LAW Principal's Corner
November 2022
Dear LAW Families,
Hello LAW Families,
November is a whirlwind of a month, in educators terms it is almost over before it even gets a chance to begin! Regardless, we have many wonderful events planned for our students and families. So please make sure you read on!
November is also a time to celebrate and offer our gratitude for what we have. We are grateful for many things at the Lura A. White Elementary School. We are grateful for our outstanding staff who go above and beyond each and every day. We are grateful for our students who come to school and strive to do their very best every day. Let's not forget our wonderful ASPTO for providing wonderful opportunities, events, and constant support of all of our students and staff. And of course for our parents, who never hesitate when it comes to volunteering and supporting our school.
We are truly thankful for everyone in our Lura A. White Elementary family! For those of you who celebrate Thanksgiving, we hope you enjoy the holiday with friends and family.
Beth Lewis, Principal
Courtney Noll, Asst. Principal
Reminder:
As you know, living in New England, it can be 60 degrees one day and then drop to 30 degrees the next. Please make sure you send your child with the appropriate outside attire to weather the elements.
Please note IMPORTANT! I made an error on the calendar that went home on Friday 10/28. Please discard and use the one further down in this email. Sorry for the confusion. I am sure you are happy to know there is no half-day on Nov. 18th - it is a full day of school!
We will send a revised hard copy of the calendar home on Monday.
Spirit Day - Nov. 14th Red, White and Blue Day
Some Great Storybook Character Costumes!
Important Dates to Remember
Nov. 1 - ASRSD School Committee Meeting @ HS 6:30 p.m.
Nov. 3 - Progress Reports mailed K-5
Nov. 7th - MCM Fundraiser Pick-ups 2- 6 p.m.
Nov. 7th - Early Release @ 1:45 p.m. Professional Dev. Day
Nov. 8th - No School Professional Dev. Day
Nov. 8th - ASPTO Meeting @ 7:00 Zoom website see fb page
Nov. 11 - No School Veterans Day Observance
Nov. 14th - Spirit Day - Red, White and Blue
Nov. 14th - Veterans Day Tribute - Music Teacher/ PLT students present
Nov. 15th - School Council Meeting - note time change 4:15 - 5:00 p.m.
Nov. 15th - Panther Leadership Team 3:30- 4:15
Nov. 16th - ASRSD School Committee Meeting @ MS 6:30 p.m.
Nov. 16th - Family Literacy Night 5:30- 7:00 p.m. - Book Fair Open until 8:00 p.m. RSVP required -
Nov. 17th - Principal's Coffee @ 4:30- 5:15 p.m
Nov. 22nd - Grade 1 Thanksgiving Play ( Grade 1 teachers will send out more details)
Nov. 23rd - Half-Day of School Dismiss@ 12:15 p.m.
Nov. 24th and 25th - No School - Thanksgiving Break
Please discard the calendar that went home on Friday. There is no 1/2 day on the 18th! Sorry for the error! Please use the one below.
Thanks to all the families that donated cereal for our Cereal Domino Event. You can check out the domino chain reaction in the Stem video below. We collected about 500 boxes! All boxes were delivered to Loaves and Fishes!
The Family Literacy Night is threefold in purpose:
1. First, we want to get our students excited about reading.
2. Secondly, our Reading Specialist, Literacy Coaches and many of our teachers, will be providing lots of information to help parents when reading at home with their children.
3. Finally, the Book Fair will be open from 5:00- 8:00 p.m. This is a great opportunity to help the school out and pick up some books for your child to read at home!
The Logistics:
The Literacy Night will begin in the gym. Students and parents who RSVP will begin the evening in the gym from 5:30 - 6:00 for a short presentation provided by our Reading Specialist and other educators. Families will enjoy an activity and some pizza while the presentation is taking place. During that time, families will be placed in groups before leaving the gym. Your group will be identified with a colored paper bracelet provided by the Literacy Committee. The purpose of the groups is to allow a reasonable number of family members visiting each station. The station rotations will last about 15 minutes. Each of the stations will have a teacher reading a book from a selected genre (fiction, non-fiction, fantasy, fairy tales, mysteries etc...). Families will be notified over the loudspeaker to move to the next rotation. Lastly the book fair will be included in the rotation stations, however if you need more time you can visit between 7-8 p.m. or between 5:00-5:30 p.m.
