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News from the Nest

Issue #11: November 3rd, 2023

News fromthe NestIssue #11: November 3rd, 2023

Hello Elm Street School Families and Friends,


I hope that everyone had a good week this week and had the opportunity to connect with our educators during this stretch of fall Educator/Family conferences this week and last. Partnerships between families and school are critical to student engagement and success and we hope you continue to connect with the many opportunities and ways to stay informed and participate in our school community.


I want to give a special SHOUT OUT to our Grade 5 student leaders who bravely facilitated and supported parts of our first all school assemblies on Wednesday. They did an incredible job modeling and leading activities and demonstrating positive ways in which to contribute to our community. I am looking forward to more student leaders stepping up in future assemblies and within other parts of our school community.


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

  • Upcoming Dates/Events: November
  • Multicultural Family Potluck
  • Monthly Assemblies at Elm Street School
  • Diwali Celebration
  • PAC Updates and Events


Don't forget to turn those clocks back on Sunday and remember that this coming week we do not have school on Friday in recognition of Veteran's Day.

Jen

Upcoming Dates/Events: November

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Multicultural Family Potluck


It is time to celebrate the Elm Street School Community!


Join us on Wednesday November 15th from 6:30 - 8:00p in the Elm Street School Cafetorium for our annual Elm Street School Multicultural Family Potluck.


Participate in this special event by cooking a family dish, providing an educational experience/game, or demonstrating a particular custom. Or just come and join the fun!


To RSVP to the event please click here.


All families are invited to share about your family traditions and heritage as we gather together to strengthen our community. We are looking for students and adult caregivers alike to share in dance, food, and special traditions. Please sign up here to contribute to the celebration and keep this annual Elm Street School tradition going strong!


Skip a night of cooking dinner! Come and celebrate together with Food, Culture, and Music!


* Contact Ellen DeGirolamo ellendeeg@gmail.com or Principal Buller for more information or with additional questions

Monthly Assemblies at Elm Street School

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 highlighted 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. During the celebrations part of the meeting we gave shout outs to our fifth grade volunteers and leaders, our whole school for reaching 25% on our school wide ST Math journey, and our custodians John Kane and Tony Sperdigliozzi. For our activity we previewed our November theme of Gratitude and talked about Native American Heritage Month. You may consider asking your child(ren) what ideas they have to share gratitude this upcoming month as a way to connect to our school wide SEL theme.


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