MHS/WES Newsletter

Wishing you a joyful Thanksgiving filled with cherished moments alongside your loved ones. We are grateful for your dedication to our students and support of our school community. We truly appreciate each and every one of you – you're what makes our school family so special!

Hello Families,

Ashburnham-Westminster Regional School District is pleased to announce that we have completed revisions to the math portion of the elementary report card. The purpose of this report card revision was to ensure that our reporting matches our curriculum materials and that we’re communicating in a consistent way across the district’s elementary schools. We will conduct a similar revision to the ELA portion of the report card next year.

Most of the work in aligning our report card to our curriculum materials (Bridges in Mathematics), took the form of identifying where each Massachusetts standard appears within the program in order to ensure that each teacher could accurately assess students on their reporting standards. While doing this work we paced out the entire year of both learning activities and assessments. While doing this we noticed that there are more N/As on the report card than in past years. A grade of “N/A” means “not assessed” in this trimester.

Our curriculum materials are very deliberate with how learning activities build upon one another and where we assess different standards. Some topics are revisited throughout the year, while others are mastered in one trimester. By the end of the school year, every item on the report card will receive at least one score (and many items will have scores over multiple terms) but there will always be some that aren’t assessed. This is intentional, as students move through the curriculum we are ensuring that assessment is tied to the material being covered and reporting is done in the most timely manner. If you have questions on your child's progress between reporting periods (or anytime), please reach out to their teacher.

We have created a website to share information on the new report card with families, including the plan for revising the rest of the elementary report card. It can be found here. Please check that space for more information.

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to me, the district’s Director of Curriculum and Instruction, at pdubois@awrsd.org or by calling (978) 827-1434.

Thanks!

Sincerely,

Paul DuBois

Please remember when you are calling your child out absent, to call the school that they attend.

MHS~ Pre-K , K and 1: 978-874-0163

WES~2, 3, 4, and 5 grade: 978-874-2043

Nurse Lisa recently stepped down from her position as the MHS school nurse. We are delighted to introduce her replacement, Sarah Donahue. Sarah brings valuable experience from Nashoba Hospital's pre-operative and acute care departments, as well as Health Alliance. A resident of Ashburnham and mother to a three-year-old son, Nurse Sarah is enthusiastic about joining our school community. Sarah's email is: sdonahue@awrsd.org

We hope you are well as you prepare for the upcoming holiday season. One way to help you and your student feel well, is to simply be grateful. Believe it or not, intentionally expressing gratitude can have benefits for both our physical and mental health. The Mayo Clinic has done studies to show it can improve sleep, mood and immunities! It can even decrease symptoms of depression, anxiety, and difficulties with chronic pain as well as reducing the risk of disease. Let’s all do our best to be intentional about practicing appreciation so we can experience the positive impact.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

1. Create Notes of Gratitude (I’m grateful for you because…) 2. Use gratitude prompts when together as a family

● What is the best thing that happened to you today?

● Who is your favorite person and why?

● What is something that makes you happy?

● Name one of your best friends and describe what makes them special to you.

● Describe a time someone was kind to you.

● What is your favorite toy?

● Who makes you feel loved and how?

● What is your favorite thing about your home?

● Describe one of your favorite memories.

● What was the last gift you received?

● What is your favorite thing to do for fun?

● What skill or strength are you most thankful for?

● What is your favorite thing about this season?

● What is something nice an adult did for you?

● Describe something that makes you laugh.

● What do you love about each of your family members?

● What body part are you most grateful for?

● What is something you use every day?

● Who or what are you most thankful for?

3. Have your student come up with someone/something they are grateful for starting with each letter of their name or the whole alphabet.

4. Play a gratitude game with pickup sticks

https://teachbesideme.com/gratitude-game-pick-sticks/

You can also check out the Massachusetts Partnership for Youth for more ideas on how to find peace this season. Access their Parenting Solutions library here.

We hope this season reveals many things to be grateful for! Liny Mil an Lim Riv

November 27: 1/2 day of school

November 28-29: No School ~ Thanksgiving break

December 9: Report Cards for Trimester 1 are available

December 23 through January 1: No School ~ December break

Get ready--the PTO’s annual Scholastic Book Fair is coming to our school December 2-6! Students will visit the Fair during school with their class, and the Fair will also be open during the PTO Holiday Workshop on the evening of Thursday, December 5th from 6 - 8 pm.

Visit our Book Fair Homepage for more info and to preview books from the Fair on the interactive Digital Flyer. While you’re there, set up a Book Fair eWallet, the digital payment account that allows your child to shop for books at the Fair without cash.

