Bare Necessities
Pierce Newsletter ~ January 13, 2023 ~
Principal's Message
Dear Pierce Families,
Happy Friday and welcome to the weather that keeps us on our toes. New England weather reminds us to send students with multiple layers, boots, hats, coats, mittens and sneakers. If you do not have access to any of these things please contact the main office.
Crazy 8s math club is off to wonderful start and the kids love it! Contact the main office if you still want to join and have not already signed up.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
In observance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., there will be no school on Monday, January 16th. There is no school Monday.
Winter Benchmark:
We will be administering Winter Benchmark Assessments in Reading and Math at the end of January. Results from these assessments help us to determine groth made thus far, to identify gaps in learning and provide additional support or to provide opportunities for enrichment. We will send these results home with report cards prior to February break.
Title 1 Literacy Night - February 23rd - Thursday
Save the date! Thursday, February 23rd we invite Marty Kelly to Pierce. Times and details to come.
Special: PE Wellness
Warmest regards,
Beth Gibney — Principal
Kindergarten Registration for the 2023-2024 school year
The dates for the kindergarten registration are as follows:
February 21 (8am to 3pm) ***snow day of February 23 at AES.
(For Antrim, Bennington, Francestown and Hancock)
March 21 (8am-3pm) ***snow day of March 23 at PES
(For Peterborough, Greenfield, Dublin, Temple and Sharon)
April 12 (8am-3pm) at PES (for all towns)
Ski Program
The PTO is happy to announce that the Crotched Mountain Ski Program will be happening this year. Keep an eye out for more information as we continue to iron out all the details. The ski program will begin Wednesday, January 18th, directly after school and students will need to be signed up prior to the start of the program.
Overview:
All students in grades K-4 are invited to participate. If your student is in K or 1st grade an adult must be present at the mountain throughout the whole session.
Families will be carpooling to the mountain. Please, let us know if you are available to help. If we do not have enough vehicles we won't be able to offer the program.
Students will receive a one hour lesson with free skiing afterwards until 6pm. All students will need to be signed out by their guardian from our Pierce School coordinator who will be located upstairs in the lodge. Students need to be signed out no later than 6pm.
You will have an option to purchase a lesson/rental/pass package OR a lesson/rentals package. All payment is done through the website.
If you choose to participate, this is how to sign up:
Please visit this link and complete the following:
Select Wednesdays at 4 from the drop down window
Pay for the program through the online site, we will not be collecting payment through the school
Then email Colleen Allen (colleen.holder@gmail.com) to let us know they've signed up as we will need a list to give to the staff
If you have any questions at all please direct them to Colleen Allen. Thank you to the PTO for this opportunity and to Colleen Allen for serving as our point person.
Making the best of the rest of the snow
PTO: We Need You! Please Join
Next Meeting February 1 at 6:00PM - in person AND on zoom too!
Bear Den Broadcast
It's official, it is finally here:
Bear Den News - Upcoming Events
UPCOMING EVENTS
1/16/23 - NO SCHOOL - MLK Jr. Day/Civil Rights Day
1/16/22 - Special of the Week - Health & PE
1/20/23 - Assembly - 1st & 4th Grades Presenting
1/23/23 - Special of the week - Music
1/23/23 - IST - 1st Grade focus @ 7:30 am
1/30/23 - Special of the Week - Health/PE/LMR
1/31/23 - 4th Grade with Susie Spikol - NH Mammals @ 2 pm
2/1/23 - PTO Meeting @ 6 pm
2/2/23 - 3rd Grade Trip to GEP Library @ 2:20 pm
2/6/23 - Special of the Week - Art
2/7/23 - Marty Kelley Assembly & Workshops (Schedule to TBD)
2/7/23 - 4th Grade trip to Bruce Edes Forest with Susie Spikol - NH Mammals @ 1:30 pm
2/8/23 - Marty Kelley Assembly & Workshops (Schedule to TBD)
2/9/23 - 4th Grade trip to GEP Library @ 2:10 pm
2/9/23 - Community Supper @ 5:30 pm
2/13/23 - Special of the Week - Health & PE
2/14/23 - Happy Valentines Day
2/14/23 - 4th Grade trip to Bruce Edes Forest with Susie Spikol - NH Mammals @ 1:30 pm
2/17/23 - Assembly - Kindergarten, 2nd & 3rd presenting
2/20/23 - Special of the Week - Library
2/21/22 - (Snow date) 4th Grade trip to Bruce Edes Forest with Susie Spikol - NH Mammals @ 1:30 pm
2/23/23 - Title I Literacy Night with Marty Kelley
2/24/23 - Black Bear Day in the afternoon
Title 1 Literacy Night: February 23rd - SAVE THE DATE
For the Newsletter... a blurb something like this would be great!!
