MHS/WES Newsletter
Thursday, December 19, 2019
News from the Principal
Happy Holidays from all of us at MHS and WES. We are truly honored to be a part of such a wonderful and supportive community. We hope that you enjoy the Holidays with your family and look forward to seeing you in 2020!
District Food Policy
The district is the process of writing a new food policy. Until recently, we were one of the few school systems that allowed food to be passed around classrooms from different homes during celebrations. Unfortunately, the prevalence of allergies has made it even more difficult to keep all of our kids safe from food allergies. In an abundance of caution, we are no longer passing out food during classroom celebrations or MCAS testing. This includes candy, gum and other treats. Students are welcome to bring in a treat for themselves, however, it will not be shared with others. During the holidays, many classrooms have shifted the focus of classroom celebrations to crafts and community building activities. There will be special events this school year where food may be present, however, it will be looked at on a case by case basis. We are in the process of developing a permission slip for such special events. Thank you for your help and understanding as we make this district-wide food policy change.
Cafeteria Food and Snacks
At WES, students have the ability to purchase snacks and ice cream at different times throughout the week. To monitor student’s lunch/snack spending, we suggest you sign up for a Chartwell’s account using “My School Bucks.” You do not need to put money on your child’s account via this website to monitor what your child purchases. You may also put restrictions on your child’s lunch account by using the “My School Bucks” account or by contacting the WES cafeteria directly at 978-874-2043.
https://www.myschoolbucks.com/ver2/login/getmain?requestAction=home
Kindergarten Social/Health Special News
Our Social/Health class with kindergarten has come to an end. Starting January 2nd, Mrs. Foster's kindergarten class will split up to join the other kindergarten classes for special subject time and Friday will be a rotating schedule similar to grades 1-5. With MCAS testing looming in our future and other school needs upon us, scheduling this special class has become increasingly challenging.
Mrs. Pinkes, Mrs. Kosciak, Mrs. Ayles and myself have thoroughly enjoyed our special time with kindergarten. It has really allowed us to get to know your children and hopefully helped them to feel more comfortable with our presence in school. We will continue to visit classrooms often throughout the remainder of the year and will occasionally schedule additional lessons.
WES Holiday Concert
WES Band
WES Chorus
Kindergarten Sing-A-Long
Dates to Remember
- December 23-January 1~ No School~December Vacation
- January 2~ Classes Resume
- January 15~ MHS/WES PTO meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the WES Library
- January 20~ No School, Martin Luther King Jr. Day
- January 27~ Noon Dismissal, Staff Development
- Jan. 30th ~ MHS/WES School Improvement Council at 4:15 p.m. in the WES office
Tips from our Guidance Counselors
Westminster and Meetinghouse Elementary Schools
Counseling Corner
December 2019
Holiday Stress Relief
Although this time of year can be filled with joy and anticipation, it can also be chaotic and stressful. Take care of yourself and your child with these helpful tips.
Acknowledge Stress: Recognize that this time of year can create a feeling of overwhelm and stress. It can even be a painful time for those children who are coping with a major life change or loss of any sort. Take time to listen to your child’s perspective on the holidays. Help them identify their emotions and validate their feelings. Sometimes this can be an eye opening activity for adults as well.
Positive Self Talk: We all talk to ourselves (out loud or in our mind). Self-talk can be positive (“Things will work out”) or negative (“I’m so stupid”). Negative self-talk increases stress while positive self-talk helps us calm down and reduce stress. Kids will absorb your self-talk and this may be a great opportunity to teach them a positive attitude toward life’s daily challenges. It also helps to avoid those people you feel are constantly expressing negative self-talk.
Finding Joy: Try to do at least one thing you enjoy every day for 15 minutes. This could be a craft, reading, socializing with a friend, listening to music, etc. Give your kids a small break from homework and other obligations as well.
