Spofford Times Newsletter 

Dear Parents,

 On Friday evening, we had our annual Talent Show, "The X-Factor", which was put together by our PTO. The evening was a huge success with a variety of wonderful performances from our students!  I want to congratulate all of the students who performed!  They were all fantastic!  I also want to take a moment to acknowledge the parents who put this show together.  I am very appreciative of the effort from all of the PTO members who worked hard to make this night a success.  I especially want to thank, Mrs. Wendy Callahan, who worked tirelessly to organize the event for the students and families!  She did a fantastic job with it!  Many thanks to Mr. Jack Milmoe, our "Master of Ceremonies" and to Mrs. Joni Stone, for her work in organizing the event also!  It was a truly lovely evening for all!  

We are continuing with grade 5 and 6 MCAS this week, therefore, I am repeating last week's message regarding MCAS:  

With MCAS beginning this week, I want to remind you of helping your child to be prepared for the tests.  Please be sure to limit additional activities on the nights before the test days. Please be sure to have your child well rested for the test day and to have a good breakfast.  I advise parents to pack their children an extra snack on test days as well.  

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has strict guidelines for administering and taking the MCAS tests.  Children are allowed to read if they finish a test session early.  However, any type of electronic devices are prohibited. Please do not allow your child to bring in any type of electronic device to read on (i.e. Kindle or any type of e-reader). There are strict rules and consequences for the use of any electronics during MCAS administration.    

Please encourage your child to do their best on all tests!  We know that our students will work hard and do a great job!  I invite you to attend my parent coffee this Friday at 11:30 am in Room 3.  Mrs. Sirmaian and Mrs. Morton will conduct a parent information seminar on the MCAS for interested parents.   

MCAS Schedule for March:

This week, 5th grade will be participating in MCAS on Monday and Tuesday!  The students have been practicing for weeks and we are confident students will do great! 

In science, Students in Ms. Stewart's class are learning about the moon.  Each night we are going out to look at the night sky and to see how the moon changes each day!  Mrs. Bouffard's class finished a unit on Energy and are charging up to begin Electricity!  All students are looking forward to Mr. Wally's visit, he really reinforces the concepts of electricity! 

In the spring, 5th grade will be going on two field trips to enhance our curriculum!  We will be visiting Strawberry Banke Museum in Portsmouth, Nh.  At Strawberry Banke the students see what it was like to live in a Seaport during Colonial Times.  Our second field trip will be the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Museum!  This is a first time visit and we are all excited to add this to our year!  We anticipate that this will be a great enhancement to our Space study! 

From the Math Office

The Online Math League Teams had their last contest for the season recently and scores are available online. The Math Olympiad Teams also had their final contest this past week and will be meeting on March 30 to review those results as a whole group. Both sets of teams will have a separate celebration in early June where parents will be invited to recognize children's hard work and diligence and to help us celebrate! More details to follow at a later date.

The Math Fair is scheduled for Wednesday, April 4. Grades 5 and 6 will be from 1:30-2:30 and Grades 3 and 4 will be from 2:15-2:45. There is an evening portion of the event where all grades will share their projects with families and friends from 6:30-7:30. Please plan to attend this fun, family event and help us show our children how enjoyable and rewarding learning is.

This is an optional, non-graded event where all students are welcome and encouraged to participate. If your child would like to participate but has not filled out an interest form please go to the "For Parents" section on the Spofford Pond School website. There is also a parent information letter available with more specific details. If you have any questions, please contact Jennifer Sirmaian at

jsirmaian@boxfordschools.org

***STUDENTS who are participating need to have their projects in by  Monday, April 2nd!   

As a parent and educator - I often like to write small blurbs in this newsletter to help bridge the gap between our "utopic" vision of how we would all love to address literacy in the lives of our children - and how real life often intervenes.  I would love to be able to read for extensive periods of time with my sons - but often find other that all of those "other" things that happen in our lives can sometimes compete with our time.  Knowing this all too well - I wanted to take a small minute to really promote the idea of helping your child to boost their oral language proficiency - which means - their overall depth of language and their ability to use language at continuously sophisticated levels.  What is especially fantastic about oral language building is that it is ALWAYS happening between you and your child, no matter what the activity at hand may be. 

