.

.
.

Message from the Principals

Dear South Elementary School Families,

As we step into March, our school is buzzing with exciting events and celebrations that highlight the importance of social-emotional learning, literacy, and community engagement. This month, we invite you to join us with SEL Day, diving into the world of reading with Read Across America Week, and participating in several PTO-sponsored events.

SEL Day: Shining Bright Together!

On Monday, March 3, 2025, we kick off National SEL Week with International SEL Day. To celebrate, we encourage everyone to wear yellow so we can all shine bright together! This special day emphasizes the importance of social-emotional learning in fostering skills like self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. These skills are crucial for our students' success and well-being. We will continue to focus on SEL throughout the rest of the month, too, with our Kindness Tree, and weekly character traits. This month our monthly character traits are as follows, one per week: joining in a conversation; having a positive attitude and outlook; contributing to discussion; appropriately dealing with frustration; and appropriate behavior in the hallways.

Read Across America Spirit Week

Our wonderful PTO is sponsoring Read Across America Week, which runs from March 3-7. This week is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate literacy and reading. They have planned a series of fun spirit days to get everyone excited about reading and one raffle prize winner from each grade will be picked daily!

Monday: Mismatch Sock Day

Tuesday: Pajama Day (please no slippers)

Wednesday: Character Day-dress as a your favorite character from a book

Thursday: Read with a Buddy-bring in a stuffed animal

Friday: Represent Setting-dress from a time or place from a story

2nd Trimester Report Cards

Later this month, we will distribute 2nd Trimester Report Cards via Aspen . These reports highlight not only our students' academic achievements but also their social-emotional growth. We encourage you to review these reports with your child, celebrating their "glows" and discussing areas for growth, which we all have.

PTO Events: Fun for Everyone!

Our PTO has organized two fantastic events for March:

  • Bingo Night: Join us for an evening of fun and games. Details will be shared soon.

  • Savers Clothes Drive: Help us collect gently used clothing to support our community. Your contributions will make a difference...and help with Spring Cleaning.

Spring and Daylight Savings

As we welcome Spring, remember to set your clocks forward for Daylight Savings Time on the second Sunday of March. This is a great opportunity to enjoy more daylight hours and outdoor activities with your family.


Thank you for your continued support and participation in our school events. We are proud of the strong community we have built together!


With Aloha, Steph Brown and Rebecca Hurley

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Monday, 3/3-SEL Day- Wear Yellow

Monday, 3/3-Friday, 3/7-Read Across America Spirit Week-Donations to PTO are encouraged, but voluntary

  • Monday, 3/3-Mismatch Sock Day
  • Tuesday, 3/4-PJ Day (please no slippers)
  • Wednesday, 3/5-Character Day-dress as your favorite book character-no masks please
  • Thursday, 3/6-Read with a Buddy Day-Bring in a stuffed animal to read to
  • Friday, 3/7-Represent Setting Day-Dress from a time or place from a story
Monday, 3/3-Friday, 3/16-Spirit Wear Store: Buy your South School Cricket wear HERE.

Tuesday, 3/4-5th Grade Committee Zoom Link, Virtual Meeting @ 6:00PM to help plan end of year special events for our 5th graders.

Wednesday, 3/5-Bwana Iguana Assemblies for students. Thank you, Feinstein Foundation!

Thursday, 3/6-Somerset Papa Gino's South Night, PTO earns 20% of sales from 4-9PM *Mention this fundraise in person or enter code 19 online.

Sunday, 3/9-Daylight Savings-Spring Ahead

Monday, 3/10-Friday, 3/14-Parent Invitations sent for Spring Conferences

Tuesday, 3/11-Strings Festival @ 6:00PM @ SBRHS

Wednesday, 3/12-Early Release Day at 12:30PM

Thursday, 3/13-Band Festival @ 6:30PM @ SBRHS

Friday, 3/14-Clothing Fundrive for Savers 4-7PM

Friday, 3/14-PTO Bingo Night-March Madness, 6-8PM-doors open at 5:30PM. Sign up HERE.

Monday, 3/17-Happy St. Patrick's Day-wear green! End of Trimester 2

Tuesday, 3/18-Chorus Festival @ 6:00PM @ SBRHS

Tuesday, 3/18-PTO Meeting @ 6PM

Monday, 3/24-Tai Chi Assemblies for students. Thank you, Feinstein Foundation!

