Weekly Newsletter
May 9, 2024
News from Principal Emma Liebowitz
Save the Date! Friday May 31st at 6pm will be the 2nd annual Sanderson Academy Arts Extravaganza - music, art, live demonstrations and a bake sale! All families are invited to participate and celebrate the creativity of our students. Each grade level will be performing songs with our music teacher Ms. Cherry. Instrumental music students will perform with Ms. Julie. The halls will be filled with students’ visual art from their work this year with Ms. Carolyn. Students will be demonstrating and teaching make-and-take art projects to all ages. Come support our students and have some creative family fun!
Emergency Response Training
On Saturday and Sunday, May 18 and 19, the Sanderson Academy building will be used for a live training. There will be several emergency personnel in the building and on school grounds. There will be some loud noises as the drills are being performed. Please call the school office if you have any questions.
Upcoming Events
Wednesday, May 15 - First Grade Fish Ladder Field Trip
Wednesday, May 15 - 1:50 Release
Thursday, May 16 - Fifth Grade Field Trip to Hitchcock Center
Friday, May 17 - Senior Luncheon
Monday, May 20 - Ohketeau Presentation in afternoon
Wednesday, May 22 - All School Meeting at 2:15
Thursday, May 23 - Third Grade to Wilder Homestead
Friday, May 24 - First Grade Trout Release
Friday, May 24 - Fourth Grade Book Launch at 10:00
Monday, May 27 - No School
Wednesday, May 29 - All School Meeting/Share the Music
Thursday, May 30 - Field Day (Rain Date 6/4)
Friday, May 31 - Art Showcase
Link to Sanderson Academy calendar.
MCAS Dates
May 14 - Third Grade Math
May 16 - Third Grade Math
May 21 - Sixth Grade Math
May 23 - Sixth Grade Math
Sanderson Apparel
Would you like Sanderson apparel? Click on the link below to order Sanderson apparel. The store will be open until Friday May, 17th. Items can be shipped to your home for a fee or sent home from school with your child. Once the store closes, it will take 2-3 weeks to get the items to you. https://cart.silverscreendesign.com/sanderson_academy/shop/home. Please email lindi.russell@gmail.com with any questions.
Library News from Robin Wilson
April was full of poetry! All month Sanderson students read and wrote many forms of poetry in recognition of National Poetry Month, including 5 senses poetry, haiku, acrostic, and found poetry. Sixth graders are in the midst of creating a whole-class “Where We’re From” poem, based on George Ella Lyon’s famous poem, “Where I’m From,” where childhood memories are brought to life with specific moments and sensory details. In their poem, sixth graders are writing about their time at Sanderson. They will recite their poem at our whole-school meeting on May 29th. Sixth graders also did a great job hosting Sanderson’s annual recognition of “Poem in Your Pocket” day by passing out poems to students of all ages during each lunch.
In other news, the 4th - 6th grade book club has finished their last book of the year: A Kind of Spark, by Elle McNicoll. The story is about a neurodivergent girl named Addie. When she discovers her Scottish town’s dark past of accusing women of witchcraft, she takes public action to pay tribute to these women who were executed just for being different. This MCBA book was engaging, conversation-sparking, and a total hit over all.
Finally, I’m excited to announce that grades 1 - 6 will be dabbling in robotics this May. Using Sphero Bolts borrowed from Mohawk High School and Bee Bots borrowed from BSE, students will work collaboratively to explore, operate and program these exciting learning tools.
Stay tuned!
News from the Health Office from Nurse Loranna
May is mental health awareness month. Mental health matters, it’s time we smash the stigma and work towards acceptance and education to lead the way. The more we know, the better we can support each other and understand what others may be going through. “There’s a growing recognition that mental health is just as important as physical health in young people’s development, but that’s happening just as mental health services are under extreme strain,” said clinical psychologist Robin Gurwitch, PhD”(https://www.apa.org/monitor/2023/01/trends-improving-youth-mental-health)
While it can feel discouraging to hear of the mental health crisis that is affecting our children, our knowledge and understanding of how our brains work, the increased knowledge in the ways we can support our children and the complexities of the human condition continues to grow. While we are in a shortage of mental health providers- the youth of today are more accepting and can inspire us all to continue to learn more and do better for our communities.
Preschool news from Ms. Freeman and Ms. Becky
This week we practiced our scissor skills and finished our classroom bird display. We have birds, bird houses, nests, and a beautiful tree. It looks amazing! Many of us have been admiring it throughout the day. We also enjoyed time by the vernal pool, using nets and containers to aid our exploration. We caught tadpoles and a salamander, but the frogs have been too quick for capture. We’ll keep trying.
We were also busy making cards and gifts for our mothers. Preschoolers can’t wait to share them with their moms. Happy Mother’s Day and enjoy the special weekend!
