Lowell School Newsletter
Do you know our Core Values? Our students do!
Friday afternoon the Lowell school community gathered in the gym to kick off the new year. During the assembly, we welcomed all the new staff. We re-introduced our Core Values to the staff and our newest students. Ms. Whitmore and Stacy Vachon created a video with the help of Mrs. Walsh/Mr. Kevane’s third-grade class. The star of the video is Henry Woodward. Please watch our Core Value Video.
We also revealed our new Lowell Pledge, the pledge was created by our teachers and staff during our opening day gathering. The Pledge was shaped by Lowell School’s core values of; Kindness, Cooperation, Perseverance, and Integrity. And WPS core values: Excellence, Equity, and Community. Lowell School will begin each academic day by reciting positive affirmations in taking the Lowell Pledge. The pledge is intended to inspire students each morning to live our core values. Below is our pledge:
We in the Lowell Community
Show Cooperation and Kindness when we work and play together
Show Integrity by being honest
Show Perseverance by never giving up
We work for Equity, we may not all get the same, but we all get what we need, and do our personal best every day.
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Cafe Happenings
We are working on creating expectations for the common area in our school. Common areas are those areas we all share, such as cafeteria, hallways, gym, library, and bathrooms.
We will be using the Responsive Classroom strategy interactive modeling. This is where we model the expected behavior for our students. If you watched our Core Values video, you would see how we demonstrate cafeteria cooperation.
Ms. Whitmore has been overseeing the lunch service since school started. She has been setting the expectations for the students in the cafeteria during lunch with the help of the staff and lunch aides.
Over the summer we hired two new lunch aides; Nursel Cinar and Maureen Greeley. These two ladies along with Cheryl Grillo support students during lunch.
We have also added staff members to the lunch room. In the past, instructional aides did not attend lunch with students. This year instructional aides who work with a particular grade now attend lunch during that grades lunch.
Many of the expectations are the same as last year.
Students remain seated unless they are buying lunch, milk, or snacks in the lunch line.
Students may go to the bathroom one at a time. They sign out using the whiteboard.
Students may have second portions after everyone has been served.
(New)
The last 5 minutes of lunch students are asked to eat in silence, this allows students quiet time to finish eating their meals. We find most of the eating happens toward the end of the lunch period.
Students are asked to face the table during lunch and talk with their friends.
Students are asked to line up by class and follow their teacher out of the cafe. This ensures an organized exit.
Ms. Whitmore reminds students when the room is becoming too loud. She has explained the difference between volume 1 and 4. Volume 4 is yelling or outdoors voices. We aim to keep things at volume 2 which is a typical discussion voice for inside. Volume 1 is a whisper. We are not expecting students to speak in a whisper at lunch we know they need to chat and catch up with their friends.
Note from Nurse Taverna
Take precautions against West-Nile Virus.
Middlesex County has 3 confirmed causes of West-Nile Virus, please take precautions. Click the link below to learn more.
A Letter from our Gardener Judy Fallows
Happy Fall!
The Lowell School Garden is looking terrific, thanks to our wonderful parent volunteers and others over the summer! I’m attaching a simplified map of the garden to help you locate particular crops in the raised beds (numbered 1 – 5). I hope this is helpful.
Please remember the basic garden rules - stay on the paths, no running, follow directions, pick only things you have permission to pick. There’s a new system of colored flags to indicate what you can pick, I’m also attaching that little poster – redX means, please don’t pick yet, pink means you can pick a few and white means you can pick as much as you’d like. There’s a copy of this poster in the shed.
Also note, the spring 3 sisters step stone paths are closed until the frost comes. However, we have created a CORN PATH through the tall corn plants 3-Sisters area that is laid out with step stones and guided by pink tape. Please enter from the back of the bed by the building and exit by the composter. Feel free to let kids walk on this path, but remind them single file, one child per stone, no running, and don’t step on the plants.
Shed materials –In the shed, you will find trowels, gloves and other garden tools. Eventually, there will also be specific curriculum materials on the shelves, such as seeds and potting materials. There are also a few tools in the older black bin.
Things to observe:
· Peppers – there are green, red, purple and orange peppers in the garden. Please don’t pick them yet, as there are not many of them and some are not yet ripe. But on the pepper plants, you will be able to observe the full development of fruits from flowers to small peppers and more mature peppers all on the same plants. Great observational drawing opportunities here!
