Newton School
September / October
Greetings from Newton School,
It has been a fast start to the school year with many great ideas coming to life. Our first All School Meeting is on September 28th at 8:30. We hope everyone will come and share in our Fall Celebration hosted by the fabulous fourth grade. The Newton family gives thanks every day for community support. Many thanks for all the donations of school supplies and classroom items.
Upcoming Events
September 18th I Am UnAfraid Assembly by Dr. Jay Banks
This school assembly promotes anti-bullying while teaching children strategies to handle situations that happen in real life.
September 20th Picture Day
Picture Day is earlier this year to make sure families get their pictures for the holidays.
September 24, 25, 26 Kindergarten Goes Apple Picking
September 28th All School Meeting 8:30 in the Gym
October 1-4 Scholastic Book Fair
October 8th No School
October 9th Math Mania Family Night 5-6 pm
Come join us to play fun math games and celebrate math!
October 19th All School Meeting 8:30 in the Gym
October 25-26 Half Days
Students are dismissed at 11:55 on each half day.
October 25th Open House 5-6 p.m.
October 31 Camfel Multi-Media Assembly Count on Me
This assembly uses popular music and media to bring character education alive. Children will leave the assembly with a strong message that promotes community kindness and respect.
October 31 Fall Parade 2:00 p.m.
*School Safety*
Please help us make our school safe.
All visitors must report to the Newton Office. Visitors may not go down to classrooms without an escort.
Arrivals and Departures at Newton School
A child who arrives after 8:05 is late to school. We actually have to report this data to the state. Schools are judged on their tardiness and absences.
The Newton loop in front of our stairs is one way.
Do not pass a bus loading or unloading children. It is against the law.
We know many parents want to pick up their children at the end of the day. We need to focus on the safety of 250 students during dismissal. Our doors will be closed to parents for pick up after 3:25. If you want to pick up your child at the end of the day it needs to be before 3:25.
All parents need to wait outside for pick up at the end of the day.
If you give us a call we can have a child waiting for early dismissal.
Dismissal is at 3:45. It is an expectation that your child is picked up by this time. If you are having difficulties getting to our school we recommend you enroll your child in an after school program. Transportation to the YMCA, Girls Club, and GRASP (Recreation Department) are available from Newton School.Kindergarten Team
During September the youngest students at Newton School learned the names of their new friends as well as important classroom rules and routines. The children were excited to go to Apex Apple Orchard to pick apples and pumpkins.
The familiarity of Nursery Rhymes offers a great way to begin our year together in Kindergarten. Nursery Rhymes provide an opportunity for us to discuss spatial concepts (in, on, over, beside) while we also enjoy the rhythm and rhyme of the verses. These early experiences with phonological awareness (hearing sounds in language) will be valuable resources as we learn to read and write.
The Kindergartners are now becoming more comfortable with their new school environment and each other. In October we will begin to explore our many unique differences. Songs like “I Am Special” and the book, We Are All Alike…We Are All Different will help us to understand and appreciate the diversity in our classrooms as we grow into a supportive community of learners.
First Grade Families,
First grade is off to a terrific start this year! The beginning of school has been spent getting to know each other, getting to know our new classrooms, making new friends, learning our daily schedule, and creating/learning our classroom rules. Be Safe. Be Kind. Be Respectful- is our school motto!
Our Playworks program is off to a great start! Hopefully your children have shared some of the games they have been learning such as Four Square and Switch. Part of Playworks also incorporates celebratory claps. It’s been fun doing the Looking Good Clap, Woosh Clap, Fireworks Clap, Pop the Bubble Clap, and even the Spiderman Clap! They are fun to give and receive- so make sure your child shares what they’ve learned!
At the start of the school year, we have been practicing handwriting, basic sight words, counting, skip counting, calendar work, and Lexia. We have also have enjoyed learning about the butterfly life cycle while enjoying some fun butterfly crafts for our first science unit.
Thank you for your donations to our classroom. We can never have too many Clorox wipes, tissues, and glue sticks! If you have not yet returned your paperwork for the office, please do so promptly. Thank you!
