Dear Sprague Community,

Just when you think you have seen it all in terms of New England weather, a series of tornadoes rip through Western and Central MA. My thoughts go out to those families impacted by this tragedy.

As many are, I am happy to see the Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals, but events like today's tornado, puts sports and its fandom in perspective. Nonetheless, good luck to the Bruins as they make a run at their first Cup in 39 years.

Last Wednesday, the third grade team and I spent a chunk of the afternoon playing mini-golf with approximately fourteen third grade students. (This was a Sprague PTO Cookie Walk auction item.) Great fun was had by all, several hole-in-ones were made by many students and it ended with my first visit to Truly Yogurt! I will certainly begin scheduling a follow-up visit to sample a little more.

Many, many thanks to Bill Johnson, a member of the WPS Technology Support team, and a veteran of 21.5 years in the U.S. Navy. Bill spoke to the Sprague 4th grade last Friday and discussed Memorial Day as well as his time spent serving our country. In addition, Rob Carter, Sprague custodian, was introduced and applauded for his service in the U.S. Army. Thanks to both Bill and Rob for their years of service in support of our country.

Finally, last Wednesday night, Mr. Hagar-McKee and I attended the Elementary Band performance at WMS. I have seen some Massachusetts Instrumental and Choral Conductors Association (MICCA) Gold winning bands in my past, but the Wellesley Elementary Band rivaled any of those that night. They sublimely performed four pieces: Regency Fanfare, A Shaker March, Colonel Bogey and The Addams Family Theme.

Sprague performers included:

Kudos to all and many, many thanks to Henry Platt, Sprague Band Director, and of course Mr. Hagar-McKee for his constant support and tutelage of our students.

Nick's Pizza Update: I have been working with the WPS Food Service to offer Nick's pizza one more time before the year ends. I am pleased to report that Nick's Pizza will be offered as a lunch option again on Friday, June 10th.

Kudos: Following in Ms. Taylor's 2nd grade classroom footsteps, Mrs. Henzel's 4th grade class recently received recognition on behalf of their year-long classroom "green" efforts. Last week, the Wellesley Green School Committee bestowed "Bronze" level GREEN Certification on Mrs. Henzel's classroom. Mrs. Henzel and her students received this for consistently: shutting off their lights when not in the room, employing a "second chance" paper bin, turning off computers/projectors at the end of the day, keeping vents clear and recycling any/all paper/plastics, et al. Great job to 4MH.    

Take care,

Stephen Goodwin

Sprague Principal  

Dear Sprague Families:

It is hard to believe this is our last Heartbeat of the school year! This year has exceeded all of our expectations, as PTO Officers and as members of the school community. It has been such a rewarding experience and we have you, the Sprague Community, to thank for all of the fun, memorable, creative and community building activities that have taken place. The Sprague spirit has been unbelievable this year. Many, many thanks to you all!

We really cannot say enough about how much it has meant to us to serve on the PTO. The people we have worked with and experiences we have shared have just made us appreciate being part of the Sprague community that much more. The PTO Board this year has been an invaluable source of ideas, energy, hard work, support and school spirit.

Yolanda Tong, our Communications Officer - you lead the reinvention of our PTO communications - your clarity of writing, organizational skills and thoughtfulness towards the needs of the school community has resulted in our well-focused methods of communicating. And, Jennett Murphy, who Yolanda often refers to as her "behind the scenes co-officer," has provided additional invaluable time and effort into providing us with these wonderful communications.

Colette Aufranc, our Treasurer - you have brought such rigor to our finances and policies along with an accounting mentality that boggles the mind and for which we are forever grateful!

Jen Bowman and Lynn Sanville, our Social Officers - you welcomed us all back to school in September with a wonderful family ice cream social. Your organization, ideas and enthusiasm have brought us events with high attendance and involvement, as we've all gathered in fun, spirit-filled settings throughout the year. Many thanks for your efforts.

Lisa Moore, PAC - you have been committed to bringing programs to Sprague and the larger community that can be experienced, shared and enjoyed by all. The Sprague Excellent Adventure Club is the result of much planning, dedication and support building and we are the very fortunate recipients of these efforts.

Michelle Heath, METCO - thank you for always keeping us abreast and mindful of what we can be doing as a community to support our METCO students and their families throughout the school year and beyond.

