Blue Notes and Announcements

Blue Notes and Announcements

Blue Notes and Announcements

Blue Notes and Announcements

December Calendar and Menu

Blue Notes and Announcements

Blue Notes and Announcements

When Our Children Face Losses

Hull Public Schools’ Parent Presentation

When Our Children Face Losses:
Words, Strategies And Wisdom That Promote Resilience

This presentation is for parents, grandparents, guardians, and caregivers
to learn strategies which will help guide their children through the grieving process.

Maria Trozzi, M.Ed.

Sunday, November 6, 2016

6:30 p.m.

Hull High School Auditorium

Whenever bad things happen, it is normal for parents to want to protect their children. It even feels counter-intuitive to want to ‘talk’ about it, especially when we see our children hurting. Whether the issue is a terrifying world event or closer to home, a peer’s unexpected death, a possible betrayal of an adult or a peer, or an inevitable disappointment or personal shortfall, how do parents help their children face these stressful life events? How do you face it as a parent? How do you find language to help your child at any age make sense of it? What words should you avoid? How do you know if your child is struggling?

Join Maria Trozzi, a national expert in the area of children and family bereavement, an author of Talking With Children About Loss, co-founder and former director of the Good Grief Program at Boston Medical Center for nearly thirty years.

Using an interactive format, she will lead parents to support their children as they face the inevitable losses of growing up, find strategies and words that help them master coping skills, and share her twenty plus years of experience and expertise that informs prevention and promotes resilience in our adolescents facing a complicated world.

Please contact Judy Kuehn, Assistant Superintendent of Schools, at 781-925-4400 Ext. 1128 or via email at jkuehn@town.hull.ma.us with any questions.

Letter to Parents and Guardians

October 30, 2016

 

Dear Parents and Guardians:

 

We learned yesterday that a tenth grade student, Emma Ryan, died unexpectedly early Saturday morning. We would like to share with you what we are doing in school to support students as they experience the normal sense of loss and grief that follows the death of a close friend. We would also like to offer some suggestions for talking with your child and some resources for additional support.

On Saturday, many high school and middle school students and their parents gathered in the high school cafeteria to be with each other and support one another. Tonight at 7 PM, many will gather at L Street for a candlelight vigil in memory of Emma.  On Monday morning, each school will have multiple counselors available to help students deal with the myriad of emotions that they will be feeling. Students will be encouraged to maintain their normal routines as much as possible, because keeping typical structure in place is best for children. However, any student who wants to speak with a counselor will have the opportunity to do so.

 

All of us, in our own way, try to make sense of death, particularly the death of a child. Children want to understand, but are often unsure and awkward at expressing their concern. The following normal developmental responses are taken from the Good Grief Program’s description of psychological tasks for children when a friend dies.

 

UNDERSTANDING

Preschoolers (ages 3-5):  These youngsters see death as temporary and reversible. They believe the dead live on under changed circumstances - either on a cloud, in a city called Heaven, in a box under the ground and connected to other boxes by tunnels. Preschoolers ask many questions, often gross and grubby, about how one lives on.  No matter how well death is explained, many will persist in their beliefs about its reversibility. These children are likely to be literal and concrete in their thinking.

 

Latency (ages 6-8):  Children in this developmental stage see death as a person or spirit that comes to get you if you aren’t fast or clever enough to escape. From their perspective, three groups of people die: the elderly, the handicapped (because I can't run fast enough) and the klutzes.  Klutzes are people who die that are neither elderly nor handicapped.  In an effort to make themselves feel different and therefore safe, children will often find some specific way, frequently negatively, to differentiate themselves from people who die.

 

Preadolescents (ages 9-11):  These youngsters have a more adult understanding of death, seeing it as final, universal and irreversible. They are interested in rituals and concerned how the world will change because of the death of a particular person.  This age group is frequently described as having the easiest time dealing with death and dying because they tend to intellectualize as a way of coping with the experience. They can sometimes sound crass and uncaring.

 

Adolescents (age 12+): Adolescents work hard to make sense of their own eventual death and the death of others. Just when they are being asked to take responsibility for their own lives, they are confronted by experiences that challenge their own lives; they are confronted by experiences that challenge their belief in their own immortality. They privately worry about the consequences of their own risk-taking behaviors while publically proclaiming their invulnerability. They are emotionally vulnerable when a death occurs and often sob or hug each other. They are concerned about what is worth living for and what is worth dying for. They want to understand adult rituals at the time of death, but often prefer to develop their own. Their grief at times of death tends to be expressed with peers rather than family members, often causing adults to believe the adolescent is not grieving.

 

GRIEVING

Normal grief includes both sadness and anger. It is often easier to tolerate children's sadness than it is to provide opportunities for them to express the anger. A child’s style of grieving will differ depending on the age of the child, relationship to the person who died, suddenness of death, etc. It is important to validate all of the feelings a child experiences associated with the death of a friend and to provide a psychologically safe environment for doing so.

