Last day for Kindergarten today

It is that time of year, kindergartners finish today and the remaining classes finish on Friday. Unfortunately, Keller-Sullivan doesn't finish until Monday (6/23) due to a day they missed for a facility problem.

Parmenter sign with end of school schedule

6/16 is a "Kind" day

Let's hope all the last days of school are kind ones!



The last day of school notice on the Franklin schools page can be found here
http://franklindistrict.vt-s.net/Pages/FranklinDistrict_News/01D50C86-000F8513

Update: Remington/Jefferson Exterior

An update from the Facilities Dept via Town Administrator Jeff Nutting regarding the exterior photos of the Remington/Jefferson school building that were shared here on Sunday:

-Steve 

As a followup to your pictures the other day about the water at the RJ please see memo from Facilities

thanks
jeff

------------

Hi Jeff, 

Mike and I walked the entire exterior of Rem/Jeff. As pictured in Franklin Matters, there are a number of areas where water sheds from the roof onto the brick and leaves a staining of moss/mold. Fortunately, this mold is exterior and not capable of penetrating the interior of the building. However, it does leave an unsightly appearance on the affected areas. For some reason, the roof was designed to shed water as it currently does.As the weather changes and gets warmer, the brick will begin to dry out and the staining will become less noticeable. We will power wash the brick. 

Thanks 

Dana

While waling Sunday also in rain but much lighter, I snapped these photos of Parmenter and Davis Thayer. Both of these buildings have the roof extending over the building wall a good 10-12 inches. As indicated in Dana's email, that appears to be the 'root' cause.

Parmenter roof showing the overhang

Davis Thayer roof showing the overhang

If you missed seeing the photos on Sunday
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2014/04/new-kind-of-green-photo-essay.html

new kind of 'green' ?? - (photo essay)

While walking in the rain on Saturday, I was able to capture some photos of the Remington Jefferson building. Some parts of the building remained dry in the light rain. Some parts did not.

back side of building (gym)

facing the Jefferson playground area

close up of the window sill and below show in the photo above

wet corner, close up it is ugly (see below)

close up of the wet corner

Jefferson side of building

as good as water is, it does cause damage

Proposal for dugouts for the softball fields at Remington-Jefferson

On the agenda for the School Committee meeting this Tuesday is a proposal for the installation of dugouts for the softball fields at the Remington-Jefferson school complex.

This document outlines the proposal and includes photo samples of dugouts on other softball fields in Franklin




The full School Committee agenda can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/10/franklin-ma-school-committee-agenda-oct_20.html

PanMass Challenge makes a water stop in Franklin

As noted the annual PanMass Challenge bike riders made their water stop in Franklin on Saturday morning. The riders left Sturbridge and began to arrive at the Remington-Jefferson School complex around 7:30 AM. I stopped by to take some photos, a couple of brief videos and managed to see a couple of the riders I had contributed to. I missed finding the other riders but as you can see in the photos, most are all wearing the same shirt. They all have their safety helmets on and when on a bike, they can be hard to pick out of the crowd.

It is heartwarming to see the welcome provided by so many of the volunteers, friends and family and equally heartwarming to see so many riders. When folks can come together like this for a good cause, it is a special time!

The entrance:


In the middle of the water stop:



The entrance on Washington St



coming in to the water stop



the helmet decorations helped to find riders



Team Kermit



coming around the bend



food, refreshments, medical assistance and a DJ playing up beat music



once the riders arrived, they had some fun to find who they were looking for!



Town Administrator Jeff Nutting



Marty Middelman and his family

Rep Roy: Jefferson 4th Graders visit State House

Eighty Jefferson Elementary 4th Graders from Franklin took a field trip to Boston where they enjoyed a State House tour. The 4th Graders, accompanied by four teachers and a number of parent chaperones got the opportunity to take the guided tour, enter and see the House of Representatives’ Chamber and speak with their State Representative Jeffrey Roy (D), State Senator Richard Ross (R) and representative from State Senator Karen Spilka’s office. 

“It was great to see such an engaged group of 4th Graders from Jefferson Elementary School,” noted Representative Jeffrey Roy (D – Franklin). “We had some great discussions about what we do in the State House and several expressed interest in working here someday. I hope to have the chance to work with them.” 

Jefferson 4th Graders

“A visit to the State House is an excellent way to give our students the opportunity to experience our state’s history first hand,” said Senator Karen Spilka. “It is important for them to have an understanding of state government and their valuable role in civic engagement.” 

“I truly enjoyed meeting with the students and teachers from Jefferson Elementary School,” said Senator Richard Ross. “It is so heartening to meet with students who are engaged and interested in state government, as well as the rich history of the Massachusetts State House.”

Cupcakes for Jefferson

Come to The Cake Bar on Thursday, April 18th and help support the Jefferson Elementary PCC!

