Last Week for Box Tops

Box Tops collection is running through the end of this week! The class that collects the most will win books for the classroom so get yours in and help us earn money for Frenchtown. 

The current class leaders are Richards (617), Rakovics AM (567), Kowals (496) and Elsons (417).

Please put your box tops in a bag or envelope marked with your child's teacher's name and don't forget to check expiration dates!

American Heart Association Events

Dear Parents, 

This month, your children will be participating in two endeavors sponsored by the American Heart Association. 

They will be doing Jump Rope For Heart during gym class.  This is a fun event where they will jump rope while learning about their heart and how to keep it healthy. 

In addition, they are also encouraged to participate in the Get Healthy Poster Contest. Students can submit a poster that highlights their favorite healthy activity and favorite healthy food. They can demonstrate how physical activity and healthy eating helps build healthy hearts, healthy families, and healthy communities. There are several prizes for the top submissions in each age group, including an award ceremony at the RI State House in May. 

These are both wonderful opportunities that I hope your children will enjoy participating in. Please be on the look out for permission slips and more information coming home this week. More information can be accessed through these links as well:

http://www.heart.org/idc/groups/heart-public/@wcm/@fda/documents/downloadable/ucm_479360.pdf

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Affiliate/Get-Healthy-Poster-Contest_UCM_479362_Events.jsp#.Vw0xBFX3bCQ

If you have questions, please contact Dr. Jennifer Jarbeau (jfjarbeau@hotmail.com) or LeeAnne DeCarlo (leeanne.decarlo@heart.org).

Frenchtown Academic Newsletter for the Week of 4/11

"Character Matters"

Bravo to the cast of "Character Matters" for two amazing shows this weekend! We are so proud of you!

And huge thanks to director Valerie Myette of Experiments in Theater for putting on another fabulous production, and to all of the parent volunteers who've worked so hard for the past four months to help bring Valerie's vision to life.

Frenchtown Academic Newsletter for the Week of 4/4

April 2016 Principal's Newsletter

REMINDER: Girls Night Out Forms Due!

Reminder - registration forms for Girls Night Out are due tomorrow, Wednesday, March 23rd! Our theme is "Frenchtown Girls Rock!" and girls won't want to miss it.

We know there are often questions about this event so here's some important info:

WHEN - Friday, April 1st from 6:00-8:00 pm

WHO - Frenchtown girls and the special adult of their choice. Many choose to bring their dads but moms, grandparents, aunts, uncles, or friends are all welcome. Please note - only one adult per child.

WHAT - DJ and dancing, photo booth, pizza, cupcakes, fruit, water and crafts 

ATTIRE - Dress to impress!  

COST - $25/couple (student & adult) plus $5 for any additional sibling students 

Questions? Reach out to Sarah Quigg (squigg99@gmail.com).

Yearbook Orders Due April 3rd

Yearbook orders are now being accepted! The Frenchtown yearbook contains 64 pages of beautiful color photos of students and teachers, including class pictures, special events and more. It's a fabulous keepsake that your kids will cherish for years to come.

Forms will go home in backpacks this week but you can also download one below or order online at ybpay.lifetouch.com using Yearbook ID Code: 9385816. Please reference the form for pricing information.

Spirit Week Winners Announced

We hope everyone enjoyed Spirit Week before break! The class participation was terrific and we're excited to announce that Mrs. Rinn's class won with 150 points! They will get a "Parachute and Popsicles" party with Mrs. Vaughn. Great job!

Reading Fair Thank You & Winners

From Mrs. Hayes and Mrs. Greenberg:

Thank you to all the Frenchtown Students and Families who participated in the 2015 reading Fair. Our second year was a great success! Thank you for all of the wonderful feedback we received about the event. We are so happy that this is such a meaningful literary experience for so many of our families and we are very proud of all of the participants. Please join us in congratulating this year's award recipients. They were so supportive of each other at today's celebration.