Kathy Ashraf, Technology - you led us in an incredibly successful, and record short, fundraising effort that resulted in Smartboards throughout the school. We have also benefitted from other pressing technology needs being met throughout the year thanks to your continuous outreach and diligence.

Elise Rodino, Enrichment - you have again provided oversight for all of the Creative Arts programs held throughout the school. The variety and caliber of programs that our children get to experience is something for which we can all be proud and for which we all thank you.

Suzanne Fletcher, Secretary - thank you for dutifully taking notes on our PTO board and general meetings. So much takes place during these meetings and what transpires becomes our legal record, so capturing everything as effectively as you have is of great importance to all of us.

Leslie Del Col, Community Service - through your efforts and collaborations with school staff, parents and outside organizations, the Sprague community has received an invaluable education on areas of need, near and far, coupled with action plans that enabled everyone to find a way to lend a hand.

Elizabeth Young, Ways and Means - you once again brought an energy and passion for helping Sprague raise much needed funds, while also creating family experiences that we could all enjoy. This balance between successfully helping us reach financial goals, while also building community, is an accomplishment we all very much appreciate.

We are very pleased and appreciative knowing that Catherine Mirick and Wendy Garber, Vice Presidents, will become our presidents next year. Their dedication, wonderful capacity for outreach, and great care for both our school and our families position them to become wonderful and positive leaders. We feel very fortunate to have them, as well as the terrific board they have assembled, leading us through the coming year. Thanks to you both!

Jill Heckman, Teacher Liaison - your presence means so much to the board as we know we can count on you to share the perspective of the teachers on all that we do and keep us abreast of activities within the school Thank you for taking time out from your busy day to be a part of this team.

Dr. Goodwin - you have brought a renewed energy to our school with your enthusiasm, experience, ideas and most importantly, care for the kids and community. This year has been a true collaboration filled with so much positive energy and activities, of which we were so happy to partake and are all very proud to have accomplished.

Again, many, many thanks to you all for a wonderful, successful and memorable year!

Warmest wishes for a very happy summer,
Leslie & Anne 

FIELD DAY for all grades: ONE DAY, ONE SPRAGUE!  

Monday, June 13  (rain date Tuesday, June 14)

Come out for pure fun and hopefully sun! The whole school will be out as one and we need your help. Every class will participate simultaneously for the first time this year. 19 stations for 19 classes with games and activities, rest stops for water, down time and popsicles. Some stops will be old favorites and some will become new favorites.

We need many volunteers for this wonderful June tradition.

7:00 - 8:30 am   Set up (morning coffee and sweets provided) only 1 more volunteer needed!

8:45 - 11:45 am   Stations  only 17 more needed!

11:30 am - 12:00 pm   Clean Up

Please click here to sign up to help -- also, note your availability for the rain date.

We also need four "sports" tents set up and ready to go, to provide shade and comfort. Please contact Kathy Lasch at 781-239-0363 or 781-307-7706 or

eklasch@verizon.net with any questions or if you have tents to lend.

Teacher and Staff Appreciation Lunch 

Have you wanted to contribute something to a lunch but never had the time? Now's your chance! The final lunch for our much loved Sprague Staff will be on Tuesday, June 21st after school lets out. The main course will be sandwiches from the Linden Store. We're looking for volunteers to contribute favorite salads and desserts. Sign up here or send an email.

An enormous THANK YOU to all of the families who have contributed to lunches throughout the year. We consistently had a variety of beautifully prepared and delicious meals. We couldn't have done it without you!

Sprague Spirit Shop

End of School Sale starting Wednesday, June 8th!
Sprague Caps * T-Shirts * Shorts * Student thru Adult sizes all $10
Sprague Cups are 5 for $10
Sprague Zip Hoodies for students now $25
Look for the big red tent, up until the merchandise is gone!

Sprague Organic Garden Update   

Remember Me Books  Ongoing all year for our school library

A Book a Day!  Help us reach our goal of 180 new titles for this year.   Thanks to Wellesley METCO and the Alessi, Bender, Tellalian, Theermann and Tong families for their donations this month!

Remember Me books are a great way to mark the end of year.  Honor a teacher, celebrate a reading buddy, or  say congratulations.   Click here for details on how to order.  

Step Up for Sprague 
We still have some volunteer opportunities for next year!  Contact Catherine Mirick catherine.mirick@gmail.com for more info. 

