Volume 9| April 8th, 2022

The First Branch Newsletter

A bi-weekly newsletter from Principal Mark Blount and Principal Michael Livingston featuring photos, stories, and updates from the Chelsea and Tunbridge schools.

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To be sure you are staying up to date: Visit our First Branch School Website! Follow us on the newly created First Branch Facebook page!

The old Facebook Pages are no longer being updated. Please be sure to follow the new page in order to get updates and weekly photo and video snippets of school life.

Upcoming Dates to Note: April 13th: FBUD Board Meeting April 15th: Half Day, noon dismissal. April 18th-22nd : Spring Vacation, no school.

Dear Parents and Guardians, Dare we say we seem to be crawling out of mud season and moving to more mild temperatures? We want to again reiterate our appreciation to all of the families who had to adapt to the temporary bus schedule changes over the past weeks. We wanted to put another plug in for our new Facebook page and website. Please bookmark the website at www.firstbranchschool.org and please "Like" and "Follow" the newly created First Branch Facebook page at www.facebook.com/firstbranchschool. We are working diligently with incoming principal Janet Cash to ensure the smoothest transition for our students and our schools. Please see below for an update from Janet who will be in our schools next week working closely with our staff and students. Respectfully,  ~ Mark and Michael

An Update From Incoming Principal Janet Cash

Next week the Cash family is heading to First Branch for spring break! During the week, the goal is to meet more of the community, join in on classroom learning and further guide master schedule work for the fall of 2022. In addition, the Associate Principal position search has been relaunched, and second-round interviews will be conducted. Students, teachers, and community members will be a part of the process. We are also excited to note we have secured a second counselor and elementary math interventionist. A formal introduction will follow soon. In looking ahead we have some ways students can connect Janet Cash through some online story hours. Olders students can join in the fun by helping to read some stories or suggest books.  For more information and to sign up : please see click here.

Kindergarten News

In Chelsea: Ms. Crocker's Kindergarteners searched for interesting items in the woods. They used descriptive language and positional words to create a poem about their interesting find, then ended their poem with an "I wonder" question. This is an interview style poem, so they were asked four questions which each then made a line of the poem. This "See What I Found?" poem format is from Herbert Broda, Schoolyard~Enhanced Learning.

See What I Found? See what I found? Pine needles on a stick They are green I found it around the tree I wonder why it has pine coming out  when I break it? ~ Abe Anderson See What I Found? See what I found? A hole in a tree It’s bumpy, rough circles with green and brown It’s sitting in the corner of the tree I wonder if an animal can fit in it?  ~ Nora Morris

Second Grade News

In Tunbridge: Caitlyn MacGlaflin's second grade students have been working hard through the writing process and elements of paragraph writing. Students proudly shared their How To paragraphs in the "author's chair". Student's shared their expertise on several different topics, ranging from How to Make a Nutella and Fluff Sandwich to How to Give a Dog a Bath.   Third & Fourth Grade News In Tunbridge: Jess Anderson's 3rd and 4th graders are studying a unit on body systems. They are reading and writing about important parts of the body and are building body models.

Middle School News

In Chelsea: Erik Anderson's 7th and 8th graders are hard at work in the shop. Here 7th grader Paetyn Gray shows off the round wood bunny stool she made for her pet Thumper. Other shop projects currently in production are corn hole boards, a fishing rod holder, and custom made windows for the greenhouse. 7th and 8th graders continue to sugar. They have made around three gallons of syrup to date. They have replaced the sugar house tradition of eating pickles with eating pickled herring and other tinned fish. Not everyone is enamored with their new tradition but enough have enjoyed the fish to put a significant dent in Erik Anderson's supply of sardines and herring.

Library News

In Tunbridge: 1st graders had a Lego and sticker book making celebration. In both Chelsea and Tunbridge: All students are celebrating April as National Poetry Month with Library Media Specialist Pura Scott. Photos to come in the next newsletter!