MHS/WES Newsletter

As unbelievable as it may seem, we are a little over halfway through this school year. Over the past several weeks, teachers have been administering mid-year assessments and analyzing student data. With the adoption of our new ELA programs, we have seen some remarkable reading gains with our students. We're excited to see what the rest of the school year brings!

You may have noticed that we have some half days coming up in March (8th and 15th). These days have been set aside for elementary parent teacher conferences. Conferences are optional and not required for all families, however, parents or teachers may request a time to meet. Your child's classroom teacher will be in touch with more details and information.

March 8, Wednesday ~ 1/2 Day, Elementary Parent Teacher Conferences

March 15, Wednesday ~ 1/2 Day, Elementary Parent Teacher Conferences

March 15, Wednesday ~ PTO Meeting in the WES CAFT 6:30 PM

March 22, Wednesday ~ District Chorus Night

March 28, Tuesday ~ Spring Pictures MHS/WES

AS OF TODAY, Thursday, March 2, the last day of school is Tuesday, June 27, which will be a half day. Please note, Thursday, June 15 is now a full day of school. (This was the original last day of school)

Greetings from your School Counselors! As we look toward Spring and new growth, it is a great time of year to consider how your student is doing not only academically, but also socially and emotionally. You may have a sense of their progress based on feedback you receive or what you observe in them, however, having conversations with your student about how they think they are doing in these areas can be of great benefit as well. Simply asking questions about what they have learned and how they have grown so far this year can also give you a glimpse into how they might feel about themselves.

Fostering a healthy self-esteem is an integral part of your students' development and success. It has an impact on all areas of their lives and promoting a healthy self-esteem early on can create a solid foundation for learning in the years to come.

Self esteem is feeling good about the type of person you choose to be.

• Self-esteem comes from making choices you can be proud of

• Self-esteem comes from knowing you are worthy of love, even when you make mistakes

https://talkingtreebooks.com/teaching-resources-catalog/definitions/what-is-self-esteem.html

We want to be on the lookout for students who are overly critical of themselves, feel like they are not as good as other kids, focus on their failures rather than their successes, maintain self-doubt and show a lack of confidence. When this happens, students may be less likely to join in and make connections. They may let others treat them poorly or have a hard time standing up for themselves. Students who struggle with self-esteem may give up easily or not try at all. Accepting and learning from mistakes can also be a challenge for students with low self-esteem.

As we work toward building healthy self-esteem in our students, we want them to feel cared for and accepted, we want them to be confident and take pride in what they can do, we want them to be able to identify and use their strengths while believing that they are capable of continuing to grow in other areas. We want our students to have the confidence they need to try new things, give their best effort, take pride in what they do, and cope with the mistakes they make. We want them to persevere and keep trying even when they fail. All of these things work to promote success at school, at home, and in their relationships with friends.

If you should need any additional resources to support a healthy self-esteem in your student, feel free to contact their school counselor and we wish you all a Spring filled with new growth!

Life in Kindergarten continues in dramatic fashion! Spirit week has coincided with our 100th day of Kindergarten….everything from silly socks and crazy hair to favorite storybook characters. Children celebrated the 100th day of school while having fun with different Language Arts and Math activities.

While March is quickly approaching, it seems as though Winter is not quite done with us. Please continue to send in snow gear with your child(ren). Please also keep practicing Math Fast Facts Flashcards and Tricky Words. Parent-Teacher Conferences will be held on March 8th and 15th. Please be on the lookout for further information.

A new month in First Grade means a new Math Number Corner! This month our focus will be on:

• Telling time to the hour and half hour

• Understanding the difference between an analog clock and a digital clock

• Identifying dimes, nickels, and pennies by name and value

• Add like coin values.

These concepts are tough for kids. Practicing at home would really help your child master these skills. Some ways you could practice at home are:

1. Go on a clock hunt. Have your child locate analog clocks one day and the digital clocks another day.

2. Set a timer that goes off at the hour and half hour. Have your child read an analog clock or digital clock at these times. Analog clocks are more challenging to read and your child will need more practice on this type of clock.

3. Hand your child some dimes nickels and pennies. Have your child identify them first by name. Once your child can identify coins by name, have them tell you the name and the value of each coin.

4. If your child is able to quickly identify coins by name and value, give them a few of the same coin and have them add the value. For example, give them 3 nickels, they would say 3 nickels equals 15 cents.

We appreciate you working on these skills at home!

5th Grade

People have long been fascinated by Mars, the planet in our solar system that’s most like Earth. Uncrewed missions have sent orbiters, probes, and rovers to explore the planet since the 1960s, but what would it take to carry out a successful human mission to Mars?

This is our 5th grade essential question in our Mars Rover unit.

During this unit, the 5th graders will learn how build a sensor-based robot and program such robot for different Mars Rover missions. The overall objective is to work collaboratively together to build and program their robot to carry out as many missions as they can.

4th Grade

In 4th grade, we are just starting a new unit called Ozobot Storyland.

In this unit, we will be developing stories based on a winter wonderland theme. Within the story our main character will be an Ozobot that travels through distance lands. But what is an Ozobot? An ozobot is a color sensor robot that can follow lines and read color codes.