SEED Team Green News   

The Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy & Environmental Affairs and Department of Environmental Protection named Sprague School a grand prize winner this year - one of only ten out of 92 schools with Green Teams! As a thank you to Sprague students and Staff for their outstanding efforts to increase recycling and pollution prevention in our school and community, students will get a magic show sponsored by the Mass. DEP. Also, big congratulations to 2KT as the first classroom at Sprague to be Green Certified! Thanks for being our green ambassadors and leading the way for many more to come. (Attach 2KT picture)

Reminder to Save Those School Supplies! As your children unload everything from school after another successful school year, consider saving those supplies so you can reuse them. Instead of throwing out the spiral notebooks that aren't written in cover-to-cover, tear out the used pages, recycle them and then use the notebooks for the next academic year, scrap paper, etc. Some use the spirals of used notebooks for art projects, in the garden and other fun ideas. Those binders full of notes can also be recycled (the paper) and reused (binders). Don't forget about the old writing utensils. Save a tree, a trip to the school supply store, some money, and give your children the creative freedom to renew.   

Thanks for making Sprague greener,  

Phyllis Theermann, SEED Chair

Creative Arts & Sciences

Ask Your Child About... 

• A Day In Ghana: Joe and Vida Galeota visited with first grade and 1/2 students in their classrooms to teach them about a day in the life of a Ghanaian child. This program supports the social studies curriculum.
• Poet and author Lyn Littlefield Hoopes conducted poetry writing workshops in the third grade classrooms. Students used photographs of butterflies to create images through their poetry. This program supports the language arts and science curriculum.
• Poet and author Lyn Littlefield Hoopes worked with fifth grade students on a writing workshop focusing on the Terra Cotta Warriors of the Qin Dynasty. This program supports language arts and social studies curriculum.
• Storyteller and artist Nan Rumpf worked with students in first and 1/2 classrooms to create costumes and props to prepare for their performance of the Ghanaian folktale "Why Spider Lives on Ceilings". This program supports the social studies curriculum.
• Fourth graders explored the history of rural America through traditional American folk music with performer Jeff Davis. This program supports the social studies curriculum.
• Artist Chiao Bin Huang presented a program to fifth graders on the art of Chinese paper cutting. Chiao Bin Huang worked with students in each classroom to create original designs. This program supports the social studies curriculum.

Exploring ART Outside of School

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA     www.mfa.org/calendar
Dale Chihuly April 10 - August 7
Dale Chihuly has revolutionized the art of blown glass, moving it into the realm of large-scale sculpture and establishing the use of glass-inherently a fragile but also magical material-as a vehicle for installation and environmental art. This exhibition of new and archival works represents the breadth and scope of the artist's creative vision over the last four decades.  

Summer Plans? Try these studio and museum opportunities.  

Please continue to take photos of your children visiting museum spaces and architecture and have them bring it to the art room next fall. 

Enjoy,
Jennifer Stabnick, Art Teacher 

Environmental Science Program  

We would like to give a big THANK YOU to all our Kindergarten through 4th Grade volunteers who once again made our nature walk, ponding and geology programs a huge success. We hope to see you in the fall!

5th Grade Activities Success 

Community Service

Thank you to Sandra Baldinger and Wendy Garber for all of your help in making Cradles to Crayons such a success, to Lorelei King for organizing all of our children's lost items in the Lost and Found (please take a peek before school closes), to Phyllis Theermann for all of your efforts with SEED Fest and the SEED Team leading Sprague to be green and Renew/Reuse/Recycle, to Colleen Conroy and Laurie Diamond for keeping the Sprague gardens and grounds looking so beautiful, Jennett Murphy for maintaining the teachers' guided reading books, Andrea Giroux for stepping in to organize the parade float and finally to Becca Cahaly, Janet Giesser and Lori Goldenthal for coordinating and feeding our teachers and staff! We appreciate all that you do for Sprague!!

A special thank you to the Sprague community for showing all year that you've certainly got HEART! Students and teachers collectively helped to reach out to others beyond the grounds of Sprague School. We raised coins for Haiti, collected cans for the food pantry in Wellesley and continue to help out in and around the school. Our concern and commitment to others was evident when Ms. Henzel's class led a coin drive to help victims of the earthquake in Japan. The kindergarten Daisy troop unanimously decided to donate extra money raised from their troop cookie sales to the relief effort in Haiti. The 5th grade students led by example in stepping up to the plate and going the extra distance throughout the year. We thank you all for your awareness and concern for others. Continue to make a difference in the lives of those around you!    

