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Spofford Times Newsletter |
Greetings!
Dear Parents: There are a few things on my agenda regarding safety of the children that I would like to ask for your assistance with. This week I would first like to take the time to talk to you about a few things that you can do to help to maintain a quick, efficient, and safe dismissal process at The Spofford Pond School. Our practice here is to assist our families in getting the children home or to other destinations in the afternoon. We have many pick-up requests for our students each day and the school secretaries work hard to orchestrate the afternoon dismissal process with the pick up notes you provide. Pick up changes be cannot be made after 11 am each day. Your cooperation with this is a great help to our office as we work towards ensuring the safe arrival and dismissal procedures each and every day! If at all possible, please try to avoid pick up changes unless absolutely necessary. We want to be certain that your child knows exactly where he/she is to go at the end of the day and keeping a consistent routine is the best way at avoiding problems with this. If your child has soccer practice and it is cancelled due to inclement weather, please communicate to your child what his/her back up transportation plan home is (in the event of a cancelled practice). Please also let our office know if the practice is cancelled. We will work hard to make sure that we communicate the changes to your child. Shuttle Bus: If your child is accessing the shuttle bus during the week, we ask that you keep a consistent schedule each week with the day(s) your child rides. We cannot make daily shuttle bus changes and ask that if you do decide to use this service, please write a formal note to indicating your request. The last item on the safety agenda, is signing in and out of the Spofford Office. We are so fortunate to have so many parent volunteers in our school each day to help us in the classrooms. We try very hard to know each of you personally, however, it is vital that we know who is in the school and the purpose for the visit. We ask that everyone who enters our school as a volunteer/visitor sign in/out of the office as well as wear a volunteer/visitor identification sticker. Thank you so much for your help in keeping all of our safety procedures running smoothly! Halloween Information (repeat publication of this information): The end of this month brings, Halloween for the children. At Spofford Pond School, for the past few years, I understand that children have had the option of wearing costumes. Children may have the option of wearing a costume on Halloween, they may also opt to wear black and orange clothing that day or they may choose to not dress up at all. If children do dress up or wear orange and black, we ask that children bring in a canned food that we will, as a school, donate to a local food bank. On that day we will also have a student assembly for our anti-bullying program, Olweus. Orange is the color for anti-bullying so this coincides nicely with the festivities. Throughout the year, the student council and I will work together to have a few school spirit days and much like on Halloween this year, I will invite students who participate to bring a canned good that our school can donate to a local food bank. This is an easy and fun way for children to get involved in school events with the spirit of giving to others. We hope that these opportunities bring us together as school community and together as part of the larger community around us. I hope you all enjoy the week! Sincerely, Kathryn Nikas |
Library News!
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Faculty, Staff, Parents:
Please drop in to the library and see the authentic Ofrenda set up by Mrs. Rocic Zajic, mother of Sophia, to celebrate The Days of the Dead, los
Dias de Muertos. It is exciting to share this cultural celebration as we learn how people remember loved ones in another setting.
Many thanks to Mrs. Zajac for sharing her beautiful Mexican heritage with us.
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 Help Wanted! |
Spofford Pond School Recess/Cafeteria Monitor: We are looking for one more person to work with students during lunch and recess. The position is five days per week. This would be Monday through Friday from 11:15 until 1:15pm. Inquiries for this position can be made via email to Kathryn Nikas at knikas@boxfordschools.org Thanks! The Proctor School Food Service Department has 2 openings. These positions are 5 days a week. They are paid positions. Responsibilities will include preparing and serving lunch to students and clean up at the end of lunch. Substitute positions are also available. Food service experience is helpful. Please contact Susan Bodwell at Proctor School at sbodwell@tritownschoolunion.com |
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Music News
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Dear Parents of Third and Sixth Graders, Starting in January, our popular program "Music Buddies" will take place again this year! Music Buddies is a program that connects sixth grade students with third graders. The buddies meet once per month during a music class period (not a pull out program.) Each third grade student is carefully paired with a sixth grader. In this program sixth graders become a mentor to their third grade buddy through carefully sequenced music activities. Essentially, the sixth graders become music teachers during their 45-minute music period! Third graders gain additional support in playing instruments, reading music, analyzing music and learning concepts through high quality folk songs. In order to be fair to all music buddies, please limit gift giving to handmade cards or notes. Please refrain from purchasing gifts to give during school hours. You may contact either Mr. Turner or myself with questions or concerns. Best, Mrs. Galardi Mr. Turner |
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Physical Education News!
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All physical education classes are currently involved in basic fitness testing. The tests include the mile run, pull-ups, shuttle run, curl-ups and flexibility. The exciting thing about fitness in general is that regardless of one's starting point, progress and improvement can always be made. I take time to remind each class that it is the effort given while taking the tests that truly matters and that there is no need to worry about how you compare to others. Good luck to everyone with the upcoming tests. |
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Do you want a relaxed environment to engage in ongoing dialogue and problem solving?
Please join other caring parents at the first meeting of a new group exploring the:
Path of the Courageous Parent:
Making Connections & Taking Action
Date: Thursday October 27, 2011
Time: 10:00AM-11:30AM or 7:30PM-9:00PM
Place: Emerson Center Parlor, Topsfield, MA
RSVP: Please pre-register (preferred) by calling (978) 887-6512 or programs@tritowncouncil.org. For more information about this program and the reading for the first meeting, go to the TTC website www.tritowncouncil.org.
