The Wellington News - Belmont Public Schools · The Wellington News Roger Wellington School 121 Orchard St Belmont, Massachusetts 02478 Telephone 617/993-5600 Amy N. Spangler Principal

The Wellington News Roger Wellington School

121 Orchard St Belmont, Massachusetts 02478

Telephone 617/993-5600 Amy N. Spangler

Principal

Maureen A. Barnowski Assistant Principal

Monday, March 2, 2015

Important Dates:

March 6: Title One Parent/Guardian Breakfast, Community Room, 8:30AM March 7: Winter Carnival, BHS, 10AM-2PM March 9: PTO Meeting with Superintendent Phelan, 8:45AM, Community Room March 16-23: ASE Registration, Spring Session begins March 17: Last day of Tuesday ASE Winter Session courses (Stay tuned for

information regarding the “snow day” make-ups!) March 23: Last day for Monday ASE Winter Session courses (Stay tuned for

information regarding the “snow day” make-ups!) March 23-April 13: Performance Based PARCC Assessments for third and

fourth graders

Dear Wellington Families,

I would like to take the time to thank each and every family for participating in the hosting the staff breakfast last week. These may seem like small gestures of appreciation, but to our staff these simple gestures really do make a huge difference. This is an exceptional faculty who go above and beyond the call of duty each and every day for children; it is heartwarming to see how these efforts are celebrated. Thank you. Attached please see our Literacy Corner for this month! As always, if you have additional questions, please feel free to contact me. And, how are the children? Well, very well indeed! Please let me know how we can best support your

child.

Amy (and Maureen)

Weights and Measurements Week:

This will be our last week on our school-wide weights and measurements mathematics initiative.

This week’s concept: Weight

Preschool-Aged Children: If you have or know of a preschooler in our

community, please see the two attached flyers about free events specifically designed for preschoolers!

PTO News:

CARNIVAL IS THIS SATURDAY! YIPPEE! The Wellington Carnival is MARCH 7TH, FROM 10 a.m. - 2

p.m., at the Belmont High School Field House. We’ll have bouncehouses and slides, a clown, a bake

sale, a book sale, pizza, crafts, face painting and tons of fun! But to make it happen, we are in need

of A LOT of parent helpers to make sure this is a wonderful event for everyone at Wellington.

WE NEED VOLUNTEERS!! We still need to fill at least 50 1 hour slots!

Each classroom is assigned a game or craft station that they are in charge of running. Your class is responsible for making sure all of the slots are filled for the 4 hours. But, if we don’t fill the slots we can’t run the game or bouncehouse. The list of the stations and the assigned classrooms are listed on the online sign-up which you can find here: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0c4baea62ca64-wellington2 Please contact Nomita Ganguly with questions at [email protected].

WE NEED GENTLY USED BOOKS! There is a donation box at Wellington in the hallway near the office where you can donate new and used children’s books that are in good condition that will be included in the Carnival Book Sale. Other donation boxes can be found at Starbucks in Cushing Square and at The Toy Shop of Belmont. Please contact Amy Orlando [email protected] with questions.

WE NEED BAKERS! We need lots of bakers to make some delicious treats for our Carnival Bake Sale. Please contact Jen Manganaro, [email protected] to donate items.

WE HAVE RAFFLE TICKETS! Check your child’s backpack for your order forms this week, print themselves or go to this link and purchase them online! https://wellingtonpto.formstack.com/forms/?1948033-vCowctfM1U. There are 3 amazing prizes to win – Red Sox tickets, Boston College Football tickets and a gift certificate to Belmont’s sports store, Champions. Please contact Michelle Jimenez, [email protected] with questions.

Please Plan to Attend Our Next General PTO Meeting on Monday, March 9, at 8:45 a.m., in the

Wellington Community Room. Superintendent John Phelan will present the current school district

budget, including the current $500,000 deficit. Mr. Phelan will present two school budgets: the

first being the school budget if the Town passes a $4.5 million override recommended by the

Financial Task Force; and the second being a school budget using only available revenue.

Please make every effort to attend this critical informational meeting to stay informed about this

important Town issue!

Bring in those BOX TOPS! The Contest has just begun!! Have your child bring in their box tops and give them to their teacher from March 2-April 3. The class that has the most box tops wins the prize!!!

Town-Wide Elementary School Food Drive: A town-wide Elementary School Food Drive for the

Belmont Food Pantry will be held the week of March 16th-20th. The Burbank, Butler, Winn Brook

and Wellington Schools are all participating to collect donations to help stock the pantry with food

and supplies. Boxes will be put in the school for donations during that week.

