Franklin Schools SAU #18

Good Morning Franklin Families, I have been informed of a student at Franklin High School that has tested positive for COVID-19. The student was in the building during their infected timeframe. Therefore, I am asking all students and staff to mask up when 3 foot distancing cannot be maintained indoors. This means that at their desks and while eating lunch, masks may be removed but should be worn at all other times while moving around the classroom or in the building. Thank you in advance for your support in helping to keep our students and staff safe and healthy. Sincerely, Dan LeGallo SAU 18 Superintendent dlegallo@gm.sau18.org

The FHS and FMS field hockey games for today have been CANCELED. The FMS football game at Laconia for 6pm is still on...the bus departs at 4:20pm.

Dear Franklin Families I have been made aware that today's positive student case at the middle school was in the Winni-middle wing, which is the other grade 4-6 wing in the middle school and not the same wing as the case from yesterday. The good news is that the student has been out of school since the middle of last week so no action needs to be taken. Masks will remain optional in this wing at this time. My apologies for the confusion. Let me know if you have any questions. Sincerely, Dan LeGallo SAU 18 Superintendent dlegallo@gm.sau18.org

Good Afternoon Franklin Families, I am reaching out to notify you that we had a student test positive today for COVID 19 at the middle school. The student is in the same wing of the middle school as the student case from yesterday. The student that tested positive today has been quarantined since the middle of last week so there are no identified close contacts. The entire wing is already masked up for the next 14 days so no further action will be taken at this time. Please remember to screen your children for symptoms each morning and keep them home from school if they are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19. Thank you for helping to keep everybody safe and healthy. Sincerely, Dan LeGallo SAU 18 Superintendent dlegallo@gm.sau18.org

Good Afternoon Franklin Families, We have a middle school student who has tested positive today for COVID 19. The student is in the Pemi-Middle wing (Grades 4-6). All students, teachers and staff in this wing will be masked up for the next 14 days. These classrooms are Ms. Davis, Mr. Perkins, Mr. Avery, Mrs. Martino, Mr. Neil and Mrs. Greenrod. The masks must be worn when 3 foot distance cannot be maintained. This means when students are at their desks they may remove them, but must wear them when they are up and about in the classroom or in the hallways. I appreciate your cooperation in helping to keep our students and staff safe. Sincerely, Dan LeGallo.

Dear Franklin Families, I have been informed that a student at the elementary school has tested positive today for Covid 19. Students and staff in that classroom will be asked to mask up for 14 days when 6 foot distancing cannot be maintained. Notifications are being made at this time. Thank you for your support in helping to keep our students and staff safe and healthy. Sincerely, Dan LeGallo SAU 18 Superintendent dlegallo@gm.sau18.org (603) 266-9833

Middle School soccer and field hockey today are CANCELED. Volleyball is still on at Newfound for 3:30 (masks are required). The field hockey game is rescheduled to Wed 9/15. The soccer game will not be rescheduled.

806 just loaded. Again so sorry!

Buses 803 and 806 are very late and are boarding as we speak. We are sorry for the inconvenience. Mr. Darsney

Dear Franklin Families, I hope you enjoy Labor Day weekend and are ready for your children to return to school on Tuesday. We look forward to welcoming them back! :) I continue to monitor the data available on the status of the pandemic in the city of Franklin. I have attached a Franklin Covid Metrics spreadsheet for your review. This spreadsheet will be posted on the front page of our website and updated daily when the students return to school. I will be using it to keep you informed as well as to make decisions regarding the targeted and universal use of masks in the schools if/when Covid cases occur. I will be using the DHHS matrix to guide my decision making that was shared with you in our reopening plan last week and is also on our website at www.sau18.org. A reminder that masks are mandatory on school buses per Federal mandate but are otherwise optional as we begin the school year next Tuesday. Please also remember to screen your children for symptoms each morning and keep them home if they are not feeling well. As always, I appreciate the cooperation and support of our families. Please don't hesitate to reach out to me with any questions or feedback. Sincerely, Dan LeGallo SAU 18 Superintendent dlegallo@gm.sau18.org

Dear Families: We are asking for your help to prevent COVID-19 from impacting our school community. COVID-19 is most commonly spread through respiratory droplets when an infected person talks, coughs, sneezes or sings. As a school community we ask for your support to take the following precaution to prevent the spread of the disease: Know the symptoms of the COVID-19: Runny nose or nasal congestion, Fever/chills (measured 100.4F), Cough, Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, Sore throat, Muscle or body aches, Fatigue, Headache, New loss of taste or smell, Nausea or vomiting or Diarrhea. Please do not send your child to school if they have: Any new or unexplained symptoms of COVID-19 (listed above); this includes even mild symptoms. Shared a household (temporarily or permanently) with someone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the prior 14 days. International or cruise ship travel in the last 10 days. Please report these circumstances to the school nurse. Any person with new or unexplained symptoms of COVID-19 will be excluded from school, and instructed to isolate at home and seek testing for COVID-19. Please also help us practice and promote that all students and staff: Get vaccinated, for those who are eligible, Frequently wash their hands, hand washing for 20 seconds with soap and water, or using hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol, is the best way to reduce the spread of germs, Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or their elbow, Wash hands or use hand sanitizer after they discard of the tissue, Don’t share personal items such as drinks, food or water bottle, Avoid touching their eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands. Our school works closely with the New Hampshire (NH) Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to monitor the newest information about COVID-19. To learn more about COVID-19, please check these trusted resources: New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services: https://www.covid19.nh.gov/welcome United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html Thank you for your support and partnership to keep our school healthy this year! Sincerely, Dan LeGallo SAU 18 Superintendent dlegallo@gm.sau18.org Diana Merriam BSN, RN District Health Coordinator dmerriam@gm.sau18

