Nantucket Elementary School

Dear Families,

Last week, we welcomed a new substitute teacher. Half way through her day, she reported to the NES Office staff that she loved it at NES because our school was so warm, welcoming, and happy. We love that kind of feedback, and we hope that you are all feeling the same way.

Routines have been firmly established in most classrooms and spaces around NES. Be sure to talk with your child about these routines. Ask them: what do you do during math time in your classroom? What do you do when you go into music? What happens during SEL classes? These are great questions to have students explain the details about their days - share specifics and topics they are learning about. Talking about their school day helps children remember new concepts. Teaching someone helps children really comprehend new material. Please try this out!!

In addition to talking about the day with your child, please be sure they are reading nightly. All students in Grades K-2 are now bringing home books they can read or they have had practice with in school. Please make time and space for this after school. Some nights there will be math homework too. Know this, we want your children to try these and to practice. We do not want them to be stressed about this - nor do we want you to be stressed. If a child is struggling with school work at home, please just let your child's teacher know and send it back with questions.

Our lost and found table at NES is already filled up with coats, hats, gloves, water bottles, etc. Every month, we will bring the Lost and Found table out in front for parents to come check for missing items.

As we always say, we need you the parents and adult family members to be partners with us in your child's education. An important role that you play is to be a model for our high expectations. Please review these 3 sections, with a few very important reminders, and let us know if you have any questions.

Attendance - we are starting to see some students with higher absence numbers. It is very important that you notify your child's teacher or call the front office if your child is going to be absent. You can send a message to your child's teacher through REMIND or call the front office to leave a message regarding your child's absence at (508) 228 - 7290 ext, 3. If your child needs to miss 5 or more consecutive days, you must make an appointment with the principal well in advance of upcoming absence. The NES Parent Handbook has been posted on the NES website (www.npsk.org, click on schools, click on Nantucket Elementary School). Please review the important section on attendance. Retention in the current grade level is a possibility if a child has excessive absences. Children being in school each day is a necessity.

Driving and Parking on the NES/NIS campus

We have had several concerns shared regarding safety of students as they enter and exit the school recently. These concerns have been regarding parent drivers not following safety rules. These are listed below for your reference. We appreciate all of your anticipated efforts and required patience.

• NES will open in the morning at 7:35am. Students who are walking, biking or getting dropped off should go right to the doors (front one or the Kindergarten one) to come in and make their morning choice. Prek students line up outside in the front of the school.
• If parents wish to escort their child to the door, they must park their car in the Backus Lane parking lot ONLY.
• The parking lot off of First Way, behind the school is for staff only.
• All of the parking spots are assigned to staff or students at NHS.
• Parents and Guardians should not use that lot for any reason.
• This is a terrible place for students to be dropped off, this is not a drive through, and there is nowhere for any non permitted driver to park.
• Again, please stop driving in this lot. We are asking you to be a model for all children in the morning and the afternoon.
• Drive through drop off in the morning is permitted at the K and NES/NIS side entrances. This means parents stay in their car, and a staff member will open the passenger side door to help your child exit safely. Then, the car continues driving out the exit. This is for all students.
• Drive through pick up in the afternoon is permitted for all students grades 2-5 in the large circle between NES and NIS. This means parents stay in their car, and a staff member will oversee students entering cars. Then, the car continues driving out the exit.
• K and 1 students are met by parents at the back K entrance. Students will be standing in their assigned class lines.
• The circles and driveways on campus ARE NOT PARKING SPACES. An adult driver must stay in the car while waiting for students to exit or enter the car.
• At dismissal, all parents will continue to wait outside for students to dismiss from their teachers (kindergarten circle for kindergarten and first grade students, outside of the front door for second grade students).
• In the event of inclement weather (severe snow or rain), kindergarten and first grade students will be dismissed out the kindergarten and cafeteria doors to parents outside and second grade students will be dismissed out the gymnasium doors to parents outside.
• Drivers may not pull into the bus loop to pick-up their children EVER.

Remind App is a wonderful tool for both educators and families! We know this. We know our teachers love being able to communicate with the whole class as well as individually. We know that you, the parents, love this tool too! It is wonderful that this tool allows us to communicate in multiple languages. One caution for us to share is that teachers may not be able to respond to messages you send during the school day. They are teaching and not hanging onto their phones. You may not get a reply until after school dismisses.

Know that Mrs. Kimberly Albertson, Assistant Principal, and myself are always available to support you. Feel free to call the school to set up appointments, call to speak with us, email us, or catch us outside in the morning and/or afternoon. We love feedback and want you to feel comfortable reaching out to us as needed!

Best,

Kim Kubisch and Kim Albertson

Meri Lepore's Nurse's Corner

The fall is a great time to get your flu (Influenza) shot. There is significant research that getting the flu vaccine can decrease the severity of the flu. Every year children and adults get gravely ill from Influenza. Also if your child has a fever they must stay home until they are 24 hours fever free without medication before returning to school. We are trying very hard to keep all of our students healthy and vaccines, good hand hygiene and staying home when sick will help us to achieve this!

We have also seen quite a bit of hand, foot and mouth and lice throughout the school in the past month.

The Health Office has started vision and hearing screening, if your student does not pass, we will be sending home letters.

Meri Lepore RN, FNP-BC

School Nurse

Nantucket Elementary School

leporem@npsk.org

Counselor's Corner

During the months of October and November, students will focus on the important topic of bullying prevention and our ongoing commitment to fostering a safe and inclusive school environment through the Second Step program.

Bullying can have a significant impact on a child’s emotional well-being and their academic performance. At Nantucket Elementary School, we take a strong stance against bullying and are dedicated to creating a safe and respectful learning environment for all our students.

