Nantucket Elementary School
November 12, 2022 Monthly Newsletter
Nantucket Elementary School Latest News and Calendar Updates
Dear Families,
Happy Autumn!! What incredible weather we have been having!! It is so great to extend the warmer temperatures. The students are loving recess in this time period.
Routines have been firmly established in most classrooms and spaces around NES. Be sure to talk with your child about these routines. Ask them: what do you do during math time in your classroom? What do you do when you go into music? What happens during SEL classes? These are great questions to have students explain the details about their days - share specifics and topics they are learning about. Talking about their school day helps children remember new concepts. Teaching someone helps children really comprehend new material. Please try this out!!
In addition to talking about the day with your child, please be sure they are reading nightly. All students in Grades K-2 are now bringing home books they can read or they have had practice with in school. Please make time and space for this after school. Some nights there will be math homework too. Know this, we want your children to try these and to practice. We do not want them to be stressed about this - nor do we want you to be stressed. If a child is struggling with school work at home, please just let your child's teacher know and send it back with questions.
Here are a few very important reminders. As we always say, we need you the parents and adult family members to be partners with us in your child's education. An important role that you play is to be a model for our high expectations. Please review these 3 sections and let us know if you have any questions.
Attendance - we are starting to see some students with higher absence numbers. It is very important that you notify your child's teacher or call the front office. You can send a message to your child's teacher through REMIND or call the front office to leave a message regarding your child's absence at (508) 228 - 7290 ext, 3. If your child needs to miss 5 or more consecutive days, you must make an appointment with the principal well in advance of upcoming absence. The NES Parent Handbook has been posted on the NES website (www.npsk.org, click on schools, click on Nantucket Elementary School). Please review the important section on attendance. Retention in the current grade level is a possibility if a child has excessive absences. As we continue to rebound from the Covid Pandemic, children being in school each day is a necessity.
Lockdown Drill
As has been shared through Aspen email and hard copy in backpacks, we will be having a lockdown drill this week. This is all about practicing for safety. Teachers and staff have been talking about this with your children. The conversations are developmentally appropriate for our students. Our angle is to stress the necessity of practicing for safety purposes. This is just like practicing a fire drill.
Driving and Parking on the NES/NIS campus
We have had several concerns shared regarding safety of students as they enter and exit the school recently. These concerns have been regarding parent drivers not following safety rules. These are listed below for your reference. We appreciate all of your anticipated efforts and required patience.
- NES will open in the morning at 7:45am. Students who are walking, biking or getting dropped off should be outside the building no earlier than 7:35am and walk to their assigned class meeting place outside.
- If parents wish to escort their child to their assigned class space, they must park their car in the Backus Lane parking lot ONLY.
- The parking lot off of First Way, behind the school is for staff only.
- All of the parking spots are assigned to staff or students at NHS.
- Parents and Guardians should not use that lot for any reason.
- This is a terrible place for students to be dropped off, this is not a drive through, and there is nowhere for any non permitted driver to park.
- Again, please stop driving in this lot. We are asking you to be a model for all children in the morning and the afternoon.
- Drive through drop off in the morning is permitted at the K and NES/NIS side entrances. This means parents stay in their car, and a staff member will open the passenger side door to help your child exit safely. Then, the car continues driving out the exit. This is for all students.
- Drive through pick up in the afternoon is permitted for all students grades 2-5 in the large circle between NES and NIS. This means parents stay in their car, and a staff member will oversee students entering cars. Then, the car continues driving out the exit.
- K and 1 students are met by parents at the back K entrance. Students will be standing in their assigned class lines.
- The circles and driveways on campus ARE NOT PARKING SPACES. An adult driver must stay in the car while waiting for students to exit or enter the car.
- At dismissal, all parents will continue to wait outside in the already designated spots with staff supervision (kindergarten circle for kindergarten and first grade students, outside of the front door for second grade students).
- In the event of inclement weather (severe snow or rain), kindergarten and first grade students will be dismissed out the kindergarten and cafeteria doors to parents outside and second grade students will be dismissed out the gymnasium doors to parents outside.
- Drivers may not pull into the bus loop to pick-up their children EVER.
Thank you for all of your efforts to support your child's learning. We need your partnership with us in this most important journey of supporting your child for success. Know that Mrs. Kimberly Albertson, Assistant Principal, and myself are always available to support you. Feel free to call the school to set up appointments, call to speak with us, email us, or catch us outside in the morning and/or afternoon. We love feedback and want you to feel comfortable reaching out to us as needed!
