The Newton School's mission is t
o develop each child’s potential for academic success, engagement and overall well-being. Through this process, we will enrich each child’s education with community involvement, collaboration and outreach.
|
|
School Notes & Athletics
Mr. Bagnato
|
|
As you may know, the Newton School and the Creative Preschool have been exploring options for expanding the capacity of the Creative Preschool program to meet the needs of the Strafford community. As you will see below, while not everyone answered every question, the information has provided preliminary data to inform us on the goals stated in the survey. Preliminary results are:
Goal #1
- To assess community support for expanding public preschool opportunities in Strafford.
Data from Survey
- 97% of the 99 respondents answered yes to increase public support/resources for preschool opportunities in Strafford.
Goal #2
- To gauge current demand for preschool and child care.
Data from Survey
- 95% of the 37 respondents answered yes to wanting their child to participate in publicly funded preschool education in Strafford.
We plan to communicate more information at a later time, and a report regarding this survey will be presented at the Creative Preschool and Strafford School Board Meetings. We also have a study committee forming that will look more closely at the survey data and eventually make a proposal for improving preschool opportunities in Strafford. If you have any questions, please contact
Greg Bagnato
at Newton School or Jody Lowes at Creative Preschool.
|
|
Athletics and School Activities
|
|
EVENTS:
PTA Meeting - Monday, November 5th - 6:00 pm in the Library.
Centennial Veteran's Day Assembly - Wednesday, November 7th - 10:00 am in Barrett Hall
No School Veteran's Day - Monday, November 12th
Middle School Presents
Robin Hood - Wednesday & Thursday, November 14 & 15 - 1:30 pm & 7:00 pm in Barrett Hall
Basketball will begin after Thanksgiving Break. There will be a 3/4 Boys, 3/4 Girls, 5/6 Boys, and 5/6 Girls Teams. The 3/4 teams will generally be practicing and playing games on M/W, while 5/6 will generally be practicing and playing games on T/Th.
There will also be a Nordic Ski Team that is open to grades 5-8. Please use this
form to sign-up your child.
|
|
7/8 News
Ms. Kanoff & Mrs. White
|
|
The Newton School will hold our annual Veterans Day assembly on
Wednesday, November 7 at 10:00 a.m., commemorating the centennial of Armistice/Veterans Day. The Heritage Brass Ensemble, led by Lydia Lowery Busler, will provide music, and U.S. Army and Canadian Forces personnel will provide color guards.
Middle-school students will commemorate two Strafford-affiliated soldiers: Major Fred A. Cook, DSC, who died in combat in October of 1918, and Private Arastus W. Lewis, of the Canadian Expeditionary Forces. Also commemorated will be the 26th Yankee Division, and the women who served in the U.S. Signal Corps as telephone operators in combat support. Veterans from Strafford, Sharon and Thetford are welcome to attend. Please
email Diane White if you wish to attend. Photography and video of the assembly will be sent to the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in France for their archives pertaining to Major Cook.
|
|
K-2 News
Ms. Kicza, Mrs. Longcore & Mrs. Robinson
|
|
Our cluster spent Wednesday afternoon together celebrating Halloween! We had some treats--thanks to all the families that sent in goodies!
Kids could wander throughout the three classrooms and choose between games such as pin the face on the jack-o-lantern, musical pumpkins, and relay races. There were crafts, such as making black cat sunset pictures. Everyone had fun, and we’re sure their fun continued on into the evening!
|
|
|
3/4 News
Ms. Coté & Mrs. Marzot
|
|
Halloween week is always a fun and exciting time in school. Students became medieval engineers and designed catapults to launch mini pumpkins. It was a great activity in frustrating collaboration, perseverance, and fun. Half of the partners were able to bring their catapults home this afternoon. Here is a
link to a YouTube instructional if your student would like to build another at home.
Mrs. Marzot has discovered that Get Epic cannot be used at home for free due to publishing copyright restraints. An alternative to Get Epic is
Listen Up! Vermont through your local library. Ms. Simone can help students get their accounts set up to borrow audiobooks if they know their public library card number.
Enjoy the weekend and the extra hour of sleep this weekend!
|
|
|
5/6 News
Ms. Tremblay & Mr. Walker
|
|
Oh no, you sunk my battleship!!
This week, students played a simulation that was based off the old familiar game Battleship. In social studies we have been studying maps; the students learned how to identify specific places by giving latitude and longitude coordinates. They were then teamed up and given a map and had to place both a battleship and a tank on a location of their choice. The game was won by hitting the four correct latitudinal and longitudinal coordinate targets.
Fifth graders have been busy in their math groups. They have been studying different concepts, and it has been a great year so far working with them. These concepts range from: division of whole numbers, adding, subtracting, and comparing fractions using the Least Common Multiple, and collaborating as a team to tackle abstract ideas.
|
|
¡Buenos días! My name is Becca Jones and I am the Spanish teacher for grades 5-8 this year.
