News From The Nest: Issue #15

Hello Elm Street School Families and Friends!

It's hard to believe we are heading into our final week before the long Winter Break! Next week will certainly be busy at the Nest with special craft days and events and all the excitement leading up to time away from school. In the coming week we anticipate families needing to adjust dismissal plans. As a reminder, please email your child(ren)'s classroom teacher(s) AND Amanda Torigian (atorigian@walpole.k12.ma.us) with any absences and/or adjustments to dismissal plans. We also know that the week leading up to a long break from school can be tricky to navigate for our students for a myriad of reasons. Social conflict and low frustration tolerance tend to be at their peaks in the weeks before school vacations. We will do our best to keep things consistent, preview changes to routines and plans, and support students in navigating big feelings. We would appreciate your partnership in also reminding and reviewing expectations with your child(ren) before heading off to school each morning.

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

• upcoming dates and celebrations for December
• December Counseling Newsletter
• Essentialist Newsletter: Physical Education
• Cold Weather Gear Reminder
• Elm Street School Spirit Days
• Soaring Speakers Podcast: We Love Walpole
• December Coffee and Conversation Follow Up
• Elm Eagles Read!
• MCAS Dates
• Student Support and Attendance Newsletter

I hope to see everyone at our second annual Winter Maker's Market this coming Wednesday, December 18th! There are a lot of great student made crafts to purchase and a chance to get some last minute gifts for whatever holiday or celebration you might be shopping for this time of year!

Jen

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 December.

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.

12/4 3:15p: Elm Street School Council Meeting

12/13: Early Release Day

12/16 - 24: Las Posadas

12/18 6:30 - 8:00p Elm Winter Maker's Market

12/21: Winter Solstice

12/23 - 1/1 Winter Break: School Closed (School Resumes on 1/2)

12/25: Christmas Day

12/25 -1/2: Hanukkah

12/26 - 1/1 Kwanzaa

As the weather finally makes a turn please help your children remember to bring cold weather gear to school. Boots, snow pants, a hat, and gloves/mittens are needed if children want to play in the snow. If they do not bring this gear they will be able to enjoy recess outdoors on the blacktop. Since we go out in the colder temperatures (unless the weather is extreme) it is important that all students have at least a warm coat, hat, and gloves/mittens.

Our Grade 5 Student Council has been hard at work planning and organizing special things to help continue to make our Nest a joyful place for all students including our Elm Street School Spirit Days. You can find our full spirit day schedule for the rest of the school year below:

• Every Wednesday- Walpole Wednesdays: we invite all students every Wednesday to show off their Walpole pride by wearing blue and orange, Walpole gear, Elm gear, Walpole sports jerseys, or other clothing that represents Walpole.
• Assembly Days- Theme Days: on Elm Street School student and staff assembly days (1x/month) we invite all students to take part in that month's theme day. (All dates are Fridays)
• January 31st: Favorite Sports and Hobbies Day
• February 28th: Color Competition Day
• March 21st: Decades Day
• April: No Assembly this month
• May 23rd: Mismatch Day
• June (exact date TBD): Teacher/Student Switch Day

More information about each spirit day and suggestions on what to wear to participate will be shared in upcoming Elm Street School family newsletters.

All Elm Street School Spirit Days are optional in terms of participation.

Did you know that Elm Street School hosts it's very own podcast that features student voices and experiences?

Our latest episode of Soaring Speakers features Kindergarten and Grade 3 learning buddies in a special collaboration sharing all about their love for their town in celebration of Walpole's 300th year! You can find the Soaring Speakers podcast on Spotify and by clicking this link.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by this morning to chat about navigating social conflict with students, bullying, and discipline at Elm. You can find more information about our discussion and resources in our shared slide deck.

Starting with the upcoming Winter Break we are challenging all of our Elm Street School Eagles to "get caught reading" over the breaks. Whether your child is snuggled up on the couch at home, reading on the slopes, deep into a text on a car ride to visit friends and family, or poolside somewhere warmer than New England in winter, we want to see them reading!

You can snap a photo of your child being "caught reading" over the break and send it to Ms. Torigian (atorigian@walpole.k12.ma.us). We will post all of our Elm Eagles reading on the digital display in the main lobby.

Below are the dates for MCAS for grades 3-5. All elementary schools will be following this schedule.

Grade 3 English Language Arts

April 1 and April 2

Grade 3 Math

April 29 and 30

Grade 4 English Language Arts

April 3 and 4

Grade 4 Math

May 1 and 2

Grade 5 English Language Arts

April 8 and 9

Grade 5 Math

May 6 and 7

Grade 5 Science Technology and Engineering

May 14 and 15

Email: jbuller@walpole.k12.ma.us
Website: https://www.walpole.k12.ma.us/o/ess
Location: 415 Elm Street, Walpole, MA, USA
Phone: 508.660.7374

Instagram: ElmStSchool