Colonial Park Weekly News

Dear Colonial Park Families -

I hope everyone is having a relaxing long weekend! The upcoming week looks cold, so we will likely be inside for much of the week for arrival and recess. Just a reminder, we do have outside arrival and recess if the temperature/windchill is 20 or above. Please send your child with a warm coat, hat and mittens or gloves...the accessories can always stay inside if they aren't needed!

Thank you so much to everyone who donated snacks to Mrs. Lapery and cups for our Hydration Station. We are now very well stocked!

Now that the new year has started, I wanted to take a moment to remind families of the important work our staff is doing with students surrounding literacy. Our teachers use a structured literacy approach, which emphasizes highly explicit and systematic teaching of all important components of literacy (phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension).

1. Word Study - Word study is an important component of structured literacy. In preschool and kindergarten, students participate in Heggerty, which provides instruction and practice in phonemic, or oral, language. Students in preschool through Grade 2 are provided with daily phonics instruction using Fundations, and our third grade teachers use a program published by the University of Florida Literacy Unit (UFLI). In fourth grade, students receive instruction in morphemes, prefixes and suffixes from the interactive, research-based program Morpheme Magic.
2. Fishtank English Language Arts - Teachers in Grades K-4 have adopted Fish Tank Plus, a knowledge based ELA program centered on diverse, complex, relevant texts, built around rigorous objectives, and highly rated by EdReports for alignment to standards. Our teachers are also continuing their implementation of SRSD (Self-Regulated Strategy Development), a deeply evidenced based framework for teaching writing.
3. WINN ("What I Need Now") Blocks - Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, students in grades K-4 work in small groups with a teacher or interventionist. Student instruction is based on data collected and analyzed every six weeks, and instruction is driven by this data. Our Middle of the Year data collection window begins February 3.

As a reminder, Friday, January 24 is an early release day for all SPS students. Our preschool students will be dismissed at 11:40, and grades K-4 will be dismissed at 12:00.

Finally, today there is no school in recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

“Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education.”
― Martin Luther King Jr

Best,

Rosa Flynn

facebook.com/CPStoneham

Pasta Dinner Planning - POSTPONED! Due to capacity issues at the highschool this event is postponed. We are working to have another family event on 2/6 and will be in touch shortly. We will be issuing refunds and will share new details asap.

*Used Book Sale - Coming up on Friday, February 7th. We will be having a Used Book Sale in the library. This will take place during school hours, and books will be $1. Proceeds will go back to the library. We will be looking for volunteers to assist with set up on Thursday, February 6th, and for volunteers to come in on the day of, please email colonialparkpto@gmail.com if you are able to help.

*Burgers For Benefits - On Thursday, January 30th, Fuddruckers will be hosting our next dining fundraiser. Come to Fuddruckers in Reading between 4-7pm and our PTO will receive 20% back for every order. Flyers will go home next week!

Dear Parents and Guardians,

With the start of 2025, we are sending some reminders to you regarding health and wellness prevention for the students. Currently, we are seeing the following but not limited to cold, flu, strep, and stomach viruses. We are also seeing an uptick in the number of cases of lice. Please see some tips below to help you with the prevention and management of some of these.

Lice: Keep an eye out to see if your child is scratching their scalp. Check their heads regularly for signs of nits or live lice. If you do find your child has lice please contact your nurse for instructions on how to best treat and manage this. You can also check with your pediatrician. There are over-the-counter and prescription products that can be purchased as well as businesses that specialize in the treatment of lice. The Stoneham policy about lice can be found on the Stoneham Public Schools website.

Hand washing: Hand washing is important in controlling the spread of germs. Please review proper hand-washing techniques with your child. Please encourage your child to practice hand hygiene throughout the day and to use their elbows to cover their sneezes. These measures will help to decrease the spread of illness.

Notification of trends of illness in the classrooms: Notices are sent home to parents after 3 or more cases of conditions such as lice, conjunctivitis, strep, etc… occur in the classroom.

When to call your child in sick:

• A child with a temperature of 100 degrees or greater needs to stay home from school until they are fever-free without medication for 24 hours.

• A child with vomiting or diarrhea needs to stay home from school until they are symptom-free and able to keep down food and fluids for at least 24 hours.

• If your child develops a rash, please have your child seen by a pediatrician before sending them to school. Your child may return to school with a note stating that the rash is not contagious.

• If your child is diagnosed with a communicable disease, such as COVID-19, flu, strep throat, impetigo, chicken pox, or pertussis, please notify the school nurse.

• If your child is seen in the ER, is diagnosed with a concussion, or has a hospital admission, please get a note from the doctor and let the school nurse know of any activity limitations or restrictions.

• If your child will be absent from school, please call the absentee line for your child’s specific school building.

It is our privilege to take care of the students at Stoneham Public Schools. Please do not hesitate to contact the nurse at your school with any questions or concerns.

Your Stoneham Public School Nurses