Fisher Family Update

Good Afternoon Fisher Families,

The Walpole Public Schools will be mailing MCAS results home to families. It is important to understand that the MCAS are one of the many ways we measure student progress, growth, and achievement across the curriculum. We also use many ongoing assessments in classrooms not only to measure student progress but also to assess the success of our district curriculum. Family-Educator conferences will be taking place in November and this is a great opportunity to hear about specific aspects of the grade-level standards that going well for your child and other areas that may be a challenge.

At Fisher we utilize this data in conjunction with other data points to identify areas of improvement in our instruction and students who may need additional support in and out of the classroom. We have already begun to analyze the data as a team and will continue to spend some time in the coming weeks looking at this information as we design instruction for all students.

Please read through this edtion of the Fisher Family Update for important meetings and upcoming events.

Have a great weekend,

Brian

Click the banner above to view announcements from the community that were traditionally sent home as a hard copy or "notice". In this "backpack" you will find information regarding community events, youth sports sign ups and much more. This link will be updated and included in all Fisher Family Update newsletters. The Virtual Backpack can also be found on the Walpole Public Schools District Website

October

14 - NO SCHOOL - Columbus/Indigenous Peoples' Day

16 - Fisher PAC 7pm, STEM/Media Classroom

25 - Trunk or Treat 6 - 7

31 - Spirit Day! Wear black and orange

November

5 - NO SCHOOL - Educator Training

11 - NO SCHOOL - Veterans' Day

12 - Elementary Parent/Teacher Conferences - 5:00 - 7:00pm

13 - Picture Retakes

14 - Elementary Parent/Teacher Conferences - 5:00 - 7:00pm

15 - Early Release - Fisher dismissal at 12:25pm

15 - Elementary Parent/Teacher Conferences -1:15pm-3:15pm

20 - Fisher PAC 7pm, STEM/Media Classroom

Our teachers have many ways to check your child’s reading development and growth, including an early literacy universal screening assessment. Early literacy universal screening assessments are brief tests that provide information about your child’s early reading skills.

Screening makes it possible to see if a student is at risk of developing reading difficulties, including risk of dyslexia. Screening does not diagnose dyslexia or other disabilities, but it does help us understand which students may need additional support to be successful readers. We are required to assess students in grades K-3 at least twice per year consistent with Massachusetts regulation 603 CMR 28.03(1)(f).

Our district uses the screening assessment called iReady. This screening assessment is approved by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Your child will be assessed two or three times during the school year, depending on grade level. Grades 1-3 will be given the computer adaptive assessment in the Fall. Kindergarten will be given the computer adaptive assessment in the Winter and Spring. Assessments given in the Winter and Spring will also include offline literacy task assessments for grades K-3.

The tentative schedule for this school year is shown below.

Screening Assessment Months (Subject to Change)

Kindergarten

1. January

2. May

Grade 1 - Grade 3

1. September

2. January

3. May

Following the screening assessment, a team at our school will review all students’ results. If your child scores significantly below benchmarks, we will contact you to discuss how we can support your child.

Screening is another step that helps students at our school become proficient readers, and we are grateful for the continued support and partnership with the Fisher families. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Thank you so much for all of the generous donations to the health office! We greatly appreciate it.

Please consider donating to the Fisher School Health Office

Please remember our illness policy:

• Children who are ill with a temperature over 100, or who have diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, undiagnosed rashes, uncontrolled coughing, impetigo, or conjunctivitis should remain at home.

• If your child is ill with a fever they must be "Fever Free" for 24 hours WITHOUT the use ofTYLENOL, MOTRIN, or any other fever reducing medication before they can return to school.

• If your child has a viral stomach illness with symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea, please keep them home for an additional 24 hours after symptoms have subsided.

• If your child has been diagnosed with an infection requiring antibiotic treatment such as Strep Throat, Conjunctivitis, Impetigo, etc. they must be treated with the antibiotic for at least 24 hours before returning to school. In addition, for Conjunctivitis, your child's eyes must be free of drainage. For Impetigo, lesions may not be oozing.

As always, please feel free to email if you have any questions or concerns that come up throughout the year at LMoyes@walpole.k12.ma.us.

Thursday, October 31st, will be Black and Orange Day at Fisher School. Students and staff are encouraged to wear black and orange to school on Thursday. We ask that students do not wear or bring Halloween costumes to school. Thank you!

Fall weather is a great time to be outdoors and mother nature provides many great opportunities to try some outdoor math! Why outdoor math you might ask? Well, it can provide several benefits that aren’t fulfilled by a worksheet or digital game.