Families... Please Save the Date!
Wednesday, February 22, 2023
5:30 - 7:30 pm
Pierce School is very excited to announce that the famous Marty Kelley, a local children's book author and illustrator, will be coming to our school. Thanks in part to our school's Title 1 Federal Funds, we will be able to have Marty come to Pierce school on several school days in early February to work with kids on the writing process. In addition to the school day visits, we will have Marty return to school at night for a fun-filled, family-friendly presentation. Marty will share his creative process, do some drawing demonstrations and take questions from the audience. Pierce students will also have the chance to showcase some of their own literacy work with parents as they briefly visit their classrooms. Enjoy some light refreshments prior to the presentation, and tour the classroom doors all decorated to showcase one of many of Marty's Books. Thanks also to the PTO for helping to sponsor a wonderful Raffle Basket!! I free ticket per family for a chance to WIN!!
We can not wait to see you all on Wednesday the 22nd of February.
Stay Tuned for More Details on the exciting ways we plan to prepare our students and staff for Marty's visits!
S.E.L.- Behavioral Support - Corner
Hello everyone!
First, I have to commend everyone for making it through another week in January - while these days are great for those who love the cold and winter sports, these days, some of the longest of the year, are very hard for others. I saw a great meme this week - sharing that we only have so many days until the sun sets at 7pm again. Well, there's only 58 days until daylight savings - we're getting there!
This week's focus, in the spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr. always being such an amazing self-advocate and advocate for others, is on teaching our kids to have self-advocacy skills and to use those to both speak up for themselves and for others. For those reading and feeling hesitant, when we teach our kids emotional intelligence, and practice listening to them, having real conversations with them, and teaching, they are both able to listen to us and learn, while also learning to stand up for themselves.
Resource of the Week:
- 8 Little Ways to Encourage Your Child to Speak Their Mind on Parents.com - While Parents.com often includes advertisements and opinions (so you have to be careful not to trust everything), they do have a lot of great information! This particular article supports us in teaching our children how to speak their mind - how to be independent thinkers. Teaching them to be independent and advocate for themselves when at home, will directly support them when they're in other settings away from us, such as at school or on the bus, to ask for help, and stand up for themselves when something feels uncomfortable.
Articles of the Week:
- The Best Way to Raise Assertive Kids to Stand Up for Themselves: Off the same vein, when we teach our kids to speak their minds, they are more able to assert themselves around others and communicate when things are not okay.
- Preparing Children to Stand Up for Themselves and Others: This last article is very thorough and very helpful in seeing just how much goes into teaching kids and modeling for them how to stand up when something is not okay. While adults are often present to support kids, we can't always be there. And even if we're not far away, there are always going to be moments where something can be said so quietly that other adults cannot hear. It's so important that we teach kids these skills so that they can feel comfortable and confident as individuals!
Family Activity:
- Take advantage of car rides! Typically, I find that family dinners are a great time to talk about important issues, model how to ask questions and respond in a supportive manner, but with activities and work schedules, there isn't time for everyone every night to sit down. Although it's hard to make eye contact and show true whole-body listening skills while driving (please be safe!), this can often be a great time to talk. Ask your children how their day was, and ask them why they might feel that way or what happened. Ask them to share what went well and what they hope might be different next time. Ask them how tomorrow could be better (because we're all growing, and tomorrow always has the potential to be better!) and ask them how they can do it. Additionally, use this opportunity to model something about your own day and how your day could go better and what you're going to do about it. Kids are ALWAYS listening (whether we think they are or not), and they learn so much about how to interact with the world from what they see in us. If your kids are hesitant to share at first, try sharing about your day first, helping them to see why it's important to reflect, and teach them to feel empowered about making their own choices and acting upon them.
Lastly, if your child is already quite good at self-advocating (as my 2-year-old currently is QUITE good at this!) continue to teach them these skills, and acknowledge what they're sharing with you by saying something like, "Thank you for telling me," and then also remember to teach them how to respond when someone else advocates and tells them they don't like that idea, or when someone says, "no. I don't want to play that." Teach them how to be okay with negative feedback or when someone says something they don't like. We all have our own opinions, and so it's important that we recognize that others will too!
Have a great week ahead everyone!
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Pierce School - Bennington, NH
Email: bgibney@conval.edu
Website: https://bes.convalsd.net/
Location: Pierce Elementary School, Main Street, Bennington, NH, USA
Phone: (603)588-2131