Happy Vacation Week!

Happy THURSDAY!

It is absolutely amazing to me that when we get back from the spring vacation, we will have 38 more school days left of this year. This year seems to have absolutely flown by! Where did the time go? Does anyone else feel the same way? I am still trying to get over the shock of registering my own daughter for Kindergarten and my son for driver's ed!

We will be completing our peanut butter, granola bar and hard candy collection when we get back from vacation and Mrs. Larkin will be starting her Band-Aid and sticker brigade to help Hasbro put smiles on the faces of children in their care. Thank you to everyone for participating and encouraging your children to help others, it makes a big difference.

As we turn the corner, it will be time to consider springtime safety. A reminder that flip-flops and dressy "heeled" shoes are not permitted. Wearing secure fitting shoes (no open backs) will help prevent falls and injuries at school. Also, playground equipment does get very hot, students should not be wearing short shorts, mini-skirts or tops revealing the midriff or spaghetti straps. Thank  you so much for your help in preventing falls and injuries at school. The safety of children is our top priority!

Save the date for our upcoming Art/Music night on May 12th. Mrs. Ray is looking for a couple of parent volunteers to help her hang the art work on Monday, May 12th. If you are available to help her, please contact Mrs. Ray directly at amie_ray@ewg.k12.ri.us

Are you looking for a few ideas for next week for a "Staycation"? Check out the Providence Children's Museum and the events calendar for some spectacular ways to spend time with your children. http://www.childrenmuseum.org/calendar.asp

On Wednesday of this week, I had the opportunity to do an activity that I read about in a new book I am reading: Bullying Hurts/ Teaching Kindness Through Read Alouds and Guided Conversations by Lester Laminack and Reba Wadsworth

Students listed to the author Mem Fox read the book "Whoever you are"

 http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=wherever+you+are++mem+fox+youtube&FORM=VIRE1&adlt=strict#view=detail&mid=46739C34F957E2C10A8246739C34F957E2C10A82

This was the backdrop for a great discussion on how alike we all are in so many ways. The story emphasized how we all smile the same and laugh the same...no matter where in the world we are. Students then had the opportunity to design bumper stickers with a partner with a message they want the "whole world" to see as a result of the story they heard.  They were really engaged during this activity laying the foundation for acceptance and empathy. Here are a few examples:

We hope you got the notice about the Earth Day Recycle Museum. We are looking forward to seeing your creations when you return from vacation! Remember this is an optional family activity. Participation is not required, it is just for fun:)

We will be celebrating Earth Day here on April 30 with a special presentation by the Toe Jam Puppet Band! We are so excited to have them coming here to our school!!! http://www.toejampuppetband.com/

Finally, wishing you all a vacation week filled with joy and happiness. We will miss all of you and look forward to the return and the last 38 days of the year!!!

Respectfully,
Melissa Marino

Good Afternoon,

An important reminder that the EXETER-WEST GREENWICH REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT ALL-DAY REFERENDUM 2014 - 2015 FOR THE

SCHOOL OPERATIONS BUDGET WILL TAKE PLACE ON MONDAY,

APRIL 14, 2014 FROM 7:00 A.M. TO 8 P.M.  

EXETER VOTERS VOTE AT EXETER TOWN HALL 675 TEN ROD ROAD  

WEST GREENWICH VOTERS VOTE AT WEST GREENWICH TOWN HALL

280 VICTORY HIGHWAY WEST GREENWICH

Please consider bringing a canned good to donate to the local food pantry.

Please see the following information about the upcoming Common Core Informational Session:

The Exeter/West Greenwich Regional School District invites you to an informational session sponsored by the Rhode Island Department of Education in partnership with PCG Education about the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Please join us to learn more about how EWG is helping students to succeed.

Purpose of Event:

The Exeter/West Greenwich Regional School District would like

to help parents and the community to understand what the CCSS

are and what they mean for our students and our classrooms.

When: Tuesday, April 15th, 7:00-8:15 PM

Where: Exeter/West Greenwich Senior High School Reading Celebration

We are very excited about the generous donations of Peanut Butter, Hard Candy and Coffee. We will continue to collect these items until the end of the month of April. This will be our final collection for the year. Thank you to all of you who have donated.

Check out this wonderful article that of course I discovered through Twitter!

How to raise happy #kids, according to science: nature.ly/PTRPnU

I hope you will find it interesting! Lots of great thoughts!

