October 6th- Open House-5:30-7pm-rescheduled from September 30th

October 8th-Walk to School

October 11th-No School, Teacher Workshop Day

October 13th-Mark Ragonese here for Art Residency

October 19th-School Picture Day

October 29th-Eyes on Owls and Halloween Parade

Hello everyone, it has been another wonderful week at our special school! Students have enjoyed having Art with Mr. Shultz and are looking forward to seeing him again next week. Classroom teachers are working to have students complete their NWEA testing on the Chromebooks in Grades 1-4. It will be great information to see where our students are starting out on their learning this year.

Staff are ensuring that our students are outside as often as possible and with the onset of fallish weather and the focus upon utilizing outdoor spaces, please be sure your child has proper gear; including boots, jacket, and a change of clothes. Consider hats and mittens as well as the mornings are often quite cool.

Please remember to have your child bring a watter bottle to school.

Thanks to all our families for their diligence in screening children before they leave the house. Please continue to screen for the following symptoms: fever and chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headaches, new loss of taste or smell, congestion or runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea. If the symptoms are present keep your child home and contact the school nurse for further guidance. This is helping to keep us all healthy!

We are looking forward to welcoming you into DCS for our Open House next Wednesday, October 6th from 5:30pm-7:00pm! We ask that you screen at home, we will take temperatures at the door, that you wear a mask and maintain a distance of 3 feet while in the buidling.

Enjoy the weekend, Nicole

https://dcs.convalsd.net/

DCS collects aluminum can tabs for "Tabs for Taylor." Taylor is13 years old and has been a patient at Shriners since birth. She has benefitted greatly by receiving prosthetics and her family gives back by collecting can tabs. Taylor is Sarah Precourt's niece and Sarah Precourt is Mrs. Hopkin's daughter. DCS has been collecting tabs for years. The money raised is used to purchase items for patient care. Please bring your tabs in to be recycled for a great cause!

We are thrilled to be able to hold our tradition of walking from the Dublin General Store to DCS! Buses will drop students at DGS, and parent drop offs can do the same. We will be safely guided across the street by one of Dublin's Police Officers. This is such a wonderful way to begin our day!

Kindergarten is off to a great start! There is so much to learn about how school works, and it takes time to build the stamina for our full days, but this wonderful community of learners is off and running! In math we are working and playing with numbers to 10, Literacy is all about rhyming and Letterland characters, and in Social Studies we’re learning about symbols of our country, as we create our own classroom rules to live by. In science we’ve made connections between our classroom and school communities, and social insects, as we’ve explored what a scientist does. Exploring a bee hive, and the tools of a bee keeper, observing a monarch caterpillar grow into a butterfly, and challenging themselves on the playground have rounded out our first month of school!

First graders bid farewell to 3 monarch butterflies! The magic of the metamorphosis never gets old regardless of age. Ask your child to sing the "Head, Thorax, Abdomen" song- very cute. Many thanks to Lisa Budzik for hosting a field trip for us to learn more about chickens! We learned about the life cycle of the chicken, what they eat, the difference between a rooster and a hen and how eggs come to be. We continue our study of short vowel sounds and are gradually adding digraphs, two letters that make one sound such as /th/. In math we're decomposing numbers- what two numbers can make up a whole, 8= 4+4, 2+6, 1+7 etc. Happy fall everyone!

Second graders have been learning a lot of vocabulary in literacy! They've been working hard to fill their vocabulary jar with pom poms for each word they use outside the classroom. We're practicing measurement using centimeters and meters and using estimation strategies. It was fun to predict how long the gym is and find out how close our estimation was. In Social Studies, we're learning the difference between goods and services, producers and consumers, and wants and needs.

As fall approaches, we are pleased to say that we have fallen into some good work patterns! We are wrapping up a unit on NH symbols, progressing in the ELA and jumping into math, especially math fact fluency. Looking forward to Open House!

We are excited to bring a live Owl Program to DCS on October 29th. Marcia and Mark Wilson will introduce our students to a variety of Owls. Students will "meet" 6 owls, learn about adaptations, as well as practicing owl calls. Thank you to our PTO for their support of this wonderful experience!

Teachers and students can purchase copies of Mark's award winning book, Owling, signed and personalized by the author, either at programs or by emailing mailto:eyesonowls@earthlink.net. Books are available for $18.95 (plus tax & shipping if applicable).

Owling was chosen by the American Association for the Advancement of Science as 2020's Best Sceince Book for Middle grade Students. However, Owling is a favorite of owl lovers from 3 to 103!"

For those that do not know, the DCS' mascot is a Raven. We are hoping to be able to provide our new students with Raven t-shirts. Until then, we have a DCS Gear store through which you can order items for your child and family.

http://dublinravens.deco-apparel.com/

One of the aspects of a new school year that can be challenging is the bus routes. It takes time for new drivers and students to get used to the timing of the pick ups and drop offs. Each day has gone a bit more smoothly.

Please help us by updating any changes in drop off or pick up through Pick Up Patrol.

Thank you!

Hello all, this school year, if your child orders hot lunch, it is free due to Federal Funding. However, if your child only orders a milk, there is a $.50 charge.