March at LES 2024

Dear LES Community,

Wishing you all well as we start to see the first signs of spring! Students are certainly enjoying the warmer temperatures at recess. It has been wonderful to see so many of our families at parent/teacher conferences this week! Together, we support our students' learning and progress at Lebanon Elementary School.

As we enter into the warmer months, our students and teachers are also preparing for end of year assessments for all students and the Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBAC) in third and fourth grade. Please stay tuned for these dates. In preparation for these assessments, I want to assure you that we are committed to creating a supportive and positive testing environment for all students. We will provide them with the necessary resources and guidance to help them feel confident and prepared. Additionally, I encourage you to talk to your child about the importance of these assessments and offer your support and encouragement. Remind them that the tests are an opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned throughout the year and to showcase their skills and abilities.

Please see our important dates below! Spring at LES becomes very busy and there are many wonderful events to attend.

Best,

Jess Scorso

Stephanie DeLucia-stephanie.delucia@lebanonct.org

LES celebrated Read Across America Day on Monday, March 4th. Read Across America Day was established in 1998 by the National Education Association as a way to motivate readers of all ages. LES had some special visitors read to our students to help celebrate. State representatives DeCaprio and Ackert and Superintendent Gonazalez read aloud to students. Lebanon Middle School principal Chad Johnson read to our fourth grade students. This was our first step in supporting our fourth graders as they prepare for their transition to middle school. Hero the Husky also visited classrooms to deliver Read Across America bookmarks.

LES is in year two of the iReady Classroom Mathematics program. Students are learning multiple strategies, engaging in lots of discourse to explain and justify their answers, and writing about their mathematical thinking. Families can support their child at home with math by getting resources from iReady’s Family Center.

Are you a PreK-1st grade parent looking for ways to help your child learn to read? If so, join me Thursday, March 21st, for a parent workshop that will provide parents with knowledge and tools to help your young reader.

Climate and Culture Specialist Update~February

Stephanie DeLucia-stephanie.delucia@lebanonct.org

LES will have our next PBIS assembly on March 22nd. One of LES’ school goals is to increase student agency, so students have more of a voice and choice in their learning. To foster student agency, LES’ PBIS committee surveyed our fourth grade students to let them determine our next Spirit Day. The students had many unique ideas including, Reptile Day, Yes Day, and Twin Day. Stay tuned for which Spirit Day our fourth graders chose! This will be announced at our next PBIS assembly. We recently held an LES Town Meeting with one of our wonderful bus drivers to help solve some consistent behavior challenges that were happening on the bus. Please continue to review bus safety rules with your child so we may work as a team to keep our students safe. LES fourth grade classes participated in lessons about gratitude. They learned what gratitude means and how to show gratitude. They also learned about the Ripple Effect and how gratitude is contagious. Fourth graders wrote thank you cards to people in our LES community that we are grateful for. Please feel free to reach out with any questions!

Happy Spring! March is a special month for math, as March 14th is Pi Day. Many students joined in the fun by telling our favorite “pi” joke and reading some story books on the topic. Ask your student if they have a favorite joke! If they do not, then please encourage them to pass by the Math Intervention Room and read the door. It is full of silly math jokes for students! Want to hear more math or “pi” jokes? Here are some resources to get you started at home!

• Pi Jokes for Kids from "We Are Teachers"

• 42 Kid-Friendly Jokes About Math and Numbers from "Parents" Magazine

• 40 Pi Day Jokes That Will Make Kids Laugh Out Loud

• 101 Math Jokes and Puns for Kids (and Everyone Else!)

Please feel free to reach out if you would like more strategies or resources on this topic. I am always happy to share!

Happy Math,

Mrs. Francis (Math Interventionist)

March 4-8 was School Social Worker Week. School Social Workers support the climate of the school through many different facets. At LES, our school social worker, Mr. Borkowski, provides counseling to students on 504s and IEPs, check-ins for students, instructs whole class social emotional lessons and connects outside community resources to our Lebanon families. If you have any questions about school social workers or need to reach out to the school social worker at LES, Mr. Borkowksi's direct line is 860-642-5693.

• Prek/K - PJ Donations-December

• First Grade - Animal Shelter donations-raised $300, Animal Shelter visited Tuesday, Oct 24

• Second Grade - Health and Beauty Donations to Lebanon Food Bank Jan 22-Feb 22-Collected 209 items!

• Third Grade -Kids Cards for Hospitalized Children (Chicago, IL) -75 cards

• Fourth Grade -Earth Day Project-April

• Office-CCMC PJ Day-December 8, 2023

• PE Jump Rope for Heart-February-We raised $3,392.92!

• SEALS-Holiday cards for local nursing home-December

• Parent-Teacher Conferences-March 14 and 15, 1:30-3:30pm

• First and Second Grades-Field Trip the Garde Arts-March 15, 8:45-12:15pm

• DEEP Trailer visit-Library-March 19

• Prek-1st Grade Family Reading Workshop-March 21, 6-7pm

• PBIS Assembly-March 22 at 2:15pm

• Prek Field Trip to JTL-March 22 at 9:30 and 12:45
  

• Report cards sent home-March 22

• No School-March 29
  
• April vacation-April 8-12
  
• Magic Flute assembly-April 15 at 2pm
  
• Kindergarten Orientation-April 18 at 6pm