See the note from Sue Curry, our school psychologist, she is planning to offer a parent workshop but would like your feedback on topics. I will attach her form to the email version of this blog for your consideration. Please send your form back to the main office and we will be sure she gets your responses.

I just want to give a shout out to the administrative assistants in the office. Patty and Karen are truly the secret ingredient to our well-oiled machine. They would simply do anything to make sure our students are safe and cared for. They have their own fan club who stop by daily to find out if they will be outside at recess time. They make so many things happen behind the scenes….. Administrative Professionals Day is “scheduled” for the Wednesday during vacation so I wanted to thank them, blog style, so you all know how important they are to Wawaloam (although you probably already knew!).

Enjoy the weekend and the signs of spring! Take a minute to notice the crocus buds and the daffodils! There are Spring events everywhere! I am hoping to get to the Zoo on Sunday!!

Respectfully,

Melissa Marino

Greetings!

Our Reading Celebration is off to a great start. It has been amazing to see all of the unique and creative ways students are sharing the joy of READING! We have already had quite a few BINGO cards submitted to the office. We are looking forward to seeing how many students will earn Free Popcorn to celebrate their tremendous efforts! Keep up the great ideas, we can’t wait to see what next week brings! There is so much creativity around hereJ

I hope everyone is considering what they might create for the Earth Day Recycle Projects. Save those items that look like they could be transformed! We will send notice about these projects home next week. We hope you enjoy these family projects as much as we do!!

Thank you for the donations of Peanut Butter, Hard Candy and Granola Bars! Our bins are filling up quickly!! This collection will continue throughout the month of April. The Peanut Butter will go to our local food banks and the Granola Bars and Hard Candy will be shipped to those serving our Country.

We are very excited about our new blog format! The number of views is increasing with each passing week! We hope you feel well informed. We try to share little tidbits that help you feel connected to what is happening here. We are busy bees!!

I also want to let you know that I pass a lot of information along through Twitter in case you are interested. I am @MelissaMarino9 if you search for me. There is a mix of what teachers might want to peruse and resources for families. This has been an outstanding resource! To sign up for an account you simply go to Twitter.com to make an account and it is free. I find it to be an express version of having access to resources.

Have a fun time if you are planning to go to the Boys Choice event this weekend! Nothing can possibly compare to a bunch of boys at a bowling alley!

Another reminder, Spring Picture Day will be held here on Wednesday, April 9.

Thank you so much for your help with the toy population. We all agree that this has made SUCH a difference. We have restocked our recess shed with brand new jump ropes, balls, bubbles, Velcro games, foam discs and more….there should be plenty to do without items from home. We really appreciate your support and understanding.

This week, we distributed T-Shirts that were created especially for our school from the Feinstein Foundation to students in grades 1 and 2. We will get them to Kindergarten next week. During our Wednesday meeting, we talked about ways to show kindness since we were going to be receiving these shirts. Each student also was given a BLANK Thank you card and asked to write a thank you note to anyone they wanted thanking them for something they did that made a difference….so far, I have had teachers and students happy to have received a note of thanks this week. Did any make it home? I am curious! You can respond right to this blog if you would like!

I encourage you to consider attending the Common Core State Standards Information Session sponsored by the RI Department of Education in Partnership with PCG education.  The purpose of the session is to help parents and community members understand what the Common Core State Standards are and what they mean for our students and our classrooms. This will be held on Tuesday, April 15, 2014 in the EWG Senior High Auditorium from 7:00-8:15. For more information, you may contact our Director of Curriculum, Dr. Marie Ahern at 397-5125 ext. 12. You can also learn more about this transition at www.ride.ri.gov/Transition-CCSS

A message from Mrs. Ray:

Dear Parents,

 I was able to buy clay with the profit we made from your Artsonia purchases! A great big thank you!  First grade will be using cloud clay so the mess is minimal.

Second grade will be using air dry clay. We have to paint it with acrylic paints which are permanent if it gets on clothing. Please remind your second graders to "dress for a mess" on art day.

Art work makes great mothers and Father's Day presents so don't forget to visit artsonia again: www.artsonia.com  Thanks for your continued support.

Mrs. Ray

Have a great weekend! Hope to see you at the PTA meeting on Thursday at 6:30 at Wawaloam. You can come even if you have never been to a PTA meeting, the more the merrier and they are serious about snacks!!!

Sincerely,

Melissa Marino

 

We decided to bring some signs of Spring into our hallway this week!