December Updates and Happy New Year

Thank you to all the parents who have contributed to the staff, students and community in some way this December. Between the many collections with Festival of Trees, Toys for Wilmington Children, Craft Parties, Volunteering, PAC contributions and much more. We truly appreciate it.
We have had a very busy month in December and we have a well needed break coming up. Just a reminder that tomorrow will be an early release day. Students will be dismissed at 12:00 and there will be NO cares and No lunches will be served. Please be sure that your child has a note on how they are getting home if it is a different means of transportation than usual. Also, tomorrow car rider will be very busy in the p.m. due to CARES not being available. Please be patient with the process tomorrow so that all students are safe in the parking lot.
Lastly, the PBIS team has been going strong and the students now have completed all the lessons on respect, resilience and responsibility.  The Shawsheen PBIS team is looking to add a parent volunteer. PBIS stands for Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports. It is a proactive and interactive approach to establish a social culture in a school that supports social emotional and academic success. The purpose is to establish a school climate where appropriate behavior is the norm. The team meets twice a month. Some meetings are on Tuesdays from 7:30-8:30 and some meetings are on Thursdays from 3:00-4:00. The volunteer should be able to commit to most meetings. If you are interested in joining the team please let the team know by completing the Google Form below.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdHygoQGFDz-BebKZd1Yu7v2SdVuZc3kWhRh4Cm6HKBtXPzRQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

I want to wish everyone a happy, safe and restful break. We will see you in the New Year!

Mrs. King

December Updates

Good Morning Families,

We have had another very busy month! Over the past few weeks we had our Author Visit for the entire school. First grade had the Starlab enrichment program and second grade went on their annual field trip to Plimouth Plantation. We also have many amazing things to celebrate such as our new buddy bench. We will be debuting our buddy bench video at the school committee meeting on December 12th if any families would like to tune in at 7:00 p.m. We also had the Tewksbury/Wilmington Elks deliver our annual dictionaries gift to our third graders. This is such an amazing tradition that they started about 12 years ago with the schools and it is very much appreciated. In addition, as a school we participated in Festival of Trees over the past weekend and we won for most spirited school tree! Below is a picture of our tree. Thank you to everyone for helping to make this tree happen. 

This week we had bus evacuation and the students all had an opportunity to practice and had a review on bus safety with Officer Moon. Also, on Thursday of this week are parent/teacher conferences. There will be an early release day on Thursday and no lunches will be served. Students will be dismissed at 12 noon. If your child is going home by a different means of transportation, please send in a note. In addition, please be sure to enter and exit through the front door during conferences. CARES is still going on and we will have students in the building so all doors will be locked. Someone will be at the office to let families in.

We are collecting Toys for Wilmington children for one more week. If you have any donations you would like to drop off during conferences or send in with your child the bin is in front of the office. 

December 13th is picture retake day.

Upcoming dates
Thursday, Dec 13th	Retake for Picture Day
Thursday, December 06, 2018	Early Dismissal - Parent/Teacher Conferences	All
Friday, December 21, 2018	Early Dismissal at 12:00	All
December 22-Jan 1, 2019	Winter Break - No School	All

Thank you all and have a great week,

Mrs. King

Wildcat Gear!!!

This isn't the best snow for a snowman, so stay inside and shop for your Wildcat Gear!!
TODAY is the last day to order, shop closes at midnight!

All important info is on the sale page, please make note of delivery dates, etc. as this page will be inaccessible when the sale closes.
Thank you to all those who've ordered, $500 in sales so far!!!
https://shawsheenwestpac.itemorder.com/sale

Shawsheen Updates

Good Morning,

Thank you to all the families who have contributed to the Festival of Trees. We have plenty of items now for under the Snow Day Tree. Please be sure to stop by the first weekend in December at the hall to check out all the amazing trees. All the proceeds as you know go to the WOW foundation, which helps to support our community in so many ways. After Thanksgiving we will be leaving our yearly bin outside of the office to collect toys for the Wilmington Fire Department to Support Wilmington Children as well.

