Leverett

FEBRUARY 13, 2015

Monday – Friday, February 16-20

            Winter Vacation

Monday, February 23

            School Committee Meeting – 6:00 pm

Tuesday, February 24

            Battle of the Books

            Budget Meeting: School Comm., Selectboard, and Finance Committee at Town Hall  - 7:00pm

Thursday, February 26

            Forum on Regionalization in the LES Gym - 7:00pm

Friday, Feburary 27

            All-School Assembly – 2:15 pm

Thursday, March 5

            Coffee with the Middle School Principal at LES – 7:00 pm

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Greetings from the Leverett School Committee

As a consequence of the multiple snowstorms over the past few weeks the Leverett School Committee has had to twice cancel its monthly meeting. We have rescheduled the February meeting to Monday February 23rd, 2015 at 6:00pm in the LES library. Among the agenda items are a discussion of the FY16 budget and the current status of the Regionalization process. 

Also that week (on Tuesday, February 24^th) the School Committee will meet with the Selectboard and Finance Committee to discuss the FY16 budget.  The meeting will take place at Town Hall at 7:00 pm. 

Finally, on Thursday February 26th, 2015 at 7:00pm in the LES gym there will be a Regionalization Forum to present those in attendance copies of the current proposals before the Regional School Committee and to provide an opportunity for residents to comment and ask questions regarding the proposals and the process going forward. I urge you to attend as many of these meetings as you possibly can. I know they are all stacked up in one week, but I can assure you that was never our intention. We need your input on both of these critical issues. If you have any questions regarding the meetings or the items for discussion please do not hesitate to contact me.

Respectfully, Kip Fonsh, School Committee Chair

IN THE SCHOOLHOUSE

One Hundred Days of School, MANY Accomplishments 

We just celebrated the 100^th day of school. During that time, there have been thousands of accomplishments, both big and small. Here are the first fifty! 

Kindergartners told me:

1. We have learned all the sounds in the alphabet.

2. We are getting very good at quiet transitions.

3. We put together skeletons, and learned about bones and the organs in our bodies.

From First Grade:

4. We created chapter books.

5. We ALL can sit down and read you a book.

6. We can count to 100 by 5’s and 10’s AND we each made a project using 100 objects.

7. We have learned how to greet each other in many different ways, including several languages.

8. We are doing research on bears and can tell you what an adaptation is.

9. We created maps and models of our bedrooms.

10. We learned about the continents and sang the continent song at an assembly. 

The Second Graders added:

11. We’ve become more skilled and independent readers.

12.  We are better at typing.

13.  We’re getting to be true authors.

14. We’re better mathematicians, and understand things like symmetry.

15. We can write longer poems.

16. We have become a stronger classroom community, and are caring for ourselves, each other, and the school

17. We learned to make 3-D snowflakes.

18. We’ve created creative projects. 

Some of Grade Three accomplishments:

19. We created instruments for a weather station.

20. We made volcanoes that erupted!

21. We read biographies and each of us created a ‘vokis’ to teach others about our person.

22. We had a publication celebration of our work. 

Fourth graders said:

23. We are getting better at doing things more quickly and with more confidence, like reading and writing.

24. We are getting better at achieving the Hopes and Dreams that we thought of at the beginning of the school year.

25. We're being more positive, and have earned almost 400 positivity points in January and February.

26. We have finished our study of Plants.

27. We're better at getting along and putting in a good effort in PE.  We are getting more skills that we are good at in PE.

28. Our transitions are getting to be faster and more efficient. 

Fifth graders:

29. Climbed Brushy Mountain.

30. Started raising trout.

31. Learned to debate.

32. Created and presented awesome travel websites. 

Sixth graders:

33. Learned to write a literary essay.

34. Wrote persuasive essays.

35. Have been learning to compute positive and negative numbers

36. Created a science video about the sun and moon.

37. Have exceeded 10,000 pages of reading each month

38. Have done the high ropes course/leap of faith at Morse Hill.

39. Have programmed robots to go around a square and end up in a box. 

From the Computer Lab:

40. 115 LES students have written 21,767 lines of code. 

From the Library

41. Held a successful book swap.

42. Had a terrific book fair.

43. Hosted a visiting author. 

Staff

44. Through their Professional Learning Community meetings, teachers have delved into deep discussion, research, and reflection on inquiry-based teaching of science, and Response to Intervention.

