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J. R. Briggs Elementary School Briggs At Large Newsletter The Voice of John R. Briggs Elementary School March 31, 2005 Volume 23, Number 25 |
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Upcoming events—April April 5, 6, 7 Kindergarten Screening April 5 Joint School Council Meeting Oakmont Library Band practice at Oakmont April 6 MCAS: Gr. 4, ELA Long Composition Band night at Oakmont April 6 & 7 Kindergarten Field Trip April 8 Mother/Son Dance April 12 Nature’s Classroom Visit for 5th gr. McGruff Presentation April 18-22 Spring Vacation KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION On April 5, 6, and 7 children will be screened for Vision and Hearing. Parents need to call the John R. Briggs Elementary School Office (978-827-5750) after March 14, 2005 to make an appointment for one of the above dates. During the registration appointment parents will complete forms for registering their child for Kindergarten for the 2005-2006 school year. Parents are also asked to call the Special Education Office (978-874-6170) to make a separate appointment for screening for any three or four year olds that may have a disability. Ashburnham Westminster PAC Meeting “Executive Function Skills” April 13th, 7:00 pm at Overlook Middle School Babysitting available, call Doreen Francis at 827-1412 Come meet Sarah Ward, speech therapist, who specializes in Executive Function skills and other language based learning disabilities. She has over 15 years experience working with children and has her own private practice in Needham, MA. Learn some new strategies to help your child be organized and what a child might look like that has issues with executive function in their school day and at home. Ø Does your child seem disorganized? Ø Does it take twice as long to complete homework? Ø Do you ask your child to do something and he always forgets? Ø Is your child unaware when assignments are due and need constant reminders to do daily chores or projects? Ø Does your child remember two things and after that you have lost him? These are some areas that children with an Executive Function Learning Disability have trouble with. All children benefit from timelines, schedules, and reminders to complete their work. When does your child need more? Ashburnham/Westminster Community Benefit Hockey Game Saturday, April 2, 5:00pm at Cushing’s Iorio Arena Fun for the Whole Family! Chuck-a-Puck, Kayak Race, Prizes to be raffled Special appearance by: The Wallace Snow Birds The National Anthem by Oakmont Student Jen St. Jean Tickets on sale at: Westminster & Ashburnham Police Dept., Ashburnham Wine & Spirits, Oakmont, Overlook, West. Elementary, J. R. Briggs (C. St.Cyr) Ashburnham/Westminster Faculty Members vs Local & State Police to benefit the Dupuis Family of Ashburnham. 5th Grade News
During the month of March, the fifth graders have been studying the Water Cycle. Each class has been spending three 50-minute periods per week with different teachers. Mrs. Bennett has integrated science experiments and the Water Cycle, Mr. Foster has integrated graphing and the Water Cycle, Mrs. Jackson has integrated water usage over history and the Water Cycle, and Mrs. Robichaud has integrated poetry and poetic device and the Water Cycle. Mrs. Melanson, our co-teacher, incorporated specific learning strategies for each classroom. Classes traveled with specific materials at designated times and were responsible for assignments from each teacher. The goal of this Water Cycle unit was multi-purposed. The Water Cycle is reviewed in preparation for the Science/Technology MCAS for Grade 5 and an integral part of the ongoing study of the Environment as an Integrated Curriculum. The movement from one classroom and instructor to another is yet another way that the 5th grade teachers are preparing our students for the middle school philosophy. Please ask your child about condensation, percolation, evaporation, ground water, and precipitation. McGruff In honor of the 25th anniversary of McGruff, the crime fighting dog, the Friends of Stevens Memorial Library and the Ashburnham Police Department sponsored a special program on “Bullying” that was presented to grades K-4 on March 23rd & April 12th by Officer Ahearn and Library Director Cheryl Bradley. The video that was shown is available at the Stevens Memorial Library. Extended Day News… April vacation is coming quick! If you need childcare, or are just looking for fun activities, call 978-827-1412 soon to reserve your space! MCAS Update The spring will be a very busy MCAS testing time at JRB. A preliminary testing schedule for grades 3-5 is posted on the PTO – Parent Bulletin Board. April 6th – Gr. 4 ELA Long Composition Please be sure to have your child arrive to school on time, having had a good night’s sleep and nutritious breakfast. PTO REMINDERS The ticket order forms for the mother/son dance are due this Friday April 1st. Family skate is this Sunday April 3rd at Cushing Academy from 2-4 p.m. Skate rentals are available. Fundraiser Lions Club Buffet Breakfast April 3, 2005—8 – 11 a.m. Town Hall in Ashburnham $4/person—no charge under 3 yrs. Proceeds to benefit JRB Nature’s Classroom Scholarship Fund Grow Power for Young Eaters There will be a free workshop on nutrition for children on Thursday, April 7th at J.R. Briggs Elementary School Library, 96 Williams Road, Ashburnham at 6:30-8:00 p.m. Childcare will be provided if parents pre-register. Are your children fussy eaters? Feeding kids isn’t easy. Become familiar with the Dietary Guidelines for American. Learn the ABC’s: Aim for fitness; Build a healthy base; Choose sensibly. Come learn important choices for your child’s nutrition. Registration is required. Sponsored by the Ashburnham-Westminster Community Partnership. Call Sandi Thibodeau for more details or to register: 978-874-7312. INDOOR FLEA MARKET First Congregational Church 138 Main Street, Westminster, MA Saturday, April 9, 8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. There will be a coffee shop, luncheon and bake sale open during the Flea Market. Tables: $15.00 Please call: 978-874-0632. Ashburnham Little League Fair and Car Wash April 23rd Overlook Middle School 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
