Upcoming First Grade Families

Dear Upcoming First Grade Families, Today Mrs. Lipski and I went to visit the Boutwell school and went into each classroom. We also did a remote orientation for students of Wildwood and Boutwell. It was such a pleasure to meet all of your children. They wanted to make sure I told their families that they were good and very kind. Also, they are excited to come to Shawsheen! Mrs. Lipski and I went over the slide show attached and we answered questions. Included in the slide show is the attached PDP of all the first grade teachers. In August, you will be able to log into Aspen to see your child's classroom teacher. We also gave all students a coloring book, which I will also post on our social media sites. I recommend having students keep this on the fridge as a reminder/social story for coming to Shawsheen. We also gave them a pencil case with crayons, bookmark, eraser, pencil and bracelet to take home. Once the rollover happens in August I will send out an invite for our guardian orientation. We are hopeful that before school starts the students will be able to see their first grade classroom. Please feel free to reach out to me this summer if you need anything. I am reachable by email and all my social media links are posted below. kindergarten move up day teachers intro.pdf First Grade Orientation 2021 Thank you and have a great weekend, Mrs. King Lisa King lisa.king@wpsk12.com Shawsheen Elementary School Principal twitter @shawsheenschool Shawsheen Elementary Facebook Page Principal Blog

FIELD DAY INFORMATION 2021

Good Afternoon, Here are some important reminders about field day: GRADE 1 WILL BE ON WEDNESDAY GRADE 3 WILL BE ON THURSDAY GRADE 2 WILL BE ON FRIDay Remote students who signed up may come in from 9:20-11:20. If you did not sign up & you want to attend please email your teacher directly. Your classroom teacher will be here to greet you. There will be a sign in & out sheet for parents. Remote teachers also have a similar schedule of activities that can be done remotely. We are giving out popsicles after lunch, however the classroom teacher can give out the popsicles before your child leaves. Schedule for the day 8:40 - 9:20 Arrival (attendance, snack, bathroom) Classrooms 9:20 - 11:20 Field Day activities Fields 11:20 - 11:50 Lunch Cafeteria 11:50 - 12:10 Recess Fields 12:10 - 1:00 Indoor activities Classrooms 1:00 - 1:40 Afternoon Recess Fields 1:40 - 2:00 Video Presentation Cafeteria 2:00 - 2:55 Wrap up Cafeteria The conclusion of our field day activities will include a video presentation for the entire grade in the classroom. The students will be able to relax and enjoy a G rated Pixar classic. If you do not want your student participating in the video presentation please notify Mr. Welch. Reminders: Wear sunscreen Hats are welcome Comfortable Clothes Water bottles Sneakers Beach towel Eat Breakfast at Home (snack will be provided as a station)

Grade 3 Project Day and Beach Day!

Good Afternoon, Thank you to all Grade 3 families. The students did a great job being resilient during the testing sessions. We have a few upcoming exciting events to tell you about for grade 3. The in person learners will be participating in the Massachusetts project. Below is a letter from the grade 3 team on how this will happen and how families can visit this event outdoors safely. Also, on June 14th, Dr. Foster from the West will be visiting the Shawsheen Grade 3 classrooms and remote classroom to talk about the West. You will hear back from him in August on hopefully having an in house tour of the building. On June 18th, grade 3 only will be having Kona Ice. The details of the ingredients of Kona ice are on their website. https://www.kona-ice.com/ We have done this as a tradition for all grade levels on Beach day. On beach day students can feel free to wear fun beach wear or island wear! However, this year we are just doing kona ice for grade 3. The PAC is sponsoring this event. It will be from 2:00-2:30. All remote learners are invited from grade 3. Mr. Mauriello will be releasing them before 2:00. All students will also get their special grade 3 T-shirt also donated by the PAC. If you have any questions about the project, please contact your child’s classroom teacher. If you have any questions about Kona Ice or if you do not want your child to participate in Kona Ice, please contact the office. Below is the letter from the grade three team & attached is the invitation for the project! Thanks again, Mrs. King Massachusetts Project Presentation Dear Parents, Our third graders are very excited to share their MA Important Places Projects. We will be hosting a “Museum Walk” for all parents outside on the Shawsheen Field. All third grade students will be outside, sitting on their own beach towel with their MA project. Parents are invited to view and learn about all the projects as they take a walk around our Outdoor Museum. Parents are reminded to follow CDC protocol and practice social distancing while visiting the projects. *Each child will need to bring in their own labeled beach towel to sit on. Please send beach towels in by June 4th. Teachers will keep all towels in school until our special presentation day. *Please see the attached Invitation to our special day on June 16th. Thank you, The Third Grade Team

