News from the Nest

Hello Elm Street School Families and Friends,

We had another busy and full week here at the Nest with our students engaging in coding Evo to visit towns they created in STEM, planting seeds and identifying living and non living things in kindergarten, working on identifying different literary genres in third grade, playing with the parachute in PE classes, engaging with ST Math puzzles to help their classes move through the March Mathness bracket, and so much more!

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

• Upcoming Dates/Events: March
• March Counseling Connection
• Essentialist Weekly Newsletter: ART
• Math Update
• Spring Concert Save the Date
• Elm Street School Gear Sale
• MCAS Dates
• Elm Street School PAC Parent's Night Out
• Intergenerational Craft Event at Elm
• International Dance Day Event
• April Vacation Week Camp
• Walpole's First Holi Festival
• Elm 180 Fundraiser
• Egg My Yard Fundraiser

Next week, and intermittently through the end of May, our Elm Street School Eagles will be taking MCAS in grade 3-5 (see schedule below). We know our Eagles will all soar and make us proud of their efforts, growth, and achievements. While it is important always for our students to get plenty of rest each night, we encourage our students in grades 3-5 to really focus on good sleep hygiene and healthy eating during testing windows so they can show up well rested and confident. At Elm we are also working to minimize any individual test taking stress during this period and you can too at home. We use our MCAS data in concert with a myriad of other data points to help us get a picture of student growth and achievement across the school so that we can identify areas of improvement in our own instructional practices. MCAS scores are one data point and not the whole story for each child. If your child(ren) seem worried you can help reassure them by letting them know how proud you and we are of them already based on all their hard work this year and that our only expectation is for them to put forward their best effort.

I hope everyone has a restful weekend and we will see you back at the Nest on Monday for a short four day week.

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
• 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

Your students are probably buzzing about March Mathness, our Math version of the NCAA March Madness tournament. Classes have been competing against each other to see whose class can solve the most ST Math puzzles and move on in the bracket. All classes, even if knocked out, are still in the tournament to the very end as there are Wild Card entries where teams can get back in and Honorable Mentions at the end, along with lots of other positive recognition for all the students have accomplished.

You might be wondering why we emphasize puzzle progress in ST Math. Well, it is a lot more than just solving puzzles. ST Math provides a great opportunity for students to grow their problem solving skills, resolve and persevere through productive struggle, and most importantly, strengthen their Number Sense. There is no reading involved with ST Math which means no directions. Students need to problem solve to figure out what JiJi is trying to get them to do in order for JiJi to cross the screen. The puzzles become progressively more difficult as students need to use what they learned in the last puzzle to be successful in the next. Each level helps them cross the bridge in order to get to the next mountain. This continuum allows students to build connections and fosters growth around Number Sense.

What exactly is number sense, you might be asking? Number sense is a person’s ability to compose and decompose numbers, compute mentally using a variety of strategies, make reasonable estimates, reason with numbers, and understand quantities and the magnitude of numbers. It begins with learning to count and seeing the patterns in our number system and grows to being able to look at a more complex problem and find the most efficient way to solve it based on the numbers. ST Math is just one way students work on their Number Sense. The activities students do in Number Corner everyday also help strengthen this skill. Below are some links with quick activities to help build number sense at home in your daily activities.

• Quick Number Sense activities for in the car, while waiting to pick up a sibling, cooking dinner or waiting for a meal at a restaurant.

• 12 Activities to Build Number Sense

• What is Number Sense

We are looking forward to a great end to our March Mathness Tournament and love the excitement and energy the students are bringing to their classrooms around it. Just as a frame of reference, the puzzle progress goal for the end of March for all students is 64%. Our goal this year is for all students to reach at least 80% completion by June and March Mathness is helping so many students take positive steps toward reaching that goal!

Be sure to mark your calendars for our Spring Grade Level Concerts!

In the spring, students in grades K-5 will have an opportunity to share what they have been learning throughout the year with their families! Performances will feature the culmination of their work demonstrating skills and concepts learned throughout the academic school year.

The concerts will be held during the school day, on the following dates:

Thursday, May 16th

Grade K - 9:00 am

Grade 1 - 9:40 am

Thursday, May 23rd

Grade 2 - 9:00 am

Grade 3 - 9:40 am

Thursday, May 30th

Grade 4 - 9:00 am

Grade 5 - 9:40 am

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

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

Extended Day is offering an April Vacation Camp.

• Hours of camp are 9-4.
• Drop off is 8-9am.
• Pick up from 3-4pm.
• Camp will take place at Boyden April 16-18.

Register here: https://forms.gle/ythtVbAZseMrGP548

Be Inclusive and Walpole Cultural Council invite you to Walpole's first Holi Festival, which will take place on Saturday, April 6, 2024. Please see the flyer for details!

The event promises to be colorful, complete with performances, organic color play, an array of vendors, Indian cuisine, and much more!

Registration Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf-aUllILM5ynpUJ2ILe4dCHn4gzE1iGeP_KN-0xgVmYtzkSA/viewform

We are grateful for your support and look forward to celebrating Holi together with you.

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