Nantucket Elementary School

Nantucket Elementary School Latest News and Calendar Updates

Dear Families,

Happy February to all of you!! The weather has certainly reminded us that it is winter recently. CHILLY and WINDY!!! This is a good time to remind you that if the temperature feels like 15degrees, the kids will be going out for recess. Please be sure that they have their hats, gloves, boots, maybe snow pants, and it is important to have an extra set of clothes in the cubbies. Sometimes, clothes get a little wet, and the children would like to change them to be comfortable for the rest of the day!!

Our English Learner students have finished taking the big ACCESS test. The students worked so hard. The results do not get back to us until late May or early June. However, we will do a small celebration for the test takers in late February. They deserve it!!

Also in this month, our school will have a lockdown drill before the school break happens on 2/24. Common sense tells us that holding a drill and practicing our response is the best way to prepare for a real emergency. We conduct fire drills to ensure our staff and students know what to do if there were a real fire in our building. The critical incident drill prepares staff and students for an emergency in the building that would require us to “lock down” the building by securing all classrooms and offices. This drill has been planned with our school resource officer. Faculty and staff have already been trained. Students will receive instructions and training before we conduct the drill. Teachers will be sharing protocols with students in all of their spaces. This may generate some talk at home, and we wanted to preset you. As a school, we always stress safety. This critical incident drill is an important safety tool that will prepare our staff and students to face any type of emergency that might occur in our building. How can you help? We need you to tell your daughters and sons to take this drill seriously. Tell them to follow directions and not to be frightened; it is only practice. No one would ever tell students that they should not take fire drills seriously. We need the same approach for the planned critical incident drill. Thank you always for supporting our efforts to keep students and staff safe. If you have any questions regarding our safety procedures, please feel free to contact us.

We shared the LIP SYNC Information night picture above. The cafeteria was packed, so we know there is a great deal of interest!! Please be sure to turn in your sign up sheets before 3/22. See below for all of the handouts and information. We can only have 20 groups and we are up to 9 groups already!

As far as the budget for School Year 2024-2025 goes, we will be maintaining every staff position we currently hold. This is what is called a roll forward budget. We cannot create and hire new staff positions, but we keep all positions we currently have. In addition to what we have, we get to fill our unfilled positions. We are currently looking for a special educator and one more TA. Pass this information along to anyone you know who may be interested.

There is a lot here. Be sure to read the updates from our grade level teams and departments shared below. Lots of great things are happening!!

Thank you in advance for reading this and supporting our school!!

Best,

Kim Kubisch and Kim Albertson

Meri Lepore's Nurse's Corner

Hello NES Families. Our school has certainly seen our share of illnesses this Winter. Below is a chart on how to tell the difference between the Flu, RSV, common cold, and Covid. These viruses share many of the same symptoms and it can be difficult to know which one your student has. Luckily you have the ability to test for covid at home and I highly recommend doing that so you can rule that virus out. I have covid tests here to hand out or you may get tests at the hospital and Nantucket Cottage Pharmacy. With these viruses the treatment is usually rest and treating the symptoms. However, with the flu you may be prescribed Tamiflu if it is diagnosed within the first 48-72 hours after symptoms start. So, please keep your students home if they are sick and seek medical care when necessary.

Meri Lepore RN, FNP-BC

School Nurse

Nantucket Elementary School

leporem@npsk.org

Counselor's Corner

Dear Families,

This month in your child’s SEL class, students are practicing ways to show empathy and compassion for others. Empathy is a key ingredient in the development of prosocial behaviors and interpersonal problem solving skills. It is necessary for social emotional competence and contributes to academic success. Being able to identify, understand, and respond in a caring way to how someone is feeling provides the foundation for helpful and socially responsible behaviors, friendships, cooperation, coping, and conflict resolution, all of which help students succeed in school and beyond.

While students continue to develop self-awareness skills and practice identifying emotions through the Zone of Regulation and Second Step Curriculums, students are also learning how to recognize emotions through their interactions with others and how to respond in prosocial ways. During a recent SEL lesson, students learned that some actions are accidental rather than intentional and applied their knowledge to act out the different ways to respond in these situations with care and compassion. Students practiced how to use, “Excuse me, I’m sorry,” when we accidentally bump into someone and how to offer help if someone falls down by saying, “Are you okay…can I help you up?” We also practiced what to do if someone is hurt and how to get help…we have a lot of helpers here at NES! The unit concluded with learning the life skill of fixing a mistake by using the 4-Step Apology.