Staffing Updates 2021-2022

SHAWSHEEN STAFFING 2021-2022 New Staff Members Jocelyn Sullivan will be covering one of our first grade long-term leaves for next year. Jocelyn covered a short-term leave for our remote grade one teacher and prior to that had completed her student teaching at Woburn Street in first grade. Jocelyn is well-versed in the first grade curriculum and is excited to take this position for the year. Nicole Allan will be covering one of our first grade long-term leaves for next year. Nicole has worked as a second grade teacher in a long term role for all of this year. Prior to that she was an Educational Assistant for the district for over 7 years. Nicole is well-versed in the school culture and the curriculum. She is excited to work with our incoming first grade students. Educational Assistant Long-Term Substitute Open Position Staffing Changes We want to thank the following teachers for coming over to Shawsheen Elementary School and really making it their home for the year. Moving over to a different school with short notice due to all the restrictions we had was not easy. These individuals did this flawlessly and it felt as though the staff, students, and families have known them for years. It has been a true pleasure to work with the following professionals: A special thank you to Deven Langenfeld who will be going to the Woburn Street School as a second grade teacher. A special thank you to Renee Deschene who will be going to the West School as a fourth grade teacher. A special thank you to Laura Harris who will be returning to the Woburn Street school as a second grade teacher. Welcoming Back We welcome back next year Bob Mauriello, Lauren Kelly-Joseph, and Donna Rogers into their Grade 3 classrooms from their remote teaching year. We are also welcoming back Cheryl Lesnik and Stephanie Beuchamp into second grade from their remote teaching. Noel Cali will be coming back into the second grade team as well. Kelly Bourque and Bri Langone will be returning to first grade in 2022-2023. Moving on to the West Kaulana Carrell is moving on to the West next year as a classroom Educational Assistant. We will miss Kaulana immensely and cannot thank her enough for all she does and continues to do for the students and staff at the Shawsheen. We wish her the best of luck at the West and are glad she will still be surrounded by our students! Brianna Locke is moving on to the West as a 1:1 Educational Assistant. Brianna is a wonderful colleague to have in your corner and she brightens up both students’ and staff’s days. We want to thank Briana for all her efforts this year to help out and be flexible. We have complete confidence that Brianna will continue to do great things.

weekly news shawsheen 2/26/21

 Good Morning Families,

Thank you so much for all you do to help our students come in with a smile on their faces & our remote learning friends as well. It is so great to see the innovative ways in which teachers are incorporating the students who are at home learning into the classrooms from participation to check-ins. 

Next week we are entering into March. It will almost be a full year since the pandemic started. We want to take this time to remind students about our 3 R’s and how their resilience, responsibility and respect have helped them to get through. During our ALL SCHOOL MEETING on March 24th we will be celebrating this along with other topics.

Read A Thon

March 2nd will be the last day to log in the readathon minutes. I will be going around the building two more times to hand out rewards. The students have been so impressive with this and I want to thank the PAC & families who have helped to make this possible. As of right now the West & the Shawsheen combined have raised 1800 dollars. You can find log in information on your childs google classroom.

Read Across America Week

Every year we celebrate read across america week. The students can wear certain clothes & participate whether at home or at school. PLEASE do not go out & buy anything. This is voluntary & just for fun. Here is the link for the week. 

Mindfulness & the Brain 

Explore and learn! What Mindfulness is What Mindfulness isn’t. Practice & reflect the benefit of mindfulness. Please join Erin O'Connor from Happy Human Mindfulness & learn how mindfulness changes the brain & learn some simple practices. The flyer is attached & this is paid for through our safe & supportive grant. It is 3/18/21 from 6:30-7:30 via zoom. A zoom link will be sent out prior to Shawsheen families.