Preschool News from Ms. Melanie and Ms. Kylee
Preschoolers continue to learn about caring for our baby chicks. They have noticed that the chicks are getting bigger and braver each day. In the beginning they spent most of their time under the heating plate, huddling together and sleeping. Now, they are peeping louder and coming out from under the heating plate when they hear children close by. The children enjoy putting a finger on the side of the brooder and waiting to see which chick will venture over and gently peck at it. Preschoolers have noticed that Kylee, the chick that hatched first, is the biggest of all four chicks. They have also noticed that the chicks are getting some “real” feathers in place of the downy fluff they once had. With new feathers comes flapping and testing those tiny wings. It is an adorable sight. The most exciting part about raising baby chicks is holding and loving them. We have had so much fun cuddling the chicks and talking to them!
Kindergarten News from Ms. Sarah, Ms. Veronica and Ms. Beckwith
In science, we introduced the plant journals that we will use to track measurements of our grass plants. We are checking on our pea seedling experiment of no sun, no water, and no soil and it appears that water is the most important thing, because those seeds have not grown at all, while all the other seeds are at least doing something, even if they are not totally healthy. We are also keeping a close eye on our tadpoles—still no legs!
Second Grade News from Ms. Lilly, Ms. Laura and Ms. Taylor
Second grade had an amazing field trip last Friday to The Rock, Fossil, and Dinosaur Shop in Deerfield. We got to pan and dig for rocks, gems, and fossils. We learned about the dinosaurs that are native to our area and saw imprints of their footprints. We even got to erupt a volcano! We had so much fun! This week we started our unit on pollinators and have been learning about the life cycle of a plant and checking out different seeds, reading books about seeds and plants, and writing about them too. We have also started a science unit about erosion and yesterday we made mountains, sprayed them, and watched the water run off into valleys and plains, which helped us learn about where rivers start.
Third Grade News from Ms. Carole and Mr. Luke
The third graders have been actively engaged in our Life Cycles unit in science lately. We started many seeds inside a few weeks ago, and now they are flourishing under our grow lights in the classroom. In our gardens we have planted peas, carrots, beans, and onions so far. We also transplanted our arugula starts into the garden. For animal life cycles, we have been exploring one of the vernal pools on the school property. By carefully extracting various creatures in their larval stages and bringing them back to the classroom, we can witness their transformation into adulthood. Last week we had many caddisfly larvae swimming around the tank. This week we are enjoying mayfly larva and tadpoles.
Next week we will be taking the Math MCAS on Tuesday and Thursday. Please make sure your child arrives at school on time on those days and plans to spend the entire day at school.
Fourth Grade News from Ms. Lagoy and Ms. Upright
The fourth graders at Sanderson Academy have spent the last few months reading The Hope Chest, by Karen Schwabach, and having meaningful conversations about the themes that emerge in the story: inequality is injustice and it is right to take action against injustice. After reading the story, students spent time researching various young people around the world who have taken action to improve a need they identified in their communities. Students categorized the service they saw into three categories: humanitarian, environmental, and animal welfare. Students then organized themselves into three groups, one representing each category, decided on a specific issue, and conducted research to write a public service announcement. These public service announcements have been posted on Sanderson Academy's Facebook page. You can click the titles below, and they will take you to the Facebook page to donate, or share the post on your own page. As a way to get other Sanderson students involved, the fourth graders will be organizing a penny war fundraiser. A representative from each group will go to classrooms and present a brief overview of their cause. All donated monies will be given to the cause that received the most positive points.
Animal Welfare Public Service Announcement, presented by Harvey, Liam, Ariana, and Carolione:
Did you know, 10 million animals die from abuse every year? In fact, at least one animal is abused every 60 seconds. Most abusers do not go to court. Of 80,000 complaints in Massachusetts, only 268 went to court and they usually only faced a fine of approximately $130. This is because animal abuse is seen as less important or isolated incidents. However, 85% of the people arrested for animal abuse were found to have past or prior offenses. Also upsetting is the fact that 6.3 million companion animals are seized and put in shelters every year because of abuse. Approximately one sixth end up being euthanized every year!
So, even though ending animal abuse seems like an overwhelming job, one way that we can help is by donating money to a local humane society like the MSPCA-Angell. Their mission is to protect animals, relieve their suffering, advance their health and welfare, prevent cruelty, and work for a just and compassionate society. Founded in 1868, they are the second oldest humane society in the United States. They rely on donations from people like you to help provide services for animals in their care.
Humanitarian Public Service Announcement presented by Hawthorne, Sawyer, Serai, Payton, and Hallie:
We would like to talk about the homeless epidemic in the United States.
