Friday Flash
January 5th, 2024
Notes from the Principal's Office
Welcome to 2024!
I'm glad that we had a three day week to ease back into learning after the winter break. Many students arrived Wednesday morning sleepy but ready to go. It was disappointing to hear that many staff, students and parents were ill over the vacation. I'm sorry people weren't able to fully enjoy their time away from school.
Teachers and support staff joined together on Tuesday for a MBTI (Meyers Briggs) personality training. Each staff member took the official personality assessment to determine their own personality type. Our personality types impact how we communicate, make decisions, handle conflict and stress. We will participate in four hours of training over the next two months. This will be useful information in helping us become a better educational team.
As we look ahead at the remainder of the 2023-2024 school year there are still so many great learning opportunities ahead for our students. As staff we will soon begin planning for our 2024 Knight School and VTCAP testing for students in grades 3-6. Currently, we are heading into the first of our six weeks of our winter program. What exciting times!
~Loretta
PS: Don't forget our community coffee on January 17th from 9:00-10:00. I will be discussing our Continuous Improvement Plan and students will share what they are learning about.
Positivity Project: Review Week
Staff Spotlight: Alysia Vance
Literacy Interventionist
Alysia Vance grew up in Danville, Vermont where she attended by elementary and high school. She received both her undergraduate and Master's degree of Education from Southern New Hampshire University. Ms. Vance enjoys getting to work with all student's K-6! She feels lucky to share her dog, Addy, with the school community as well. When she's not at school she loves biking, swimming, skiing, reading, gardening & spending time with friends and family. She wants all of her students to know that her hope is to help all students grow confidence in their reading skills and abilities!
Knights of the Round Table for December
Kindergarten: Vincent & Brock Chase
First: Leticia Fuller
Second: Olivia Schlegel
3-4 Williams: Bayley Sherman
3-4 Houde: Jace Fenner
Fifth: Landin Harrness
Sixth: Sienna Fischer
Pictures From Around the School
News from Mrs. MacMillan
The K to 6th graders worked hard creating artwork for the Winter Art show and Concert. The 1st and 2nd graders made over 50 Holiday cards for the elderly. The 3rd thru 6th graders worked on painting the set, painting snowflakes and making 3-d snowflakes. Thanks to Sim and Rick for helping make the background set a part of this year's production. Wassily Kandinsky was the artist of the month that inspired many of the abstract paintings.
In forest school the K to 2 group started a new unit on Matter and have been rotating through stations. The 3rd and 4th graders did skits on the positivity project words they learned so far. The 5th and 6th graders worked on building survival shelters. The 3rd through 6th graders had an opportunity to work on nature mobiles from sticks that were down and detached.
Library/Tech Update from Mrs. Willams
Here's how Mrs. Williams and the Library have been supporting projects throughout the school:
Grade 1 learned to code Ozobot robots. They planned and built a cardboard town that will "host" an Ozobot parade. Grade 2 did a pixel self-portrait which will accompany a short writing project about themselves. Grades 3 & 4 worked on several projects. In music, they finished up their Classical Composer research project and in social studies the put together their Native American Studies display based on their research. In science, Mrs. Williams introduced the design process (empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test) and in teams they designed a 5-step chain reaction machine to rescue Prince Rube from a force field. Grades 5/6 teams worked on stop motion videos that explained multiplying and dividing fractions, while the 5th grade started exciting design project in Canva EDU: designing ambiance rooms. The 6th grade finished a PSA video on the dangers of vaping to our bodies and the environment. Grades 5 & 6 also worked hard on Classical Composer research projects.
Important Dates
January 12th: Winter Program Begins (Burke Mountain & Bowling)
January 15th: No School Martin Luther King Jr. Day
January 17th: Community Coffee-NES Continuous Improvement Plan & Student Work
January 19th: Winter Program (Burke Mountain & Indoor Games)
January 26th: Winter Program (Burke Mountain & Winter Activities)
January 31st: Early Release 12:15 dismissal
Principal Loretta Cruz
Email: loretta.cruz@oesu.org
Website: https://www.nesvt.org/
Location: 214 Pulaski Street, Newbury, VT, USA
Phone: 802-866-5621
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/newburyelementaryVT