· Beans – this year, kindergarteners will be harvesting beans for a year-long study. Please respect this plan and don’t pick too many of these. Beans also have fruits (bean pods) developing, you can see flowers to fruits here as well. And check out the beans climbing on the corn in the 3 sisters area
· Senses in the garden – there is a lot of mint as well as chives in the garden, and in the barrels, you will find sage, thyme, garlic chives, and oregano. Smell the leaves in each barrel, they are all different
· Corn – please feel free to look at ears on stalks and tassels on top, but we’re not harvesting any corn yet
· Pumpkins – there are maturing pumpkins in the 3 sisters area to look at, please don’t harvest yet.
· Kale – there are several varieties of kale in bed#1 next to the cherry tomatoes. We will be looking at these later as kale is “Harvest of the Month” in November. For now, don’t harvest, observation only
·
Things to taste:
· Cherry tomatoes – there are pink, orange, red, blue and yellow tomatoes this year. Choose only bright colors, green or greenish tomatoes are never ready to harvest, leave them to mature for the best flavor
· Husk cherries – husk cherries in front (not very many, they did poorly this year, alas) are in the front of bed #5. Husk cherries are ripe when they fall off the plant, so don’t pick them just lift the leaves gently and look under them.
Stay tuned for other opportunities to see what's happening in the garden! I will be in touch with specific grades for garden visits as the fall goes along. But feel free to go out and visit anytime, reserving your time in the calendar will avoid conflicts, and as always, please feel free to email me directly with questions, ideas, and suggestions.
Enjoy the garden!!
judy
Judy Fallows, School Garden Coordinator
"kids who grow veggies, eat veggies!"
Reminder School Breakfast is served every day at 7:45 a.m.
All are welcome!!!
Lowell School
Back to School Night
Tuesday, September 25, 2018
6:00-8:00
PreK - Grade 2 Grade 3 - Grade 5
6:00-6:45 6:00-6:45
Parents visit classrooms Parents visit specialist
in the cafeteria.
6:45-7:15 Mrs. Phelan will begin in the gym with a brief welcome and an introduction to our SEPAC representative.
PreK - Grade 2 Grade 3 - Grade 5
7:15-8:00 7:15-8:00
Parents visit specialist in the Parents visit Classrooms
cafeteria.
Watertown Courses For Kids
REMINDER
The deadline to register for Courses For Kids (without a $25 late fee) is Monday, September 17.
Friday, September 28nd Mrs. Phelan is hosting a Coffee for parents of Kindergarten Students. Come to meet Mrs. Whitmore.
8:15-9:00 in the Cafeteria
Lowell School will have Picture Day on Friday, September 28th we will begin taking pictures at 8:30 in the school library.
Calendar & Events
Dates: Event: Time/Location:
September
25th
|
Preschool will begin to enter through Door #3 the same door they dismiss from. Doors open at 8:00 am (older siblings may enter here too)
|
8:00 am
|
September
25th
|
Back to School Night
6:00-6:45
Grades Prek- 2 Parents
Visit classrooms
Grades 3 -5 Parents
Visit Specialists in the cafeteria
6:45-7:15
Welcome from Principal
Introduction to SEPAC
7:15-8:00
Grades 3 - 5 Parents
Visit classrooms
Grades Prek- 2 Parents
Visit Specialists in the cafeteria
|
6:30-8:00
|
September
26th
|
Early Release Day
Teacher’s PD
|
12:15 Dismissal
|
September 28th
|
Picture Day
|
We begin at 8:30
|
September 28th
|
Kindergarten Parent
Principal Coffee
|
8:15-9:00 a.m. Cafeteria
|
October
4th
|
School Council
|
TBD
|
October
8th
|
No School
Columbus Day Observed
|
All Day
|
October 9th
|
PTO Meeting
|
6:30-7:30
Lowell Library
|
October 10th
|
Early Release
Teacher Professional Development
|
12:15
Dismissal
|
October 15th-
October
18th
|
Scholastic Book Fair
Lowell Library
|
Classroom Visit During Day
|
October
18th
|
Bedtime stories read by Mrs. Phelan/Ms. Whitmore
Cookies and Milk
Please come in your PJ’s
|
6:00-7:00 pm
|
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