Schedule for the Night:
- 5:15- 5:30 - Check in front office/lobby area - you will need to sign in if you have RSVP
- 5:30- 6:00 - Reading Presentation in Gym and Pizza
- 6:00- 7:15 - Rotation Stations- by Family groupings
- 5:00- 8:00 - Book Fair Open 5-8 p.m.
At the end of the night - there will be goodie bags to take home for those who RSVP containing more Reading tips info. for parents and a few baubles for the kids! We know this will be a great night all around!!! Hope to see you there!
If you are just attending the Book Fair - you will not have to check-in and may proceed directly to the book fair in the library. Unfortunately we need a headcount when providing food for the Literacy Night, so families who do not RSVP will not be allowed in the gym.
Check out these Staff Storybook Character Costumes! Amazing Staff @ LAW!
First Grade Thanksgiving Play - Nov. 22nd @ 1:45 p.m. More info. to follow from the First Grade Teachers
Veterans Day Tribute - November 14th
If you have a family member who is a United States Military Veteran, we would love to have them attend our tribute. Just contact Sandra Ferguson @ (978) 772 8600 x1100 or email @ sferguson@asrsd.org.
There will be refreshments after the tribute for our Veterans and their families. We are looking for parents to donate baked goods. If you think you are able to donate please reach out to Sandra using the above contact information.
Students and only families of the Veterans will be allowed to attend the tribute.
"Never was so much owed by so many to so few"- Winston Churchill
Flyer to share: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aTnt5VWe004rudAXDl17b86eFigD6JUL/view?usp=sharing
Book Fair Nov. 14-18
Scholastic Book Fair
The ASPTO sponsored Scholastic Book Fair is coming to the Lura A. White School the week of Nov. 14-18! Hundreds of books, at all reading and interest levels will be available to purchase at very reasonable prices. The school library receives 50% of all sales to be used for future Scholastic Book purchases. Students will attend the Scholastic Book Fair during their regularly scheduled library time.
Family Night will be held on Wednesday, November 16 from 5:00pm - 8:00pm. Come and enjoy the Book Fair with your child! (a Book Raffle will be held during Parent’s Night for your child’s teacher to have a chance to win a $100 Book Basket! Tickets will be $1 each or 5 for $3).
This year we are again using Ewallet. This is a way for your child/children to go shopping without having to bring in money. Visit our Book Fair Homepage at http://www.scholastic.com/bf/law to learn more and to create an account. (I am also encouraging your child’s teacher to create an account for their classroom. If you would like to donate to their classroom account, the teacher can use their Ewallet to purchase books from the Fair).
The Scholastic Book Fair is also online! Go to scholastic.com/fair to view and purchase wonderful books. Free shipping is available on all purchases sent directly to the school! And all online purchases also benefit the LAW Library! The Online Book Fair runs from Nov. 14-Nov. 27.
Volunteers are welcomed, and truly needed, during this busy week! Whatever you can do would be greatly appreciated! Please contact Mrs. Atwood at latwood@asrsd.org or 978-772-8611 ext. 1119 if you are interested in helping. (Only CORI’d volunteers will be able to work during the Book Fair). Thanks to all Lura A. White families for your continued support to your children and our wonderful library! We look forward to sharing this week with you!
Our Grade 2 Team Put On A Skit For Their Students - It was amazing! Check it out below.
The Importance of Good Attendance
One of the topics we discussed at the Open House parent meeting was the importance of good school attendance. I would like to clarify the process we follow at LAW to help improve attendance situations that may arise.
At LAW:
- We monitor attendance numbers daily.
- Families will receive notices from our office if your child is chronically absent.
- Chronic absenteeism is defined as 10% of the days school has been in session. (Currently school has been in session for approximately 20 days. If your child has missed 2 or 3 days already they are considered chronically absent)
- Parents may be asked to meet with the principal in order to work out a plan if your child's attendance reaches a level of high concern.
- Outside agencies may be involved if attendance issues cannot be resolved between the school administration and the family.
Of course we know your child will get sick and they need to stay home. Please follow the district guidelines for reasons to keep your child home.
Most importantly missing school can be detrimental to your child's academic success. Please remember we are here to assist you should you have difficulties getting your child to attend school.
We discourage vacations planned during the school year and hope you can plan these when students are not obligated to attend school.
Although you may call the office and/or provide a note explaining the absence, an excused absence is still counted as an absence. Please continue to notify the school when your child is out, we do notate the reason for the absence.
STEM Week Highlights - below!
