RYE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL School Board Principal’s Report December 2017 Flowers by Eveland Sherman Enrollment as of December 10, 2017 Kindergarten: 52 First Grade: 44 Second Grade: 47 Third Grade: 47 Fourth Grade: 39 Fifth Grade: 46 TOTAL: 275 UPDATES: • A Principal Coffee was held the 14 th and the topic of discussion was our guidance/health curriculum at RES with the emphasis on teaching empathy. Lori Arsenault shared with the parents present. • Our annual Mall in the Hall sponsored by the Student Council was well attended and we made $1500.00. Students were very creative and we had many items to sell. These monies will benefit a school in Puerto Rico.
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RYE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL School Board Principal’s Report
December 2017
Flowers by Eveland Sherman
Enrollment as of December 10, 2017 Kindergarten: 52 First Grade: 44 Second Grade: 47 Third Grade: 47 Fourth Grade: 39 Fifth Grade: 46 TOTAL: 275
UPDATES:
• A Principal Coffee was held the 14th and the topic of discussion was our guidance/health curriculum at RES with the emphasis on teaching empathy. Lori Arsenault shared with the parents present.
• Our annual Mall in the Hall sponsored by the Student Council was well attended and we made $1500.00. Students were very creative and we had many items to sell. These monies will benefit a school in Puerto Rico.
• Holiday Vacation Baskets are being assembled for seacoast families who have needs. Students have been bringing in games, comfy blankets, food items, and gift cards for things to do while on vacation.
• This year we have both a girls and boys 5th grade basketball team. Games are held each Saturday from December through February. The schedule of these games is posted on the school web site under Students and Families.
• At a recent Celebration Assembly we had our first Flash Mob song. Students in grade 5 and 4 organized this on their own and they did a great job. It fit in with our theme, “There is Snow Place Like RES.”
RSD Goal: To improve the capacity of educators to personalize learning and challenge all students.
1. On December 5th the staff held their first Fall Showcase. Sixteen staff members presented either a summary or something of interest from their professional development opportunities this fall. Here are the presenters and their topics:
• What’s New in Children’s Literature- Denise Wheeler & Kathie Kennedy • My Journey into Student Personalization w/Music-Andrea • A Deeper Understanding in Math: Chip Trading-Maggie • Kathy & Emily: Auditory Processing Disorder • Liz: Magic Book - an activity from a workshop on math centers • Nina: A RES Vision for Coding • Eric: Math Talks • Amanda: Lucy Calkins Writing • Leah: Fundations Intervention and Fluency • Hope: What You Need to Know in Special Education Law • Cindy: SketchNotes (Visual techniques for note taking) • Audrey: Creating a Caldecott Unit • Jacquie: Breakout EDU • Jennifer Richards: Primitive Reflex Integration. What teachers can do to support
postural development in the classroom.
2. Our Winter Growth Plan 2017-2018 has been distributed to staff members. In the Google
Folder you will see the opportunities staff members have for Dec. through March. On April 3rd we have our next Showcase so mark your calendars.
GOALS: RSD Goal: Increase the focus, depth, and rigor of learning and assessment tasks so
students can engage with meaningful content and skills.
Grade 5: A great example of increasing rigor is a math problem Mr. Ross recently gave a group of fifth graders. He gave them a drawing of his hockey rink with the dimensions. The real-world problem stated: “I have to turn the water hose on at 2pm Sunday to fill my ice rink. The hose discharges 7 gallons of water every minute. I need it to be 6 inches deep with water. What will the day and the time be when I can turn off the hose?” It was interesting to observe students one day. They came into the classroom and before even exchanging pleasantries with each other, started to solve the problem in their groups. Math talk was happening and students were engaged with the content. This problem was challenging and one that lasted a few days.
5th grade math students working on the “Mr. Ross’s Hockey Rink word problem. RSD Goal: To increase the frequency and effectiveness of communication from the Rye School District. 1. Carla Cole wrote a great article about the RSD lunch program for the latest edition of the Rye Magazine. 2. Copied onto the next page is the latest Principal Letter for Parents marking the second trimester. 3. A Principal Coffee was held on December 14th for parents. (see updates)
Rye Elementary
December 1, 2017
Dear Parents & Guardians,
What a wonderful fall we have enjoyed at Rye Elementary! From Halloween parades to off-campus evacuations, time has flown. Now it’s time to take a quick look back and ahead as we start our next trimester.
