Mason Road School Newsletter
December, 2019

Message From Mrs. Desto
A sincere thank you for all the holiday wishes, gifts, cards, etc. that were sent in. While not necessary, everyone truly appreciated it, myself included. Please know, educators love nothing more than child-created things. A nice drawing, written note, etc. is one of the best gifts any educator could receive.
With the two day transition back to school, we are up and running and in full swing! Students appear to be back on track in following the routines and expectations. As we head into the second half of the school year, teachers have been encouraged to identify any concerns they have with a child's progress. As a parent you are also encouraged to share any concerns that you may have about your child's progress with the classroom teacher. Remember, educating the youth is a team effort between home and school. Check out this article for some tips that could help you at home:
https://themilitarywifeandmom.com/raise-well-adjusted-kid/
Wishing you all the very best this new year!! Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Jen Desto


Happy New Year! I hope everyone enjoyed their time together with family and friends. I know I had a great time and enjoyed some much needed down time!
The clinic could always use donations of gently used clothing. If your child has outgrown anything and you are no longer in need, I would be so appreciative and happy to take them off your hands!
Flu season is still upon us. Please keep your child home with any symptoms of fever, diarrhea, or vomiting. Your child should stay home to rest and can return to school once they are fever free without the use of medication for at least 24 hours.
I would also like to remind parents/guardians that students should not bring in any medication with them to school, this includes cough drops. At this age, they are considered a choking hazard and unsafe. Water is the best thing for a dry cough and it also provides hydration!
The Department of Public Health mandates vision and hearing screenings for K students. I will begin screening within the next few weeks and hope to have it completed before February vacation. If you prefer your child not to be screened, please contact me. I will send a notification home only if there is an issue.
As always, I am readily available and can be reached by email or by phone. I also love visitors! Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions or concerns. Let’s work together to ensure the health and safety of all students at Mason Road.
Sincerely,
Nurse Johnson

Why Does Attendance Matter? (an article from: https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2009/attendancedata/chapter1a.asp)
Every school day counts in a child's academic life...
A missed school day is a lost opportunity for students to learn. In this era of increased accountability for states, districts, and schools, the connection between student attendance and learning is being studied more than ever before. As a result, education agencies are asked with increasing frequency to report attendance data in a standard manner to allow comparisons across organizations and jurisdictions.
The primary rationale for high-quality attendance data is the relationship between student attendance and student achievement. Teacher effectiveness is the strongest school-related determinant of student success,1 but chronic student absence reduces even the best teacher's ability to provide learning opportunities. Students who attend school regularly have been shown to achieve at higher levels than students who do not have regular attendance. This relationship between attendance and achievement may appear early in a child's school career. A recent study looking at young children found that absenteeism in kindergarten was associated with negative first grade outcomes such as greater absenteeism in subsequent years and lower achievement in reading, math, and general knowledge.2
RESEARCH SHOWS THAT ATTENDANCE IS AN IMPORTANT FACTOR IN STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT.
Poor attendance has serious implications for later outcomes as well. High school dropouts have been found to exhibit a history of negative behaviors, including high levels of absenteeism throughout their childhood, at higher rates than high school graduates.3 These differences in absentee rates were observed as early as kindergarten, and students who eventually dropped out of high school missed significantly more days of school in first grade than their peers who graduated from high school. In eighth grade, this pattern was even more apparent and, by ninth grade, attendance was shown to be a key indicator significantly correlated with high school graduation.4
The effects of lost school days build up one absence at a time on individual students. Penalties for students who miss school may unintentionally worsen the situation. The disciplinary response to absenteeism too often includes loss of course credits, detention, and suspension. Any absence, whether excused or not, denies students the opportunity to learn in accordance with the school's instructional program, but students who miss school are sometimes further excluded from learning opportunities as a consequence of chronic absenteeism.
1 Adelman, C. (2006). The Toolbox Revisited: Paths to Degree Completion from High School through College. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education.
2 Romero, M., and Lee, Y. (2007). A National Portrait of Chronic Absenteeism in the Early Grades. New York, NY: The National Center for Children in Poverty.
3 Hickman, G.P., Bartholomew, M., and Mathwig, J. (2007). The Differential Development Trajectories of Rural High School Dropouts and Graduates: Executive Summary. Phoenix, AZ: The College of Teacher Education and Leadership at the Arizona State University at the West Campus.
4 Allensworth, E., and Easton, J.Q. (2005). The On-Track Indicator as a Predictor of High School Graduation. Chicago: Consortium on Chicago School Research.

Mason Road Book Critic! Thank you Mrs. C and Seth for sharing this video with us!

