Girls Night Out Forms Due

Last call to get your spots reserved for Girls’ Night Out!

The "Let It Snow"-themed event for Frenchtown girls and their special adult will take place on Friday, February 6^th from 6:00-8:00 pm at the school. There will be pizza, cupcakes, a hot chocolate bar, DJ, photographer and more!

Forms and payment must be returned NO LATER than Friday, January 30th.

If you have any questions, please contact Heather Duke at heatherduke2001@yahoo.com.

Sign Up for Winter After School Programs

It's sign up time for After School Programs!

Forms and payments are due NO LATER than Friday, January 30th. Programs begin Thursday, February 5th.  

If you have any questions, please contact Jen Righi (829-1388) or Kerry Rowe (440-8897).

If you have any problem downloading the embedded document, you can also find the form here.

Academic Newsletter For the Week of 1/26

From Mrs. Vaughn:

January 19:  Liam W

January 26: Ryan M, Jayci T. and Mr. Dwyer
January 27: Angelo M.
January 28: Isaac G.
January 29: Brooke F. and Sailor O.


MARK YOUR CALENDARS

• All Week: Soup/Canned Food Drive
• Help kick hunger by bringing in donations of soup or canned food for a local food pantry. Frenchtown will receive $1.00 per canned good donated from the Alan Shawn Feinstein Foundation and these funds will also be donated to the food pantry. Students who donate will receive a Junior Scholar Card, providing them with free admission to many popular venues, including Battleship Cove, Providence Children's Museum, Mystic Aquarium and many more!
• January 30: Super Bowl/Super Kids PBIS Celebration
• January 30: Fun Friday

COMING SOON

• February 6: 100th Day 
• The children and staff will dress up like we are 100 years old to celebrate the 100th day of school.
• First Week in February-February 13: Pennies for Patients 
• All classroom teachers will have collection boxes in their rooms and any donation is appreciated. Every little bit adds up!
• East Greenwich Animal Protection League Blanket Drive

REMINDER FROM MRS. CARR
Please remember to send your child with sneakers on P.E. days


IN THE CLASSROOMS
Kindergarten
Math:

• Counting to 100 and representing qualities to 20.

E/LA:

• Goal: RF.K.4 - With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.

Theme:

• Elson: Rr, rat, /r/
• Rakovic: Oo, octopus, /o/

Other:

• Fun Friday this week - please volunteer in one of of the Kindergarten classrooms if you can.
• Be on the look out for report cards!

Grade 1
Math:

• The children are learning about place value.
• They are using manipulative blocks that represent tens and ones to build numbers.
• They are working on using those manipulatives to figure out 10 more than or less than a number.
• They are also learning the terms and signs for greater than and less than.
• Parent Newsletter for Math 

E/LA:

• The children continue to work on decoding comprehension skills in theirguided reading groups.
• We continue to work on narrative pieces.
• We will concentrate on expanding ideas and on capitalization and punctuation.

Science:

• The children have planted brassica seeds. These seeds are designed to go through the life cycle of a plant from seed to sprout, bud, plant and seed pods. 
• At the end of the planting cycle, they will harvest the seeds.

Other:

• Thank you for your generous donations of stuffed animals for the childrenAfrica. We got a huge response!
• This week, we are collecting canned soups to donate to the food bank.
• On February 6th, children and staff will dress up like we are 100 years old to celebrate the 100th day of school. Please start thinking of your costumes!

Grade 2
Math:

• Students will be focusing on three-digit addition and subtraction problems. They will also be adding lists of three or four two-digit numbers. Many of these equations will be in the form of word problems.
• We can't stress the importance of practicing the addition and subtraction facts nightly. IXL should be a fun way to practice math skills.

E/LA:

• Students are continuing to write narrative stories and informational text. They all seem to be far more confident with their writing than they were in September!

Science:

• We will be introducing the new Solids and Liquids science unit. The unit will begin with a hands-on exploration of various solid objects. The children will learn to identify the physical properties using all of their senses (except taste!)

Other:

• Thanks to Rishi Gokhale's leadership skills, we will be starting a collection of donated items for our local east Greenwich Animal Protection League. Stay tuned for details to be sent home!

Super Bowl/Super Kid Day

The PBIS Committee would like to invite Frenchtown students join in an all-school celebration: Super Bowl/Super Kids Day, on Friday, January 30, 2015!

All students are invited to wear Team-based clothing. This could be any NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB items.  It is likely that many will be supporting the Patriots’ bid for the Super Bowl by wearing their colors, but any sports team apparel is welcome.

Each classroom will receive three mini footballs to be awarded as a prize to the "Best Fans" in that class!

URGENT: After School Chess & Play CANCELLED

ATTENTION ALL PARENTS: Due to the unpredictable weather, after school play and chess are CANCELLED today, Monday 1/26.

