Principal's Notes
Pond Cove Elementary School - October 9, 2023
Principal's Message
Dear Families,
We have had another great week at Pond Cove. We conducted an Evacuation Drill with CEMS and the Cape Elizabeth Fire Department on Wednesday morning. Students did an amazing job exiting the building quickly and quietly and waiting for instructions from their teachers. We will continue to practice these evacuation drills throughout the school year so that we are prepared in the event of an emergency at school. Ask your student to share with you what their class does during an evacuation drill.
With Halloween occurring on a school day, we want to let you know ahead of time that Pond Cove does not allow students to wear costumes to school. In addition to dressing up, any props or items accompanying a costume (e.g., wands, fake weapons, wigs, etc.) should stay home. Instead, students are encouraged to dress in orange and black. Staff will also be encouraged to participate. Thank you for supporting this to ensure a calm and focused day at school on such an exciting day of the year.
As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. We are happy to assist you in any way that we can.
Best,
Tiffany & Sarah
Fall Testing Begins This Week
Pond Cove students in grades 1 - 4 will participate in fall testing this week. A breakdown of which tests each grade level will take is outlined below.
- 1st and 2nd Grades:
October 10 - NWEA Math
October 11 - NWEA Reading
October 12 - MAP Fluency (i.e., Dyslexia Screener)
3rd and 4th Grades:
October 16 - MTYA ELA
October 17 - MTYA Math
First and second grade students will take the spring benchmark NWEA MAP Growth Tests in reading and math and the MAP Reading Fluency (i.e., dyslexia screener). More information on the dyslexia screener is shared below.
Third and fourth grade students will take the new state assessment in lieu of the NWEAs. This new test is called the Maine Through Year Assessment (MTYA), which is similar in format to the NWEAs yet has a new name as the newly adopted state test. The fall administration of the MTYA is the state testing for grades three and four, which means it is state mandated.
All students will take these assessments on their school-issued iPad. Each subject area test will be administered as one session and each session will be given on a different school day. Testing sessions will take approximately 30 minutes for our youngest learners to 1 hour and 30 minutes for our oldest students to complete. For children in first and second grades, an audio component is embedded in the test so that question and answer choices are read to the child.
Dyslexia Screener
The MAP® Reading Fluency™ dyslexia screener measures beginning reading skills, including listening comprehension, phonological awareness (the ability to hear the sounds in words), and connecting letters and sounds. In addition, this assessment meets the state requirements for universal screening.
The results of this dyslexia screener can be used to better understand the individual strengths and needs of each child and inform how we provide instruction to help them progress as readers. This test provides immediate and valuable information about your child’s reading development that makes it easier for teachers to plan reading instruction.
Test Scores
You will be notified once your child’s NWEA scores are available for viewing on the test score link in PowerSchool. These tests will help us determine your child’s current instructional level and measure their academic growth at this point in the year.
Accommodations for Testing
Students who have been previously identified as requiring accommodations for testing through a 504 Accommodation Plan or an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) will take these tests with the accommodations outlined in those plans.
If you would like to learn more about the MAP Growth test, visit: NWEA.org/Parent-Toolkit.
Food Drive for Judy's Pantry - October 16 - 26
Parent Tech Night - October 17, 2023
Parent Tech Night
Please join Troy Patterson, Director of Educational Technology, and Erica Marcus, Mindfulness Director, for a night of technology tips and information that will include, learning about the devices provided by the CESD and how to monitor those at home, as well as how to help your student develop healthy technology use habits and protect their privacy while online.
Tuesday, Oct 17, 2023, 05:30 PM
Cape Elizabeth Middle School, Scott Dyer Road, Cape Elizabeth, ME, USA
Pond Cove Weekly Menu
Breakfast Menu
Lunch Menu
Ever Wonder What Day It Is At Pond Cove?
Important Information
Thanksgiving Baskets For Those In Need
Each fall, Judy’s Pantry contacts the Cape schools regarding requests for Thanksgiving food baskets from Cape families in need. The baskets are prepared by local Cape Elizabeth residents and provided to Judy’s Food Pantry for distribution. The Pantry adds a selection of fresh produce for each recipient.
The mission of Judy’s Pantry is to help Cape residents who have limited resources and who have difficulty providing healthy food for themselves and their families. The Pantry reaches out to the schools to identify local families who are not current Pantry clients, but who have similar needs.
If you are interested, please EITHER connect with the Pantry directly by contacting Jean Hayes at jean.c.hayes14@gmail.com or at 207-831-8551 OR school social worker, Chip Babineau @ 799-7339 or cbabineau@capeelizabethschools.org, no later than Tuesday, October 17th. Please note that the Pantry is not able to accept school registrations received after that date.
Please note:
· If you are already a Pantry client, you should reserve your basket through normal Pantry channels. Please don’t submit a duplicate request to the schools.
· Baskets may be requested for the number of people who reside in your household, with the option of adding up to two guests (with a cap of 10). For example, if there are 3 individuals who normally reside in your household, you may request a basket for 3, 4 or 5.
