May 3

Dear families,

Happy May!  It's hard to believe it is already May.  The last two months have certainly been a learning experience for all.  I never in my wildest dreams thought I/we would be teaching students in this way.  It has shown us that we are all capable of more than we ever thought.  Is it ideal?  NO.  But are we doing it?  YES!  Could I do this without you?  NO.  Are we in this together?  YES!  Again, I want to thank you or all your efforts in keeping your children engaged in learning.  I feel like this past week, we have settled into a predictable routine.  Students seem to understand expectations of remote learning, and I can see evidence of students practicing and reviewing skills as well as engaging  in new learning.

Molly Gellar, our Farm to School coordinator, is interested in getting students involved in spring gardening.  She has seeds she would like to get out to students.  The seeds could be started and cared for my the students with the idea that they could later be planted in the school garden. There are two ways students could get seeds.  If you are picking up meals at the school for your child, seeds could be distributed to you at that time.  Other students could have their seeds delivered to your home (by Molly).  I believe she will include everything needed to start the seeds.  We could push out a video explaining how to plant the seeds.  At this point, I need to know who would be interested in the seed project?   I would like to know early this week who is interested.  You could either email me or let me know on Monday when I check in with students. 

Just a reminder, we are back to Week 1 for our literacy groups this week.   Math groups remain the same for now. 

Students may notice that their weekly menu no longer shows Zearn.  At this time, we are asking students to focus on Dreambox (for math) and Lexia Core 5 (for literacy).  Just a reminder, that students should not receive help while doing these programs.  Zearn is still a choice, if students want to do more. 

Raz Kids is a choice for students to read new books at their level.  I encourage students to log in 2 x per week for their reading choice. 

As always, if I can be of any support, please reach out. 

Be well,
Diane Nicholls