West Hempstead Weekly Update

“All thinking begins with wondering.”

Socrates

We all share the capacity for wonderment, awe, inquisitiveness, intrigue, curiosity and mystery. Nobody is born without it. Because every thought and action is accompanied by emotions, they have their origins in the brain. The center for emotions in the brain is the amygdala. Those feel-good neurotransmitters (serotonin, endorphin, dopamine) are released whenever we experience such good feelings as rapture, intrigue, amazement or fascination.

But many of us never learn to tap into the source of our passions because we fail to discover what inspires it. Passion refers to the force for intensity in all of us. One’s passions might be writing, gardening, acting, sports, working with children, business, competition, and personal improvement.

Young children are naturally curious. They commune with the world around them; they reflect on the changing formations of a cloud; feel charmed by the opening of a bud; sense the logical simplicity of mathematical order. They find beauty in a sunset, intrigue in the geometrics of a spider web, and exhilaration at the iridescence of a hummingbird’s wings. They see the congruity and intricacies in the derivation of a mathematical formula; recognize the orderliness and adroitness of a chemical change, and commune with the serenity of a distant constellation. And they never stop asking “why?”

https://www.habitsofmindinstitute.org/responding-with-wonderment-and-awe/

image attribution: whatboots.com/au

A message from our new interim Principal, Dr. Lisa Minicozzi.

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Thank you for welcoming me to the Chestnut Street School. I am here to make every effort to help your child reach his or her fullest potential.

I will work hard to continue the legacy of success established at the Chestnut Street School by building strong relationships with parents, students, staff, and community partners.

Together we will focus on students’ strengths to emphasize academic, social, and emotional growth. I am dedicated to developing our students’ successes and will strive to continue the positive relationships, rigorous learning, and the nurturing environment that encourages our students to celebrate their unique strengths.

During the remaining course of the year, it is my hope that we will work together to provide the Chestnut Street students with inclusive and varied opportunities to grow socially and academically. As your Principal, I look forward to working closely with the teachers to create the needed opportunities in establishing the strong partnership between home and school that will help build the strong academic confidence in students to help shape their future as they progress through our schools.

Because the relationships between families and the school are vital to the success of our students, I encourage you to become involved in every way possible. I look forward to the collaboration and support we will be able to give each other. Please feel free to stop in or call to make an appointment to discuss your concerns, suggestions, or ideas. I work under the philosophy that everything we do in our school should be done with the best interest of our students in mind. I am determined to support every child, every day at Chestnut Street and I will bring the energy, enthusiasm, and thoughtfulness needed to continue to make Chestnut Street School an exemplary school.

I look forward to serving alongside you and the Chestnut Street staff, to bring high quality and joyful learning experiences to our students.

Kind Regards,

Dr. Lisa Minicozzi

As you can see from the pictures below, our educators use various instructional groupings depending on outcomes and the needs of the students in their charge. As one can imagine, each class includes students with various characteristics. The students learn at different rates. They come to a class with various experiences and background knowledge. Students differ in self-efficacy, self-concept, interest in school, motivation to learn, etc. Almost all students do better academically in classes where the class includes students with a wide range of academic abilities.

As the year progresses and students make academic gains, our educators must regularly change the groupings. Students in the same group for a long period can see various gains erode. It is wonderful to see our educators providing various instructional settings for students to succeed.

We have begun the Winter MAP Growth interim benchmarking. The NWEA MAP Growth (Literacy and Math) norms allow educators to compare a student's performance in the same grade at a comparable stage of the school year, across two assessments within a school year, or across school years. With this information, educators can:

• plan instruction for individual students or confer with parents
• evaluating student achievement and growth
• individualize instruction
• set achievement and growth goals for students or groups of students in a class or school

This is one of the various assessments we use to support student academic growth and success.

As students learn about their "voice," they are working on choosing words that will express what they are thinking. As we have learned, students grow their voices through building habits of mind that focus on both expressing and thinking clearly. At the secondary level, staff has been discussing how this is an essential key to the sense of empowerment they want their students to experience as they learn. When students commit to such dispositions or habits, trust will evolve. Misunderstandings can be resolved by learning from one another and by problem-solving.

Here are excerpts from an interview Ms. Smart did recently.

