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Interested in marching in the Pride Parade?? Meet Northampton Public Schools at Sheldon Field (on Rt 9 & Old Ferry Rd.) at 9:15am on May 6th.

Bring water and sunscreen! Or stand along the parade route and cheer us on!

This spring, our friends at High Five Books are hosting three consecutive nights of community fundraising for us at R.K. Finn Ryan Road School, from 6-7:30pm:

• Tuesday, May 30: Kindergarten & 1st Grade
• Wednesday, May 31: 2nd & 3rd Grade
• Thursday, June 1: 4th & 5th Grade

Caretakers and educators are invited to High Five Books (141 N. Main Street in Florence) to listen to stories, shop with their students' classmates, and help fill our Ryan Road shelves: High Five will donate 15% of their proceeds as store credit right back to our school!

(ANYONE is invited to shop during these evening fundraising sessions. Ryan Road students—and siblings of students—from any grade can attend any/ all sessions.)

Family crafts and activities will be available, including a collaborative bookshelf art project. FREE! More info: highfivebooks.org/events

Parents, guardians, caregivers, educators, and students of the Northampton Public Schools are invited to participate in a VIRTUAL informational session to learn more about the Science of Reading and what it means for teaching young readers how to read. Sarah Gannon from Crafting Minds will be on hand to answer your burning questions and to provide you with an overview of the research. In addition, our district purchased a virtual viewing of the documentary film, "The Right to Read." The film will begin at 7:00pm. We hope you join us for part or all of this workshop or for the film viewing in preparation of adopting a new K-5 reading program next school year!

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85610611565

Meeting ID: 856 1061 1565
Passcode: 297504

Dial by your location
+1 305 224 1968 US

The Northampton Education Foundation Trivia Bee is a family-friendly online event hosted by the Trivia Brothers. It will take place on Wednesday, May 3 at 6 pm. Participants can compete solo or on a team of up to five people for just $25. Businesses and organizations can sponsor Trivia Bee questions for $250, $500, or $1000. Teams and sponsors can register online at northamptoneducation.org/triviabee. All of the NEF Trivia Bee proceeds will fund grants to Northampton’s public schools.

Raina and Mia helped us announce and celebrate birthdays last week!

We are looking for metal cans (of any size!) for a fun YEP project! Please drop off any that you may be able to donate to our main office and we will get them to Ms. Ames!

This annual garden sale features treasures from local area gardens and workshops:

*annuals *perennials *shrubs *trees *veggie starts *houseplants *compost *garden art *birdhouses *planters *New this year: a seed starting station for kids!

*Have extra plants or divisions of perennials you can donate?**

Potted plants may be dropped off from April 23 through May 11 at the following addresses:

• 373 North Farms Rd, Florence

• 36 Wilson Ave, Northampton

• 31 Forbes Ave, Northampton

Plants may also be dropped off at Smith Vocational (80 Locust St Northampton) on Friday evening May 12 from 4:00 to 7:00 pm.

Please try to label them, pot them early, and water them, so they look happy on the day of the sale!

**Please help prevent the spread of jumping worms by rinsing the roots of your plants first and then potting them into sterilized soil. The worms themselves don’t appear until later in the summer, so please be aware that their eggs are nearly impossible to see.

More information about the worms can be found in this Gazette article and these facts sheets from UMass Amherst.

If you need pots, popsicle stick labels, helpers for digging, dividing and/or potting or picking up potted plants please contact Amy Levine at alevine7@gmail.com or Mandy Gerry at mandygerry@gmail.com.

Starting in April, we will begin administering our Spring 2023 MCAS Testing in Grades 3-5.

The English Language Arts MCAS will take place in April, and the Math MCAS will take place in May. All of the MCAS assessments are online. It is very important that students be present for testing and arrive to school on time. We encourage families to avoid making appointments for students on testing days.

It is important to remember that any test is only one measure of a child’s performance at school. Teacher evaluations through the years, day-to-day work, and other types of performance assessments and projects are additional ways to evaluate learning. However, these tests are important, and we will be doing all we can to prepare our students to take these tests with calm confidence.

Some parents have asked for more information about MCAS tests. Here is a resource link to practice tests that we will be using at school, but you can also take a look at them at home if you wish.

http://mcas.pearsonsupport.com/tutorial/

MCAS Testing 2023 Dates for Ryan Road School

Grade 3:

• Math: May 3 & May 11

Grade 4:

• Math: May 2 & May 9

Grade 5:

• Math: May 4 & May 10
• Science: May 18 & May 19

Stay up to date with all of our school activities on our School Website’s Calendar!

• http://www.northamptonschools.org/rk-finn-ryan-road-calendar/

Upcoming Dates:

• May 6: Hamp Pride Parade
• Staff Appreciation Week: May 8 - 12
• May 9th - RKFRR School Council Meeting - 5-6pm
• May 15: Half Day, 11:30 Dismissal
• May 29 - No School, Memorial Day
• June 2: Field Day

The NPS district calendar (linked here) has been updated as of 11/10/22 to accommodate MCAS testing. Click here to read the letter from the School Committee regarding these changes.

YEP Reminders:

• YEP will run this week on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week!

YMCA: The YMCA. Hampshire YMCA runs an afterschool program at the school until 6pm. Space is limited. Contact the Hampshire YMCA directly for more information.

Website: https://ryanroadpto.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RKFRRPTO

Meetings (via Zoom - link sent on the day-of-ish) 6:30pm to 7:00pm:

• 5/3 - Rescheduled
• 5/24
• No June Meeting

As always, we hope that all families and caregivers feel welcome, comfortable, and valued at our school. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns. I am happy to meet with any of you or we can talk on the phone anytime.

Karen Albano, Principal

RK Finn Ryan Road Elementary School