Paul Smith Elementary

Mrs. Miller’s kindergarten class played “Race to 50” today in preparation and celebration of our 50th day of school tomorrow!

Mrs. Farmer's 3rd grade class conducted an author study of Patricia Polacco. As a final activity, the class used the recipe in Polacco's book “Thunder Cake” to bake their very own delicious Thunder Cake!

On Friday, Paul Smith School students participated in a day filled with memorable learning experiences. We enjoyed seeing many families at the parade!

10/29/21 Dear Franklin Families, I am reaching out to inform you that a middle school student has tested positive for COVID-19.  The student has been out of school since last week so no new actions need to be taken at this time. We will continue masking at the middle and high school through the end of next week and then evaluate where we are at in each school. I hope everyone enjoys the Halloween weekend. Sincerely, Dan  LeGallo SAU 18 Superintendent dlegallo@gm.sau18.org

Good Morning Families, The PSS Halloween Parade will take place today at 1:20 pm. Please arrive no later than 1:15 pm for parking and entry to the parade route. We ask that you remain in the designated area for parade viewers and wave to your child as a sign of support. We hope to see you there!

10/28/21 Dear Franklin Families, I have been notified today of 2 students at the middle school and 1 student at the elementary school testing positive for Covid-19. 2 of the cases (1 middle and 1 elementary) were expected based on previous cases.  All 3 students have been out of school since last week. I will continue to keep you updated. Sincerely, Dan LeGallo SAU 18 Superintendent dlegallo@gm.sau18.org

10/27/21 Dear Franklin Families, I have been notified that a staff member at the middle school has tested positive today for Covid-19. The case was expected and the staff member has been out of school since last week. Please continue to screen your children for symptoms each morning and keep them home if they are sick. Sincerely, Dan LeGallo SAU 18 Superintendent dlegallo@gm.sau18.org

Good Afternoon Franklin Families, I am reaching out to report that 1 student at the middle school and 1 student at the high school tested positive today for Covid-19. The middle school case was expected and that student has been out of school for over a week. The high school student was in school during the infectious period and close contact notifications are being made. Sincerely, Dan LeGallo SAU 18 Superintendent dlegallo@gm.sau18.org

Dear Franklin Families, I am reaching out to notify you that 3 middle school students tested positive over the weekend and today for Covid -19. One of the cases was expected and that student has been out of school for more than a week. The additional 2 cases have been contact traced and notifications are being made. Please continue to screen your child/children for symptoms each morning and keep them home if they are sick. Sincerely, Dan LeGallo SAU 18 Superintendent dlegallo@gm.sau18.org

Good Morning Franklin Families, I am reaching out to inform you that we had a student at Franklin High School test positive for Covid 19 over the weekend. The 3 foot indoor mask mandate will remain in effect at the high school until further notice. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions. Sincerely, Dan LeGallo SAU Superintendent dlegallo@gm.sau18.org

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

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.

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.

Dear PSS Families, Just a reminder that there is a PTA meeting tonight at 6:00 PM in the PSS library. We hope to see you there!

Dear Families, This is a reminder to please register your child in ALMA for the 2021-2022 school year. *Please note that registration must be done annually for all returning students* New Students- https://5il.co/v0c0 Returning Students- https://5il.co/wvho Please call the school with any questions (603) 934-4144. Thank you, Nicole Mazze Assistant Principal

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

Please join us for the first PTA meeting of the 2021-2022 school year! The PTA meets the second Wednesday of each month in the PSS Library. Nicole Mazze Assistant Principal

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