PBIS News - Mrs. Noll, Assistant Principal
Our students and staff are well into our PBIS program this month. Throughout the day, students are reinforced for their positive behavior by receiving green paws. Students in grades 4 and 5 completed a survey for input to help us purchase items for the school store. There is lots of new inventory including locker decorations, gel pens, mini highlighters, and more!
On Friday, October 28th we celebrated our Student of the Month Ceremony. One student from each class was selected for being “most respectful.” Each classroom teacher nominates one student who they feel exemplifies respectful behavior: using kind words and manners, allowing others to speak/taking turns, including others, following directions, and more. Please join us in celebrating and recognizing our students!
We also award two classes each month with a Golden Broom Award. This very prestigious prize is awarded to a class that maintains panther pride by keeping their class neat and organized. This month our winning classes were Mrs. Strazzullo’s 1st grade class and Mrs. Martineau’s 3rd grade class. Congratulations to all!
Congratulations to the October Students of the Month!
LAW School Psychologist and Counselor News
Classroom Lessons
Students in grades K and 1 have been learning about identifying feelings/naming emotions, perseverance in the classroom, and friendship skills. Students in grades 2 through 5 have been exploring growth mindset. They’ve been learning to say “I can’t do this yet,” instead of ‘I can’t.” Next we will be working on respect.
Food Security
Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry (978)772-4627 x312 is offering drive through distribution of Thanksgiving meal ingredients on 11-1-22 and Holiday Dinner ingredients on 12-19-22. If you don’t live near the pantry, the Joseph and Leslie Carr Foundation can deliver ingredients for a complete turkey dinner on 12-17-22. Email Jayne or Monica for more information. LAW Weekend Snack Pack Program offers snacks for students. The form can be found here, or email if you prefer that we send home a paper copy.
Happy Fall,
Monica Groulx, School Psychologist, K, 1, & SLC’S mgroulx@asrsd.org 978-772-8600 x1130
Jayne Garrett, School Counselor. Grades 2 - 5, jgarrett@asrsd.org 978-772-8600 x1104
Three students going above and beyond!
Thanks to Louie, one of fourth graders, who took it upon himself to design challenging games and coloring sheets with a spooky theme for all the students in the school! Louie is one of our Panther Leadership Team members and this exemplifies leadership for sure.
Thank you Emerson, one of our third graders, for earning enough PAWS tickets to read to our first grade students!
Great examples of leadership and effort!
Unified Sports Program at LAW!
Panther Leadership Team Update
We had a successful first meeting on Oct. 25th. Our Panther Leadership Team has doubled in size this year growing to 42 members! Our veteran members helped lead our new members through their first tasks of coming up with ideas for the PLT to engage in this year. After, our new members shared their entrance essays. Finally, all PLT members were assigned to a role in the upcoming Veterans Day Tribute on Nov. 14th. Some students will MC the tribute, help decorate, hand out gifts to Veterans, greet Veterans, handout programs, and serve refreshments after the ceremony. We are looking forward to a fun-filled productive year with the Panther Leadership Team!
Our next meeting will be on: November 15th (due to the holiday week we will have it the second week not third)
Coffee with the Principal
Here is your chance to chat with the principal. I look forward to this opportunity to get to know more parents and to gain insight from a parent's perspective. I will alternate the times every other month to accommodate parents' schedules. Coffee and light refreshments will be available.
Our second meeting will be held on Nov. 17th @ 4:30-5:15 p.m.
Looking forward to this opportunity!
Beth Lewis
School Council Members
A School Council is a representative, school building-based committee composed of the principal, parents, teachers, and community members. School Councils were mandated in every public school in Massachusetts by the Education Reform Act of 1993.
There are three major areas of responsibility for School Councils. They are to assist principals in:
- Adopting educational goals for the school that are consistent with local educational policies and statewide student performance standards.
- Identifying the educational needs of students attending the school.
- Formulating a school improvement plan.
Each meeting will begin at 3:30 and last for about 45-60 minutes on the following dates throughout the school year:
10/18
11/15 - meeting starts @ 4:15 p.m. (I had to change the time due to a conflict)
1/17
3/21
5/16 if needed
Beth Lewis, Principal 978 772-8600 x 1101
Courtney Noll, Assistant Principal 978 772-8600 x1105
LAW Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Mission Statement
At the Lura A. White Elementary School we value diversity, equity, and inclusion. We celebrate the uniqueness of each individual, embrace diverse backgrounds and respect differing points of view to build a strong inclusive community. As we learn together, we draw on the differences in we are.