2015 FRENCHTOWN READING FAIR WINNERS

Kindergarten:

1st Place: Alaina Medina

2nd Place: Peighton Fleming

3rd Place: Gabrielle Medina

Fan Favorite: Cameron Gates

Grade 1:

1st Place: Kendyll Morandi

2nd Place: Ben Shapiro

3rd Place: Harry Verret

Fan Favorite: Rachel Quigg

Grade 2:

1st Place: Nick Ferguson

2nd Place: Elena Garcia

3rd Place: Daven Gopalkrishnan

Fan Favorite: Ani Gomez and Olivia Prior

Scavenger Hunt Winners:  Danielle Dronzek, Kelsey Tella-Torilli, Madison Hennessy, Radhika Vedantham

Spirit Week Day 5: Frenchtown Friday

Tomorrow is FRENCHTOWN FRIDAY! Here are some ways to discuss the theme with your kids:

Isn't it great to be a Frenchtown Bear? We show our spirit in a lot of ways. When we listen quietly, raise our hands, remember our manners and do our very best, we all work as a team to make Frenchtown the best school it can be. Frenchtown Bears have a lot to be proud of! 

On Friday, wear blue, white or Frenchtown apparel to show your school spirit.

Jump Rope for Heart

From Chris Carr, Frenchtown's Physical Education Teacher:

Frenchtown School will run a Jump Rope for Heart event between April 27-May 1, 2015 during Physical Education classes.

Jump Rope for Heart is a community service project that benefits the American Heart Association, Rhode Island Affiliate. Money raised by children, who participate in the event, will fund valuable research projects, as well as community service programs, including blood pressure screenings, CPR training and school site educational programs.

During the event, your child will be jumping rope as part of a team with approximately six other children during P.E. class. They will take turns jumping and work together to complete the entire event with other teams of children. I will monitor the jumping and insure safety.

Prior to the event, your child will bring home a Sponsor Form Envelope to use when collecting donations from family and friends who agree to sponsor his/her participation in Jump Rope for Heart. Children are encouraged to collect as many donations as possible, BUT THEY ARE NOT REQUIRED. If interested, we ask that children do not go door-to-door or ask strangers for donations. Donated money should be brought to P.E. class by Wednesday, May 6, 2015. Please convert all donated money into a check made out to The American Heart Association. No cash please! Disregard the prizes listed on the envelope… Prizes will be awarded to the individual classes that raise the most money.

We appreciate your consideration in allowing your child to participate.

Spirit Week Day 4: National Pride

Tomorrow is NATIONAL PRIDE DAY! Here are some ways to discuss the theme with your kids:

There are many reasons to be proud to be an American. We show national spirit when we salute the flag with respect each morning, show gratitude to the men and women who serve in the military and by wearing our national colors: red, white and blue. On Thursday, warred, white and blue.

Spirit Week Day 3: Everyone's a Character

Tomorrow is EVERYONE'S A CHARACTER DAY! Here are some ways to discuss the theme with your kids:

Did you know Rhode Island is the smallest state in the United States of America? We may be little, but we have a lot of state spirit. Rhode Islanders are proud of the things that make us a little different, like Del's lemonade and Duckpin bowling. We're proud to be a bunch of characters!

This week is also Reading Week so in celebration of our favorite books, Wednesday will be a day to dress up like our favorite book characters! Have fun and don't be afraid to be a little wacky.

Moms and dads: Costumes only - no props, especially swords or other toy weapons!

Spirit Week Day 2: Team Day

Great job to everyone who dressed up for COLOR DAY today! The class counters hanging in the front office are already starting to fill up.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, is TEAM DAY so students should wear a shirt for any team like the Patriots, Yankees or Celtics!  Maybe a college? Maybe East Greenwich? Or maybe wear their own team shirt from a team they’ve been on!