I am sorry for _________.
It was wrong because _________.
In the future I will _________.
Will you please forgive me?

An apology is an important part of helping a child take responsibility to fix a problem and learn from the mistake. It is important to help empower students to take an active role in problem solving whenever possible. The 4-Step Apology is incredibly useful and impactful for everyone. Try it!

Warmly,

Heidi Smith

Elementary School Counselor

smithh@npsk.org

Jenny Williams

Elementary School Counselor

williamsje@npsk.org

Madeleine Sybert

Elementary School Social Worker

sybertm@npsk.org

Prek Update

We worked hard in January (re-month) practicing expected behaviors throughout our day! We did a great job remembering and helping to remind those that needed it. In January we learned about hibernation and weather and celebrated the new year. We were able to do a lot of hands-on learning and experiments when we talked about weather and even went on a bear hunt around the school. We also learned about compound words and practiced our rhyming words.

Kindergarten Update

Kindergarteners recently celebrated becoming Super Readers and using all of their superpowers to read grade level texts. As writers, we have begun focusing on narrative writing and true stories with many details and across multiple pages. Kindergarteners have also been busy being scientists and learning about watching and being prepared for weather. As mathematicians, they have learned about shapes and their defining features. They have now begun building a foundation for basic addition and subtraction, with a heavy focus on story problems. As long as there are no snow days in our future, our 100th day will be Thursday February 15th. Kindergarteners are invited to dress up like they are 100 years old on that day as well as send in 100 collections. Refer to individual classroom notices for specifics.

First Grade Update

February is a busy month for first grade. We will be celebrating the hundredth day of school on February 12th then Valentine's Day on February 14th and our First Grade Sing on February 15th at 8:15 a.m. During math, our first graders just finished up our unit about two and three dimensional shapes. We are now working on addition and subtraction story problems. We are learning about famous Americans during our Social Studies time. We are continuing to learn, read and write about important people in history. During Fundations we have been working on learning about glued sounds such as ing, ank, ong and ang.

Second Grade Update

Second graders have been very busy! New year, new learning! Here are just few highlights- In writing, our students have been exploring the art of opinion writing. They have been learning how to express their thoughts, feelings, and beliefs in a persuasive manner. It's fascinating to witness how our students are developing skills in articulating these. We encourage you to engage your child in discussions at home, allowing them to express their opinions on various topics and share their reasons behind them. In math, we have started Unit 6. This unit focuses on learning strategies to help students solve subtraction problems within 100. It's a step towards building a foundation in mathematical problem solving. In January, we will have celebrated The Great Kindness Challenge. This challenge focused on spreading love, compassion, and positivity. Students engaged in a variety of activities throughout the day to promote kindness and empathy. We encourage you to discuss with your child the importance of treating others with kindness and to extend this kindness beyond just this month.

Specialists' Update

In science kindergarten is learning about weather. They have done a few experiments to show how clouds and precipitation work and learned about wind and made a wind sock to use on windy days. First grade is learning about sound, using the Carolina Science kits. They will eventually be making their own instruments. Second graders have learned about the seven continents and the five oceans and are now learning about landforms. They are completing a project and will be adding landforms to the continent that they made.

In PE, we dribbled the month of December away enjoying the sport of basketball. My students showed great effort learning and practicing their basketball skills. We jumped our way through the month of January. Ask your child to tell you and show you the difference between a jump, a hop, and a leap! This month of February we will enjoy various games while learning and practicing good sportsmanship skills. Thank you for your continued support helping your child come to PE prepared with comfortable clothing (layers are best), sneakers, water bottle, and a positive attitude!

First and second graders are wrapping up their work on percussion instruments with a sound guessing game. Moving into February, we will start our discussion of Black History Month, to celebrate excellent black musicians and learn the songs that are the root of our current music society. As always, students are honing their rhythm and singing skills using John Feierabend’s Conversational Solfege. The kindergarten is moving on to unit 2 of The First Steps in Music program. There are more songs, dances, and beat motions for them to learn. In the coming weeks, students will use their new found confident voices to take solos during songs and even lead the class in motions.

