News from the Nest

Hello Elm Street School Families and Friends,

We packed in A LOT of fun, engagement, and excitement into our short week this past week! A huge THANK YOU to all of our families who donated funds to PAC this year to help support two amazing programs that we were fortunate enough to experience this week. Mat Heagerty joined us to share his journey to becoming a author and had students in stitches as he shared his process and graphic novels with grade 2, 3, and 4 students on Tuesday. On Wednesday the whole school attended performances from Learnin' the Ropes and again through the generosity of PAC and Elm families, each student was able to take home a jump rope to practice and learn more this summer. These two enriching opportunities would not have been possible without the support of all our families who contributed to PAC fundraisers this year and donated their volunteer time as well. THANK YOU!

In this week's News from the Nest you will find additional information about:

• Upcoming Dates/Events: June
• May/June Counseling Newsletter
• Essentialist Newsletter: ART
• Elm Street School Field Day Sign Up REMINDER
• June Assembly Preview
• Math Update
• Battle of the Books Interest and Volunteer Form
• Elm Street School Council Meeting
• Elm Street School Talent Show Sign Up
• Elm Street School Gear Sale
• Walpole Middle School Information Night for Rising 6th Graders
• Walpole Road Race Information
• Elm 180 Fundraiser

I hope that everyone has some opportunities to enjoy some time outside this weekend and rest up for our last full week of the school year!

Jen

• Pride Month

• 6/3: 1:45p Incoming Kindergarten Peek and Practice

• 6/3: 6:00p Walpole Middle School Information Night for Incoming Grade 6 Families

• 6/4: Grade 5 Field Day

• 6/5: 8:45a/2:00p Grades 3-5/K-2 End of the School Year Assembly

• 6/5 3:15p Elm Street School Council Meeting

• 6/7: Elm Street School Field Day

• 6/10: 6:00p Elm Street School Talent Show

• 6/12: Grade 5 Celebration

• 6/13: Last Day Of School- 11:55a Dismissal

• 6/16: Father's Day

• 6/19: Juneteenth

• 6/20: Summer Solstice

Elm Street School Field Day is right around the corner and that means it's time to rally the volunteers! We need your help to make this day a success for our children. Please sign up now and plan to join in on the fun on Friday, June 7th!

In addition to the games, there are several other volunteers needed to assist with the following: set-up, clean-up, trail set-up, lunch and DJ supervisors, time keepers, and volunteer check-in.

IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU READ ALL NOTES BELOW BEFORE SIGNING UP!

IMPORTANT: Please be sure that you have an up to date CORI on file with the Walpole Public Schools. No CORI and you will not be able to volunteer! CORIs must be completed in person. Please bring a photo ID to the main office. CORI's are good for 3 years, so if you know you got checked last year, you should be good, but it's always good to check with Christina. She can be reached at clazzara@walpole.k12.ma.us

IMPORTANT: In the event of rain, our rain date is Monday, June 10th. When you sign up, please note if you CANNOT fulfill your volunteering duties on the rain date. Unless otherwise noted, we will assume you are available on both dates.

IMPORTANT: For those volunteering to work an indoor, outdoor and/or field event--- In order for all children to be able to enjoy and participate in all the stations, and to provide a smooth transition among volunteers, we have included extra time in the sign up for you to arrive early to learn your event and time to stay after to ensure that the next volunteers have arrived and understand the rules of the event.

IMPORTANT: On Field Day, all volunteers must check in at the Volunteer Check-in Station located at the main office entrance.

IMPORTANT: Due to safety concerns, younger/older siblings are not permitted at this school event.

IMPORTANT: Have you signed up for multiple time slots? If you have signed up for a numbered station time slot (example: Grade 5 water games station #6) you CANNOT OVERLAP with another numbered station time slot! If you are not at a numbered station time slot when it starts, the kids can't do the event. Arriving a few minutes late to a DJ supervision, face painting etc, is OK if it allows you to work a numbered station event before/after.

IMPORTANT: Parking at Elm Street can often times be a challenge. Please be safe and courteous to those entering and/or exiting. Carpooling is very much encouraged. Please allow ample time to park and walk to front door to check in and be on time!

IMPORTANT: If you have any questions regarding the sign up genius, please email Erin @erinharrington22@gmail.com

Field Day 2024 Sign Up

Questions? Email us at erinharrington22@gmail.com or meghanhurley16@gmail.com

The focus of our June assembly will be reflecting on and celebrating all of the hard work and accomplishments of our students and staff throughout the school year. We will follow a similar format to our previous assemblies and it can be found below:

• Welcome and Greeting
• Group Share (Slideshow of student work)
• Announcements and Celebrations (from Student Council)
• Meet the Teachers (introductions of grade level teachers and specialists as a preview to next year)
• Staff Gratitude
• Dismissal

As we come to the end of our second year with the new Bridges Math Curriculum, it is wonderful to see the teachers and students embrace Number Corner, Work Places and the use of Number Strings to build number sense, increase critical math thinking and improve math discourse. The deep mathematical thinking that is happening in our classrooms from kindergarten to grade 5 is impressive. At every grade level students have learned to use new tools, visual models and strategies to improve their efficiency as mathematicians.

