Flynn Flyer
September 22nd, 2023
THANK YOU!
The PTO sends an enthusiastic THANK YOU for such a well-attended, wonderful Back to School BBQ event last night. It was wonderful to see so many kids, families, staff and graduates of JJ Flynn. The flower arrangements, bruschetta trays, food prep and spread were amazing. Thank you to all the Flynn families (and kiddos!) who volunteered and brought items to share! To the staff and teachers who graciously opened up their classrooms and spaces for all of the families to see the inner workings of your day. We see the hard work there and it was very appreciated. Here's to a great year ahead.
The PTO would specifically like to thank our sponsors for the generous BBQ donations: Hannafords, MacKenzie Country Classics, Trader Joe's, Freihofer's Bakery Outlet, and many more supporters.
Important Dates
9/27-Early Release 11:30/No Burlington Kids/No Sara Holbrook
10/5-PTO Meeting/6:30 in the Flynn Library or by Google Meet,
https://meet.google.com/fuj-omkp-bnv
10/6- No School/Professional Learning Day
10/9- No School/ Indigenous Peoples' Day
10/19- Flynn Book Fair to Benefit 5th Grade Trip to Star Base
10/25- Early Release 11:30/No Burlington Kids/No Sara Holbrook
11/2- PTO Meeting/6:30 in the Flynn Library or by Google Meet,
https://meet.google.com/fuj-omkp-bnv
School Play Info
11/4- School Play Set Building Day 10am -3pm
- Dress Rehearsals
- Sunday, November 5th 10:30-2:00
- Monday, November 6th 11:30-2:15
- Wednesday, November 8th 2:45-5:00
- Performances
- Thursday, November 9th during school day
- Friday, November 10th at 6:30pm
- Saturday, November 11th at 4:00pm
Flynn is is THIRD place! Thank You!
Let's put Flynn School in FIRST Place!
Summer Reading Challenge Celebration!
School Play News
Peter Pan returns to the Darling’s nursery in London and convinces Wendy, her brothers, and the Lost Children to return to the Neverland with him to battle the Pirates of the Jolly Roger for island supremacy once again. But is their new leader, the Terrible Blade, really who he says he is? And will the girl power of Wendy, Tiger Lily and Tinkerbell be enough to win in the end? And what role will the Crocodile, Mermaids and Hobgoblins play?
Very Merry Theatre is still looking for few parent volunteers to help manage play rehearsals.
This will be be a one hour committment about two times per week.
If interested please reach out to erminabolic@yahoo.com
KEY DATES
September 11 - Permission slips were sent home
Week of September 18 - Auditions were held
Week of September 25 - 4th & 5th grade speaking parts start rehearsing during lunch/recess (2 to 3 times per week)
Week of October 2 - 3rd grade chorus and crew start meeting (once per week)
Set Building Day - Saturday, November 4th 10am - 3pm
Dress Rehearsals
Sunday, November 5th 10:30-2:00
Monday, November 6th 11:30-2:15
Wednesday, November 8th 2:45-5:00
Performances
Thursday, November 9th during school day
Friday, November 10th at 6:30pm
Saturday, November 11th at 4:00pm
Helping with the play is a great way to build community and get to know the students and families.
If you are interested and able to help out, please contact flynnschoolpto@gmail.com
Principal's Corner
We are so happy to welcome all our Flynn families back this year and to continue to welcome the families who have just joined us! The past few weeks, we have been working hard at Flynn Elementary School to build meaningful relationships with each child and to build and practice strong routines, so students can thrive in the classroom.
At Flynn, we are so lucky to have a robust Student Support Team. Our Student Support Team consists of two School Counselors, a School Psychologist, a Behavior Interventionist, a Restorative Practices Specialist, the Principal, a Social Worker, and a Wellness Coordinator.
Over the past two weeks, that team has been working to interview each child at Flynn to learn a little bit more about their interests, strengths, worries, feelings about school, and their trusted adult/peer connections. We’re not done yet. This process will likely continue for several weeks. It is called Relationship-Mapping and is an example of one restorative practice we use at Flynn. We will use this information to support students and educators to maintain a deep relationship and connection throughout the year.
I have been interviewing 5th graders and have really enjoyed the interviews because they have allowed me to get to sit down and talk with students who I don’t always get to see each day in a deeper and more meaningful way!
One of our major focuses at Flynn is on restorative practices. You may be asking yourself, what are restorative practices? As the Principal, I define restorative practices as both a proactive and responsive approach to building and maintaining relationships and navigating the nuances of conflict and harm when they occur in community and in one-on-one relationships. These practices help us to create the conditions for a relationship-based community. These conditions help us to strive as a school to prioritize the wellbeing, identity, and belonging of every child. This is in alignment with BSD’s Strategic Plan and vision.
