REMINDER:

With only a few weeks remaining this school year, we would like to provide you with an opportunity to complete our school climate survey. This feedback from our families is integral in the district's effort to promote school improvement and educational accountability.

The survey can be found here, and can be submitted for consideration until May 5, 2023.

The survey results will be reviewed by district leadership and the Board of Education in order to help guide our goals for the 2023-2024 school year.

Your time and feedback is greatly appreciated.

REMINDER:

The process of class placement for the upcoming school year is beginning for classroom teachers and specialists. Please know that grade level teams and support staff take the placement process very seriously and class communities are built thoughtfully. Teams work diligently and consider many factors when deciding upon student placement.

Some of the factors considered are:

• Balancing classrooms academically, behaviorally and by gender
• Social partnerships; some enhance learning while others may distract from the learning process
• Understanding each child’s unique needs and our ability to deliver differentiated instruction and support

These decisions are not made in isolation and are always made in the best interest of the student. You are asked to refrain from requesting a specific teacher. If there is a particular situation or learning need regarding placement that you need to share, I ask that you inform me in writing by sending an email to dponte@trumbullps.org by Friday, April 28, 2023.

Remember, this is not to request a particular teacher or student placement with others due to friendships, teachers already take the latter into consideration.

Please note that changes happen over the summer. Sometimes there are students that join or leave Middlebrook. There can also be teacher changes that are unavoidable, therefore in alignment with all the elementary schools in Trumbull we wait until approximately one week before school starts to disseminate class placement lists.

Again, thank you for your understanding.

Next week, we will begin to administer the Smarter Balanced Assessments to our students in grades 3-5. The SBA Assessments will expose students to Common Core English/Language Arts questions and Mathematics problems. In addition to the SBA assessments, our students in grade 5 will be taking the NGSS Science Field Test.

SBA Testing Schedule

Grades 3 - 5

English Lang. Arts

4/25, 4/26

Math

5/2, 5/3 & 5/4

Science Testing - Grades 5

NGSS - Science Field Test

5/9 and 5/10 (if needed)

We hope students will not be absent during the testing period, except for illness, and that they will strive to do their very best.

Students have been working hard all year and have been exposed to test-like items, testing language, vocabulary, and the format of the platform in order to ease anxiety and build familiarity with the assessment.

Here are some ways you can help us from home:

• Make sure your child arrives at school on time. If he or she is late, your child will not be able to enter the classroom until testing is done for the day. A make-up test will be given at another time by one of the specialists so your child will miss classroom instruction.

• Make sure your child has a nutritious breakfast.

• Make sure your child gets plenty of sleep. Children can’t do their best work when they are tired.

• Tell your child to remember past tests where he or she did well and remind your child that he or she can do well again!

• Reassure your child. Let your child know that all you expect is his or her best effort.

If you would like to learn more about the Smarter Balanced assessments, you can log onto: www.smarterbalanced.org.

In addition to the SBA state assessments, we will be administering our district iReady assessments in mid-May to early June.

All the Best,

Ms. Ponte

Ms. Molloy

Once again, our Middlebrook Mathematicians have been showing off their math skills! Our ESTIMATION STATION has received hundreds of entries each week with many students estimating accurately.

Believe it or not, estimation is a KEY skill for adults! We use this often in the world around us:

• ABOUT how many more miles can I drive with the remaining gas in my car?
• ABOUT how much will this home project cost for labor and materials?
• ABOUT how much space will I need in the garden to plant my vegetables?

For children who learn and apply estimation skills regularly, they are able to understand the relative size of numbers and make sense of their calculations. Using a benchmark number is very helpful. In our Estimation Station, we have been showing students a small container of 10, 50, or 100 items. Then students use that benchmark to make their estimates. You can encourage your child to estimate in the world around them in many ways, including using a benchmark number:

• ABOUT how many pieces of pasta/cereal/snack items are in this box?
• ABOUT how many sunflowers are in the field?
• ABOUT how many people can fit in a room?
• ABOUT how much space will this can of paint cover?
• ABOUT how many cucumbers are in the garden?

To close out Math Awareness Month, students will celebrate with a SPIRIT DAY on Friday, April 28th! All students are encouraged to wear a number somewhere on their clothing. Teachers will use these numbers to conduct some fun activities in the classroom.