This week we had our practice Alice Drill. The students and staff followed all the procedures and protocol. They did a great job. We will continue to practice all our safety drills throughout the year including different scenarios.

Next week is a busy week. Second graders have a field trip on Monday to Plimouth Plantation. The second grade team will be sending out a reminder regarding attire and details for Monday. We will have an All School Meeting on Tuesday so please have students wear their shawsheen t-shirts or Shawsheen gear! We will be reviewing our 3 R's of respect, responsibility and resilience pertaining to different locations in the school such as bathroom, hallways and recess. In addition we will be showing a video which I will share with parents after the students view it on our Buddy Bench and how to utilize it.

On Wednesday we have an early release. Students will be released at 12:00. No lunches will be served and no afternoon cares. Please be sure if your child is going home by a different means of transportation that they have a note.

Also, the week after when we return we have the Author Visit on  the Wednesday and we have Star Lab coming in for First graders on Thursday.

Thank you for all your support and have a great Thanksgiving,

Mrs. King

Upcoming Dates

Wednesday, November 21, 2018	Early Dismissal for Students. 12:00 Dismissal	All
Thursday, November 22, 2018	No School - Thanksgiving Holiday	All
Friday, November 23, 2018	No School - Thanksgiving Holiday	All
Thursday, November 29, 2018	Star Lab Enrichment for Grade 1	1
Saturday and Sunday, Dec 1-2	Festival of Trees (WOW)
Monday, Dec 3rd	Report Cards Go Home
Thursday, Dec 13th	Retake for Picture Day
Thursday, December 06, 2018	Early Dismissal - Parent/Teacher Conferences	All
Friday, December 21, 2018	Early Dismissal at 12:00	All
December 22-Jan 1, 2019	Winter Break - No School	All

Festival Of Trees 2018

Dear Families,

This year the Shawsheen will be contributing to the Festival of Trees for the WOW foundation who does so much for our families and schools! The theme will be Snow Day and the students at the Shawsheen have helped to come up with some ideas on what to contribute for donations. I am sending this out early as the Festival is the first weekend in December and I know how busy things can get.

If any families can make a donation we would much appreciate it. All donations can go to the main office from now until November 21st.

We would like to split up the donations by Grade levels. Please see below for suggested donations:

Grade 3: Things to do inside on a snowy day.
                       * Snuggle up with a blanket
                       * Movies, popcorn and snacks
                        * Books
                        * Baking goods or Hot Chocolate
Grade 2: Things to do outside.
                     * Snow Gear (mittens, gloves, hats)
                     * Sleds
                     * Snow fort tools
                     * snowman making

Grade 1: Things to do with your family.
                     * Arts and Crafts
                      * Card Games
                      * Board Games
 Other:
                     * fake snow for under the tree

Thank you all,

Mrs. King

October updates and reminders

Good Afternoon Families,

We have some exciting things happening at the Shawsheen Elementary School. Students have now been introduced to the 3 R’s within their classrooms and at our first All School Meeting. They have also been introduced to the golden awards during specialist times and the cafeteria expectations and rewards. On Friday we will have another all school meeting to discuss some examples of the 3 R’s and celebrate our successes as a school. The T-shirts are in! All first grade students will go home with a T-Shirt before Friday and anyone else who ordered one. Students are encouraged to wear their Shawsheen T-shirt on Friday for our All School Meeting. We also had fire safety and the students did a great job paying attention to the presentation from our Wilmington Firefighters!

We had our 2^nd annual walking school bus experience. Bus 8 and Bus 16 this year were invited to ride the bus in the a.m on Wednesday and get dropped off on Cushing Drive. From there we were escorted by the WPD and staff members while walking to school. We understand that this time around not all students who rode the bus in could participate but please assure your children as did we that we are planning on doing this again in the spring and they will get first priority! Please see some great pictures below.

PAC:

Pie orders are due in by this Friday.

Trunk or Treat to be held at the Shawsheen Parking Lot on Sunday, October 28^th. More information to come on donations and volunteer opportunities. Free Event for students of Shawsheen and West.

