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MEMORIAL SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
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31 West Main Street Newton, NH 03858
603-382-5251
Principal, Jonathan G. Vander Els
Assistant Principal, Donna B. Johnson
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Principal's Message
Jonathan G. Vander Els
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Dear Memorial Community:
It has been a very busy few weeks since our last newsletter. Please check out the many articles included in this week's newsletter related to many of these events.
Our third, fourth, and fifth grade students were involved in a number of different activities as part of Red Ribbon Week. As
www.redribbonweek.org describes, "Red Ribbon Week as the oldest and largest drug prevention campaign in the country. (It) serves as a vehicle for communities and individuals to take a stand for the hopes and dreams of our children through a commitment to drug prevention and education and a personal commitment to live drug free lives with the ultimate goal being the creation of a drug free America."
Our unified arts team and Amy Collins, our guidance counselor, planned and implemented a variety of activities to help our Memorial students learn more about being strong in character and making safe and healthy choices in their lives. Please see the great article (third article down) about the many activities our students were engaged in.
Over the past two weeks, we have been honored to have welcomed two groups of visitors to our Sanborn schools. Last Tuesday, a group of educators who are interested in learning more about Sanborn's work in competency education came to our district to visit classrooms and speak to administrators and teachers. Today, NH Commissioner of Education Virginia Barry, Deputy Commissioner Paul Leather, guests from the Chief Council of State School Officers and the Innovation Lab Network, and other interested guests visited to learn more about the work we are doing in our district to introduce higher levels of rigor into Sanborn students' educational experience. We are proud to have the opportunity to share our work as we continue to provide the best learning experiences possible for our students.
Next Wednesday we will not have school in honor of Veterans Day. Our Memorial Wall of Honor serves to recognize and remember the many veterans within our community. Please feel free to send a star in to be placed on our wall to honor a veteran in your life.
Thank you to all veterans who have served our country.
Jonathan G. Vander Els, Principal
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Letter from Dr. Blake
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October 29, 2015
Dear Parent/Guardian,
I am writing to let you know about a change in our school calendar coming up at the end
of November. We have an early release day scheduled for Wednesday, December 2, 2015.
We are moving the early release day to Monday November 30, 2015.
The reason for the change in the calendar is to accommodate the Lawrence W. O'Toole
Award ceremony. Following the dismissal of students, the staff will be attending the
awards ceremony at the Sanborn Regional High School. In addition to representatives
from the Nellie Mae Foundation, numerous dignitaries including the Governor,
Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of Education, and local politicians will be
attending. Due to space limitations, there will be limited seating available to the
community. In light of that, we will be filming the event and posting it to our website
for public viewing.
The Lawrence W. O'Toole Award of $100,000 will help us to continue our work in
competency based education and personalized learning. We are exploring a variety
of opportunities to enhance the educational opportunities that we provide here at Sanborn.
I thank you for your understanding and flexibility. If you have any questions or concerns,
please contact my office.
For the kids,
Dr. Brian J. Blake
Superintendent of Schools
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Guidance News
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Red Ribbon Week was a tremendous success in grades 3-5 this week. Starting in the beginning of October, our specialists were busy preparing for a number of activities with our students. Thank you to the Unified Arts team for an incredible collaborative  effort, and thank you to the PTO for generously providing funds for our events.
All students in grades 3-5 had the opportunity to commit to our "Pledge to Be Drug Free" by signing their name to a red hand and placing it on the bulletin board outside the gymnasium.
In the Art room, each class in grades 3-5 worked together to create a design to decorate their classroom door. Each door had a drug-free slogan along with decorations made by everyone in the class. Students in grades K-2 voted for the best design in the
door decoration contest
. This year's winning door is Choose the Right Path! (5TA). Congratulations! 5TA has won a pizza party with Sergeant Jewitt.
Students in grades 3-5 developed choreographed routines in Physical Education to prove that "We've got better things to do than drugs." These routines included  basketball skills, cheers, acting, dances, and much more (
PE Part 1,
Part 2,
Part 3,
Part 4
). In Health, we focused on how drugs can harm a body and how we can say no to drugs.
