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  • Join Our Antiracism & Equity Committee

      Parent, Faculty & Community Invitation to Join the Antiracism and Equity Committee  September 16,  2022 Dear Frontier Families and Community, This year we are beginning our third year of focused antiracism and equity work to make our schools an inclusive space for all students. Our Antiracism and Equity Committee (A&E Committee), which began in the fall of 2020, is a central part of this work. The A&E Committee comes together during the school year to learn about curriculum; engage our community; assist in the design of policy; and propose ideas related to school culture.  The committee is always interested in adding new members to the group and hearing the voices of our community. In order to increase participation and representation this year, our A & E committee has two participation options.  The first option is to become a full working group member. In this role, you will work with other committee members and serve on one of our sub-committees. There are four full committee meetings scheduled for this year, as well as some smaller meetings based on which subcommittee you join. The second option is to become a supporting member. Committee members who choose this option will receive A&E committee updates and can attend meetings when their schedule allows. Each A&E committee meeting is broken into two parts: the full committee meets for 45 minutes, followed by a 45-minute subcommittee meeting; as a supporting member, you would attend the first 45 minutes. I am pleased to announce our continued partnership with Romney Associates. They will continue to help guide us in our work and provide leadership coaching to the administrative team. The first meeting of the A & E committee will take place on  Wednesday, October 12th, at 3:30 pm.  The meetings will continue to be virtual to accommodate the schedules of our members.  Please sign up if you are interested in participating this year.  If you served last year, please also sign up and forward this note to others who may be interested.  You may click on the link below to sign up or email  jennifer.shumway@frsu38.org .  We will send a confirmation email next week to those who have signed up.  Sincerely, Darius Modestow, Superintendent

    Friday, Sep 16 2022

  • Superintendent Welcome Back Letter 2022

      August 15, 2022 Dear Families: I am delighted to  welcome our students and families to  the 2022/23 school year starting on Tuesday, August 30th .     While the world is experiencing a great deal of turmoil and division, one place where communities come together is our public schools. I am grateful for the partnership with you, our families, which enable our schools to continue to thrive during these unsettling times. Together with our teachers, staff, and administrative team, I look forward to the year ahead with optimism and renewed energy. Letters with specific information about your child’s school will be coming from each building principal.  The following are updates and news from the district. This summer, the district made a number   of repairs, updates, and improvements to our five school buildings in addition to the regular cleaning and repair schedule. These projects were possible thanks to funding from a number of different sources and the support of our whole community. We have a new district website.  FRSU38 Website  where you can find daily announcements about school activities, schedule changes, weather delays, and other school-related information. We encourage you to check the site regularly. The new website also connects to  Parent Square ,  the primary communication platform for the district. We introduced this software last year, and families are now automatically signed up as part of the registration process (if you provide an email address). Please take a moment to explore the settings under  “My Account”  to customize how and when you receive announcements and other information. One helpful feature of Parent Square is the announcement history feature. So, if your household is anything like mine, you can go back to your Parent Square account to answer questions like.   “Where and when are they going on that field trip?”   New District Administrators:   I am pleased to introduce the following new district administrators: Dr. Lara Ramsey, Director of Elementary Education, replacing the retired Kim McCarthy  Cara Chandler, Nurse Leader    Meg Burch, our former district nurse leader, has taken the new role of Regional School Nurse Consultant serving Franklin and Berkshire Counties.  Curriculum and Instruction:  As always, curriculum and instruction are at the center of what we do. This year we will focus on taking the wealth of new curricula and instructional models teachers used during the disrupted pandemic years and refining our resources through professional development.  The professional development will examine curricular continuity and alignment as well as the effectiveness of reaching all learners.   Continued Commitment to Equity for all:  The district will continue to provide our educators with professional development on topics related to antiracism, equity, social emotional learning and supporting our students as they navigate the world. Our Antiracism and Equity Committee will continue to support this work and is open to new members, more information will be provided in a future email.   In addition, we are looking forward to our participation in an equity audit in the spring of 2023. The audit will be performed by Curriculum Management Solutions Inc. The feedback will be a valuable tool as we move forward in this work.  Health and COVID Update.  We continue to follow the recommendations of our local health boards and will maintain the current COVID precautions put in place at the end of the 2021/22 school year.  This includes optional masking, required masking following a mandatory 5-day quarantine for a student who tests positive for COVID, and symptomatic testing by the school nurse. However, at this time, the state is no longer supporting the implementation of pool testing or providing home test kits. Nurse Chandler and the nursing team will continue to update the community on positive COVID cases in our schools and support family needs for this and other health issues. Additional information will be forthcoming from Nurse Chandler. As we begin again, I wish all of you a wonderful school year. Sincerely, Darius Modestow, Superintendent

