Center School Times

 

First Grade State Winner, Annabelle Liu Massachusetts State Library Bookmark Contest

 

Friday, March 24, 2017                 Early Release Day                 1:00 pm Dismissal 

Monday, March 27 and 28           Incoming K Registration    4:00-7:00pm CAF 

 

 

News from our Principal 

March Madness 

 Basketball may come to mind for most given the terms March Madness and for others it may elicit feelings of stress or challenges adapting to change. This time of year, much change happens. We spring ahead, the change in clocks impacts schedules. Why do I have to get ready for bed now, it’s daytime?! Activities change, spring sports commence, impacting routines. When are we eating supper?! The weather is confusing. You just need a fleece today. Bring your snow pants . The routines that children have become accustomed to have changed. Change can be hard for children. You can help your child manage change by giving preparing warnings. Alert when an event is coming: We’re eating dinner after___. We have ____minutes before we start to get ready for bed. Teachers do this throughout the day at school. We often encounter an unexpected change in routine: an activity takes longer than planned, the weather changes and impacts recess, and so on. We continuously work on being flexible. Mrs. Pickens, our guidance counselor, and Mrs. Twomey, our school psychologist, have taught lessons in all K & 1 classrooms that foster the development of social emotional skills including being flexible thinkers. Change can be hard for adults too. There’s a sense of security when we know what to expect, what’s ahead. We have the ability to know what’s coming more so than children as we encounter change everyday. There are times we create the change and others we respond to change. How we respond to change models reactions for children. We can use self-talk, ask questions, take a break, and even take flower breaths (your child can show you) too. Our school has embraced social emotional learning as a critical component of our day. Successfully navigating change is something we seek to support. See Mrs. Pickens’ article for an initiative lead by our SELT (Social Emotional Learning Team). In addition to a solid academic foundation, teaching skills that are life skills are a focus at Center School. This collective responsibility contributes to our positive school community and sets the stage for lifelong learning.  

And the answer is...Marathon Elementary School Our new school now has a name: Marathon Elementary School. The School Committee accepted recommendations for the school name, narrowed these options and engaged the community in a survey. This information contributed to the decision, Marathon Elementary. The name fits. The theme within the building is “It all starts here.” The Charles River starts in Hopkinton. The Boston Marathon starts in Hopkinton. The foundation for learning, the introduction to Hopkinton Public Schools, starts in this building. We look forward to the opening of Marathon Elementary School for the 2018-2019 school year!

 

Community 

Diversity 

Forum  

Please join us for a public discussion with a focus on Community

Diversity and the goal of increasing awareness, compassion and

community connections.

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Time: 7:00 PM

Hopkinton High School Auditorium

 

Kindergarten Registration 2017-2018 Online registration packets will be available March 1st.  Please check our Center School homepage for a link to this packet.  This is a later timeframe than in the past. We appreciate your understanding as the district transitions to a new student information system.   Evening registration will be March 27 & March 28 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM at Center School. Computers will be available to access if needed. Parents/Guardians will also have the opportunity to ask questions and ensure the receipt of school email updates.   Kindergarten Orientation will be held May 22 & 23, 6:30 – 7:30 PM for parents to learn more about kindergarten. (choose one night to attend)   Kindergarten Tours will be May 25, 6:00 – 7:00 PM. This is  an opportunity for parents and future kindergarten students to tour the building.  Share this information with your friends and neighbors!    

  

 

The Student Services office has released the 2016 Annual Town Report

In response to SEPAC and parent requests to have clarity regarding ESY we have developed

ESY Timelines and

An ESY Brochure for parents to review

Please direct all ESY questions to Mr. Dan Mazur, ESY Coordinator dmazur@hopkinton.k12.ma.us 

 

        We Need Your Help!  

The EXCEL Program (Excellence in Community Education and Life Skills) is for individuals ages 18-22 who are continuing to further develop their vocational, social, community, and

life skills in the Hopkinton Public School system. Students accompanied by staff are a constant presence in both the Hopkinton and greater Hopkinton communities, using the high school as our home base. We have received grant funding to secure an offsite location which will foster greater independence and community connections for these young adults. If you

have any ideas regarding available locations please contact Ms. Katie Hibbert at khibbert@hopkinton.k12.ma. us

   

 

Camp Guides for Parents Summer Fun Camp Directory

Provides a links to over 200 camp web sites serving children with disabilities.

ACA Accredited Camps The American Camp Association is the national accrediting organization for camps. ACA provides information for campers with and without special needs.

SPED Child and Teen Massachusetts Special Needs Camp 2017

● inclusive February vacation activities and camps ● lists camps by region ● lists camp fairs

On-line Camp Search Engines and Resource

● Autism Speaks: Camps in Massachusetts ● Camps for Children with Diabetes ● Easter Seals Summer Camp ● Kids' Camps.com ● Well maintained site allowing searching by geographic area and by program type. Select "Special

Needs Camps" category. Ages: children and adolescents. Various disabilities. Day- and overnight-camps listed.