Our fourth graders performed "
Happy Without Them"
in Music class, lyrics by Gary Eisenberg, to the tune of "Happy Together" by Gary Bonner and Alan Gordon (The Turtles). In Technology, each fifth grader researched ways to stay drug free and created an original PowerPoint PSA for their
collaborative video project
(background music "Heroes" by Alesso).
This week fifth grade students got to plant red tulip bulbs as part of their science curriculum and also as a way to "Plant the Promise" to be drug free. Classroom teachers brought their students outside to the main walkway and planted one hundred  red tulip bulbs all along the gymnasium.
In Guidance all lessons this trimester have revolved around self-esteem, and how when we feel good about ourselves we are able to make healthier choices. In the spring, as fifth graders begin to think about their transition over to Middle School, and the bright red tulips bloom we will be talking about peer pressure and how to do the right thing when others are trying to influence you otherwise. We will also organize mini discussion groups with Sergeant Jewitt to further the message that students should make good choices and say no to drugs and alcohol.
Red Ribbon Week was a success because Memorial has such a strong community  spirit. Thank you to everyone for making it both fun and meaningful.
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Lunch Payment Options
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We want to remind parents that they have a couple of options when it comes to paying for their child(ren)'s school lunch.
Option 1. You may set-up an online account using www.myschoolbucks.com, by using a Credit/Debit card to make deposits into your child's account. You will need to contact Memorial School for your child's ID#. In addition to providing you with a secure online payment option, the system will allow you instant access to details on what your child is purchasing in the cafeteria, as well as other convenience features such as automatic low balance alerts. This automated system will help increase the speed of service and allow students additional time for a more relaxing dining experience. Instructions for setting up your online account are available in print from your Food Service Director and posted on the Fresh Picks Cafe website.
Option 2. You may send a
check with your child made
payable to the Sanborn School Lunch Program (checks made out to Memorial School can not be accepted and will be returned). Please make sure to include the child's name in the memo line. We encourage parents to either utilize the online payment method or to send in a check - cash can also be accepted, but is discouraged at the elementary school level. Prepaid monies deposited by either method can be used for any purchases in the cafeteria, but at any time parents may contact the school food service supervisor and request that prepaid monies be used only for full meal purchases.
When sending in cash or a check, please make sure that your payment is secured in an envelope with child's name and classroom teacher clearly noted.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact the school at 603-382-5251.
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3rd Grade News
Written by: Mrs. Banyas, Mrs. Doucett & Mrs. Kirstie
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The Third grade has been enjoying learning about Pilgrims. Through our simulation activities, students get to experience many things the Pilgrims experienced. Each activity gives the students a chance to try to learn from the Pilgrims, and then be more successful than they were. We have crossed the stormy Atlantic Ocean, built houses in the wilderness of the New World, and have made decisions on what we would be willing to eat in order to survive. This week we will go to Plimoth Plantation to travel back in time and see what life was really like in 1627, seven years after the Pilgrims first landed. The kids are very excited. We are also comparing the two cultures, the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Native Americans, with a group IIM research project during reading. It will be a wonderful opportunity for the students to see first-hand how these two very different cultures lived in the same area, and managed to understand their differences and learn from each other, so long ago.
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School Nurse
Written by: Ms
. Sheila O'Sullivan
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Outdoor recess clothing:
Our students will be playing outside every day, sometimes twice a day for
 recesses. We are now approaching the colder seasons of late fall and winter, and some of our students are
forgetting to bring a warm coat. We suggest that you remind your child of the outdoor temperature to insure that they are warm at play. Please be aware that after wet weather, we may have some puddles on the playground. You are encouraged to send a
spare set of dry clothing to school for your child to change at school should they become wet during outdoor recess. Please label the clothes with your child's name, so they can keep the bag in their cubby here at school. Thank you!
Cold and Flu season is here
This is the season for an increase in the number of cases of colds, flu, intestinal, & GI viruses, conjunctivitis, and even strep throat and pneumonia. Parents are asked to consider the following suggestions from the school nurse in order to limit the exposure of healthy children to those who are ill, and to ensure that those who are ill will
have as rapid a recovery as possible:
1) If your child has a fever (99.6* or above), please keep your child at home for an additional 24 hours of fever-free time (OFF fever-control medicines) to ensure adequate rest and the opportunity for the immune system to recover. Your child may still be contagious if he/she has a fever at night, but is fever-free in the early morning.
