Friday, September 27, 2013

In Today's Backpacks. . .Field Trip notice

Hi Everyone,

Coming home to everyone today:

Field trip permission slip for a trip to Maine Wildlife Park. We'll be studying wetlands this year and will take a trip to learn more about what a freshwater wetland is like. The tour we will take is called Wetland Metaphors and is on Oct. 17th. Please get permission slips back quickly. We will also be taking our annual Tour of Windham on Oct. 28th--slip coming soon. If you can't chaperone for one, maybe you can for the other. In the spring we'll take our trip to Scarborough Marsh and Pine Point beach--date will be planned later in the year. I can generally take 4 parents per trip, but the last trip is open to all parents.

There is a blue 1/2 sheet outlining how we will be meeting academic needs for all students this year. Let me know if you have any questions about it.

Everyone will also get a packet for the school's flu clinic that will occur on October 18th. Please send back if you wish for your child to get their flu shot here at WPS.

The SchoolStore.com fundraiser is back. See the info envelope for more participation information. I have received a few hundred dollars in gift certificates in the last few years through student participation in this fundraiser. I always use the certificates to update my magazine subscriptions. I currently have Ranger Rick, Cobblestone, Discovery Kids, Highlights and Sports Illustrated kids on the shelf. The kids really love reading them when they come in in the morning.

NECAP testing New England Common Assessment Program) is also starting next week. I'll send a copy of a letter that all third grade teachers helped draft. Let me know if you have any questions. Students will be allowed to chew gum during this testing. I have a decent amount of gum on hand, but am running a bit low on mint flavors and bubblegum flavor. Feel free to donate if you can.

Chorus is starting soon. You will see a flier from Mrs. Cash-Cobb explaining what it's all about.

The last thing coming to everyone is my classroom directory. The information on this sheet was what you all wrote down on the beginning of year class directory form.

Those asking for paper copies of everything will also receive the October lunch menu. You can access it electronically through our website.

Have a great weekend! Many kids have thoughts of the Cumberland Fair this week! I've enjoyed hearing their stories.

As always, thanks for all of your support!
Beth Earle


Friday, September 20, 2013

Eagle News and Other Weekly Info

Hello Families,

I'm glad to report that all students have successfully completed the fall NWEA computerized assessments. I saw students taking their time and really working hard to show what they know. You should be proud of them!

Coming home this weekend in backpacks is information about Picture Days. As you may already know, Oct. 2-3 are Picture Days this year. Third grade will have photos taken on Oct. 2nd. Also, the Chill out and Read school wide program is officially up and running. Your child will bring home a sheet that they can fill out to receive a special bookmark. It is not a mandatory program, but there are weekly announcements made that announce students who have reached reading milestones and classes that have 100% participation. I hope to have all students interested this year! Students should also be filling out their book logs and returning them when they are complete with a parent signature. I will send another one home when they turn one in.

Information from Administration:

Reminder about drop-off information-

Drop off starts at 8:00 in the new parent drop off area near C house/football field. Please do not let your child out of the car until the school door is open. We are asking parents to stay single file and wait to pull up. We are unloading 5-6 cars at a time. Once the group leaves the next group can pull up. Please pull all the way forward to an empty spot. Reminder that this is for parents to just stop quickly, let their child out, and then go! This is not for parents to get out of their cars to help unload. This process is to ensure the safety of all of our students!

Signing up for listserve- Please sign up for our listserv to receive the latest WPS News.  If you have signed up in past years, you need to sign up again.  Click here to sign up. http://mailman.listserve.com/listmanager/listinfo/windhamprimaryschool
 

Have a great weekend and as always, thanks for your support!

Beth Earle

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Substitute Wednesday and Thursday morning

Hi Families,

I will not be at school on Wednesday and will also miss Thursday morning. I will be away at a conference on Wednesday learning about standards based education and have a professional meeting on Thursday morning at school. It is my understanding that Mr. Philpot, a retired 3rd grade teacher, will be covering my class. Please call the office at 892-1840 if you have any needs during this time, as I will be unavailable to contact you. The kids know I'll be away and we spent a bit of time talking about how to do a good job while a sub is here. They should know my expectations and I am hoping to have a great report when I return.
Please remind your child to do their best while I'm away.

Thanks,

Beth

Monday, September 9, 2013

Peanut and Nut Free Snack and NWEA Changes

Hello Families,

As you probably already know, we did not take our NWEA Reading test on Monday as planned. There were some difficulties with the NWEA program in uploading the current student information, so we had to delay it. We will begin testing on Tuesday with the reading test and finish next Tuesday with the Math portion.

We are beginning our story time snack with other classes and I need to ask for you to refrain from sending in snacks that contain peanut or nut products for snack. You may send lunch items as usual, but we will be mixing with students who have nut allergies during snack time. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

As always, thanks for your support!

Beth Earle

Friday, September 6, 2013

Volunteer needed Monday

If you are willing and able to cut out monster cardstock bookmarks for approximately 80 students this Monday during the day, please email me at bearle@rsu14.org. The A House PLC team is beginning to acclimate the students to switching classes by doing a Fun Switch each day this week. I plan to have the kids make monster bookmarks that will fit on the corner of a book. I could use some help cutting everything out. Thanks in advance to anyone who can pitch in!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Beth

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Things to look for in Friday's backpack and other beginning of year information

Hello Families,

I apologize for the length of this post. I have a lot of information that I need to get to you. I promise future posts won't be as lengthy.

I just wanted to send a note letting you know of a few things to look for in backpacks on Friday. One form from the office was missing in your packet. I got it early this week and will send on Friday. It's beige and titled Windham Primary School Media Release Form. Please try and have it along with all other beginnig of year paperwork back by Monday. Thanks so much to many of you who have everything in already. It's a tremendous amount to organize and keep track of and it really helps to sort throught it all at once.  I sent reminders to those who still have things out on Thursday. Please do your best to get the rest in quickly.

Also coming home is a Boy Scout flier for boys and an article from Dr. Rhoads about attendance. I found it very informative. On the topic of attendance, please be sure to have your students here as much as possible this year. If you can schedule appointments after school so your child won't miss out, that would be helpful. I do realize that it's unavoidable, but please do your best! Also, new this year, students will be marked with an unexcused absence unless you provide a specific reason as to their absence. "Out sick" is no longer specific--the office is now tracking type of illness. Please feel free to email me if your child is out and I can let the office know.

We should have our laptop cart arriving in our room on Friday. If you would like to send your child to school with their own headphones or earbuds that only they will use this year, I can store them in ziploc bags for use when we are on the computers. Thanks to the Dempster family for donating several pair for us to use this year. If you cannot supply any for your child I do have several pair that they can use.

A note from food service: The hot lunch pricing for this year is $2.35. The reduced price is $0.40. The breakfast price is $1.00. Breakfast is free for free and reduced families. Snack milk is $0.50 for all students.

One last thing to note: Next week we will be participating in the NWEA computerized testing. We will take the Reading portion on Monday, September 9th and the Math portion on Tuesday September 10th. I'll be sending a notice about how you can help your child be successful in Friday's mail.

Next week is our first full week! We've been slowly working up to a full workload and will be ready to start our regular routine soon. I'm really enjoying getting to know your children!

Beth