Weekly Newsletter
May 30, 2024
News from Principal Emma Liebowitz
Read-A-Thon
From Friday, May 31st to Thursday, June 6th, Sanderson will be having a Read-a-thon. Each day, total the number of minutes your student reads, is read to or listens to an audiobook. Record your minutes on the recording sheet and turn it in Friday, June 7th. If we reach our school-wide goal, Mrs. Morey and Ms. Wilson get turned into a human sundae! A paper copy of the recording sheet is coming home in Thursday folders. Here is the recording sheet digitally.
Before and After Care News
BEFORE AND AFTERCARE ENDS TUESDAY JUNE 11. As the last two weeks are approaching, I am writing to inform you that the last day of before and after care is Tuesday, June 11, 2024. I am asking that all final payments be submitted by June 12, 2024. Please fill out a calendar, so I can have bills out on Monday June 10, 2024. Thank you, Ms. Alexis
PTO News
Sanderson PTO
Monday, Jun 3 · 7–8 PM
Google Meet joining info
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/rss-yjdr-sho
Or dial: +1 413-276-7810 PIN: 821408903
More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/rss-yjdr-sho?pin=6565716249266
Opportunity to Offer After School Enrichement Next Year
Please complete the survey at https://forms.gle/MoSwK2bjq5Rwa8Ec6
Community Survey
The Mohawk Trail and Hawlemont School Districts have engaged Berkshire Educational Resources K12 (BERK12) to complete a thorough sustainability study that ultimately will present the Districts, their member towns, and their communities with ideas about the educational, financial, and operational future of the Districts. For this work to be successful, we need your help!
Please fill out a survey and let us know your thoughts for the Mohawk Trail and Hawlemont Regional School Districts by clicking on the link below, or entering in your web browser. Thank you!
surveymonkey.com/r/2D8Tcommunity-survey
Link to the community mailer HERE.
Upcoming Events
Friday, May 31 - Art Extravaganza at 2:00 and 6:00
Monday, June 3- Sixth Grade Step Up Day
Wednesday, June 5 - 1:50 Dismissal
Wednesday, June 5 - Ms. Melanie’s Class Celebration
Thursday, June 6 - Sixth Grade to the Lake
Thursday, June 6 - Third Grade to Porter Farm
Friday, June 7 - Kindergarten to Farm
Friday, June 7 - Beauty and The Beast at 6:00
Monday, June 10 - Step Up Time at 10:30
Tuesday, June 11 - Fifth Grade Pen Pal Project at 1:30
Wednesday, June 12 - Third Grade to Bug Hill Farm
Wednesday, June 12 - All School Meeting at 2:15
Wednesday, June 12 - Sixth Grade Graduation at 5:00
Thursday, June 13 - Ms. Melanie and Ms. Carole’s Classes to Look Park
Thursday, June 13 - Sixth Grade to Six Flags
Friday, June 14 - Last Day of School - 12:30 Dismissal
Link to Sanderson Academy calendar.
Library News from Ms. Wilson
Thank you to everyone who contributed to the recent Donors Choose library fundraiser. Because of your help, we were able to purchase eleven MCBA books and two new display shelves. Thank you again for supporting the library and our mission to keep kids reading! If you missed the chance to donate, you can take part in the 50/50 raffle for the library during Arts Night this Friday. Hope to see you there!
Fourth and fifth graders enjoyed their last week of using the Sphero Robots during library time. They took on many challenges, including driving and programming the Spheros with drawings and block coding. They were very excited to find out that they could even program the Spheros to make animal noises!
News from the Heath Office from Nurse Loranna
When thinking of ways to support children's mental health, balancing screen time is an important piece of the puzzle. In our busy lifestyles, it can be challenging establishing limits and rules on screen time. A good place to start is by looking at the other activities your child does; are they involved in sports, art, music or another outlet they enjoy? Are they eating well and getting enough sleep? Do they have connections with family and friends? Are they getting some exercise or time outside? If screen time is getting in the way of these important parts of overall wellness, it can be a sign to impose more limits to support their overall health and well-being. It can be helpful to set limits on where and when screen time is allowed such as no screens at dinner and bedtime, or screen time can occur while dinner is being prepared or after you complete homework. It can be helpful to use screen time as a reward or incentive for good behavior. And lastly, it’s important to model healthy limits on screen time in your own home, kids learn best by example and will benefit greatly from the connection and attention you can give them.
Preschool news from Ms. Freeman and Ms. Becky
This week we read, Jump, Frog, Jump written by Robert Kalan and illustrated by Byron Barton. We pretended we were the frog in the story, and practiced our frog jumps. As we read the story, we jumped safely away from many predators. Many preschoolers chimed in as we read, “Jump, Frog, Jump!” We also read, In the Small, Small Pond written and illustrated by Denise Fleming. Our art projects for the week were based on the animals in this story.
We are noticing our tadpoles are growing and changing! They have started to grow their back legs.They are growing so quickly, and we love watching them swim and hide!
