The Quokka

Dear Parents,

Thank you for joining us on Halloween for the Boowl-a-thon! We enjoyed seeing all the kiddos in costume and adults too! We hope you enjoyed the rest of your day and the rain didn't dampen too much of the fun!

Teachers are hard at work preparing reports and getting ready for parent-teacher conferences. Please be sure to use the Sign-Up Genius links to sign up for a conference time. More details about Reporting and Conferences is included in the News to Note section below.

Thank you to those that have already participated in a Bylaw Engagement Session to learn more about proposed Bylaw changes and get your questions answered. We appreciate your care and commitment to our school. There's still time to sign up for a session. Please use the Sign Up Genius to view available dates and times.

Have a wonderful week!

Warm regards,

Elaine Kennedy, Head of School & Pauline Nagle, Associate Head of School

Wed 11/02: Bylaws Engagement Session 6:30p

Fri 11/04: School Spirit Day and Pizza Lunch Friday

Wed 11/09: No School (All Levels) Parent-Teacher Conferences

Fri 11/11: School Spirit Day and Pizza Lunch Friday

Mon 11/14: Bylaws Engagement Session 6:30p

Tue 11/15: Elementary Explorers Trip, Bylaws Engagement Session 6:30p

Thu 11/17: No School (All Levels) Parent-Teacher Conferences

Fri 11/18: School Spirit Day and Pizza Lunch Friday

Mon 11/21: Celebrating our 50th DAY OF SCHOOL!

Wed-Fri 11/23-25: No School - Thanksgiving Break (no childcare)

Tue 11/29: Half-Day for Elementary only (11:30 dismissal) Parent-Teacher Conferences

Fri. 12/02: Holiday Workshop Potluck & Crafts 5:30p

We are so excited to announce that we are an official drop-off site for @SoldiersAngels Official Treats for Troops program! This great program collects excess Halloween candy and ships it to deployed service members and hands it out to veterans in VA hospitals across the country! Thank you, Kristen Haas, for organizing!

We will have a drop-off box in the front office for all those extra Halloween sweets. So, please stop by the front office during school hours between Tuesday 11/1 through end of day Tuesday 11/8 and drop off those treats to sweeten a soldier's day!

At New Morning School, we provide a written narrative report about your child's progress in school in November and June for students in Kindergarten through 8th grade. You can expect to receive your child's narrative report in November in your family mail slot during the week of November 7. It is helpful if you review your child's report before parent-teacher conferences.

For Parent-Teacher Conferences, the November session is designed to discuss how your child's social-emotional learning and executive skills are developing as they have adjusted to the new school year. If you have specific areas you would like to discuss during the 25 minute conference, it can be helpful if you share your questions with your child's teachers in advance via email.

In Preschool, your child's teacher will share with you some work samples and also focus on social learning at this first conference.

If you would like to meet with our special area teachers, please send them an email to make arrangements for a conference. They each have a unique schedule, so it's best to communicate directly with them to schedule.

Art - Andrea Schroeder andrea@newmorningschool.com

Learning Support Program - Patti Vassas patti@newmorningschool.com

PE - Jason Bengel jpbengel@yahoo.com

Science - Russell Lightfoot russell@newmorningschool.com

Spanish - Carolina Salas (email Kit at nms@newmorningschool.com)

At New Morning, we see the parent-teacher relationship as a team partnership in your child's educational journey. We look forward to having some time to spend with you.

Links to Conference Sign-Ups

Preschool - Marisa https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4AA5AC23AAFAC16-fall1

Preschool - Danielle https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0f48a8ad2fa2fbc34-preschool1

Primary K-1 https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0e4aa9ad2ca6f4c70-parent

Elementary https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080e48aaa72ba4fa7-conferences2

Middle School https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050845aca829a1fe3-parent

Do you like to craft? Do you like to organize parties? Then this volunteer opportunity is for you!

We need 2 amazing parents to co-chair this event to help us organize and plan the details.

We also need 15 fun-loving holiday crafters that would like to provide a short how-to lesson on making a simple craft. Kids will make the craft at your table and take it home.

You can sign up to co-chair or for a crafting station using the Sign-Up link here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F054EADA72DA7FE3-holiday

This month we will continue to find sponsors, advertisers and merchandise for our Live and Remote Auction. Also, keep selling those raffle tickets!

Due Dates for Family Commitments:

Friday, December 9 - 75% Merchandise, Raffle & Ticket Commitment Due (Ticket Sales coming soon!)