Please be sure that Mrs. Kehoe is aware of your child's transportation for the afternoon - call 884-4713 to let her know how they will get home.

Thanks and stay warm!

Frenchtown Soup Drive

Frenchtown Elementary is going to the

Help kick hunger by bringing in donations of canned soup for a local food pantry.

Bring in as many cans as you would like.

Donation boxes will be located in the foyer as well as the Car Bear area 

from Monday, January 26th-Friday, January 30th.

Yearbook Booster Info

YEARBOOK

BOOSTERS

Yearbook Booster forms will be sent home with Frenchtown students on Friday. You're probably wondering what yearbook boosters are so here are the details.

What is a yearbook BOOSTER?

BOOSTERs refer to space that is available for purchase in the yearbook. You can use your space to place a business advertisement or a personal message.

What does BOOSTER money support?

(1)     BOOSTER sales help the PTG offset the cost of yearbook production.

(2)     BOOSTER money supports other PTG programs, such as field trips, assemblies, and school/family events.

What does a typical BOOSTER look like?

         They are unique and can vary. Here are some samples of personal messages:

SINGLE LINE:

Joey Smith: Great year! We are so proud! Love, Mom & Dad   

SMALL CARD:

BUSINESS CARD or HALF PAGE:

QUARTER PAGE or FULL PAGE:

Academic Newsletter for the Week of 1/19

From Mrs. Vaughn:

January 19:  Liam W
January 20:  Mia B.
January 21:  Daniel B., Matthew B.
January 22:  Sarah A., Charlotte M., Anna P.
January 25:  Savannah H., Mr. Richard
January 26:  Mr. Dwyer


AROUND SCHOOL

Professional learning at Frenchtown! Teams of teachers joined grade level Foundations coaching visit and participated in collaborative discussions about phonics instruction.


MARK YOUR CALENDARS
January 21: Parent Forum on Teaching and Learning: Pilot Literacy Programs and Library Enrichment - 6:00 pm @ Frenchtown

January 22: COA presents FUndaFest


IN THE CLASSROOMS
Kindergarten
Math:

• Counting to 100 and representing qualities to 20.

E/LA:

• Goal: RF.K.3 - Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
• Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary or many of the most frequent sound for each consonant.

Theme:

• Elson: Ff, Fun, /f/
• Rakovic: Gg, Game, /g/

Other:

• We will begin STAR testing this week.

Grade 1
Math:

• We are learning math facts from 10 to 20.
• We are focusing on subtraction sentences to 12 and working on solving various word problems.
• Please continue to practice addition and subtraction facts at home.
• Parent Newsletter for Math 

E/LA:

• We continue to work on various decoding and comprehension skills in reading groups.  
• We are focusing on refining our narrative writing pieces.

Science:

• We will be beginning the New Plants kit. Our first lesson will concentrate not he life cycle of a plant.

Other:

• We will be learning about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. this month.

Grade 2
Math:

• Second graders continue to practice measuring accurately to the nearest ½ inch.
• Please remind your children to practice addition and subtraction facts every night.

E/LA:

• Students are working on improving their narrative writing skills by adding a little bit of dialog and lots of strong adjectives.

Science:

• Second grade students will continue researching penguins and other Arctic mammals.

Fun Friday Volunteers Needed

It's fun Friday time again and we're looking for volunteers to help with the "Super Bowl Super Students" themed activities the Fun Friday team has planned for Friday, January 30th. For AM kindergarten, Fun Friday will be from 10:30-11:05 am, and for PM kindergarten, first and second grades, it will go from 1:00-2:00 pm.

Fun Fridays are once-a-month activities for each grade, facilitated by parent volunteers.  The kids really enjoy them and we hope you will too!

If you'd like to volunteer to help, you can do so via Sign Up Genius here.

Please note that in order to remain compliant with School Committee policies and laws related to visitors to the building, we ask that each volunteer has a recent BCI check and Statement of Confidentiality in place.

Save the Date: Girls' Night Out Is February 6th

Let It Snow! Frenchtown’s Annual Girls’ Night Out will take place on Friday, February 6^th from 6:00-8:00 pm.

This winter wonderland event for Frenchtown girls and their special adult will take place at Frenchtown School. We’ll have pizza, cupcakes, a hot chocolate bar, DJ, photographer and more!

Look for invitations to come home Tuesday.

If you have any questions please contact Heather Duke at heatherduke2001@yahoo.com.

Teacher Appreciation Donations Needed

The hospitality committee needs your help! We are hoping to do a teacher appreciation "raffle" at the end of February.  During this event, teachers will be given raffle tickets for the chance to win donated prizes such as gift cards, a basket of treats, a box of classroom supplies, etc.  We will be creative!