We hope you have been enjoying the opportunity to read with/to your child each night. Please remember to record your reading fun on your child’s reading log.
Sincerely,
Ms. Hayes, Ms. Warren, Mrs. Brown
Greetings SUPER Second Grade Families!
What an excellent kick off to our 2nd grade year! Mrs. Palermo and Ms. Witherell are big into Whole Brain Teaching and have started this year by introducing some routines and rituals that are related.
WHOLE BRAIN THINGS YOU MIGHT HEAR:
-Scoreboard
-Super Improvers
-Class, Yes
-Teach, Okay
-Mirror, Words
-Classroom Rules
We're excited to pilot some new curriculum this year including Wit and Wisdom for reading and Eureka Math for math. Ms. Witherell had the joy of piloting these last year in 4th and has raved about the kind of readers and mathematicians they produce. We're so excited to launch with Wild About Books.
Our classes have been enjoying some yoga and meditation time as well, which are both practices we believe help build great learners.
We do not send home reading logs in either homeroom. We hope every student will read for 30 minutes each evening and take pleasure and enjoyment in the skill of reading.
Playworks kicked off with Miss Galipault and Mr. Munson, along with Miss Rickets helping to facilitate different safe and fun options outside.
PLAYWORKS THINGS YOU MIGHT HEAR:
-Structure
-Band-Aid Tag
-Shipwreck
-Who Rocks, Who Rocks Who Rocks?!
-Rock It Out!
Our classes do mix during specials time and the students are enjoying getting to meet our specialists and make new friends.
Our 2nd-grade team encourages families to practice basic math facts each night as students continue to need support with these.
We look forward to seeing you for conferences and Open House soon, our class families have so much goodness to share!
Peace, laughter, and lots of learning,
Mrs. Palermo & Ms. Witherell
Hello Third Grade Families,
We’re having a great beginning of the year in third grade! Students are starting to learn the rigorous third grade academic and behavioral standards and expectations. We have begun reviewing place value in math and have started our first unit in Reading Street which is about working together and learning new things. In science we have begun exploring severe weather, including thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, and blizzards.
The third grade homework expectation is to read for at least 20 minutes and practice math facts for at least 10 minutes every night.
All the best,
Mrs. Gutierrez, Ms. Lively & Ms. Skiff
Happy start to the school year 4th grade families!
It has been quite a pleasure getting to know your students. In these first weeks of school we have been reacquainting ourselves with what it means to be back in school. Routines are being practiced, group norms established, and we continue to learn about each other. Your student will be reading and exploring “Thank You, Mr. Falker" to answer the question “How does reading build knowledge?”. Fourth graders will be saying “Eureka!” as they manipulate place value and large numbers in math. Robots will be built and programmed, Playworks will be played, swimming will be learned, and some great books will be read as we launch the school year.
Welcome Back from the 4th grade team!
Mr. Stone
Ms. Cummings
Mrs. Lagoy
School Adjustment Counselor
Welcome to another exciting year at Newton School! I hope you and your family had an enjoyable summer. My name is Katie Irizarry, and I am the School Adjustment Counselor at Newton School. As the school counselor, I am here to assist Newton students and their families with a variety of concerns. My role is to be the link between the home, school and community to help improve the educational opportunity and potential of every student. I provide individual and group counseling to students at Newton School as well as refer families to appropriate community resources as needed. Please feel free to contact me Monday through Friday at 772-1370 if you have any questions or want to touch base about your child.
In addition, these are some tips from teachers and the U.S. Department of Education to help support your child’s success in school this year.
✔ Set high expectations for your child.
✔ Make sure your child is in school every day and on time. Attendance matters!
✔ Work collaboratively with your child’s teachers and talk to them about goals and expectations for your child.
✔ Talk to your child each day about what he or she is doing in school and discuss what he or she learned.
✔ Encourage your child to complete assignments, and see that she or he finishes them.
✔ Attend parent-teacher conferences.
✔ Participate in family engagement and volunteer opportunities.