Kindergarten News from Ms. Sarah, Ms. Veronica and Ms. Beckwith
In our literacy program, we completed our class book about the Sugar Maple Tree and read about four other trees commonly found in the U.S.—the Paper Birch, the Quaking Aspen, the Live Oak, and the Weeping Willow. Students chose one of those four to study and write books about. We worked in groups to reread the tree research books and started putting together our organizers with our ideas for our books. This week, we are starting to write our tree research books. Students made their cover with a map of where in the U.S. their tree grows and tomorrow will write their focus page describing what their tree looks like.
First Grade News from Ms. Wyckoff and Ms. April
First graders started their long weekend by releasing our brook trout at Ashfield Lake! We had the most perfect weather for this trip- sunny, breezy and 80 degrees. The trip began with first graders each collecting 100 acorns from around the beach which they turned in for an ice cream coupon! We then moved into four rotations - beach clean up, a scavenger hunt, tin foil fish puppets and water exploration. First graders loved standing calmly in the water while a variety of fish and water creatures swam up next to their feet! We then all gathered on the beach where we sang a song titled “Bye Bye Trout” and then released our beloved trout a few at a time. This year was extremely successful as we released 67 healthy and plump brook trout into the Lake. First graders were excited, but sad to see them go since they’ve been part of our classroom community since December. A BIG thank you to all the families that joined us on this trip - this adventure wouldn’t have been possible without all of you! We appreciate all you do for us here in first grade!
Third Grade News from Ms. Carole and Mr. Luke
As you know, Third Graders have been working hard all year to learn how to read music and play the recorder. Through the enthusiastic and compassionate guidance from Miss Julie, the class has grown significantly in this regard. They have learned how to name the notes on the staff, the time value of different types of notes (half, quarter, eighth, and whole notes), and the correct finger placement for playing various notes. They have also learned how to follow along with a conductor and how to listen to each other. It has been a joy watching this class grow in this way throughout the year. This week, at All School Assembly, they played a song called Starlight, Starbright. They did a fabulous job! They will have the opportunity to do it again this Friday Night at the Arts Night presentation. After today’s performance, Miss Julie gave each third grader a medal to acknowledge their hard work and learning with the recorders this year.
Next year, in fourth grade, these students will be encouraged to select an instrument of their own choosing to study. It is hoped that, through this year’s experiences with the recorder, the students will be confident and have a head start on learning how to play a new instrument. We are so grateful to all that Miss Julie did to help us learn about music this year!
Fourth Grade News from Ms. Lagoy and Ms. Upright
Fourth graders would like to thank everyone who has contributed coins (and bills) for our Penny War Fundraiser. We have raised over $650.00 to donate to one of our charitable organizations (ServiceNet, the MSPCA or the Ocean Conservancy). Students have one more week to bring in pennies to add positive points to their bucket and silver coins (and bills) to take points away from other classes. Fourth graders have really enjoyed counting and rolling the coins every day, calculating positive and negative points earned, and figuring out how much money each class has raised.
More Fourth Grade News
We would also like to thank everyone who was able to join us for our Book Launch/Poetry Slam event last week. What a wonderful way to wrap up an amazing project!
Finally, be sure to stop by the bake/snack sale on Friday night at the Art Showcase. Students are preparing some Chex Mix, Popcorn, and Monster Trail Mix plus iced tea and lemonade. Families are donating muffins, cookies, truffles, mini cupcakes, brownies, and more. All monies raised will be donated to our charitable organizations (ServiceNet, the MSPCA, and the Ocean Conservancy).
Be sure to check out the newsletter next week for the grand total of how much money was able to be donated to our charitable organizations following the public service announcements written by fourth grade students.
Fifth Grade News from Ms. Johnson and Ms. Shero
Fifth grade has been studying the history of SandersonAcademy. This week, six alumni who graduated from Sanderson in the 1960s when Sanderson went through high school, came to tell the fifth grade what it was like to be students back then. We found some similarities and some differences. Some stories we heard were that if a girl’s skirt was called into question about its proper length, the girl would have to kneel on the floor. If the skirt didn’t touch the ground all the way around, their parents were called. It was fun hearing about how when the team won a basketball game, someone would sneak into the school and the bell tower to ring the bell and let the town know they had won. Then they would run fast so they weren’t caught ringing the bell.
News from Ms. Prew
We may not use coins as often as we used to thanks to debit & credit cards, but it is still SUPER important for kiddos to learn about coins and use them regularly. Coins support many aspects of mathematical learning and they become important models to conceptually understand fractions, division, and other advanced math concepts in the future. Explore coins with your kiddos. Notice the similarities and differences between coins and all of the different versions of coins you may have at home. Play games where kiddos “purchase” items and practice both giving and receiving change. Check out this link to explore digital coins, too. Enjoy! :) aprew@mtrsd.org
Music News from Ms. Cherry
Our spring concert and Arts Night are tomorrow! All students grades PK-6 will be singing. Students will sing in the 2pm concert AND at the 6pm Arts Night concert! Families and friends are welcome to attend both events. If you come to watch the afternoon concert, please come with your child to the Arts Night as well if you can- the more the merrier when it comes to singing as a group!
Community News, Events and Job Postings
Check out what is happening in our area!
About Us
Email: eliebowitz@mtrsd.org
Website: https://sanderson.mohawktrailschools.org/
Location: 808 Cape Street, Ashfield, MA, USA
Phone: (413) 628-4404
Facebook: facebook.com/SandersonAcademy