Here are some ways to talk about team spirit with your child:

• Who is your favorite team?  
• Have you ever gone to watch your older brother or sister play for one of the High School teams, routing for the East Greenwich Avengers?  
• It’s fun to cheer for your favorite team, but we need to remember different people like different teams.  
• We show our spirit by encouraging our favorite team, and being a good sport when another team wins. 

Academic Newsletter For the Week of 4/13

From Mrs. Vaughn:

January 19:  Liam W

April 14: Maxwell H.
April 16: Isabella B., Keyonna D. & Kaylee V.
April 17: Constantin G.
April 19: Mrs. Sullivan
April 20: Peighton F. & Sophia W.
April 21: Markus R.
April 22:Brady N.
April 24: Miranda T.
April 26: Catherine S.


FRENCHTOWN NOTES

• Biomes was a huge hit! Special thanks to our talented actors and parent volunteers: Susan Morandi, Donnah Plante, Jen Right, Denise Lopez, Betsy Aulisio, Brian Leahy, Sean Foley, Sara Foley, Stephanie Elevate, Katie Erickson, Stephanie Ferguson, Judy Hart, Lora Marci, Maura McCarthy, Danielle Medina, Kerry Rowe, Carla Molina, Elyssa Engelman, Edda Garcia, Mandy Lehne, Beth Gibson, Sarah Meleski, Ruth Okere, Jennifer Parisi, Sarah Quigg, Cindy Speranza, Renee Syed, Meenu Vedantham and Bethany Verret. Also, thanks to COA for their support. And big thanks to Miss Valerie and Mackie Saylor for bringing out the talent in each of our gifted student actors!
• The Reading Fair is Thursday night from 6:00-7:00.
• April vacation is April 20th-24th.

IN THE CLASSROOMS
Kindergarten
Math:

• Writing and representing numbers to 20
• Parent Newsletter

E/LA:

• Goal: RF.K.3 - Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.

Theme:

• Elson: Jj, jobs, jack and the beanstalk
• Rakovic: Uu, Up, /u/

Other:

• It's Spirit Week! Make sure to check to see what the theme is each day.
• Make sure you are using Reading A-Z with your student. If you've lost your login information, please let us know.

Grade 1
Math:

• We continue to work on multiple ways to solve and explain ways to solve addition and subtraction facts to 20. Methods include doubles, doubles +1, related facts or fact families, decomposing to 10 and using subtraction to solve addition facts.
• We continue to drill addition and subtraction facts for fluency. Please continue to reinforce and practice this at home. Subtraction is a particular challenge.

E/LA:

• The children have been focusing on comparing and contrasting factual texts.
• They are doing informational writing, referencing the texts for similarities and differences.
• Children are also being introduced to homophones and "r" controlled vowels.

Science:

• We are beginning our Pebbles, Sand and Silt kit with some lessons on volcanic rocks (tuff, scoria and basalt).

Other:

• Don't forget about Spirit Week!
• Congratulations to our young actors in the Biomes play. Bravo!

Grade 2

Math:

• Now that second graders have finished up the data and measurement unit, it's time to learn about arrays. This will allow for an easy transition to multiplication next year.
• We will also be learning to tell time to the nearest five minutes. This is something that should be easy and fun to practice at home as well.

E/LA:

• Students will be writing a biography on George Washington, and practicing writing poetry as well.

Other:

• Don't forget to check your child's backpack for information on Spirit Week!

Spirit Week Day 1: Color Day

Spirit Week is about more than just dressing up - it's about teaching our students about working as a team and having pride in their team. Here are some talking points to discuss with your child about Spirit Week:

• You are an important part of your classroom, and each of you contributes your gifts to make your class fun and unique.  
• Your class is a team in learning! 
• This week, we will focus on teamwork and team spirit.  
• Your classmates are your teammates; your class will earn points for everyone who shows their spirit each day – even your teachers! 
• You have team spirit, you encourage your teammates in a positive way and help each other out.
• Teams have good spirit when they work together and use kind words.

