Friendship Family Newsletter
Principal Andrea Simmons & Asst. Principal Luz Rivera
November 19, 2018
The weather is rapidly cooling, but we are warming up at TFS with our inquiry-based learning themes and concepts! Classrooms are exploring the changes of seasons, the medical profession, transportation and infrastructure, and more. If you have an expertise in the topic your child's class is exploring, we hope that you're able to join the class to share your knowledge!
Our Unified Arts team (Brent Ali - PE, Kate Hubbard - Creative Movement, Lisa Freeman - Visual Arts, Persephone Marien - Music, and Karen Alers-Mercado - ESL) prepared an amazing interactive bulletin board in the main lobby. If you haven't yet done so, please take a flag pin (or more!) and mark where your family is from. Then, you can also add some of your child's favorite traditions in music, dance, art, and other categories the UA teachers put on the board. A survey has also gone home to get more information and to understand our Friendship families better so that we can incorporate some of this into our teaching and learning!
We have enjoyed welcoming you for parent/teacher conferences, the book fair, Hispanic Heritage Night, Trunk or Treat, and the Artisan and Crafter Market this past weekend. Beyond all of these highlights, please look below for other important events and happenings at TFS!
With appreciation,
Andrea Simmons & Luz Rivera
Important Information:
- We are in the midst of reaccreditation for NEASC (New England Association of Schools and Colleges) and part of that is distributing a family survey. Please find the link below. We appreciate your input! https://surveys.neasc.org/s3/NEASC-CPS-Family-Survey?id=61
- We are starting a new bus dismissal procedure today. We are hoping to have all buses loaded and departing earlier than previously. We piloted this with one bus over the past month and it has worked well. Please be prepared to meet your bus student at the bus stop at the earlier part of the drop-off time frame originally communicated to you. If all goes well, the buses will drop off a bit earlier than previously. If you pick up your child and arrive past 3:45, your child will be picked up in the music room across from the main office. With our new bus dismissal plan, there are not enough staff members to cover in classrooms for late parent pickups.
- Thank you for updating your contact information on the printed sheet provided at parent/teacher conferences. If you did not receive a sheet, please contact your child's teacher, or Alicia Martin (receptionist) in the main office.
- Friendly reminder that all pre-kindergarten students are required to get the flu vaccine or show a notarized waiver. We encourage our kindergarten students to get the flu vaccine as well, but it is only required for pre-kindergarten. This is a requirement by the State of Connecticut.
- The Friendship Family Organization (FFO) is our parent-teacher organization and will meet for the third time this year on Thursday, December 13. Dinner is at 5:00 and the meeting is at 5:30. Childcare is free and the dinner is as well! The FFO partners with the school and community to raise money for the school, provide important services for our students, and plan fun events! Please contact Dennis Disch, FFO President, or any board member via email: ffo@thefriendshipschool.org. Any family members are welcome!
- We will be organizing a collection of items for families/students in need this holiday season. Our "Giving Tree" will be in the main lobby after Thanksgiving break. The donation process is anonymous. New items are requested. Star ornaments on our tree can be chosen and returned to the main office. We will distribute the items to the student the star is intended for. Thank you to our School Social Worker, Megan Devaney, for organizing this.
- Report cards will be distributed on November 30. If you are a returning family to TFS, you'll notice that the pre-kindergarten report cards look different this year. We are utilizing our data system, Teaching Strategies GOLD, to generate the reports directly from there. Individualized comments will be included with the report card. The kindergarten report card has not changed.
- The FFO is looking for volunteers for the coordination of the 2018-19 Yearbook, Square One Art fundraiser, and the spring Comedy for a Cause fundraiser. Please email ffo@thefriendshipschool.org if you are interested in helping with any of these. Thank you!
- This is a friendly reminder that as we come upon winter, storms and weather events sometimes force us to close school or have a delayed opening. The Friendship School's status is listed (usually in the "T" section of alphabetical listings) on all of the local television news stations and several local radio stations. We also post on our Facebook page and website. Magnet schools follow the decision of the district we reside in, so our cancellations or delays will always follow that of Waterford Public Schools.
- There are several exciting school and community events happening that we are happy to share with you in the important dates below.
The Friendship School: Where Curiosity Steers Exploration
Important Dates:
- Wednesday, November 21 - Friday, November 23: No School, Thanksgiving/Fall Recess
- Wednesday, December 12: Early dismissal 12:30, teacher PD.
- Thursday, December 13: FFO meeting
- Monday, December 24 - Tuesday, January 1: No School, Holiday Recess
Below are some photos from the Artisan & Crafter Market!
The Friendship School
Email: asimmons@thefriendshipschool.org
Website: www.thefriendshipschool.org
Location: 24 Rope Ferry Road, Waterford, CT, United States
Phone: 860-447-4049
Facebook: facebook.com/thefriendshipschoolct
Twitter: @asimmonsCT