Kindergarten is off to a great start with 15 curious, fun, kind kindergarten friends! This week we observed our caterpillar and chrysalises. We heard a book about butterflies; watched a video of their life cycle; and Friday morning, a butterfly emerged from one chrysalis! We said goodbye, some said "We love you," and let it go outside the classroom into the pollinator garden.

The Newton School practices a Responsive Classroom Model. While we do dive into core academics, a big part of the first six weeks of school is developing our classroom and cluster community. Students participate in a daily morning meeting which consists of a greeting, a message, an activity, and a share. At the start of the year, after brainstorming expectations, students begin to think about their hopes and dreams for the upcoming school year. This year we used Natascha Biewbow’s The Crayon Man: The True Story of the Invention of Crayola Crayons as inspiration to live a life in color and to persevere through challenges. Ask your child what they hope and dream of accomplishing this school year.

The 3rd and 4th grade cluster has been working on classroom routines, expectations and creating individual hopes and dreams for the school year. We have had a great first two weeks! 

In math, 4th graders have been working on solving a math mystery and challenging logic puzzles to review third grade math learning, and set the expectation of "challenging but doable" for math learning. The third graders have been working on how to solve word problems, identifying how they learn best and working on addition and subtraction.  

We are looking forward to getting started on our journals next week! Mrs. Lacasse's 3rd grade readers have started to work on building good reading habits and setting expectations for our reading community that will allow us all the meet our reading dreams for the year. Ms. Cote's reading class is working on character traits and how to share about what they have read. They are learning how to choose a "just-right" book.  

A reminder to please submit all paperwork and forms back to the office. Thank you. Have a healthy weekend!

The 5/6 cluster is off to a great start to the year! Our goal/mission for the year is to create effective collaborators and self-directed learners. In order to help them meet this goal, we have been working with them this week on listening with understanding and empathy. By really listening to classmates and teachers, the kids are discovering that it helps their collaboration, and that more can get done in an efficient and peaceful way.

View the Google Slide of our goal/mission.

The first two weeks of 7th and 8th grade Humanities has been busy and productive for everyone. The kids have taken several big changes, including spending the last couple of hours of their day at Thetford Academy, in stride. Reports from the students about Thetford have been positive, and Mr. Breen has been enjoying hearing about the diverse experiences of his students. The first two weeks of school so far have been focused on getting our feet under us, and has included a focus on what it means to be a community of learners. In the coming weeks, Literature will be focused on narrative writing, and Social Studies will begin to learn about the American Revolution.

There have been some changes in the library over the summer! Our fiction, series, and chapter books are now grouped together by genre--mystery, historical, sci fi/fantasy, animal stories, and realistic fiction. I'm encouraging students in grades 4-6 to read broadly and widely through our Reading Passport program! In addition to reading across the genres, students are encouraged to read diverse books that take place in other cultures and other parts of the world. They'll be able to keep track of their reading in their own personal Reading passport.

Afterschool and Lunchtime Club Opportunities

Dungeons and Dragons will be starting up soon! I'd like to have as many kids in grades 3-8 participate at would like to... please fill out this form with the days that work best for your student. We could expand to two days a week if we need to.

I'd like to start a lunchtime Gay-Straight Alliance (also sometimes called Gender & Sexuality Alliance) with 7th and 8th graders this year. The purpose of this club would be both in providing a supportive space for students to talk about issues that are important to them, and to continue to promote a culture of inclusivity and acceptance at our school. If you have any questions about this club, please don't hesitate to contact Simone at [email protected].

Welcome Back!

We hope you all had a fun, safe and yummy summer! Did you try any new foods? My family had musk melon for the first time and really liked it. It was even more enjoyable and delicious because it came from one of our local farmer’s market. Did your family buy any fresh vegetables or fruits from a farmer’s market this summer?

We are gearing up for another scrumptious year here in the Newton cafeteria…we will be trying to use as many fresh , local ingredients as possible, and even feature some of our Newton garden harvest in our recipes. We make as much homemade food as possible and really love any input on what your favorite dishes are. We even like to know which dishes you would rather not have again too.

We will have our first Farm to School Taste Test on Tuesday, September 24th…stay tuned for what delicious food we will be sampling.

A reminder: please be sure to have your free/reduced applications in no later than Monday, October 1st. You can pick them up outside the office on the table or I can certainly email you one, please contact me at  [email protected]. The more applications that are filled out the more opportunities we will have for grants to provide all students new and exciting food experiences!

Soccer is underway at the Newton School!

Both 3/4 and 5/6 teams had their first practices this week. The 3/4 team has its first game on Tuesday, Sept. 10 vs. South Royalton. Game is at 5 p.m.; please arrive by 4:30 for warm ups. The field for this game is “Hope Field”, across from the high school parking lot on Windsor Street in South Royalton. 3/4 will not hold practice on Thursday, Sept. 12.

The 5/6 team continues practice next week on Monday and Wednesday from 3:15-4:45 at Murray Field. 

K-1/2 Begins practice on Wednesday, Sept. 11 from 3:15-4:30.

Thank you to all the volunteer coaches! 

Reminder: if you can help ref home games, please reach out to Laura DeCapua at [email protected].

Thank you to everyone who helped with Start the Year Right Night, and to everyone who stopped by the PTA Table!

Our bulb fundraiser is underway, and families should have received a catalog by now. Unfortunately, some of the information we provided was incorrect. You have two options for ordering:

 

Both online and paper orders are due by Friday, September 27th. 

Fifty percent of the proceeds benefits the PTA. Thanks for your support! If you have questions, contact Deanna Race at [email protected] or 765-4169. 

Our PTA membership drive is also underway, and membership forms and PTA information went out this week as well. We have heard that some people are under the impression that they cannot join the PTA or participate if they can't attend our monthly meetings. Please know we welcome your participation at whatever level! We are so thrilled that some people can attend meetings, but many parents and PTA members participate just with our events. This is a huge help to us, and in fact, the events simply can't happen without a lot of volunteer support.

Please know you can join the PTA (or not) and still volunteer for PTA events, support PTA fundraisers, and participate in whatever way works for you and your family. We are grateful for any and all support!