The Second Step program is an integral part of our comprehensive approach to bullying prevention. It teaches students vital social-emotional skills, including empathy, problem-solving and emotion management. During SEL classes, the counseling team will be teaching students what the definition of bullying is, recognizing the signs of bullying, reporting incidents, and what the role of a bystander and upstander is.

Additionally, the counseling team will begin our small group work with students. Group work is designed to continue to build on the student's social-emotional strengths by providing a space where students may practice skills such as self-management, responsible decision-making, and optimistic thinking with their peers.

Be on the lookout for Second Step Homelink opportunities which will be coming home with your child(ren). The Home Links provide an opportunity for parents and guardians to reinforce key topics, skills, and activities to encourage continued learning. Please reach out if you have any questions or concerns about bullying prevention or the Second Step program.

Thank you for your partnership in promoting a respectful and inclusive school community.

Heidi Smith

Elementary School Counselor

smithh@npsk.org

Jenny Williams

Elementary School Counselor

williamsje@npsk.org

Madeleine Sybert

Elementary School Social Worker

sybertm@npsk.org

Prek Update

In October our PreK finished up our first 6 weeks of school setting up our routines and learning our classroom expectations. We learned about fall, fire safety, our five senses as well as Halloween. We have all had visits to our classroom by Mr. Fox, who joins us to have snack and read us stories. We have also had a visit from Firefighter Ramos to learn about fire safety and Officer Thompson taught us about Halloween safety! With learning about our five senses we were able to bring a lot more science into our classrooms as well as some scavenger hunts when we learned about fall. We are excited for our first whole grade level snack on Halloween!

Kindergarten Update

Kindergarten is working on becoming confident readers. We will have our We Are Readers Celebration on Tuesday October 31 beginning at 8:30am. The picture is up above! Families are welcome to come see the parade by waiting outside of the NES cafeteria on the grass part of the circle. We are working on learning numbers to 10 and the lowercase letters and sounds. These are easy things to practice at home. Make sure you are reading every night with your child!

First Grade Update

First grade is off to a great start! We have been working on learning about the order of numbers from 1-120. During writing we have been writing small moments from our lives. We have been scientists learning about how to light our way in the dark. We are becoming readers who are learning about all the strategies we know to help us be better readers! First graders have been learning about the continents and maps in our world.

Second Grade Update

Second grade is in full swing! During the month of September, we have learned and practiced our CARES. When we use our CARES, we are successful and confident students. As the oldest students in the NES building, we have taken on the responsibility of being important models for the younger students. Be sure to ask your child what CARES stands for! Thank you for all the donations at the beginning of the school year!

English Language Learner Update

English classes are off to a very successful start with daily focus on improving skills in the areas of listening, speaking, reading and writing! Kindergarten students have been learning about school expectations, what happens in different school places (art class, PE, music class, etc) and tools we need for school. First graders have been learning all about families by describing their own families and what kinds of activities they like to do together. Second graders have been learning all about the people, places and events that make up communities and even had a few community workers stop by class for a visit!

A huge thank you again to everyone that attended our family night and we hope you will be able to join us for the next Multilingual Parent Advisory Council (MLPAC) meeting on November 2 at 6pm in the CPS cafeteria.

Specialists Update

Presently, in physical education, all of the K-2 students are working diligently on their soccer skills such as toe taps, trapping the soccer ball, and dribbling the soccer ball. This week they have been getting "fancy" dribbling in the three different pathways: straight, curved, and zig-zag. The students learned a soccer skill warm-up drill with a rhyming pattern incorporating the skills we learned and practiced last week: "Toe tap, toe tap, Watch me dribble, Watch me trap!" In the upcoming weeks, the students will be applying the soccer skills we are learning into game-like activities. There has been impressive participation, effort, and skill! In Music, first and second graders are developing singing ability with the song "I met a Bear" and developing rhythm ability with boomwhackers. In Kindergarten they are on week 6 of the "First Steps in Music '' which is an 8 part workout that works to develop tuneful, artful, and beautiful people. This week in Library we are working on predicting what will be happening in the books that we are reading in class. Kindergarteners have listened to "Room on the Broom" by Julia Donaldson and have then completed colorings of the broom riders while they are choosing their own books to borrow for the week. In addition, they have been improving their library website navigation skills and visited both an aquarium and a zoo on our webpage. 1st graders are using their prediction skills to develop and draw the cover for their own sequel to the story "Click Clack Boo!" by Doreen Cronin. 2nd graders have been listening to the story "My Teacher is a Monster," by Peter Brown and have continued the development of their keyboarding skills by using Typing Club on our website. Last week, they located book call numbers on the library website, and many also found their own reading books on the shelves. In Science Lab Kindergarteners are almost done with their engineering unit "How Can We Stay Cool in the Sun?", which allows students to build their own shade device and test it out. In First Grade students are learning about day and night in their Earth and Space Science unit, "How Can We Predict When it Will be Dark?". In Second Grade students are learning about solids, liquids, and gases in their physical science unit, "How Can we Change Solids and Liquids?". They are completing investigations where solids melt into liquids and liquids freeze into solids. (Ms. Grant was absent at the time of this writing, but she will add information next month!)

Important Information - (Previously Shared)

• Any visitors to our school need to share their identification with the front office staff in exchange for a visitor's badge. You will need to sign in as well.
• There will be no charge for lunches again this year. However, all families should complete the free and reduced lunch forms that were sent home with teacher assignment letters.
• There can be no changes to a child's dismissal plan after 1:00 pm. Be sure your children know what they are doing each day after school.

Website: www.npsk.org
Location: 30 Surfside Road, Nantucket, MA 02554, USA
Phone: 508 228 - 7290