Please consider helping out by:
1) Asking local businesses for donations (we have a standard letter with tax ID that we can get to you)

2) If you are a local business, consider contributing

3) If you are not a local business but have something you'd like to donate for the raffle (i.e., school supplies, a gift card, an hour of volunteer time to a teacher, etc.), please let us know.

No contribution is too small!

To donate or volunteer to collect donations, please contact Donnah Plante - donnahmathews@live.com.

Celebrate the 100th Day of School

Friday February 6th is the 100th day of school and Frenchtown students are encouraged to dress up like 100 year old people to celebrate.

We can't wait to see what they think they'll look like at 100 years old!

Academic Newsletter For the Week of 1/12

From Mrs. Vaughn:

January 4:  Sienna G., David L.
January 5:  Mrs. Scirpo
January 6:  Madeline C., Elena L.
January 8:  Sara M.
January 9:  Mrs. Twomey
January 16:  Mason T.
January 18:  Joshua H., Jayda H. 


Grade 1
Math:

• We are learning math facts from 10 to 20.
• We are learning to substitute a symbol for a missing addend.  For example: 8 + ?=12.  Please continue to practice addition and subtraction facts at home.
• Parent Newsletter for Math

E/LA:

• We continue to work on various decoding and comprehension skills.  
• We are learning about long vowels and “r”controlled vowels.

Science:

Other:

• We will be learning about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. this month.

Grade 2
Math:

• Second graders will be learning to measure various objects to the nearest ½ inch. Please try to practice measuring objects around your house with your child.
• All children should have a ruler so that they could complete their homework.  

E/LA:

• Students will continue to work on narrative writing and informational writing.

Social Studies:

• We will be learning about the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. and will discuss the impact Martin Luther King, Jr. has had on our society .

Science:

• Second grade students will begin learning about animal life in Antarctica. This will include research on a variety of penguins and other mammals living on Antarctica.

Other:

I am very pleased to announce that Frenchtown and Meadowbrook Farms School have been awarded a grant from the Rhode Island Department of Education.  This grant will allow a team of teachers from both schools to collaborate in a deep study of CCSS related to close reading. Special thanks to Mrs. Pat Rakovic and Mrs. Pat Winters for their initiative and leadership in this endeavor!

The goals of the Close Reading Institute are:

• Support educators, including those who teach diverse learners, understanding and practice of the Common Core State Literacy Standards.
• Structure opportunities for educators, including those who teach diverse learners, to work together to ensure that all students have access to the rigorous expectations and challenging work as expected int eh Common Core State Standards.
• Develop strategies for educators,  including those who teach diverse learners, to embed Common Core State Literacy Standards into content areas.

Interesting articles for parents:

• 5 Cool Things from the Consumer Electronics Show
• The Secret to Raising Smart Kids
• 4 Steps to Help Your child Become a Better Reader
• The State of Kids and Reading

Play Rehearsal Volunteers Needed

Rehearsals for this year's play "Biomes" begin this week and the Frenchtown Play Committee needs your help!

We have 80 eager actors and actresses ready to go and we need volunteers to assist us in keeping after school rehearsals running smoothly. We're looking for help with sign in (2:15-2:45), rehearsal supervision (2:40-4:00), and sign out (3:45-4:00) on Monday and Wednesday afternoons. You can sign up for shifts here via SignUp Genius.

All volunteers must have a current BCI on file with Mrs Kehoe in the front office.

Thanks for your support!

National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day at Frenchtown

Here are some photos from Law Enforcement Appreciation Day today at school. It was a great time for the students, teachers and officers!

The Yearbook Needs Your Photos

It's YEARBOOK time and we need photos!

Please send in your FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL photos and we'll include as many as possible.

If you have any SCHOOL EVENT photos, please send those as well! School events include (but not limited to):
Barbecue
PBIS Celebration
After School Activities
Halloween Howl
Fun Friday
Pajama Days
Owl Assembly
Polar Express
Gingerbread Houses

Photos from a camera are the best. If sending phone photos, please send pics at FULL SIZE or the LARGEST SIZE POSSIBLE.

Send pictures to Cindy.Speranza@yahoo.com.

If you're sending more than a couple of photos, email Cindy to get access to her Drop Box (transfers files online, without email).

Stuffed Animal Drive Update

Look at all of the toys Frenchtown families have donated to support former student Sydney Fay's stuffed animal drive! 

You know you have a few extras at home your kids aren't playing with anymore, so bring them in to benefit The Volunteer Health Program, and huge thanks to everyone who's contributed a new or used stuffed animal already.

For more information on the stuffed animal drive, check out the post here.

The Greenwich Odeum Invites You to the Frozen Sing Along Celebration

The Greenwich Odeum (59 Main Street, East Greenwich) presents Disney's Frozen Sing-a-long Celebration, the sing-a-long movie version of the instant classic "Frozen" with singing princesses leading the audience in song.  Audience members are urged to come in costume and interact with the movie - lots of surprises and fun for the whole family.  