 

COMMEMORATING

When a friend dies, children, particularly adolescents, must find some way to formally or informally remember the person who died. Such activity confirms the reality of the death and the value of human life. It is important that students be included with the faculty in planning school commemoration. Commemoration activities may take place several weeks or months after the death and should not be rushed.

 

GOING ON

When children have accomplished the tasks of understanding, grieving, and commemorating, they often need a kind of verbal permission to go on. They wonder when it is all right to laugh again, to have fun, and to not be sad all the time. We can help them understand that going on does not mean forgetting.

 

When speaking to adolescents about death, the skills of active listening are helpful. Without pressuring, let your child know you are available to talk. Listen and accept what is said. Encourage your child to express his/her feelings, but let him/her know that we all have different ways of expressing our grief. Some of us are more demonstrative than others. Just because they are not crying doesn't mean they don't care. Acting withdrawn or distracted are also signs that they are concerned about what happened. Intense feelings are characteristic of adolescents, though they do not mean that the feelings will persist beyond the appropriate time.

 

Below are the names of the counselors that work in each of our schools. If you would like additional information or support please do not hesitate to call or email them, or call or email the school’s principal with your questions or concerns.

 

I know that this small, close and wonderful community will pull together to help the Ryan family deal with their tragedy.  I also know that we will provide the support and comfort that our students need to deal with the loss of someone held so dear by so many.

 

Very truly yours,

 

Michael F. Devine

Principal, Hull High School

 

Jacobs Elementary School

Juanita Reppucci, Interim School Psychologist

Maureen Rosenplanter, Adjustment Counselor

Memorial Middle School

Rebecca MacDonald, Adjustment Counselor

Alison Simons, School Psychologist

Hull High School

Michelle Burke, Guidance Counselor                                   

Andrea Centerinno, Adjustment Counselor

Meghan Preble, Guidance Counselor

Ann Sullivan, Social Worker

 

 

Hull Pirate Youth Basketball Pre-Season Clinic Starts this Sunday

Blue Notes and Announcements

Blue Notes and Announcements

Blue Notes and Announcements

Wednesday for lunch:

Beef Macho Nachos

Blue Notes and Announcements

Blue Notes and Announcements

October Calendar and Lunch Menu

Blue Notes and Announcements

Blue Notes and Announcements

Social Group Referral Form

Blue Notes and Announcements

Blue Notes and Announcements

Grade 4 Tidepool Exploration

Blue Notes

Blue Notes

Blue Notes and Announcements

Blue Notes and Announcements

Blue Notes and Announcements

Blue Notes and Announcements

New Breakfast Program

How to Apply for Free and Reduced Lunch

HOW TO APPLY FOR FREE AND REDUCED PRICE SCHOOL MEALS

Please use these instructions to help you fill out the application for free or reduced price school meals. You only need to submit one application per household, even if your children attend more than one school in the Hull Public Schools. The application must be filled out completely to certify your children for free or reduced price school meals. Please follow these instructions in order! Each step of the instructions is the same as the steps on your application. If at any time you are not sure what to do next, please contact the main office of the school where your child attends (HHS 781-925-3000, MMS 781-925-2040 or JES 781-925-4400).

STEP 1: LIST ALL HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS WHO ARE INFANTS, CHILDREN, AND STUDENTS UP TO AND INCLUDING GRADE 12
Tell us how many infants, children, and school students live in your household. They do NOT have to be related to you to be a part of your household. Who should I list here? When filling out this section, please include ALL members in your household who are: ·         Children age 18 or under AND are supported with the household’s income; ·         In your care under a foster arrangement, or qualify as homeless, migrant, or runaway youth; ·         Students attending the Hull Public Schools, regardless of age.
A) List each child’s name. Print each child’s name. Use one line of the application for each child. When printing names, write one letter in each box. Stop if you run out of space. If there are more children present than lines on the application, attach a second piece of paper with all required information for the additional children.	B) Is the child a student in the Hull Public Schools? Mark ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ under the column titled “Student” to tell us which children attend the Hull Public Schools. If you marked ‘Yes,’ write the grade level of the student in the ‘Grade’ column to the right.	C) Do you have any foster children? If any children listed are foster children, mark the “Foster Child” box next to the child’s name.  If you are ONLY applying for foster children, after finishing STEP 1, go to STEP 4. Foster children who live with you may count as members of your household and should be listed on your application. If you are applying for both foster and non-foster children, go to step 3.	D) Are any children homeless, migrant, or runaway? If you believe any child listed in this section meets this description, mark the “Homeless, Migrant, Runaway” box next to the child’s name and complete all steps of the application.

PLEASE USE A PEN (NOT A PENCIL) WHEN FILLING OUT THE APPLICATION AND DO YOUR BEST TO PRINT CLEARLY.

