November Newsletter

Scroll down to read in its entirety.
 

October Newsletter

September Newsletter

Please see below for Mrs. Vaughn's September Newsletter. You can also find it HERE.

Frenchtown April Newsletter

Here is Frenchtown's April Newsletter!

Frenchtown March Newsletter

Here is the March Newsletter for Frenchtown including:

• Student input form for current K and Grade 1 parents which are due March 24th
• Information on the new pilot program for Grade 2 pre-lunch recess from the SIT Subcommittee on Wellness
• Spring photos will be taken March 12th
• Registration information for the 12th Annual RI Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Nutrition Fuels Fitness 5K on Sunday, April 12th
• This month's morning announcements focus
• Suggested reading

If you can't download the newsletter below, you can read it online here.

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,

Mrs. Vaughn's December Newsletter

A message from Mrs. Vaughn:

Did you know that by the age of four, children have already created their own understanding around ‘success’ and what it means to be ‘smart’?  For some, success comes from being smart.  This is determined largely by genetics and our environment.  Some kids are smart and some just aren’t. This is referred to as a ‘fixed mindset’.

For others, success comes from effort.  With hard work, most kids can do most things.  Schools and teachers help to build individual capacity. This is a ‘growth mindset’.  Children with a fixed mindset tend to get angry or frustrated with constructive feedback, resist challenge, give up faster, reject hard work and often cheat more.  Their self-concept of being smart based on little effort also means they typically grow less academically.

Children with a growth mindset accept feedback more readily, embrace challenge, and persist longer with difficult tasks, thus growing more academically.

How does understanding mindset impact parenting?  Consider the recent New York Magazine article, The Power and Peril of Praising Your Kids. As adults, while we want to build up a child’s self esteem, we need to be careful to send the right message.  Take time to model your own learning.  Communicate learning challenges and the reward in substantial effort, “Wow!  Learning that new computer program at work was hard.  I’m so glad I kept trying.  Now I’ve got it!  It feels so good to learn something new!”

We need to be aware of how children interpret praise. Young children know when praise is over the top or disingenuous.  As children get older, they often see praise as a signal that adults feel they are inadequate and need encouragement.  Do we stop praising children?  Heavens no!  We need to be sure that praise is genuine and specific and part of an ongoing conversation with our children about their learning. 

In the spirit of the upcoming holidays, Frenchtown will once again be accepting donations of gift cards to support our families in need.  With recent economic conditions, there are several families at Frenchtown that could use our support to provide some very basic needs this holiday season.  If you are able to contribute, please send a gift card in an envelope to our office, marked “Holiday Donation”.  Thank you for your support!

Morning Announcements for the month of December will include an emphasis on taking responsibility for one’s actions and choosing the right thing to do.

Taking responsibility for one's choices and actions - Taking responsibility builds trust, which can create more freedom in our lives.

Here are some books you might enjoy at home to emphasize these concepts:

• Clean Your Room, Harvey Moon!, P. Cummings 
• Horton Hatches the Egg, Dr. Seuss 
• Horton Hears a Who, Dr. Seuss 
• Miss Rumphius, B. Cooney 
• Right Choices, K. Taylor 
• Self-Discipline, L. Raatma 
• Words Are Not for Hurting, E. Verdick 
• One Smile, C. McKinley Stone Soup, J. Muth 
• The Giving Tree, S. Silverstein 
• The Giving Book: Open the Door to a Life of Giving, E. Sabin 
• Make Someone Smile: And 40 More

Town Meetings with Mrs. Vaughn and Mr. Dwyer are taking place weekly.  Grade level groups of students meet weekly to discuss school wide issues and expectations for our learning community.

Mr. Dwyer is meeting with Grade 1 students and discussing topics on social and academic success included in the Second Step program.

Mrs. Vaughn is presenting lessons in character development using Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs for Kindergarten and Popcorn Park for Grade 2.

Interesting articles for parents:

• YIKES!  My Kid Wants a Mobile Phone  
• 7 Intelligent Gifts for Tech Savvy Kids  
• 10 Most Violent Video Games of 2014 and What To Play Instead