Also the week before the teachers will get one hour of PD on this topic & all grade 3 students will be getting 30 minutes with Erin O’Connor for a lesson on the same topic.

Mindfulness and the Brain Save the Date Workshop Flyer 

Diaper Drive for Gifts of Love

Every month as you know we try to do something to support the community. For the month of March we will be accepting donations at the school for diapers & wipes any sizes. Attached is the flyer. Our shawsheen leaders will be helping with this. You may see them outside during car rider holding up signs to promote it! We will take donations directly from your child at drop off or off the bus. Thank you so much. The flyer is attached and also includes the flyer for a community drop off.

Diaper Drive Flyer 

Thank you all and have a great weekend.

Mrs. King

 

Weekly News-Shawsheen 2/12/21

As we finish off our last day before vacation I just wanted to thank you all for all you do at home to support your children. Thank you for attending parent/teacher conferences and talking with your child’s teacher. These connections are so important and we do appreciate it.

A few reminders for when we return are listed below:

Attendance

Please remember to have your child not only log into their google classroom on time when remoting in but to also LOG in for attendance on google classroom. In order for the main office to mark student’s appropriately we need that information. If they log in after 9:00, they are considered tardy just like if they were in person days and they came after 8:55. In addition, if for some reason you are having tech issues or forgot to do the attendance and your child was logged in, please call the attendance line and you can leave a msg so we can help to correct the attendance. The same is true if your child does not log back or then they will be considered dismissed or absent. Please let us know so we can make sure attendance and tardiness are accurate. 

Read A Thon

Over 366 times students have logged into the read a thon! To date the Shawsheen/west PAC has  raised 1,700 dollars with students from both the Woburn Street and Shawsheen Schools. Way to GO!

You can still log in minutes over Feb Break by accessing google classroom. If students read over 100 minutes they can go and submit again. Also as not to repeat the information again if you go to the Facebook page, blogger, twitter or old emails it has the PAC donation information. This is not necessary to participate.

A shout out to some star classrooms who have read the most minutes.

Ms. Deschene for grade 3

Mrs. Lesnik for grade 2

Mrs. Biedermann for grade 1

A shout out to some star readers

              Helen J-Grade 3

              Cody M-Grade 3

              Zoe M.C- Grade 3

              Connor M.-Grade 2

              Greyson S-Grade 1

Safe and Supportive School Grant Update

We had Rob Surette for our enrichment program sponsored by the grant and by The PAC. The students really seemed to enjoy it.

We have training for the staff the week we get back from the classroom. For two days there will be a substitute in the room for about 2 ½ hours for the training. Teachers will put in their google classrooms if students are to do asynchronous instead of logging in.

We will have a parent evening on Mindfulness and the Brain on March 18^th from 6:30-7:30 virtually. The flyer is attached to save the date. In addition, all grade 3 students will participate in a mini workshop the week prior virtually. Lastly, all staff will also participate in the same workshop in March.

We have started an Equity and Diversity group with staff at the school lead by Mrs. Patterson. More to come on the progress of the group. This month we have dedicated our display with diverse literature and have provided staff with a digital library of books for Black History Month. Lots to come with this group!

Please know that I will not be in the office next week and will have an autoreply on my email. Please enjoy your break with your families. 

Mrs. King

Attachments area

Read A Thon Kickoff has begun!

 Good Morning Families,

The Read a thon kick off event has started. Here is the ALL SCHOOL MEETING that the students watched today with their classmates virtually. It goes over the read a thon for them. All students also read for 10 minutes silently during the ALL SCHOOL MEETING. Feel free to watch it.  ALL SCHOOL MEETING Just a reminder that all students if they have not already due to the snow day will receive this week a free book to get started with reading. There are some fun small prizes for every 100 minutes read a week that they must log in online. Directions are also included. 

Lastly, ALL students can participate whether you make a donation or not. If you or any friends or family members would like to contribute to sponsor your child in the read a thon the information is on the flyer and below. Any donation is welcome and you can also send in check or cash to the school with a note having student name and read a thon on it. 

Here is the information on the flyer that was or is being sent home.

Read A Thon Flyer

Here is the google link to log in minutes weekly. Only once a week is necessary to log in!

Google Link to Log Minutes

Thank you all and we hope the students have fun with reading this month!

