Mr. Ward’s Message:
Attendance Matters...As you know Freetown Elementary School shares the weekly student attendance data. It is vital and essential that our students attend school daily. When students attend school each day, research has shown that students are more inclined to be successful. “Attend today, Achieve Tomorrow”. When your child is absent from school for 5 or more days FES will be sending home a letter to inform you of the absences regardless if absences are excused or unexcused. Our goal is to keep you updated with your child’s attendance. After the letter is sent home, on the next absence, it is the principal’s discretion to call home to have a conversation about the absences. The reason for that is to have a conversation about the absences and to discuss if the school can be of any assistance. We are maintaining our goal of 94% of students attending daily. Which is great news! However, we have several students who have missed over 10% of the school year thus far. Let’s work together to ensure our scholars, “Attend today so they can achieve tomorrow.”
Attendance Matters Weekly Update:
Goal: 94% of the FES student population will attend school daily.
September Daily Student Attendance for September was 96% - Goal achieved!
October weekly attendance data indicate:
October 1-4: 96.5%...Met Goal!
October 7-11: 96%...Met Goal!
October 14-18: 95%...Met Goal!
October 21-25: 97%...Met Goal!
Upcoming events:
October 30: Picture Retake Day / Preschool Picture Day
November 5th: No School - Professional Development Day
November 11th: No School - Veterans’ Day
November 11-15: Scholastic Book Fair Week
November 14: Cup-Stacking Night & Scholastic Book Fair Night
November 18th: November PTO Meeting beginning at 6:30 PM
November 27th: Early Release Day - Students dismissed at 12:15 PM
November 28th & 29th: Happy Thanksgiving - No School
FES News and Happenings:
Gentle Reminder that Preschool Picture Day will take place on Wednesday, October 30th. This individual picture day for preschoolers will also be the picture retake day for all other students.
Living in New England brings the seasonal changes that we have grown accustomed to, or for some, maybe we are just wishing for warmer weather. But, like it or not, the fall-like weather is upon us. As a gentle reminder, our students will be going outside for recess as long as the weather permits. With that said, please dress your child appropriately each day for outdoor activities.
“Macy’s Gives Back” to a local charity. Macy's in Dartmouth gives back to a local charity Freetown Elementary School. From Oct 16th-31st all shoppers can donate their change when making a purchase in the Dartmouth location.
PTO Corner:
PTO meetings are held in person and virtually. The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, November 18th from 6:30 - 7:30 PM. The meeting will be in person as well as virtual to accommodate for families. Hope you will consider joining the FES PTO.
FES PTO website is...https://freetownelementarypto.weebly.com/
Attendance Matters Weekly Update:
Goal: 94% of the FES student population will attend school daily.
October weekly attendance data indicates...
October 1-4: 96.5%...Met Goal!
October 7-11: 96%...Met Goal!
October 14-18: 95%...Met Goal!
October 21-25: 97%...Met Goal!
News and Happenings from around the classrooms - Week of October 21 - October 25:
Pre-School: This week in preschool we learned about pumpkins and the letter F. We participated in our school wide STEM week, and designed our own catapults. We also enjoyed a hands-on fire safety presentation by the Freetown firefighters. We ended the week with triangle show-and-tell.
Kindergarten: A busy week in kindergarten! On Monday we had a visit from the Freetown firefighters. We had a great presentation and discussion about fire safety. Classes also had a visit from Officer Medeiros for a discussion about Halloween safety. This week was STEM week. The students worked in small groups and had fun learning about and building their own catapults to test.
Grade 1: This week in first grade we worked on short vowel o and alphabetical order. We continued to review digraphs th, sh, wh, ch, and ck along with l-consonant blends.. For comprehension we reviewed retelling stories and asking and answering questions in a text along with visualization. In writing, we are working on responding to a text and whole ideas in sentences. In math we worked on teen numbers, which are made up of 1 ten and some ones. In science, we participated in STEM Week. We made our own catapults and got to test them out!
Grade 2: This week second graders worked on two step word problems. In phonics we reviewed all previous concepts including magic e, blends, bonus letters, and suffixes -ing, -ed, -s, and -es. In comprehension we continued to practice asking and answering questions and focused our reading around the essential question: “What happens when families work together?” In writing, we are continuing to draft and revise our How-To writing. In science we learned about the history of catapults and how to use simple machines to create and test catapults! It was so much fun.
Grade 3: This week in third grade, we learned about how multiplication and division are connected. We read word problems and determined the clue words of whether to multiply or divide. We also looked at arrays and wrote both multiplication and division sentences to represent them. In reading, students have continued to read a variety of stories that explore the essential question: “What can traditions teach you about cultures?” In writing, students have completed their first drafts of their personal narratives, and they are now editing to add things such as dialogue and hooks to draw in their audience. We had a blast during STEM week learning about, constructing and testing catapults!
Art: Kindergartners created adorable line monsters. Grade 1 completed their villages by coloring in their shapes and then painting with watercolor. Grade 2 learned about Aboriginal bark paintings and created their own paper version. Grade 3 is creating a self portrait inspired by Frida Kahlo’s The Frame.
Physical Education: Most classes played the game “Skeleton Run” this week. Students ran and “earned” pieces of a paper skeleton to put back together. Third graders learned about skeletons. Second graders learned about dairy, and Kindergarteners and first grade students learned about the emotion of being afraid. Those classes that did not have the opportunity to play the game, will play it next week.
Music: This week, students K-3 have started the 6th week of their unit on being expressive in music. We will learn new songs, games, and movements to be performed with appropriate musicality. Grades K and 1 will continue moving expressively with an emphasis on keeping a steady beat. We will continue to assess students on their singing voices. Grade 2 will have their second opportunity to try boomwhackers. Grade 3 will practice singing in a round style with increasing complexity.
Library: During library class this week, students viewed an Ebook about the scientific method through PebbleGo for STEM week. Students responded to questions about the problem in the story and how it was solved. Day 1 students also built a school out of straw and tape for Makerspace Monday. The library is also looking for Lego/Duplo donations for a green screen media project. If you have Legos that you would like to donate, please email me at jlipovsky@freelake.org. Thank you!