Cougar Tales

May 24, 2024

A Message from Principal Driscoll

Happy Memorial Day Weekend! The days continue to fly by and the countdown to the end of school is officially on with 11.5 days of school left when we return from the long weekend.

There was plenty going on throughout the building from the CAS Scholar Leader Banquet, Track and Field continued to dominate, field trips, and an excellent Spring Concert by the Orchestra and Choir. See below for pictures and further details!

Congrats to Madison Tucchio and Lillian Savage and their families who were honored this week at the CAS Scholar Leader Banquet. This is always a really great event and a special honor to earn!

Grade 5 headed to the Noah Webster house this week and Grade 3 explored the Nathan Hale homestead in Coventry. Students are getting excellent field trip opportunities this year!

Our Spring Concert showcased our third through eighth grade orchestra and our choir. All members sounded excellent and put on a great performance. Thank you to Ms. Andrews and Mr. Gerrard for all their hard work to support the performers!

The Bingo and Dance Party scheduled for May 31st has been canceled.

We hope you all enjoy the long weekend. Good luck to our student athletes participating in the Track and Field State Championships this weekend!

Cougar Spotlight

Elks Lodge Essay Contest

On Monday, May 20th, Liam Roy, grade 8, attended the Elks Lodge Award Ceremony in Willimantic to celebrate winning 1st place in their annual essay contest! This year's theme was “What the Bill of Rights Means to Me.” Way to go, Liam!

Connecticut Association of Schools Banquet

The annual Connecticut Association of Schools banquet was held on Monday, May 20th. Students are selected to attend the dinner and receive an award based on their hard work and dedication to scholarship and leadership. This year, two students stood out and were honored with the distinction that is presented at the dinner attended by over 1000 other honorees from across the state. This year's winners were Lillian Savage and Madison Tucchio, who were able to celebrate at the annual dinner along with their parents, Miss Reguin, Miss Gray, Mr. Driscoll and Mrs. Sechin.

Student Dismissals

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We continue to receive many calls and emails to the school making last minute changes to dismissal routines throughout the school day. The increasing amount of changes are confusing to students and staff and are disruptive to the classroom environment when we have to interrupt instruction to convey dismissal changes. We urge you to keep a set routine for dismissal so we can make sure your child gets home safely.

We have several events planned for the remainder of the school year where you may be at the school and want to take your child(ren) home early. Please do your best to plan ahead and write a note to the school to be handed in during homeroom. This is helpful for scheduled appointments and other reasons for dismissal as well.

We do understand that emergencies may arise, but unexpected dismissal changes during the school day should be a rare occasion. Any questions, feel free to reach out to me directly.

Save the Date

Monday, May 27th -

Memorial Day - no school for staff or students

Wednesday, May 29th -

Grade 8 Parent Committee in Room 170 @ 6:00 pm

Thursday, May 30th -

Grade 8 Graduation Photos in the Library from 9:00 - 11:00 am
24 - 25 Kindergarten Orientation Night in the Library Media Center/Kindergarten Classrooms from 5:00 - 6:00 pm

Tuesday, June 4th -

PK - 4 Field Day
Graduation Practice (Field + Gymnasium) from 9:00 - 10:00 am
Track Awards and Potluck Banquet in the MPR @ 5:30 pm

Wednesday, June 5th -

Trimester 3 grades close at the end of the day
Graduation Practice (Field + Gymnasium) from 10:30 - 12:00 pm
Grade 8 Parent Committee in Room 170 @ 6:00 pm
PTO Meeting @ 7:00 pm

Thursday, June 6th -

Grades 5 - 8 Field Day

Friday, June 7th -

Graduation Practice (Field + Gymnasium) from 10:30 - 12:00 pm

8th Grade Semi-Formal in the Gymnasium @ 7:00 pm

Monday, June 10th -

Graduation Practice (Field + Gymnasium) from 9:00 - 10:00 am
Grade 6 Step Up Day @ 10:30 am

Tuesday, June 11th -

Graduation Practice (Field + Gymnasium) from 10:30 - 12:00 pm
Grade 8 Graduation @ 6:00 pm

Wednesday, June 12th -

Grade 8 Breakfast Social @ 9:00 am
Report Cards emailed at the end of the day
Last day of school; early dismissal

K-8 dismisses at 12:20 pm

Athletics

Please click here for live Track & Field Meet schedule.

Kindergarten @ Mystic Aquarium

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Food Truck Battle

The 8th grade students were provided with the opportunity to use the skills they have learned in Technology to explore and practice team building during the planning, development, and presentation of a Food Truck Project. Students had to do research and survey peers to make decisions regarding the name, type of food, and marketing slogan for their truck. They had to “request” funding with a formal letter and create a spreadsheet budget with researched and averaged prices. The students were able to use their creativity to make a menu, website, and video commercial for their business. Finally, the students competed in a Food Truck Competition, where they showcased their designs to encourage customers to visit and vote for their venue. Some students even created stickers,t-shirts, and had food samples available! There was a three-way tie for the win, although the voting was very close for all! Congratulations to Mac Attack (Emma Qirici, Leila Hyland, and Imani Mitchell), Treat Trolley (Lily Savage, April Kelly and Madison Tucchio), and Sweets to Treats (William Muscarelli, Peter Swiatkowski and Deene Fowler)! We ended the unit by inviting a local food truck, Woodfellas, so students had the opportunity to hear first-hand from a professional who owns and runs their own food truck. Thank you, Mr. Currier, for the delicious pizza!!

Grade 5 @ Noah Webster

Fifth graders had the opportunity to participate in a field trip to the Noah Webster House in West Hartford this past Tuesday. Students learned about the lives of members of an early American (1700’s) community. They were able to participate in activities of that period, such as, carding wool and cooking food specific to early American life.