December Newsletter

Dear J. Turner Hood School Community, 

We have just completed the first trimester of school and our first parent-teacher conferences. It is amazing how fast time goes by. One of the many reasons that we have a great school is the way that students, teachers and parents work together to form an educational partnership. When this partnership forms, I have never found an issue that could not be solved. I appreciate the work of students, parents and staff in working together Hand & Hand!

The school is bustling with activity. We are excited to have so many volunteers helping out in classrooms and working with our dedicated Parents Association. 

Parent’s Association- Our Parents Association continues to be a steadfast partner with our school. I cannot possibly list all of the activities that this amazing group has engaged our students in but let’s just say Thank you to them for always being there for our students as well as our school community. The Fun Run was a huge success and as I write this letter the holiday shop event is thriving. The students are so happy to have this tradition back. Mr. Quinlan and I had a great time working with the winning classrooms (Mrs. Arone & Mrs. Cleary) on their prizes from the fun run. Please check us out on Twitter to see some pictures of the winning classes taping Mr. Quinlan and I to the wall in the cafeteria.

Winter Concerts- Our winter concerts are complete and I must say that the performances this year were amazing. The students did a wonderful job performing and I was proud of them and the efforts of Ms. Comeau and Mr. Muse. We had a packed house for the evening show and it was simply a great experience for all that attended. 

Stay in Touch- Our school website continues to be a great resource. We hope that you will find the information that is posted on our website to be valuable to you and your children. Please check our site often as there are always things going on. The J. Turner Hood School is proud of the cooperative relationship that we have with our families and the community as a whole. We hope this website will be another way of us staying connected with all of you. Please be reminded that our website offers an up to date calendar of school activities. Please also remember that the Hood School Twitter account is a wonderful resource to see what is happening at the school. 

Kindergarten Orientation- Kindergarten information is now available at the District and Elementary School’s websites under the “Family and Community” tab or by visiting:  https://www.north-reading.k12.ma.us/district/kindergarten-registration-i.... Our "Getting Ready for Kindergarten" presentation for parents will be held on Thursday, January 12, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. This will be a virtual presentation hosted by the Little School (for all three elementary schools). Please see our website for the registration link.

Traffic Pilot- Our traffic pilot is in full swing. Please know that the North Reading Police Department and I will be collecting parent feedback upon our return in January. 

Dr. Ilda’s Garden- Recently we hosted a dedication ceremony for the recently completed Dr. Ilda’s Garden at the Hood School. Mrs. Cynthia Conant, Director of Student Services, conducted this ceremony during a recent school committee meeting which recognized the legacy of Ilda who was a long-time consultant to our school district and our students and staff of the North Reading Public Schools. Ilda has impacted so many of our students, developing individual literacy skills, and at the same time increasing their self esteem and self confidence. Similarly, she has left her legacy with several of our staff who have been trained in her teaching methodologies. The Hood school was selected for this honor based upon the amazing work completed by this individual within our school community. A beautiful mural has been completed which reflects this individuals passions was completed by some amazing artist from our school district. Ms. Jessie O’Brien, our Fine Arts Curriculum Chair, was instrumental in the completion of this project and I was thankful for her amazing attention to detail. Our new reading room in the library has a soaring ceiling, beautiful lighting and stepped seating, a unique and cozy place to curl up with a book. The idea of a garden was inspired by a photo Ilda herself had taken. The photo was of the blooming yellow irises. Please stop by to visit this amazing space and soak in the happiness, joy and energy that the space exudes. 

Logan the Comfort Dog- Over the past several months we have been researching the best way to implement  to positively impact our school community. Our research has driven our pilot of this endeavor. In order to assist with this, we have enlisted Logan, a male Labrador Retriever (5 years old) to join us periodically. Logan is a certified therapy dog through the Alliance of Therapy Dogs. Both he and his handler, Mr. Jeff Borkowski (a North Reading resident and North Reading parent) have gone through extensive training and classroom preparation to receive this certification. We are working with specific grade levels and student groups. We are currently in the data collection phase of this research with more information to follow in the future. Please know that the benefits are numerous according to the literature. Through this research we have learned the following:

·      A 2019 study published by the National Institute of Health found that a dog

present in the classroom promotes a positive mood and provides significant

anti-stress effects on the body.

·      A study conducted by the University of California on canine reading

programs found that students who participated in one program increased their

reading fluency by between 12% and 30%.

·      Therapy dogs help children learn social skills,

preventing social isolation. Interaction with therapy dogs has also been found

to cause a social catalyst effect, and this further helps improve the

stimulation of social behavior.

It is important to also understand the connection that this pilot program has to our school improvement plan goals for this school year, specifically focusing on improving school climate and the student emotional experience. 

We are looking forward to welcoming everyone back in 2023. As you can see, we have a lot of exciting things to look forward to in January. 

Wishing you a happy and healthy holiday season.

Mr. Glen S. McKay