We have taken some time to analyze the data from last year to this year in regard to unit tests and Number Corner check ins and we already see growth at all grade levels. The percentage of students reaching mastery is growing because both the teachers and students are more familiar with the curriculum. The vertical alignment embedded in Bridges helps students bridge their learning from one year to the next strengthening their conceptual understanding of the standards.

Of course, we have also continued to utilize ST Math as a supplement to our Bridges Curriculum and for the second year in a row the entire district has reached the 100% puzzle progress goal. This year, schools strived to reach 80% for all students and every school improved their overall percentage of students who succeeded in hitting that benchmark. More importantly the goals achieved, incentives and celebrations have helped improve overall math disposition for students throughout the district. We see it in their smiles, their eagerness to solve the next puzzle, and how they verbalize to anyone who will listen how many puzzles they solved or what percentage they are at.

We couldn’t be more proud of our students and staff and the growth we have seen around our mathematics curriculum over the past two years. We are excited to see where we will be at this point next year. In the Summer Edition S’more that will come out in June, we will provide ideas and links for how to keep your children engaged in fun mathematics over the summer to keep their skills sharp and ready for the challenges of the next school year.

First I want to thank Aimee Gagne, Silpa Pande, Colleen Campbell, Moriah Boulos, Jaclyn Small, Kelsey Flanagan, Tini Cantrell, Lynne Cook, Nichole Morasse, Kim Farley, Elizabeth Ryan, and Michelle Perron for spending time together with me this past month digging into Battle of the Books and finding solutions to the challenges we were facing with the current model while also exploring other non-competition based ways to celebrate literacy learning at Elm.

We are excited to announce the return of Battle of the Books for next year along with several other all school literacy celebration events that will be developed this summer! Battle of the Books will relaunch this fall contingent on enlisting enough family/caregiver support and volunteers. We are looking for about 15 - 30 family volunteers.

For those of you who may not be familiar with this program, it is an OPTIONAL friendly reading competition between students where teams are given a list of titles to read. At the end of the program, the teams will collaborate to answer questions that test their knowledge of the stories. The questions are in the form of: “In what book…” and teams then decide on the correct title and author of the book that answers the question. Teams will consist of 5-7 students from across grades 3, 4, & 5. The competition will begin in October of the 2024-2045 school year and end before the Winter Break in December.

This form will be used to give our Relaunch Team the opportunity to "jump start" the preparations over the summer. Please note, this form is not binding; the "official" registration will happen in September of 2024. Included in the form is the option to indicate your interest in volunteering to support Battle of the Books.

Important things to consider:

• The majority of the reading will be done at home.
• Copies of each book will be available in the Elm Street School library, and, in many cases, the Walpole Public Library. For those who would prefer, purchasing books is also an option; we will collaborate with Park Street Books in Medfield to create an "Elm Battle" book section.
• Students (with teacher guidance) are responsible for working with their team to divide up the book list fairly, keeping in mind the book level and the grade level of the members. Once this is agreed upon, students are responsible for reading the books they were assigned.
• Students are responsible for taking notes or completing a google form to share information about their books with their group members.
• There will be some after school team meetings during the competition window

If you and your child(ren) are interested, please fill out one form per child!

Our School Council will meet for the final time this school year on Wednesday June 5th at 3:15p in the Elm Street School Media Center. If you are unable to join us in person you can attend online here: meet.google.com/sos-gkbe-diy

Below is the agenda:

• Celebrations and Announcements
• School Improvement Work
• Community Concerns
• Public Comment
• Action Steps

You can find all agendas and minutes from previous meetings here.

Our Elm Student Council is organizing a K-5 Talent Show. The plan is for the show to be on Monday June 10th from 6:00 - 8:00p in the Elm Cafetorium.

Please see the flyer below for more information and sign up to participate. Acts for the Talent Show should be no more than 2-3 minutes. If we have an overwhelming number of interested groups/individuals we may hold an audition to choose participants for the final show.

Our Student Council has partnered with the Run House here in Walpole to sell Elm Street School and Walpole gear. 10% of sales from our online shop will be donated to the Walpole Council on Aging. Visit our online shop here: https://therunhouse.com/collections/elm-street-school

I hope to see many of our Eagles and their families this year alongside me at the Walpole Labor Day Road Race in September!

Registration is now open for the 51st Annual Walpole Labor Day Road Race! Don’t miss this wonderful Walpole tradition. Sign-up now for the 5K, 10K, or Youth Mile. All proceeds support the 200+ athletes in the Walpole High School Cross Country / Track & Field Program. Each race participant will receive a finisher’s medal. If you register before August 15th, you’ll also receive a free race t-shirt! Can’t join us live? No problem. We have virtual editions for both the 5K and 10K races. For additional information and to register online, please visit www.walpoleroadrace.org. See you on Race Day - Monday, September 2nd!

Email: jbuller@walpole.k12.ma.us
Website: https://www.walpole.k12.ma.us/o/ess
Location: 415 Elm Street, Walpole, MA, USA
Phone: 508.660.7374