Austin's class: Jhon and Darshith; from Ms. Pedersen's class: Cody and Gabriel; and from Mrs. Gray's class: Lupita

• Bravery: From Mrs. Riordan's class: Harrison

• Responsible: From Mrs. Austin's class: Lisa and Ridit; from Mrs. Riordan's class: Maeve;  from Mrs. Waltsak's class: Zaniya; and from Ms. Pedersen's class: Bernardo

Submitted by Milford Public Schools