WELLNESS & EMPATHY: This year Lori Arsenault, our guidance counselor, and Holly Warden, our Physical Education instructor, have joined forces to offer a wellness curriculum to all students in K-5. Mrs. Warden, in addition to teaching Physical Education, is offering classes on health and well-being, while Mrs. Arsenault is visiting classrooms teaching about empathy and how that correlates to an increase in kinder behaviors. Part of that effort included taking all students in grade 3-5 to see the Wonder movie. After the movie students voluntarily took the “Kindness Pledge.” As you enter the lobby you will see the names of all students who pledged to choose kindness. To hear more about what Mrs. Arsenault is doing with empathy join us for the Principal Coffee on the 14th at 9:00. She will be our guest presenter.
SAFETY: One of our Three Bees in good behavior is Safety. We take that very seriously. We have held multiple drills this year from bus evacuation to fire drills to our big off-campus evacuation. The director from the State of NH Department of Safety commends Rye Elementary on our off-campus evacuation in a letter to the Rye School Board. In part he says, “Our Exercise and Training Officers Meghan Geoffrion and Ron O’Keefe informed me they were quite impressed with the professionalism and preparedness of the school staff and the performance of the student body.” Thank you all for supporting such drills!
VETERAN’S DAY ASSEMBLY: In an effort to grow student leadership and ownership at a young age we tasked Student Council with their first challenge of the year: organize and run the Veteran’s Day Assembly. What a great job they did under the counsel of Jacquie DeFreze and Andrea Papoutsy. Students read Veteran’s Day poems, explained the history of Veteran’s Day, sang multiple songs such as We Honor You, and acknowledged the veterans in attendance with a standing ovation. A highlight of the ceremony was the Veteran’s Strong Poem the whole school recited to the audience. Thank you, students, for rising to the challenge and for a job well done. We appreciate all who took the time to join us and the many veterans who stood. Thank you again for your service.
MATH PRACTICES: Math is so much more than the teaching of algorithms. Certainly, teaching the algorithm is necessary, but we need to make sure students understand the concepts and how math relates to the real world. This year we are ensuring the Eight Standards for Mathematical Practices are evident in our everyday math instruction. Those standards are:
● Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. ● Reason abstractly and quantitatively. ● Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others. ● Model with mathematics. ● Use appropriate tools strategically. ● Attend to precision. ● Look for and make use of structure
One way we are accomplishing this is through math journaling across all grade levels. Starting as young as kindergarten, students need to share their reasoning and in doing so, realize there is not always one way to solve a problem. Another way we incorporate the practice standards is through open-ended tasks. For example, instead of just asking a child to find the area of a 6 X 4 rectangle, we might ask him or her to find all the rectangles they can that have an area of 24. To solve problems such as these, children can work alone or in small groups, and use a variety of materials.
PROJECT BASED LEARNING: This fall Brad Belin, a project-based learning consultant, has been working with three teams at Rye Elementary on our journey with PBL. In grade four the teaching team will be implementing a project called Shark Tank in January & February. Students will team up to invent and market a product and finally present it to a panel of experts. In grade two students will focus on how communities work together during times of stress. They will key on three important words, collaboration, empathy, and innovation, right after the February vacation.
Don’t forget that our website is fully operational and contains a lot of information that is easy to access. Check out the new online calendar. Some highlights are:
December 8: Report Cards December 8: Celebration Assembly- Our theme is “Snow Place like RES” December 14: Principal Coffee-topic of discussion is our empathy curriculum (9:00) December 14: Mall in the Hall (benefits a school in Puerto Rico) (1:30-2:30) December 22-January 1: Holiday Break January 19: 5th grade Spelling Bee at 1:30
As you can see, a lot is happening. The students of Rye Elementary benefit from the support and dedication of our school board, staff, parents and community members who have helped make these things happen. Thank you.