2) If your child has vomited during the night, keep him/her home for at least another 24 hours until you know that he/she is eating regular foods without difficulty and is no longer experiencing nausea or abdominal pain.
3)
If your child has a persistent cough not controlled by over-the-counter medications, please contact your health care provider, as they may have an underlying bronchial or lung infection or pneumonia.
4) If your child has one or both eyes with a red appearance to the sclera (white area), and/or drainage from the corners which is yellow, and/or yellow crusts on lashes and lids which are itchy and/or swollen, please keep them home and consult your health care provider. Conjunctivitis is very contagious, and children with this infection must be on medications for a minimum of 24 hours and no longer draining from the eye to attend school.
Frequent hand washing is the number one prevention for the spread of germs and disease within your family as well as in school. Concerns regarding your child's illness, or duration of his/her symptoms should be addressed to your family health care provider. Thank you for your assistance to help ensure the health of all students (and staff) at our school.
Giving Tree
We will sponsor a "Giving Tree" in our school lobby the first week of December. On
 the tree, we will place paper ornaments with an item from the Holiday wish
lis
ts* of
families in need. For example, a paper ornament will list an item such as a toy, or winter clothing needed by either a boy or girl, and specify the size or the toy but
NO NAMES of families or children will be used
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***If you need help or personally know of a family in need of help, please contact Ms. O'Sullivan at 382-5251, ext. 106 or by email [email protected], and submit their name and "wish list" in confidence. We will need the wish lists by November 20th.
Thank you in advance for your generous response to our food drive and for helping us teach children to reach out to others in need.
Thank you,
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Reading Room News
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Many students participated in the summer reading program "Every Hero Has a Story" in conjunction with the Gale Library this year. Congratulations to Kate Boutin, Jacob Bufano, Sarah Bufano, Aubrey Mears, Caitlin Milner, and Lily Tedford who were drawn for the Barnes and Noble gift card and a free game of bowling from Leo's Super Bowl in Amesbury, Ma. We are proud of all of the students who participated!
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Technology News
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Dear Memorial Parents/Guardians:
We are delighted to be able to provide multiple ways for our students to access technology, no matter what learning space they are in. Whether dancing to the Wii in P.E., or using an iPad app in math, students are learning how to use a growing variety of devices safely and independently.
With so many technology options available, we ask that your child bring in their own set of headphones for use in sound-based technology activities. These headphones will travel with your child for different learning opportunities throughout the school.
We recommend child-friendly headphones (no ear buds, please), and have listed some brands and the vendors that carry them (see below). These headphones are made to fit a child's head, are more durable than adult styles, and, most importantly, offer a volume-limiting safety feature. This feature helps to keep young ears safe from dangerously high volume settings.
For those children who are not able to bring their own in to school, we will continue to provide school-owned headphones.
Please send your child's headphones in as soon as possible. For more information on child-safe headphones, here are some links to recommended articles:
Sincerely,
Jon VanderEls and Jodi Tamayoshi
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Art News
Written by Ms. Austin |
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Welcome back to school!
The students have been very busy in the art room since returning to school this year. I have been impressed with the skill, talent and enthusiasm of all my students!
During the first month of school our fourth and fifth grade students have been working on an Origami Paper Sculpture that focuses on symmetry. Their works in progress are quite impressive!
I am eager to see our results; I hope you enjoy them too!
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Music News
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The First Grade students did a wonderful job performing their Pumpkin Carols for the Senior Citizens at the Packer Meadows Community Center on Friday, October 30th. After singing in the Community Center, students serenaded several residents who were unable to come to the concert by singing at their front door.
The Third Grade classes will be performing a Fall Concert on November 19th at 6:30pm in the school gym. The concert will feature songs related to the classroom curriculum as well as theme songs from various children's movies.
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SRSD Budget Committee News
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SANBORN SCHOOL DISTRICT BUDGET COMMITTEE
PUBLIC OUTREACH SURVEY
The Sanborn Regional School district is conducting a brief online survey of in the residents in the towns of Kingston and Newton. The purpose is to find out what sources and media preferences residents have for obtaining information about the school district and its budget. It also asks about attendance at budget hearings and meetings.
