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Atkinson MCAS Testing Schedule
The MCAS dates for Atkinson students in grades 3-5 have been determined. Please open this link to see the full schedule for the test administrations in March, April and May. 2010 MCAS Schedule
RAISE YOUR SMARTS
Our third RYS family assignment of the year will go out on Friday, March 12. The last set of at-home RYS assignments brought out some awesome projects: recipes, maps and posters about cultures of the world. I am so pleased to report that the great majority of our school children have earned their first participation point and most will earn their third point after completing one of these projects. This month’s theme is POETRY. As usual, students can work on one (or more) of the tasks listed on the participation sheet. Siblings and/or friends can work on the same activity and pass it in jointly for credit, or children can feel free to work on separate activities. What is most important is that students make an effort to increase their knowledge and understanding about figurative language through a POETRY study. All of our RAISE activities in March and April will incorporate poetry into the learning and into the fun. If this sheet is passed in by Friday, April 16th, youngsters will earn another participation point toward our big CONVERSE grand prize. Good luck, take your time and have fun!
Students who worked on their classroom culture/country projects last month will be highlighted in a video that will run on our local CAM Ed station very soon (end of March, early April). Please stay tuned for more information on when it will run. RYS Participation Sheet
RAISE YOUR SMARTS Overview
If you would like an overview of the program, please open the following links. RYS Overview RYS Parent Letter
Upcoming Calendar of Events
Monday, March 15 Library Lending Week
Tuesday, March 16 Staff v. 5th Grade Bball Game
Tuesday, March 23 MCAS, Gr. 4 Long Comp
Wednesday, Mar 24 MCAS ELA for Gr. 3-5
Friday, March 26 K-2 Mother-Son @ 6:30pm
Saturday, March 27 3-5 Mother-Son @ 7pm
Monday, March 29 Library Lending Week
Friday, April 9 MCAS ELA Ends
Friday, April 16 RYS Project Packets Due
CONVERSE Sponsors All-Stars!
The executives at CONVERSE Inc., makers of the original All-Stars, were so impressed when they learned about our RAISE initiative that they have agreed to sponsor our RAISE YOUR SMARTS project this year! CONVERSE will be supplying tangible incentives for our students, including all-star keychains, tee-shirts, and sweatshirts. Students who participate in our contests and fairs each month will be eligible to earn these items. The grand prize, for a dozen students who take part in all five RAISE YOUR SMARTS projects (Math Facts Bee, Olympic Geography, Poetry Challenge, Science Innovations and 5-2-1-0), will be a pair of CONVERSE sneakers that each will be able to design! Added to that will be a tour of the factory to watch their sneakers be constructed and a very generous gift card for converse.com. Very special thanks go out to Mr. Caterino for all the time and effort he put in to get this sponsorship established! I hope the children get a kick out of this All-Star partnership.
All five RAISE components will be in action again this year. Landry Lessons and Learning Buddies will happen each month. Service projects will continue in each classroom or by grade level. We will have four All-Star Assemblies and four RAISE Family meetings during the course of the year. The assemblies will be celebrations of the student effort related to the RAISE YOUR SMARTS projects. RAISE Families will be opportunities to share and prepare for the contests and fairs while reviewing our five school values. We will be planning two academic challenges (Math Facts Bee and Poetry Challenge) and two academic fairs (Olympic Geography and Science Innovations). The challenges and the fairs will be all-inclusive and should fun and memorable activities for all the kids. More info to follow.
Check Out Our 5th Grade Blog!
The fifth grade team has a very active blog online for students and families. You are all welcome to visit. www.atk5thgrade.blogspot.com
Lending Library is Open
Big thanks to all the volunteers for donating their time and energy in support of the Atkinson Lending Library. This will be the third year in a row that we’ve been able to circulate the collection. Miss Turner and Miss Symonds have been putting in a great deal of time shuffling around shelves along with the picture-books. They have also re-labeled the bookcases and hung some beautiful frames. The classes are very excited about their visits this year. We should be able to get in about 18 trips. My gratitude goes out to all who have come forward to share their time to make the lending happen. THANK YOU!!
Idling Law
For all who participate in our car drop-off and pick-up, there is a new law about idling your car for too long, especially in a school zone. It revolves around improving the air quality for all of us. There are fines of $100 and $500 associated with the law. Signs have been clearly posted along the drop-off and pick-up areas as a prompt. I’ve learned that an idling engine releases twice as much exhaust as a vehicle in motion and for every two minutes a car idles, it uses about the same amount of fuel as it takes to go a one mile distance. Please try your best to remember to turn off your car if you are waiting in line for more than a few minutes. Don’t be surprised if we give you a little reminder. Thanks!
The Elementary School Handbook
A copy of the Atkinson Elementary School Parent and Student Handbook has been posted below. The elementary handbook has a great deal of information that I hope you’ll find useful. In the handbook, you will find entries on attendance, birthdays, food safety, homework, health, PTO and our code of conduct that is directly linked to RAISE. Some handbook items apply only to adults while others should be read or shared with your child. I think it should take no more than 30-minutes to review the entire handbook.
As we work to make fewer copies and to promote the use of our school website, I encourage you to download the handbook from the link below, although hard-copies of the handbook will be available in the Atkinson office and/or can be sent home at your request. After reviewing the handbook with your child, I ask that you please sign the bottom portion of this form and return it to your child’s teacher. Our goal is to have all children and families aware of our school procedures and policies. Thank you all for your time and support!
Download Atkinson On-line Student and Parent Handbook 2009-2010
Handbook Sign-Off Sheet
THANK YOU, Families!
The teachers and I would like to thank everyone for their donations of classroom supplies! In making any supply list, we tried to limit the number of items requested; we understand that budgets are tight. Please know that the contributions you’ve made to your child’s classroom will go a long way in helping teachers set up the best learning environment and opportunities for your children.
For kindergarten parents, I apologize for the confusion about our supply lists. The school district is working to establish “green” practices in the new early childhood building. Custodial supplies and other aspects of the operation are now more environmentally friendly. While in time our kindergarten groups will take part in greener practices, we will surely take advantage of all of the materials and supplies that you were so kind to donate. Thank you all so much for your support!!!
K-5 Supply Lists
We finally have our grade level supply lists posted here. Thank you in advance for anything you can send in with your children. None of these items should be considered mandatory purchases. 2009 Supply Lists
Medical Records
Please make sure your child’s health records are up to date. The State mandates that health forms for any new student be completed prior to entry into the school. Please present your child’s health records to the secretary and nurse on September 8th, if not sooner. Thank you!
Lunch Program Info
School lunch costs $2.25 this school year. Milk only is $.60. Students are also eligible for free/reduced lunches based on family income. Please send in those forms ASAP. The School Lunch Program will again offer a “point of sale (POS)” debit system at the Atkinson School this year. This system eliminates the need to give your child school lunch money on a daily basis.
Our Playground
After lots of hard labor over the summer, the playground is just about completed. Big thanks go out to our PTO for the purchase of the new equipment. For many years, through our Mother-Son Jammin' Fun dance, money was raised and saved for the purpose of improving our school play area. We hope the children enjoy years of fun on the new equipment. We would also like to express our appreciation to the crew from Triumph who donated time and energy to the playground construction project.
School Council Parent Survey... Thank you!
Thank you all who took the time to complete the online parent survey in the spring. The information gathered is being used to help build our new school improvement plan. Please consider taking part in a new and improved survey later in the school year.
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