Weekly Newsletter
April 25, 2024
News from Principal Emma Liebowitz
The students enjoyed the Hero Art Assembly earlier this week. Thank you to the PTO for bringing this performance and the many activites coming up in May and June!
Upcoming Events
Friday, April 26 - SAFE Trailer and Fire Truck
Friday, April 26 - All School Spring Clean-Up
Wednesday, May 1 - Story Wizards
Wednesday, May 1 - 1:50 Release
Friday, May 3 - Second Grade Dinosaur Field Trip
May 6 - May 10 - Fifth Grade to Camp Keewaydin
Wednesday, May 8 - 1:50 Release
Wednesday, May 8 - School Committee Meeting at 6:00
Wednesday, May 15 - First Grade Fish Ladder Field Trip
Wednesday, May 15 - 1:50 Release
Thursday, May 16 - Fifth Grade Field Trip to Hitchcock Center
Friday, May 17 - Senior Luncheon
Monday, May 20 - Ohketeau Presentation in afternoon
Wednesday, May 22 - All School Meeting at 2:15
Monday, May 27 - No School
Wednesday, May 29 - All School Meeting/Share the Music
Thursday, May 30 - Field Day (Rain Date 6/4)
Friday, May 31 - Art Showcase
Link to Sanderson Academy calendar.
School Committee Members Needed
We are in need of two School Committee members for Ashfield! This is the link to the School Committee information of the District website:
MCAS Dates
April 26 - Fifth Grade Math
April 29 - Fifth Grade Math
April 30 - Fifth Grade Science
May 2 - Fifth Grade Science
May 7 - Fourth Grade Math
May 9 - Fourth Grade Math
May 14 - Third Grade Math
May 16 - Third Grade Math
May 21 - Sixth Grade Math
May 23 - Sixth Grade Math
Library News from Ms. Wilson
In the library, we have been having fun celebrating National Poetry Month. Here are two highlights from first and second grade. After reading Hailstones and Halibut Bones by Mary O’Neill, first graders worked together to write a ‘Five Senses Poem’ about the color purple. Second graders learned about Haiku poetry from the book Kiyoshi’s Walk by Mark Karlins and went outside to write haiku poems of their own.
News from the Health Office from Nurse Loranna
Greetings from the health office!
I wanted to let the community know that we have had a few cases of pneumonia and ear infections diagnosed this week. Please keep this in mind if your child has had a lingering cough (over 2 weeks) that is coupled with fatigue and especially with a fever and have them evaluated by their pediatrician. Coughs tend to be worse at night for most children. Some tips for keeping them comfortable at night is elevating the head of the bed, lots of fluids, honey and/or elderberry syrup and plenty of rest. It is also important to balance the rest with periods of activity, too much inactivity can worsen a cough as the mucus will be more stagnant. See your doctor right away if your child has difficulty breathing, develops a bluish color in your lips and fingertips, has chest pain, a high fever, or a cough with mucus that is severe or is getting worse. Ear infections typically cause pain in one or both ears, sometimes can cause balance or hearing issues, pain is often worse at night and can be accompanied by a fever. Younger children tend to pull at their ears when they have an ear infection and can be quite fussy. A warm pack to the ear can provide comfort as well as laying with the affected ear down to promote draining. Pain relievers such as ibuprofen or tylenol can help manage the pain, especially at night. Antibiotics will help to treat both pneumonia (bacterial) and ear infections, although in some cases the body will fight it off on its own. It is important to reach out to your child’s pediatrician for guidance and assessment if you have any concerns about a lingering cough or ear pain. Continue to encourage plenty of fluids, frequent hand washing, and a healthy diet. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you have any concerns or if you are in need of any guidance, or covid test kits as I continue to have those very readily available. Please see the links below for more information and guidance.
Preschool news from Ms. Freeman and Ms. Becky
This week we are fortunate to have fertilized chicken eggs from Ms. Katie and have placed them in an incubator. We talked about how the incubator will act like a mother hen, keeping the eggs warm and safe while they develop. The egg turner inside the incubator will help the baby chicks move and exercise while they grow. We are so excited to try to hatch baby chicks!
We are also observing frog eggs. We discovered the eggs in the vernal pool and gathered a few to keep in our science center. We noticed the frog eggs were different from the chicken eggs, they were soft and squishy like jelly, not hard with a shell. We are excited to see what happens to these eggs as well!
The photo shows frog eggs in the vernal pool.
Preschool News from Ms. Melanie and Ms. Kylee
Preschoolers learned all about Earth Day and the importance of doing their part to take care of our beautiful planet. They participated in a turn and talk activity where they shared ideas with a partner about how they can care for our planet. Next, they shared these ideas with the whole group. They came up with some great ways to protect the Earth, which included: picking up trash and recycling, composting, turning off lights, keeping the water off when brushing your teeth and planting plants and trees. The children have a homework assignment to carry out some of these ideas at home and to teach their loved ones about the importance of caring for our amazing planet.
In that same vein, we were fortunate to have been gifted a Norway Spruce seedling from Ms Stacey. The children were so excited to take it to our outdoor classroom and find the perfect spot to plant it. They knew the “baby tree” needed water, sunlight and soil to grow. They found a place that was just right and helped dig the hole. Preschoolers noticed that it is hard to dig in the soil of the forest. There are many roots and the soil is more compact than in our garden. With some effort and determination the hole was dug and ready to receive the seedling. The children took turns gently placing soil around the tree and watering it when they were done. It is so much fun to check on our new classroom tree and we bring it water every day. Thank you so much Ms. Stacey for the special gift on a very special day!
