Sharon Elementary School News |
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Wednesday, 3/13- Special School Board Meeting, 4 PM. See Website for Agenda.
Friday, 3/15- Early Release, 12 PM
Friday, 3/15- Family Bingo Night, 6-8 PM
Tuesday, 3/19- School Board Meeting, 5:30 PM. See Website for Agenda.
Friday, 3/29- No School
Wednesday, 4/3- PTO Meeting, in person at school, 6 PM
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Links to Helpful Information |
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Letter from Principal Haley |
Caregivers and Community Members,
I want to express my gratitude to those who came to our annual school meeting on Tuesday, March 5th. It remains evident that Sharon values its school. I also want to thank our school board and Superintendent Kinnarney for providing a detailed description of the challenges that we have encountered this budget season due to shifting legislative acts during the process of crafting our school budget.
Mud season has officially arrived. Living on a back road myself, I know firsthand the shifting conditions of our roads. If your child rides the bus, please keep aware via email that our routes may need to shift based on road conditions. Also, our schoolyard is quite wet and muddy. We are asking children to wear boots if they want to play off of the blacktop. Hopefully, we will get some March winds that will help dry the land out and blow all of our troubles away!
Teachers should have reached out to families to schedule our second round of parent/teacher conferences. If you have not heard from them, or possibly missed their communications, please reach out to set up a time to meet.
I will continue with my “Chat with the Principal” times at the Sharon Trading Post (Maplefields) this coming Tuesday, March 12th, from 8 am until 9 am. This is a time to come and ask questions, express thoughts, or just introduce yourself to me. This is NOT a time to discuss individual students or staff.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Respectfully,
Keenan Haley
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The Chipmunk class has been busy continuing to learn about letter shapes and sounds, counting skills, simple addition and subtraction, and shapes. We have also been focusing on friendship skills, patience ("waiting nicely"), empathy, and effective communication. Our favorite sayings are "try before you cry", "don't get mad, ask for help", and "don't yuck my yum." We have been LOVING watching our classroom sweet potatoes grow, passing around the "Book Share Bag" (a bag that travels from home to home to be read with families), and reading with the 6th graders during our "Big Buddies" program. Recently, we explored the woods with real binoculars. We saw loads of exciting things! We look forward to our future woods adventures this spring.
Both classrooms have been decorating weekly thank you pages as part of our Thank You Program. In this program, the Preschool students decorate and deliver thank you pages to local organizations, businesses, and school staff/volunteers that positively benefit our community. It is important to teach the children how to express gratitude and appreciation for others.
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In the Woodchuck class we are working on cultivating a sense of identity and unity through self help skills and working together through cooperative learning. We are creating visuals through reflective conversations in social skills such as playing together, advocacy for oneself and peers, respectful reminders for expectations and rules, and being an organized learner at 3, 4 and 5 years of age! Preschoolers in this class are able to reflectively share what it looks like to be a ready learner during group meetings times, what it means to be a helpful friend and class member, as well as learning to use the classroom to recognize energy, transitions, schedule and routines. The Woodchucks enjoy practicing their letters and letter sounds while continuing to build their early literacy skills through multi-sensory play and practical skill drills. In math the Woodchucks are working on subitizing within 6 with dice and tally marks, as well as recognizing and writing or representing numbers differently. The Woodchucks just recently voted on their next read-a-loud book Ms. Blaise reads during our resting time: The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail! During the month of March the Woodchucks will be learning about seeds, signs of spring, worms and celebrating the change of the season. The Woodchucks will also be learning about the Moon, Earth and Sun during the next few weeks leading up to the Solar Eclipse that will be taking place on April 8th! Let's not forget that the months of January and February brought pink popcorn, hot cocoa and grilled cheese by the fire! |
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Dear Sharon Elementary Community,
Our school library recently suffered water damage due to a roof leak, leaving it in need of urgent support to continue providing enriching opportunities for our students. Mrs. Hop, our dedicated librarian, reached out to the PTO, and together we decided to host an alternative book fair this year!
Though we won't have the traditional Scholastic Book Fair this year, our alternative event will still offer a fantastic selection of books, along with all the usual goodies (fuzzy journals, pens, bookmarks, etc.).
Additionally, we're working to reduce costs to students, ensuring that more of our students can participate in this enriching experience.
We will be seeking donations of books in nearly new condition to sell at the event. Hold onto your donations until mid-April, and stay tuned for drop-off details.
Mark your calendars! The fair will run during school hours the week of April 15 and extend to Saturday, April 20, for the wider community.
Want to help or learn more? Reach out to us at PTOSharonvt@gmail.com. Your involvement is appreciated!
Thank you for your continued support!
Warm regards,
Sharon PTO
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As we approach spring, our teachers start planning for state testing. This is a normal part of school but one that can be stressful for many kids. One of the best lifelong tools to help with stress, worry and anxious feelings is breathing awareness practices. A lot of your kids know the High 5 Breath so ask them to teach it to you and do it together daily over the next few weeks (and beyond!). High 5 Breath is especially effective in calming the nervous system because it not only helps us focus on taking deep slow breaths, but it also uses our sense of touch & movement.
Here's how to do High 5 Breath:
1. Put one hand up as if giving a high 5 and place the pointer finger of the opposite hand at the base of the thumb.
2. Inhale slowly, moving the pointer to the top of the thumb, feel free to be a little silly here and let the pointer do a little dance or a jump on the top of the thumb!
3. Now exhale slowly, moving the pointer down to the space between the thumb and pointer finger of the high 5 hand.
4. Continue in this way, up and down each finger until you get to the pinky. Here, extend the exhale as the pointer travels all the way down to the elbow. It might tickle a bit moving down the forearm!
5. If time allows, switch hands and repeat!
Remind your child this calming breath is one of their superpowers! They'll always have their breath and hands with them wherever they are, thus they have the power to calm themselves anytime when feeling stressed, worried or anxious.
And, of course, helping your kids get plenty of rest (9-11 hours is recommended for kids 6-13 years old), healthy snacks, and down time during this period will help them feel and do their best!
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