An example I can share which may help in your decisions about how to boost the vocabulary and oral language proficiency of your growing reader and writer:

My six year-old son asked me about the bulbs that are poking out of the ground around our driveway and he asked me, "What kinds of flowers are they going to be?"  Although I was having trouble remembering the EXACT type of bulbs I had planted there this past fall I responded, "They are varied."  I knew he didn't know what "varied" meant and that his next question might be to tell him what it meant... and an oral language moment was born. 

My gut reaction was to say, "Let's wait and see!!"  That first reaction would not have done much to boost his oracy... but using some vocabulary slightly above his level was enough to engage him.  Later on when we were inside, I Googled the type of bulb that I had planted and showed him that they could be purple, pink or even white colored.  All the while, I tried to use the word "varied" as many times as I could - hoping to build a base of knowledge and memory of the word and solidify it as part of his oral language. 

Once a child can build that level of confidence with a word they will inevitably use it again by experimenting with it in spoken language and then, eventually in their written language.  As they progress, speak to them in increasingly sophisticated ways - even if it feels silly.  They will remember hearing certain vocabulary and more challenging word usage- and will build upon your example.  Every little exposure is a good exposure - and can be a tremendous help to their growth as expressive speakers and writers. 

Betsy Gadbois - Literacy Specialist/Spofford Pond School

Spring is the time of year that ticks are very prevalent in Boxford. We are already regularly seeing students with ticks in the Health Office. If you are unable to avoid areas with tall grasses, bushes or woods, here are some preventative measures: Wear long-sleeved shirts, long pant, high socks, and sneakers. Wear light colored clothing to spot ticks easier.

Tuck pants tightly into socks.Conduct daily tick checks, don't forget to check the scalp!!

Lyme disease is transmitted by both the adult and nymph deer tick. The nymph deer tick is the size of a poppy seed, is most active in June and causes more cases of Lyme Disease than the adult. The adult Deer tick is dark reddish brown, the size of a sesame seed and is active late fall and early spring.

REMINDER TO 4TH GRADE PARENTS TO PLEASE SEND IN STATE MANDATED 4TH GRADE PHYSICAL EXAM FORMS

REMINDER TO 6TH GRADE PARENTS TO PLEASE SEND IN UPDATED IMMUNIZATION FORMS

The Cystic Fibrosis Fundraiser is on way and the students are enjoying wearing their hats on Fridays. Great job and remember to wear your hat every Friday in March!!!!

Calling current 5th Grade Parents....

There will be a general meeting on Tuesday, April 3, at 9am at Jacks for parents of current 5th graders who are interested in helping plan events for next year's sixth grade class. The 6th grade activities committee organizes Project Adventure, Countdown to Summer Day, the 6th Grade Community Service Project, the end of year trip to Cedardale, the 6th Grade Social, Graduation, and other events throughout the year. For more information, contact Susan Dwyer at susandwyer55@yahoo.com or Christina Eckert ateckertcovino@hotmail.com.

On Thursday March 29th at 7:00 PM in the auditorium, Masconomet will be having a Prom Fashion & Variety Show charity event to benefit the American Cancer Society! Students will be dancing, singing, and modeling prom dresses from Lorraine Roy in Danvers and tuxedos from J. Gibley Tuxedos in Peabody. Tickets will be sold at the door for $15. There will also be many raffle baskets being made by Mason & Madison Gifts, including a prom themed raffle basket with a value of $385 including free hair and makeup services from Vero Salon in Middleton, tuxedo rental, prom ticket, and corsage and boutonnière. There will also be raffle baskets from Sol Bean Cafe, JJ Haute's Chocolate, Deal Farm Soap, & Classic Faces Day Spa! The winning tickets will be drawn that night on stage. This event is open to all students, parents, faculty, and community members. If you have any questions about the show please feel free to email Kristina Tabacco at Kristinatabacco@comcast.net.  

Windrush Farm Summer Program

Looking for a fun summer activity for your kids? Windrush Farm in Boxford offers weekly full-day summer programs to children of all abilities and skills ages 6 - 14 yrs. This working horse farm, situated on 35 acres of fields and woods and surrounded by 160 acres of conservation land is the perfect environment to safely challenge children as they grow in skills, knowledge, self-confidence, and friendships.   And best of all...they have a great time!  Located at: 30 Brookview Road.  www. windrushfarm.org