All community members are invited to complete an online survey and attend a Community Conversation, which will be facilitated by associates of Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates (HYA), a consulting firm that specializes in assisting School Boards with the consideration of candidates for superintendent, on April 10 at noon and 7:30 pm, via Zoom. The link for the survey and the Zoom link for the Community Conversations can be found at klschools.org/superintendentsearch.
From Superintendent Andrew Selesnick
As you may know, on April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will occur and be visible in northern parts of New York State. This is a rare and exciting astronomical event. The next such eclipse won’t be visible in New York State until 2079. In our area, although the total eclipse will not be visible, a partial eclipse will occur between approximately 2:00 and 4:30 pm, with peak coverage (about 90% of the sun) occurring at 3:26 pm.
So, why is your school superintendent writing to you about this solar phenomenon? I’m writing because the eclipse presents both exciting educational opportunities and some safety concerns(related to the day and timing of the event). We have been considering both and want to share our plans with you, so that our families can plan accordingly.
Our schools will be in session for their regular hours on Monday, April 8. It is the first day after our Spring Break. At all grade levels, during science instruction, teachers will present age-appropriate lessons relevant to the eclipse. They will include safety tips about not looking directly at the sun without appropriate protection. I also encourage families to review safety information (see link above) with your children at home.
Towards the end of the school day, all schools will supply students and staff with NASA-approved eclipse viewing safety glasses. At our middle and high schools, the school day ends and students are dismissed before the peak eclipse. The glasses are provided in case students wish to view the eclipse, with their family’s permission, after the school day.
At our elementary schools, dismissal coincides with the peak eclipse time. Students will be walking to their buses (or cars) and, knowing that they may be tempted to look up, we want to offer as much safety as we can by providing these glasses (which students will be asked to wear).
We will not be supervising viewings of the eclipse during the school day. If any family wishes to have their child(ren) dismissed from school to view this rare solar event as a family, we understand and we will consider this an excused absence. Please notify your school following typical attendance procedures no later than Thursday, March 28.
Optional Input Class Placement Form for 24-25
We will soon begin the process of creating student groupings for class placement for the 2024-2025 school year. This is an extensive collaboration that includes the classroom teachers, service providers, specialists, administration, and parents. If you choose to participate, please click the link below to access the Optional Class Placement Input Form for your child.
The only accepted feedback regarding class placement can be through the form which is equitable and in the best interest of all children. This optional online input form may be used to provide us with unique insights about your child, including strengths and needs. Additionally, if your family has twins, please indicate whether you want the children separated by class or placed together.
If you choose to provide input about your child, please know that we may not be able to honor requests for children to be placed with or separated from other students. Please refrain from making requests for preferred teachers and from making negative requests for specific teachers unless your family has had direct previous experience, in which case, the request will be considered.
The form should be completed by the parent/guardians of students currently in grades K-4 only. Also, please complete a separate form for each child in your family.
The online form must be submitted by 4 pm on Tuesday, April 30. The input form will no longer be available beyond this date. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
K-5 April Curriculum Highlights
Each month, we will be providing curriculum highlights from each grade level. Please know that these are snapshots and do not reflect all the curriculum and learning in the classroom.
Kindergarten: In reading, students will apply their experience with CVC words to decode longer words with consonant blends and digraphs and the beginning and at the end. Students will also expand their bank of sight words - the words they recognize "in a snap". Students will have multiple opportunities to practice regular and irregular high-frequency words in isolation and in context. In writing, students will study mentor texts and try out techniques from authors to help develop their How-To books and go back and revise prior books. Students will begin writing How-To books to help their school community. Students will also be encouraged to write a series or collection of how-to books to share with their classmates. In math, students will explore numbers to twenty.
Grade 1: During reading and word work, first graders will continue to develop their vowel knowledge. They will work on being flexible when reading words with harder vowel teams that don’t represent the long or short sound instead, a whole new sound. Students will be introduced to a new syllable type. So far this year in Fundations we have been working with closed syllables. The children are now learning about words with the vowel-consonant -e syllable pattern. Writers have begun writing reviews about some of their favorite places and things. They are developing their writing by learning about components of convincing reviews followed by reasons and explanations of those reasons. In math children will learn different tools and strategies to add two- digit numbers including concrete models, drawings, and place-value. In science, first graders will begin a new unit, Spinning Earth to study patterns in the sky.
Grade 2: After Spring Break, second graders will continue to work on different ways to spell the long e sound during phonics and compound words during Word Work. Homophones also continue to be a focus as the students study different vowel teams. In ELA students are growing their knowledge of insects by researching and publishing informational text on their bug of choice. Continued work on landforms and how they change due to erosion is happening in science. Second graders will finish up their work with place value and then continue onto addition and subtraction of 3-digit numbers within 1,000.