What Are These Reading Calendars All About?
Research proves being an active reader is extremely important to academic achievement. Children thrive with the support of both their teachers and families. Together, building reading skills, they will utilize in every subject area from the beginning of their school experience and into adulthood. With this in mind, the Dudley-Charlton Regional School District has been asking for all students to participate in the District Recreational Reading Initiative.
Reading Calendars are sent home at the beginning of every month. Parents are asked to spend at least fifteen minutes (five days per week) reading with their child. The calendars need to be brought back every Monday. The classroom teacher will check the literacy calendars and return them for the present week so you and your child can record reading times for that week. Please help your child remember to bring back their literacy calendar.
Along with the calendars to record reading times, each child has an opportunity to be the Book Critic for the week. Each week a different student is selected by their classroom teachers to be the classroom Book Critic. Additionally, each class with the most calendars returned each week will receive a special reward (pizza party, movie, extra recess, dance party, etc.).
During the month of December, Mrs. Marrier's classroom had 89% of all student return their reading calendars. This is such a great response and we are all so proud of all the students for their efforts. Mrs. Faubert's class came in second with 82% and Mrs. Hooper's class came in third with 81%! Great job everyone!
As we begin each month, all students have an opportunity to participate but they cannot do it without your help!!! Please be sure to check with your child to see that they have their reading calendar in their bags for Monday. When they return from school on Monday, please check with them to see if they have their calendar with them to track the new week's reading time. It would be the most amazing thing to see ALL students return their reading calendars each week so that we have a building-wide reward!!
The challenge is on! Do we have your help? LET'S GET THOSE CALENDARS IN FOR 100% PARTICIPATION!

Principal's Award

Cards for Carlos!
Of course, Mason Road School was all into this! Each student in this building made a card for Carlos. They were all mailed out, along with a Choose To Be Nice tee-shirt and some school swag, right before the holiday. The students did not disappoint! They made the most thoughtful and caring cards that would brighten up anyone's day!
Check out the news spotlight on Carlos: https://www.wcvb.com/article/cards-for-carlos-boy-stuck-in-boston-hospital-for-holidays-has-one-wish-christmas-cards/30157291

Choose To Be Nice Lunch Reward!

News From Title One
Tidings from Title 1
Mrs. Connor & Miss Moreau
We wish you all a very cozy Holiday and a happy New Year! Over the winter break the Title One Kindergarten students received a packet of practice work. This was encouraged, but not required! Family memories and time spent together is much more important. We missed your kiddos over the vacation and are so excited to be back!
What’s Happening in First Grade?
In Language Arts, we are continuing to practice the Dolch Primer Word list. If you need a copy of the list, please let Mrs. Connor know. We have practiced reading and writing words with glide on the slide endings (ank, ink, onk, unk and ang, ing, ong, ung). We are also learning to read words containing the H Brothers (ch,tch, wh, sh and th). We will continue to practice these skills in the New Year. Please continue to read with your child as often as possible. Practicing reading books at their independent reading level helps build fluency. Listening to an adult read fluently also helps children understand what fluent reading should sound like.
In Title 1 Math, we are continuing to work with addition and subtraction to twenty. Students are using part part whole mats, number lines and pictures to solve problems. This month we worked on determining if equations are true. An addition or subtraction equation is true if the values on each side of the equal sign are the same. Students then needed to find the missing numbers in equations to make them true. This is a very challenging skill that we will continue to work on in the coming months.
What’s Happening in Kindergarten?
In Kindergarten Language Arts, while we still practice letter naming and letter sounds, we have shifted our focus to sounding out and even spelling CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words! Sometimes I will say a word such as “bat” and have the students break it down into the beginning, middle and end sounds (/b/ /a/ /t/). I may ask them to think of what letter captures the sound /b/, then what letter says /a/, and finally /t/. With some support, many of your children are able to spell words such as “bat” when they connect the sound with what letter they need to write. Along with writing CVC words, we have practiced reading them as well. I will put a word such as “bug” on a white board and prompt students to identify the first letter “b” and what sound it captures /b/ and so on. After they identify all three sounds, I support the students in blending the sounds together to make the word.

DON'T FORGET TO MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR Kindergarten Music Show!
Kindergarten Students will perform on January 23rd - - 6pm @ Mason Road School. Please have children arrive no sooner than 5:40. The doors will stay locked until 5:40pm.
SPACE IS LIMITED.
Click on the School Spirit picture to order your SCHOOL SWAG from Squadlocker!!!!

January Events!
January, 2020
1: NO SCHOOL - Happy New Year!
7: PTO meeting @ Dudley Elementary - 6:30pm
8: MRS School Council - 3:30
School Committee - 7:00 pm @ SHRHS
14: Burpee Zoo Visits MRS Kindergarten
17: Half Day for Students - Professional Development
20: NO SCHOOL - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
22: School Committee - 7:00 PM @ CMS
23: Kindergarten Music Show - 6:00pm @ MRS - Students need to arrive no sooner than 5:40!! SPACE IS LIMITED. The doors will stay locked until 5:40pm.
February, 2020
4: PTO meeting @ Dudley Elementary - 6:30pm
12: MRS School Council - 3:30
PreK / K Registration: 1:00 - 8:00pm @ MRS
17-21: Winter Break - NO SCHOOL
March, 2020
3: PTO meeting @ Dudley Elementary - 6:30pm
11: Family Comes First Night - No evening activities
13: PreK / K Registration: 1:00 - 8:00pm @ MRS
18: MRS School Council - 3:30
19: Half Day for Students - Parent / Teacher Conferences (PreK-4)
20: NO SCHOOL - Professional Development Day

Mark your Calendar!!!
If you have a child who is eligible to attend Preschool (turns 4 before September 1, 2020) or Kindergarten (turns 5 before September 1, 2020), then you want to start preparing for registration!
If you have a child that is a current preschool student, you DO NOT need to re-register your child. Please inform Mason Road School office if your child is NOT returning for the 2020-2021 school year.
Please bring birth certificate, proof of residency, proof of occupancy, and valid identification with you!
For more information, check out our school website: http://www.dcrsd.org/schools/mason-road or click on the link at the bottom of this newsletter.
DUDLEY PTO

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