Prefer to shop online? In addition to shopping in-person at the Fair, you can also support our school by shopping online during December 2-15 and 25% of every purchase will directly benefit our school! Online purchasing can also be accessed through the Book Fair Homepage beginning on December 2nd.

Click here for the Book Fair Homepage!

Click here to set up your student’s eWallet account!

When will my student visit the Book Fair?

• Monday, 12/2: Garceau, Haynes, Romano, Sullivan, Baril, Volke, Davolio

• Tuesday, 12/3: Drake, Correa, Kilmartin, Aveni, Litalien, Sparks, Sifert, O’Brien, Quinn, Jollimore, Goodwin

• Wednesday, 12/4: Burke, Spuria, Terry, Collina, Laakso, Rebholz, Boucher, Tshudy

• Thursday, 12/5: Cook, Quist, Finnerty

• Friday, 12/6: Open from 9 am - 12 pm for students who missed their class time or for last minute purchases.

The PTO wants to thank everyone for their support of the Fun Run and helping us exceed our goal. From the volunteers who helped us decorate, the people who took time out of their day to volunteer or watch the Fun Run, our Staff, those who donated, our sponsors, and the Booster Team it made the week and day such a success and so much fun! Here's a video that shows just some of the positivity and excitement of the day.

We're still in need of some volunteers for our upcoming Book Fair & Holiday Workshop. Please go to https://westminster.ptboard.com/sgnvw to sign up for a slot. Thank you!

The MHS Nurse for grades PRE-K through 1 is looking for donations of the following items:

NEW under ware for boys or girls sizes 4,5, 6, and 7

Pants: preferably sweatpants sizes YS, YM, YL

Thank you in advance

A heartfelt thank you to the Rodgers Family for reconstructing our WES Gaga Ball pit! Their generous effort has brought back this popular activity to our playground. Our students are having a blast! We deeply appreciate their support of our school community.

Thank you to all of those parents and guardians who were able to make it to parent-teacher conferences. It is so important for us to connect home and school for these young learners. Also thank you for your part in the Boosterthon! The Fun Run was a huge success. Students had a blast participating and earning class and school rewards!

In the beginning of the year we spend a lot of time in kindergarten practicing expectations, forming positive relationships, and becoming a classroom community. As we continue to work towards those goals, we are also in full swing with our curriculum. With our ELA program, CKLA, students are really grasping the left to right progression we need for reading and writing. They are identifying and hearing sounds in words. Students are tapping sounds and blending together sounds to make words. So far we have covered /m,/,/t/,/d/,/c/,/g/,/a/,/o/,/i/,/n/,/h/, /s/ and /f/. We have 3 “tricky words”(sight words); one,two,three. In our Wit and Wisdom reading program students are noticing and wondering in our picture books, while identifying author, and illustrators roles in book making. They are looking for evidence to find the “essential” meanings of our stories. We are finishing up our unit on “Our Five Senses” and begin “ On the Farm” in December.

Part of our Bridges math curriculum is Number Corner. This daily routine includes our calendar, counting days in school, and collecting objects using a spinner. This month students are collecting popsicle sticks. Students will use one to one correspondence, practice adding, tallying, and grouping. Our November calendar markers are 2d and 3d shapes. We have used many math manipulatives and tools to keep the learning hands on and fun!

As the weather turns from cool to cold, please dress your child appropriately. We go outside for recess twice daily, as long as the temperature is above 20 degrees! Also, please send in sneakers if your child comes to school in snow boots. Dry, comfortable shoes are a much better option for the classroom.

Thanks! K Team

We have been busily working away at Wit and Wisdom and are about to reach the end of our first module. Our first module is all about answering the question:

How do books change lives around the world?

Over the upcoming vacations if you are looking for things to do consider visiting

• our town library or another library

• a museum like Fitchburg Art Museum. Look for still-lifes, portraits, and landscapes.

• other museums like the Eric Carle Museum or the Dr. Seuss Museum.

We have also been working hard on our writing. This time of year there are lots of opportunities to naturally write at home. Making lists, writing cards, and writing thank you notes are wonderful opportunities for children to practice. When having your child write, focus on spelling patterns and tricky words we have learned. Not every word will be spelled correctly because your child has not learned every spelling pattern yet. Also, look for proper letter formation, capitals at beginning of sentences and for proper nouns, and punctuation at the end of sentences. Focusing on what we have learned will allow them to enjoy writing while reinforcing their learning.

For weekly grade level updates please refer to the grade 1 newsletter your child’s teacher sends out.

Greetings Students and Families!

The music rooms have been VERY busy this fall, I’m very excited to see our students working at music at all levels. Here's what has been happening as well as future events.