Grade 3: In April, third graders will begin a new English language arts unit, Animal Research Clubs. A favorite among teachers and students alike, this unit begins with students exploring nonfiction texts about an animal. Students learn to synthesize information across texts, organizing what they are learning about each subtopic. In Fundations, students will learn that the final stable syllable is a syllable found at the end of a multisyllabic word. In math, we are wrapping up our unit on time and measurement and will begin exploring attributes of two-dimensional shapes. Finally, in social studies, we will focus on understanding our economy. Students will learn how goods and services are bought and sold at market and explain the effects of supply and demand.
Grade 4: In April, fourth graders will continue reading fictional and informational texts independently and focus on bridging connections between parts of the story. They will also continue writing structured essays and responses that will require them to analyze, unpack, and integrate text evidence to support a claim. In addition, they will work on comparing two texts, finding common themes or main ideas, and elaborating on their thoughts. In math, students will begin their study of geometry, focusing on lines, angles, shapes, and symmetry. Then, they will dive into measurement conversions, specifically looking at how at how to convert one unit of measurement to another. Students will continue their exploration of vision and light in science, identifying the physical structures in animal eyes, and how each structure plays an important role in how we see. They will even learn about the importance of low versus high-sensitivity light receptors and how they impact our activities and eating habits during the day and at night. Finally, in social studies, students will continue learning about the American Revolution, with an exciting focus on spies during the war!
Grade 5: After returning from spring break, 5th grade students will spend a short time continuing to fine tune their interpretative reading skills and building their reading and writing stamina. Part of this work will be done through poetry as students look for themes and main ideas in poems and connect them to other texts. This will allow learners to grow their understanding of figurative language and poetic techniques such as inner thinking, white space, and repetition. In math, students will learn how to represent data through line plots. They will delve into measurement including the customary and metric systems. Finally, students will develop their skills with calculating volume using cubic units. Studying the particulate nature of matter through the Modeling Matter unit in science will continue in April.
Belonging at IMES
In our March Sharing Assemblies for both K-2 and 3-5, we highlighted Women's History Month and recognized notable leaders both past and present. We also recognized Irish American Heritage Month by welcoming two bagpipers who played traditional Irish music. One of our performers was a second grade parent, Mr. O'Donnell! The children enjoyed learning about the instrument too!
April is Neurodiversity Awareness Month! This month is a celebration of differences that help us to learn, grow and understand each other better. By embracing diversity, we can create an inclusive environment where everyone feels welcomed and valued.
Social Emotional Learning
April is the POWER OF YET! During our March assemblies, we introduced our April common read, The Magical Yet by Angela DiTerlizzi. This picture book reminds us all that we all have things we haven't learned...yet! The book encourages resiliency and how you might not be good at something...yet!
Students from each class continue to receive Eagle Eye Awards! Students who demonstrated Kind, Responsible, and Safe expectations were recognized and their group photos will be shared on our digital board! Thank you to Eddie the Eagle for celebrating our students with us.
SEL: Our Clinicians, Dr. Schwartz, Ms. Nolan, and Ms. Ryan
The topic for the April SEL K-5 lessons will be bullying. Lessons will define what bullying is, explain what it means to be a bystander and an upstander. Students will also learn what to do if they are being bullied and how to help others.
Students in grades K-2 will learn concepts while reading “ One”, by Kathryn Otoshi. A story that uses colors and numbers to learn about accepting each other’s differences and how it sometimes just takes one voice to make everyone count. Students in grades 3-5 will take part in an activity called “crumpled heart” which helps children to understand the lasting impact that bullying can have and how important it is to be kind.
Shout Outs!
Thank you to Juli Hoffman for leading our PARP - Pick A Reading Partner - focus in March! The PARP calendar of activities, book swap, book bracket competition, and Reading Under the Stars were among the many ways we celebrated reading!
Thank you to our many IMES teachers for reading books for the book bracket competition and for reading books at Reading Under the Stars!
Thank you to our PTO leaders and teachers for supporting the IMES PTO Spelling Bee! Congratulations to all our students who participated and for being so brave!
Thank you to the PTO's Bulletin Board Teams for creating beautiful boards!
Thank you to all our teachers and staff for continuing to create a sense of belonging and teach our students new concepts, skills, and strategies each and everyday!
Thank you to our families for volunteering at school and supporting your children with learning at home!
Thank you to our students for demonstrating Kind, Responsible, and Safe behaviors and for working hard each day!