Spirit Week Volunteers Needed

Spirit Week is almost here and the PTG needs two volunteers each day from 11:00-11:30 to add macaroni to each class counter. It's super easy so please consider giving a half hour of your time during the week of April 13th-17th! You can sign up HERE.

Academic Newsletter For the Week of 4/6

From Mrs. Vaughn:

January 19:  Liam W

Happy Birthday to our Frenchtown Friends:
April 7: Mrs. Anderson
April 8: Madeleine A.
April 9: Ellie P. & Adeline P.
April 10: Sophia S. & Mr. Feuti
April 11: Natalie F. & Rishi G.
April 12: David A, Lauren E. & Daven G.


FRENCHTOWN NOTES

• Don't miss BIOMES at the Odeum on April 10th & 11th!

IN THE CLASSROOMS
Kindergarten
Math:

• Identify, describe, analyze, create and compare 2-D and 3-D shapes.
• Parent Newsletter

E/LA:

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

Theme:

• Elson: Review
• Rakovic: Zz, zebra, /z/

Other:

• Make sure you are using Reading A-Z with your student. If you have lost your log-in information, please let us know.

Grade 1
Math:

• We are working on learning a variety of strategies ti solve addition and subtraction problems to 20.
• We are working on doubles facts, doubles +1, doubles +2 and decomposing numbers to 10.
• Further informatio on these topics was sent home last week.

E/LA:

• Children are learning to compare and contrast two texts.
• Children are learning to find information in texts and reference that information in their writing. This lays the foundation for reports they will be writing in future years.

Science:

• We will be beginning our new science kit on Pebbles, Sand and Silt shortly. The first unit focuses on rocks and other earth materials. They will learn to compare and sort rocks. They will learn the qualities of various types of rocks.

Other:

• Families are encouraged to join in the Reading Fair project. The children are excited about the idea and have been learning about it in class and in library.

Grade 2

Math:

• Second graders are enjoying plotting information into various graph forms.
• Please keep practicing adding coins and measuring with a ruler to the nearest 1/2 inch as well.

E/LA:

• Children will be reading and comparing different texts on the same topic. We are trying to introduce them tot he idea of researching multiple sources when they are working on informational writing.
• Since April is "Poetry Month" we will be reading and writing carious forms of poetry.

Science:

• We will be starting our unit on Insects. Stay tuned for further information!

Biomes is This Weekend

Frenchtown's school play is this Friday, April 10th at 6:00 pm and this Saturday, April 11th at 2:00 pm. Tickets are expected to sell out so get yours now, either online at www.theodeum.org ($5 + $1.10 processing fee) or by calling Main Street Music (401) 884-1430.

For those participating in the show, it's Tech Week! Here's the schedule:

Wednesday, April 8th @ Odeum

3:00 pm - All performers arrive (Grades k, 1 & 2)

4:00 pm - Kindergarteners dismissed

4:45 pm - Grades 1 & 2 dismissed

Friday, April 10th @ Odeum

3:00 pm - Grades 1 & 2 performers arrive for a brush up rehearsal/run-through

4:15 pm - Snack break

4:30 pm - Kindergarten performers arrive in costume and rehearse (snack time for grades 1 & 2 continue)

4:45 pm - Grades 1 & 2 get into costume

5:00 pm - Work through anything that needs fixing

5:30 pm - House opens

6:00 pm - Showtime!

Saturday, April 11th @ Odeum

All actors should be at the theater dressed in costume/make up ready at 1:00 pm.

Please note that parents are responsible for transporting their children to The Odeum from Frenchtown on Wed. & Fri. If you will be picking your child up from Frenchtown, you must send a car bear note for the office. It’s important that we utilize every moment of this rehearsal time, please help us by making sure your child has gone to the bathroom, had a snack and is ready to go at 3:00 pm at The Odeum.

BIOMES will be filmed and photographed. DVDs of the performance and photo CDs will be available for purchase. If you didn't receive an order form, you can buy them at the Odeum on show days.