After we initially write our stories, we will then create our own code sequence map. The students will work with their partners to create a sequence of based on their story.

After the students will program their Ozobots to move through the story in the correct sequence.

This is a great unit that includes computer science and ELA standards together. I hope to have the students record themselves at the completion of project, which will be found in their Google Drive.

3rd Grade

For 3rd grade in the technology room, the sudents have been learning about what the different types of weather is. We first learned the range of temperatures from one section of the planet to another and what type of weather symbols are used within a forecast.

The students were then divided up into group where they were given a state and it’s capital, where they had to research the different high and low temperature from December 26, 2022 to January 1, 2023. We collected the data and transferred it to a spreadsheet, where we analyze and converted the data to a chart.

Lastly, we recreated the data onto a Google Drawing and presented our work to the rest of the class as meterologists.

2nd Grade

In 2nd grade, we have been learning about block-based computer coding. The students are using their knowledge of coding language to animate their name.

I will be sending home a permission form this week, please sign and return as soon as possible. This will give the students access to some these lessons at home, if they wish.

K & 1st Grade

Both the 1st graders and the Kindergarten students are in full swing learning computer science and operational thinking with Bee-Bots.

But what is Bee-Bot?

Bee-Bots are a robot that is designed to teach young children operational thinking, directional awareness, programming, sequencing, and problem-solving skills.

In this unit, students will be learning how to program Bee-Bots using sequences of simple commands. By doing so, they will gain fluency with planning, testing, and debugging programs of increasing complexity. The colorful and fun little robot helps to teach the students how to estimate, problem-solve, and work together in teams.

Note: Mrs. Breen is still looking for disinfectant wipes, hand sanitizer, and tissues. If you would like to donate, please label and send them to school.

HEALTH SCREENINGS:

According to Massachusetts general laws, all students are required to have vision, hearing, body mass index (BMI) and postural screenings at certain grade levels in school.

Parents & Guardians may opt out of any screening. Please notify your child's school nurse in writing if this is the case.

The schedule for health screenings is as follows:

March 28th: 1st Grade Near & Far Vision, Hearing, Height & Weight

May 4th: 4th Grade Far Vision, Hearing, Height & Weight

May 5th: 5th Grade Far Vision & Postural

May 8th: 2nd Grade Near, Far & Stereopsis Vision & Hearing

May 9th: 3rd Grade Near, Far & Stereopsis Vision & Hearing

If a student does not pass the vision or hearing screening, your child will be rechecked at a later date. If they do not pass the recheck, a referral letter recommending further evaluation by his/her care provider or eye specialist, will be sent home. Please contact your child's physician or health care provider promptly for an evaluation if you are notified that your child has not passed the vision or hearing screening. Early detection and correction may prevent problems in school performance and permanent vision or hearing loss.

All screenings are performed in accordance with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts regulations.

MEDICATIONS

Under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 112, Section 80 B, a licensed nurse must have a medication order from a physician, dentist, nurse practitioner, or physician’s assistant in order to administer any medication, whether it is a prescription or over the counter medication, as well as written parental consent.

This form can be found on our website HERE

If your child requires medication that is to be administered at school, it must be brought in by a parent or guardian. Medication cannot be sent to or from school in a student’s backpack.

MHS:

I hope everyone is staying warm and able to get out and enjoy some of this snow with your kiddos! I wanted to reach out to let families know that I will be starting a new project with the students of MHS in the upcoming months. Just like us adults and our older students, our littlest learners are sometimes not able to escape the feelings of stress, worry, and sadness that may come with some daily life occurrences. Sometimes these feelings pop up in physical feelings and that is how our littles may communicate that their emotions are off.

My goal is to go into the classrooms, chat about feelings, read a few books, and discuss how it may make our body feel. Then we will talk about relaxing ways to calm ourselves, and then fun ways to cope with these feelings. This is a very light discussion and not aimed to evoke any deep or sad feelings within the classroom. I do, however, always let my students know that if they need to talk about feelings privately, that I am always available.

I will be introducing a fun activity as well, gardening! Each student will be planting a vegetable (either lettuce or snow pea) and a flower (marigold or sunflower). Students will be able to plant, care for, and watch their little plants grow! They then have the opportunity to take them home or we will plant them here at MHS. Gardening/planting has been shown to help children with emotion regulation, learn responsibility, encourage healthy eating habits, relieve stress, and so much more!

I encourage Parents/Guardians to check out the following websites regarding gardening and children and the positive impacts it has on them:

Gardening For Children & Benefits of Gardening For Children

As always please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns

Bridget Hurley RN, BSN

Westminster Elementary School

Bhurley@awrsd.org

P: 978-874-2043 ext 5

F: 978-874-0964

Cassandra Benes RN, BSN

Meetinghouse School

Cbenes@awrsd.org

P: 978-874-0163 ext 304

F: 978-874-0726

General Ashburnham-Westminster Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) membership is open to all AWRSD parents/guardians of children with Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and Section 504 Plans and other interested parties. We need volunteers to help plan workshops, staff tables at local school and community events, become future leaders, assist other parents, and plan new activities and projects. Learn more about us and our work on our website https://sites.google.com/view/ashburnham-westminster-sepac. You can also follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ashwestsepac.