Daily Relaxation: Relaxation is more than sitting in your favorite chair watching TV. To relieve stress, relaxation should calm the tension in your mind and body. Some popular and good forms of relaxation are yoga, mindfulness, deep slow breathing, and meditation -- all which can be practiced at home.
Learn to Say No: Despite best intentions none of us can be everywhere at once. Don’t over commit yourself or your child. Choose the most important events and if there are scheduling conflicts make a note to switch it up for next year.
Stay Healthy: We’ve all heard it so many times yet still need the reminder to exercise daily, eat a balanced meal, and get enough sleep. This holds especially true for our children with cold weather and lots of treats at every event it’s not hard to see why meltdowns also increase this time of year.
For links to other useful mental health resources or to reach Danielle Pinkes or Alex Hogan Kosciak check out our Guidance tab on the school website
2nd Grade News
Our second graders have been practicing their writing skills through many Christmas writing activities. The hallways are decorated with such topics as “All About Reindeer,” “Elf Applications,” “Santa’s Stuck,” and “The Adventures of the Gingerbread Man.”
We have kicked off our Geometry unit by identifying two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes. The children have practiced drawing the shapes and finding them in real-world places! They will learn the many attributes of these shapes, including lines, faces and vertices. Be sure and ask your child what they know!
Additionally, the children are looking forward to our annual Polar Express Day on Thursday. This is a special day in which we enjoy “The Polar Express” book and movie, dressed in our cozy jammies!
Fifth Grade News
Awesome job to all our fifth grade students who participated in the Holiday Concerts, in both shows, at WES for students, and at night for families! It is awesome to see all the hard work pay off in your performances! What a great way to get into the holiday spirit!
Fifth grade students and teachers are gearing up for the Second Annual Staff vs. Fifth Graders Basketball Game on Friday! Rumor has it that the teachers have been practicing after school and are ready for the challenge! Students will either play or cheer on the teams as a fun way to wrap up the 2019 year!
For extra credit this winter break, we challenge each and every one of you to take a few moments to slow down, maybe put that device down, and really appreciate and enjoy the family and friends around you during this magical time of year!
The Fifth Grade Team would like to wish all families a very restful, healthy and enjoyable winter break with your families. We look forward to seeing all students return to us in 2020 ready to grow and learn some more! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
WES & MHS Technology/Engineering News with Mrs. Breen
Ahh… December. The favorite month of many. The smell of freshly baked gingerbread cookies is filling the air. Festive lights and decorations are making the atmosphere joyful and merry. Laughter and technology projects are filling our hearts in the technology/engineering room at both WES & MHS.
We have had one crazy month with project-based learning in all of the grades, however we have also started to learn about “mindful minutes” too. I am hoping that your child(ern) have brought this home and shared with you, however if they didn’t then here is some information about mindful minutes:
The goal of mindfulness is to train your mind to observe your thoughts and feelings, which is needed at this time of year. In this, you can cut negative thought patterns, develop focus - both mentally and physically - and increase in fine tuning learning behaviors that can lead itself to more successful practices within an atmosphere, including the classroom.
I have spent many years learning about the benefits that mindful minutes have on oneself and have decided to incorporate it into my classroom as well. During each class, the students and I spend 1 minute performing a mindful minute. This is to help develop focus and calm us before we jump into our lessons. Even after one week, I have seen a huge difference in the students learning and conversations during our collaborative learning.
What We Are Learning By Grade
5th Grade
The 5th grades have just finished their instrument inventions. This is where the student can either recreate an existing instrument or completely invent a brand new instrument.
During this lesson, the students use recyclable materials, masking & duct tape, hot glue, etc to create a 3D instrument. After the creations have been made, we then use conductive aluminum tape for keys on our instruments. The conductive tape is partnered with a device called a Makey Makey that tricks the computer into thinking that the up, down, left, right arrows, including the spacebar in being selected on the keyboard. We go further with using the online software of www.scratch.mit.edu to create animations and code on our computers to play sounds and notes. After the code is complete and tested, we then perform, connecting our instruments to the computer and playing beautiful pieces of music together.