    Monday, Aug 15 2022

  • Great News! School Lunch will be served at no cost t...

    “School Meals for All” for the 2022-2023 school year, means that every student in MA who wants or needs a school breakfast or lunch will receive meals at no cost to their family. As of July 28, 2022 - Governor Baker signed into law a one-year extension of School Meals for All for the 2022-2023 school year. As part of the Fiscal Year 2023 State Budget, this extension makes Massachusetts the fifth state to guarantee access to free meals this coming school year. Universal free school meals in Massachusetts have been an enormous success over the past two school years. In March 2022, lunch participation was 42.3% higher for school lunch over pre-pandemic participation rates. Statewide this represented an additional 53,744 more students eating lunch daily when free from the barriers of the old rules of the National School Lunch Program. “This is a moment in time when all our eyes have been opened to the vast disparities faced by the children of Massachusetts when accessing the resources needed to be healthy and learn. While the road to equity is long and complex, this extension of School Meals for All is a straightforward and significant step in ensuring students are ready to learn next year,” said Erin McAleer, CEO and President of Project Bread. “On behalf of our partners, we thank our leaders in state government, especially Governor Baker, Senate President Karen Spilka, Speaker Ron Mariano, Senate Ways & Means Chairman Michael Rodrigues, House Ways & Means Chairman Aaron Michlewitz, Senate Education Chair Jason Lewis, House Education Chair Alice Peisch, and our legislative champions on this issue Senator Sal DiDomenico and Representative Andy Vargas.”

    Monday, Aug 01 2022

  • Covid Update #2 Recommending Students Wear Masks

      Covid Update (#2 This Week) Recommending Students Wear Masks Good Evening Frontier and Union #38  Families: This week's pool test results reflect the continuing increase of COVID-19 in our communities. The case numbers are highest at Frontier, Deerfield, and Conway Schools. See the latest positive cases on our  district dashboard . Given the increase, I am writing to provide you with some additional information, clarify our protocols related to cases and describe how we are addressing this spike in COVID-19. The  Centers for Disease Control  has elevated Franklin County’s COVID-19 Community Level to “high” and recommends that residents wear a mask while indoors in public, get vaccinated or boosted if eligible (use this link to register for the  May 20th COVID Vaccination Clinic ) and take additional virus precautions such as washing hands and remaining home when sick.  How our district is addressing this covid at this time . We recommend that students wear masks indoors . This is not a mandatory requirement, but given the increase in numbers there is a higher risk of transmission.  We will continue to support families' decisions around masking but will not discipline. students for not wearing a mask. In PK - 6 classrooms where we are aware of multiple cases, families will be notified by their building principal and students and staff will be strongly encouraged to wear masks as multiple cases increase the likelihood of spread within our classrooms.  As a reminder continue to : Keep children home if they are sick, even if they test negative for COVID. Notify the school if your child is home with COVID-19. If your child is a close contact because a member of your household is COVID positive they should mask at school for 10 days following exposure. Please contact your school if you are interested in signing up for an at home COVID testing kit. Thank you for your continued partnership to keep our community healthy. As the situation improves we will notify families of any changes.  Darius Modestow, Superintendent