Kindergarten News from Ms. Sarah, Ms. Veronica and Ms. Beckwith
This week was all about reconnecting with our class community, re-establishing our routines (with some spring updates), and introducing some new units of study for the spring! We opened this week by sharing what we hope to do at school this spring and we discussed how our class promise (to take care of ourselves, each other, and our school) will help all of our hopes to be possible. We also played a game to re-activate our muscle memory response to our attention-getting signals. We reviewed our class expectations through a role-playing activity in which our guest student “Lulu” came to visit and the kids taught her our class plan for self-control. We also read aloud some of our favorite classroom community books.
First Grade News from Ms. Wyckoff and Ms. April
Welcome back from April vacation! We hope you all had a restful and fun week off. Now that we are back and in the final stretch of the school year we are re-visiting routines to be sure each day is as successful as it can be. We reviewed our class expectations and plan for self-control. First graders had fun taking turns role playing and showing teachers they know every part of our plan as well as why our plan exists. We also reviewed our voice volume levels, which for some time now has been a place where the class has been working to improve. Before practicing our voice volume levels the class shared when each volume level should be used. Their list of ideas were fabulous and a great way for kids to reflect back on as we move forward. This week we are also starting new small literacy groups and more opportunities to practice those newly learned skills with time spent in our wonderful classroom library. First graders are respectful and responsible in this area, making sure to handle books with care and return them to their correct organized bin. National Geographics, I Spy and books about space have been the most loved recently. This time of year there is so much growth happening and children take great pride in their hard work! It’s wonderful to observe children with books in their hands with pure excitement of reading the words on their own and finding books they love and can’t wait to get back to later!
Third Grade News from Ms. Carole and Mr. Luke
Third Grade had a wonderful Earth Day on Monday. We got to celebrate a national award Everett won with his idea of how to make the world better. He received funding to purchase safety vests, long-handled grabbers, and rubber gloves so people could go pick up trash. With the generous help of Everett’s mom, Talia, as well as the Ashfield and Goshen Chiefs of Police, we spent time cleaning up route 112 in front of the school. The students were both saddened by how much litter they found and thrilled to be able to help clean it up. Great job, Everett!
On Tuesday we were treated to a special visit from James Bruchac, a world-famous Native American storyteller and animal tracker. We hosted in our classroom third graders from Colrain and Charlemont schools to enjoy an hour in the presence of this knowledgeable, insightful gentleman.
This Thursday we are looking forward to a special day of learning some Massachusetts history by visiting the Hancock Shaker Village with our buddies in preschool.
These are busy days, indeed!
Fourth Grade News from Ms. Lagoy and Ms. Upright
In math this week, students got to record their own definition of a circle, before hearing the story Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland. This book served as a springboard for a discussion of circles and identifying the radius, diameter, and circumference of a circle. Students got to describe, analyze, compare and classify circles, radii, diameter and circumferences with partners.
Having finished The Hope Chest, we are beginning our final unit in our ELA curriculum. In this unit, students will connect their learning about the process of ratifying the 19th Amendment to their own lives. Recognizing that Violet and the other characters in The Hope Chest took action against inequality to cause social change, students focus on how kids can make a difference. In the first half of the unit, students will read informational texts and watch videos to research how kids around the United States have addressed issues in their communities and made a difference. As they research, they will learn about issues people face around the country and see real-life examples of how kids contributed to a better world.
In the second half of the unit, students will take action! As a class, we will identify an issue in our community (classroom, school, town, county) that we want to address and make a plan for how we will take action—through service, advocacy, or philanthropy. Students will also plan and write a public service announcement (PSA) to raise awareness about the issues.
Working to contribute to a better world is a habit of character that is emphasized in this unit. These are the specific effective learning skills students will focus on: ■ I take care of and improve our shared spaces and the environment. ■ I apply my learning to help our school, the community, and the environment.
How can you support your student at home? ■ Watch video PSAs online (a Google search will yield many examples; however, review before watching with students to ensure appropriate content) and discuss the target audience and why they are/aren’t effective. ■ Research and discuss community issues.
Sixth Grade News from Ms. West, Ms. Alexis and Ms. Glenda
On Friday, April 12th, our students traveled to Boston with all the other 6th graders in the district to visit the Museum of Fine Arts. As we are reach the end of the school year, we were able to visit exhibits that connected to many of the things we had learned this year, including ancient Greek statues, Mesopotamian and Egyptian artifacts.
News from Ms. Prew
Check out this fun activity from Math at Home - it’s called Guess My Rule: Busy Bees. What is the rule to be on the flower? Show one more example that belongs on the flower. Show one more example that does not belong on the flower. Please send me your work! I can’t wait to see. Enjoy! :) aprew@mtrsd.org
Reading News from Mrs. Morey
When reading with your child at home, encourage your child to work through words rather than giving them the words right away. In school we are working with students to recognize word patterns and parts that they can decode. We don’t want to encourage guessing so rather than saying “Look at the picture.” say something like, “What is a part of this word you know?” “Is this similar to a word you do know?” Help your student use learned strategies and build independence as a reader.
District Library News
Newsletter at this LINK.
SEPAC News
IEP Workshop
Join us for the Caregiver Workshop to:
* understand DESE's new IEP Process
* become familiar with the new forms
* learn to navigate the new processes
Follow the link to the virtual session on May 20 here:
Community News, Events and Job Opportunities
Check out what is happening in our area!
About Us
Email: eliebowitz@mtrsd.org
Website: https://sanderson.mohawktrailschools.org/
Location: 808 Cape Street, Ashfield, MA, USA
Phone: (413) 628-4404
Facebook: facebook.com/SandersonAcademy