News from the Nest

Hello Elm Street School Families and Friends,

It has been so wonderful to see so many of you at Family/Educator conferences this week. Thank you to all of our families and educators who set aside time to check in and build connections that strengthen our community and support all of our students growing academically, socially, and emotionally.

If you have not had the opportunity to connect with the educators who work with your child(ren) we still have slots open for virtual check ins on the evening of November 2nd. To check availability and sign up to check in with classroom educators, essentialists, specialists, special educators, and related service providers click here.

Our Nest has been rich in opportunities to build community this week. Aside from Educator/Family conferences this week we are well into our Book Fair, had families in to volunteer for Fall and pumpkin themed crafts and activities, and have the Fall Family Festival coming up this weekend. Each of these experiences offer opportunities not only to build connections and relationships but also provides ways to contribute to the community by volunteering. If you are able and haven't had a chance to sign up to volunteer, the Fall Family Festival still needs your support!

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

• Upcoming Dates/Events: November
• Essentialists Weekly Newsletter: STEM
• November Counselor Newsletter
• Halloween at Elm Street School
• Monthly Assemblies at Elm Street School
• Diwali Celebration
• PAC Updates and Events

I hope to see many of you this weekend at the Fall Family Festival!

Jen

• 11/1 Native American Heritage Month begins, All Saints Day

• 11/1 November Monthly Assembly (students and staff only)

• 11/1-2 Day of the Dead

• 11/3 School Photo Make-up Day

• 11/7 Election Day

• 11/10 No School

• 11/11 Veterans Day

• 11/12 Diwali

• 11/15 6:00p Elm Multicultural Family Potluck

• 11/20 Transgender Day of Remembrance

• 11/22 Early Release Day

• 11/23-24 No School

• 11/24 Thanksgiving, National Day of Mourning

At the end of this month students who celebrate Halloween will be invited to participate in the annual Elm Street School Halloween parade. This event is for students and staff only. Students who do not celebrate Halloween or who may not want to participate will have a different activity planned and provided for them.

Please read the following expectations:

• Our parade will take place at the start of the day.

• Students can wear costumes to school. They will not be allowed to call home if anything is missing.

• Students may wear black and orange and participate in the parade if they do not want to wear a costume.

• Halloween masks and any type of inflatable costume are not allowed, given safety concerns.

• We ask that you refrain from applying make up and face paint as it can not be removed when it is time for costumes to be removed.

• No weapons (real or toy) are ever allowed in school. This includes “parts of costumes” such as a fire fighter’s axe, a cowboy’s guns, Robin Hood’s bow & arrow, etc. If you have a question about it, it's best to leave the item at home. Any items that violates this guideline will be stored in the main office and an adult caregiver will need to pick it up at the end of the school day.

• Students will change out of their costumes after the parade and should bring in a bag for their costume- please label with your child’s name to minimize mix-ups.

• School staff are not responsible to monitor that all costume pieces are returned home that day or for the condition they are returned in. (i.e. spills, rips, etc.)

Please note: to minimize disruptions, and for safety concerns, no visitors or volunteers will be allowed in the building until all students are back in their classrooms.

Moving forward through the rest of the school year we will gather together in monthly assemblies. Our goals for each assembly are:

• To offer opportunities for grade level bands to come together with shared experience to build community

• To celebrate student and staff successes, growth, and achievement

• To have shared common Social Emotional Learning goals each month

• To acknowledge and celebrate the rich diversity of our community

In order to meet the needs of all our students, we will have separate assemblies for our K-2 and grades 3-5 students.

For each assembly we will follow a Responsive Classroom Morning Meeting model with a greeting, share, and activity. During the "share" our educators have the opportunity to submit student work and photos that capture how students interacted with the previous month's theme. These artifacts are put into a slideshow and shown at each of the assemblies. During the "activity" portion of the assembly we will preview and connect with our upcoming monthly theme.

For the November assembly on 11/1, in our share we will be highlighting ways in which our students have been showing our SOAR expectations of being Safe, On Task, Always respectful, and Responsible during the start of the school year. For our activity we will be previewing our November theme of Gratitude and talking about Native American Heritage Month.

Below are our themes and cultural connections for monthly assemblies this school year:

November: Gratitude

Native American Heritage Month

December: Conflict Resolution

Winter Holidays

January: Goal Setting/Growth Mindset

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

February: Friendship/Kindness

Black History Month, Lunar New Year

March: Responsibility

Women’s History Month

April: Respect for Individual Differences

Autism Awareness Day, Poetry Month

May: Self Awareness

Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Heritage Month

June: Transitions

End of Year Celebrations

Come check out a preview of our Scholastic Book Fair coming to Elm Street School from October 20th through October 30th. Here you can learn about the ewallet where funds can be added to an online account that can be used by your student to shop at the Book Fair. There are also opportunities to pre-order the hottest books and preview the awesome selection of books and swag! You can also check out more information about the book fair here.

In partnership with Day Street Sports, Elm PAC has opened an online apparel store with both Walpole logo options! New merchandise has been added in addition to what we had last year! Start shopping today as the store will close on October 27th so that orders are available before the holiday season! Come check out the apparel!

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