Note: these instruments have started to come home, so keep a look out for them.
4th Grade
In 4th grade, we have been studying about rocks and minerals from Massachusetts, including learning about the rock cycle and the many different rock families.
During this lesson, the students will select a rock or mineral from MA and research where it can be found, who first discovered it, what type of rock it is, and 3 facts about the rock.
We then use this material in making an infographic - aka poster - about our rock or minerals. The students will learn about graphic arts - color design, placement, gradient variations, rules about copywriting laws, picture placement, border design, font, and so much more.
After this project is completed, the students will then make their own digital magazine that can be shared with friends and family. Here is last year’s magazine https://pubsecure.lucidpress.com/7ea63641-50a5-488a-b643-5fd7ff6ae8c8/
3rd Grade
In 3rd grade, we just finished up our Healthy Plate unit.
In this unit, the students learned about about graphic design and healthy eating. We began with learning about what it takes to eat healthy, including the consumption of water and portion control. We used what we learned to create a multiple layered graphics. The students learned about shape insertion, theme selection, image selection, resizing, word art, color design, font and visual placement. When they are completed, then the students can print them and bring them home, so keep a lookout.
2nd Grade
Story sequencing, sentence structure, capitalization, text insertion, mouse skills, saving & retrieving documents on a network, keyboarding,and digital art are all standards that the second graders learn during their first big project in technology.
During this unit, the second grade develop a story sequence map that they will then recreate in a digital format on the computer. The project consists of 4 pages, a title page, the beginning, the middle, and the end of a moment in their life that they have spent with their friends or family. Unfortunately, you will need to wait on the release of this project until the night of 2nd grade showcase, as this will be included in their 2nd grade magazine.
1st Grade
You might have seen their technology projects come home, but these projects are not just pictures of things taken within the technology room, but works of educational art.
During this lesson, we learned about the difference between 2D & 3D shapes, geometry, photography, collages, digital design and layers, text insertion, typing, spell checking, picture placement & adjustment, and touch screen manipulation. The students learned all about problem solving skills and increasing their critical thinking with this project, so hang it on the frig with pride.
Kindergarten
We have just started a new project in Kindergarten this week, which involves the use of the app named PuppetPals and reading.
During this project, the students will learn about complete sentences, reading, writing, and animation. The students will be able to create an animation that will involve a character, background, and selected items that can be added to make their projects as unique as they are. During our animation creations, the students will include recording their own voices with selected Kindergarten level sentences that will reinforce their dictation, reading and editing skills.
As many students have some type of tablet or may possibly be getting one during our winter break, may I suggest some amazing learning apps that can keep their minds learning until they come back to school.
Also, students can also access my website by going to the school’s website, selecting student links and resources, Mrs. Breen’s Technology Website or by using this link: https://sites.google.com/awrsd.org/wes-technology-class/home There are many learning activities and games for all students.
Ally Law-Nurse Leader
Donations Needed
The nurse's office at Meetinghouse School could use any donations of newly packaged underwear for boys and girls and socks. And at both schools we also need boxes of tissues.If you are able to donate these items you can give them to Ally Law in the nurse's office at MHS or Jessica Heffernan in the nurse's office at WES. Thank you in advance for your generosity.
Have a wonderful Holiday and a Happy New Year!!
Preschool Information for school year 2020-2021
Ashburnham and Westminster preschool children who will reach age 3 by Aug. 31, 2020 are eligible to attend Learning Tree Preschool, the school district’s public integrated preschool. A limited number of children are selected as peers through a lottery conducted in March for enrollment in September. For more info about the Learning Tree Preschool and/or to place your child on the list of potential students, call the Ashburnham-Westminster CFCE at 978.874.0163. Registration deadline is February 14, 2020. Contact the Special Ed. Dept. at 978.827.3062 if you suspect your 3 or 4 year old child has a disability.