Wawaloam School- The Place to "Bee"!!!

Dear Wawaloam School Community,

Another fabulous week at Wawaloam School!! Fabulous......but bustling with activity! One week ago, we had Mr. Bill Plumley here working with our Technology Department to get our Enoboards (Smartboards) off of the trucks, these gentlemen have not stopped for one second over the course of this week!

Once all of the equipment was here, they worked tirelessly to get our computer lab up and running with 22 computers. In my opinion, they have moved mountains!! !We had to track down the right furniture, make sure we had the power and connections where needed and then proceeded to begin our first diagnostic online math assessment with our Grade 2 students. While it is not perfect and we are nowhere near finished with any of these projects......we are in a much different place than we were just one week ago!! If you would like to send a quick note of kudos to Mr. Plumley or Mr. Jeff Bain, you can reach them at:
bill_plumley@ewg.k12.ri.us   and  jeffrey_bain@ewg.k12.ri.us

I can not tell you how exciting it is to walk into the classrooms to see teachers using this new technology! I am sharing a picture of Isabelle P.'s tower that she worked on in Science today
and on the BRAND NEW ENOBOARD you can see the question projected to our budding scientists-
"What properties are useful for engineers to construct the tallest tower?" I am excited for our students to have access to this amazing resource!

  

Switching gears a little bit, I want to tell you about the book I am using right now with the students during our Weekly Meeting. I have not shared with Kindergarten yet but plan on it next week. I was inspired once again by the book Bullying Hurts/Teaching Kindness Through Read Alouds and Guided Conversation by Lester Laminack and Reba Wadsworth

The book is called The Pirate of Kindergarten by George Ella Lyon. The book touches upon the differences of one little girl who finds herself bumping in to chairs and we learn that she has double vision. After a screening with the school nurse and a visit to the eye doctor, she is empowered when she learns that this can be corrected with an eye patch. We were able to have a conversation about what we can learn from Ginny's experience and how some people helped her while others laughed. Again, it gave us the chance to talk about the importance of kindness, friendship and empathy. I would love to know if any of your children tell you about our time together. 

I am also sharing a resource I came across for parents and families that gives some great ideas for exploring creativity together as a family. This is the link if you are interested:

http://www.naesp.org/sites/default/files/RtP_Creativity.pdf

I will end this week by adding this quick photo....which may be a little bit blurry because these Kindergarten friends were skipping down the hall this morning to bring attendance to the office. This is what we see around here most often....these are the sights that we cherish and I just wanted to freeze that moment and share it with you. 

Enjoy the weekend, 

Melissa Marino

We are busy bees!

Week of September 15, 2014

Good Afternoon,

Congratulations! We made it through the first, full five day week of school. Did it feel longer for anyone? I did notice a few extra yawns today :)

Thank you to all Kindergarten families who attended our Open House this week. We were thrilled with the turn out and I am sure you gained valuable insight from the Kindergarten teachers on the expectations for the year. We are so happy to have our Kindergarteners here for the WHOLE day!
Thank you again  this week to the PTA board for their welcoming reception at the entrance to our school and for helping families complete background checks and "sign-ups" for PTA memberships.

Also, I know there have been a few questions about dropping off AFTER the allotted time for parents, which is 8:25-8:35. We simply have to wait until all 5 busses have dropped off children and left before we will be crossing students in our crosswalk. Please wait in your vehicle until we are clear of busses rather than waiting where the flagpole is at the beginning of the crosswalk. We cannot have children "playing" in that area and we really appreciate your help with this.
We recognize that this may not be the most convenient approach, but from everything we have experienced, we assure you it is the SAFEST method for our students.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my weekly meetings with each Grade level. I am so impressed with their RESPECTFUL behavior during our time together. We are working so hard on what it means to be a GREAT audience. We talk about eyes on the speaker, hands to yourself, bodies still and I have to tell you the results are IMPRESSIVE!!! We have had weekly raffle winners in each grade and students are applauding for their friends and celebrating their good choices together.

In all 3 Grades, K-2 we read the book, It's Mine by Leo Lionni. The reason I picked this story is because it talks about working together and that sharing yields better results for everyone which is a great message for our school community.  If you would like to check out this book with your child, I found a youtube link that reads the actual story out loud:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkRiTJNYyIk

Community News

There was information passed along this week regarding Boy Scouts- if you have any additional questions, please contact: saarnold@verizon.net

For more information about GIRL SCOUTS you can contact: tmitchell524@yahoo.com

I have been watching the signs pop up around town for the FALL FESTIVAL this weekend  and I am happy to share the following links that will give you the details about this FUN FAMILY EVENT! I know Keith Munslow is scheduled at 11:00 AM!  I am hoping to make it there myself. This information can be found on the Exeter Library website www.exeterpubliclibrary.org or at www.exeterfallfestival.com

I hope you have an amazing weekend! Make it count!

Melissa Marino 

Melissa Marino

melissa_marino@ewg.k12.ri.us

The Buzz at Wawaloam School This Week

Wawaloam School Celebrates 200th Birthday of our National Anthem

Friday Greetings! 

Hoping you all had another great week of learning and fun at Wawaloam School. I was absolutely thrilled to see so many of you at our Open House for Grades 1 and 2 Parents.  It is not possible for me to feel more pride in regard to the amazing teachers and students we have here!

Thank you for all of the compliments on your way out last evening, I passed along all of your obvious enthusiasm to the Grade 1 and 2 faculty and Specialists and let them know how impressed you all were.

