AES Weekly Blast
05/7/21 (Volume 36)
Ashby Elementary School
Email: agapp@nmrsd.org
Website: https://www.nmrsd.org/Domain/11
Location: 911 Main Street, Ashby, MA, USA
Phone: 978-743-1005
News from the Principal
Thank you for the special notes and e-mails for Teacher Appreciation Week. It's always nice to get a positive message from past parents or high school seniors. In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, I have read the following story, and it is posted for all to listen to on our library blog. "Because I Had a Teacher" by Kobi Yamada.
Thank you to our PTC for our lovely lunches on Tuesday and our Popcorn bar on Friday! Your thoughtfulness goes a long way!
Breakfast prices for 2022 will be going up from $1.35 to $1.50. We also will be working with a new company, Fresh Picks Cafe.
We sincerely appreciate your cooperation with our adjustments to parent drop-off and pick-up. To make the process more efficient, we kindly ask that your child be prepared to exit the car during parent drop-off in the morning. It will help make sure we can ease the flow of traffic for our busses and other vehicles. On our end, we are continuing to work on ways to improve our process for organizing students for parent pick-up in the afternoons.
Remember to place the student name placard on your dashboards for parent pick-up. We have upwards of 30 vehicles each day, and it makes the process a lot quicker.
Our AES staff is wishing all the moms, grandmothers, and guardians a special Mother's Day this coming Sunday!
At recess, some grades have been learning how to good old fashion jump rope.
Our MCAS schedule is listed below, and all remote students will be participating as well.
Monday, May 17th - 3rd-grade ELA
Tuesday, May 18th - 4th-grade ELA
Monday, May 24th - 3rd-grade math
Tuesday, May 25th - 4th-grade math
MCAS make-ups tests will be on Wednesday, the 18th, and Wednesday, the 25th. There will only be only one session for each grade-level subject test this year. Fourth graders will complete a short climate survey after their math session. There is also an MCAS letter below.
Start cleaning out your closets as we start our Annual Project 351 Clothing Drive, which will be running from May, 17 through May, 21st.
Ryan is a former AES student in 8th grade, is holding a Cradle to Crayon Clothing Drive, which is looking for gently used clothing, sizes infant to youth large. No PJ's or socks unless they are brand new.
Please reach out if you have any questions.
Start Cleaning Out Your Closets
Reminder: Today (Friday), May 7th is the last day to order Square 1 Art. Orders close tonight at 10:00 pm. If you have any questions, please reach out to AESPTC@gmail.com
Spring 2021 MCAS Testing Schedule
Dear Parent/Guardians of 3rd and 4th graders,
I am writing to share important information with you regarding the Spring 2021 MCAS testing schedule for your child.
MCAS tests are required by state and federal laws and are an important tool to promote student success. MCAS test results will:
- give information about areas of learning that have been most impacted by the pandemic,
- provide important data on which students, schools, and districts have been most affected by pandemic-related changes in schooling, and
- improve understanding of your child’s knowledge and skills about the state’s learning standards, so that we can provide the best system of support and instruction in future years.
This year, the MCAS tests for students in grades 3–8 have been shortened so that students are only taking one session, instead of the usual two sessions. This will reduce testing time for your child.
Our school will follow our health and safety protocols during MCAS testing:
If you have any questions about MCAS testing opportunities, accommodations, or health and safety protocols, please contact me at agapp@nmrsd.org
Thank you for your cooperation.
Sincerely,
Anne Cromwell-Gapp, M.Ed. C.A.G.S. Ed. Leadership
Principal of Ashby Elementary School/ Early Childhood Coordinator of SECC
Parent Needs Assessment Survey
This survey should be completed by Friday, May 21, 2021. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/15n5uDmrSaj9bNeKG4XtXyhCuvsk24IdDmxPIiFEKZp8/edit?ts=60919ceb
We appreciate your participation.
Happy May! Here is an update from first grade!
We are entering Unit 12 in Fundations and being introduced to multisyllabic words - words with more than one syllable. This will lead us into compound words. We remind the students that they have many strategies to figure out unknown words because of all the skills they have learned. Put those skills together, and you will be a word master!
Students continue to read and recognize a problem, solution, characters, setting, and main idea. These are good things to ask your student about when they read to you each night!
As we continue in math we are adding and subtracting bigger numbers that have tens and ones. They are identifying groups of ten and some leftover. We will be mixing in many different topics throughout the rest of the year so that they are introduced to them before next year- this includes shapes, graphs, time, and money! Identifying coins is something you can work on with them at home that relates to the real world- along with time! Reading a clock with hands and not just a digital clock. Also, review days of the week in order and months of the year are things they should know. Something to be sure they know is their parents' names, their address, and phone number!
Since the students were away from school for a large amount of time during kindergarten and were either hybrid or remote this year, some need to brush up on their penmanship skills. This is something that we try to practice during the school day and the students have learned to write the letters correctly but, they need to practice at home as well, always trying to give their best handwriting!
We are in the home stretch and we can do it!! Getting outside for some fresh air and burning off energy is also a must! That will lend to a restful night's sleep! Thank you for all you have done this year!
News from Grade 2
Spring is here and we are reviewing lots of Math concepts. We have also started a Geometry Unit. Students are learning and reviewing shapes, finding faces, vertices, edges, and angles. In Reading, we are finding the main topic and supporting details in the text and we will be writing paragraphs with main topics and supporting details. In Science, we will be wrapping up our habitat unit with the creation of a diorama.
As we continue with in-person learning, there is a lot of stress, and anxiety felt by all. We are taking moments to relax and have time to socialize as much as possible.
Mrs. Casson
News from Guidance
Dates to Remember:
May 17 - ELA MCAS dates for grade 3 (In-Person & Remote)
May 18 - ELA MCAS dates for grade 4 (In-Person & Remote)
May 19 - ELA Make-Ups (In-Person & Remote)
May 24 - Math MCAS Grade 3 - (In-Person & Remote)
May 25 - Math MCAS Grade 4 - (In-Person & Remote)
May 26 - Math MCAS make-up - (In-Person & Remote)
May 31 - NO SCHOOL
June 14 - Tentative last day of school with dismissal at 11:35.