We are in need of volunteers in various areas. Please spread the word as we are hoping to make this a great day! Contact Corrie Swanson for more information at (978) 827-6953. ANNUAL POSTURAL SCREENING GRADE 5 Parents of grade five students, Please read the attached flyer. Massachusetts’s students in grades 5-9 are screened annually for postural defects. Here at JR Briggs, I screen the students during gym classes in April. The screening takes just a few minutes. The purpose of the screening is to detect early signs of possible posture problems. This is not a diagnostic service but a program to identify young people who should have further medical evaluations. If your child should have any significant findings, you will be notified and asked to take your child to his/her doctor (Physical exams are required for grade 6, so this re-check can be done at this required exam). The majority of the students have no problems. If your child is already under care for, or has already been checked this year for signs of posture problems, please send in a note from your child's doctor stating so and he/she will be excluded from this mandatory screening. Please call me if you have any questions. Rose Lawrence, ph 978-827-5750, fax 978-827-5699 FREE PARENT SEMINAR The guidance department at Oakmont High School is sponsoring: Making College Financial Planning Count Thursday April 7th –7-8 p.m. Oakmont Auditorium This one hour program will offer an understanding how the college financing process works and will include a look at; How to plan for and manage college cost; The affordability myth of public versus private colleges and universities; Types of financial aid that are available; Options your family has in developing a college funding strategy; How colleges and universities look at a divorced household; How to send your child to college without risking your family’s financial future. By attending the presentation, you will have the opportunity to receive a FREE Paying for Your College Education booklet from Bank America. http://www.makingitcount.com/seminar Notes from Band Don’t forget there will be a Band Night Concert held at Oakmont Regional High School on Wednesday April 6, 2005 featuring all the bands in the District. A bus will take the band students from Briggs to Oakmont on Tuesday April 5, 2005 at 1:30 p.m. to practice in the afternoon. Parents will need to pick up their children at 4:15 p.m. at Oakmont and bring the children to Oakmont at 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday April 6th (meet in the cafeteria) for the concert. Each school band will perform a few minutes then everyone, grades 3-12, will perform together. This is a great opportunity for the elementary students to be helped and inspired by the older students!
On Placement Next Year We will begin the process of constructing classes for the following school year during the next month. We regard the task of student placement as one of the most important things that we do to ensure what we hope to be a quality learning program for every child. In constructing a class, we strive to balance many factors to achieve an ideal classroom for your child. Some of the factors are the following: girl-boy ratio, active students with passive ones, leaders with followers, quiet students with talkers, students who do well in groups, and independent workers with those requiring more direction. We also strive to have all levels of performance and development represented. We recognize that some children contribute to their friend’s learning while others may inhibit it. Hence, some children should be together, while others need to be separated. Your child’s present teacher has a year’s worth of current, rich information and insight that is very important to this process. The teachers at your child’s grade level, the remedial and support service personnel and a grade level, and specialist team, compile all the information we have about each child and make recommendations about placement. While we feel that we are in the position to know your child’s learning needs, we recognize that parents may have additional insights that may help us in this process. If you have information about your child’s learning needs beyond what we’ve described above, please share it personally with your child’s teacher, or in a letter to the grade level placement team, and the office by May 13, 2005. Please understand this is not an invitation to choose your child’s teacher, and therefore, I ask that you do not specify a teacher in your letter. We are interested in comments like: “John needs to establish more self discipline.” “Kathy no longer enjoys reading and we don’t want that to become a pattern.” “Michael really enjoys science and may enjoy a classroom with stronger emphasis on science.” We are continually looking for ways to work with parents as true partners in the education of their children. We want to make parents aware of the depth of thought that goes into planning a sound learning program for every child. Whether you write to us or not, you can be sure that your child will be placed in a classroom in which he/she can grow academically, emotionally and socially. Again, we remind you that the deadline for the placement letter is Friday, April 29, 2004. We do not plan to make changes after this date, because moving a single child can cause a ripple effect that could impact many children; this is an issue of both fairness and educational responsibility. If you can be understanding of this deadline, we can be much more able to take your feelings and input into account – in creating optimal classrooms that will ensure maximum feasible benefit to each of our 500 students. Please call if you have any questions Last updated 04/04/05 by Tiffany Davis. |
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