DAVIS THAYER NEWS
February 2, 2018
Dear Davis Thayer Families,
It is difficult to believe that we are halfway through the school year. Hopefully, we will continue to have minimal snow and spring will arrive quickly!
At this midpoint in the year, we want to thank all of you for being integral partners with us in the learning process. Your support helps your child to learn, grow and achieve. We ask that you continue partner with us in your child’s learning. Here are some ways you can help:
• Go through their backpack each night, checking for homework to be completed or important papers/communications to be read.
• Check out Davis Thayer’s web pages for information about what is happening at school and in your child’s class. You can also find out what is happening at DT by following us on Instagram and Twitter.
• Review your child’s agenda with them (grades 3-5), checking for any assignments due or long-term projects to begin.
• Read to or with them every day. A high level of independent reading is one of the key indicators of school success—plus it is fun!
• Talk with them about the importance of school and getting a solid foundation for learning. The good habits they establish now in elementary school will serve them well for years to come.
This year we have built and grown many partnerships with the community. We want to thank Black Box Theater for donating their space so that our 5th grade could perform their winter concert at a real theater. What an awesome experience that our students had performing in front of a packed house. We look forward to continuing this partnership. We also want to thank Holmes Bus Company for donating a bus to us to transport students to the Black Box. The original plan was to walk to the theater but winter has a funny way of making us think flexibly. We are so lucky to live in Franklin where our community is truly our partner.
Our lost and found is located in the cafeteria. We have many unclaimed items. Please have your children check lost and found to recover any of their missing items. You may also stop in to check for your children’s treasures. All unclaimed items will be donated to a charity during February vacation.
In closing, we want to thank our families for your diligence in having your students at school on-time and well-prepared for learning each day. In addition, please continue to be mindful that our students’ academic day continues until dismissal each afternoon and it is very important that students are not dismissed early unless an unavoidable appointment or emergency is involved as valuable instruction from the teacher can be missed. As always, thank you for supporting the wonderful teaching and learning taking place here at Davis Thayer!
Warmly,
Kathleen Gerber
Principal1st Grade - RAZ Kids with our new Kindle Fires
2nd Grade- Studio Habits- Illustrating Fictional Narratives
Fun in the Snow
Core Value Assemblies
School Spirit Day- Favorite Sports Team
5th Grade Chorus Concert at Black Box Theater
Kindergarten Art
Devin Curley represent DT at School Committee
Winter Wonderland
Funbruary
Explanation of Days – All Spirit days are optional, please do not feel obligated to spend money in order to participate.
2/1 – Crazy Hair Day – Students can be creative and style their hair any way they wish
2/2 – Team Spirit Day – to celebrate the Super bowl, students may support their favorite team
2/5 – Crazy Hat Day – to celebrate the end of Ellie’s Hat Drive, students may wear a hat of their choice
2/6 – Mismatched Day – let students dress themselves and be as mismatched as possible
2/7 –Crazy Socks Day – wear your craziest socks
2/8 –Drop everything & Dance and Dress Like You are 100 Day – at various times throughout the day students will stop what they are doing and dance
2/9 –Bring a stuffed friend to school – students may bring a SMALL stuffed friend to keep them company during the day
2/12 – Dress like your favorite book character – think creatively and dress like a character from a book
2/13 – Share your favorite book- Bring your favorite book to school from the past or present to share with your class
2/14 – Wear pink, red or white – to celebrate friendship, wear a color to show that
2/15 –Drop everything and exercise - at various times throughout the day students will stop what they are doing and exercise
2/16 – School Colors Day – Students are encouraged to wear red & black to celebrate Davis Thayer
2/26 – PJ day – Students may wear their PJs to school, please remember to wear shoes, no slippers
2/27 – Door Decorating Day – classes will decorate their doors for a school –wide competition
2/28 –Drop Everything & Read- at various times during the day students will stop what they are doing and begin to read
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram to see pictures of all of our school days.
You’re invited to the February PCC Meeting featuring DT Goes Global!
