News from the Nest

Hello Elm Street School Families and Friends,

Our week leading up to the February break was filled with joy and kindness as we celebrated Kindness Week here at the Nest. Students decorated doors, wrote notes of appreciation, and thought about ways that they could work together to help spread kindness within our Walpole community. We even had a visit from the Elm Street Eagle, who appeared for the first time since 2020, to celebrate all of the hard work and acts of kindness this week.

I encourage everyone in our Elm Street community to take some time over the break next week to connect with your child(ren) and think about ways we can continue to engage in acts of deep kindness that will ripple throughout our community.

In this week's News from the Nest you will find additional information about:

• Upcoming Dates/Events: March
• Math Update
• March Book Madness (K-2)
• Grades 4 and 5 Growth and Development Lessons
• Essentialist Weekly Newsletter: PHYSICAL EDUCATION
• Elm Street School Gear Sale
• Kindness Week Video
• March Assembly Preview
• MCAS Dates
• Elm 180 Fundraiser

I hope that everyone has some opportunities over the February Break to rest, read, and engage in activities that help you and your child(ren) recharge and find connection. See you all back in school on Monday February 26th!

Jen

• Women's History Month
• 3/1 Dress Like Your Favorite Book Character Day
• 3/1 8:45a/2:00p March Assembly
• 3/6 Family/Educator Evening Conferences
• 3/8 Early Release Day: Family/Educator Conferences
• 3/8 Mahashivaratri
• 3/10 - 4/9 Ramadan
• 3/10 Daylight Savings Starts (turn clocks ahead one hour)
• 3/14 Pi Day, Family/Educator Evening Conferences, 6:45p School Committee Meeting
• 3/15 2:00p Harney Irish Dance Performance
• 3/17 St. Patrick's Day
• 3/19 Nowruz
• 3/20 First Day of Spring
• 3/21 World Down Syndrome Day, March PAC Meeting
• 3/22 Early Release Day
• 3/23 Purim, Parents' Night Out
• 3/25 Holi
• 3/26 and 3/27 Grade 5 ELA MCAS Sessions 1 and 2
• 3/28 Grade 4 ELA MCAS Session 1
• 3/29 School Closed, Good Friday
• 3/31 Easter, International Transgender Day of Visibility

With February Vacation next week, your students may be looking for some fun ways to fill their time, and you may be looking for something that is not on a screen! Board games are a fantastic way to build number sense and math skills while having fun! A compilation of research that explored relationships between playing board games and mathematical knowledge and numerical skills found significant gains in 52% of the tasks analyzed. When comparing the intervention group and the control group, there were significant positive differences in 32% of the cases (Ballardes, July 2023). Board games provide an engaging, fun atmosphere, boost critical thinking, enhance number recognition, and offer flexible learning opportunities.

So, what are some of the best games? Well, many of us grew up with Monopoly of course, the board with 10 spaces on each side, adding and subtracting different amounts of money, etc., so it is no surprise that it is number 1 on many lists. Here is a Top 20 list of the best board games to enhance your child’s math abilities. Artful Math offers some tips to look for when choosing a math board game to play-find one that all players can win and that helps all kids practice and improve while playing. If just the fastest or the most skilled player is going to win, it can be frustrating. That would negate the last tip of choosing one kids will LOVE! You want to hear them laughing and having fun while playing. This top list focuses on games for specific grade levels. Finally, our Family Math Website has this list of Family Board Games that you might enjoy. You probably already have some of these games in a closet somewhere, so dust them off, take a break from screens and enjoy some good, “old-fashioned” fun while growing your math brain at the same time!

We will kick off our K-2 March Book Madness with a Character Day on Friday 3/1. All students in kindergarten through grade 5 are invited to dress as their favorite book character. (Please leave masks and any toy weapons at home)

During this March Book Madness, K-2 classes read 2 picture books each week and then vote on which book is their favorite book. The winning book will move onto the next bracket until we have Elm Street's School's Winner.

We want to thank PAC for their generosity in funding this special event for our students by purchasing copies of the texts competing for Elm Street School's Favorite Picture Book and then purchasing copies of the winner for each K-2 class.

This notice is to inform you that as part of the 4th and 5th grade health curriculum, we will be teaching a unit on Growth and Development. All lessons will be taught with all genders present in the same classroom. This unit is scheduled to begin shortly and will include 2 or 4 lessons over the course of 4 weeks.

Length:

2 lessons for Grade 4 (Hygiene/Nutrition)

4 lessons for Grade 5 (Hygiene/Nutrition and Endocrine System - Growth and Development)

The subject of puberty can be a sensitive topic for our students. We encourage you to discuss with your child the changes that will occur as they grow. The Growth and Development unit is designed to increase your child’s knowledge of the changes that are associated with puberty and becoming an adult. Specific topics that will be covered include: the endocrine system and its functions; hormone production; physical and emotional changes of the body during puberty; anatomy and physiology of the reproductive system; as well as the importance of good hygiene, diet, exercise and responsible choices.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the educational materials that we will be using, please feel free to contact our school nurse Tina DiCicco (tdicicco@walpole.k12.ma.us) If you choose to opt out of the Growth and Development unit, please let us know by March 1st, 2024

Our Student Council has partnered with the Run House here in Walpole to sell Elm Street School and Walpole gear. 10% of sales from our online shop will be donated to the Walpole Council on Aging. Visit our online shop here: https://therunhouse.com/collections/elm-street-school

As part of Kindness Week our Grade 5 Student Council members interviewed some of our Kindergarteners to ask them all about kindness. They worked with Mrs. Farley and Ms. Flanagan to then make a video to share with the Walpole Council on Aging to help brighten their week!

Ms Flanagan also had a photo booth set up in STEM for teachers and students to come and take photos during our various themed days and then put the photos together into a video. You can watch it here.

The Friday after we get back from the February Break we will gather for our monthly assembly. Our March assembly will follow the same format as our previous November, December, January, and February assemblies and you can find our plan below.

• Review Group Plan
• Greeting
• Share (Reflecting on the month of February)
• Announcements and Celebrations
• Preview March themes of Responsibility and Women's History Month

As a reminder our Elm Assembly is for students and Elm staff only.

Please note these dates for our upcoming Spring MCAS

March 26 and 27: Grade 5 ELA Sessions 1 and 2

March 28 and April 2: Grade 4 ELA Sessions 1 and 2

April 3 and 4: Grade 3 ELA Sessions 1 and 2

April 30 and May 1: Grade 5 Math Sessions 1 and 2

May 2 and 3: Grade 4 Math Sessions 1 and 2

May 7 and 8: Grade 3 Math Sessions 1 and 2

May 9 and 10: Grade 5 STE Sessions 1 and 2

Email: jbuller@walpole.k12.ma.us
Website: https://www.walpole.k12.ma.us/o/ess
Location: 415 Elm Street, Walpole, MA, USA
Phone: 508.660.7374