Outdoor math activities are engaging, they spark interest in students because they are different and provide something fun to do during outside play time. They are hands-on and give children the opportunity to connect with nature. Children get to both, use concrete materials to make sense of abstract concepts, and also see the natural patterns, shapes and other phenomena in the world around them. Outdoor math activities are often multi-sensory which strengthens concept development, and since these experiences are fun, they reduce anxiety around math and help children improve their math disposition. (Brian Lee, 14 Best Outdoor Math Activities for Kids to Boost Math Skills)

Here are a few examples of suggested activities/games we found that your children might enjoy!

• Place Value - Collect different types of nature items (twigs, leaves, acorns, stones, etc.). Have each represent a different place value. Give your child a number and have them represent the number with the items they have collected. Change the numbers in different ways to have them see how the value of the number changes as they move the objects around.

• Geometry with Sticks! Collect different size sticks and have your child create different shapes. Depending on their grade level, you can begin with basic shapes and move on to different types of quadrilaterals, angles and vocabulary like parallel or perpendicular lines.

• Soccer Place Value or Fact Practice - Have a friend? Practice passing the soccer ball the number of times necessary to answer a fact, or dribble that many steps, etc. If you have cones, you can also set up place value columns to dribble or pass through based on the number.

Resource: Third Space Blog 12 Awesome Fall Math Activities for Elementary School

Visit our Family Math Website for even more ideas of how to engage your child in some fun outdoor math! If it’s raining and you can’t get outside, don’t forget about the Bridges Math at Home site. These free activities align with the mathematical content of each Bridges curriculum unit happening in school. Click on your child’s grade level, then select a “set” of activities from the dropdown at the top. Set 2 correlates with Unit 2 that classes are working on now. Set 1 provides review of skills from Unit 1 in September. Thank you for promoting and inspiring mathematical exploration at home!

Please click here to reach the Town of Walpole website with upcoming clinic information.

Student Council?

Kindergarten- (Mrs. Farrell) and grade 3 (Mrs. Barend) Buddies went on a fall scavenger hunt together.

Fisher School Trunk or Treat will be Friday Oct 25th from 6:00 to 7:00pm. We will need families to sign up for a car display in the link below. If you just want to come and trick or treat all candy donations are welcome.

Click here to signup!

The Book Fair will be held in November this year to coincide with parent/teacher conferences. Book previews will be held on Wednesday November 6th, Thursday November 7th and Friday November 8th. The fair will be open for selling books during conferences on Tuesday November 12th, Thursday November 14th and Friday November 15th. Please use this sign-up to volunteer to help!!!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080448A8AE28A4FA7-50311770-fisher

This is a great way for families to connect with each other over the phone or email. This is completely optional and this info will be shared with other families who decide to be part of the directory. As a reminder, Fisher School is not allowed to share student or parent contact information.

Please click here to be included in the Fisher Friendship directory.

Program Includes:

- 3 Week Course

- Finale At Our Studio

- Weekly Assignments

- Character Development

Important Dates:

Class 1: Wednesday, Nov 6th, 3:25-4:15 pm

Class 2: Wednesday, Nov 13th, 3:25-4:15 pm

Class 3: Wednesday, Nov 20th, 3:25-4:15 pm

Finale: Saturday, Nov 23rd, 1-2 pm

Fundraiser Cost:

3 Weeks + Finale: $35

Check or Money Order to: Town Of Walpole

Registration form is below.

Contact Information

Phone: 781-690-9329

Email: lgmartialarts2024@gmail.com

LG Martial Arts

10 Carnegie Row, Norwood, MA 02062

781-690-9329

lgmartialarts2024@gmail.com

LG Martial Arts Website: https://lgmartialarts.net

Liam Gutmacher Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LiamGutmacherTKD

Absences: If your student is going to be absent or tardy, please call the absence line and let us know in advance. You may call this line at anytime and leave a message. The telephone number is 508-660-7234 and then press 1

Dismissals: Please send a hand written note with your student in the morning or fill out this form with at least 2 hours advance notice.

Afterschool dismissal changes: If your student is changing their typical way of leaving Fisher at 3:25pm, please send a note into school with the plan that morning.

We understand that there are unavoidable last minute changes, however, please be mindful that we must call the classroom and upset time on leaning with each change.

Please feel free to email the front office: fisher-secretaries@walpole.k12.ma.us

School Day Begins at 8:55am

Dismissal is at 3:25pm

Early Release Days - Dismissal is at 12:25pm

Click HERE to view our arrival and dismissal procedures