Grade 4 and 5 students have been in a unit on rhythm. Each student has been working with various notes and rests including whole, half, quarter, and now sixteenth notes. They are starting eighth note triplets as well as playing rhythm pieces on both keyboards and tubano/conga drums. They will soon start two and four part rhythms as well. Recently they learned about the composer Evourd Greig, Norway’s finest Composer. They also have been learning how to play a few short melodies (Morning Mood and In the Hall of the Mountain King) from his famous orchestra works.

Grade 3 students have made great strides in their rhythm unit as they can perform quarter notes/rests and eighth notes very well as they either clap or play tubano/conga drums. They also completed a unit on a classical composer named Sergei Prokoviev who was famous for the Peter and the Wolf, where they learned about a story from me, heard the orchestra version, and then saw a cartoon that was made to go with the orchestra piece from Walt Disney. They learned about several instruments in the orchestra.

Grade 2 students have made great strides in their rhythm unit as they can perform quarter notes/rests and eighth notes very well as they either clap or play tubano/conga drums. They also completed a unit on a classical composer named Paul Dukas who was famous for the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, where they learned about a story from me, heard the orchestra version, and then saw a cartoon that was made to go with the orchestra piece from Walt Disney. They learned about several instruments in the orchestra.

Grade K and 1 have been busy singing and learning motions to many songs including the ABC’s, Twinkle Twinkle, Happy Birthday (clapping and cha cha cha versions) the Animal Fair, Five Little Pumpkins, One Little Skeleton, and Baked Potato. The 1st graders in particular also learned a song with bean bags called Ti-De-Oh. Both grades have been working on echoing rhythms at drums as well. Other songs include the Oak Tree song, and the Snow Man Song.

A Band has been practicing on Thursdays from 3-4pm. They successfully performed their Spring Concert music at the Westminster Cracker Festival along with the WES Jazz Band. The A Band recently performed at the ORHS halftime show with the Oakmont-Overlook Marching Spartans a few weeks ago, as they learned about the Marching Band program. The A Band performed at the town Veterans Day Ceremony at the monument for Veterans of Foreign Wars on November 11 at 11am, where they performed the Star Spangled Banner and Battle Hymn of the Republic. Our A Band is scheduled to play at the December 10 (for Veterans and Grandparents)and 12 Holiday Concerts (for the school in the am, and the parents in the pm). Students should be using their Google Classroom to learn and play along with the music at home. A paper will come home soon with concert details.

B Band has had quite the sign up! There are over 40 brand new students in our Beginning Concert Band. Students have had lessons since the end of October. Rehearsals have been on on Fridays from 3-4pm in the cafeteria. Our goal is to learn numbers 1-53 for the Holiday Concerts on December 10 and 12. A paper will come home soon with concert details. Please make sure your child has a consistent experience by coming to lessons each week and B band each week. Also, they should be using their B Band Google Classroom to play along with all of the videos at home, so they can both practice songs they know and learn ones that they don’t know yet.

Chorus is up and running as they prepare for the Town Tree Lighting Ceremony on December 8 on Academy Hill, which starts at 5:30pm. All are invited to come and watch as a special guest will come and light the tree! :) Also, our chorus is gearing up for the Holiday Concerts on December 10 and 12. A paper will come home soon with concert details. Students should be bringing in folders/pencils each week to rehearsals. Also, sign ups for the spring chorus will be at the start of January, with rehearsals on Fridays 3-4pm starting January 10.

Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser - On November 17th, our music department had a fundraiser led by the Westminster Lion’s Club to help raise funds. The A Band and Chorus members performed and many people came to help out, listen to music, and eat incredible pancakes! Thanks everyone for coming!

Cool Yule Kids - Advanced members of the A Band, have the opportunity to do several extra performances by learning 11 songs from Christmas Favorites music packet. There are recordings in the A Band Google Classroom that they must play along with during the performances. A paper is going home at the 11/21 rehearsal with details. All songs must be ready for the 7am rehearsal on Thursday December 5 if they are to participate.Students must show Mr. Lucander that they can play along with the recordings.

Jazz Band - Jazz Band auditions will be Wednesday January 8. Students should be recommended by their lesson teacher if they are capable of participating. Rehearsals will begin on Wednesday January 22 from 3-4pm.

If your child is missing clothing or a water bottle, please have them check the Lost and Found. Any unclaimed items will be donated after Thanksgiving.

If your child forgets to bring their water bottle or Chromebook, you DO NOT have to bring it to the school. They can use the bubbler and borrow a Chromebook. This helps not to interrupt the classroom teaching that is taking place. Thank you for your time.