The committee is interested in learning about the most effective ways to educate district residents about the budgeting process and the budget itself so that they will be better informed when they go into the voting booth.
Residents of Kingston and Newton are invited to take this brief survey by going to the School District website, www.SAU17.org and click on the link, BUDGET COMMITTEE SURVEY. This is a new survey so if you participated last year, you now have another opportunity.
Past budget committee meeting minutes are posted on the district website along with the dates and agendas of upcoming meetings. The public is always welcome to attend or email inquiries to [email protected].
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Memorial PTO News
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Calling All Parents! The PTO welcomes all parents and families of our Memorial students to participate in whatever way they are able. There is no minimum contribution or time requirement. Our next monthly meeting will be held on Thursday, November 12th
at 7pm in the Memorial School library. During this meeting, voting members who have paid their $5 annual dues will be called upon to nominate and vote for one open Board member position. If you or someone you know would be a great fit on our PTO Board we are currently seeking nominations for the position of Vice President. We hope to see you there!
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Box Top News
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The Box Top Winners are....
Thank you all for sending in your Box Tops. The classroom winners for this trimester is Mrs. Daigle (4D)!!!!!! With a close second in the preschool ..way to go Ms. Cole!!
Please continue to send in your Box Tops!!! It's an easy way to get your child
Involved and make some money for the Memorial school !!!
If you need any more collection sheets, we keep extras in the office!!
Thanks again your Box Tops coordinators,
Amy and Val
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us at [email protected] or [email protected]. We're here to make our school's BoxTops program a huge success!!!!
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Gale Library News
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November at the Gale Library
November is Fine Free Month at the Gale Library, so find those overdue materials, and return them with a donation of nonperishable food, paper products, or personal care items and your fines will be removed. Donations will be turned over to the Newton Food Pantry to help those in need during the holidays.
November is also Picture Book Month so children will be able to drop in to the library to vote for their favorite picture book for the NH Ladybug Award until Monday, Nov. 30. The Ladybug Picture Book Award is designed to honor the best in recent children's picture books. Children's librarians from around the state selects 10 picture book titles early in the year. Then, during November, NH children from preschoolers to those in third grade choose the award winner. The winning picture book is announced at the end of the year. Come browse through the books and vote for your favorite.
To celebrate the Lady Bug Vote, Storyhour children will hear the selected books throughout November, sing old favorite songs, and play Picture Bingo For Books to win books to keep on Tues., Nov. 17 at 10 AM. Come join us.
Children of all ages are invited to play Bingo for Books on Monday, Nov. 16 at 6:30 PM. Come play, have fun with your friends, and win your choice of books to keep.
On Sat. Nov.14 from 10-12
Libraries across the country are celebrating International Game Day @ Your Library and the Gale Library will join them. The library has many WII, New Board games from Ravensberger-Schmidt and card games for all ages to try your luck with family and friends or you can bring your favorite to share.
On Monday, Nov.9 at 6:30PM, children are invited to make a Leafy Fall Craft to decorate your home.
Tuesday Storyhours continue each week at 10:00 AM with Ladybug Book Stories, Turkey Tales and songs, crafts, and Picture Bingo.
The Friends of the Library are accepting baskets and gift certificates for their annual Holiday Basket Raffle now through Friday, Nov. 14. Drop in to the Gale Library to view some great baskets loaded with goodies for everyone on your list. Tickets for the raffle can be purchased for $1 each or 6 for $5. Winners will be
drawn Friday, Dec.18th at 10:00 AM, just in time for Holiday giving.
Come make natural decorations for the Newton Town Christmas Tree on Monday, Nov. 30 at 6:30 PM. The tree will be decorated and lit on Sunday, Dec. 6th.
The Gale Library and Dad's Fads & Skill Toys will present Slinky Races at the Library on Saturday, December 5, at 10 AM. There will be free refreshments, fun and prizes. Races are free and are open to children in grades K - 5.
Slinkys will be available for use on race day, or you may bring your own. Registrants receive a (20% discount) on Slinkys at Dad's Fads.
Sign up at the Gale Library or by visiting Dad's Fads & Skill Toys.