45. PreK/K staff successfully completed NAEYC accreditation.

46. Tab McLellan has become an expert pizza maker!

47. Ms. Lacey met her goal of learning all the students’ names! 

And…

48. Students collected over $300 for Unicef.

49. A student donated several inches of hair to be used in a wig for a cancer patient.

50. Twenty LES weather cartoons have been published in Hampshire Gazette.

                                    -Margot Lacey

SPOTLIGHT ON . . .

UPCOMING TEST DATES

Note to Fourth Grade Parents

The Grade Four NAEP assessment, which has been postponed twice because of snow days, is now scheduled to take place on Friday, February 27th. 

PARCC Testing*

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education requires that all students in grades 3-6 participate in PARCC testing.   This testing will take place during the following weeks:

March 23-27

and

March 30-April 3.

During this testing window, each grade will have five sessions of assessments.

*PARCC testing is taking the place of MCAS testing.                                   

Chris tackles the snow (again) with every available tool!  Is that a rake in the background?  A little wishful thinking!

PTO Spotlight On

Grace Johnson

Grade 4

What are you looking forward to at LES this year?

I'm looking forward to working and finishing my Social Studies project. Also looking forward to the Fourth grade field trip to Boston.

What do you like doing outside of school?

I love to figure skate, play the violin, play softball, swim, go to Girl Scouts and do all kinds of crafts.

PTO Updates

The PTO meeting for this month has been cancelled. There are two other important evening school meetings scheduled for the week we return from vacation and we’d like to encourage our members to attend those meetings: 

On Tuesday, 2/24, at 7 (Town Hall) there will be a discussion of the school budget with  the Selectboard, Finance Committee, School Committee. The requested budget will be presented, showing a 3.5% cut from the current year. The original request from the Town was for even deeper cuts, but it was not possible to make further reductions without very serious implications.

On Thursday, 2/26. at 6 p.m. (LES Gym) there will be a Regionalization Forum with a discussion of the draft document regarding possible regionalization with Amherst. This document just became public a few weeks ago. 

Please make time to attend one or both of these meetings if possible and join us in March for our PTO meeting. It sounds like fundraising may be more important then ever!

Seed fundraiser forms were sent home with last week’s Post. The PTO keeps 60% of every purchase. Please support LES by buying local, organic seeds for planting this spring! We have already raised $2000 towards our annual goal of $3,500. Thank you for your continued help in reaching our goal.

NURSE’S CORNER

With the current resurgence of measles in the US, I wanted to make parents aware of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health exclusion policy for children who have not been fully vaccinated with 2 doses of MMR (measles, mumps and rubella). To meet state immunization requirements, 1 dose of MMR is required for pre-school and 2 doses of MMR are required by Kindergarten.  If an LES child is either exposed to a confirmed case of measles or is diagnosed with a case of measles, any child considered “susceptible,” including children who have not been fully vaccinated for religious or medical reasons, will be excluded from school from the 5^th day of exposure to the 21^st day of exposure. (Please see MA law 105 CMR 300,000). 

Measles is a highly contagious respiratory virus, which can lead to pneumonia and neurological complications.  I encourage any parent who is considering vaccinating their child for measles, to please do so.  For parents whose child is eligible to receive their second dose of MMR, I advise you to complete the series as soon as possible.  We respect parental decisions regarding vaccinations, and will continue to work with parents to ensure the well-being of all members of the school community. 

Signs and symptoms of measles include fever, cough, runny nose conjunctivitis (pink eye), and itchy rash.  If you suspect that your child has either been exposed to measles or has a diagnosed case of measles, please inform the school nurse as soon as possible.  Should such a case arise, I will contact parents of children who are not fully immunized and the exclusion policy will be applied.

Thanks for your cooperation and careful consideration of this public health issue.   I hope everyone has a healthy and happy winter vacation.

  -Jill Roberts RN BSN M Ed

UPCOMING EVENTS AT THE

LEVERETT LIBRARY

Read it Leverett! is underway with this year’s selection The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro. The book covers topics including art forgery, art theft, the professional art world and the creative process, and we are offering a range of fun events based around these themes. We will kick off with a book discussion led by retired literature professor Arlyn Diamond on Thursday, February 19 at 7pm. Get creative and enter our forgery contest, no talent required. Pick your favorite painting and try to capture its spirit. You can use whatever medium you desire...markers, crayons, water colors, pen and ink, or acrylics. On Sunday March 1 from 1-4:30 supplies will be made available along with pictures and books from which to choose your forgery. All entries created at this time (or on your own time) should be submitted to the library Saturday, March 7th. Art work will be displayed in the Community Room. Check out our web site for other Read it Leverett events, leverettlibrary.org.