Did you know that MHS/WES is on Instagram? Check it out!! principalkt24

All students have a bus number assigned to them as well as stops. Please click on the button at the end of this newsletter to see your child's bus number and stop. HOWEVER, if your child is going to be a parent pick up, walker, walker to MHS, or going to extended day, it is VERY IMPORTANT to send in a note with your child's first and last name to the school. One note is sufficient for the year with their schedule, but if it changes at all, we need to know. The safety of your child is our priority. Thank you

Emergency Early Dismissal Policy

In the event of an unforeseen emergency that necessitates the dismissal of students prior to the end of the school day, parent notification will be provided through the automated phone and email system. Typical emergency situations that may precipitate an early dismissal include, but are not necessarily limited to, severe weather conditions, fire and absence of heat or water.

Since it is impractical for school officials to personally contact every parent in the event of an early dismissal, parents and particularly the parents of elementary age children, are encouraged to develop a clear and well-defined plan with their children in case of an early dismissal. Since children will be dismissed to their home, it is imperative that children know how to gain entry into their home and how and whom to call once they are there.

ABSENCES: Please call WES (978-874-2043) or MHS (978-874-0163) when your child will be absent or late for school. Please state your name, your child’s name, teacher, and the reason for absence. If you must speak to someone, please call after 7:45 AM. This system is to ensure the safety of your child. If we do not hear from you, we will contact you at home or work, and if we can’t reach someone we may send a school resource officer to the house to do a well child check. Absent notes are required when children return to school.

AM Arrivals: Bus drivers do not let children off the bus until 8:20 a.m. There is NO Supervision before 8:20 a.m. Walkers/students being dropped off should not arrive before 8:20 a.m. School starts at 8:30 a.m.

PM Dismissals: The school day ends at 2:55 p.m. The office needs to know your dismissal plan. If your child is a car-rider, you will be given a sign to display on your car dashboard to be used each day. Car riders will be dismissed to the cafeteria and called outside in the order cars line up. Please remain in your car. Signs will be posted. If you would like your older sibling to walk from WES to MHS pick-ups for dismissal in the afternoon, please send a note to the office and your child’s teacher.

If your child needs to be dismissed early, please send a note to his/her teacher stating the time and reason for dismissal. Early dismissals will be handled through the main office.

NOTES: Please use student’s (and parent’s) last names in all notes to the teacher/office. Please also date all notes so that we can be sure we are dealing with current messages. Notes are required for any change in dismissal. You may also email a note to mhsoffice@awrsd.org (MHS) or wesoffice@awrsd.org(WES).

MEDICATIONS: ALL Medications must be brought to the nurse by an adult at the beginning of the day. Medication is NOT TO BE TAKEN by any child on his/her own. The school nurse under the following circumstances will administer medication:

• A signed and dated note from a doctor and a parent is sent with the child’s name, dosage, reason for medication and time to be given.

• The prescription bottle is sent with only the amount which will be needed for the administration at school. (Pharmacies will dispense in two bottles if you ask.)

School Announcements:

Please make sure all phone numbers and email addresses are updated throughout the school year to ensure you receive all messages sent from the school or district.

RESTRICTIONS: Please provide the office with any LEGAL DOCUMENT which indicates any legal restrictions on the release of your child as per district policy. These restrictions CANNOT be honored unless we have a copy of the legal documents in your child’s file. Please remember that it is MOST IMPORTANT that your child knows who he/she is allowed to leave school with and restrictions of the same.

TARDINESS: It is important that your child be at school on time. Tardy students need to stop at the office for a tardy slip when they arrive later than 8:30 a.m. If excessive tardiness continues, it will be necessary for the parent and child to meet with the Principal so that we may remedy the situation.

ARRIVAL

8:20 - 8:30 AM

DISMISSAL

2:55 PM

HALF DAYS - DISMISSAL

12:00 PM

AM Session 8:45-11:10 AM

PM Session 12:00-2:30 PM

Full Day Session 8:45-2:30 PM (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday Friday)

Please reach out with any questions you may have. We are happy to help!

• MHS - Kathi McCarthy 978-874-0163 ext. 0
• WES - Liz Maillet 978-874-2043 ext 0

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.

Bus passes will be issued for students riding their ASSIGNED bus but getting off at a different stop. A note or phone call from the parent/guardian is required to your child’s school office. The office will then issue the bus pass. Bus passes to ride a DIFFERENT bus will ONLY be issued in the event of an emergency. The school office must be notified by a parent/guardian that there is a circumstance beyond their control/emergency causing a student to ride a different bus. Bus passes are not issued for going to a friend’s house, dances, etc.

If you have specific questions or concerns regarding your child’s bussing, please reach out to bussing@awrsd.org.