Colonial Park Weekly News

Dear Colonial Park Families -

Congratulations to our Girls on the Run team for their participation in the celebratory 5k this weekend! We are so proud of our third and fourth grade team members!

At last week's School Committee meeting, I presented our School Goal 1 from this year's School Improvement Plan, which focuses on implementation of a structured literacy approach in grades K-4. The components of structured literacy include foundational skills (phonics, phonemic awareness, morphology) and higher level literacy skills (comprehension and written expression). All class schedules are designed so teachers are able to fit the recommended number of minutes for each component daily, providing a comprehensive program for our students. Grade level teams will be meeting on November 26 to analyze our progress monitoring data and adjust WINN groups if needed. We are excited about the progress our students are making!

We would also like to celebrate our students' attendance! From the beginning of the school year until now, we have a 97.5% average daily attendance rate, compared to 92% last year. We are so grateful to our parents and guardians for helping your children come to school regularly and on time.

As a reminder, here are some important dates for the end of first term:

• Monday, November 25 - Conference sign-ups will be shared with families.
• Monday, December 2 - Report cards and progress reports will be sent home.
• Wednesday, December 4 - Parent Teacher Conferences will be held from 4:00 to 7:00pm.
• Thursday, December 5 - Parent Teacher Conferences will be held from 1:00 to 4:00 pm.

There will be both a virtual and an in-person conference option available.

Wednesday, November 27 is an early release day, and there will be no school on Thursday, November 28 and Friday, November 29 in recognition of Thanksgiving. Have a wonderful week!

Best,

Rosa Flynn

facebook.com/CPStoneham

We wanted to share two resources available to our Colonial Park Community to support the mental health of our families.

1. Massachusetts Behavioral Health Help Line - The BHHL is a single point of contact for individuals and families to receive real-time support, initial clinical assessment, and connection to the right mental health evaluation and treatment.
2. Cartwheel - Cartwheel is a virtual mental health care provider for students and parents/guardians. Cartwheel is available to Colonial Park families through a school referral process.

Please see the attached flyers for more information, and please reach out with any questions.

*Pizza Mia Fundraiser Night, Thursday, November 21st - Take a night off from cooking on Thursday, November 21st and order a pizza from Pizza Mia! A generous portion of your meal will come back to the Colonial Park PTO! Pizza Mia will donate to our school from purchases throughout the day, so mention our name at any time and our school will benefit!

*November PTO Meeting - Thank you to everyone who attended our meeting this month and a special shout out to Ms. Spolidoro and Jill F for winning the spirit wear raffle! For a reminder there will be no December meeting but we look forward to seeing you all in January!

As an update spirit wear orders have been completed and more information about distribution will be out this week, we anticipate distribution this week or next!

*PTO Sponsored Brunch and Winter Concert - Join us 12/10 from 9-10am for the annual Winter Concert, to be followed by a brief PTO sponsored brunch in the cafeteria at 10! We will have munchkins, muffins, scones, coffee, and hot chocolate! It is a great chance to connect with other parents and enjoy a nice treat post-concert.

*Box Tops for Education

All month long, you can earn $5 for our school by connecting your Walmart account to the BoxTops app! For more information see this link https://www.boxtops4education.com/s/how-to-earn/walmart-connected-accounts

It is very easy, even if you have only ever bought one thing online from Walmart, you can connect your account and earn $5 for Colonial Park.

Second Grade is crushing our leaderboard challenge with Third Grade close behind! The highest earning grade by November 30 will receive Colonial Park themed prizes. So don’t forget to assign your points to your child’s grade.

• Box Tops has a monthly challenge that doubles your earnings if you reach your goal, just click “Accept Challenge”
• Bonus Offers this month: check out the bonuses in the app for Pillsbury Crescents, Totinos, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Betty Crocker Baking, and Nature Valley.

Use this referral code to sign up and remember to scan those receipts! https://btfe.smart.link/c2jjdifkw?referral_code=OTB65U72

*Baystate Textiles - The white collection bins in the parking lot of Colonial Park are to collect textiles (clothing, linen and shoes). All textiles deposited in the bins are reused or recycled! Each school in Stoneham has a bin (you can also find bins at the Steven Street recycling center and behind Town Hall) and these bins are emptied weekly and weighed. Each school PTO receives an annual rebate check for the amount of textiles collected. Please check your house for textiles and support the PTO!

Picture Retake Day is scheduled for Monday, November 18. If your child is retaking his or her photo, please send in the original photo package on Picture Retake Day. Please see the attached flyer for more information.

Class of 2025 Holiday Pie Fundraiser! Funds go to the Senior Class for Senior Week activities including the Prom and Senior Picnic.

Support the Class of 2025 with a tasty pie to share with friends and family over the Thanksgiving Holiday.

Here is the link