The students in grades 5-6 are currently working on an introductory dialog in Spanish. Students need to say hello, ask and answer personal questions, introduce another person, and say goodbye. Students are energetic presenters and are enjoying practicing their Spanish. Other topics we have covered so far in class are: the Spanish alphabet, numbers 0-20, days of the week, and Spanish-speaking countries and capitals.
I am pleased with the progress of the 7th grade students in Spanish class. They recently learned how to conjugate regular
-ar verbs. Students also created and presented a poster of activities that they like and dislike using regular verbs and the verb
gustar. Seventh graders have also reviewed the Spanish alphabet, numbers 0-100, days of the week and months of the year. Once we resume class after the play we will focus on conjugating
-er and
-ir verbs in Spanish.
I am enjoying working with the 8th graders in Spanish class. They are a responsible and fun loving group. Thus far in class students have interviewed each other in Spanish and described their classmates using the Spanish language. The eighth graders also reviewed basic vocabulary, adjectives, and
-ar,
-er,
-ir verb conjugation. Students are currently working on an essay about their hero in Spanish. Students are eager to practice and improve their skills in Spanish.
|
|
Library/Technology News
Simone Pyle
|
|
First and 2nd graders had their second makerspace day this week! We made paper circuit ghosts, an activity from Brown Dog Gadgets. This was not a simple task, and we found working with electrical circuits to be a persnickety undertaking. However, as I explained to the students, making isn't about achieving perfection! It's about trying something new, problem-solving with perseverance, and helping each other. We will continue to work on these skills with our monthly makerspace days.
|
|
|
Lunch Room News
Gret Hewes
|
|
WHAT FUN!!!!
We had a fun-filled week in the cafeteria this week. On Tuesday we had our FTS (Farm to School) taste test of the sauerkraut we made. See the FTS section of the newsletter for the results.
Then, on Wednesday--Halloween--we came in to find the cafeteria transformed into the magical land of the Dr. Seuss. The Cat in the Hat, Lorax and his precious Truffula trees, Thing One and Thing Two, Green Eggs and Ham and all the fish came to visit. Our menu came out of the pages of these wonderful stories.
What fun we had….
|
|
Farm to School News
Alyssa Marzot
|
|
Newton students had their second taste test on Tuesday, October 30, 2018. Since our last taste test, we have had cabbage fermenting and transforming into sauerkraut! The cabbages were brought in by Stella and Astrid Girdwood. Gret made two different types of sauerkraut, one traditional and one sweet. To simplify voting, students cast their vote for whichever type they tasted. One of my favorite parts of running these taste tests are the students that come back asking for seconds and thirds!
Overall, votes were positive. We had 81 students and staff vote for their reaction. 41 staff and students voted that they liked it. 17 students and staff voted that they sort or liked it or that they were not sure about it yet. 12 students and staff voted that they did not like it yet.
|
|
Another exciting aspect of this month’s taste test was our visit from the Valley News. We had a reporter and a photographer come in and observe students trying the sauerkraut. Keep your eyes peeled for an article featuring our students! We will announce our next meeting soon.
|
|
Nurse's News
Kerri Juergens
|
|
Health HUB's dental van is coming
November 2 - 4. If you have not already scheduled your dental visit, please call Health HUB at 802-431-6060.
|
|
Halloween Thank You!
A big shout out to all of the parent and kid volunteers that helped to make this year's Halloween Celebration super Strafford-Special! We enjoyed an awesome Haunted House (specially prepared by the 8th graders and parent volunteer, Kira Campbell); an awesome town Trick-or-Treating extravaganza (folks in town said how much they appreciated all of the candy donations--thank you!); an amazing and fun Jack O' Lantern contest; all topped off with a delicious spaghetti dinner (many thanks to all of the hands that make that dinner a possibility!). Thanks to all!
Annual Appeals Letter
Each year, in mid-November, the PTA mails our Annual Appeals letter to all Strafford residents, including all Newton school parents. This heartfelt letter is usually written by a Newton parent who has had children attend the Newton school through the years and has observed the PTA's work in action, within the school, and within the community. When you receive your letter in the mail this November, please consider donating to the PTA and supporting these important pieces. Thank you!
Next PTA Meeting
Monday, November 5th at 6:00 at the Newton School Library (*Please note the change from Tuesday). We will hold a short meeting and then be putting together the Appeals mailing. Many hands make light work!
|
|
November 7 - Veterans Day Ceremony
10:00 a.m. at Barrett Hall
November 7 - Deadline to sign up for the Holly Jolly Project.
November 29 - Upper Valley High School Fair
5:30 at Hartford High School
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