There are about 653,000 homeless people in our country, which is 12% more than there were in 2023 and 48% percent more than in 2015. From 2023 to 2024 it was the largest single-year increase. Lots of people became homeless because of the pandemic. Throughout the pandemic, the government helped people stay in their homes. That all ended in 2022, and 71,000 people lost their homes. Also, rent has been climbing since 2001. Now the average monthly rent is almost $2,000. 12 million tenants were spending more than half of their income on rent.
Homelessness is not an easy problem to fix because there has been a giant increase in poverty and a decrease in affordable housing. However, Servicenet, in Northampton, is one organization that provides a progressive pathway out of homelessness through their Shelter and Housing Program in Greenfield and Pittsfield. They have more than 20 apartments in Pittsburg and Greenfield that are temporary for families. They provide housing, meals, showers, toiletries, rooms, and clothing for parents and children for up to 6 months. Of the people who use their shelter and housing services, approximately 25% are young adults, others have long-term disabilities, and 30-40% work full or part-time jobs, but have difficulty maintaining housing on incomes that are below the poverty level. Shelter staff work with guests to help them find and sustain more permanent housing in the community. Their housing programs give individuals and families a place to live while they regain their economic and housing stability. Leasing or rental assistance and ongoing support services allow people who have been chronically homeless to live in a more stable environment. Funding for their programs comes from local, state, and federal contracts and private donations and grants. You can help end homelessness by donating to Servicenet.
Environmental Public Service Announcement, presented by Colby, Brolen, Kyler, Milo, and River:
Litter and trash have many negative impacts on our Earth. We would like to focus our announcement on how it pollutes our oceans. Litter blows and gets washed away by rainwater and eventually ends up in oceans. Did you know, twenty-five million elephants' worth of plastics end up in the ocean every year? The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the name for a collection of marine debris in the North Pacific. marine debris is litter that ends up in the ocean, seas, and other large bodies of water. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is 1,600,000 square kilometers, which is twice the size of Texas. Over 100,00 marine animals and fish drown each year from being entangled in plastic or digesting plastic. It was shocking to learn that sixty percent of water pollution is due to litter.
Helping to end water pollution is simple. Don't throw trash out your window when you are in the car. Cigarette butts are the number one litter, about 4.5 trillion get tossed each year. Pick up your trash when you are at a park or playground. Plan a beautification day with your family and go pick up trash in a public area, like Ashfield Lake or Plainfield Pond. Right now, we are asking you to donate to the Ocean Conservancy. They have already helped remove over 348 million pounds of trash from our oceans. To quote their website, "Because the ocean impacts each one of us—the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat—the ocean is the responsibility of us all."
This was an engaging unit of study that gave students the tools to discuss some of the inequalities and injustices that have been experienced throughout our history and empowered them to take action!
News from Ms. Prew
Next week I will begin the end of year math assessment with all of our amazing students! We use an interview-style assessment called The Universal Screener of Number Sense. It is always so exciting to hear from the kiddos and see just how much they have learned since the Fall. The results of the screeners will be shared with classroom teachers and will help us design groupings for the remainder of the year. We will also use the data from the end of year assessments to plan for support and groupings needed at the beginning of next year. Please email me with any questions! :) aprew@mtrsd.org
Reading News from Mrs. Morey
Fluency is reading with good expression, pace, phrasing and accuracy. The more fluent a reader is, the more they understand what they are reading. You can help your student be a more fluent reader by modeling how a character would say something, how your voice would sound with certain punctuation or a sentence that may be complex. I have found that commas can be tricky in sentences and students may have trouble reading sentences with multiple commas. Once you have modeled how it should sound, have them retry. Multiple reads and hearing fluent reading are the best way to improve!
Instrumental News from Ms. Julie
Our band and orchestra students have been busy preparing for a very full concert season! Our first adventure will be the Band Together concert at Mohawk next week. The annual Band Together concert brings together instrumental music students from across our school district to play alongside seasoned musicians from the Shelburne Falls Military Band. This year, our new orchestra students will also have an opportunity to perform a piece of our choosing and be part of this exciting evening. The concert will be held in the Mohawk gym on Thursday May 16th at 7PM. We hope to see you there!
District Library News
Newsletter at this LINK.
SEPAC News
IEP Workshop
Join us for the Caregiver Workshop to:
* understand DESE's new IEP Process
* become familiar with the new forms
* learn to navigate the new processes
Follow the link to the virtual session on May 20 here:
Community News, Events and Job Postings
Check out what is happening in our area!
About Us
Email: eliebowitz@mtrsd.org
Website: https://sanderson.mohawktrailschools.org/
Location: 808 Cape Street, Ashfield, MA, USA
Phone: (413) 628-4404
Facebook: facebook.com/SandersonAcademy