Enrichment  

Thank you to everyone who has volunteered to help out with enrichment programs this year!

• Thank you to Charmaine Hartnett and Julia dePeyster who kicked off the year with a high energy Summer Readers' Breakfast, including a visit from Survivor Steve.
• To environmental science coordinators Julia de Peyster, Lori Goldenthal, Amy Kolb, Lisa Moore, Catherine Mirick, and Laurie Diamond, who organized parent volunteers and assisted with training for parent led student nature walks in the fall and spring.
• To Sarah Green who coordinated volunteers to help with kindergarten library visits each week.
• To Colette Aufranc who kept lines of communication open with a dedicated group of room parents who provided classroom assistance for all teachers. Room Parents- Teri Adler, Kristina Alessi, Colette Aufranc, Sara Barbato, Amy Berg, Ingrid Bergquist, Jennifer Bowman, Kristin Bradach, Rebecca Cahaly, Jenn Caiazzo, Elizabeth Carroll, Amy Chase, Martha Collins, Sandra Cove, Barbara Davies, Nathalie Defontnouvelle, Leslie Del Col, Laurie Diamond, Wendy Garber, Janet Giesser, Joanna Gilbert, Lori Goldenthal, Janae Goodall, Wendy Guthrie, Karen Haberly, Lorelei King, Margaret Lindquist, De De Marcoux, Jennett Murphy, Laila Partridge, Liz Rogers, Lynn Sanville, Lisa Sewall, Libby Silvia, Ute Smith, Kara Sullivan, Jean Walsh, Maura Wayman and Kristen Weiss. (Colette adds her thanks to room parents for being our contacts to the classroom!) Specialists Room Parents- Ingrid Bergquist, Marguerite Chatelier, Alli Fronzaglia, Joanna Gilbert, Anne-Marie Hayden, Kathy Lasch, Theresa Levy, Catherine Mirick, Jennett Murphy and Joo-Hwa Park (music accompanist). (Colette adds her thanks to parents for paving the way in these new positions!)
• To Kathy Lasch who coordinated an all new, one day field day spectacular for grades K-5.
• To Catherine Mirick, Anne-Marie Hayden and all of the walk to school volunteers undeterred by weather conditions, cheering on Sprague students each month who walked, bicycled or rode a scooter to school.
• To Kathleen Woodward who organized the art appreciation volunteers who visited K-3 classes this spring.
• To Sandra Cove for organizing parent volunteers to assist third graders learning the art of creating/decorating pysanky eggs.

Social 

• Fifth Grade Activities- Theresa Levy and Todd Himstead, you both put together a blowout year in organizing activities...from the car wash, to movie night, to the half-time show, parent social and so much more! Sort of got us thinking we would like to be in Fifth grade again!
• New Family Welcome- Suzanne Fletcher and Leslie Tellalian, thanks for just being your gracious and welcoming selves while coordinating these efforts.

Ways & Means  

The dedication, collaborative effort and creative energy of many volunteers lead Sprague's annual fundraisers. Volunteers are credited with paving the way for Sprague to gather together as a community and with supporting the PTO operating budget for enrichment in the many programs for our children. Much gratitude to:

• School Pictures - Lori Goldenthal and Michelle Health
• Family Photos - Colette Aufranc
• Gift Wrap -Theresa Levy and the 5th Graders
• Scholastic Book Fair- Sue Maggioni and Catherine Mirick
• 5th Annual Cookie Walk - Andrea Doglioli and DD Marcoux
• Shop For Sprague - Anne Marvan
• Wellesley Books Book Fair - Sandra Baldinger
• Box Tops- Lisa Jones
• Remember Me Books - Kathy Ashraf & Julie Barker
• Sprague Spirit Shop - Carla Panell, Amy Shultz, Michelle Frost, Shannon Smith and Bram Young

Liasons 

Many thanks to our Sprague Reps who kept us well informed of important happenings affecting our school community: Rebecca Cahaly, Joanna Gilbert, Lori Goldenthal, Eunice Groark and Kathleen Woodward for Committee 21 and Marguerite Chatelier for POPS.