Spofford Times Newsletter 

 Dear Parents,    

Over the last two weeks, we had some exciting events in our school!  Last week we held our first "Math Fair" that was organized by our Math Instructional Specialist, Jennifer Sirmaian.  It was a lovely event and we were so pleased with the math projects that the children created! Many thanks to Mrs. Sirmaian and to the teachers who supported the event!  Many thanks to all the students who participated in this special event!  

We also had honored "Earth Hour" recently in our school.  This was hosted by Miss Boyle and her students who encourged the entired school to conserve energy by shutting off all the lights for an hour!  We are pleased to have this type of effort to support conservation in our school.  Thank you to Miss Boyle and her students for organizing this!  

Lastly, our classrooms participated in the Boxford Public Library's "Books in Bloom.  Our students designed beautiful artistic creations that are on display at the library to represent favorite books and the theme of the "Titanic".  Many thanks to the teachers and students in our school for their effort on these projects!  

As we approach the warmer weather, I am publishing the dress recommendations from our Parent/Student Handbook for you: 

From our handbook, page 23:  

Dress Recommendations
It is expected that students will take pride in their personal appearance. Fads in dress, hair and makeup sometimes tempt students to persuade their parents that "all the kids are doing it." Student dress should be within reasonable limits and not be extreme. Personal appearance, dress or grooming must not disrupt the education process or threaten the health or safety of any individual.  

Specifically:   

- No clothing or jewelry may be worn that causes disruption or disorder within the school.
 
- It is not appropriate to wear clothing to school that is designed for beachwear (i.e., halter and tube tops,
bare midriffs, short shorts & skirts, and flip-flops).
 
- No hats or caps may be worn within school buildings.
 
 
- Please label clothing such as jackets, sweaters, raincoats and hats and other belongings; i.e. lunch
boxes, boots, sneakers, etc. Labeled items are more easily returned if lost.
 
- Apparel with "double meanings" is inappropriate for school wear, such as concert T-shirts depicting illegal
or anti-social behavior and buttons or pins with profane or vulgar words.
 
- Parents will be notified by the principal if a student's clothing does not meet school expectations.   

Playground Note:  

Lacrosse sticks, street hockey sticks and other similar sports equipment are not to be brought to school. Please remind your child to keep these items at home.  

Bathroom Behavior:

Recently in our boys' bathroom, we have had students acting improperly and damaging the walls. Please take a moment to remind your child of expected bathroom behavior.  

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Grade three

Third graders have been introduced to the disability of hearing loss and the science of sound in our DASH program. With the help of parent volunteers, students got a hands-on look at what hearing is and how important it is to protect our hearing. This DASH program concludes with a speaker who is deaf and always engages her hearing audience.

April is also the month when we've introduced our science unit on animals. We have Curious Creatures, an in-school presentation, coming to third grade on Friday, April 13th. Third graders love to study animals and we focus on the classification of animals and animal adaptations.

The third grade team also wants to thank everyone who helped make the Books in Bloom classroom projects truly a success of "titanic" proportions. Check out our work at the Boxford Library! 

NEWS FROM THE BAND ROOM

The 5th & 6th Grade formal dress Spring Concert will be held on Wednesday, April 25th at 7:00pm in the Masconomet auditorium.  Rehearsals for both grades will be held in the morning. Your child's permission slip must be returned  the Band office by

Wednesday, April 11th.  Parents interested in volunteering to chaperone the rehearsal, transport equipment or help with the program should contact Mrs. Monty now.

Band Parents' annual SPRING RAFFLE has begun! Prizes already include 2 sets of Red Sox tickets, a Moon Bounce at your home, handmade pottery, a garden sculpture, an acoustic guitar, Silpada jewelry, Topsfield Fair tickets and more but it's not too late to add your donation. Tickets are $5 each or 5 for $20 and all friends of Spofford Pond Band can buy one from any 4th, 5th or 6th grade band member. The drawing will be held at the April 25th Band concert. Winners need not be present.  An informational letter and sheet of raffle tickets have been distributed to all Band members and are posted on the Band website. We hope that each member will try to sell 5 tickets. Students should return sold and unsold tickets and money raised to the Band office by Monday, April 23rd. A special prize will be awarded to the highest seller.

Please help the Band as we support Community Giving Tree's Toiletry Drive. Bring a donation of shampoo, conditioner, lotion, toothpaste  toothbrush or baby powder as your "ticket of admission "  to the Spring Concert.