WEF Walk:

We will be having our Joanne Benton WEF walk on October 31^st at 2:15. Students are welcome to wear their Halloween costumes. No scary masks, weapons or face paint. Make sure all costumes are in bags and labeled. We will be walking around the outside of the building for about 20 minutes. Families are welcome to watch or join in.  A notice went home to families on making a donation to the WEF foundation online or via the school.

WOW Festival of Trees:

This year the Shawsheen School is going to do a Snow Day tree. The tree will be a white snowman and we will be looking for donations from classrooms and families. I will be sending something out as it gets closer.

We have many field trips and enrichment days ahead so please check your calendars and notices from your teachers on those.

Thursday, September 20, 2018	Open House for Parents/Guardians 6:00-8:15PM	All
Friday, September 28, 2018	Early Dismissal for Students. 12:00 Dismissal	All
Monday, October 08, 2018	No School - Columbus Day	All
Wednesday, October 24, 2018	Eyes on Owl for Grade 3	Gr. 3
Oct 15th-18th	vision and hearing	all
Oct 22nd-25th	week of grade 3 field trip	gr 3
October 31st	Joanne Benton WEF Walk Time 2:15	All
Thursday, November 01, 2018	PICTURE DAY for All Shawsheen Elementary	All
Sunday, November 04, 2018	DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME-CHANGE CLOCKS
Tuesday, November 06, 2018	No School for Students - Teacher Prof. Day	All
Monday, November 12, 2018	No School - Veterans Day	All
Wednesday, November 21, 2018	Early Dismissal for Students. 12:00 Dismissal	All
Thursday, November 22, 2018	No School - Thanksgiving Holiday	All
Friday, November 23, 2018	No School - Thanksgiving Holiday	All
Thursday, November 29, 2018	Star Lab Enrichment for Grade 1	1

Reminder Open House and Collections for WOW

This is a reminder that open house will be tomorrow evening at the Shawsheen Elementary School. Please see the schedule below or review the website for more details. I wanted to also let families know that we will be helping WOW in collecting the following items below for families affected by the hurricane and also the fires in the surrounding towns. WOW will be having a truck here on Saturday but we as school are happy to collect items to give to WOW on Saturday on behalf of the schools and families. You can drop off donations by the main office.

v      Grade 3 – 6:00 p.m. – 6:45 p.m.  ~ Information Session will begin promptly at 6:00 p.m.

v      Grade 1 – 6:45 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.  ~ Information Session will begin promptly at 6:45 p.m.

v      Grades 2 – 7:30 p.m. – 8:15 p.m. ~ Information Session will begin promptly at 7:30 p.m.

v      Special Education Classrooms  ~ Information Session in  B11, B15 and  B16 will begin at 5:30 p.m.

v      Specialists and Support Staff  will be available to informally discuss their programs with you from    6:45 p.m. – 7:45 p.m. at the following locations:

o        Special Education Staff -  Learning Specialists - C19 & B12; Speech Pathologists -  C19B

o        Reading Support Staff – C18 and C19A

o        Health – C17

o        Music –B9

o        Art – B10

o        Library –B-Level by ramp door

o        Guidance Counselor – Across from the Main Office

o        Nurse-Nurses office

o        Physical Education-Gymnasium

Below is a list of items WOW will be collecting and distributing to all causes.

http://www.onewilmington.org/get-involved

Suggested items needed include:

• Blankets
• Pillows
• All toiletries
• Alcohol free mouthwash
• Feminine products – tampons, maxi pads
• Adult diapers
• children pull ups
• diapers,baby wipes
• canned non perishable foods
• water,gatorade,juice boxes
• socks,underwear (children and adults)
• new baby clothes
• coloring books,crayons,puzzles(No toys)
• Hand sanitizer(alcohol free preferably)
• clorox/lysol wipes
• tooth brushes, tooth paste
• shampoo,soap
• toilet paper
• paper towels
• formula already mixed
• gift cards (Walmart,CVS,Visa)
• small household items (i.e. kitchen basics)
• new or gently used clothes of all sizes
• Laundry detergent
• Dryer sheets

