Weekly Newsletter
June 16, 2022
News from Principal Emma Liebowitz
As I think about the 2021-2022 school year, two words come to mind - community and happiness. Although we started the year not sure if we could sustain full in-person learning, our community was fully committed to making it the best learning year possible. The last couple of years have been challenging, but the students, families and faculty remained resilient, pushed through the challenges and persevered. As a community, we had to recognize and settle into new norms with flexibility and a willingness to accept the far from ideal circumstances handed to us. With all that hard work, came happiness. Happiness to be back together again. Happiness to run and play with friends. Happiness to be able to work in groups. Happiness to see beaming smiles again. Although we would never want to repeat all the hardships we encountered, we can certainly cherish the lessons we learned about kindness, empathy and the need to be a part of a special community like ours at Sanderson Academy.
I would like to send a special message to the graduating class of 2022. I know you were not able to experience some of the traditional events that take place as you end your elementary school career. As a class, you navigated the ups and downs with grace. You remained a community within a community, more like a family in many ways. As you move to middle school, I encourage you to think back to your years at Sandeson Academy to help guide you. I know that you can reach your hopes and dreams. We will miss you and wish you the best of luck!
Health Office News from Nurse Loranna
I hope everyone has a wonderful summer filled with starry nights, ice cream treats, sandy beaches with plenty of rest and relaxation! While this year was challenging, I feel so grateful for this community and our beautiful school-we are so lucky! The students continue to blow me away with their kindness and passion for life- they are our greatest teachers and I am humbled to continue to learn and grow on this path of life with them.
Preschool News from Ms. Freeman
This week we are taking down our artwork and cleaning out our cubbies. We are enjoying each other's company, playing in our favorite Learning Centers, enjoying the beautiful weather outside, and reflecting on our year together. It has been a memorable year.
Thank you to everyone for your help and support. Sanderson Academy is truly a special place. Have a happy, fun, and safe summer vacation. See you soon.
Preschool News from Ms. Melanie
It is hard to believe that the last few days of the school year are here. Everyone has grown so much. We have learned so many new things together, from the life cycle of a Monarch butterfly in the fall to making candied violets in the spring. I have had so much fun getting to know you all and learning from you. I wish you all a summer filled with amazing outdoor adventures! Best wishes to the children moving on to kindergarten and I am looking forward to reconnecting with my returning preschool students in the fall! Here are a few sweet memories of our time together. Happy Summer!
Kindergarten News from Ms. Sarah
To help with saying goodbye to the classroom, we dismantled our quiet time boxes and took down our artwork and classroom decorations. We also planted carrots seeds in the Kindergarten garden bed for next year’s kindergarteners to harvest. We looked at our memory slideshow and remembered how we had harvested the carrots that the previous class had planted for us. It’s like a kindergarten life cycle!
First Grade News from Ms. Wyckoff
As our first grade year comes to a close, we are taking time to reflect on all the fun we’ve had together. Some favorite memories are: making potato head people with our sixth grade buddies, the all-school clean up day, our teachers, our friends, making crafts and our field trips!
In our final week of school we enjoyed field day and celebrating summer birthdays with an ice cream party!
What an incredible first year of teaching first grade this has been for me. I couldn’t have asked for a more wonderful class of first graders! This class is full of kind, humorous, inquisitive and creative children. Each child is unique in their own way bringing individual qualities that make our classroom the special place that it is! Wherever their path leads them after they leave first grade, these children will bring so much enthusiasm, laughter and joy to the world around them. I will miss you all so much! Thank you for teaching me that first grade is the best place to be! Best wishes to you and your families for a happy, safe and enjoyable summer!
Second Grade News from Ms. Robertson
It’s hard to believe that the second to the last day of the school year has arrived! With the school year coming to a close, we have started to make the transition from being second graders to third graders. The second-grade students have completed end of the year assessments in the different subject areas and data from these assessments will be shared with the students’ third grade teacher. To assist the second-grade students as they begin the transition to third grade, they visited the third-grade classroom today during the school-wide Step-Up Day. Last week they also learned about the third-grade gardens, modeled after Native American and colonial gardens, which were planted by the current third grade students. The gardens will soon be passed on to the second-grade students, who will care for them during the summer and into next year.
To close out the school year, we enjoyed our annual Field Day and Fire Safety Day last week. Students enjoyed the various field day activities, with the slip and slide being one of the class’s favorites. We also had fun participating in the activities sponsored by the local fire departments, where students took part in a bucket brigade and manned a fire hose to help put out the flames on a house fire. (See the photos below.) We also had our Pet Day yesterday, where students were invited to bring in a pet from home to share with the class. It certainly was a fun afternoon learning about each other’s animal friends!
With this newsletter being the last one of the 2021-2022 school year, we would like to take this opportunity to extend our appreciation to the second-grade families we worked with this year. Watching your children grow, both as individuals and as a class, was rewarding. Your children worked hard and made great gains in the areas of reading, writing, and math and they can be proud of all they accomplished! Thank you!
