Dolphin News
Francis A. Desmares School - January 2024
A Note From Mr. Masessa and Mrs. Custy
Dear Desmares Families,
We hope the start of 2024 has been a healthy one for you and your family! It was an exciting week prior to the end of the 2023 year, with many fun classroom celebrations, and our Sing-a-Long All School Meeting hosted by Mrs. Thompson’s class and Mrs. Kiesling. We thank all of you for volunteering and visiting the classrooms to be with our students. The first few months of the year are a time when we see consistency in our school calendar with full days of school and relatively few days off from school. Let’s hope the weather continues to cooperate! Our teachers are preparing their schedules to conduct benchmark assessments using the Fountas and Pinnell assessments and the NWEA MAP Winter Benchmark assessments, which will take place beginning on Tuesday, January 16th. All students will be participating in these assessments. The results will be compared to the Fall assessment data to determine student growth and areas of instructional focus that teachers can adjust to meet the needs of students to help them achieve state standards. Please remind your child to take their time with the assessments and do their best.
At Desmares School, we celebrated the Grand Opening to our new STEM Lab on Wednesday, January 3rd. We are very excited to be the first elementary school with a STEM Lab! Through the efforts of Mrs. Attiyah, Mr. Losanno, Technology Supervisor, and generous grant funding from the Oak Ridge Institute for Science Education and Burlington, our students now have access to engineering software, sensory walls, 3D printers, and additional laptop devices. Mrs. Attiyah is scheduling classes now, so ask your child about their day to hear more about their experiences in the new lab. Check out the photo gallery below!
The curriculum office has shared an invitation to all Grade 3 and 4 students for the HIGH IMPACT TUTORING program. This program is available to ALL THIRD AND FOURTH GRADE STUDENTS, so if you are interested in having your child receive additional academic support afterschool, please click here to read the letter and request tutoring support for your child. Based on the level of interest, we may need to create tiers of students, but more information will be made available once we receive responses.
As we begin the New Year, we would like all parents to know that we take all unkind or mean behaviors and actions seriously. With that said, we encourage all parents to revisit the district website HIB resources to fully understand what is or is not Bullying. As a school, we foster a community where students need to respect one another, but we know there will be times when children will not. If your child experiences a situation in school or on the bus where another student(s) is not being respectful, please contact Mr. Masessa or Mrs. Custy so we can resolve the issue in a timely fashion. While all parents have the right to complete a HIB referral form, we feel more education and understanding are needed to help parents decipher the criteria that needs to be met under the NJDOE HIB Law. Please contact us if you have any questions or if you would like clarification.
All the best for the start of a prosperous 2024!
~ Mr. Masessa and Mrs. Custy
Desmares STEM Lab Opening Celebration
School Counseling Corner
Happy New Year! The character traits for January are diligence and perseverance. Diligence means working carefully and with a lot of effort. Perseverance means continuing to try to do something even though it's difficult.
Diligence and perseverance are two character traits that go together. Here are some books to help explain the meaning of diligence and perseverance:
Perseverance Makes Me Stronger
~ Mrs. Moncada & Mrs. Monks
Library News
Happy New Year! With a new year comes a time to set up new reading goals. Encouraging your child to read daily is a great, lifelong habit that they can start building now. If you would like any reading recommendations, please email me (samantha.gale@frsd.us) or check out the new FAD Library webpage! Other websites such as Brightly, the Hunterdon County Library or Sora (students can use their school Google login information to access this).
Happy reading!
~ Mrs. Gale
Reading and Writing Family Calendar
News from the Desmares Health Office
Cold Weather is Here! Please ensure that your child is prepared to go outside for recess, breaks, and physical education. Children should come dressed for outside play every day. Please remember to send your children to school with a coat, hat, and gloves!
Attendance
Important Dates
- January 15 - NO SCHOOL - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
- January 23 - EARLY DISMISSAL for all students
- January 24 - Winter Concert - 2:30 pm School Concert and XXX pm Evening Concert
HELPFUL LINKS
Francis A. Desmares Elementary School
Nurse's Office - Mrs. Sellers: 908-284-7545
School Counselor - Mrs. Monks: 908-284-7542
Bilingual School Counselor - Mrs. Moncada: 908-284-7553
Email: firstname.lastname@frsd.us
Website: https://www.frsd.k12.nj.us/Domain/284
Location: 16 Old Clinton Road, Flemington, NJ, USA
Phone: 908-284-7540
Twitter: @desmaresschool