Mrs. King

Read A Thon and weekly news 1/27/21

 Good Afternoon,

We have some exciting things happening starting next week. On Monday and Tuesday depending on your cohort days students will be receiving a brand new book and information about the read a thon sponsored by our PAC in collaboration with the school. It is a way to celebrate Read Across America Month starting on Feb 2nd and through March 2nd. ALL students can participate regardless if they raise funds for the PAC. We have information below on how students log minutes in at the end of each week. It will be on their Google classroom and I will be checking it weekly. For every 100 minutes students will earn a small prize, name on the t.v screen in the lobby and some fun shout outs! Just a reminder that our REMOTE learners can pick up there books today between 12:30 and 1:30 outside of B-Level door. The flyer goes over how to share out information to raise funds for the PAC. Families and friends can sponsor the PAC through their PayPal account which is listed. We have a suggestion on how you can write the email to friends and family or share the information. We are excited about this fundraiser as the PAC has had to take a cut this year due to not being able to run their biggest fundraisers last spring and likely this year as well. On Wednesday we will be having our All School Meeting where it will all be explained to the students. We are also going offer to have students do a flip grid where they talk about their favorite books and I will make a video at the end of the month to celebrate. If you have any questions about PayPal or the fund raising portion of the read a thon please contact the PAC. If you have any questions about other portions feel free to contact me for support. We hope that all students enjoy their new book as a kick off to the event and feel motivated to read maybe a little bit more and explore new books! Any type of reading counts. Reading to your child counts, listening to ebooks or whatever works at home.

Here is the flyer so you can copy and paste into emails if you wish. It is also listed below for easy cut and paste method. A hard copy will also be sent home. Feel free to start the process of sending out emails for the fundraisers portion. You do not need to wait until Feb 2nd.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gYIHkKPVE_xwy3JpBJ3CxwVrmGmqR5-b3ykzvdSKZA4/edit

Just a few other reminders: 

* 1/2 day today so no asynchronous work

* Please remember to follow the car rider procedures daily. You MUST stay in your car and follow the line of cars. It is unsafe for families to get out of the car and the teachers are monitoring cars and students so it is difficult for them to pull a student and speak with parents. If you ever have an emergency situation you should call the office and will find a way to assist you. Thank you for helping with this. It has been going very well and our timing is still earlier than our regular dismissal time. 

Thank you all for all you do and have a great rest of the week.

Mrs. King

3 EASY STEPS

1.  STUDENTS: LOG INTO YOUR GOOGLE CLASSROOM AND
             LOG YOUR READING MINUTES BY FRIDAY OF EACH WEEK

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScm_I7nbbWVcNRaCqGNhe48AOLxKvC2SDFI6v4D9ZiOuO2Sag/viewform

2.  FAMILIES: SEND OUT EMAILS TO FAMILY AND FRIENDS
            TO DONATE USING THE PAC’S WEBSITE BELOW

(Please see reverse side for an email script to send out)     
https://shawsheen-west-pac.square.site/

3. HOW IT WORKS: STUDENTS READ & EARN REWARDS
            All students will get a free book from the PAC to kickoff the  
            Read-A-Thon 

• For every 100 minutes read, students will earn a reward

• Shout outs will be given for most minutes read in grade
  level totals, classroom totals & individuals!

Sample email to send out to family and friends:

Dear Family & Friends,

_________will be participating in his/her school's Read-A-Thon beginning Feb.2 through March 2. He/She is collecting donations to kickoff the month of reading. Would you like to sponsor ________ in reaching his goal of reading __________minutes a week? All the money raised will go to Shawsheen/West PAC to cover the cost of this year’s enrichment assemblies and much more. Donations can be made using the PAC’s square website https://shawsheen-west-pac.square.site/ but please be sure to put _________name in the comment field when checking out. Help us reach our goal of $8,000 with a $20 dollar donation. Any denomination is appreciated. Thank you for your support!

weekly news-shawsheen 1/22/21

 

Good Morning Families,

Another week down! Thank you to all our families for your continued support and communication. A lot of information has been going out about the adaptation of some learning times. Please refer to the email sent out by Christine Elliot on specifics or you can review the school committee meeting from Weds. 

