February 17, 2017
The year is moving along just fine as our teachers continue to engage your children with interesting activities and lessons. We are continuing to expand the additional learning opportunities and experiences for them when the opportunity arises as well; namely through our technology endeavors and STEM activities, which is an ongoing goal of ours.
Teachers in the lower grades continue to collect items for students’ digital portfolios and I know they have been sharing some of your children’s school day with you. Teachers in the upper grades continue to utilize the online classroom platform for collaboration and sharing purposes. One thing to note is that throughout all of the grades our students have ample time to collaborate with each other, whether it be to discuss how to solve a science problem together, how they may have solved a math problem on their own, or how specific story elements contribute to a well written novel. We feel that student lead collaboration is critical to their success in school and out of school.
We had a successful Family Science Night at the end of last month as evidenced by the smiles on your children’s faces! In addition to this, our PTA sponsored after-school science club will pick up in March for grades K-5 again with 3-2-1 Blastoff! Forms should have been sent home for this 5 week club.
Another opportunity students had as a direct result of the WinterFall Grant completed by Mrs. Medea was an award winning children’s author visit, which took place on Wednesday, February 15th. Trinka Hakes Noble had the opportunity to visit every class to discuss what it’s like to be an author, how she comes up with her ideas, and the process involved in completing a book. She even brought historical artifacts with her to show the students. Look for information on our website about her visit.
Several of our teachers are continuing their work with our math coach with the latter visits geared more towards our upper grades. She has observed our teachers in action, modeled lessons with our students, and collaborated with our teachers on an ongoing basis. She has provided information related to the PARCC tests as well. Guided math lessons have been a recent focus of her visits, whereby differentiation can more readily occur.
I want to recognize several students for their accomplishments on our Bees this year. Our school’s top three performers in the Spelling Bee were Matt Bell, Ellie Furmanski, and Gabby Medea and in the Geography Bee were Quinn Grieco, Will Keiser, and Christian Beard; congratulations to all of you!
A few of our students will be presenting their community service projects to the BOE on March 15th at 7:30pm. The theme of our middle school students’ first project is helping other students succeed. It is awesome to see our older students assisting our younger students, as it provides an opportunity for them to be leaders and responsible citizens.
Another important date for you to mark on your calendar is that our annual TREP$ Marketplace will be on Friday, March 24th from 7:00pm - 9:00pm. Please visit our website for more information as Mr. Zimmerman, Ms. Heyduke, and the students have been working extremely hard to make this another successful learning event!
Finally, as you may be aware, we have been getting notable press coverage this year, which I feel bodes well for our community. We will continue to pursue this as an avenue to advertise our great school and all of the great things that happen here on a daily basis!
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