Advanced Band members should consider auditioning for the New England Conservatory's and the North Shore Youth Orchestra's (NMYO) various weekend and weekday performance groups. Parents of 6th Grade Band members interested in playing in any of these outside musical ensembles next Fall should speak with Mrs. Monty as soon as possible to discuss audition preparation and scholarships. Auditions are held in May.

All music students currently at Spofford Pond School are welcome to apply for the Boxford Elementary School Music Scholarship. You must complete and return the application form to Mrs. Monty by April 13th. Forms are available on the Band website.

5th & 6th Grade Band members must wear khaki pants and the Band polo shirt to the Memorial Day Parade and Pawtucket Red Sox concert. Please be sure that your 5th & 6th Band member has khaki pants well in time for these events. Band shirts will soon be distributed to 5th Grade Band members in order to complete their Band "uniform."

Music for Spofford Band's June 7th "Recital Night" performances is now available for any 4th, 5th and 6th grade Band members who wish to participate. Interested students should see Mrs. Monty as soon as possible to pick up the music and begin working on it.

Please help your child do his/her personal best at our performances by scheduling nightly practice time at home and making sure he/she arrives before the start of our 7:30am rehearsals.

      This month, we're learning things old and new.

      Of the "old", we're discussing the numerous contributions of Benjamin Franklin, especially in regards to contributions to the well-being of his communities such as the establishment of one of the first libraries, the volunteer fire department, the postal delivery service, an academy that became the University of Pennsylvania and a hospital.  His interest in writing as well as printing led to the very popular Poor Richard's Almanack.(sic)

His almanac not only highlighted the weather forecasts, but included riddles, poems and sayings.  We learned some popular old sayings ourselves such

as "Early to bed, early to rise...", "Haste makes ...", "If at first you don't succeed..."  It's been fun learning them, even though it may be years to appreciate and understand the truth of them, but as they say, "The journey of a thousand miles..."

     As far as the new is concerned, the recent winner of the Newbery Award for children's literature is Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos.  Jack Gantos is the author of the  Rotten Ralph picture books , the Joey Pigza series, which deals with a child with ADHD, and the lively Jack Henry series.

     The Newbery Honor Book , Inside Out and Back Again, by  Thanhha Lai tells from a child's point of view, the year long experience of adjusting to life in the American South after living in war-torn Viet Nam.

     The second Newbery Honor Book is Breaking Stalin's Nose, by Eugene Yelchin, which tells of young Sasha's father's arrest the night that he is to be inducted into the Young Pioneers.

     Happy reading of the old and the new!

Technology

The halls of Spofford Pond School are alive with poetry!  Many of our classrooms study poetry in the Spring.  The objectives are different at each grade level, but the results are beautiful poetry. Student authors use word processing elements and word clouds to shape and illustrate their words, and poetic elements to create a mood and tone. As you walk the halls of Spofford, you will find sensory images, figurative language and rhythmic flow. We have poems about weather, colors, seasons, and kindness to others (anti-bullying).  The genres represented include couplet, cinquain acrostic, and Tanka, an ancient form of Japanese poetry that does not rhyme and is presented in words rather than syllables.

In addition, there is an after school Poetry Workshop for fifth and sixth graders.  They are writing long story poems using our laptop cart.  They study the works of poets, such as Longfellow and Rosetti, to identify lines and figures of speech.  They read their original poetry to each other for fluency and feedback. The final is a self-published book to share with each other.

The incoming 6th Grade parents' night is being held on Thursday, April 26th at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium.    This event is for parents only.

Sixth grade parents are invited to an informational evening at Masconomet Middle School.  This is an opportunity to meet the MS Principal, Assistant Principal, Director of Pupil Personnel Services, and Guidance Counselors. There will also be an opportunity for questions.  Student Council members will be giving a guided tour of the school.   

Please note: There will not be a separate Special Education Open House this year.   

LOOKING FOR SOMETHING FUN & INSPIRING TO DO DURING APRIL VACATION?  For girls going into grades 1-9 (this September), Girl Scout Day Camp may be just the thing!  Located in a beautiful woodsy setting (141 Abbot Street, Andover, MA), this day camp has a different theme for each day.  Sign-up for the week (Tues - Fri), or just pick the day(s) you'd like to attend.  A bus is available for transportation with daily pick-up & drop-off at Howe-Manning and other locations.  For more information, visit http://registration.girlscoutseasternmass.org/cgi-bin/browse.cgiand click on "more information" under the Andover, MA camp.  You can also e-mail camp@girlscoutseasternmass.org to request more information or the pdf brochure, or call 978-689-8015.  Hope to see you there!!