December 5, 2021 

Dear Quashnet School Community, 

Happy December! Holiday excitement is starting up already.  Plans are well underway for the Christmas Parade float, the front office is decked out in gingerbread flare, and we can't wait to see your sugary family creations to add to the Gingerbread Village display (details below).  

The theme of December's Positive Sign Thursday is generosity.  Thank you Quashnet Community for always being so supportive of others.  We are a KIND community! 

The PTO Falcon Bucks Fundraiser was a huge success thanks to such great participation!  Thank you to our PTO Board for all of their hard work to pull this together.  All the winners are being announced by the PTO, and I will update you as well.   

We SO appreciate the generous donations of Christmas trees from the Barnstable County Sherriff's office.  This is the sixth year where we have benefited from their generosity and that of Jaxtimer Landscaping.  

Mr. T's Auto is once again running a mitten drive with gift cards to support Quashnet School students and MPS families. 

Mashpee Kiwanis Club donated $1,500 last month to help support Mashpee students through Cape Kid Meals. 

Hannah Rogers, an MMHS freshman ambassador for Project 351, has started her last big fall service project.  She is running a food drive and raising funds for Cape Kid Meals as well.  See flyers below. 

Cape Kid Meals is a supplemental food program where families can access weekend meals and snacks for their children.  Currently, Cape Kid Meals services 17 communities on the Cape and continues to grow. It is a non-profit agency and we are honored to be a part of and bring this service to Mashpee students. Please send me a confidential email at mobrien@mpspk12.org if you would like your child to participate in the program or contact one of the school counselors. Although there is no cost for participation in the program, the average cost expended per student is $150 annually. That is why we do seek donations for this beneficial program.   

We have many brand-new winter coats available for students - the tags are still on them!  Again, please reach out if you would like to pick one out for your child or if they are in need of a new warm jacket.  

With the generous donation from the Southport Falcons to benefit our library, Mrs. Pons ordered a variety of new books to diversify our library collection to be representative of all of our students. 

A message from Hannah Rogers, 

Hello, Mashpee students and parents! My name is Hannah Rogers, and I am a freshman at Mashpee Middle High School. I am also Mashpee’s 2021 Project 351 Ambassador. Project 351 is a non-profit organization that focuses on youth-led service by including one student representative from each city and town in Massachusetts. For fall service I will be running a food drive and fundraiser that will directly benefit the Mashpee community. All food donations will be given to the Christ the King Food Pantry and all monetary donations will be given to Cape Kid Meals. Cape Kid Meals is a non-profit organization that provides students, that are facing food insecurity, meals over the weekend. 

The food drive portion of this project will run like a typical food drive. There will be drop-off boxes at KCC, Quashnet, MMHS, and the #WeAreMashpee store. Donations such as canned/boxed foods and paper goods would be greatly appreciated. You can also donate gift cards to local grocery stores (ex. Stop & Shop and Roche Brothers). The fundraiser part of this project is where the fun begins. Each homeroom/classroom at Mashpee’s elementary schools, KCC and Quashnet, will receive a bag where students can leave their monetary donations to include loose change.  Each class will also have an interactive poster, that will serve as a way to track the classroom donations. The homeroom, from each school, that has the greatest participation will win free polar cave ice cream! 

A message from Jiji and 

our ST Math Champion, Mrs. Pimental 

 According to MIND Research Institute, the developers of ST Math, “productive struggle is the process of effortful learning that develops grit and creative problem-solving.” Though it can be uncomfortable to let your student struggle on school work just the right amount of struggle can build many problem-solving skills. This Productive Struggle video highlights how ST Math provides opportunities for productive struggle in solving problems using concrete to abstract thinking, a skill found to be strong in high achieving math students.   

On Friday, Superintendent DeBoer shared that there is an uptick in positive cases of COVID-19 being reported.  Please be sure to send your child into school with a clean mask every day and also have an extra available in their backpack.  Masks, frequent handwashing, and hand sanitizing DO make a difference.  I have linked the superintendent's message HERE  for your convenience.  Multiple links are included in her message along with information on a vaccination clinic for children 5-11. 

Tomorrow, Monday, December 6, is an early release day.  Student dismissal is at 12:30 PM.  Please email your child's teacher along with qsattendance@mpspk12.org if there are special dismissal plans a handwritten note works as well! 

There is also an early release day on Thursday, December 23 - a recent change to the school calendar.  

I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead. Don't forget to cheer on the Quashnet kids at the Mashpee Christmas Parade this Saturday at 5:30 PM! 

Respectfully, 

Principal O'Brien