 | | | A. Ward Spaulding School | November 2015 | | 945 Mountain Road | West Suffield, CT 06093 | 860-668-3826 | https://www.suffield.org | | |  | | | | | | | |  Upcoming Events:
Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2015 No School - Election Day Wednesday, Nov. 4 Suffield BOE Meeting
6:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6 Preschool Birthday Screenings 8:45-9:45
(Preschool Classrooms) Tuesday, Nov. 10 NCCC Support Groups
5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
SHS Pampered Palace and LMC PTO Board Meeting
7:30 p.m.
MIS Media Center Wednesday, Nov. 11 No School - Veterans Day
Saturday, Nov. 14 Fitness Day
8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Auditorium and Gym Monday, Nov. 16 Food Service Appreciation Day Tuesday, Nov. 17 Suffield BOE Meeting
6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19 Literacy and Numeracy Night for Parents/Guardians
6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Auditorium Tuesday, Nov. 24 Preschool Giving Thanks Celebration
9:45-11:00; 1:30-2:45
(Preschool Classrooms) Wednesday, Nov. 25 Early Release -Thanksgiving
1:00 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 26 & Friday, Nov. 27 No School - Thanksgiving Break
Children are the living messages to a time we will never see, and we must invest in those living messages.
 2015 - 2016 District Calendar Spaulding School Menus Parent Student Handbook
| |  | A Message From The Principal | | We hope this newsletter finds you enjoying the fall weather! We have enjoyed our partnership and dialogue through such structured venues as the Meet and Greet, Open House, and Show and Tell evenings over the past few months. These experiences have allowed us to engage as partners with each other in educating your children. Our upcoming parent-teacher conferences (to be held on December 2-4, 2015) will give us a structured time to review and discuss the academic, emotional, and social progress of your children. These conferences also allow for discussion of the quality programming offered at A. Ward Spaulding School and related interventions and supports available for all students to achieve at high levels. Information relative to signing up for conference dates and times is forthcoming. While we celebrate the achievements of our students, we also strive to create meaningful and purposeful relationships through our Spaulding Stars program. This school climate program unifies our school community through the use of common language and skills regarding good decision-making. Indeed, how we communicate affects how we work and collaborate. Our recent Star assembly focused on kindness and the many ways that our school community can display this character trait. Thank you for your continued support of this program. May this season of gratitude bring you continued good health and joy! 
Scott P Dunn | Spaulding Stars Shine | |  At Spaulding School, students, staff, and parents participated in an assembly focused on the character trait of kindness. Adults and students were united as they showed off their blue Spaulding Star t-shirts. Students learned a new song about kindness and how to use sign language to spell K-I-N-D. Ask them how to show you!
|  | |  During the assembly, eight students were honored, two from each grade, with kindness awards for exemplifying this trait. Then we watched a video of our Spaulding Stars showing Kindness! Mrs. Jespersen ended the assembly by leading all in a song appropriately titled We are Super Kids. Stay tuned for our next assembly on the trait of responsibility!
| Curriculum Highlights | | Where did the Native Americans go for inspiration and all of their supplies? The Sharon Audubon Center from Sharon, Connecticut came to Spaulding on October 29- 30 to guide our children in their discovery that Native Americans went to the natural world for materials for their shelters, food, tools, and clothes. The natural environment was the inspiration for their names, art work, and stories.  The children walked to the Bruce Park woods and participated in a ninety-minute program on the Native Americans which was kinesthetic and inquiry-based. Three experienced instructors accompanied the children into the park and presented three different thirty-minute instructional activities. One group built shelters from leaves and sticks. Another group participated in a Name Ceremony where each child chose a Native American name for themselves. The third group learned about tools, food, and clothing of the Native Americans who lived in this area. The groups switched every thirty minutes with the assistance of several parent volunteers.