Monday, January 30 - Advertising & Sponsorship Deadline

Friday, February 2 - 100% Merchandise, Raffle & Ticket Commitment Due

Questions? Contact our Co-Chairs!

Jillian Beckley 734-751-1069 jillianbeckley@gmail.com

Elizabeth Scero 734-637-3142 elizabeth.scero@gmail.com

Bylaw Engagement Sessions: There are 7 small group discussion meeting times over the next two months. Please RSVP for one group meeting. We encourage every parent to participate. Click on the picture below to sign-up. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f054eada72da7fe3-small

Preschool Teachers:

Marisa Downs marisa@newmorningschool.com

Danielle Provencher danielle@newmorningschool.com

Preschool Lead Aide: Crystal Gerwatowski

Preschool News

The lead up to Halloween has been a fun time in our classrooms with lots of writing to our Magic Pumpkins, counting down until the Bool-a-Thon, and Halloween themed reading, art, science, and math. We hope you had a special and memorable Halloween and restful day after.

Parent teacher conference time is upon us. Please use the links below or check your email for sign ups. We look forward to talking with you about your child’s preschool experience. If you have any trouble, please reach out. The dates are Wednesday 11/9 and Thursday 11/17.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4AA5AC23AAFAC16-fall1- Marisa’s Conference Sign Up

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0f48a8ad2fa2fbc34-preschool1 Danielle’s Conference Sign Up

This is a short week, so we will review the letters we’ve covered so far. They are C, O, A, D, and G. Keep hunting for the letters in text, and maybe try building some words out of them. Blending the beginning, middle and ending sounds might be a perfect challenge for some friends. The teachers have been doing an excellent job bringing in items and engaging their friends. Thanks parents for helping them be prepared!

Have a wonderful week!

~Danielle and Marisa

Teacher: Lucy Bratt lucy@newmorningschool.com

K-1 Lead Aide: Shelley Blakeney

Dear Parents,

There was a spooky feel to our classroom last week! Stories and yoga were all Halloween themed, as were Gym, Spanish and Music classes.

Our main event was the construction of our truly magnificent haunted house. The children worked collaboratively, using their knowledge of 3D shapes, to build a wonderfully spooktacular example of a haunted house. They shared ideas, they helped each other, they evaluated their structure as they went along and made alterations as needed. They are extremely proud of their finished product, and rightfully so. I am most proud of the way they truly worked together, by sharing, taking turns and using kindness.

We used mathematical knowledge to build the haunted house itself, and then had a go at some sensory writing to describe what we thought it would be like inside the haunted hallways and revolting rooms.

This week we shall continue writing about the haunted house using descriptive adjectives. The children will also be drawing monsters as the occupants of the house, then bringing them to life using animation technology. Finally, to bring this project to a close we will be taking on the role of realtors to advertise and market the house, hopefully resulting in a sale if we get the price right!

We also had a special visitor for Show & Tell on Friday, when Quinn shared her beautiful Angora bunny with us. The children were very excited to meet Dolly, and she was very patient while they all petted and fed her. Thank you so much Christa McKindles for bringing Dolly in!

Finally, parent-teacher conferences are on November 9th and 17th. Please use the Sign Up Genius I sent last week to book a slot at your convenience. Thank you!

Ms. Lucy

Teacher: Russell Lightfoot russell@newmorningschool.com

Hi Everyone,

Here's an update to let you know what's been going on in science and STEM over the last few weeks.

Middle School - We are coming to the end of our unit on natural disasters. The students worked in groups to write a weather report script for a severe hurricane that is in progress. We started to understand how we can forecast where and when tsunamis will happen and which communities are at risk. We investigated what can be done to reduce damage from a tsunami wave and the students rated each solution based on certain criteria. Next we moved on to understanding how tsunamis are detected and how the Dart II system works. Currently we are working on ways we can communicate with people before and during a tsunami, taking account that different groups of people will have different needs.

5th grade - As part of our ‘Web of Life’ topic we have been learning about what plants eat? The students did some research on a giant sequoia tree in California, named General Sherman, which weighs over 4 million lbs. We conducted an experiment using balloons and a homemade balance scale to help us to find out that air does actually weigh something. Next we will investigate where all of the fallen leaves go.

4th grade - The students have been learning about what it is that makes roller coasters go so fast. We made tracks and used marbles to conduct a collision experiment on a ride called the Bumper Coaster. We have just started to think about why the first hill on a roller coaster is always the highest, and have some experiments planned to help us to find out why.