And to all the Sanderson families, best wishes for a safe, healthy, and fun summer!
Third Grade News from Ms. Carole
It’s been a magical year of learning and growing together in third grade. This week we did a lot of wrapping-up activities. We had a super trip to Look Park on Tuesday with our buddies, and we want to thank the many parents who came on this trip and made it fun and yummy and safe. We also had a farewell visit with our buddy class on Wednesday in their outdoor classroom. The buddies exchanged hugs and cards and enjoyed ice cream sandwiches together. Through all of our activities, discussions, and trips this year, the third graders have grown tremendously. As we think ahead to the long line of days between now and fourth grade, please remember to incorporate a calm spell of reading, a dash of writing, some curious math, and spontaneous kindness into each day. Many thanks for all of the support throughout the year, and best wishes for a fabulous summer!
Fourth Grade News from Ms. Lagoy
What an amazing year of learning we have had in fourth grade! It has been a pleasure getting to know each and every one of your children and I wish them all the best next year. As we wrap up the year, we are doing our final writing piece about The City of Ember. In math, we are just beginning to explore strategies for dividing larger numbers using ratio tables and open arrays, and in geography students are eagerly finishing their independent state research projects. I hope you have a wonderful summer!
Fifth Grade News from Ms. Johnson
Fifth grade finished off the year with students designing dream bedrooms. They had to have a perimeter of 75 feet or less and the area couldn’t be more than 350 square feet. They had to figure out the perimeter and area for a few items they had in their rooms as well. Also in math, students have been learning about integers and have been solving problems with positive and negative numbers in situations for temperatures, land above and below sea level, and money. Students also have been learning about the history of Sanderson Academy and have been creating projects to display information about what they have learned. On Tuesday, we had some Sanderson alumni come visit who graduated from 12th grade from Sanderson in the early 60s. They shared their school stories with us and brought some old yearbooks. For our read aloud, we have been reading Chasing Vermeer and are finishing that up this week. We have been playing around with pentominoes (which are mentioned a lot in the book), and solving the hidden message in the illustrations of the book.
Sixth Grade News from Ms.Lilly
Although I have only been with your children for part of this year, I feel very lucky I get to send them off to middle school. Thank you all for your patience as I took over mid year and also for your support with all of our end of the year activities. We started this week by visiting Mohawk Trail for Step Up day. The students were able to meet their 7th grade teachers, get a feel for the layout of the school, and learn about different activities offered. To keep the fun going we visited Ashfield Lake on Wednesday to celebrate the end of the year. I hope everyone has a wonderful summer!
Congratulations Sixth Grade Class of 2022! Good luck in middle school!
Library News from Robin Wilson
The school year ends, and summer reading begins!
Ashfield’s Belding Library is offering a plethora of FREE summer activities for kids and families. Information about these offerings will be included in your child’s folder this week. If your child does not yet have a library card, stop in and meet Sarah, the Belding Library Director. She has done a wonderful job curating the children’s section (which I think is the prettiest part of the library). Children 5 years and older can get a library card, and the Belding Library is fine-free! Here is a link to the Belding Library Calendar.
Museum Passes
The Belding Library also offers museum passes (1 per family) to the Eric Carle Museum, the Clark Institute, Historic Deerfield, MassMOCA, as well as MA State Parks. Call the Library to check out a pass!
Try an audiobook this summer
In my family, we often listen to audiobooks on long car rides (yes, even my kids still call them “books on tape”). Not only do audiobooks keep the peace between siblings for long-distance treks, they can also bring kids and grown-ups together as they enjoy a common story. Audiobooks are great cures for summer boredom and can also make a nice backdrop when doing crafts or household chores. Here are two ways to access free audiobooks:
Libby- CWMARS (Central and Western MA Resource Sharing) offers access to free audiobooks through a platform called “Libby” to anyone who has a library card. There are literally thousands of audiobooks to choose from for many ages and interests. You can place holds and check out a few audiobooks at a time, and it’s easy to download the Libby app to your phone and listen anywhere. Here is a link to Libby.
Sora- Sora is an audiobook platform that MTRSD subscribes to. It offers free audiobooks for many ages and reading levels. Here is a link to the Sora platform, and here is a link to instructions on how to access Sora.
Finally, please return all library books by Friday, June 17. Thank you for a fantastic first year, Sanderson!
News from Ms. Prew
One question on the end of the year math screener asks our fabulous Sanderson students to respond to the statement “I like math.” The students may say yes, sometimes, or no. This data is worth sharing! 47% of our students like math and 43% of our students like it at least some of the time! Have a fabulous summer everyone! See you in the Fall! :) aprew@mtrsd.org
Regional Opportunities
About Us
Email: eliebowitz@mtrsd.org
Website: https://sanderson.mohawktrailschools.org/
Location: 808 Cape Street, Ashfield, MA, USA
Phone: (413) 628-4404
Facebook: facebook.com/SandersonAcademy