Thank you all and hope to see you Thursday evening,

Mrs. King

Weekly Update

Dear Families,

We had a great full week of school this week! The students are getting used to the expectations when arriving to school and everyone is making it to their classrooms successfully. Thank you to all the parents who are dropping off the students in the morning. Students are getting used to the routine of getting out the cars without parent assistance and it is making the car rider procedures in the a.m. more efficient. Please remember for car rider pick up to pull up your cars as far as they will go in the lot. This will allow for all cars to squeeze in and for the busses to be able to navigate around the cars. Please remember that cars may not exit through the in entrance until after 3:20 when most of busses have cleared. This is a safety issue for both the cars and the busses. We are also asking that if your child is arriving late or you need to dismiss your child that you park in the lot and enter through the front door. Thank you for helping with this.

Next week we are having our first All School Meeting on Monday morning. If your students have a Shawsheen Shirt they are welcome to wear it. If not, any school Wilmington school spirit or blue and white will be perfect. This is a time when we all get together as an entire school. The first meeting will be an overview and  kick off to discuss respect, responsibility and resilience.

On Thursday will be our open house for parents. Below is a reminder of the times and the full letter is on the blog.  https://shawsheenschool.blogspot.com/

v      Grade 3 – 6:00 p.m. – 6:45 p.m.  ~ Information Session will begin promptly at 6:00 p.m.

v      Grade 1 – 6:45 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.  ~ Information Session will begin promptly at 6:45 p.m.

v      Grades 2 – 7:30 p.m. – 8:15 p.m. ~ Information Session will begin promptly at 7:30 p.m.

v      Special Education Classrooms  ~ Information Session in  B11, B15 and  B16 will begin at 5:30 p.m.

v      Specialists and Support Staff  will be available to informally discuss their programs with you from    6:45 p.m. – 7:45 p.m. at the following locations:

o        Special Education Staff -  Learning Specialists - C19 & B12; Speech Pathologists -  C19B

o        Reading Support Staff – C18 and C19A

o        Health – C17

o        Music –B9

o        Art – B10

o        Library –B-Level by ramp door

o        Guidance Counselor – Across from the Main Office

o        Nurse-Nurses office

o        Physical Education-Gymnasium

Here are some upcoming dates:

Date	Event	Grade	Location
Thursday, September 20, 2018	Open House for Parents/Guardians 6:00-8:15PM	All	Shawsheen Elementary
Friday, September 28, 2018	Early Dismissal for Students. 12:00 Dismissal	All	Early Dismissal
Monday, October 08, 2018	No School - Columbus Day	All	No School
Wednesday, October 24, 2018	Eyes on Owl for Grade 3	Gr. 3	Shawsheen Elementary
Thursday, November 01, 2018	PICTURE DAY for All Shawsheen Elementary	All	Shawsheen Elementary
Sunday, November 04, 2018	DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME-CHANGE CLOCKS		CHANGE CLOCKS
Tuesday, November 06, 2018	No School for Students - Teacher Prof. Day	All	No School for Students
Monday, November 12, 2018	No School - Veterans Day	All	No School
Wednesday, November 21, 2018	Early Dismissal for Students. 12:00 Dismissal	All	Early Dismissal
Thursday, November 22, 2018	No School - Thanksgiving Holiday	All	No School
Friday, November 23, 2018	No School - Thanksgiving Holiday	All	No School
Thursday, November 29, 2018	Star Lab Enrichment for Grade 1	1	Classrooms/Students
Thursday, December 06, 2018	Early Dismissal - Parent/Teacher Conferences	All	Shawsheen Elementary
Friday, December 21, 2018	Early Dismissal at 12:00	All	Shawsheen Elementary
December 22-Jan 1, 2019	Winter Break - No School	All	Shawsheen Elementary

Thanks everyone and have a great weekend,

Mrs. King