    Thursday, May 12 2022

  • Covid 19 Update, A Reminder to be Vigilant

      Covid 19 Update, A Reminder to be Vigilant  Dear Frontier and Union #38 Community, As you are likely aware, there has been a rise in Covid cases in our county.  We would like to stress that while for many of us the risk of getting Covid seems manageable, there are many in our community who, for various reasons, are at greater risk.   The Schools would like to stress the following: Continue to monitor your child for symptoms and keep your child home if they have any symptoms or are not feeling well. Test if your child has any symptoms. The weekly tests provided by the school may be used for symptomatic testing.  If your child is a close contact in a community or household setting, they must wear a mask when returning to school regardless of vaccination status. Those who are vaccinated may continue to come to school as long as they have no symptoms and will need to wear a mask through day 10. If your child is unvaccinated they must remain home for at least five days and may return as long as they have no symptoms. As with those who are vaccinated a mask must be worn through day 10.  Questions about a case or close contact guidance can be directed to the school nurse or local public health nurse for your town.    The end of the school year is traditionally a time for many fun events and activities for the students. Let's work together to make sure everyone is able to participate by protecting our classmates and friends from preventable transmissions.   Stay Safe, Darius Modestow, Superintendent

    Sunday, May 08 2022

  • Teacher Awards

    Congratulations to our District’s 2022 Grinspoon Award Winners, they were recognized last night at a ceremony at the Log Cabin in Holyoke. We are so proud of Stacey Chapley and Maggie West .   To repeat part of Stacey's message last evening in a brief address to the audience.  I couldn’t have achieved this award without the support of my colleagues and friends! Stacey Chapley , Frontier HS Science  Maggie West ,  Conway 5th Grade    "Encourage, Lift, and strengthen one another." -Deborah Day

    Thursday, May 05 2022

  • Dedication of the Frontier Track

      Hello Frontier Community, On  Monday, May 9th at 4:45 p.m. the Frontier track will be dedicated to longtime track coaches,   Bob Smith and Walter Flynn . Please join us in celebrating and recognizing these two extraordinary educators who collectively coached for 65 years (and going!) at Frontier Regional. The dedication will take place just prior to the 5:00 p.m. start of the evening dual track meet vs. Mahar Regional.   Hope to see you there! Darius Modestow

    Wednesday, May 04 2022

  • Change to Mask Mandate 3/14/22

      Dear Frontier and Union #38 Families, The Frontier Regional and Union 38 School Committees held a joint meeting on March 2 and voted to adopt a revised policy to allow FRSU38 schools to become mask optional effective March 14, 2022. We recognize this a significant change in practice after the past two years and individuals will be at different stages of comfort with this shift.  Schools will take a proactive approach to educate students about individual choices related to mask-wearing and will not tolerate negative behaviors towards students who choose to wear masks.  As a district and community, it is important that we respect each person’s choice in whether to continue masking or not and allow everyone to make the choice that is best for themselves and their families. Exceptions per DESE and DPH, include: Masks will continue to be required in all School Health / Nurse offices and will be provided at each location; Per DPH masks are required for cases and close contacts returning to school from isolation or quarantine on day 5 or later and must be worn through day 10; Masks will no longer be required on school transportation; All COVID19 testing programs will continue (pooled testing, symptomatic testing, and distribution of iHealth home antigen tests); Other mitigation measures will remain in place. Physical distancing safety protocols, augmented ventilation (opening windows), and reminders to remain home when sick will continue; Masks are recommended for those who are not fully vaccinated or are immunocompromised. As we have throughout the pandemic; however, we will continue to monitor local case counts and local and state health department guidance and will make adjustments to our safety plan as needed, including a return to a mask mandate if necessary. Thank you to the Frontier Regional and Union #38 community for your continued support. Darius Modestow, Superintendent

    Thursday, Mar 03 2022