Friday, 3/28-Cricket Convention-Grade 3 Presents-Show your Cricket Spirit with Cricket Gear or Green!

School Counseling Corner

From Mrs. H. and Mrs. Shaw

March is an exciting Month.

March 9th is Daylight Saving Time, when we get to get turn the clocks ahead an hour and have longer days of Sunlight. March 20th is the First Day of Spring. Typically our mood also improves as the days get longer. Its amazing what a little sunshine can do!

However, some of us need a little extra help. There are some resources below that are available immediately for support.


At South Elementary we will be Celebrating SEL Day on the 3rd.

SEL Day is a global, grassroots celebration of social and emotional learning to support children’s academic achievement and well-being. Since its inception in 2020, individuals and organizations from all 50 U.S. states and 87 countries have engaged in SEL Day activities.

Join us in making a commitment to celebrate SEL in your community on or around March 3, 2025.

Click here to sign up: https://selday.org/sign-up/?source=ema

From Our Amazing PTO!

PTO’s March Newsletter

Upcoming Events: Mark your Calendars!


Spirit Week: Read Across America Week of March 3rd-7th

  • Monday: Mismatch Sock Day

  • Tuesday: Pajama Day (please no slippers)

  • Wednesday: Character Day-dress as a your favorite character from a book

  • Thursday: Read with a Buddy-bring in a stuffed animal

  • Friday: Represent Setting-dress from a time or place from a story

  • One raffle prize winner from each grade will be picked daily!


Tuesday, March 4th: 5th Grade Committee

  • The 5th Grade Committee will be meeting via Zoom at 6:00PM to discuss upcoming events for this year’s Grade 5 end of year activities.

  • Inquiries can be sent to Connie and Sherri at south5thcommittee@gmail.com


Spirit Wear Store: March 3rd-March 16th


Thursday,March 6th: Papa Gino’s Night 4PM-9PM

  • 869 GAR Highway, Somerset

  • Walk-in or phone orders: Mention this fundraiser when you place your order for South School to get the credit for your order.

  • Online Orders: Enter Code 19 at the payment screen and click redeem.

  • South School earns 20% of orders!


Friday, March 14th: Fundrive Savers 4PM-7:00PM

  • Start your spring cleaning!

  • South PTO is collecting bags of clothes.

  • Drop off will take place at South School parking lot from 4PM-7PM.

  • A donation to our FUNDRIVE is worth a FREE extra BINGO card.

  • **One free BINGO card per drop off not per bag** See more details about BINGO below.


Friday, March 14th: BINGO Night 6PM-8:00PM

Tuesday, March 18th: PTO Meeting

  • South School Cafe at 6PM

  • This meeting will recap the year so far and discuss upcoming events.


Contact PTO

Parent Resources

March Lunch Menu: please click HERE.


Click HERE for March Read Aloud Books for Elementary Students


South Elementary MCAS Dates, Spring 2025


Click HERE for a 100s Chart to help count to 100, add, subtract, and notice number patterns.


Click HERE for an Alphabet Linking Chart to help your child match sounds and letters when writing/reading.


Click HERE for Multiplication Charts to practice math facts or use for a reference.


Somerset Public Schools, SY' 24-25 Calendar: please click HERE

KINDERGARTEN

Kindergarten had so much to celebrate this month! We had our 100th day of school and engaged in fun activities about the number 100. For Valentine’s Day, we shared how we are kind and loving to our friends and family. In writing, the students have been learning about informational texts and using their knowledge to write facts about a given topic. We continue to review sentence conventions such as beginning with a capital letter, leaving spaces in between words, and using ending punctuation. In reading, we continue to use our letter/sound knowledge in building words and sounding out unknown words. We are focusing more on vowel sounds and hearing and writing sounds in words. In math, we are using oral stories that include addition and subtraction and then writing a math equation that matches the story. We learned how to describe shapes using different attributes like color, shape, corners, and size. In science, we are finishing our unit on motion and force and learning about how things use pushes and pulls to create motion and force. In social studies we talked about President’s Day by discussing the job and importance of a president. We learned about the lives of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. In Marc, we will be learning more about teen numbers, the season of spring, and reading grade level decodable texts.

