January Newsletter
Gerald E Talbot Community School
January 3, 2022
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Happy New Year and welcome to 2022! I hope that everyone enjoyed a wonderful December break. As we ring in the New Year, it is a great time to reflect on our accomplishments and set goals for what we would like to achieve in the months ahead. My resolution for 2022 is to continue to stay positive and focus on doing my best in a year filled with many challenges like never before. I will strive to approach every situation that comes my way with the resolve to find the best solution that will benefit all students at Talbot. I hope that you will join me and our talented Talbot staff to work through the challenges of doing school during a pandemic so that together we can “make the best of it” for our students' success.
January is also an energizing time of year when classrooms dive deeper into rigorous learning activities, and students start to show great gains in their progress. Across the district teachers will soon be giving mid-year assessments that show whether students are keeping up with the class, or may need extra help. The tests will also determine new areas for teachers to work on between now and spring. Starting later this month, English language learning students will be taking the yearly ACCESS test. This test measures the domains of speaking, listening, reading, writing and comprehension in English. We are proud of our ELL students and know they will rock this test!
News from Physical Education
The Talbot Tigers have been working hard in the Gym. The students are continuing to focus on cooperation and sportsmanship with every activity. Some favorite activities this year have been Pirate’s Treasure, soccer, Capture the Flag, and volleyball. The 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students will start 2022 with basketball skills and drills. They will work towards playing a full court basketball game with student referees. The kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grades will start with a bowling and tossing unit followed by an introduction to educational gymnastics. PreK will continue being introduced to all that PE has to offer with a focus on basic locomotor movements and learning about different types of equipment. Being prepared for class is always important, if you can please remind your students to wear comfortable clothing and sneakers so that they can be successful and have fun.
Garden Update
This month, in Garden Class we are learning about where our food comes from. Kindergarten and 1st graders will be learning about storage crops and how we can save fruits and vegetables from our garden to eat during the winter months. Each week students will explore and taste a different storage crop including: apples, beans, winter squash and potatoes. Second, 3rd and 4th graders will explore the pathway food takes to get to our plate. Some of our lessons include: creating a food web, calculating how many miles the ingredients in a blueberry smoothie travel, and learning about how to preserve food. Also, this month our newest item for the local food in the cafeteria is potato! School lunch will feature local potatoes from Green Thumb Farm on Wednesday, Jan 19th and Thursday, Jan 27th! Take a look at the cafeteria classroom to learn more, and find fun activities! And please opt in to have school lunch - it's free for everyone!
Calling Future Doctors!
We are excited to provide "Mini Medical School" to students in grades 3, 4, and 5 this year. This is a program designed by a Tufts University Medical School student, a local family physician, and Portland teachers. Once a month for four months, a medical school student from either Tufts University or the University of New England will visit your child's class for a 30-minute lesson to teach about health and wellness basics, as well as career pathways to the medical profession. Of course, your child's teacher will also be present. We are excited to begin this month. Teachers will send home an opt-out form, in case you don't want your child to participate. We are all looking forward to meeting our "class doctor"!
End of the Day Transportation
Please remember that end of the day bus and pick-up changes must be made no later than 1:00pm. While we make every effort to notify teachers of changes, it is most effective to send an email or a note in with your child.
Special Reminder- Martin Luther King, Jr Day -There is no school on Monday, January 17 in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Upcoming Dates
January 5: Early Release, 1:10
January 5: Covid Vaccine Clinic #2-for students getting the second dose
January 6: PTO meeting, 5:00 virtual
January 10: Picture Retake Day
January 12: Early Release, 1:10
January 17: Martin Luther King Day, NO SCHOOL
January 18: ACCESS Testing Begins
January 19: Early Release, 1:10
January 26: Early Release, 1:10
I continue to be thankful for the fantastic job that our staff, teachers, students, and parents are doing each and every day. At Talbot, parents and teachers form a tremendous team, working together to support our students and provide them with the tools they need to be successful at school and in life. Thank you again for your continued support as we kick off the new year together. Please feel free to reach out to me if you ever have questions about how we can best support your student(s) at Talbot School (874-8210).
Happy New Year Everyone!!
Mrs. Ann Hanna
Principal