Cupcakes for Jefferson
Thursday, April 18th
6:30am-7:00pm

The Cake Bar

The Cake Bar
17 E Central St.
Franklin, MA
(508) 553-8700

The Cake Bar specializes in gourmet sugar confections, made from scratch in small batches. Their cupcakes, and dessert bars promise to please your palette through their unique twists on classic dessert favorites. Some of their flavors include Sticky Toffee, Trifecta, Pinkalicious, Simply Carrot and Cookie Monster – just to name a few!

No forms are necessary - just drop in and pick up some cupcakes. We'd love to see you there!

PMC Franklin Kids Ride

PMC Franklin Kids Ride is now open for registration. Kids 3-14, please join us to raise money for Dana Farber Cancer Institute. The ride is Sunday, June 9th at Jefferson Elementary School. 

Please like the event page, PMC Franklin Kids Ride 

Register at: http://www.kids.pmc.org/franklin.aspx

Jefferson and Oak St School Tours (video)

Realtor Warren Reynolds has posted his photos, videos, and summaries of the school tours of the Jefferson Elementary School and the Oak St Elementary School.

Here’s your chance to see the inside of the Jefferson Elementary School in Franklin, MA.  Jefferson Elementary is one of the most recently built schools in town, as amply demonstrated by the video and photo tour of the school provided below.

http://www.02038.com/2013/03/tour-jefferson-elementary/

Take a few minutes to tour the inside of the Oak Street Elementary School in Franklin, MA.  The school got a full renovation in 2004.  As the videos and photos below show, this is a beautiful primary education facility!

http://www.02038.com/2013/03/oak-st-elementary-tour/

Hopefully these posts will tempt you to join one of the remaining school tours this year. The one for Keller/Sullivan ended up getting canceled due to the snow (the new date has not been set yet). The tour of Franklin High School is scheduled for Apr 26th at 6:00 PM

Jefferson PCC fundraiser at 99 Restaurant

This Thursday, February 28th is the Dine for a Cause fundraiser at Restaurant 99. Join us at Restaurant 99 in Franklin to benefit the Jefferson Elementary PCC! If you're still recovering from vacation last week or just looking to spend a family night out, we'd love to see you there.

Visit anytime between 11:00am and 10:30pm and let them know you're there for Jefferson.

Come support our Franklin community!

Remington-Jefferson School Tour (photo essay)

It was cold Thursday evening in Franklin and the lights of the Remington-Jefferson building cast a warm welcoming glow.    



If you looked down at the building from the sky, it is laid out like an airplane with a main central section and two wings. Much of the central section are areas that are used by both schools; cafeteria, library, and gymnasium. The tour started on the lower level of the Jefferson side, went up to the second floor and crossed over to Remington to eventually finish on the lower level of the Remington side.



In most elementary classrooms, this a familiar sight with the chairs up to help the cleaning process.



Jefferson does have modular units, the corridors are distinct as they have the rack of hooks along the walls. The modular units are basically boxes with four walls with windows and doors but no closet space. These modulars were just budgeted for removal as they are no longer needed.



Bags on each chair provide individual reading materials for the student. They get rotated out for units of study from the in room reading collection or the central school library.



One of the architectural details in the library that I was not aware of previously is that the ceiling is shaped like a book open for reading. Both my daughters attended Remington Middle School so I have been into the school before for parents night and musical performances. I had not been into the Jefferson side.



In addition to the computer lab, Remington uses "cows" computers on wheels; carts with laptop or netbook computers that can be wheeled into a classroom.



A view down the Remington stairwell as we crossed over the center section into the wing.



Yes, every seat is this class has been replaced by an exercise ball as an experiment. There are physical benefits from sitting like this especially for the long periods that the students are required to. They are also testing a stand up desk (not pictured).



The science lab on Remington side is located under one of the two roof peaks to take advantage of the space offered.



An integrated art project, the students researched the artist to paint chair in his/her style.



Here is a close up of a chair for Piet Mondrian, a Dutch painter.



Another architectural detail found throughout the building are triangular windows. This is an attempt to pick up the Benjamin Franklin story of his kite experiment.



The cafetorium is one of the main common areas. half the cafe is used by Remington, the other half by Jefferson. The divider wall can be opened up for the school performance where the stage is used.



We got a view of the Jefferson small gym. As we went around to the Remington side, it was being used by a basketball group.



Jamie Barrett's music room



Another interesting architectural detail; the bench built into wall, the wall line broken up with the different brick colors and material.



The Jefferson entrance from inside looking towards the door.



Positioned just inside the entrance is the wood carving done for Jefferson.



Back to the Remington entrance where the tour ended.



My thanks to the School Committee for scheduling these tours and in particular to Paula Mullen and Susan Rohrbach who participated in this tour. Thanks extends of course to the principals, Paul Peri (Remington), Linda Ashley (Jefferson) and Sally Winslow, Asst Superintendent. Brian Wildeman, Asst Principal for Remington was also quite helpful on the tour with timely demonstrations.

Jefferson - School Improvement Plan

The School Improvement Plan for 2012-2013 is scheduled for review and discussion at the School Committee meeting Tuesday, Oct 23, 2012.