October News
The beginning of the 2018-2019 school year has been a roaring success and we are now beginning to “Fall” into a routine as we are well into the first six weeks of school. I am thankful for the opportunity to be a part of J. Turner Hood School Team and proud of how every single member of our team contributes to the positive and caring atmosphere. All of the stakeholders in our school are involved in teaching our students our school-wide expectations and procedures, giving praise and meaningful rewards for good behavior and setting up a safe, respectful, and positive school environment in which students love to take on the responsibility of learning! What are SRR Behaviors?”
Be Safe
Be Responsible
Be Respectful
There are a few things you can do at home to help your child be a successful student here at school. It is beneficial to set up routines for your morning prior to leaving the house. Setting up routines can help you and your child be more relaxed. Eating a good breakfast helps your child to be energized and ready for the day ahead. After school ask your child about his/her school day. It lets your child know you care. Talking about school with your child helps keep you connected. If your child isn’t sharing what he/she does at school try asking a specific question or two. Be sure to read all papers that come home or sent via e-mail. Help your child be prepared by studying a little each day. It is the best way to learn and own new material. Having a set homework time and place makes homework a little less stressful. Read everyday. Try reading both to and with your child each day. Lastly, having a set bedtime and nightly routine helps your child get the rest he/she needs. Providing your child with relaxation, energy, communication, preparation and rest create the potion for success! Communication between home and school is so important for our children. Please share anything important that is going on at home with your child’s classroom teacher. We can’t be successful without one another.
Arriving to school on time. It is that time of year when we start to solidify our routines etc. It is important to note that school starts promptly at 8:30 am. The following advice is adapted from an article that I came across in my professional reading. It explains how frequent lateness to school impacts on our children’s well-being and their learning.
We all run late sometimes. For your child, arriving late to school occasionally won't cause major disruption. Inevitably, children will feel sick or tired some mornings, or other situations will prevent them from being on time. But chronic lateness eventually takes its toll on a child's overall educational experience. According to the national initiative Attendance Works, missing just 10 percent of the school year in the early grades causes many students to struggle in primary school. Fortunately, parents can help prevent tardiness from becoming frequent enough to negatively impact their child's school life.
Disrupted Routines-One of the most important aspects of school is that it is organized, scheduled and predictable. Students depend on the structure of the day. They know where they have to be and when. They know the main purpose for being in school is to learn and that routines are in place precisely to help them focus on that learning. When students are repeatedly tardy, these routines are disrupted. Children who are often late have trouble settling in and mastering routines. Tardiness can throw off their whole morning or even their day, especially if the late commute to school was stressful.
Social Experience- The social experience has a powerful impact on a child's feelings about school and his or her ability to be academically successful. When a child continuously shows up late to class, other students are distracted. Attention is drawn away from the teacher or assignment and toward the child who has just arrived.
Low Achievement- Perform Well, a nonprofit policy research and educational organization, reports that frequent tardiness is associated with lower grades and lower scores on standardized tests. It is also linked to low graduation rates. In many classrooms, particularly at the primary level, morning routines are critical to daily lessons. Warm-up activities may introduce topics that will be learned later in the day, or review work offers students an opportunity to review previously learned skills.
Responsibility- Part of your child's education is learning to be responsible. The school experience teaches children how to meet expectations. They learn to follow schedules, obey rules, complete assignments and keep track of their materials. Learning responsibility in school is a precursor to functioning in the working world, as noted by William Kirby in his 2010 article "School Attendance Tied to Academic Success”.
("Effects Of Tardiness On Your Child's Education" 2016)
Parent’s Association- Our parent’s association continues to remain active and work “Hand and Hand” to support our school community. This amazing group of individuals continue to work hard on behalf of our school, students and families. Please take a look at the Parent’s Association website at http://jthoodpa.my-pto.org/ and please feel free to thank the membership for all of their efforts, they are amazing.
Grade 3: Did you know that our local Elks Lodge provides all of our Grade 3 students with dictionaries every year? Third graders at the J. Turner Hood Elementary School received free dictionaries thanks to the Wakefield Elks. Each third grade student was able to take a dictionary home, where they will be able to use them to practice using guide words to find entry words and other related dictionary skills. Thanks so much to the Wakefield Elks on their thoughtful donations!
Dismissal Changes: Please communicate all dismissal changes with the main office of the school as soon as possible. We have noticed that some families are communicating dismissal change requests through the teaching staff and while we value the home school communication we need to account for all dismissals through the main office. We need to be cognizant of the fact that teachers may not be on email during their professional day as they are working with students and/or they may be out of school for the day and unable to send and receive communications. Any dismissal changes should be communicated to the main office by 12:00. Thanks in advance for your understanding.
Makerspace Make Over- Our Makerspace is up and running again, thanks to some amazing volunteers. A special Thank you to Mrs. Hatch, Mrs. Demetri and Mrs. Wasilewski.
Book Fair- We are looking for a team of volunteers to help out at our upcoming Scholastic Book Fair, and I would like to invite you to help out.Please contact Mrs. Craig at ccraig@nrpsk12.org, Thank you!
Book Fair Class Schedule:
Tuesday, November 28
8:30-9:00 Mr. Larsen
9:00-9:30 Ms. Checrallah
10:00-10:30 Mrs. Mayuski
10:30-11:00 Mrs. Cleary/Mrs. Lorton
11:00-11:30 Mrs. Mohan
11:30-12:00 Mr. Quinn
12:45-1:15 Ms. Slaven
1:15-1:45 Mrs. Wright
1:45-2:15 Mrs. Gauvain
2:15-2:45 Mrs. Sherman
Wednesday, November 29
9:30-10:00 Mrs. Gorman
10:00-10:30 Mrs. Costa/ Mrs. Pacheco
10:45-11:15 SEEM
11:15-11:45 Mrs. Heffernan
Thursday, November 30
9:45-10:15 Mrs. Hogan/Mrs. Crosby
11:00-11:30 Ms. Magrath