January 17th - 2 performances: 1:00 pm & 6:00 pm   

February 7th - 2 performances: 11:30 am & 3:00 pm

March 7th - 2 performances: 12:00 pm & 3:30 pm

There are a handful of tickets just recently made available for the January 17th show so grab them while you still can, or join us for one of the other upcoming dates.  

 For Tickets and more information, click here:  http://odeum.ticketleap.com/frozen/

Handprint Calendars Still Available

If you did not purchase a 2015 Handprint Calendar and would still like one, we have a few extras left.  They are $12 per calendar, or two for $20.  All proceeds will be used to fund field trip opportunities for the students.

To purchase, contact Sarah Quigg at squigg99@gmail.com. Calendars will also be available at the January PTG meeting at 7:00 pm on 1/13.  Thank you for your support!

Parent Forum on Teaching & Learning - January 21st

As we focus on our vision of all that we would like our school to be, Mrs. Vaughn would like to extend the invitation for parental involvement in exploring current practices and participating in meaningful, two way communication and problem solving.

Vision Statement
Frenchtown School will be known as a school where:

• Students develop independence and cooperation through active participation in inquiry-based, hands-on activities.  Students are confident, successful learners who engage in diverse learning experiences.      
• The faculty uses varied, research based instructional strategies.  Through collaboration and shared responsibility, faculty and staff ensure that instruction is focused on the needs of each child and that equitable opportunities exist for all academic and enrichment programs.   
• Administration facilitates a collaborative, supportive environment that prioritizes learning through trust, mutual respect and open communication.  Administration provides for professional development and resources necessary for teaching and learning.
• Families and the community are partners who support and expand learning within and beyond the classroom.

To that end, Mrs. Vaughn will be holding regular Parent Forum on Teaching and Learning events.

Please join her for a brief presentation on Wednesday, January 21st at 6:00 p.m. to review pilot programs at Frenchtown. The discussion will include information on Foundations, Reading Wonders and Library Enrichment.

We hope to see you there!

January Lunch Volunteers Needed

It's a new year and a new month, so we're looking for volunteers to help with 1st & 2nd grade lunches in the cafeteria. The time is from 11:15 am-12:30 pm.

You can sign up on Sign Up Genius. Please remember that all volunteers must have a current BCI on file with Mrs Kehoe in the office.

Thanks for your help!

It's School Play Time

Auditions for first and second graders are after school on Wednesday, January 7!  For all students who are currently signed up for the play, you should have received an email from donnahmathews@live.com. If you did NOT receive this email, please contact Donnah Plante ASAP.

General rehearsals for 1st & 2nd graders start Monday, January 12.

Kindergarteners do not need to audition and their rehearsals start in February.

REMINDER: January PTG Meeting

Mark your calendars - the January PTG meeting will take place on Tuesday, January 13th at 7:00 pm in the Frenchtown cafeteria. Hope to see you there!

Stuffed Animal Donations Needed

Former Frenchtown student Sydney Fay is running a stuffed animal drive. Please consider donating. Here's how:

Dear Frenchtown Elementary Families,

My name is Sydney Fay and am a seventh grade student at Cole Middle School.

Twenty years ago my grandparents, Robert and Darlene Della Rocca started a non­-profit mission to help children and adults in developing nation get the eye care they need. This organization is called The Volunteer Health Program, (VHP). Every year, many doctors and nurses volunteer their time and skill to helping people in the Dominican Republic. Many of these children have problems with their eyes that they can’t afford to fix. When the VHP (Volunteer Health Program) goes to the Dominican
Republic they provide the basic eye care they need, from a pair of glasses to pediatric surgery. Over 85 doctors and nurses see about 1700 to 2000 patients during each annual mission. But, they can’t do it alone.

I have made it my mission to collect gently used stuffed animals from our community for The Volunteer Health Program to bring with them. These stuffed animals will be given to the children who undergo eye surgery. This will provide comfort before and after their surgery. Many of these children are very poor and don’t have any toys. So making this donation will bring smiles to their faces knowing that someone cares.

How you can help…
● Bring in a any stuffed animals that your children are
finished playing with.
● We will accept new or gently used stuffed animals.
● A collection bin will be placed in the front of the school to
hold all donations.
● Any amount will be greatly appreciated. One toy can make a childs day.
Thank you so much for helping the Volunteer Health Program in their efforts to give
these children a brighter, clearer world!

To find out more about the VHP visit
http://www.volunteerhealthprogram.org/volunteerhealthprogram/ABOUT_VHP.html or email me at sfay866@student.egsd.net.

Sincerely,

Sydney Fay

Thank you :)

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from Frenchtown PTG! Looking forward to a wonderful 2015.