Best,
Kim Kubisch and Kim Albertson
Meri Lepore's Nurse's Corner
Nurse’s Corner November 2022
The fall is a great time to get your flu shot. I am attaching a link to a joint letter from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics regarding vaccine and prevention of respiratory illness this winter. We have seen a number of cases of COVID and RSV in our school so far this year. If your child is not vaccinated against COVID please consider this as well as an influenza vaccine. Also if your child has a fever they must stay home until they are 24 hours fever free without medication before returning to school. We are trying very hard to keep all of our students healthy and vaccines, good hand hygiene and staying home when sick will help us to achieve this!
The Health Office has started vision and hearing screening, if your student does not pass, we will be sending home letters.
Counselor's Corner from Jenny Williams
This month, students in kindergarten through second grade SEL classes are learning about empathy and the key ingredients of developing prosocial behaviors and interpersonal problem solving skills. Helping children to identify, understand, and respond in a caring way to how someone is feeling provides the foundation for skills such as building and maintaining friendships, coping with emotions, cooperation, perspective taking, and conflict resolution–all are skills which help children succeed in school and in life.
In order to continue to support your child’s Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) learning at home, please take advantage of completing the Home Links that your child brings home from school. The Home Links are fun and simple activities to do with your child designed to help you understand and reinforce what your child is learning in class and to encourage your child to show you what he or she knows.
Additionally, here are some great strategies for developing empathy at home.
Describe and label.
Help children recognize their emotions and the emotions of others by describing and labeling. (e.g.,”You seem angry, or “Are you feeling sad?”) You can also promote body awareness, as young children find it easier to identify emotions based on how it feels in their body. “You clinched your fists. You stomped your feet. You seem angry.” The more children become aware of their own emotions, the more they will recognise and consider the emotions of others.
Discuss emotions.
Talk openly about emotions and make it clear that all emotions are welcome. Sometimes emotions are more comfortable than others. If your child is afraid of the dark. Instead of saying, “There’s nothing to be afraid of,” explore the child’s feelings: “Are you scared of the dark? What scares you about the dark?”
Modeling.
Any time you want to teach a skill to a child, it’s important to model the skill yourself. This way, the child understands what empathy looks like, sounds like, and feels like. The more children receive empathy the more likely they are to offer it to others.
Read stories.
Reading is a great time to help your child develop a “feelings” vocabulary. As you read stories with your child, ask how the characters in the storybook might be feeling. Have them look at expressions on the characters' faces and examine body language and then guess the emotions. Pictures provide great clues to help children better understand what someone else is going through. Some wonderful extensions to reading for feelings include asking, “What if that happened to you, what would you do, what would you say?” “How would you feel?” and “What do you think they need?”
Helping out at home, community, or globally.
The action of helping others develops kindness and caring in children. When children interact with other people, it provides them with valuable opportunities to practice empathy and experience different perspectives.
Upcoming Events
SAVE THE DATES!!
- NPS School Committee LGI 6:00 pm 11/15/22
- NPS SNAC meeting NHS 6-8 pm 11/16/22
- NPS Superintendent Coffee 8:00 am 11/17/22
- NES Guest Reader Day 8:00 - 10:00 11/22/22
- NPS Thanksgiving Break 11/23 - 11/25/22 Schools Closed
- NPS School Committee LGI 6:00 pm 12/6/22
- NPS Half Day Dismissal 12:00 pm 12/7/22 District PD
- NES Trimester ends 12/9/22
- NHS December Delight 12/10/22
- NES Bookfair 12/12 - 12/16/22
- NES Half Day Dismissal 12:00 pm 12/14/22 - Parent Conferences
- FONPS Meeting NHS 6:00 pm 12/14/22
- NPS Joint School Council 3:00 pm 12/15/22 CPS Cafe
- NES Report Cards Posted 12/16/22
- NPS School Committee LGI 6:00 pm 12/20/22
- NPS SNAC meeting NHS 6-8 pm 12/21/22
- NPS Holiday Break 12/23 - 1/2/23 No School
- NPS Return to School 1/3/23
Nantucket Elementary School
Website: www.npsk.org
Location: 30 Surfside Road, Nantucket, MA 02554, USA
Phone: 508 228 - 7290