Nantucket Elementary School
March 15, 2023 Monthly Newsletter
Nantucket Elementary School Latest News and Calendar Updates
Dear Families,
Hello and Happy upcoming St. Patrick's Day!!
Welcome to March!! This is a very busy month for students in school, as you can see below. Literacy Night was incredible at NES!! We were so happy with all of the events that students and families participated in. We had close to 200 students and families attend. Everyone did spirit week fun events leading up to that evening, 3/9. Kids were focused on geography seeking the answers to daily riddles about places all over the world and finding Waldo on his adventures around the building!! Thank you everyone.
Tonight, we had our information night about Lip Sync. This is an annual event we share with students from NIS. It is a big fundraiser and family friendly fun evening. This year it will be held on Friday, May 19th. Students form groups, pick a song, plan and practice a dance routine, and perform it on the stage at NHS. The songs need to be appropriate - kid language. Lots of groups bring props and wear matching clothes! See links below to get all the details. We will email them separately as well. So far, we have 7 groups signed up. We can only take 20 so be sure to turn in the sign up forms as soon as possible - no later than 4/17. Each group must have a parent leader. This is an at home practice event, but we love to watch our students plan and practice on the playground and at the club!!
Don't forget that report cards go home on 3/31 and they will be posted in Aspen that day as well. It is important for parents to review these documents to talk about successes with their children and plan areas to practice!
Here is news from our grades and departments:
PreK - In March the students are learning about letters, rainbows, and animals! We had a grade level letter scavenger hunt in the hallways of NES, be sure to ask your child about it. Letters are all around us and it is a great way to build that connection between what we are learning at school and at home. You can help your child practice identifying letters that they see around them and what sounds they make! We will also focus on science with rainbows. The students will conduct various experiments in regard to rainbows and colors in their classrooms. As the weather is always changing in March, we do our best to get outside everyday and enjoy the fresh air and nature!
Kindergarten - Kindergarten is working on building our reading muscles to read bigger books. Readers are working to look at the letters to sound out a word and then using the picture and meaning of the page to check their reading. It is important for all kindergarteners to know their letter sounds fluently, so this is a great thing to practice at home. We are writing informational pieces, including how-to books, learning and writing about animals, and other student-chosen nonfiction topics. In math we continue to work on comparing numbers to 10 using the words greater than, more than, less than, and fewer than. We have just finished our unit on American symbols and have learned about: the bald eagle, the American Flag, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Monument, The National Anthem, The Pledge of Allegiance, and other important symbols of The United States of America.
First Grade - First graders have been writing their opinions about various topics! We have also been working on bundling groups of tens in double digit numbers. We are so excited to have started our new science unit about sound. During reading, we have been working on being the boss or our reading! We have also been working on learning the days of the week and the months of the year!
Second Grade - Second graders came back from vacation ready to learn about landforms, adding and subtracting three digit numbers, continuing to state their opinion, and reading books and focusing on comprehension! After learning about maps, continents, and oceans, we are now learning about landforms (plateaus, mountains, hills, etc.) and bodies of water. Students are making models and learning about each landform's characteristics. Second graders are also learning many strategies to help them add and subtract three digit numbers! Adding and subtracting vertically is the goal and students are understanding when and why we may need to unbundle a ten and hundred in order to subtract or why we may need to make a ten or hundred. We can't wait for spring and warmer weather to hopefully incorporate some field trips into our learning!
Meri Lepore's Nurse's Corner
Now that we are back in school from break there are a lot of illnesses going around including colds, stomach bugs, COVID and more. Please keep your student home if they are not feeling well. We want to keep our school community as healthy as possible, some classrooms have half of the students out with illness.
March is a long month of usually not nice weather, but it is still very important for our children to spend time outdoors and play. Screen time is bad for our vision and over time will cause changes to our eyes. The more time children spend outdoors and playing the better. This is a good time of year to start thinking about screen-free days or weeks. In 1994 there was a movement for “Turn the TV Off” week. Screens are even more prevalent in our lives now and can cause changes to your child’s vision long term. The days are longer so there is more time to spend outdoors after school. Please make sure your student is dressed for the weather!
Meri Lepore
Nurse Nantucket Elementary School
Counselor's Corner from Jenny Williams, Heidi Smith and Madeleine Sybert, Social Worker
This month in SEL classes, the students continue to focus on identifying emotions while developing self-management strategies. All feelings are okay to have, even strong feelings, but what matters most is what we do when we feel a certain way. Students are learning skills to add to their “toolbox” to use when their feelings get so strong that it becomes difficult to make kind and safe choices.
When your child is having strong feelings, help them to recognize and name their feelings. When your child stops and names their feeling, the strength of the feeling decreases and can help your child calm down faster. This skill can be practiced daily! When you notice your child is beginning to feel frustrated, you can help them build their ability to connect their behaviors to their feelings. First, describe what you see, “I notice that you are sighing and putting your head down.” Then connect their behavior to a feeling, “it looks like you are feeling frustrated.” This practice will reinforce their skills in identifying and eventually managing their feelings.