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APPLAUDD: A Prevention Program About Underage Drinking & Drugs
APPLAUDD will be presented on Mondays October 17, 24 and November 14, 21 at 7pm in the Masconomet High School Library in Topsfield (you may attend any or all sessions)
"Prevention" means taking pro-active steps before a problem arises, rather than reacting after the problem occurs.
The Tri-Town Youth Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition, a program of the Tri-Town Council, is sponsoring APPLAUDD, an award-winning parent workshop series to provide parents with proactive prevention steps that will reduce substance abuse risks for their adolescents.
In a four-part series of presentations, this program is designed to empower parents of students' grades 5 through 12 with proven, yet simple strategies that reduce risk of underage drinking and drug experimentation.
Parents & educators from Topsfield, Middleton and Boxford are welcome and encouraged to attend! Please pre-register (preferred) by e-mailing programs@tritowncouncil.org or call (978) 887-6512.
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PROJECT SAFETY NET 24/7 Free Crisis Hotline (978) 771-4619. Speak with a counselor directly anytime.
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A Community Event Opportunity...
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NOVEMBER is FAMILY LITERACY MONTH!! Make a commitment to learn about how you can create activities for your children that lead to LITERACY! (even if your child is a baby!) FOSTERING the ESSENTIAL BUILDING BLOCKS for LITERACY SKILLS A 3-part workshop series presented by the Tri-Town Special Education Department: PRESENTER: Ilda Carreiro King, Ph.D. Developmental and Educational Psychologist, Reading Diagnostician & Classroom Ecologist Session 1:Linking Literacy and Play Play is many things to children. The growth of imagination and socialization are the two that come clearly to mind. But these days, it is critically important that teachers and parents acknowledge play's value for offering all children the opportunity to explore and learn about writing and reading while children do things they love to do. In this workshop, teachers and parents will learn about ways to facilitate the development of literacy skills by providing everyday literacy supplies and creating places for children to play with print. Critically, they will also learn how to play with their children to develop their language skills and their connection to reading and writing. Session 2: STAY TUNED... TOPIC INFORMATION AVAILABLE SOON Session 3: STAY TUNED... TOPIC INFORMATION AVAILABLE SOON Parents may attend one or all of the workshops within this series as each connects to the prior workshop but will also be presented as a 'stand alone' workshop. Dates Times Location REGISTER by: Wed. 11/2 7:00-9:00 pm Howe Manning School Library 10/28, 3:00 Wed. 11/16 7:00-9:00 pm Cole School Library 11/10, 3:00 Wed. 11/30 7:00-9:00 pm Proctor School Library 11/22, 3:00 REGISTER WITH: Linda Repucci 978-887-4119 lrepucci@tritownschoolunion.com (While registration is free, it is REQUIRED in order to plan for seating and handouts; priority will be given to Tri-Town parents and educators; parents and educators from other towns are welcome, but only after Tri-Town parents/educators have registered and been accommodated.) Below is the MA DESE link to the state information regarding Family Literacy month: http://www.doe.mass.edu/familylit/month/announcement.html
Think Differently: A New Approach for Parenting, Teaching, and Treating Children with Behavioral Challenges
Arlington Town Hall, 730 Mass. Ave., Arlington, MA. 02476
Tuesday, November 1st, 2011
9:00 A.M. - 4:00 P.M.
Think:Kids and the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) is pleased to offer a one-day training program featuring Dr. Larry Epstein. This one-day introductory training is intended for parents, clinicians and educators interested in learning about the innovative and evidence-based approach to understanding and helping children and adolescents with behavioral challenges described in the acclaimed book, Treating Explosive Kids: The Collaborative Problem Solving Approach.
The approach provides a new way of understanding and helping kids who struggle with behavioral challenges. Challenging behavior has traditionally been thought of as willful and goal oriented which has led to approaches that focus on motivating better behavior using reward and punishment programs. If you've tried these strategies and they haven't worked, this workshop is for you! At Think:Kids we have some very different ideas about why these kids struggle. Research over the past 30 years demonstrates that for the majority of these kids their challenges result from a lack of crucial thinking skills when it comes to things like problem solving, frustration tolerance and flexibility. Our approach, therefore, focuses on helping adults teach the skills these children lack while resolving the chronic problems that tend to precipitate challenging behavior.
Through lecture, videos, case examples and role plays this one-day training will help you shift your thinking and approach to foster positive relationships with these children and encourage growth in areas of self-regulation, communication and problem solving. The training qualifies towards our Think:Kids Mentor Certification.
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Used Sports Equipment Sale...
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The best bargains of the year for your family's sporting needs can be found at the Sports Equipment Sale to be held on Saturday, November 19th at the Proctor School in Topsfield. The Friends of the Boxford Town Libraries and the Topsfield Elementary School PTO host this popular annual fundraising event which enables interested participants to consign goods or purchase items at bargain prices, while helping raise funds in support of educational programs.
Sale items include ski, hockey, soccer, baseball, tennis and fitness equipment, camping and fishing gear, bikes, sleds, snowshoes, water skis, roller blades, helmets, golf clubs, apparel...and the list goes on!
To consign, simply bring your items in good, clean, saleable condition to the Proctor School, 60 Main Street in Topsfield, on Friday, November 18th, the night before the sale, between 4:30 and 7:30 pm (pricing assistance will be available and donated goods are welcome). The next day, Saturday, November 19th, arrive between 9am and 11:30am to shop. Items unsold and not retrieved at the end of the sale will be donated to charity. Large items must be retrieved at the end of the sale.
Contact Martha Roberts (Friends of the Boxford Town Libraries) at 978-887-4227 with any questions, you have large items to donate or are interested in volunteering at the sale.
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