"Can you share with us the most interesting story that you shared in your book?

The most interesting tidbit from the book to me is actually a study, not a story, that describes the power of early conversation with infants and toddlers. The longitudinal research found that the children who were a part of more back-and-forth conversational exchanges when they were 18 to 24 months old had dramatically larger vocabularies, better language skills, and even higher IQs as middle schoolers than children who hadn’t had the same kind of ongoing dynamic conversations. That’s such a powerful illustration of the importance of the nurturing and talk that caregivers provide and its long-term impact. That’s information that should inspire all parents to talk more and do the little things in daily life that really do have a major impact for kids."

...

"Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?

One thing that we can do to address some of these reading challenges is to shout from the rooftops about the critical importance of nurturing babies and engaging in back-and-forth conversation with them from day one, even before they’re able to respond in words. We all need to let parents know to treat those coos, babbles, gestures, and eye gazes as communication. More caregivers need encouragement to tune in, respond, talk, introduce vocabulary, and give children the opportunity to learn and grow in infancy.

In terms of policy, we need to support paid parental leave so that parents are able to spend time in those early formative weeks having (and getting in the habit of having) the kinds loving, nurturing conversations, and exchanges that we know leave a lasting foundation for kids’ futures.

Additionally, we need to have affordable, accessible, high-quality early childhood education opportunities outside of the home for every family that needs them, which is most families. People want to place their children somewhere that’s clean and safe, but they also need to be able to leave their children with staff that is well paid and well trained, so that they too can engage in those brain-building nurturing exchanges that make a long-term impact for kids."

The complete can be found here.

The author's website can be found here.

The lottery has been completed. If you registered, you have received a letter home. There are seats available. You can still register at https://www.whufsd.com/o/chestnut-street/page/universal-pre-kindergarten and call 516--390-3150.

As per New York State Law, transportation applications to non-public schools must be filled out and submitted to the district on or before April 1st.

To streamline the process, we will no longer be mailing paper applications to each household.

Parents/Guardians are urged to follow this link: https://www.whufsd.com/page/transportation

The WHCSF scholarship application is now available. Please see their letter below.

Dear Parents,

Attached is the 2023 West Hempstead Community Scholarship (WHCSF) Application.

We are proud of our involvement with the students who live in West Hempstead, and along with you, hope to ensure a bright future for your child. College can open the door to so much growth and potential but costs at times, can be prohibitive. Our goal is to make a difference by awarding several scholarships in the amount of $2,500 per student.

If you or your child have any questions with regard to our organization or scholarships, you can contact me at 516-483-7627 or by emailing to whcommynityscholarshipfund@gmail.com

Sincerely,

Eileen Fennell, Chair

Maria Bhola,Co-Chair

WHCSF Selection Committee

Everyone involved is a volunteer focused on meeting student needs. The difference between a great school and a wonderful school community is the strong relationships between teachers, administrators, staff, and parents.

Why join?

• You can have your voice and perspective heard.

• You can fundraise to support programs and initiatives.

• You can learn about the school community, and they can learn about you.

• You can be “reflective.” Your children can submit their work to The National PTA’s Reflections program. This 50-year-old program provides opportunities for recognition and access to the arts. Students submit artworks in several categories based on the year’s theme.

Join today and follow on social media!

PTA Join: https://whepta.memberhub.com/store Twitter and Instagram @WHEPTA

SEPTA Join: https://1966.memberhub.com/store Twitter @WHSEPTARocks Instagram @WHSEPTA

PTSA Join: https://whptsa-10-285.memberhub.com/store Twitter and Instagram @WHPTSA

1/23-1/27 UPK Registration

1/27 End of Q2 and Semester 1

1/30 7:30 PM PTA Meeting - CA Cafeteria

2/1 7:30 PM SEPTA Meeting - CA Cafeteria

2/2 7:00 PM SS Guidance Night for students and families

2/3 K-6 Report Cards

SS Report cards viewable on PowerSchool

Email: drehman@whufsd.com
Website: www.whufsd.com
Location: 252 Chestnut Street, West Hempstead, NY, USA
Phone: 516-390-3000
Facebook: www.facebook.com/WhufsdRams
Twitter: @WhufsdRams