2nd/3rd grade - We have learned about how scientists know what dinosaurs looked like by studying various fossils that have been found and thinking about clues that will help us to find out answers. We have also tried to find out if we could outrun a dinosaur. We will do an experiment in the gym this week to test this out!

K/1 - The students had fun learning about how birds use their beaks. They used pretend beaks to see if they could gather food from the floor, trying to avoid any rocks at the same time. Next we started to think about why baby ducks follow their mothers and also other young animals. We also started to think about camouflage and tried to find some animals that were hidden in their habitat.

STEM (elementary and middle school) On Monday 10th October we had a great time doing some STEM activities with the visiting grandparents and special friends. We did a team ball carry, a cup stack challenge and tried to build a tall structure out of foam blocks.

We took advantage of some milder weather to build a structure outside using natural materials that would support the weight of a book.

Elementary students have started to build and decorate a wooden race car which we will complete in the coming weeks.

Middle School students had a go flying our new drones outside.

We also had fun doing some halloween STEM, floating ghosts and making witches brew!

Salmon in the Classroom - I wanted to let everyone know that we are participating in the salmon in the classroom project again this year. The middle school students have already been helping me set up the tank and filters and check the chemicals in the water. I will pick up the eggs on Friday 18th November and I know all students are excited to be part of this project.

If any families have an interest in helping with this project please send me an email: russell@newmorningschool.com. It’s not too difficult to look after them. I’m out of town over Thanksgiving break and also at Christmas so please let me know if you would be interested.

Happy Halloween,

Mr. Russell

Teachers:

Hannah Diaz hannah@newmorningschool.com

Christine Jansen christine@newmorningschool.com
Cynthia Weber cynthia@newmorningschool.com

EL Lead Aide: Karen Staples

Magic Pumpkin

Goodbye Barty Bat and Wanda Witch! We enjoyed having you and writing letters to you.

Boowl-a-Thon

We love seeing everyone dressed up in their costumes for Boowl-a-Thon! It was fun watching everyone having fun together! It was great being able to bring back an old tradition.

Conferences

The Sign Up Genius link went out last week for everyone to select a time that works for them to come in and talk about your sweet scholar. If you haven't had an opportunity to sign up yet, here is the link!

Early Explorers "Trip"

We are continuing our studies of Early Explorers and preparing for our "trip." We trust everyone is working on their outfits to look the part! It really helps them feel their roles when they see everyone dressed in costume. Just a reminder: The "trip" is on Tuesday, November 15th.

Santa Shop

Last year we hosted our first Santa Shop in many years and are planning on having it again this year. We would like to have some parents to help setting up, running and closing up. Let me know if you are interested.

Make Something

We had another great make something on Friday! Lots of creative minds!

Have a great week,

Christine, Hannah and Cynthia

Teachers:

Linda Hyde linda@newmorningschool.com

Nicole Matoian nicolem@newmorningschool.com

Greeting Middle School Parents!

Here's hoping that you enjoyed the long Halloween weekend and Boowl-a-thon!

We are happy to see that so many of you have signed up for Parent Teacher Conferences. As a reminder, Conferences are for Parents, but if you so desire, students may join the conference for the last ten minutes, but it is not required.

This will be a short academic week. In Language Arts, students will take the quiz on Poetry terms on Thursday which will give us some time to review on Wednesday. The test will end our Poetry Writing Unit, and next week we will begin a new reading unit on the theme of "The Outsider." Students will write a Vocabulary Story #7 on words that they submitted on October 28th. The story will be due on Friday, November 4th.

In Social Studies, students will begin a longer study of prominent Renaissance Period artists, and will do considerable research into those artists and their famous works of art.

In Math, Group A will begin a new unit on ratios and begin learning ratio language. We will work to strengthen our mastery of multiplication and division facts to help us understand ratios better. Group B will continue working with proportional relationships to solve problems involving constant speed and the distance traveled. Group C will review material on Wednesday when we return to our normal class schedule, for a short quiz on congruence, alternate interior angles, and parallel lines. The quiz will be on Friday.

Just a reminder that there is no school on Tuesday for Teacher Records Day.

Looking forward to seeing you at Conferences!

Ms. Linda and Ms. Nicole

Office Phone: 734.420.3331

Email: nms@newmorningschool.com

Elaine Kennedy, Head of School elaine@newmorningschool.com

Pauline Nagle, Associate Head of School pauline@newmorningschool.com

Joan Barrett, Admissions Director joan@newmorningschool.com

Kit Zrull, Administrative Assistant nms@newmorningschool.com