GRADE 1

It's hard to believe February has come and gone! With only 14 school days in the month. we certainly packed a lot in! We completed Unit 4 and started Unit 5 in Math, we learned about super sneaky silent e, we have become serious writers and our reading is improving every day! We also celebrated the 100th and the 101st day of school and as we close out February, we have already hit 108 days. That means there are only 72 days left.


We have so much fun left to have and so much left to learn and I am so excited to see these little learners continue to grow!!

GRADE 2

February is always a month that passes so quickly! We celebrated the 100th day of school. We hope everyone enjoyed their week! We started the month reading stories written by Jan Brett. We also focused on the genres of folktales, including trickster tales. Next up will be stories with humorous characters. During our mini-lessons, we spent our time examining all the ways that illustrators give us information. This week we focused on the characteristics of trickster tales. In writing, we learned how to write main events in our stories by adding actions, descriptions, thoughts/feelings, dialogue and sound effects. We also discussed all the things that lead ot an exciting ending. In phonics, we continued unpredictable vowel teams, including ‘ea’ and ‘oo’. Up next… ‘ou’ and ‘ew’! In math, we spent the month exploring place value by Counting to 1,000, and making connections with the place value of dollars & cents. In science, we talked about why toys are made out of plastic. We also talked about what may be invented in the future. Students made their own plans for an invention. In social studies, we will begin talking about migration. Happy March!


GRADE 3

Dear Third Grade Families,

It is hard to believe that our short month of February has gone by! Students returned to school from February vacation feeling energized and ready to learn. In our morning routine, students have continued to develop their higher level thinking skills as they worked together to calculate perimeter, area, and various fractions of a dollar. In mathematics, we wrapped up unit four on measurement and fractions and transitioned to our fifth unit of the year. Our current focus in mathematics is mastering our multiplication facts. Students have also been exposed to, and are experimenting with concepts in basic division through hands-on learning experiences. If you are interested in supporting your child with multiplication and division, we have compiled a few resources to help:

  1. CoolMath Games (www.coolmathgames.com)

  2. FunBrain (www.funbrain.com)

  3. Math Playground (www.mathplayground.com)

All math websites linked above provide educational yet engaging mathematics games to reinforce multiplication and division concepts being taught in class. Creating flashcards is also a fabulous way to engage students in learning their facts!

Our read-alouds for the month have consisted of a mix of narrative and informational texts. At the beginning of February, students learned about the passage of time through interactive read-alouds. We are currently learning about fables and their characteristics, as well as inferring the deeper message behind them. As MCAS grows closer, we have continued our response-to-text writing where students respond to a writing prompt based on a passage that they have read. Students have been working diligently to learn how to write introduction sentences, give evidence, and write concluding statements! We are also beginning an informational writing unit which requires students to research, take notes, and transform their notes into an informational essay. In science, we are learning about fossils and how habitats change over time. It has been another busy, but fun month of learning!

Grade 4

Even though February was a short month, it was packed with learning! In math, students are wrapping up their work in geometry, focusing on angles and polygons. They've also been focusing on standard algorithms for addition and subtraction into the hundred-thousands. In science, we've kicked off our unit on animal and plant adaptations, focusing on the structures of organisms. They're looking forward to creating a diorama of their own animal or plant structure as we conclude this unit. In ELA, we have begun a poetry unit and narrative writing. We are also concluding our book clubs with a focus on whole text comprehension. In Social Studies, we have begun a unit focused on European's exploration to North America. We have begun learning about the Vikings and other European explorers. Fourth-graders also enjoyed hosting this month's Cricket Convention. They conveyed a message of friendship to our entire Cricket School Family.

Grade 5

Even though February was a short month, it was packed with learning! In Math, we are wrapping up our multi-digit multiplication/ division unit. Students have learned a vast amount of strategies which includes the standard algorithm. In Science, we have kicked off our last unit called the web of life. Students have already created animal food chains and are moving towards learning about decomposers and different ecosystems. Students are excited for the unit ecosystem project. For Social Studies, we are further exploring the foundation of our country. Focusing on our systems of government. In ELA, we have begun a poetry unit and narrative writing. We are also concluding our book clubs with a focus on whole text comprehension.

Stephanie Brown
Stephanie is using Smore to create beautiful newsletters