Spofford Times Newsletter 

Dear Parents,

Please note the following:

Primary Elections will be held at the Town Hall tomorrow.

School Committee has two vacant seats.  Anyone interested  in running may go to the Town Hall to inquire about these vacancies. 

Parent Conferences

As next week is parent conferences,   I encourage you to come with questions and/or discussion points that you would like to address with your child's teacher.  It is certainly a wonderful chance for us to connect with you about how your child is progressing in school.   We  always treasure and value the time that we have to spend talking about each child's progress.   I request that each parent come on time to the scheduled conference.  We have a limited amount of time dedicated for parent conferences and our desire is to provide each family a full opportunity for dialogue.   

Oftentimes, parents begin to think about and have questions about the next school year during parent conferences. However, there is often not enough time to do that during conferences and have enough time to discuss current student achievement. To allow for a conference experience that is focused on your child's progress to date, we have other are processes and procedures in place for the future transitions.  

To assist with the transition process, our sixth grade students have recently received information from Masconomet Middle School to help begin the process of that transition. For students in grades three through five, we will be sending home a letter and a parent feedback form for you to provide input about your child for the upcoming placement process for next school year.   You will receive this letter and the form at beginning of April. Your feedback and participation in the placement process is important and valued. 

MCAS Schedule for March:

Prior to vacation, our fourth grade students observed Valentine's Day in their classrooms with small celebrations. We hope everyone had a wonderful vacation and that students return to school with renewed energy and enthusiasm for learning, especially as we prepare for the upcoming MCAS testing. School-wide MCAS practice tests are being sent home Mondays and Wednesdays.  Though these tests are not graded, we do review them in class to help instruct and prepare for the actual tests.  We will also continue to send home fluency bags weekly. Your written feedback is valuable information, aiding your child's fluency growth, and students are reaping the benefits as seen in the recent MAZE tests. Research indicates that fluency is a main component of developing reading comprehension. Please continue to support your child's practice of multiplication facts as this skill is crucial to success with double-digit multiplication, division, and fractions. Thank you for your ongoing support with all these initiatives. 

www.readingrockets.org is a website that I cannot say enough wonderful things about - or recommend more highly.  Stated right on the "about us" page, "We bring the best research-based strategies to teachers, parents, administrators, librarians, childcare providers, and anyone else involved in helping a young child become a strong, confident reader. Our goal is to bring the reading research to life - to spread the word about reading instruction and to present "what works" in a way that parents and educators can understand and use."

I subscribe to their monthly e-newsletter - and suggest that you take the time to check out the site and sign up to receive the newsletter as well.  I am always taken by the depth and accessibility of the research-based information within this organization and steer parents in the direction of the site quite often. 

February's e-newsletter included an article regarding the "Top 12 Comprehension Apps" for parents to consider when helping their children to acquire additional experience with effective reading comprehension.  One of my largest initiatives with strugglers during the school day is to build fluency - but parents of all readers can be helping their children at home to work on how they understand what they read - and this can be a very personal journey for each reader.  There are more tools to aid children in this journey than ever before - and the technology that we now carry with us everywhere (phones/ipods/ipads) can be used to give children some additional exposure to essential reading practices instead of maybe.... Angry Birds??  (Although I have been known to pull this up on my phone to keep my sons quiet...)

Reading Rockets has gathered information about apps that provide practice with specific comprehension skills, including:

q  Sequencing

q  Differentiating between fact and opinion

q  Developing word awareness (through antonyms, synonyms, and homophones)

q  Mind mapping

Take a look- and, as always, keep me informed about anything wonderful that you may discover - or seek me out to answer any questions that you may have.  Keep reading!

Betsy Gadbois - Literacy Specialist/Spofford Pond School

Recently in Phys Ed students have been playing a game called Pillow Polo. This game is very similar to floor hockey except it is played with a stick that has a large foam q-tip on the end. I start students off by practicing the basic skills required for the game. Various drills and mini games are used to help students improve their stick handling, passing and shooting abilities. Spacing, defensive techniques and finding the open player on offense are concepts that are emphasized during game play.

Another game that we have recently played is a modified version of a game called Tchoukball. Tchoukball was invented in the late 60's by Swiss biologist Dr. Hermann Brandt. This fast paced game has some elements of team handball and jai-alai. What I really enjoy about this game is that it is fast paced, encourages a tremendous amount of teamwork and yet is non aggressive in nature. To learn more about the history and rules of this exciting game you can visit either http://www.tchoukball.net/ or http://www.tchoukball.us/

DASH

Attention 3rd grade parents - DASH is coming soon!

DASH is a parent-led program presented in the classroom to create awareness and sensitivity about different disabilities through hands-on activities and small group discussions.   In the 3rd grade, students explore hearing and hearing impairments.  Classroom sessions are scheduled to start the week of April 2nd and run for two consecutive weeks.  Please look for the volunteer sign-up letter that will be coming home with your child's specific classroom dates and times in the next few weeks.  IMPORTANT:  Because we will now have specific classroom schedules, you will still need to respond to this letter even if you signed up to be a volunteer at the Parent Open House in September.

Last Call for the X-Factor Talent Show at Spofford is Wednesday, March 7th!

The curtain is closing this week on signing up for the Spofford talent show.  If your son or daughter are wanting to perform at this year's event on March 23rd go to www.boxfordpto.org to register today.  Any questions, contact Wendy Callahan at jordanchrismom@yahoo.com. 

Time to order and save on Spofford yearbooks.

 Pre-order by March 28th and only pay $25 per yearbook for a savings of $5.  After March 28th, the price goes up to $30.  To place an order go to www.coffeepond.com/order_yb1.aspx and use the password: spofford2012. All orders must be placed by April 13th.

March 9th-  Cole's Got Talent Show at Cole

March 23rd-  X-Factor Talent Show at Spofford

April 14th-  Last day to order Spofford yearbooks

April 28th-  Annual PTO Spring Fundraiser, night out for parents at the Ferncroft Golf Club

June 14th-  Boxford Family Pool Party at the Ferncroft pool complex

  CURE FINDERS FUNDRAISER

 Dear Parent or Guardian: 

Spofford Pond is participating in Cure Finders, an exciting program to raisefunds to cure cystic fibrosis. This fun "kids helping kids" fund-raiser will help to promote the community service spirit we already encourage at Spofford Pond School. We will be doing an activity called Hat's on for a Cure to support the mission of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Students and staff will be encouraged to wear a hat, on Fridays for the month of March for a donation of a least one dollar. Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a life threatening genetic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system of children and young adults.

Thank you!

Sincerely, 

 Flyers have been sent home with Spofford and Cole students for the annual appeal for contributions to the Boxford Elementary School Music Scholarship Fund. Each year, from 3 to 5 music students (depending on donations) are awarded $200 scholarships to offset costs associated with learning a second (or third) instrument, attending music camp, or to help with tuition for groups like those at the New England Conservatory. Established in 1999, the fund has awarded over 40 scholarships.

Scholarships are open to all elementary school music students, and are not limited to students in the Spofford Pond ensembles.  Applications can be obtained from Mrs. Monty at Spofford Pond School, or by eMail to

TCAdtaylor@cs.com.

If you did not receive a flyer and wish to contribute to the fund, please

send a check made out to BMSF to BMSF, PO Box 285, West Boxford, MA 01885.    

Without your help, we could not award these scholarships and recognize our exceptional music students.