Sunday, February 1, 2015

Frenchtown February News

Valentine’s Day 
Valentine's Day is right around the corner. How do you help your child to celebrate while supporting East Greenwich Schools’ Wellness Policy?


Never fear! Although we are not allowed to distribute candy to students, non-edible treats can be added to your Valentine cards. All of these items can be purchased quite inexpensively from your local party supply store. They should cost about the same as it would cost to buy candy.
• Valentine pencils
• Small tubs of store bought or homemade play dough
• Temporary tattoos
• Valentine erasers
• Coloring books
• Silly Putty
• Small toys
• Stickers
• Glow sticks
• Bubbles
• Pencil toppers
• Origami paper and instructions
• Tooth brushes
NOTE: Please avoid sending balloons or other latex items due to allergies that may be present in the classroom.

Morning Supervision: Is Today Indoor or Outdoor Supervision? 
As you drop your child off in the morning, there may be a bus cutout in the front window of the office. If you see this sign, that indicates that supervision before the bell will be held inside. Students who are eating breakfast or ordering lunch are asked to go to the cafeteria. All other students are asked to wait in the gym. There is a designated area for each grade level in the gym.

If you see the sign and children are inside, please drop your child off on the side of the building as you would any other day. The first door on the left, past the Kindergarten playground will be open for all students being dropped off by 8:10 a.m.

As Always, Safety First 
When dropping your child off in the morning, please consider the safety procedures created by Ocean State Transit. Those procedures relative to drop off/and pick up are:
  • At the schools there are designated parking areas for buses only and fire lanes that need to be clear at all times. Please ensure that during drop off and pick up times you are not parked in these zones. These lanes are wide enough so the buses can make their turns. It takes extra room to turn the buses and accommodate the “tail swing” after the buses make the turns. 
  • There is a “Danger Zone” 10 feet around the outside of the whole school bus. We need to keep children, parents, and vehicles out of that area because there is a lack of visibility in these areas. 
  • When children are crossing the road in front of the bus, let the driver cross them. Please don’t walk across the street to get them. We have excellent monitors in the East Greenwich community. They work as a team with the driver to insure the children cross properly and safely. They have been trained in the proper procedures. Please let the team on your child’s bus do the job for which they have been trained. 

Our Morning Message Focus for February: Celebrating America’s Diversity, Caring for Others, Helping Hearts 
In 1995, when gang violence was an epidemic in our nation, there was a Stop the Violence Conference held on Dr. Martin Luther King Day in Houston, Texas. Hundreds of students made the following pledge:
  • To strive to be a builder of peace. 
  • To get rid of violence in my thoughts, words, and my behavior. 
  • To walk in peace with others from this day, evermore. 
We will be highlighting these concepts throughout the month.

February Reading List
Helping Hearts - K-5 
The Wednesday Surprise, E. Bunting
An Angel for Solomon, C. Rylant
Thank you, Mr. Falker, P. Polacco 
Chicken Sunday, P. Polacco 
Wilfred Gordon MacDonald Partridge, M. Fox 
The Wolf’s Chicken Stew, K. Kasza 
The School Story, A. Clements 
The Report Card, A. Clements 
The Earth Dragon Awakes, L. Yep 
Number the Stars, L. Lowry It’s Magic 
Dancing in the Wings, D. Allen 
Dealing With Teasing, L.K. Adams 
Ella the Elephant, C. D’amico 
If the Shoe Fits, G. Soto 
Red is Beautiful, R. John 
Simon’s Hook: A Story about Teases K-3 

Not Cool - K-3
• Bully B.E.A.N., J. Cook 
• How to Lose All Your Friends, N. Carlson 
• King of the Playground, P.R. Naylor 
• The Meanest Thing to Say, B. Cosby 
• The Recess Queen, A. O’Neill 
• Bullies are a Pain in the Brain, T. Romain 
• The Hundred Dresses, E. Estes* 
• Make a Wish, Molly, B. Cohen* 

That’s So Random 
• Random Acts of Kindness, D.R. Kingma 
• Small Acts of Kindness, J. Vollbracht 
• The Three Questions, J. Muth 

Celebrating America’s Diversity - K-5 
• Every Human Has Rights by National Geographic
• Global Babies by Global Relief Fund
• It’s Okay to be Different by Todd Parr
• Shades of People by Shelley Rotner
• The Peace Book by Todd Parr
• The Sneetches and Other Stories by Dr. Seuss
• We Are All Alike . . . We Are All Different
• Whoever You Are by Mem Fox
• You and Me Together: Moms, Dads, and Kids Around the World by National Geographic

An Upcoming Event in RI
Unpacking Race:An Essential Conversation in Schools and in Homes 

“Well Checks” in Reading 
As our children grow, most of us are familiar with medical “well checks” our pediatricians perform. Our doctors weigh our children and measure how tall they are. This information can help doctors to understand if our children are growing properly of if something may be wrong, enabling them to plan a course of action as soon as possible. 

We all know how important it is for our children to grow as readers as well. In fact, successfully learning to read at an early age is one of the most important factors in a child’s learning. Because reading growth is so important, on a regular basis our teachers perform formative assessments on students to determine strength and need as well as the focus for further instruction. 

On a district-wide level, schools are implementing STAR assessments for ongoing progress monitoring in reading as well. Please feel free to reach out to your child’s teacher if you have any concerns. 

Scholarships Available
Did you know that in partnership with PTG and our Title I Community Partnership program, scholarships are available for all before and after school events? If you have a financial need and could benefit from this assistance, all you need to do is call Mrs. Vaughn at 884-4713. Once the call is made, she will ask you to fill out the appropriate registration forms and will make sure that funds are placed in the envelope and the registration, complete with the fee, is turned in to the PTG. Please don’t hesitate to call if you have a need. We make every effort to ensure that this process remains confidential. 

Super Bowl/Super Students Day
What a wonderful way to end a month! 


January 30 was our school wide PBIS celebration: Super Bowl/Super Students! We had a special lunch event, Super Fans, Super Bowl predictions, soup drive finale and Fun Friday all in one.


Thank you to our wonderful Fun Friday Liaisons and volunteers: Denise Lopez, Donnah Mathews, Ericka Owens, Howard Faunce, Jill Spitzer, Laura Santilli, Judy Hart, Nikki Berte, Linda Settipane, Michelle Anvar, Betsy Aulisio, Nicolette Berte, Amanda Campbell-O’Connell, Marisa Colucci, Jen D'Ellena, Jeff  Dronzek, Katie Erickson, Stephanie Ferguson, Angela Frolov, Jen Gaffney, Kari Glynn, Sue Guerzon, Mandy Lehne, Seana Marcks, Stephanie Martin, Maura McCarthy, Rebecca McGeorge­­, Susan Morandi, Cindy Patrick, Claire Patti, Meenu Vedantham, Susan Riley, Heather Saakov, Jill Saccoccia, Denise Schwarzbach, Ellen Slater,  Jill Spitzer, Marybeth Straut, Renee Syed, Denise Taliaferro, Jannette Todaro, Vincent Torilli, Jodi Williston, Rachel Busch, Danielle Fluehr, Valerie Knight, Carla Molina, Jay Leahy and Thomas Joyce,