Superintendent Conrad’s weekly message for December 9, 2022, focuses on Pearl Harbor Day; UN Human Rights Day; Performing Arts News; Annual Fire Department Toy Collection; Special Education; Town Flu and COVID-19 Booster clinic; COVID-19; and the Superintendent search brochure.
Pearl Harbor Day
On Wednesday we commemorated Pearl Harbor Day. The day is a remembrance of the surprise attack by Japanese forces on Sunday, December 7, 1941, on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. The attack occurred just before 8 a.m. on that Sunday morning. Hundreds of Japanese fighter planes descended on the base, where they managed to destroy or damage nearly twenty American naval vessels, including eight battleships, and over three hundred airplanes. More than two thousand four hundred Americans died in the attack, including civilians, and another one thousand people were wounded. The day after the assault, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan. To learn more about Pearl Harbor please navigate to the Pearl Harbor National Memorial Site or the History Channel Pearl Harbor Webpage.
United Nations Human Rights Day
Tomorrow is UN Human Rights Day. The UN General Assembly adopted December 10th as Human Rights Day with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948. The UDHR was a milestone document, which proclaims the inalienable rights that everyone is entitled to as a human being – regardless of race, color, religion, sex, language, political or another opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, or other status.
Performing Arts News
Best wishes to all of our performers in this season of winter concerts. These performances are the culmination of months of hard work and dedication for each performer. Please take the opportunity to see a concert!
12/8 JGMS Vocal Concert 7 PM
12/13 BHS Instrumental Concert 7 PM
12/14 JGMS Instrumental Concert 7 PM
12/15 BHS Vocal Concert 7 PM
12/21 Lane School Concert 7 PM at BHS
Congratulations to our students who auditioned for and were accepted into the Massachusetts Music Educators Association (MMEA) Eastern MA District Senior Festival! These students will perform a concert at the Boston Latin School in January.
Chorus: Jacob Choi (bass)
Band: Rei Brown (clarinet), Kate Woo (clarinet), Matthew Shen (snare drum), Zachary Shen (snare drum)
Annual Bedford Fire Department Toy Collection
The Bedford Fire Department will be holding its annual Toy Collection TOMORROW Saturday, December 10, 2022, and Saturday, December 17, 2022, from 10:00 am- 2:00 pm each day. The collection point will be in the back parking lot of Bedford High School at 9 Mudge Way. Unwrapped toys for children of all ages are accepted. The toys will be given to needy families through Toys for Local Children. The Fire Department will also be collecting non-perishable food items to be donated to the Middlesex Community College Food Bank. Thank you for supporting this wonderful Bedford tradition of giving.
Special Education
Our Special Education Director Marianne Vines recently published the next installment of the Director’s Update which can be viewed at Director’s Update Winter 2022. The update is full of wonderful information about our Special Education Department and Programs.
Flu and COVID-19 Booster Clinic at the Town Center Building by Appointment
On December 12, 2022, from 4:00 – 6:00 pm, the Bedford Health Department will be hosting a clinic offering Flu Vaccine and Pfizer COVID-19 Bivalent Booster doses. Only the Pfizer Bivalent booster will be available at this clinic, not Moderna. The clinic is free and open to those who live and work in Bedford; however, we ask that you bring your insurance card(s) with you for vaccine program reimbursement purposes.
Bedford residents and employees are eligible for a COVID-19 bivalent booster if they are at least 12 years of age and it has been two months since you: 1) completed primary COVID-19 vaccination; or, 2) received a booster dose with any authorized or approved monovalent COVID-19 vaccine. Those receiving a COVID-19 bivalent booster will be asked to wait 15 minutes after receiving the booster dose.
The flu vaccine is available to anyone 6 months and older; however; children ages 6 months through 7 years old must have received a Flu vaccination in the past to be vaccinated at this clinic; otherwise, these children should obtain their first Flu vaccination from their pediatrician. Those ages 8+ who have never received a Flu vaccination in the past will be asked to wait 15 minutes after receiving the Flu vaccine. For more information and to make an appointment navigate to https://www.bedfordma.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=65.
COVID-19
The Bedford Public School nursing staff continues to provide COVID-19 symptomatic testing at school. This testing service is optional and consent is required prior to testing. See the link below to sign up for your student. The school nurses will administer rapid antigen testing using Abbott BinaxNOW or iHealth tests on-site at each school health office.
2022-2023 Student Consent Form for Symptomatic COVID-19 Testing at School
This service is for students who develop symptoms while already at school. Please continue to screen your children each day before school and refer to the COVID-19 symptoms checklist on the BPS website. If your child has mild symptoms of illness, please test them at home with a rapid home antigen test before sending them to school.
We encourage all families to keep a supply of COVID-19 home rapid antigen tests on hand. Home test kits are available from the following town offices during normal business hours: Health Department, Council on Aging, Town Manager’s Office, or the Bedford Free Public Library. Students may attend school with mild symptoms as long as they are testing negative on an antigen test before coming to school.
Many families signed up for iHealth home tests last Spring and may still have them left over. The expiration date for this product has been extended. You can check the expiration dates with the lot # using this link: iHealth Expiration Date Extension
We encourage everyone to get vaccinated with the most recent booster.
For the latest information on COVID-19 cases within the school district please navigate to the Bedford COVID-19 Dashboard
Superintendent Search Update
On Wednesday, December 7th an email from our School Committee Chair Mr. Morrison was sent out inviting community members to provide feedback via a survey on the qualities the community would like in the next superintendent and an application to serve on the Superintendent Screening Committee. The Superintendent Search Brochure is online on our website if you’d like to review it.
As always, thank you for your patience, your participation, and your continued commitment to our schools.
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