MHS/WES Newsletter

• May 19: Friday ~ 3rd Grade Colonial Day
• May 22-26: 5th Grade Nature's Classroom
• May 29: Monday ~ No School, Memorial Day
• May 30: Creation Celebration 6:30PM-8:00PM
• June 2: 1/2 day of school; dismissal starts at Noon
• June 12: Spring Concert at WES for Students and Staff ONLY
• June 12: Spring Concert at Oakmont; 6:30PM
• June 15: 5th Grade Promotion Night; 6:30PM
• June 19: No School; Juneteenth
• June 23: Last Day of School; Noon time dismissal

It's that time of year where we we start to think about class lists for next fall. If you have any concerns for placement next year, please send an email to Mrs. Taylor by June 2nd. Specific teacher requests will not be granted, however, please feel free to share your child's learning style.

We continue to see an increase of student move-ins/outs over the summer months. As a result, teacher assignments will be emailed to families in August. Thank you for your patience and understanding. We will have a grade level step-up day for all grades the last week of school where students will be able to walk through classrooms. We will also host a sneak peek in August before school begins.

Parents/Guardians: Please remember to send a note into school with your child for end of day changes and or dismissals and do not call in to make those changes. When phones calls are made, we have to disrupt the classroom to tell them the changes and that causes chaos. We would appreciate your child's first and last name as well.

LOST and FOUND at both MHS and WES: Please have your child check lost and found. We have numerous items from jackets, gloves, lunch boxes and water bottles. All items will be recycled on June 1 if not claimed.

This year has gone by so quickly! It feels like just yesterday we were greeting our new students and getting to know each other; now they are moving onto 5th grade. They've come a long way this year, and we are so proud to watch them become more independent and responsible as the year progresses.

We were also so proud to see how hard students worked during the MCAS testing. It was a long 4 days, but students had the stamina and focus necessary to complete it to the best of their ability!

In ELA, we are continuing to read Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, and students are writing their own "survival story". It's a wonderful way to end our year!

We are finishing up our plant study unit with Ms. Davis. Students are going to complete a final plant project in school to share their data with fellow students. There are a variety of projects for students to choose from. We are so grateful that Ms. Davis works with us on this project, and we appreciate all of her hard work this year!

Have a wonderful summer break.

We have had a great year in the Meetinghouse and Westminster Elementary libraries! THANK YOU to all of our amazing volunteers! We have had a great time meeting the students and watching their love for books and reading grow.

The last day for students to check out books will be Friday, June 2nd, and all books will be due back Friday, June 9th. To incentivize students to return their library books, the first class in each grade level to return ALL library books after June 9th will win an extra recess with Mrs. Taylor and Mrs. O’Brien. So, start checking those desks, backpacks and bedrooms for Westminster Elementary and Meetinghouse library books! Finally, any books not returned by Monday, June 19th will be marked lost and fines will be assessed. These fines will be paid to the main office.

For the month of May we will be learning Wiffle Ball in PE class. Wiffle Ball is the same thing as baseball and softball, but plastic equipment is used for safety reasons. This is a great unit to learn near the end of the year as Wiffle Ball is a popular summer game that can be played in your backyard, at the beach, at a park or anywhere really!

Students will work on throwing and catching, running the bases, batting, and fielding skills all of which provide strength and cardiovascular benefits. In addition, wiffle ball also develops hand-eye coordination, quick thinking and reaction skills, as well as communication and social skills. The younger grades will mostly work on skills and batting from a tee, while the older grades will get into gameplay with pitching as well.

After Wiffle Ball, we will do a week of Kickball which the students are very excited about!

To finish out the rest of the year we will do mini-golf, team building activities, and practice for Field Day! Information about Field Day and a volunteer sign up sheet will be sent out to you sometime in the near future, so please look for it! It’s sure to be a fun filled day of physical activity!

Save the date: Tuesday May 30 is the “Creation Celebration”, our annual Art Show. 6:30-8:00 pm.

I am looking for volunteers for that night to help with crowd control, activity stations, photo opportunities. Please let me know if you are able to support in this way! abanning@awrsd.org

Also looking for sports magazine donations!

Thanks!

Ms. Banning

Kindergarten registration for all Westminster students who will be 5 years old by August 31, 2023 has begun. Registration is now done via our online portal!

• Please be sure to select the 23-24 school year and KF as your student's grade.

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.