We are looking forward to a great turn out next Thursday night as well on September 18 for our Kindergarten Open House at 6:00 PM.

Did you see your PTA Board last night? They were all here pitching in to help get background checks completed and also signing up many new PTA Members.  I think they are bonding because I even watched them take a group photo for the PTA Facebook Page and they were all smiles!

In order to be added to that group, you simply have to send a Friend Request to Exeter West Greenwich PTA on Facebook. This is a great way to stay informed, they pass along many helpful reminders etc. Have you sent in your membership application yet? Don't worry, we have plenty of those available right in the office.

Grades 1 and 2 Families, you heard from a lot of people last night and I thought it would be helpful to give you a little "cheat sheet" for how to reach the Specialists that presented. I also think this information will be helpful to Kindergarten families :)

Mrs. Larkin, our school nurse can be reached at debra_larkin@ewg.k12.ri.us

Our Reading Specialist, who sees all of the students once per week, Mrs. Gagner can be reached at Donna_Gagner@ewg.k12.ri.us  She is actively seeking parent volunteers and should be commended for her read-a-loud of the passage from Charlotte's Web!

Mrs. Curry, our school psychologist, has kept our PBIS program buzzing for over 5 years! She mentioned that she is available to talk with you at any time. Susan_Curry@ewg.k12.ri.us

Our PE teachers, Mrs. Breene and Mrs. Guglielmo shared a nice reminder about safe shoes for PE and knowing which days your child has class with them to ensure children can participate. They can be reached at Karen_Breene@ewg.k12.ri.us or Deborah_Guglielmo@ewg.k12.ri.us

Our Art teachers can be reached at Amie_Ray@ewg.k12.ri.us for Grade 2 and Kristen_Beaulieu@ewg.k12.ri.us for Grades 1 and Kindergarten
Kristen shared the address for her weebly page which is SO adorable! Check it out!!!
Wawaloamart.weebly.com

Mrs. Kilday, our Math Coach shared some helpful information about the Common Core State Standards and Math Instruction at Wawaloam School. She will be sending home helpful family letters after each Unit and stay tuned for information about upcoming Parent Workshops!! She can be reached at Gina_Kilday@ewg.k12.ri.us

Mrs. Blake can be reached at Deborah_Blake@ewg.k12.ri.us  She shared information about the READ program and the outreach we are doing to sign as many families up for the Stop and Shop A+ Rewards program as possible (this does not interfere with gas points). She will also be looking for parents and family members interested in the training and becoming a READ Volunteer.
*A special thank you to Alicia Cranston for helping Mrs. Blake with this throughout the night :)
It is not too late to share your Card # with us, we can do it for you or you can even ask one of the lovely girls in the office to photo copy your Stop and Shop Card...... Thanks!!

Mrs. Scheff, our Music teacher reminded us all how important it is to sing, dance and laugh together. She even sang out loud for all of us~! She can be reached at Caroline_Scheff@ewg.k12.ri.us

She also helped us prepare for recognizing Star Spangled Banner day today, September 12, 2014. Today marks the 200th Birthday of the National Anthem! This morning, we heard some facts about this song and Mrs. Millard's class came and sang it out loud over the intercom- it was pretty special!! She even encouraged us to wear Red, White and Blue to celebrate. We are so lucky to have her!
I am not a great videographer, but I tried to record this so I could share our awesome students with you!

In other news, we started our weekly Grade level meetings this week and our first PBIS Raffles were held K-2. If your child tells you they won the raffle, congratulate them for being RESPECTFUL, RESPONSIBLE AND SAFE...... ask them about this. If they were not "chosen" remind them to congratulate their friends and to keep up the good work and great choices. I was so proud to see the students applauding and giving "high fives" to their peers :) This makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside..........


I hope you all have a super weekend and that you enjoy your time together as a family! I have a little sign over my kitchen sink that says, "Cherish each day".....that is my plan!

O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave .............

Sincerely,

Melissa Marino
melissa_marino@ewg.k12.ri.us

Greetings,

Hope you all have had a great week and that your child is adjusting to the back to school schedule and routines. We are noticing progress on a daily basis as we guide and teach our expectations.

Just wanted to remind everyone that there is not school for students on Tuesday, September 9th as this is Primary Election Day. Teachers will be participating in Professional Development with a focus on a new web based diagnostic assessment allowing us to target student areas of strength and need to help us differentiate instruction for our students. We are very excited to move in this direction!

Our Open House for Grades 1 and 2 is fast approaching. It is this coming Thursday evening- September 11. You should have received an invitation in your child's home/school folder.

Open House for Kindergarten in on September 18th at 6PM

Both Open House events are exclusively for parents so that we can focus on answering your questions and share the learning that is happening in the classroom.

Today we kicked off our PBIS program with a visit from Johnny the K! He always pleases our crowd and today was no exception! We had so much fun reinforcing our message of respect, responsibility and safety! Check this out!!! Click on the video link so you can see how excited our students and teachers were to participate in his awesome show!

****A final note that is so very important- we truly need to ask all parents dropping off children to please make sure you wait until your child is safely onto the sidewalk before you pull away and that all children exit vehicles from the passenger side of the car. 

Thank you so much for all of your support and responses to the blog! I am glad you find this information helpful and I hope it serves a small glimpse into the experiences of your child over the course of the week! 

Respectfully, 

Melissa Marino :)