Dear AKF Families,

This week, our students and staff participated in our first ALICE safety drill of the school year. As part of our ongoing commitment to maintaining a safe and supportive learning environment, we practiced classroom procedures designed to help everyone respond calmly and appropriately during an emergency.

ALICE stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate. It is a safety framework that helps schools prepare for potential emergencies by teaching staff and students age-appropriate strategies to recognize a threat, follow directions, and make safe decisions. Our practice this week focused on securing classroom doors and understanding how to make our classrooms safer spaces during a potential emergency.

We approach these drills thoughtfully and in developmentally appropriate ways, recognizing that our youngest learners need clear, reassuring directions and opportunities to practice routines. Our goal is to build familiarity and confidence without creating unnecessary fear or anxiety.

At Abby Kelley, student safety is always our highest priority. Just as we practice fire drills and other safety procedures, practicing ALICE procedures helps us prepare for situations we hope never occur. These opportunities also allow our staff to strengthen their understanding of our safety protocols and ensure we are working together to protect our students.

Thank you for your continued partnership and trust as we work to provide a school environment where every child feels safe, supported, and ready to learn. We are grateful for our AKF community and the shared responsibility we have in caring for one another.

Warmly,

Anne

[email protected]

Our little Bears are busy playing, learning, and exploring each day, and sometimes sweaters, jackets, water bottles, and other belongings get left behind on the playground or around the school!

Our staff diligently collects these items and places them in our Lost and Found. However, without a student’s name, it can be difficult to reunite lost items with their owners.

Please take a moment to label all items your child brings to school, including coats, sweatshirts, hats, lunchboxes, and water bottles. A simple name label makes a big difference in helping us return belongings to their rightful owners!

We recognize that every child’s learning journey is unique. Part of our work as educators is identifying each student’s needs in the moment and providing individualized support that helps them build essential skills and successfully access grade-level learning.

Recently, a student worked on letter recognition and matching through a hands-on activity designed to strengthen her ability to identify letters that are often tricky for young learners, such as b, d, p, and q. After receiving directions and guidance, she completed the activity independently—and did a wonderful job!

Through daily one-to-one instruction and small-group learning, our educators create opportunities for students to practice, build confidence, and develop greater independence. Our paraprofessionals bring valuable educational backgrounds and skills to this work, allowing us to provide responsive, individualized instruction while supporting students’ participation in classroom learning.

Our young artists are hard at work creating their very own Art to Remember masterpieces! Each student is turning their creativity and imagination into a special piece of art that families can treasure for years to come.

🖍️ What’s Next?

• November 2: Personalized order forms will be sent home with your child.

• December 14: Orders are expected to arrive—just in time to make wonderful holiday gifts!

❤️ Your Purchase Makes a Difference!

When you order a keepsake featuring your child’s artwork, you’re doing more than celebrating their creativity. Our school receives 25% of the profit, helping support our AKF community!

We can’t wait for you to see the amazing creations our students are making. Keep an eye out for those order forms in November!

Questions? Please reach out to Mrs. Roy at [email protected] or call 508-854-8400, ext. 4306.

Dear Abby Kelley Foster Staff and Families,

The Board of Trustees is forming an Internal Search Committee to help select our next Executive

Director, who is expected to begin in July 2027 for the 2027–2028 school year. We want this

search to be open, equitable, and clear, with opportunities for members of our school community

to participate.

The committee will include:

· Kathleen Greenwood, Search Committee Chair and Trustee

· Nicole Mikucka, Trustee

· Karina Abeddy, Trustee

· Two senior administrators

· One high school teacher

· One middle school teacher

· One elementary school teacher

· One Parent

· One Community Partner

· One student

Serving on the committee will require a significant time commitment. Meetings will take place

primarily in the evenings throughout the school year. Some meetings will be via Zoom while others will be in person. The committee will work with Sarah Ferguson from vChief Executive Search Firm.

If you are interested in serving, please email: [email protected]

with your name and a brief explanation not to exceed two paragraphs as to why you would like to participate by October 14, 2026. We will review the expressions of interest and notify everyone who is selected.

We look forward to hearing from you and working together on this important decision for our

school.

The Board of Trustees

Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public School

Mark your calendars! Our October PTO meeting will take place on Wednesday, October 21, from 6:00–7:00 p.m. at the Elementary School. We know that finding childcare can sometimes make attending evening meetings challenging, so we are excited to share that three high school students have volunteered to play with children who attend the meeting with their families. They will also help ensure the door can be opened for families who arrive after 6:00 p.m., so please don’t hesitate to join us if you are running a little late!