• Join us for a Family movie on Saturday, February 21 at 1pm. Judith Viorst's acclaimed children's book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day comes to the big screen. The tale recounts a day in the life of a grumpy young boy who has everything go wrong, all in one day. Rated PG.

• Lego Club will meet February 26 from 3:15-4:30 for brand new building fun! All elementary school aged children are welcome to join us.

Hope to see you soon at the library.

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AMHERST REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL NEWS

At 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 25, ARHS will hold a meeting to discuss with the community its plans to change the high school's master schedule for SY 2016-17. Since the high school is at the beginning of its process, the meeting will NOT involve an actual recommendation for the new schedule. Instead, the agenda will focus on the following topics:

• The educational implications of a new master schedule;
• The current economic realities that bear on the decision;
• The feedback-gathering and decision-making processes;
• The different master schedule options that are under consideration; and
• How the community can provide feedback.

Current 9th and 10th graders, as well as all students in the middle and elementary schools, will attend ARHS with the new master schedule in place so all district families are invited to attend. The meeting will be held in the high school library. 

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COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD

(Items listed here are not school sponsored)

The Happy Valley Children’s Chorus spring session will be on Mondays, 4-5:00 PM, from March 2nd through May 11th, with a concert on Sunday, May 17th, at 1:30. Rehearsals are held at the First Congregational Church of Amherst, 165 Main Street.  As always, the music is chosen for the fun and for the message. The spring song selections will focus on Songs of Hope. To register or to get more information, please contact: Dorothy Cresswell, at 413-668-4189, or [email protected].

HANDY TRADESMAN:  Leverett resident Kody Klick is seeking interactive projects:  home repairs, remodels, carpentry, plumbing, weatherization, painting, flooring, property maintenance,  wood harvesting, furniture repair, gardening and more.  Free estimates and negotiable pricing.  Please call 856-994-8999.

Yoga Series for Kids, Starts Next week!

Jai Fuller offers an 8 week series at The Yoga Center Amherst for Children 8 - 12 yearsGive the gift of yoga to your children, so they can begin cultivating balance, strength, self love and peace. All this in a fun, musical class taught by Jai with special guest appearances from Amar to accompany the class on guitar, singing bowl and other instruments. Gain awareness of your body through games and movement, learn some basic kundalini yoga, and meet other kids at this explorative and empowering class!

8 week series on Fridays  4:15 -5:15 pm  Series dates:  February 6, 13, 27th  March 6, 13, 20, 27th and  April 3rd 

For more info. and to register, www.yogacenteramherst.com

Wednesday Night Activity Group – Ages 7-11.  A new activity group will begin on February 4 at the North Leverett Church, 70 North Leverett Road, Leverett  and continue on each 1st and 3^rd Wednesday of the month.  The focus for the next few weeks will be on individuals of character:  Self Control, Patience, Dependability, and Determination. The activities (games, songs, discussions) will be from 6:45 to 8:00 p.m. (preceded by family dinner at 5:45, which is optional).  For more information, contact Wendy Farley at 413 367-2057.

WILD HEARTED BOYS: Mentoring Tomorrow’s Conscientious, Caring and Courageous Men

WILD HEARTED GIRLS: Mentoring Tomorrow’s Bold, Compassionate and Empowered Women

Two parallel single-gender programs encouraging boys and girls ages 9-13 to explore, inquire, play, reflect and dialogue within the context of the natural world and all of the challenges and mysteries it presents. Led by mentors whose goal is to honor and foster the inner capabilities of each participant. Climbing, cave exploration, nature skills, paddling and other adventures. Full week session during April vacation, 9am to 4 pm. Drop off and pick up at Mill River Recreation area in Amherst. Contact Pandora at 413-253-4910; www.AdventureinAdventureOut.com - see tab title Wild Hearted Programs.

What are your children doing for February break?

We take them on an artistic journey that taps into their creative skills!  Multi-Arts Winter Camp 2015, February 16 - 20 for 4 to 13 years olds.   Full day, half day, and one day options: 

theater • art •fashion design • dance •

blacklight • creative writing

Place: Immanuel Lutheran Church, Amherst, (413) 584-7951   [email protected]        www.multi-arts.org  

If you would like to put a notice in the Community Bulletin Board section of the Friday Post, please submit notices to be published no later than Thursday at noon.  The easiest way to do that is by e-mail to [email protected]. Flyers for non-school sponsored events can be attached to the Post.  They must contain a disclaimer “This is not a school-sponsored event” and a sufficient number of copies (125) should be provided to the office by the end of the school day on Thursday.

Happy Valentine’s Day!