· Reserved baskets will be available for curbside pickup from Judy’s Pantry (which operates from the United Methodist Church at 280 Ocean House Road) on Tuesday, Nov. 14 between 3:00 and 5:00 p.m.
· Detailed distribution procedures will be forwarded to registrants prior to Nov. 14.
· If you are unable to pick up the basket yourself, you are asked to locate someone to pick it up on your behalf. Under extraordinary circumstances, delivery arrangements may be coordinated through your school social worker.
· If you request a basket through the schools, please let Mr. Babineau know if we may release your name and contact information to Pantry coordinators to facilitate the distribution process. This is particularly helpful to the curbside pick-up arrangements. However, if we do not receive permission from you to release your name/contact information, we will provide only the number of people for whom you have asked that the basket be prepared and the school level of your child (e.g. “Middle School – order for 4”).
· If a requested basket is not picked up on the designated date and time and extraordinary delivery arrangements have not been made, the items will no longer be available.
If you have any questions, please contact the school’s social worker at 799-7339
What's Happening At Pond Cove
Art with Mrs. Johnston
These pastel portraits were created by fourth-grade students during art class. They were inspired by contemporary artist Sandra Silberzweig. Students were expected to create at least three value changes, three color blends, and three patterns.
Emergency Preparedness
School safety is of the utmost importance to us. We have spent a significant amount of time over the last month focused on our response to an emergency. During our Teacher Workshop Day on Friday, October 6th, Pond Cove staff worked with members of the Cape Elizabeth Police Department to review our Emergency Response Plan. Staff also engaged in tabletop discussions surrounding potential emergency scenarios and how to handle them. Scenarios included medical emergencies, playground safety, as well as, classroom safety issues.
During a recent staff meeting we offered classroom sessions to educate individuals on the proper actions to take in case of an emergency in their room. This allowed teachers to work in smaller groups and contemplate their responses in such situations, ultimately ensuring the safety of the students. Through frequent practice, we aim to make our emergency responses more automatic and seamless, should such an event arise.
Learning Addition in First Grade
First graders have been working hard in math. Recently they practiced two strategies for adding. These strategies are turnaround facts and counting on.
A turnaround fact is an addition fact in math which you are able to 'turn around' or reverse the addends and still get the same answer. Addends are numbers that are added together to get a sum. An example of a turnaround fact is 2+3 and 3+2 will equal 5 no matter which number you start with.
The ‘Counting-on’ strategy is when a student starts with the larger number and “counts on” with the other addends to get to the sum. For example, if the number sentence is 4 + 3, the student will identify 4 as the larger number and count on three more—“4 … 5, 6, 7”.
Picture of the Week
Parent volunteer, Lindsay Barrett, opened up the garden for fall nature cooking and POTION MAKING with the nature scientists in Mrs. Gassman's class! They read A Spoonful of Frogs and learned about some of the fall nature ingredients kids can find in the garden and around the playground. The picture above is one potion that was made!
What's Happening At Pond Cove
This Week at Pond Cove
Monday, October 9 - NO SCHOOL, Indigenous Peoples Day
Tuesday, October 10 - Mrs. Merriam's class to Robinson Woods
Wednesday, October 11 - Ms. Capobianco's & Mr. Trammel's classes to Robinson Woods
Thursday, October 12 - Mrs. Tweedie's & Mrs. Bucci's classes to Robinson Woods
A Peek Ahead
Tuesday, October 17 - Parent Tech Night @ CEMS Library
Wednesday, October 18 - School Picture Day
Saturday, October 21 - PCPA Harvest Festival
Thursday, October 26 - Half day for students (Conferences) with dismissal at 12:05
Friday, October 27 - Conferences, No School For Students
Tuesday, October 31 - Orange & Black Day
Reminders
From Our Friends at the Pond Cove Parents Association (PCPA)
The Scholastic Book Fair is coming to Pond Cove!
When: October 30-November 3rd
Where: Pond Cove lobby
Why: Core Memory creation and it fully funds our Birthday Book program. What is the Birthday book program? Every student at Pond Cove gets a birthday book from the Principal on their birthday! They get called down from their classroom to select a book from the bookshelf right outside Principal Karnes's office! They get a certificate and a book. The book fairs fully fund this for all 550+ students, EVERY year.
How does it work? You can load up an eWallet for your student (see link in comments) or send them in with cash. We will also have a Family Night on Thursday, November 2nd from 5:30-7:30. We happily take credit cards/ApplePay, etc at that time too.
How can I help? There will be many volunteer shifts to sign up for - but you must be a Pond Cove approved volunteer. Please check out the Cape Elizabeth Schools Volunteer Services page or email Sarah Gagne (sgagne@capeelizabetschools.org) to see if you're all set.
Pond Cove Elementary School
- Tiffany Karnes, Principal: tkarnes@capeelizabethschool.org
- Sarah Forrey-Pettit, Assistant Principal: sforreypettit@capeelizabethschools.org
- Like us on Facebook: Pond Cove
- Website: Pond Cove Elementary School