Dolphin News
Francis A. Desmares School - February 2024
A Note From Mr. Masessa and Mrs. Custy
Dear Desmares Families,
Throughout our newsletter correspondence, we have been emphasizing the importance of maintaining consistent Student Attendance to avoid Chronic Absenteeism. As we mentioned, Chronic Absenteeism includes absences that are both Excused and Unexcused. We would like to share with you that our monthly attendance as a school was 95% during the month of January and our Year to Date attendance percentage is 94%, as a school. That is awesome!! We want to thank you for developing great habits for success with your children when it comes to attending school and focusing on their academics. Your efforts for keeping your children healthy and in attendance at school are sure to make a difference with their academic success, in addition to their social and emotional well-being at school when it comes to peer relationships and conflict resolution. Please continue to communicate with the school if your child or your family is going through a special circumstance where missing multiple days out of school may be necessary. We would like to help guide you on how to avoid excessive absenteeism. Thank you, again!
Winter assessments have now been completed. Please monitor your email for your child's NWEA Map assessment report. The report will share your child's achievement in math and reading as well as information about their growth from September to January. Talk to your child about their progress, and reach out to your child's teacher with any questions or concerns. For information about CogAT testing, which will take place in early March, please read this letter for second and fourth grade parents, or this letter for third grade parents.
During the month of February, we celebrate the character traits - Tolerance and Patience. Great students and leaders express compassion for others, are open-minded, and are accepting of others. Our diverse school population offers our students a real world experience where children interact during class, at recess, and on the bus so they have many opportunities to learn and practice tolerance and patience. We are fortunate to offer such a well-rounded experience for our children. In addition, February is Black History Month, and our school librarian will be highlighting this topic by offering various levels of text for children to read and conducting shared reading activities in our library and classrooms.
In addition, please mark your calendars for the following special days:
February 5 – 9: School Counselor Appreciation Week We LOVE our School Counselors, Mrs. Monks and Mrs. Moncada.
February 16 – 19: Presidents’ Weekend - School is Closed on Friday, February 16th and Monday, February 19th
February 22: School Bus Driver Appreciation Day What would we do without our Bus drivers?
~ Mr. Masessa and Mrs. Custy
Thank you, Mrs. Grabowich!
Please join us in congratulating Mrs. Chris Grabowich, our Desmares Administrative Secretary, on her retirement at the end of February. Mrs. Grabowich has been an invaluable member of the Dophin community and the Flemington-Raritan Regional School District for 16 years. Her tireless work to support our staff, families, and students and her enthusiasm for keeping the main office festive every holiday are deeply appreciated! Mrs. Grabowich will certainly be missed, but we wish her all the best in retirement.
Mrs. Marie Blaser, FRSD Special Services Secretary, will be working closely with Mrs. Grabowich to learn all about Desmares. We look forward to welcoming her to our school community at the end of February.
Desmares Dolphins Love Our Therapy Dogs
We are thankful for Miss Corinne, Miss Bonnie, and Miss Emily, who bring the dogs to Desmares each Friday. Our Desmares Dolphins love reading to them, sharing their writing with them, and giving them lots and lots of love!
School Counseling Corner
Last month we participated in The Great Kindness Challenge! This year’s theme was Create Kindness. We celebrated The Great Kindness Challenge by creating kindness themed bookmarks for our school’s library. Our dolphins will use them during library time as a reminder that we should practice kindness everyday.
This month’s character traits are tolerance and patience. Tolerance means recognizing and respecting differences, values, and beliefs of others. Patience means remaining calm even when faced with difficulties. Both of these character traits help us develop strong and long-lasting relationships.
Here are some books to help explain the meaning of tolerance and patience:
~ Mrs. Moncada & Mrs. Monks
Library News
There are exciting things coming to the Desmares library in the next couple months! March is Read Across America month! Your students will have exciting opportunities to connect to reading.
Also, our amazing PTO is hosting a Scholastic Book Fair March 18-22. And, we have an incredible, local author visiting on April 12th - Audrey Vernick! More information about all of these events will be coming soon.
Happy reading!
~ Mrs. Gale
Reading and Writing Family Calendar
PITCO Night is Coming!
The Desmares PTO is working on Desmares School’s Annual PICTO (Picture Bingo) and Basket Raffle Event which will take place on Friday, April 12, at FAD Gym. The PTO is asking for support from our Desmares families to donate items (Only Brand New Items) for the raffle.
Check the wish list here!
If you own a business and want to donate products or a gift card, please click here!
If you don't have the time to go shopping, you can donate monetarily by clicking here!
The due date to bring all donated items to school is Friday, March 1st.
Attendance
Important Dates
- February 2 - Spirit Day - Wear your FAD blue!
- February 12 - Kindergarten Registration Portal Opens Online
- February 16 - NO SCHOOL - Professional Development Day for Staff
- February 20 - NO SCHOOL - Presidents' Day
- February 27 - Eyes of the Wild Assembly
HELPFUL LINKS
Francis A. Desmares Elementary School
Nurse's Office - Mrs. Sellers: 908-284-7545
School Counselor - Mrs. Monks: 908-284-7542
Bilingual School Counselor - Mrs. Moncada: 908-284-7553
Email: firstname.lastname@frsd.us
Website: https://www.frsd.k12.nj.us/Domain/284
Location: 16 Old Clinton Road, Flemington, NJ, USA
Phone: 908-284-7540
Twitter: @desmaresschool