Here are the highlights:

* Only effects Cohorts A and B

* On the days your student is at home they will now log into their classroom for a morning check in for 30 minutes and for reader’s workshop time for 45 minutes.

* Teachers will be sending out the exact log in times for this to occur and the links. 

We are excited to be able to add these extra check in times even virtually a few days a week. Please be patient with staff as we navigate through this first week.

Also a quick reminder that on Weds, January 27th is an early release day so there will be no asynchronous work in the afternoon. 

Thank you all and have a great weekend,

Mrs. King

Weekly Updates - Shawsheen 1/15/21

 Good Afternoon,

Thank you so much for all that you do to keep our students going each and everyday. I know these last few weeks have been challenging, but the students are coming in happy and engaged and ready to work.

Just a few reminders that there is no school on Monday, January 18th in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. day. Also on January 27th the students have an early release day due to staff curriculum day. Coming up in February we have report cards going out on  February 10th virtually and an email will be forwarded when those are ready and how to access them.  On February 2nd grades will close. Also on February 10th is parent/teacher conferences virtually and an early release day for students with no aychnernous in the afternoon. Please note that due to covid restrictions this year the district will not be allowing Valentines to come into school. Teachers are all planning on still making the day special with crafts and activities. Thank you for understanding. 

In case you missed it here is a nice article from the Wilmington Apple on the Shawsheen being awarded the Safe and Supportive School Grant.

Article

Also, here is a copy of our dates outlined!

Have a great week,

Mrs. King

Weekly News and Updates Shawsheen Elementary School 1/7/21

 Good Morning Families,

Thank you all for returning from vacation with your positive spirit even with all that is going on. You have all been helping in supporting students in so many ways. It has not gone unnoticed. SO, thank you.

We have some great things happening at the Shawsheen. The PAC has booked Rob Surette and he is going to do a virtual presentation on Feb 10th at 10:00 a.m. All staff and students should log onto this. It will be great! Here is a link to some of his performances. 

Rob Surette

In addition to the PAC supporting this enrichment program they are going to help to support read across america month starting on Feb 2-March 2nd. We have signed up for an online program where all students can log in their reading minutes and can earn small rewards as they go. In addition, it acts as a fundraiser as well if families or friends can sponsor students the school can earn funds. Since we were not able to do the birthday book club this year we will be purchasing one book per student to kick off the Read Across America month. I hope everyone participates. This is a fun way to encourage reading, give shout outs, and raise some funds for more enrichment programs for the students. As families may be aware the PAC is struggling this year because they have had to cancel so many typical fundraisers so we have had to cut back. 

Also, Mrs. Patterson will be sending out information soon about a grade 3 book club that she will allow students to sign up for virtually. More information on that to come.

Relationship mapping has been a success. We do this each year where we take a look at all students from a social/emotional perspective. It could be students who are shy, new move ins, or would benefit from a connection with a mentor/adult. Shawsheen Elementary school received a grant for this program to continue this year due to the success from last year. If your child is selected if will be virtually and it is about 20 minutes per week with the same mentor. We usually do 6-8 weeks and then rotate students.  There will be a very simple survey that your child will fill out at the end about their experience. We can' t select everyone in the first round, but we are going to be starting this in a few weeks. I will be sending out schedules for our mentor volunteers and families will receive a letter if selected. This is an amazing thing for both students and staff.

Update on safe and supportive school grant. We are in the process of providing Professional development for the staff on responsive classroom and morning meeting. We are also looking to bring in PD for families and students on equity and diversity. In addition, we will be forming a small group at the school of staff and possibly a parent for an equity and diversity group. We are also continuing with our consultants for PBIS through this recent grant. More to come on this! If parents have any PD that you would recommend on this topic or have heard about please feel free to email me.

Please continue to keep the school informed if your child is a close contact or needs to be in quarantine. The school nurse Katherine.peters@wpsk12.com should be cc: on any email. You are also welcome to email Doreen.crowe@wpsk12.com if you have any questions. 

Just a reminder that Report Cards go out on Feb 10th and that is when we have an early release for parent/teacher conferences. 

Lastly, I know that you have received several emails about how to help your child process events that have occured. Please note that if you do need anything do not hesitate to reach out.

Thank you for all you do working with the school, staff and our students. It is so appreciated.

Mrs. King