West Bridgewater Public Schools

Howard School 70 Howard Street

West Bridgewater, MA 02379

Tel: 508 894-1250 Fax: 508 894-1253

pspencer@wbridgewater.com www.wbridgewaterschools.org

Peggy Spencer Principal Howard School Newsletter

September 29, 2016

Curriculum Night Please join us this evening to learn about our curriculum and Howard School programs and to meet your child’s teacher. This is an adults only night. We look forward to seeing everyone at 6:00pm.

Progress Reports Sixth grade progress reports will be sent home with students tomorrow.

360 Club Members

Congratulations to our newest 360 Club members, who have been recognized by their teachers for Academic Achievement, Strong Effort, Great Behavior, or perhaps all three. The following students have been recognized by their classroom teachers: Grace Polen, Colin Maher, Ava O’Neil, Riley Bain, Ben Neilan, Alyssa Bassett, Kiara Brache, Jack Spence, Kyan Santiago-Calling, Curt Heath, and Adara McNeil.

Student Council Student council will meet on Monday after school. We will be collecting box tops all year for our homeroom box top challenge. Help raise money for the school and win a prize for your homeroom. We will be collecting canned food to bring to the food pantry in October. Please donate canned foods and perishables to benefit those in need. There will be collection boxes placed in the 4th, 5th and 6th grade hallway.

4th Grade News

Our 4th grade students attended Bog Hollow Farm in Kingston this week and made a "Bog in a Cup".

Mrs. Moore's 4th Grade Class found inspiration in the Kindness Rock Project.

Fifth Grade News

The fifth grade will be going on a field trip to Old Sturbridge Village on Thursday, October 20, 2016. More information will be coming out about this soon. The permission forms are going home with students today.

6th Grade News Forms have been handed out to students for the upcoming Patriot Place field trip. All permission slips are due by Tuesday, October 4th. The cost of the field trip is $22. The students will be attending the field trip on Friday, October 14, 2016.

DARE News West Bridgewater DARE has introduced a new Twitter feed with a goal of providing parents and the community with an overview of what we are talking about in our DARE classes. We hope to encourage our students and their families to share a dialog on the important topics that we discuss. We hope that DARE can be the icebreaker that opens up discussions on a variety of safety and wellness subjects. Our Twitter handle is @wbdare, and we look forward to seeing you there.

STEM Classes

Mr. Dempsey, our STEM teacher, is asking 4th and 5th grade students to bring in gallon water jugs or milk jugs. Please remember to clean out the milk jugs with soap and water. Also, all need students need to bring in two liter bottles for next week. Thank You!

Howard After-School Enrichment Program Starts on Monday

Registration is now open for the fall session. Classes will be held on Mondays from 2:30 - 3:30 and will run for six weeks, starting October 3rd and ending November 14th. Extra Sign up slips are available at the office. All sign up slips need to be returned by Friday, September, 30th, 2016. You may contact Mrs. DePaola with any questions at ddepaola@wbridgewater.com.

Social Media Please “Like” our Howard School Facebook page and follow us on Twitter “Howard WB” for current events and photo sharing, along with a glimpse into our school days.

Nurse’s Desk Along with the changing seasons comes an increase in illness. Here are a few examples of when your child should not attend school. If your child has a temperature of 100.0 F degrees or greater. They can return to school when they are fever free for 24 hours, without the use of medication. If your child has been vomiting or had diarrhea due to illness. They may return to school if 12 hours has passed since the last episode. If you have questions as to whether or not your child should attend school, please call me at 508-894-1250 ext.2406.

Save these Dates! Women’s Self Defense Class is coming back! November 6 and November 13

Once again, in partnership with the West Bridgewater School District, the West Bridgewater Police Department is again offering a Women’s Self Defense Class this fall. Taught by Bridgewater SGT Carl MacDermott, this high energy, hands-on class will be held on Sunday evening from 6:30pm until 9:30pm on November 6th and 13th. Martial Arts experts from MacDermott’s Tang Soo Do will share their wealth of experience to empower women to take an active role in the safety of them and their family. The class is open to women ages 13 and up, with a $35 donation to the West Bridgewater DARE program. Anyone interested is encouraged to email kthaxter@wbpd.com Sign up sheets will be available at West Bridgewater Schools and at the police station at 99 West Center Street.