Thursday, February 8th 2018 from 6:30-7:30pm
Please join us at Davis Thayer for a fun night filled with games, food, and amazing presentations from our students as they guide you through the cultures of Italy, Brazil, and China!
A fun and educational night out with the family that you don’t want to miss! All siblings and family members are welcome. If you are able to attend and have not already RSVP'd to Mrs. Sullivan please RSVP as soon as possible.
Carolyn Sullivan at sullivanc@franklinps.net or 508-541-5263.
2018 Kindergarten Registration
WHEN: Monday, February 12, 2018 9:00 AM ~ 1:00 PM
Tuesday, February 13, 2018 3:00 PM ~ 6:00 PM
WHERE: Franklin Municipal Building
355 East Central Street
Third Floor Training Room
The link below has more information:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ytpTUqRLGR0i8ebqw13sLOKGAx9X6S1rJZiIZP3LsuA/edit?usp=sharing
The Bathroom Blues.....
Unfortunately this year we have had many bathroom issues across all grade levels. Some of these problems include locking stall doors, filling toilets with toilet paper causing them to overflow, urinating on the bathroom floors, unrolling toilet paper onto the floor and creating objects made from toilet paper. Because of the seriousness of some of the misuse we have closed two bathrooms on the first floor. At this time, students can come to the office if they need to use them in an emergency. Sign out sheets are now part of every class. When students need to use the bathroom they sign out with the time that they are leaving. This will help us be more aware as well as let us know where children are if there is ever an emergency.
In our conversations with students we have shared that how we treat our home bathrooms should be how we treat our school ones. We also discussed that we are here at school to get smarter everyday and if we are in the bathroom fooling around we are not becoming better readers, writers, mathematicians, scientists, etc.
We would appreciate it if you could reinforce expected bathroom behavior with your students. At this time we have just reopened two bathrooms on the first floor and it is our hope that we will no longer have issues with their use.
Core Values
The DT community works to live our core values by planning monthly whole-school assemblies. We held our January school wide assembly on January 12th when Davis Thayer's 5th grade Bobcat Buddies talked about the core value of Challenge. At this assembly, Pennies for Patients, our current community outreach project was kicked off for the school. Mrs. Fernandes and the DT Goes Global Club helped us all to journey to China with their presentation.
During the year, we will continue to recognize students and staff members who exemplify one or more core values with “scoop tickets,” by reading scoops over the announcements on Fridays, and by partnering with McDonalds to award certificates to randomly-chosen students at our assemblies each month. The bulletin board in the cafeteria which displays many of the scoops that have been awarded has been reset to start the new year. Please take a look if you have an opportunity when you are in the building. It is an awesome sight!
Pennies for Patients
Be Amazing! Collect Change and Save Lives!
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is the world’s largest non-profit health organization dedicated to finding cures for blood cancers. Davis Thayer is participating again this year in the Pennies for Patients program which helps raise money to fund research for therapies that save the lives of blood cancer patients.
We appreciate any spare change that you can send in to help with this great cause. Donations will continue to be collected until February 9th.
Students can make a difference in helping save the lives of blood cancer patients!
Star Staff
All of our staff play an important role in the lives of students, families and the community. This year we will recognize an outstanding staff members at Davis Thayer and highlight their achievements.This recognition is being established to recognize outstanding people for their dedication, professionalism and work. Those receiving these awards will be nominated by administrators and colleagues for excellence in their classroom and/or in the school.
We would like to share with you the staff that have been recognized since our last newsletter.
Mrs. Ballinger- School Adjustment Counselor
Mrs. Ballinger is DT’s unofficial cheerleader. She can often be heard in TEAM meetings, during parent conferences, with district staff, and throughout the community championing her colleagues and the school as a whole. She is also a model collaborator. She works closely with staff throughout the building and is consistently one of the first people to step forward to support others - both with student issues and with teachers’ duties and responsibilities.