Lastly, our monthly MATH SCAVENGER HUNT is due by Friday, April 28th to the math room. They are available near the main office or you can print them using the links below.

Grades 3 - 5 Scavenger Hunt Grades K - 2 Scavenger Hunt

Thanks for continuing to support your child’s LOVE of MATH!

During our last official week of recognizing children with marvelous manners, we want to highlight Max Tatroe in grade 2 and Hanna Szcergowicz in grade 4. Max is a friendly young man who has a positive attitude and takes turns with his peers. Hanna is very kind and thoughtful. She thinks of others before herself and shares with others when they are in need. Congratulations to Max and Hanna!

On Tuesday, April 18th, presenters Hope Lang, Ryan Romeo and April Lang, represented Sustainable Trumbull by sharing a presentation entitled, More Trees, Please, with all of the 5th grade students here at Middlebrook.

Sustainable Trumbull and Bartlett Tree Experts are proud to be working together alongside Trumbull Public Schools to educate and show students the importance of planting native trees. In the upcoming weeks, all 5th graders will be going home with a native seedling to plant. Directions will be provided as well as the following links if the presentations sparked interest in your child to discover more ways to support the environment.

https://onetreeplanted.org/

https://www.arborday.org/

https://www.trumbull-ct.gov/888/Sustainable-Trumbull

https://www.trumbull-ct.gov/911/Pollinator-Pathway

Maryam Almoree

Ghada Hassan

Amani Alsheikh Kwaider

Salsabil Mouchali

Tazeen Nomani

Hunan Abdulwahid

Bushra Latif

The PTA would like to thank and many families who donated books for the book drive this year. We collected over 200 books for the school plus 3 boxes for younger children that was passed into TECEC. Many teachers were able to get new books for their classrooms thanks to you.

The PTA would like to thank the following families for contributing to the TREX recycling challenge: Maria Monks, Lauren Palmer, Melissa Roberto, Lauren O’Keefe, Angela Tuason, Nikki Maggie, Kay Roberts, Merrilee GD, Cathleen Dauenhauer, the Cafeteria Staff - Pam and all those who dropped items in the front lobby. The school was able to help recycle 430 lbs of plastic the highest to date. We will keep you posted if we win a bench for our division or the participation prize.

April

Autism Awareness Month
Limb Difference Awareness Month

Math Awareness Month

Saturday, April 22nd

Earth Day
Eid al-Fitr ends at sunset

Tuesday, April 25th and Wednesday, April 26th

Grades 3,4, and 5 Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBA) ELA

Wednesday, April 26th

Administrative Professional's Day

Thursday, April 27th

Orientation for 5th grade parents at Madison and Hillcrest 6:30pm

Friday, April 28th

Arbor Day

School Store

Math Spirit Day

International Festival - see flyer below

National Autism Awareness Month began in 1972 as National Autistic Children’s Week. The Autism Society founded the event to increase awareness, advocate awareness, and spark change in schools, communities, medical facilities, and businesses. There are several celebrities who are highly successful in their fields who are on the autism spectrum, such as Elon Musk, Darryl Hannah, and Jerry Seinfeld.

As a staff, Middlebrook gathered together to celebrate and support the uniqueness of all the children who inhabit the halls of our school.

As an all-volunteer group, the Fathers Club is very flexible and appreciates of all contributions of time and/or services parents can give. Getting involved is easy, fun and a great way to be connected with the children and their school.

For more information on the organization and how you can get involved,

please contact Brayan Murillo.

Email: middlebrookfathersclub@gmail.com

Upcoming meetings

Location: Middlebrook Library

May 18

District K-5 Curriculum Guide Overviews

The Department of Curriculum, Instruction, & Assessments has captured in brochure format the major curriculum outcomes across all subject areas for each primary school grade, from kindergarten through grade 5. Below, please find the link to each grade-level curriculum overview. https://www.trumbullps.org/techlearn/curriculum/k-5-curr-overviews.html

Middlebrook School Hours

Doors open at 8:20 AM

Regular School Hours: 8:35 AM - 3:20 PM

Early Dismissal Hours: 8:35 AM - 1:00 PM

Delayed Opening Hours

Click below to view the Trumbull Public School 2022-23 Calendar