A virtual attendance option will also be available for those who prefer to participate remotely.

We’re excited to invite our AKF staff and families to join us for Worcester Railers Opening Weekend!

AKF Chorus Performance
Members of our middle school and high school chorus will be singing “God Bless America” during the game. We are so excited for our students to be part of this special experience!

High-Five Tunnel Experience
K–12 students who are attending the game and are not members of the chorus will have the opportunity to participate in a high-five tunnel! Students will get to high-five the players as they walk out onto the ice!

Get Your Tickets!
If your family would like to attend, please purchase tickets using the QR code on the attached flyer.

Ticket purchases close Saturday, October 3rd.

Dear AKF Families,

This week I had the pleasure of covering some classes as well as serving as a recess monitor. It was such a blast seeing kids this week! On one such occasion, a friend did not share their ball with another friend, and the other friend responded by hitting the ball away. What followed was a moment of big feelings—tears, frustration, and a little bit of disagreement about what should happen next. And you know what? That is part of growing up.

Our children are learning much more than academics during the school day. They are learning how to be a friend, how to take turns, how to compromise, how to ask for what they need, and—perhaps most importantly—how to navigate the moments when things don’t go the way they hoped.

Social play is one of the most important places for children to practice these skills. Sometimes you get the ball first. Sometimes someone else gets a turn. Sometimes a friend says "no." Sometimes the game doesn’t go the way you planned. Sometimes you feel angry, disappointed, or left out.

And sometimes, you don’t get your way.

Those moments can bring very big feelings. We want our children to know that their feelings are always okay, but that not every feeling gets to decide what happens next. Crying, yelling, or becoming upset doesn’t mean that a child is "bad," but it also doesn’t mean they automatically get what they want. Instead, these moments give us an opportunity to teach children what to do with those feelings.

At AKF, we are working to help our students develop the skills to pause, breathe, use their words, seek help when needed, problem-solve, and try again. We want them to learn that they can feel disappointed and still be kind. They can feel angry and still make a safe choice. They can hear "no" and recover. They can lose a game, miss a turn, or have a friend make a different choice—and know that they are capable of handling it.

These are big skills for little people!

So, the next time your child comes home with a story about a friend who didn’t share, someone who wouldn’t let them join a game, or a moment when things simply didn’t go their way, remember that these little moments are actually big opportunities for growth.

We don’t need to make every disappointment disappear for our children. Instead, we can stand beside them, acknowledge their feelings, and help them build the skills to move through them.

At AKF, we aren’t just helping children learn how to read, write, and solve problems. We are helping them learn how to navigate this wonderful, sometimes tricky, world with kindness, confidence, resilience, and care for others.

Warmly,
Anne Duke

[email protected]

Ask your third grade student about their art class using light boards to create designs.

Dear Abby Kelley Foster Staff and Families,

The Board of Trustees is forming an Internal Search Committee to help select our next Executive

Director, who is expected to begin in July 2027 for the 2027–2028 school year. We want this

search to be open, equitable, and clear, with opportunities for members of our school community

to participate.

The committee will include:

· Kathleen Greenwood, Search Committee Chair and Trustee

· Nicole Mikucka, Trustee

· Karina Abeddy, Trustee

· Two senior administrators

· One high school teacher

· One middle school teacher

· One elementary school teacher

· One Parent

· One Community Partner

· One student

Serving on the committee will require a significant time commitment. Meetings will take place

primarily in the evenings throughout the school year. Some meetings will be via Zoom while others will be in person. The committee will work with Sarah Ferguson from vChief Executive Search Firm.

If you are interested in serving, please email: [email protected]

with your name and a brief explanation not to exceed two paragraphs as to why you would like to participate by October 14, 2026. We will review the expressions of interest and notify everyone who is selected.

We look forward to hearing from you and working together on this important decision for our

school.

The Board of Trustees

Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public School

We’re excited to invite our AKF staff and families to join us for Worcester Railers Opening Weekend!

AKF Chorus Performance
Members of our middle school and high school chorus will be singing “God Bless America” during the game. We are so excited for our students to be part of this special experience!

High-Five Tunnel Experience
K–12 students who are attending the game and are not members of the chorus will have the opportunity to participate in a high-five tunnel! Students will get to high-five the players as they walk out onto the ice!

Get Your Tickets!
If your family would like to attend, please purchase tickets using the QR code on the attached flyer.

Ticket purchases close Saturday, October 3rd.