Mrs. Salvucci - Eduational Support Professional
Mrs. Salvucci's colleagues share that “she has a positive attitude and dedication that we all witness each day. She is a team player who is always willing to help where needed. Each week we see her interact with students in a creative and caring manner in the classroom as well as throughout the school. We particularly admire and appreciate her resourcefulness and especially her ability to remain calm in unpredictable situations. She is clearly one of DTs best and an invaluable member of our staff!!”
Mrs. Finley- 3rd Grade Teacher
Mrs. Finley has jumped in and started running, in her first year at DT, in understanding 3rd grade curriculum and instruction “Franklin Style”. She has worked this year to welcome and engage families to be partners in their students’ education. She is always quick to volunteer her classroom for observations showcasing student work. Her collaborative teamwork shines in both her partnership with Mrs. Licata and with Mrs. Lewis.
News from the Nurse
Due to weather issues at this time of year, the students are often required to stay indoors both at school and at home. Because of this, they may be in closer contact with each other. Please be on the alert for any signs/symptoms in your child of illness, lice and/or contagious diseases. If found, please follow Franklin Public Schools policy regarding attendance and inform the school nurse of any treatment that was begun. Feel free to contact the health office with any questions and/or concerns.
Please review the following guidelines for keeping a sick child home.
A child should stay home for at least 24 hours to rest if the following symptoms are present the morning of school or the previous night:
· vomiting and/or diarrhea
· itchy or reddened eyes with drainage
· fever over 100 degrees
· unusual rash
· a poor night’s sleep due to illness, cough, etc.
Other families, as well as school staff appreciate your help in this matter.
MEASURES YOU CAN TAKE TO PREVENT THE SPREAD OF ILLNESSES
· Wash your hands often with soap & water or use alcohol-based hand sanitizers
· Remember ‘cough etiquette”-cough into elbow
· Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth
· Wash hands after blowing nose or coughing
· Clean things that are touched often such as your phones, remote controls, and refrigerator handles.
· Avoid close contact with others who are sick
· Stay home when you are sick
· Encourage your family and friends to do the same
Social Emotional Learning- Core Competency - Self-Management Part 1 of 5
As we have discussed in several newsletters and PCC meetings, the Franklin school district has invested a great amount of time and energy in Social Emotional Learning (SEL). We will eventually be gauging our success based on how well our students are succeeding in the 5 areas of Core Competencies. These 5 areas are: Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, Relationship Skills and Responsible Decision Making. Over the course of the next 5 months, Chrishelle Leonard and I will break down each competency to ensure our families understand our goals. This article will better define Self-Management.
Self-management is defined as the ability to successfully regulate one’s emotions, thoughts, and behaviors in different situations- effectively managing stress, controlling impulses, and motivating oneself. The ability to set and work towards personal and academic goals. There are six main subtopics that we are focused on. These topics include impulse control, stress management, self-discipline, self-motivation, goal-setting and organizational skills. So what does that mean in terms of the classroom? Home? Life skills? Let’s take a closer look at the subcategories.
I think we all know what impulse control means; it is a failure or inability to resist temptations. For me, if you put a cup of coffee in front of me and tell me not to drink it, I may last about 10 seconds before I start gulping it down! Students are faced with several temptations throughout the day, such as to resist responding to a friend when he talks to you, staying in your seat when you want to get up and grab something from your backpack, or watching another student doing something funny, but off-task, when you are supposed to be listening to the teacher. These are all really hard for children to resist, due to their age and level of brain development, yet our expectation is that they will resist impulses throughout the day. Before we can expect them to increase their impulse control, we need to define it, explain why it is important and give them alternative ways/times to get the impulsive need met. At Davis Thayer we utilize Responsive Classroom and Zones of Regulation to help curb impulsive behaviors as well as help them create a personal toolbox of coping skills (see the list below).