“Reading Roars!” with Mrs. Richmond

Ava Millerick Summer Reading Winner of the Patriot’s Place gift card provided by

the W.B.P.T.O

Before you write! Whether your child lists facts, brainstorms ideas out loud, or draws a comic strip, doing pre-writing activities can make her finished report or essay more interesting and organized. Share these ideas. Write ABC Facts This list will make it easy for your youngster to keep track of information she gathers. Have her write the alphabet down the left side of a sheet of paper and write facts starting with as many letters as possible. For a paper on reptiles, she might write “cold blooded” for C and “vertebrates” for V. Hear Me Brainstorm Turn on a voice recorder, and let your child talk about her topic. Without paper and pencil in front of her, she may feel more relaxed, and her ideas will flow. Encourage her to state facts she already knows and to ask questions she needs to research. When she’s finished, she should play back the recording and take notes on what to include. Draw a Comic Strip Your youngster might enjoy creating a colorful comic strip as an outline for her paper. For instance, if she’s writing about the Wright brothers’ first flight, the frames of her comic strip could show them designing, building, testing, fixing problems, and taking flight. She can refer to the comic to keep events in order while she writes her report. ~From Reading Connection (copyrighted material of Resources for Educators, a division of CCH Incorporated) Book Picks: Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton (Don Tate) Born into slavery, young George taught himself to read and write, even though it was against the law. Soon he was writing poetry while he worked, eventually becoming the first African American to be published in the South. This biography follows his struggle to educate himself and gain freedom. Eager (Helen Fox) Siblings Gavin and Fleur aren’t comfortable with their family’s new robot, Eager. He’s different from the robots they’re used to—he learns and has emotions. When a robot uprising begins, Eager and the children set out to save humanity and to understand the meaning of “alive.” The first book in the Eager series. ~From Reading Connection (copyrighted material of Resources for Educators, a division of CCH Incorporated)

Please follow Brandi Richmond on Twitter @HowardReading “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” ― Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut

PTO Corner

PTO meeting dates for the school year will be: 10/18, 11/15, 12/20, 1/17/17, 2/7, 3/21, 4/25 & 5/23. Meetings are held at 7pm in the Howard School Library. All parents and staff are welcome! Thank you to all who attended in September! Please join us again in October! The PTO is looking for a chair for Santa's Breakfast and a chair for the Book Fair. Please contact an officer if interested. You received information last week about the first PTO fundraiser of the year! Our Meadow Farms fundraiser is super cool because you can register an account online for your child and receive a unique web link that you can share with friends and family across the country. All purchases through their link will be credited to your student's sales total and put them in the running for one of our incentive prizes! As if online ordering isn't exciting enough (you can still utilize the written form in your child's packet), all purchases will direct ship to your home or the homes of those ordering through your child. Gift Cards, a Kindle Fire and a 18" bike are among our incentive prizes and this is in addition to those offered within your packet through Meadow Farms! One thing to note: If your child received a packet that has another school listed on the front, don't worry. Any school ID will link them to the WB district sales. However, if you'd like to be sure you've got the the correct school listed, here are the School ID codes for our town: Howard School: #1030192 Rose L. MacDonald School: #1030191 Spring Street School: #1030187 Be sure to recycle your catalogs! Only the order sheet needs to be returned to your child's school by 10/7/16. Recycle all textiles that are clean and dry in the white bins outside of SSS, RLM & Howard. WBPTO receives the funds generated by your donations. Anything that can be reused is donated and the rest is recycled. Items that are accepted are on the website and FB page. All information for programs, logo merchandise, and officer's emails can be found here. https://sites.google.com/site/westbridgewaterpto/home The link is also on the WB Public School website under "quick links". "Like" our Facebook page for updates and notifications…West Bridgewater PTO