In our work of restorative practices with students, the goal is to move beyond rules and punishments and instead to teach children how to communicate, navigate conflict, and problem-solve - these are all relational skills that will benefit them greatly as adults. Part of this work is teaching adults and children that we all have different identities, experiences, and needs.
I was watching students at recess the other day and quickly realized that if we only give children rules and punishments, they never actually learn the skills they need to navigate conflict when no adult is watching. Recess is a time when this is particularly true, because it is the least structured time of the day. Students who are not equipped with the relationship skills and tools to navigate conflict together often result in bigger problems. Adults cannot referee every single conflict that arises, so we must provide children the ongoing opportunity to develop their own skills too.
Additionally, in a post-pandemic world, we are still seeing the impacts of the trauma caused by COVID-19. This means that we do see some expected behaviors, such as children expressing anxiety and depression and asking to spend more time with trusted adults.
This also means that we see some unexpected behaviors too, like biting, hitting, throwing items, screaming, destroying items, or using inappropriate language. School transitions and routines are sometimes difficult for some children - especially if the stress of COVID-19 is still present and driving them to seek control. When these unexpected behaviors arise, the Student Support Team is ready to skillfully respond and support children.
Sometimes we must clear a classroom. Occasionally, a child may destroy materials in a classroom on their way out. A child may run from the classroom and through the hallways. These responses are all rooted in different negative emotions like fear, loss of control, depression, or. anxiety. Our Student Support Team is trained in how to recognize and understand how to respond to trauma. That means that when a child shows an unexpected external behavior such as the ones listed above we have steps we take. We stay present to support them, co-regulate with them, and validate them while they figure out how best to navigate their feelings in the moment while also keeping them and other students safe.
We model and live restorative practices in our school to build empathy, compassion, and understanding for the web of identities and different needs in our community. We invite you to also have conversations at home about differences and diverse needs in our community too.
At Flynn Elementary School, we know that every child is inherently good and wants to be in positive relationships. This helps us to maintain the humanity of each child, even when behavioral challenges arise - because these are not intentional and instead are the communication of a need. I want to help us all to keep in mind that we are thinking about the developmental needs of 4 year olds all the way up to 11 year olds. Their brains are still developing in the key areas of emotional regulation, decision-making, and perspective-taking.
Our hope at Flynn is that each child who walks through our doors each day feels welcomed, safe, seen, and powerful in all their wisdom and strengths. For so many children school is a safe place, which means it is their place to be their fullest most vulnerable selves. In the coming months, I will work to maintain restorative practices-focus in the Flynn Flyer message. I will share some examples of restorative practices with you each month.
In partnership,
Principal Nikki
PTO Corner
Playground Meet-Up for K-2 families was a blast! Thanks to everyone who came out and chatted with old and new friends, got their faces painted, threw back a couple freeze-pops, and enjoyed a lovely evening outside our school! We appreciate the folks that were able to contribute with set-up, snacks and activities.
Interested in the Flynn PTO? If you are an adult in the life of a Flynn student, you are already a member! We invite you to participate in the PTO in a way that works for you!
Our next meeting is Thursday, October 5th at 6:30 pm. Meetings are held in-person in the Flynn library or via Google Meet (https://meet.google.com/fuj-omkp-bnv). Childcare is provided by the wonderful Ms. Wanda!!
Here is the link to our meeting minutes from our meetings this year:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1k6WbpEDxIqqodGc3S8gLqxHVymVG2aZI?usp=sharing
Other ways to get involved:
Amazon has decided to discontinue the Amazon Smile program, so now is a great time to start scanning Box Tops. The PTO relies on fundraising and donations to provide events such as Skate Night, the Back to School BBQ, Teacher Mini-Grants, and much more!
Scan those Box Tops!
- Click this link to download the app: https://www.boxtops4education.com/s/get-the-app
- When prompted to find a school, type in the zip code ‘05408’ and choose Flynn from the choices and you are ready to start scanning those receipts!
- Don’t think you purchase items that count for Box Tops? Many brands such as Annie’s, Bisquick, Cheerios, Airborne, Go-Gurt, Lysol, Pillsbury, and much more are Box Tops brands. Scan that receipt and see if you can earn some money for Flynn!
Donate via Venmo. The PTO is a non-profit organization that relies on fundraising to continue its support of the Flynn community. If you are able to give a monetary donation to support the PTO programming, then it’s easy! Our Venmo account is @jjflynnpto.
Thank you Karen!
Maggie