Principal's Pen
February 2, 2024
Dear Parents,
Dr. Jones came for a visit this week and she was able to observe some instructional highlights in Pre-K through grade 5. She was impressed with both our teachers and our EXCELLENT EAGLES ! It is always a pleasure to have Dr. Jones and other Central Office Staff members come over and support our JC staff and students. We have members of the Board of Education scheduled to visit at the end of February. We look forward to highlighting all of the wonderful programs supported by our BOE.
The students in grades k-3 have finished their Dibels assessments and the 3-5th graders completed the ELA and Math Benchmark assessments in Linkit! The Dibels parent reports are in the Friday Folders and the results of the linkit assessments will be shared with parents district-wide in the coming weeks. Please review your child's performance and remember we are looking for growth! The goal is to meet benchmark mastery by the end of the school year, so we are looking for expected growth over baseline and towards mastery. Please reach out to your child's teacher or myself if you have any questions about your child's report. Also, please keep in mind each of these assessments represents one piece of data and we always use a variety of data points when grading and assessing our students.
We hope to see you at the Gymnastics Open House this week. There is a schedule of your child's class time below.
Have a wonderful weekend! We hear the sun should be shining!
Sincerely,
Trish McGuire and Matt Hartigan
Free ESL Classes
Adult and Continuing Education is offering free ESL classes at Hamilton Avenue School, with registration on Monday, January 29 and Wednesday, January 31. Classes are scheduled to begin on Monday, February 5 and will be held Mondays and Wednesdays from 6:00-8:00 PM. There may still be room. For more information, contact Hamilton Avenue School at (203) 869-1685 or email Coordinator of Adult and Continuing Education Braulio Santiago at braulio_santiago@greeenwich.k12.ct.us.
Taste of the Rainbow
The PTAC Health & Wellness Committee and Food Services Department have brought back the annual tradition of “Taste the Rainbow” to help celebrate “Nutrition Week.” To remind students to eat a balanced diet that will give them the energy and nutrients they need as they grow, each day this week food was served corresponding to the day’s color, including: Monday (red grapes, red peppers, grapefruits, dried cranberries); Tuesday (roasted carrots, clementines, peaches, sweet potato fries); Wednesday (roasted corn, pineapple, gooseberries, yellow tomatoes); Thursday (broccoli, pears, celery, green grapes); Friday (blueberries, purple cabbage, coleslaw, purple radishes, black grapes). Ask your child if they tried anything new! Mrs. McGuire tried gooseberries for the first time!
Have any gently used Pete the Cat board books?
Dear JC Community,
Shared/Interactive reading is an amazing and natural way to support language development so I was hoping to create a library of interactive books for our learners to borrow. As part of this initiative, I was hoping to collect gently used Pete the Cat board books or other similar series to get started. Our community of learners appreciate your generosity. You can drop any donations off in the main office.
Gratefully,
Yaneli Avila, M.S., CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
Fifth Grade Parents
Attention Grade 5 Parents:
Fifth to Sixth Grade Parent Input Request
In order to provide input for your student’s middle school placement in ELA, Math, and Science, parents are given an opportunity to provide the committee with their insights via the Parent Input Form prior to February 9, 2024. Before completing the form, we highly recommend reviewing the video or reading the transcripted slide deck.
All information is available online on the Greenwich Public School 5th to 6th Grade Transition webpage.
Please note: completion of this form does not guarantee placement into the selected courses.
Grade 6 teachers and administrators constantly monitor student progress and achievement to ensure their needs are being met in their courses. Adjustments to course schedules are made on a case-by-case basis and can happen at any time throughout the school year. Parents are a key factor in the decision to make movements in classes. The middle school philosophy for the district ensures that all parents are notified early and often when schedule or course changes are recommended.
Solicitud de opinión de los padres de quinto a sexto grado
Con el fin de brindar información para la colocación de su estudiante en la escuela intermedia en ELA, Matemáticas y Ciencias, los padres tienen la oportunidad de brindarle al comité sus ideas a través del Formulario de opinión de los padres antes del 9 de febrero de 2024. Antes de completar el formulario, recomendamos revisar el video. Tenga en cuenta: completar este formulario no garantiza la colocación en los cursos seleccionados.
Los maestros y administradores de sexto grado monitorean constantemente el progreso y los logros de los estudiantes para garantizar que se satisfagan sus necesidades en sus cursos. Los ajustes a los horarios de los cursos se realizan caso por caso y pueden ocurrir en cualquier momento durante el año escolar. Los padres son un factor clave en la decisión de realizar movimientos en las clases. La filosofía de la escuela intermedia del distrito garantiza que todos los padres sean notificados con anticipación y con frecuencia cuando se recomiendan cambios de horario o curso.
Second Grade Parents
Everything you need to know regarding the ALP placement process and student scores is in this 10-minute Grade 2 ALP Placement Score Information Video. (English transcript Spanish transcript) They are also hosting two Q&A sessions Tuesday, February 6.
CHECK YOUR CHILD'S BACK PACK!
DIBELS Score Reports For families with children in grades K-3 and grades 4-5 with reading goals on their IEP, DIBELS Mid Year Home-Connect report will be sent home in student folders Friday, 2/2/24. DIBELS is GPS’s universal reading screening assessment tool that measures early literacy skills aligned to the five pillars of reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. The Home-Connect report reviews the skills your child was assessed on in January and makes suggestions on things you can do at home to support their continued progress as a reader. If you have questions about your child’s scores, please reach out to your child’s teacher or building administrators. For more information about DIBELS, please read the parent guide in English or Spanish.
YOU ARE INVITED TO YOUR CHILD'S GYMNASTICS CLASS THIS WEEK!
Join your child's class at their scheduled time!
Monday February 5th
4O: 9:00-9:30
2S: 11:30:12:00
2M: 12:00-12:30
KC: 12:30-1:00
KS: 1:00-1:30
Tuesday: February 6th
1H: 9:30-10:00
1S: 10:00-10:30
5F: 11-11:30
3H: 2:00-2:30
Wednesday February 8th
4C: 9:00-9:30
5S: 11:00-11:30
3G: 2:00-2:30
PJ DAY FOR A CAUSE FEBRUARY 9TH!
PJ Day is on Friday Feb 9th (the day before February break) and in exchange for wearing PJs to school, participants are asked to donate $1 or more to give to Connecticut Children's Hospital. As an alternative to bringing money to school, the students (and parents) can also donate online via this link give.connecticutchildrens.org/team/550789. Also, even if kids cannot make a financial donation they can still wear their PJs in solidarity and support of other kids with cancer.
Donate using this link!
Mark Your Calendar
February
February 5-9 Gymnastics Open House
February 12-16 Winter Recess /School Closed
February 19 - Presidents Day /School Closed
February 20 - Return to School
February 21- Literacy night for families 6-7:30 pm
February 27 - District Art Show
March 1 - VIP Dodgeball for grades 3-5 and their special person.