 | | | A. Ward Spaulding School | February 2016 | | 945 Mountain Road | West Suffield, CT 06093 | 860-668-3826 | https://www.suffield.org | | |  | | | | | | | | Upcoming Events:  Monday, Feb. 1
Suffield BOE Meeting
6:30 p.m.
SMS LMC Friday, Feb. 5 Spirit Day – Sports Team Shirt Day Preschool Peer Model Screenings
AWS Grade 1 Tradition - PJ Movie Night
6:00 p.m.
AWS Auditorium Tuesday, Feb. 9 NCCC Support Groups
5:30 p.m.
SHS Room 221, Pampered Palace, LMC PTO Board Meeting
7:30 p.m.
McAlister Intermediate School LMC Wednesday, Feb. 10 SPED PAC
7:00 p.m.
SHS LMC Thursday, Feb. 11 Winter Concert - Family Performance
9:30 a.m.
1:30 p.m.
AWS Auditorium
(Snow Date 2/12) Monday, Feb. 15 No School & All Offices Closed - Feb. Vacation Tuesday, Feb. 16 No School [All Offices Open] - Feb. Vacation Wednesday, Feb. 17 Suffield BOE Meeting
6:30 p.m.
SMS LMC Wednesday, Feb. 24 Suffield Idol Auditions
3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
AWS Auditorium Budget Information Sessions for Parents/Community
6:30 p.m.
SMS LMC
(Snow date - 2/25) Thursday, Feb. 25 Suffield Idol Auditions
3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
MIS School Cafeteria Kindergarten Information Night
6:00 p.m.
AWS Auditorium and Classrooms Friday, Feb. 26 Grade 2 Tradition - Pizza Bingo Night
6:00 p.m.
AWS Auditorium
"Reading has always been my sustenance, my great joy." - Anna Quindlen
 2015 - 2016 District Calendar Spaulding School Menus Parent Student Handbook
| |  | A Message From The Principal | | Dear Parents/Guardians, I hope the New Year has brought you good health and fortune. The A. Ward Spaulding School community continues its dedication to teacher practice and student learning. We are excited to enter the next few months, with activities and events that include our Spaulding Traditions, the annual concert, and parent teacher conferences. Thank you for the continued partnership that we share with you in providing your child with a safe, productive, and enjoyable learning experience at Spaulding School. A portion of our good fortune is provided to us by the continued dedication of the Suffield Foundation for Excellent Schools (SFES), which offers support for innovative and exceptional educational programs and opportunities beyond the tax-supported school budget for the benefit of Suffield students. Each year, the SFES Board raises money and awards grants designed to achieve this mission. We continue to be grateful to this organization that over the years has awarded multiple grants that promote innovation in student learning. The three most-recent grants that SFES has awarded have provided our young Spaulding Stars with meaningful experiences that promote innovation, creativity, and social interaction. First grade teacher Heather Goldstein partnered with our library media specialist, Shannon Insero, to submit an approved grant entitled Makerspace. The Maker Movement is the idea of re-energizing education with the creativity, innovation, curiosity, motivation, technical know-how, and playfulness that allows for personal learning. A makerspace is a space that shares the ideals that support making, tinkering, collaborative learning, and invention, providing students with the opportunity to become creative, innovative, independent, and to have a choice with their learning. The goal of this grant was to purchase materials such as KNex, Magnatiles, and Legos that support the creation of a makerpsace within Mrs. Goldstein’s first grade classroom, allowing students the opportunity to “make.” In response to their submitted grant, the SFES stated, We are especially pleased and excited by this opportunity for students to participate in a variety of activities that support making, collaborative learning and invention. Giving students the ability to create, be innovative, and independent through individual choices helps to develop students to their potential. Second grade teacher Amber Lonardo submitted a grant that focused on instructional practices to promote student success within her classroom. Concentrating on the diverse academic, social, emotional, behavioral, physical, and cultural needs of her students, Mrs. Lonardo researched and identified innovative ways to meet the needs of her learners. SFES provided her with various teaching supplies and materials that would help to accomplish this goal, such as pocket chart schedules and multi-function timers. All of the materials and supplies provided by SFES allowed Mrs. Lonardo to continue her focus on the school district’s mission statement of addressing the needs of students to improve learning.  The outside campus of Spaulding School underwent renovations this past summer with the inclusion of an additional playground for our integrated preschool students. Over $8000 was raised at the SFES Auction, providing the school with a secure playground that provides students with various ways to interact in safe, collaborative play. This was achieved with such additions as developmentally-appropriate dinosaur and caterpillar climbers, a fire truck bouncer, and tricycles on a newly-paved path within the playground, complete with “stop signs.” In the upcoming spring months, a garden area will be planted, to be maintained by our preschool friends and staff. Spaulding School continues to be grateful to SFES for its commitment to student learning, creativity, and innovation! Sincerely, 
Scott P Dunn | Spaulding Artwork Shines in New Gallery | | If you have the opportunity to visit the specials wing of our school, you will notice beautiful mural work. Sherrie Fitzpatrick, the artist who has created many murals throughout the school over the past few years, painted museum-like “frames” to showcase student art work on a rotating basis. Mrs. Piellucci, our art teacher, continues to cycle the art work to display the art work of our young artists. We look forward to our Art Festival in April! 