STEP 2: DO ANY HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS CURRENTLY PARTICIPATE IN SNAP, TANF, OR FDPIR?
If anyone in your household (including you) currently participates in one or more of the assistance programs listed below, your children are eligible for free school meals: ·         The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) ·         Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) ·         The Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR).
A)  If no one in your household participates in any of the above listed programs: ·         Leave STEP 2 blank and go to STEP 3.		B)  If anyone in your household participates in any of the above listed programs: ·         Write a case number for SNAP, TANF, or FDPIR. You only need to provide one case number. If you participate in one of these programs and do not know your case number, contact: the MA SNAP Hotline at 1-866-950-3663. ·         Go to STEP 4.
STEP 3: REPORT INCOME FOR ALL HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS
How do I report my income? ·         Use the charts titled “Sources of Income for Adults” and “Sources of Income for Children,”  printed on the back side of the application form to determine if your household has income to report. ·         Report all amounts in GROSS INCOME ONLY. Report all income in whole dollars. Do not include cents. o    Gross income is the total income received before taxes o    Many people think of income as the amount they “take home” and not the total, “gross” amount. Make sure that the income you report on this application has NOT been reduced to pay for taxes, insurance premiums, or any other amounts taken from your pay. ·         Write a “0” in any fields where there is no income to report. Any income fields left empty or blank will also be counted as a zero. If you write ‘0’ or leave any fields blank, you are certifying (promising) that there is no income to report. If local officials suspect that your household income was reported incorrectly, your application will be investigated. ·         Mark how often each type of income is received using the check boxes to the right of each field.
3.A. REPORT INCOME EARNED BY CHILDREN
A)  Report all income earned or received by children. Report the combined gross income for ALL children listed in STEP 1 in your household in the box marked “Child Income.” Only count foster children’s income if you are applying for them together with the rest of your household. What is Child Income? Child income is money received from outside your household that is paid DIRECTLY to your children. Many households do not have any child income.
3.B  REPORT INCOME EARNED BY ADULTS
Who should I list here? ·         When filling out this section, please include ALL adult members in your household who are living with you and share income and expenses, even if they are not related and even if they do not receive income of their own. ·         Do NOT include: o    People who live with you but are not supported by your household’s income AND do not contribute income to your household. o    Infants, Children and students already listed in STEP 1.
B) List adult household members’ names. Print the name of each household member in the boxes marked “Names of Adult Household Members (First and Last).” Do not list any household members you listed in STEP 1. If a child listed in STEP 1 has income, follow the instructions in STEP 3, part A.	C) Report earnings from work. Report all income from work in the “Earnings from Work” field on the application. This is usually the money received from working at jobs. If you are a self-employed business or farm owner, you will report your net income. What if I am self-employed? Report income from that work as a net amount. This is calculated by subtracting the total operating expenses of your business from its gross receipts or revenue.		D) Report income from public assistance/child support/alimony. Report all income that applies in the “Public Assistance/Child Support/Alimony” field on the application. Do not report the cash value of any public assistance benefits NOT listed on the chart. If income is received from child support or alimony, only report court-ordered payments. Informal but regular payments should be reported as “other” income in the next part.
E) Report income from pensions/retirement/all other income. Report all income that applies in the “Pensions/Retirement/ All Other Income” field on the application.	F) Report total household size. Enter the total number of household members in the field “Total Household Members (Children and Adults).” This number MUST be equal to the number of household members listed in STEP 1 and STEP 3. If there are any members of your household that you have not listed on the application, go back and add them. It is very important to list all household members, as the size of your household affects your eligibility for free and reduced price meals.		G) Provide the last four digits of your Social Security Number. An adult household member must enter the last four digits of their Social Security Number in the space provided. You are eligible to apply for benefits even if you do not have a Social Security Number. If no adult household members have a Social Security Number, leave this space blank and mark the box to the right labeled “Check if no SSN.”
STEP 4: CONTACT INFORMATION AND ADULT SIGNATURE
All applications must be signed by an adult member of the household. By signing the application, that household member is promising that all information has been truthfully and completely reported. Before completing this section, please also make sure you have read the privacy and civil rights statements on the back of the application.
A) Provide your contact information. Write your current address in the fields provided if this information is available. If you have no permanent address, this does not make your children ineligible for free or reduced price school meals. Sharing a phone number, email address, or both is optional, but helps us reach you quickly if we need to contact you.	B) Print and sign your name. Print the name of the adult signing the application and that person signs in the box “Signature of adult.”	C) Write today’s date. In the space provided, write today’s date in the box.	D) Share children’s racial and ethnic identities (optional). On the back of the application, we ask you to share information about your children’s race and ethnicity. This field is optional and does not affect your children’s eligibility for free or reduced price school meals.