The Gale Library is joining the NH 1000 Books Before Kindergarten initiative. The single most important thing you can do to prepare your children to read is to read to them every day. It's easy to read 1000 books:
One book a day for three years=1000
Three books a day for one year=1000
Ten books a week for two years=1000
Everything counts! Every book you read counts, every time you read it! Books your child hears in Storytime count. Books that others read to your child count. It all counts!
Sign up in the Children's Room at the Gale Library. We will give you sheets to help you keep count of the first 100 books. When you finish reading 100 books, come back to the library for another set of sheets and a canvas book bag. Register today or anytime when your child is between birth and five years old.
Many thanks for a great night of Pumpkin Carving to June Dunne. With her help and guidance, 36 children and adults were able to carve some fantastic pumpkins. Check our Facebook page for pictures.
The Gale Library will be closing Wednesday, Nov.11 and at 4 PM on Wednesday, Nov. 24, and closed Friday, Nov. 26 for the holidays.
For more information, call 382-4691.
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Sanborn Regional Drama Troupe
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The Sanborn Regional Drama Troupe, a high school theater group at Sanborn Regional High
School, will present a student directed production of
"A Handful of Rainbows" by Jonathan Troy. The show has been directed by Sanborn senior , Noah
Mailloux
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Performance dates are Thursday November 12, Friday November 13, and Saturday November 14 at 7pm and Sunday, November 15 at 2pm. Tickets are $7 for general admission and $5 for seniors . Students and active and retired military are free. Contact Evan Czyzowski at [email protected]with any questions or to reserve tickets.
Play Synopsis: The show takes place in a Hollywood theatrical boarding house rented by Meg and Marion Bradford in the late 1960s/early 1970s. The Bradford sisters rent their home out to a handful of striving Hollywood actors and actresses, making for an extremely interesting and comedic group of people in one home. Whether the characters are struggling with their own loss of success, or learning how to let go of the past, they manage to band together to tell a heartwarming tale that audiences won't forget.
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Technology Fun Night
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Technology Fun Night
Friday, November 20, 2015
6:00 PM - 8:30PM
Place: Seacoast School of Technology
Who: Grade 5 - 9 boys and girls
Cost: Voluntary donation of 3 cans of food for local food bank per person. If you would like to bring more cans, all donations will gladly be accepted.
Why: This school year, the Seacoast School of Technology is continuing to offer a series of events for students to show just how much fun learning about technology can be.
How to sign up: Call SST (775.8461) to register. Registration deadline is November 19, 2015. Limited to 40 students on a first come first served basis.
This month the activity involves Engineering. Come learn about building bridges, skyscrapers and rollercoasters. See how much fun being an engineer can be. There will be door prizes.
Come join in the fun!!!!
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Southern NH Trailblazer's Snowmobile Saftey
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The
SOUTHERN NH TRAILBLAZERS'
Snowmobile Safety Classes
Date: Saturday, December 6, 2014
Or
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Time: 8 am - 5 pm
Location
:
Kingston Town Hall
163 Main Street
Kingston, NH
03848
Anyone twelve years of age or older must have a snowmobile safety certificate or a driver's license to operate a snowmobile in the state of New Hampshire.
Lunch will be provided by the Southern New Hampshire Trailblazers. Please arrive early for sign in, parents may attend.
Cosponsored by the Kingston Police Department
For information and preregister
Call Charlie Malmsten @ (603) 642-5277
"This class is not sponsored by the Sanborn Regional School District"
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Internet Essentials
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Memorial School's Developing Understanding of Skills and Dispositions
By Jonathan G. Vander Els, Terry Bolduc, and Jill Lizier
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This article was originally posted on CompetencyWorks.
This is the first in a series of article specific to the developing understanding of skills and dispositions of educators working with students in a competency-based educational system. There has been increased recognition nationally of the importance of skills and dispositions and how these are entwined within the overall growth and College and Career Readiness of learners. The skills and dispositions are referred to in a number of ways (Non-cognitive skills, Habits of Learners, Work Habits, General Learning Outcomes, "soft skills," etc.) Our school has been delving into skills and dispositions for the past few years, but we have found that there are limited resources to support our work. We are very excited about the opportunity to work with the recently released Essential Skills and Dispositions Frameworks (Lench, S., Fukuda, E., & Anderson, R. (2015)) this upcoming school year to support our continued learning in this area. For the purposes of this series of articles, we will be using the term the State of New Hampshire recognizes, Locally, we have aligned the Responsive Classroom's CARES to our State of New Hampshire's Work Study Practices, which are referenced in the following article.