● MySummerCamps.com ● Comprehensive directory and guide of summer camps for kids and teens with "special needs camps". ● Summercamps.com ● Summer camp directory with "Special Needs" category.

More summer camp resources including Possible Financial Assistance Options can be found on the Summer Camp Resources 2017 Fact Sheet.    

 

Center School Library News Kindergarten The students are enjoying a month long celebration of Dr. Seuss’s birthday. We began the month with a lively reading of “I Can Read With My Eyes Shut”. The students wrote words that rhyme with cat on a paper hat and then colored the hat. We also read "Dr. Seuss’s ABC book', "The Foot Book" and "Ten Apples Up on Top" The students practiced some math skills by counting the apples during the reading of the book and then counting by tens on the last page. The students then created their own “Ten on top" by stacking red hats (cups) to 10 and beyond. While we are sad that Dr. Seuss month has to come to an end, April will bring more than flowers at Center School Library. April is national Poetry month. The students will have fun rhyming with some very colorful dust bunnies. The students will hear poetry from acclaimed poets; such as Shel Silverstein, Maryann Hoberman, and Jack Prelutsky. We hope to finish the month off with the students creating some poetry to share with friends and family.  

First Grade The first graders have been very busy in the library also. The students created amazing bookmarks for the MSLA statewide bookmark contest. One of our students, Annabelle Liu, won first place in the contest. Annabelle, her parents, and Mrs. Mello (me) enjoyed an amazing day at the Statehouse in Boston. Annabelle was honored by representatives from Hopkinton and had a tour of the Statehouse. In April, Annabelle will visit with the school committee to share her art and her experience. The first grade students have been studying Fairy Tales and Folktales. They learned the these stories are very old, maybe even hundreds or thousands of years old. We emphasized this fact by telling the story of "The three little pigs" without a book. This also allowed the students to visualize the story in their own minds. They learned some of the differences between Fairy and Folk tales. Check with your child to see if they can remember. We finished this unit by reading a fractured folktale, "The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs. The first graders will also concentrate on Poetry during the month of April. The students will hear poetry from Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky. The month should conclude with the students demonstrating a strong knowledge of the concept of poetry: That words provoke feelings in any format. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns about your child's time in Center School Library. Our goal is to offer literature that satisfies curiosities, build new interests, and encourage students to be life-long readers.

Thank you,

Susan Mello, MLIS Center School Library smello@hopkinton.k12.ma.us   

 

  

March Art News 

Karen Lucy 

The first graders have had a great time creating their own unique projects with clay! In recent art classes we read the story, Manana Iguana and then drew pictures of a tortoise (tortuga). We finished our pictures by discussing composition and using collage to create a desert background. The students are excited to have started some large collaborative radial weaving projects using hula hoops as our frame. A special thank you to Mrs. Minkle for her generosity in donating the t-shirts used to make this weaving project possible. This week we will be learning about the artist, Paul Klee, and creating castle pictures using shape and line with oil pastels.

 

                Center School Musical Notes 

Wendy Moran 

 

March is Music in our Schools Month. We are talking about how what we do in music class also relates to other disciplines: literature, visual arts, history and creative movement. We discuss stories related to Peter and the Wolf (Prokofiev), Carnival of the Animals (Saint-Saens) and Babar (Poulenc) and how much the programmatic music enhances these stories. In music class, we honored Dr. Seuss this month as we sang a song composed by him: ‘The Super Supper March’. We discussed his rhymes and realized that his stories are even more fun when put to a lively song!

 

In Kindergarten classes we are relating music to art as we use the Metropolitan Museum book, Can You Hear It? We enjoy looking at famous paintings like ice skaters in a painting by Flemish artist, Pieter Bruegel (1525-1569), as we listen to Vivaldi's Four Seasons (winter). We look at art related to Gershwin's American in Paris and other famous works of art combined with music. Most recently, Kindergarten students used rhythm sticks to march around the room along with ‘ The Dance of the Knights’, from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet ballet. I read the true story of 'Mary Had a Little Lamb’ to the first grade musicians and I brought their attention to the

lovely illustrations of Will Moses (great-grandson of Grandma Moses). This book works well with Music in Our Schools Month because we discussed how the Boston music teacher from the 1830's, Lowell Mason, put the poem, 'Mary Had A Little Lamb' to the music. (The poem was originally written by John Roulstone whose visit to Mary’s school inspired him to write the poem.) Some children have visited Mary's actual schoolhouse in Sudbury, MA. Your children also learned the history of ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’ and now understand that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) composed his variations on the French folk tune, Ah vous dirais-je maman. They enjoyed seeing a video of this delightful French song which later became ‘Twinkle, Twinkle’ when the familiar words were later written by poet Jane Taylor (1783-1824) in 1806. I reminded your children that the reason they know the words to the Patriotic Songs so well is because we work so hard to learn them in music class at Center School. Through the poems in these songs we discuss the history of The United States of America. While they sing and listen to music of other countries they learn about those countries as well. As we now begin the study of Mozart and his fascinating childhood, your children are learning about life in Austria in the 1700's. They will enjoy a variety of creative movement activities as they listen to the music of Mozart, and they will even learn to dance the Minuet, the popular dance at the time of Mozart and George Washington. As we honor Music in our Schools Month, I am reminding your children that many concepts are easier to remember through music: month of the year songs, days of the week songs, songs about punctuation, weather and poetry. Music enhances so many things we learn about at Center School. Using music and song in all our studies makes learning especially fun! Musically Yours, Wendy Moran