Green Team News: The Wellington PTO Green Committee is part of the team sponsoring the showing of Fed Up on Wednesday, March 4th, at 7 p.m. in the Chenery Middle School Auditorium. Fed Up, from Katie Couric, Laurie David and director Stephanie Soechtig, takes a hard look at the food industry and the ways we are currently eating. Following the screening, there will be a Q&A with a team of panelists including a local pediatrician and a farm-to-table expert. During this evening event you'll learn about: how and what we’re feeding our kids; learn from each other and from community experts; and share ways to prepare foods and inform each other about local resources. The film and discussion are open to all, and middle school and high school students are strongly encouraged to attend. Younger children are also welcome (Common Sense Media suggests FedUp is appropriate for ages 10 and up). Sponsored by the Belmont PTA/PTO Green Alliance, the Belmont Food Collaborative and Sustainable Belmont. Thanks to all the families that contributed the many breakfast items for the Staff Breakfast last Thursday. We are so lucky to have such a supportive Wellington Community and even luckier to have such amazing teachers and staff at our school. Thank you all! Thank you Holly Johnson, Jen Leary and all the families who organized a spectacular Multicultural Night! We are so fortunate to have such a diverse community of families from different countries and cultures. We thank the Multicultural team for giving us all an opportunity to see and learn about art and artists from the different countries our families are from and for bringing the amazing Taiko drummers to perform for our children. It was a first for many to experience this powerful musical performance from the country of Japan. As always, our thanks to all Wellington families for your continued support of the PTO - we

couldn’t do it without you!

Angela and Don

Childhood Safety

Workshop

Teresa Stewart, MS, MPH

Child Safety Advocate, Child

Development Specialist, CPR

Instructor, and Sleep Consultant

Who should attend?

Parents and caregivers of

children, ages 0-6 years old.

Why?

There is nothing more important than knowing how to

keep your children safe!

What will be discussed?

Child passenger safety

Child –proofing your home

Playground safety

Safe-sleep for infants and

toddlers

Common first aid situations

Date: Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Time: 6:30-8:30pm

Location: Belmont Public Library

336 Concord Ave, Belmont, Ma

To register, please contact Megan at:

[email protected] or

# 617-926-7765

Brought to you by the

Coordinated Family and Community Engagement

Grant of Watertown and Belmont

If you have young children

visit the annual…..

Early Childhood

Information Fair

Saturday, March 21st - 9:30 to 11:30 am

at the

Watertown Middle School

68 Waverley Ave.

for information on preschools, daycares, early intervention programs and all local

organizations that service young children and their families.

Immediately following the fair there will be a FREE FAMILY CONCERT with

children’s entertainers The Jamberries (www.jamberriesmusic.com) at 11:30 am in

the auditorium of the Middle School

The whole family will enjoy a toe tapping time.

For more information please call 617-926-1661 or

e-mail - [email protected]

The fair is sponsored by the Watertown & Belmont CFCE Grant funder by the Massachusetts

Department of Early Education and Care and administered by the Watertown Public Schools

The Literacy Corner

Teachers and parents have an

important role in influencing and

supporting students’ motivation and

engagement in literacy. The following are

four strategies we can employ to increase

student motivation towards text.

Set clear goals and

expectations Goals and expectations for reading

and writing assignments should be

clear and specific. For example, “Read

to find out the message the author

wants us to know.” Or, “Read to

compare and contrast cats and lions.”

Motivation

The Wellington School

Belmont, MA Amy Baxter Mary MacDonald K-2 Reading Specialists

Guide students to focus on their

own improvement Help students to set goals for their

literacy learning and then guide them to

focus on their progress toward attaining

these goals. Teachers and parents can

teach students to keep track of their

progress through reading logs and

progress checklists.

Provide variety and choice Self-determination is critical to

motivation. Allow students to select

some of their own reading materials

(magazines, comics, newspapers,

nonfiction, picture books). This will give

them control over their learning.

FFEEBBRRUUAARRYY22001155

S.M.A.R.T Auditory Commands

Purpose: To develop following direction skills

Say, “Listen to what I say and wait to move

until I say go.”

Give a verbal command (“put your hands on

your head. Go.”)

Child follows command.

Repeat using a different verbal command.

Increase number of commands (Sit down,

and then put your hands on your head.”

Motivation (continued)

Provide opportunities for students

to interact through reading Discuss, write, and/or draw about what

students read. Laugh and enjoy text

together! Partner reading with your

children is a wonderful way to increase

interaction with text. Stop periodically and

think aloud!

Although getting students motivated can be

very challenging, it is very critical in achieving

literacy success. Motivation increases student

engagement and increases the amount of

time children want to practice, which in turn

increases student improvement.

-Disinfecting Wipes

-Cleenex

-Stickers/Motivational Prizes

Thank you!!

Literacy Corner Page 2

The Recess Queen By Alexis O’Neill

This story is about a new girl at school,

and how she dethrones the reigning

recess bully by inviting her to be her

friend! What is a bully? Have you ever

been bullied or seen someone else be

bullied? What does bullying look like?

Discuss these questions together and

think about strategies to help your

children on the playground, and in

life!

Book of the Month Reading Team Wish List

Items