Jonathan G. Vander Els, Principal; Jill Lizier, 1st Grade Teacher; and Terry Bolduc, 5th Grade Teacher are all veteran educators at Memorial School, a Pre-K to 5 elementary school within the Sanborn Regional School District in New Hampshire.
Last year, I wrote an article discussing the
separation of academics and behaviors in a competency-based educational system. Our experience, understanding, and knowledge related to Work Study Practices continue to evolve. We recognize as a system that these skills and dispositions are crucial to the continued progression, increased readiness, and overall success of our learners. Our teachers have worked to refine their practice within the classroom, both instructionally, how skills and dispositions are assessed, and by providing opportunities for increased ownership and engagement with for students as self-directed learners.
As I circulated throughout our building at the very beginning of this school year, I was struck by the depth and deliberate focus on WSP by our teachers. I observed the level of engagement of students within these discussions and activities, and the connections many of our students were making to their own learning. It was incredibly powerful to begin to see the impact and connection that students were making to their own learning needs and how this increased self-awareness was allowing them to better engage in their academics.
The insight of two of our teachers describes their growth in understanding as we began the shift to a competency-based educational system, and how this developed understanding informs their practice in the classroom to this day. Their reflections within this particular article are specific to the beginning stages of our work, and how they began to realize that the Work Study Practices needed to become an integral component of the learning process within their respective learning environments.
Jill Lizier, Grade 1 Teacher
"Please don't talk while others are talking, that is not respectful."
"You need to work together in a group. Make sure you cooperate!"
These are all things teachers have said in the classroom at one time or another. But through Responsive Classroom techniques, students and teachers have worked together to build meaning behind words such as cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, and self-control (CARES).
As teachers, we realize the importance of not only teaching this vocabulary, but creating ownership within students for this learning, and providing an avenue to effectively monitor it. Our teachers at Memorial track student's individual progress through the CARES.
Prior to monitoring students this way, my grade book consisted of academic grades, but nothing about these very important CARES attributes. Teachers spend so much time modeling, discussing, and creating a student's self-awareness of CARES, because they know how important it is that their students use these social skills in the real world, so it only made sense to monitor student progress in these areas and assist students in increasing their awareness and skill in specific areas.
Terry Bolduc, Grade 5 Teacher
When our school switched to a standards based report card, as you can expect, many changes came along with it. As we became more skilled at assessing our students based on standards, one area that required specific attention was Work Study Practices. Gone were the days of simply using a check-plus, check, check-minus system of grading conduct and effort. We began to use the Responsive Classroom acronym CARES to grade students on their habits of learning.
The work began in our PLC groups. We came up with rubrics for these characteristics of successful learners and began to look more closely at the best way to assess these traits in our students. It was clear that, no longer could we just put a grade in a few days before grades closed and expect that to be an accurate depiction of our students' demonstration of these skills. Like with the standards themselves, we needed to compile a body of evidence about these traits and directly teach the children what each trait looked like in the classroom and in the world around them.
So, like all good teachers, I created a visual that I could reference with my students. I used the language of the traits whenever I pointed out positive examples of the behavior or to redirect students to the appropriate behavior. I realized again, that this wasn't enough. When I looked at each of the traits, they each had sub-skills that needed to be assessed independently of the main trait. There was still significantly more work to be done...
As our understanding deepened about our practice within our school, our thought processes began to shift about how to assess Work Study Practices most effectively. Many of the changes that we began to make were a direct result of teacher observation and the questions that came up as a result of the work they were doing. This was most evident when teachers began to collect more data about students' Work Study Practices and we realized that both the assessment of Work Study Practices and the accompanying instructional practices within the classroom, including increased opportunities for student ownership and reflection, would need to continue to evolve.
Next: Collecting a "Body of Evidence"
Please visit Mr. Vander Els' blog site for additional articles on education by clicking here.
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