| | | | | | | | | | | Kindergarten Information Night | | | If your child is entering kindergarten at Spaulding School for the 2016-2017 school year, please attend our information night on Thursday, February 25, 2016 from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. in the auditorium (parents only). You must Pre-Register your child and confirm your attendance at this event. Click here to register | | Annual Gingerbread Kid Caper a success! | | | 
All first grade classes engaged in the annual Gingerbread Kid Caper Readers Theater in December. Readers  Theater is a strategy that combines reading practice and performing and its overarching goal is to enhance students' reading skills and confidence by having them practice reading with a purpose. This experience motivates reluctant readers and provides fluent readers the opportunity to explore genre and characterization. Students invited their grandparents (or another special family relative) for a special Readers Theater in their honor. On the day of the performance, students sang and spoke about how even gingerbread cookies prefer company amongst friends, concluding their performance by inviting guests to their classrooms for gingerbread cookies and hot cocoa. Grandparents and family relatives shared accolades relative to this annual successful event that focuses on literacy and our school community. | | Curriculum Highlights: Kindergarten | | | Since the first day of school, our kindergarten students have grown academically, socially, and emotionally. The students have participated in classroom routines and have had a gradual increase in their independence. The students have been productive in working with peers and are becoming more reflective by sharing their own ideas and thoughts with others. Some topics covered thus far include: pattern books, opinion writing, counting, number writing, sorting and categorizing, homes, and properties of matter by using our five senses. The students have learned these topics while building strong foundational academic skills through exploration, direct instruction, and hands-on activities. Throughout the school day, students are given the opportunity to develop their creativity, practice newly-acquired skills, and use critical thinking and problem solving skills. Teaching, modeling, and practicing these skills enable students to become life-long learners. On a daily basis, students are beginning to express what they know in different ways and use various strategies to answer or solve a problem. Students engage in math, language arts, science, social studies, and social skills lessons which involve brief instruction, guided practice, and independent practice of a specific skill or topic. Daily instruction is provided through whole group and small group activities. Some activities include guided reading groups based on students’ reading levels, independent reading, buddy reading, shared reading, read alouds, listening center, poetry center, big books, and a phonics application from a mini-lesson. Math workshop, writing workshop, and social skills are also included throughout the school day. All of these activities align with the Common Core Standards. The children see themselves as readers, writers, and mathematicians and have become more independent and confident with their reading, writing, and math instruction. The students are developing a love for learning and growing towards becoming college and career ready! | | Friendly Reminders | | | Recess Attire Reminder -- As we enter the colder months, we want to ensure that our students have the proper attire for recess. When the weather is 20 degrees and above, we hold recess outside. Students need to wear warm coats, hats, gloves, snow pants, and boots when appropriate. Wearing shorts at this time of the year places our students at risk. Delays and Early Release -- Please note that when there is a 90-minute delay, students may enter the building at 9:40 a.m. and school begins at 9:55 a.m. The morning preschool classes are cancelled. In the event of an unscheduled early release, students are dismissed at 1:00 p.m. The afternoon preschool classes are cancelled. | | Go Digital | | | Did you know that through the A. Ward Spaulding Library, students have access to hundreds of books at their just right reading level available to them on their own personal device? It’s easy, fun, and free! FollettShelf is where Spaulding School stores all of its digital books available for students to read. To read the books using the features, download the app Brytewave. This app allows students to read a story, listen along to some of the books, highlight words, and even make notes. Books can be sorted by genre, author, series and more. The levels range from A-O , making it accessible for all students in grades K-2. To browse the books, you can either look on the Brytewave App or you can search the Destiny online catalog at destiny.suffield.org. The login for Brytewave is: read and the password is books. 
| | Nurse’s Corner | | |  While the unfortunate issue of lice continues in its prevalence, we will continue to work with families through the sharing of information. The spreading of lice is minimized when both home and school work together to check students’ hair. Some families have asked for reputable websites on the matter. Here are some that may prove beneficial:
We advise you to communicate with your doctor for any health concerns including the treatment of lice. Also please call (860)668-3225 or email Cheryl Burkett at cburkett@suffield.org with any information, which will be kept confidential and will prove helpful in tracking the occurrences. District policy will continue to be followed. | | Showing School Spirit on Wacky Wednesday! | | |  We saw many Spaulding students (and adults!) demonstrating school spirit for our recent Wacky Wednesday in which fashion disasters were very common. We observed people wearing clothes that did not match, colors that did not belong together, and other fashion faux pas! We look forward to our next spirit day, Team Shirt Day on February 5th, in honor of the Super Bowl. | | Spaulding Star Concert: Let’s Eat! | | | Our annual student concert will be on Thursday, February 11th with a snow date of Friday, February 12th. The Wix address for Mrs. Jespersen’s practice page is http://wjespersen.wix.com/letseat. All of the information relative to the concert is on this site. If you have any additional questions, please contact Mrs. Jespersen at wjespersen@suffield.org. See you at the concert! | | Spaulding Traditions – Save the Dates! | | | | Preschool
March 5 (Saturday)
My Gym in Enfield
1:00-2:00 p.m.
(for a.m. students)
2:30-3:30 p.m.
(for p.m. students) | Grade 1
February 5 (Friday)
PJ Movie Night at AWS
6:00-7:30 p.m. | 
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| Grade 2
February 26 (Friday)
Pizza Bingo Night at AWS
6:00-7:30 p.m. | 
| | | | | Suffield Public Schools
350 Mountain Road, Suffield, CT 06078
Phone: 860-668-3800 (Central Office)
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