✔ Meet other parents and caregivers at Newton, join the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) and visit › http://newtonpto.weebly.com
Here are some additional resources to help you help your child:
✔ For age-appropriate guides to supplement this checklist, visit › http://www.ed.gov/family-and-communityengagement
✔ If your child is behind or needs extra help, seek out reading and other academic assistance at libraries, neighborhood churches, academic sororities and fraternities, organizations such as your local National Urban League, 100 Black Men, YMCA and YWCA, Mocha Moms, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, and area high school and college students who serve as tutors and mentors.
✔ If your child is being bullied or having issues with discipline, visit › http://www.stopbullying.gov and http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/school-discipline/index.html
✔ For information about exercise and nutrition, visit › www.nutrition.gov
✔ If your child has a delay or disability, check out the Parent Training and Information Centers at › http://www.parentcenterhub.org
✔ If English is not your home language, visit › http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oela/index.html
✔ If you and your child face homelessness, visit › http://homeless.samhsa.gov/
Nurse Paulin
Welcome back Newton students and families! We are all excited for the new school year to begin, and hoping it’s a healthy one for you and your family. There are a few reminders from the health office that I wanted to share with you.
Health Concerns: If your child has a severe allergy, recent surgery or any new health problems please contact me to discuss so I can help provide the best care for them during school. Please return student health forms if you have not done so already.
Medications: If your child needs medication to be administered during school hours, a doctor’s order and signed parental permission is required before in school administration to take place. Please have all parental permission forms and doctors’ orders sent to school. Please contact me if you need a form or have any questions regarding medication administration in school. As a reminder students are not allowed to carry medication in school. All medications need to be brought to the school by an adult and in original bottle. Medications will be secured in the health office.
Physicals and Immunizations: Reminder letters are being sent home for students who have not provided documentation of completed immunizations or physical exams that are required for entrance to school. All documentation needs to be sent to school on or before October 16, 2018. Students entering Kindergarten and Grade 4 are required to have a physical exam. All required immunizations for entrance to kindergarten should have been completed.
I hope that we have a happy and healthy school year at Newton School. I look forward to seeing all the returning students and meeting those who are new to our school. Please feel free to call me with any questions you may have.
Jennifer Paulin RN
772-1370 ext 109
READING REMINDERS:
“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales.”
-Einstein
Welcome to a new school year, families!
The reading teachers join all of the Newton School staff in welcoming students and families to the 2018-19 school year. We are happy to be working with your students this year to reinforce their blossoming reading skills. Please take a few minutes and think about sharing some quiet reading time with your students each day. We encourage all of our students to spend at least 20 minutes each night reading. Add to the enjoyment of reading by sharing this time with your child in a bonding experience. Encourage their reading by modeling fluency, reading to them, or taking turns reading. Every minute children read will help them become better all-around students. Reading impacts every aspect of their school day.
Thank you for being our partners in your child’s future. Happy Reading☺
Your Title 1 Reading Teachers,
Ms. Weissman and Ms. Sherry
From The Music Room
My welcome into the Newton School community has been amazing. I looking forward to meeting eveyone as they rotate through art, music, and PE.
The start of the year in the music room has been filled with chanting, playing collaborative group music games, improvising movements to Classical music recordings, playing percussion instruments, listening to folk songtales I sing for them (often with projected picture book illustrations), and of course a lot of singing! The songs and chants are building a common repertoire for the students and me to utilize throughout their time at Newton School as they develop their personal musical literacy skills through multiple modes of learning, such as aural/oral (singing/speaking and hearing), visual (reading and writing), and kinesthetic (fine and gross motor movements). The lyrics of the songs and chants also provide us with opportunities to briefly explore topics from across the school curriculum.
As your child has music, as them about some of the songs and chants they are learning and hearing. The songtales I have sung include: Over in the Meadow, There was a Man and He was Mad, Jenny Jenkins, Polly Wolly Doodle, Rattlin' Bog, and The Tailor and the Mouse. Some favorite songs the students have been singing include: Kindergarten: I Roll the Ball, First/Second Grades: Lucy Locket, and Third/Fourth Grades: Great Big House in New Orleans.
Musically Yours,
Mr. Williams