To all of our theater performers and their families, We had such a wonderful summer, creating theater and making magic happen on the stage at the Franklin Opera House. We loved every moment we had with all of our performers from Get Up and Go, Moana and Disaster! For any of you who were able to participate or come and see a performance, we are so glad you shared those moments with us. As we move into the 2021- 2022 school year, we are unfortunately faced with the continued worry and added stress of covid and doing whatever we possibly can to keep all of our performers safe, while allowing them to continue to perform, and keeping the safety of all of our volunteers and audience patrons in mind as well. It’s a lot to consider on top of the regular stress of just putting a production together. We have had numerous meetings and discussions with the school, the Opera House and Footlight Boards, as well as other theater organizations in the area and have had to make some decisions. Although these may not be what we had hoped, we feel these are the best steps we can take moving forward to continue to keep all involved safe and also ensure that our productions do not get shut down part way through the process and never get to be shared with a live audience. We are hoping that in the spring, we can return to more normalcy and run our K-12 District Wide musical program where we can bring in all of our students and have over 100 of them performing together at the Historic Opera House. We also plan to run our FACT programs in the summer of 2022 providing our children in Franklin with additional opportunities to be on stage. At this time, this is how we are proceeding: MATILDA: Matilda (a school production) was originally cast in Jan. of 2020 but was shut down in March of 2020. We have tried to bring this show back four times since then and will be producing it this fall. However, due to current circumstances, we can only offer this opportunity to children who are in grades 6-12. Masks will be required during rehearsals and most likely, performance masks will be used during the show. We apologize to any of our cast members who were a part of this production in 2020 and are not yet in grade 6. Sadly, it is impossible to bring over 100 children into that space together at this time. Those who were already cast should reach out to Mrs. Finley and confirm whether they are continuing or not. They do NOT need to re-audition. However, any children who were not originally a part of this production can attend auditions on either Sept. 14 OR 16 at 5 pm at the Opera House! More audition information will be available on the school website soon. ELF the Musical: This is a Footlight Community Theater production. They are mandating vaccines for any performers 12 and up. Children who are under 12 are welcome to audition, but will be required to wear a mask at all times, including during the performances. All auditions for this production are open and run either Sept. 14 or 16 at 7 pm. Please see their website- www.franklintheater.org for more information.

Welcome Back!

Welcome Back!

Welcome Back!

2021-2022 Bus Routes have been posted to the district site and all individual school sites. If you have any questions, please call your child's school. Thanks!

All outside sports activities today for FMS + FHS are canceled. FMS and FHS vb will be inside and the FHS soccer and fb teams will be inside as well. FMS football will still be doing impact/concussion testing in the fms computer lab at 4pm. Email dsylvester@gm.sau18.org w/q's

We are still in need of players, especially for fhs & fms field hockey. https://www.familyid.com/franklin-school-athletics/franklin-middle-athletics-fall-2021-registration https://www.familyid.com/franklin-school-athletics/franklin-high-athletics-fall-2021-registration

Dear Franklin Families, I hope you are enjoying the summer and looking forward to the warmer weather next week as much as I am! I would like to thank all of our students and families that participated in our extended summer school programming. It was great to see student's smiling faces learning with their peers. I am also happy to report that we had 0 reported cases of COVID-19 during our summer session. As we prepare for the opening of school on September 7th, I wanted to share with you where we are with the pandemic and its impact on our planning. Please know that I am monitoring community transmission rates, Franklin's vaccination rates, and Franklin's active case counts continuously as this is a fluid situation as we head back to school in the fall. We remain committed to our plan communicated at the end of June in providing full day in-person learning for all of our students. You will recall that we were dismissing one hour early each day last year so that we could provide remote learning. That will not occur as I do not expect that remote learning will be continued this fall. In regard to our mask usage, safety protocols and cleaning procedures, we are working on our plan and will release a draft of the plan to the public on Monday, August 16th for public comment and input. We anticipate more guidance midweek from the NH Department of Public Health in regard to these issues. What we know for sure at this point is that masks are mandatory on all school buses per federal mandate. If the transmission rates and case counts rise, I expect that masks will be implemented to some degree when we reopen schools in September. The Franklin School Board will be meeting on August 23rd at 6:00 in the Franklin High School cafeteria to discuss and approve the plan. The public, as always, is welcome to attend. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions and enjoy the rest of your summer. Sincerely, Dan LeGallo SAU 18 Superintendent

Dear Franklin Families, Our food service department will continue to deliver meals using our buses 5 days a week through September 3rd. Additionally, hot meals will continue to be served at our middle school cafeteria window until 12:00 each day. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions. Sincerely, Dan LeGallo SAU 18 Superintendent