News From The Nest: Issue #8

Friday, October 18th, 2024

Hello Elm Street School Families and Friends!

We packed in all the fun and engagement into our short week this past week!

Kindergarteners started a new unit in math and are working on exploring the 10 frame while students in grade 2 were measuring and practicing efficient counting strategies such as skip counting. In Grade 5 at the end of the week each class held their Student Council elections for 3 representatives from each class. On Monday there will be a run off vote in two of the classes with announcements of who the elected representatives are on Tuesday morning during our morning announcements. Third graders wrapped up their second reading module, which focused on understanding how people use words to express themselves while our first graders continue to work on building their decoding and fluency strategies. Lastly, our fourth graders did a PHENOMENAL job showing bravery by being the first class to host our assemblies in their new format. They shared all about the incredible work they have been doing across the curriculum and presented in front of the whole school with confidence and poise!

In this edition of our weekly newsletter you will find information about:

upcoming dates and celebrations for October
September/October Counseling Newsletter
Essentialists' Update: Music
K-5 Assembly Review
November Coffee and Conversation SAVE THE DATE
Absence and Attendance Reminders
Elm Street School Book Fair Reminder
Literacy Screener for K-3
Multilingual Learner Family Meet and Greet Dinner
Multicultural Potluck

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and gets out to enjoy the gorgeous weather. We will see all our Eagles back at the Nest on Monday and hope to see all our families at the Book Fair this week.

Jen

Upcoming Dates and Celebrations: October

At the beginning of each month I will share a calendar of some upcoming Elm events as well as upcoming cultural celebrations and heritage months with hyperlinks to more information if you are interested in learning more. Below is information for the month of October.

If there are cultural celebrations that are important to you and your family that you would like to share with the adult Elm community, please email me so I can be sure to include them in upcoming newsletters. If you have any questions about anything you see on our calendar, please don't hesitate to reach out to me directly.

10/1 Learning Disabilities Awareness Month begins
10/2 National Custodian Day
10/2-4 Rosh Hashanah
10/3-12 Navaratri
10/4 Coffee and Conversation: K-5 Math Learning at Elm
10/10 6:45p School Committee Meeting
10/11 Early Release Day, National Coming Out Day
10/11-12 Yom Kippur
10/14 No School: Indigenous People’s Day, Columbus Day
10/16-23 Sukkot
10/17 6:30p Elm PAC Meeting
10/21-27 Scholastic Book Fair
10/22 3:15p Elm School Council Meeting
10/23 6:00p Multilingual Learner Family Meeting and Greet Dinner
10/24 6:00 - 8:00p Elm Book Fair Night, 6:45p School Committee Meeting
10/27 12:00 - 3:00p Elm Fall Festival
10/31 Halloween

September/October Counseling Newsletter

Essentialist Newsletter: MUSIC

K-5 Assembly Review

For the month of October our Grade 4 students hosted the Share part of our monthly assembly. They highlighted all the amazing work they have been engaged in across the curriculum in Math, Literacy, Social Studies, and Science. We wrapped up the assembly with our first High Five celebration of the school year recognizing students in K-5 who have been consistently following our SOARing expectations and going above and beyond by contributing positively to the Elm Street School community. Students who received high fives this month were called onto the stage, went through a tunnel of grade five "high fivers" and received their handwritten note recognizing their accomplishments from me to take home.

We are looking forward to our next assembly in November where we will hear from our Grade 2 students and Art in the share portion and recognize even more Elm Eagles for all their hard work!

November Coffee and Conversation SAVE THE DATE

Our next Coffee and Conversation will take place on November 8th where our topic of conversation will be executive functioning and homework at Elm. Be sure to stop by to hear more about our work this year on aligning grade level homework and how we will be gathering data and feedback to create an informed and developmentally supportive approach to homework Kindergarten - Grade 5. We also spend some time talking about executive functioning skills and highlight work being done at Elm to teach and practice these skills as well as ways you can strengthen them at home.

Attendance and Absence Reminders

Every day counts! As a reminder regular school attendance is a key to long term student growth and success. Please make your best efforts to minimize the amount of time your child(ren) are missing school for vacations and appointments (when possible).

If your child(ren) will be absent, tardy, or dismissed early for any reason please notify their classroom teacher AND the main office by emailing Amanda Torigian at atorigian@walpole.k12.ma.us

Thank you!

Elm Street School Book Fair Reminder

This coming week is our AMAZING Elm Street School Book Fair. A HUGE SHOUT OUT to Becca Costello and her team of volunteers who have been working so hard setting up and ensuring this year will be a success!

All students will attend a preview with their classes during the week. Families are welcome to purchase books through the online store or in person at our Book Fair Night (Thursday October 24th 6:00 - 8:00p) and/or at the Fall Festival (Sunday October 27th 12:00 - 3:00p).

Literacy Screener for K-3

Our educators at Elm 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, 2, 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 Elm families. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Multilingual Learner Family Meet and Greet Dinner

Walpole Public Schools MLPAC invites families of multilingual learners who are currently or were formerly in an English Language Education (ELE) program to attend the Multilingual Learner Family Meet & Greet Dinner. Come for dinner at the new Walpole Middle School and stay to meet faculty, staff, and other multilingual learner families in our Walpole school community.

ML FAMILY MEET & GREET DINNER INFORMATION

DATE: Wednesday, October 23, 2024

PLACE: Walpole Middle School Cafeteria (625 Washington Street, Door #1)

TIME: 6:00 - 7:00 P.M.

Bring your whole family!
Cheese pizza, salad, and water will be provided!
You are welcome to bring a favorite food item (appetizer, main/side dish, dessert) to share!