Pleasant Street School News
building a community of learners that strive for excellence
Sharing the Experience- School News and Happenings!
In an effort to reach more families and provide the richness of the learning experience that is captured in photographs and videos we have shifted to an online newsletter. Please call the school (978) 249-2405 or send Principal Ellis an email at dellis@arrsd.org if you would like to offer your feedback or suggestions on our Smore newsletter.
We've been busy with our MCAS math testing over the past week!
Students in grades 3 & 4 put forth great effort on their MCAS math tests. Fourth graders finished both testing sessions this past week and third grade will complete their second session next Thursday, May 15th. We always encourage families to visit the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website at http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/ where you can look at previously released test questions and better familiarize yourself with the content knowledge and curriculum standards being assessed by MCAS.
Teacher Appreciation Week!
A great big heartfelt thank you is due to our school PTO for your generous and thoughtful support of our teachers and instructional support professionals each day during teacher appreciation week. Thank you to parents and families who sent flowers, notes, and otherwise recognized our talented teachers.
Athol Savings Bank-Save Sum school banking program
Our fabulous tellers, Madeline, Sarah, Juliana, and Ashley.
Freddy the Frog enjoys reading too!
Good Citizen Recognition!
Our friend, Angel, came to the rescue of a fellow third grade student on Friday when his belongings emptied out of his backpack all over the floor. While others walked by, she quickly stopped and starting helping him. Thank you Angel for so nicely demonstrating our school expectations of respect and for being so helpful!
Using anchor charts to teach problem solving in math...snapshots from Mrs. Robinson's class
2 digit by 2 digit multiplication
Mixed numbers and improper fractions
Area & perimeter
Readers' Workshop - focus lesson in small group
Snapshot from small group instruction with Mrs. Franck, special educator for students in grades 3 & 4.
Teachers for Teachers- On-Site Professional Development
Mrs. Tammy Mulligan, teacher trainer, working with kindergarten students in Mrs. Webb's class. Students had an interactive read-aloud and then worked in small groups on strategy instruction.
Onomatopeia!
Pow! Check it out...anchor chart from Mrs. Robertson's fourth grade class on defining and describing what is an onomatopoeia.
Common Core Standards
Understanding that authors' have purpose in writing. Children are taught how to think through why authors' and illustrators' use pictures, choice of words, and text features to convey specific meanings.
Learning Character Traits in Third Grade
Beautiful anchor chart created in Mrs. Heuer's class to help children learn character traits.
Raising the Level of Thinking...Moving Beyond Happy and Sad
We are teaching children to think more deeply about character traits. To describe a character as simply happy or sad is low level thinking. We are raising the bar by having children use more descriptive vocabulary, and in so doing, better capture the complexity of one's experience while finding evidence in the text to support their thinking.
More dinosaur diorama projects from second grade
Second graders had a great time on May 5th visiting Beneski Musuem of Natural Sciences at Amherst College to see dinosaur fossils first hand. Thank you to our parent chaperones who joined us for the trip. We even had some added excitement with road construction at the college and needing to park in an alternative area!
A year filled with growth in preschool!
Sunflowers
Ten Little Fish
Our preschoolers have recently enjoyed books involving fish and sea creatures. Preschool children love being read to each day. Take time to let your child "picture read" and tell you about the story with his or her own words.
Cosmos
Rainy Day Reflections from Mrs. Webb's Kindergarten
Dillon
I like rain days because I spend time with my dad.
Gentry
I like rainy days because flowers grow.
Reilly
I like rainy days because I go to my gumpy's house...
Redecorating the student bathrooms :)
We recently painted the walls in the student bathrooms and added wall decals to brighten up the space and improve on appearance. It has been our experience that students take greater responsibility and ownership of their respective bathrooms since they look nicer. As a staff we have taken this opportunity to reinforce our school expectations for respect of self, others, and property and what that looks like when students are using our school bathrooms.
Bathroom expectations
Boys' room
The redecorated girls' room
The girls' now have a mirror again in their bathroom.
Upcoming Events...Mark your Calendars!
Upcoming Events and Dates
- May 15- MCAS testing- grade 3
- May 22- Memorial Day Program
- May 23- All school walk-athon
- May 26- Memorial Day observed (no school)
- May 27- Literacy leadership committee meeting
- May 27- 4th grade transition visit to Arms
- June 2- PTO meeting and election of officers, 6-7 pm, all are welcome!
- June 6- district wide preschool screening at Pleasant Street School (no preschool)
- June 10- Grades 3 & 4 field trip
- June 12- Fourth Grade play, Annie, at Athol High School, 6 pm
- June 12- Preschool recognition ceremony
- June 13- First grade field trip to Northfield Mountain
- June 17- Fourth Grade step up ceremony
- June 18- 7:45-8:15 am- Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast
- June 18- Field Day
- June 18- Last day for preschool programs
- June 19- Kindergarten Nursery Rhymes - 1:30 pm
- June 20- last day of school- noon dismissal- lunch will not be served.
- June 11- Grades 2,3,4- chorus and band concert, 6 pm, (to be confirmed)
Check back soon for more news!
News from Principal Ellis
Building a community of learners that strive for excellence
Email: dellis@arrsd.org
Website: arrsd.org
Location: 1060 Pleasant Street., Athol, MA 01331
Phone: (978) 249-2405