The artists at NES have been working hard learning about lines and colors. Kindergarten is finishing up Pattern Fish and are working at mixing primary colors to make secondary colors. First graders just finished clay butterflies and are now creating a winter watercolor landscape using collage to make trees. Second graders are finishing up their line drawings of different animals.

Please sign up for Artsonia to see student artwork. Each student has a portfolio with their art and I try to update it regularly with descriptions of each lesson. Contact me if you have any questions at grants@npsk.org. You can use the QR code to access the Nantucket Elementary account and it will send me your request to join.

Multilingual Learner Update

Thank you to all of the parents and guardians for your support at home during the ACCESS testing time. All students tried their best on every part of the assessment and felt very proud of themselves. The scores are scheduled to be released in the late spring and score reports will be mailed home to families once they are available.

Now that English classes have resumed students in all grades are learning about animals and their habitats. Kindergarten students are learning all about the different types of habitats and animals that live there. Students in grade one are learning about the similarities and differences between animals and their habitats. Second graders are learning all about what animals need to survive. Be sure to ask your student what they are learning about in English class, they have so many interesting facts to share!

Important Information - (Previously Shared)

Any visitors to our school need to share their identification with the front office staff in exchange for a visitor's badge. You will need to sign in as well.
There will be no charge for lunches again this year. However, all families should complete the free and reduced lunch forms that were sent home with teacher assignment letters.
There can be no changes to a child's dismissal plan after 1:00 pm. Be sure your children know what they are doing each day after school.

Attendance - we are starting to see some students with higher absence numbers. It is very important that you notify your child's teacher or call the front office if your child is going to be absent. You can send a message to your child's teacher through REMIND or call the front office to leave a message regarding your child's absence at (508) 228 - 7290 ext, 3. If your child needs to miss 5 or more consecutive days, you must make an appointment with the principal well in advance of upcoming absence. The NES Parent Handbook has been posted on the NES website (www.npsk.org, click on schools, click on Nantucket Elementary School). Please review the important section on attendance. Retention in the current grade level is a possibility if a child has excessive absences. Children being in school each day is a necessity.

Driving and Parking on the NES/NIS campus

We have had several concerns shared regarding safety of students as they enter and exit the school recently. These concerns have been regarding parent drivers not following safety rules. These are listed below for your reference. We appreciate all of your anticipated efforts and required patience.

NES will open in the morning at 7:35am. Students who are walking, biking or getting dropped off should go right to the doors (front one or the Kindergarten one) to come in and make their morning choice. Prek students line up outside in the front of the school.
If parents wish to escort their child to the door, they must park their car in the Backus Lane parking lot ONLY.
The parking lot off of First Way, behind the school is for staff only.
All of the parking spots are assigned to staff or students at NHS.
Parents and Guardians should not use that lot for any reason.
This is a terrible place for students to be dropped off, this is not a drive through, and there is nowhere for any non permitted driver to park.
Again, please stop driving in this lot. We are asking you to be a model for all children in the morning and the afternoon.
Drive through drop off in the morning is permitted at the K and NES/NIS side entrances. This means parents stay in their car, and a staff member will open the passenger side door to help your child exit safely. Then, the car continues driving out the exit. This is for all students.
Drive through pick up in the afternoon is permitted for all students grades 2-5 in the large circle between NES and NIS. This means parents stay in their car, and a staff member will oversee students entering cars. Then, the car continues driving out the exit.
K and 1 students are met by parents at the back K entrance. Students will be standing in their assigned class lines.
The circles and driveways on campus ARE NOT PARKING SPACES. An adult driver must stay in the car while waiting for students to exit or enter the car.
At dismissal, all parents will continue to wait outside for students to dismiss from their teachers (kindergarten circle for kindergarten and first grade students, outside of the front door for second grade students).
In the event of inclement weather (severe snow or rain), kindergarten and first grade students will be dismissed out the kindergarten and cafeteria doors to parents outside and second grade students will be dismissed out the gymnasium doors to parents outside.
Drivers may not pull into the bus loop to pick-up their children EVER.

Remind App is a wonderful tool for both educators and families! We know this. We know our teachers love being able to communicate with the whole class as well as individually. We know that you, the parents, love this tool too! It is wonderful that this tool allows us to communicate in multiple languages. One caution for us to share is that teachers may not be able to respond to messages you send during the school day. They are teaching and not hanging onto their phones. You may not get a reply until after school dismisses.