  

                 Cooperation and Cubby Paw    Did you hear Cubby, our mascot, visited Center School ? Cubby was helping us kick                             

off our March focus on Cooperation. A group of teachers and administrators who are focusing on                               social and emotional skills launched a challenge to students to COOPERATE for the month of                             March. What does this look like at school? If teachers see our little cubs sharing, taking turns, using                                   Whole Body Listening, following directions, working together, being Space Respecters, and using                       kind words they will be give an orange paper with a picture of a cubby paw. The classrooms display                                     their Cubby Paws and on Thursdays we count the paws we have collected. Each week we announce                                 the class with the most paws. Congratulations to Mrs. Jacob’s first grade class and Mrs.                             Constantino’s kindergarten class for collecting the most Cubby Paws the first week! We are very                             proud of all of our Cubs!  (See photos in newsletter) 

 

 

What does COOPERATING look like at home? Cooperating is an important part of being a family.                               Children can cooperate at home by sharing with their siblings, taking turns, listening to their                             parents, helping with chores or special jobs, and using kind words. In April we will be focusing on a                                     new trait. Ask your Cub or check out our newsletter for more information.  

MUSIC IN OUR SCHOOLS MONTH The Hopkinton Public Schools Music Department is pleased to announce the following performances during the month of March and a little bit of April too. We hope you can join us! MICCA in the HS Auditorium (Tickets are $8 adults, $5 for students and seniors. Ticket proceeds go to MICCA)

Friday, March 31 Saturday, April 1 HHS Orchestra, 5:00 pm HMS 8th Grade Orchestra, 10:00 am

HMS 8th Grade Band,7:00 pm HHS Symphonic Band, 11:30 am HHS Concert Band, 8:30 pm

Choral MICCA at Westborough High School

Friday, March 31 Saturday, April 1 HMS 8th Grade chorus, 4:00 pm HHS Chorus, 11:00 am HMS Honors Chorus, 6:30 pm

JAZZ NIGHT - HHS AUDITORIUM Wednesday, April 12, 7:00pm

The performances are brought to you by the Hopkinton Music Department with support from the Hopkinton Music Association. Thank you for your continued support of the music department.

  FIRST GRADE HEALTH NEWS 

First grade Health classes are currently learning about safety. In this unit, students are exploring important                               safety skills and concepts such as: applying rules for safe, physical activity on wheels, applying strategies to                                 prevent fires and burns in hypothetical situations, how to take action in a fire emergency, the three D’s for                                     telling an adult (in dangerous, destructive, and disturbing situations), and how to get help in emergency                               situations by calling 9-1-1.   In the fire safety lessons, students discussed and had an opportunity to demonstrate what they would do if a                                     fire alarm went off in their house, while they were sleeping. Students practiced crawling toward the door of                                   the classroom, felt the temperature of the door handle, imagined that the door handle was hot, students                                 then put a towel under the door (to stop smoke from coming in), and crawled toward a window, pretending                                     to get out safely or if on a second story or higher, students ‘alerted’ firefighters with a sheet or clothing                                       hung outside the window, or flashed a flashlight.   The fire safety lessons stressed the importance of creating a family meeting place outside your home. It is                                   suggested that the meeting place is outside in the front of the home, and that you even practice going there.                                       Families should practice this: actually hear what the fire alarm sounds like from the room where you sleep,                                    

and then go to your meeting place outside, where all family members would meet. Many students shared                                 their family’s designated meeting place during Health class. Mrs. Lewinsky was impressed to hear some                             students describe how their family even practiced going to their meeting place. 

  In a recent Health class, students explored how to call 9-1-1 and what types of situations would require us to                                       call 9-1-1. Students were able to successfully differentiate between emergency and nonemergency                       situations. They were challenged to write, and if they didn’t already know it, to learn their telephone                                 number/parent’s cell phone number, and home address. In an upcoming lesson, students will use that                             information to pretend to call 9-1-1, and report an emergency. Students will be reminded to speak slowly                                 and clearly into the phone, and to stay calm when making an emergency call. 

  

Making Emergency Phone Calls

Dial 911. When someone answers, slowly and clearly

say:

This is an emergency.

My name is_____________________.

My address is ________________________.

My phone number is _________________________.

The emergency is ___________________________.

 

 Cubby and Cooperation 

Mrs. Consentino’s Kindergarten Classroom - Room 13

Mrs. Jacob’s First Grade Class