The skills of positive self-talk and belly breathing are strategies learned in class and we also encourage you to discuss and practice at home with your child. These are skills your children can use independently but like any new skill, children benefit from encouragement and reinforcement.
For an example of belly breathing please click on the link below!
Positive self-talk is great to use when you notice your child getting frustrated or anxious, and helps children manage emotions when confronted with difficult tasks or activities. Some examples of positive self-talk include, “I can do hard things,” “I can solve problems,” and “I believe in myself!”
If you have any questions about the Second Step program or need additional support please contact the school counseling team. Thank you!
Heidi Smith
Elementary School Counselor Intern
Jenny Williams
Elementary School Counselor
Madeleine Sybert
School Social Worker
Thank you for all of your efforts to support your child's learning. We need your partnership with us in this most important journey of supporting your child for success. Know that Mrs. Kimberly Albertson, Assistant Principal, and myself are always available to support you. Feel free to call the school to set up appointments, call to speak with us, email us, or catch us outside in the morning and/or afternoon. We love feedback and want you to feel comfortable reaching out to us as needed!
Best,
Kim Kubisch and Kim Albertson
Here are a few very important reminders that have been previously shared. As we always say, we need you the parents and adult family members to be partners with us in your child's education. An important role that you play is to be a model for our high expectations. Please review these sections and let us know if you have any questions.
Attendance - we are starting to see some students with higher absence numbers. It is very important that you notify your child's teacher or call the front office. You can send a message to your child's teacher through REMIND or call the front office to leave a message regarding your child's absence at (508) 228 - 7290 ext, 3. If your child needs to miss 5 or more consecutive days, you must make an appointment with the principal well in advance of upcoming absence. The NES Parent Handbook has been posted on the NES website (www.npsk.org, click on schools, click on Nantucket Elementary School). Please review the important section on attendance. Retention in the current grade level is a possibility if a child has excessive absences. As we continue to rebound from the Covid Pandemic, children being in school each day is a necessity.
Driving and Parking on the NES/NIS campus
We have had several concerns shared regarding safety of students as they enter and exit the school recently. These concerns have been regarding parent drivers not following safety rules. These are listed below for your reference. We appreciate all of your anticipated efforts and required patience.
- NES will open in the morning at 7:45am. Students who are walking, biking or getting dropped off should be outside the building no earlier than 7:35am and walk to their assigned class meeting place outside.
- If parents wish to escort their child to their assigned class space, they must park their car in the Backus Lane parking lot ONLY.
- The parking lot off of First Way, behind the school is for staff only.
- All of the parking spots are assigned to staff or students at NHS.
- Parents and Guardians should not use that lot for any reason.
- This is a terrible place for students to be dropped off, this is not a drive through, and there is nowhere for any non permitted driver to park.
- Again, please stop driving in this lot. We are asking you to be a model for all children in the morning and the afternoon.
- Drive through drop off in the morning is permitted at the K and NES/NIS side entrances. This means parents stay in their car, and a staff member will open the passenger side door to help your child exit safely. Then, the car continues driving out the exit. This is for all students.
- Drive through pick up in the afternoon is permitted for all students grades 2-5 in the large circle between NES and NIS. This means parents stay in their car, and a staff member will oversee students entering cars. Then, the car continues driving out the exit.
- K and 1 students are met by parents at the back K entrance. Students will be standing in their assigned class lines.
- The circles and driveways on campus ARE NOT PARKING SPACES. An adult driver must stay in the car while waiting for students to exit or enter the car.
- At dismissal, all parents will continue to wait outside in the already designated spots with staff supervision (kindergarten circle for kindergarten and first grade students, outside of the front door for second grade students).
- In the event of inclement weather (severe snow or rain), kindergarten and first grade students will be dismissed out the kindergarten and cafeteria doors to parents outside and second grade students will be dismissed out the gymnasium doors to parents outside.
- Drivers may not pull into the bus loop to pick-up their children EVER.
Upcoming Events
SAVE THE DATES!!
- NPS Half Day Dismissal 12:00 pm 3/15/23 District PD
- Lip Sync Information Night 3/15/23 NES Cafe
- NPS School Committee LGI 6:00 pm 3/21/23
- NPS Joint School Council CPS Cafe 3:00 pm 3/23/23
- Trimester 2 ends on 3/24/23
- Report cards posted in Aspen and sent home in student backpacks on 3/31/23.
- NPS School Committee LGI 6:00 pm 4/4/23
- NES School Council NES Library 3:00 pm 4/6/23
- FONPS Meeting NHS 6:00 pm 4/12/23
- NES Second Grade Family Folk Dance Night NES Gym 4/13/23 5:30 pm
- April Break - NO SCHOOL - 4/17 - 4/21/23
- Students return to school 4/24/23
- NPS School Committee LGI 6:00 pm 4/25/23
NES/NIS Lip Sync English Documents
Acts of Kindness Bingo Page
Nantucket Elementary School
Website: www.npsk.org
Location: 30 Surfside Road, Nantucket, MA 02554, USA
Phone: 508 228 - 7290