The children also gained a sense of how the natives deeply valued the land and animals that lived with them. This program was a natural blend of elements of both social studies and science. Stay tuned for follow-up activities as the second graders begin to learn about the celebration of our first Thanksgiving! | | | | | | | | | | | Thankful for our Fall Decor! | | |  Our school entrances are adorned with pumpkins, mums, hay, and corn stalks to celebrate the fall season. Our location Brownie troop created this welcoming scene for all to enjoy. We thank our Brownie troop friends, Markowski Farm for the decor, and Holly Tobey of the PTO Beautification Committee for her leadership efforts.
| | Bus Driver Appreciation Breakfast | | |   On October 8, 2015, members of our PTO organized a successful breakfast to honor the contributions of our dedicated bus drivers from M&J Bus Company. We appreciate the dedication of these colleagues who focus on the safe and secure transport of our young Spaulding Stars. We also appreciate members of the PTO for their efforts in organizing this event.
| | | | National Epilepsy Awareness Month | | | |  November is National Epilepsy Awareness Month.
Did you know that one in every 26 people will develop epilepsy in our lifetime? Nearly 3 million Americans currently live with epilepsy, making it the fourth most common neurological condition in the United States, more prevalent than cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and autism combined. In an effort to show how our school community can show how we embrace the goal of not letting any barriers stop people with epilepsy from reaching their fullest potential, we will be tying purple ribbons around poles and trees on school property this month to show our support to those community members with epilepsy. Additionally, we suggest that all of our students, faculty, and staff wear purple on Friday, November 6th to raise awareness and show our support relative to this condition. | | Nurse’s Notes | | |  Fall weather is here! This also means the cold and flu season is just beginning. There are a few things we can do to help keep everyone healthy. In addition to keeping sick children home, practicing good hand washing hygiene in school and at home can help. Another way to protect against the seasonal flu is to get vaccinated each year. For more information, please visit the CDC website (cdc.gov) or talk with your child’s pediatrician. The Influenza vaccination is mandated for our preschoolers with 1 dose being administered each year between August 1st and December 31st. If it is their first time receiving the vaccination, two doses separated by 28 days is the requirement.
The nurse’s office always welcomes donations of new underwear for when the children need to change, socks for wet feet, and peanut/nut free snacks. We are also in need of boys clothing, sizes 5-8. As always, please feel free to stop by or call 860-668-3225 with any questions, concerns or to just touch base regarding your child’s medical condition. I am here from 8:10 – 3:25 daily. My email is cburkett@suffield.org. | | Information Literacy in the Library | | | The library media center is a place where students engage in reading, listening, searching, analyzing, and writing to help them become information-literate for a 21st century world. Students engage in research utilizing print and digital resources to ask and answer questions and solve problems. The digital resources that students use are available for their use at home as well. We currently use PebbleGo! as our main database. The login and password for PebbleGO is aws. Students can read or listen to information and identify key facts. They can also watch video clips to gain a better understanding of how concepts work or how animals behave.  During our library class, students receive direct instruction, guided practice, and independent work time to practice skills directly related to the Common Core State Standards and the AASL Standards. The lessons utilize print and digital resources and are often tied to classroom curriculum to enhance student learning. Here are a few topics we have been studying at Spaulding:
Kindergarten: Students in kindergarten have been learning about the changes that happen in the fall season. They used iPads to draw a fall scene and wrote about it using known letter sounds learned in their classroom. Please ask them about the book Fall Mixed Up and The Busy Little Squirrel. First Grade: Students in first grade have been working in groups, collaborating on two different topics. Some students spent time reading and researching about bats. Ask them about the book Bats in the Library and Stellaluna. Other students have been working on designing a habitat for butterflies on the iPads as they finish their classroom unit of study. Second Grade: Students in second grade have been learning about the different sections of the library through hands on opportunities. Ask them about their science experiment and the book Round Trip by Ann Jonas! Check out these great books:
The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires
I’m My Own Dog by David Stein | | | | Suffield Public Schools
350 Mountain Road, Suffield, CT 06078
Phone: 860-668-3800 (Central Office)
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