Stress management is simply a method of limiting stress and reducing its effects by learning ways of behaving and thinking differently to reduce it. Going back to my original example, my midday coffee is one of my favorite forms of stress management. I have it in a quiet space and think about nothing else but lying on a beach in 80 degree weather. Not surprising, my level of stress decreases significantly after this experience. Although you may think the jolt of caffeine is responsible for my reduction of stress, it is actually the repeated practice of guided imagery that is the key. I include all 5 senses into my thoughts, the sound of the waves, the feel of the hot sun, the smell of sunscreen, etc, to fully immerse myself in the experience. This takes time and practice but it works for me, and I have seen it work for many of the students that I help create a similar experience.
Self-discipline is regulating behaviors for the sake of improvement. Although this sounds similar to impulse control, the difference is that controlling our impulse is a way to stay out of trouble and on task, self-discipline is more about making a conscience decision to do (or not do) something that will improve our situation. For example, choosing to eat your apple before your cookies at lunch is self-discipline, because an apple is better for you, whereas gobbling your cookie before your apple is a sign of poor impulse control.
Self-motivation and goal-setting are similar in the fact that they are both aimed at creating a specific outcome. Self-motivation is a broad concept of keeping yourself going on the right track, independent of what others may be doing around us. Goal-setting is a specific wish that we have for ourselves to complete in a certain amount of time. I know many of you have high school students, like me, who want to get into a good college. The things that will get my daughter into a good school are good grades, high SAT scores and a rounded level of experience. My daughter has enough self-motivation to get into a good school that she spends every Sunday studying for SAT’s or AP exams. I have never once asked her to do it. She is self-motivated so that she can meet her goal of getting into a good college. Our students at Davis Thayer might set a goal of getting a scoop at school so they may be motivated to display behaviors above and beyond what is expected to get a scoop! You might stay late or do extra projects (self-motivation) to get a raise at work (goal-setting)!
Organizational skills are the second most challenging form of self-management, with impulse control being the first, especially for children in elementary school. It is basically a reflection of your ability to use all resources available to achieve a goal. This is a broad, textbook definition, but in school it boils down to an ability to manage our desks, supplies, knowledge, etc., in a way that allows us to be successful at school. Much of this skill comes from our frontal lobe, which controls much of our executive functioning activities. However, as stated, an elementary school-aged child’s brain does not have a fully functioning frontal lobe, so we need to scaffold their day so there are cues for them to be successful. Things you might find in school would be daily schedules written on the board, different color folders for different subjects, pictures around the room of how-to’s, and clearly defined expectations posted. Sending a child under 10 years old up to clean her room will end in disaster unless you have clearly defined what cleaning means and there is a place for everything that needs to be cleaned up; just food for thought.
Self-management isn’t a skill just to be taught, but a way of life. Part of being able to self-manage is having the necessary tools to help with control, organization and motivation. We, at Davis Thayer believe that this skill, as well as the other core competencies, are skills that you will need every day. You may not need to be able to solve an algebra question daily, but you will always need to display impulse control! As a result, we need to be able to raise awareness and teach our students ways to be able to achieve self-management. Below is a small sample of different tools that students have brainstormed to help in these areas. Although many of these are individual tools, each classroom has their own routines/tools to find success in all of the subcategories. Hopefully by embedding these competencies into our children’s curriculum we will see long term effects in our children’s level of happiness and success!
- Deep breathing/
- Lazy 8 breathing
- Guided imagery
- Go for a movement break
- Utilize inner coach
- Don’t be afraid to ask for help
- Journaling
- Draw/color
- Walk away or ignore inappropriate behaviors
- Talk about how you feel
- Surround yourself with your friends
Follow Davis Thayer on Instagram
Davis Thayer is now on Instagram! Follow us at davis_thayer. It is a great way for us to share what is happening at school.
February Calendar of Events
About Davis Thayer.......
Mrs. Gerber's contact information:
508-541-5263 ext 3710
Mrs. Wasik's contact information:
508-541-5263 ext 3719
Website: http://thayerelementary.vt-s.net/Pages/index
Location: 137 West Central Street, Franklin, MA, United States
Phone: 508-541-5263
Twitter: @DT_Bobcats