Friday, December 20, 2013

Friday, December 20, 2013

Hello PWS Families,

This has been a fun week of celebrating!  There have been PJ days, food festivals, learning about Festival of Lights and how different people celebrate holidays around the world.  When we walked into a first grade classroom today students were reading holiday stories with their fourth grade reading buddies on iPads.  In a Kindergarten classroom, students made binoculars and were looking for dinosaurs.  Two students spotted dinosaurs in the parking lot. Another story is when one second grade student wrote a story how fairy godmothers are not real unless they are Santa's elves.  Finally, a third grade teacher shared a picture of herself as a third grader to her class.  Students asked, "What was it like in the 'olden days'?" and "What was riding a bus like?"  Children are so great!

We want to remind you of a couple important items.  First, we have outdoor recess if it is 20 degrees or higher.  Please make sure your children are bundled up for morning recess.  It is quite difficult for students to put their snow gear on in the snow. :)  Another very important item is morning parent drop off.  This is from 7:30AM to 7:55AM at the side of the building.  If you arrive after that please pull around to the front and walk into the building to sign your child in.  This past week the traffic in the front of the building has been a hazard to children's safety.   We have been standing out there a couple of mornings and watching students walk through cars on slippery pavement.  If there is not a spot available to park in, please pull all the way in to the bus loop to reverse your direction and form a single line of cars so you can walk your child inside.  Reversing direction prior to that point leads to congestion and unsafe situations.  It is important we follow these procedures for the safety of our children!

On a final note, we wish you all a wonderful vacation.  PWS has such a wonderful community and we really appreciate all the well wishes for the holiday!
Take Care,
Mrs. Daley              Mr. Mitchell
Principal                 Assistant Principal

Friday, December 13, 2013

Friday, December 13, 2013

PWS Families,

Story of the week:  We know we are living in the world of technology when . . . Mrs. Cassamassino, the technology teacher, comes in and tells me about a second grader who presented her Animal Project in a Power Point and as Mrs. Cassamassino stated, "She knew her stuff!"

Happy Snow!  The cold weather has arrived so please make sure your children wear warm coats, mittens, hats, boots and snow pants.  If the weather is under 20 degrees we do not go outside.  Hopefully the weather will start to get warmer.

Please come by to pick up lost and found items by Friday, December 20th.  There are many pieces of clothing that have been sorted and displayed on tables in the hallway.  We will donate all the items that are left to Families in Transition the week of December 23rd.

Due to the winter weather many students are dropped off at or after 8:00, which is the official start time of school.   Please have an adult come and sign your child in at the office.  Students' hands work slower than adults' hands.  This will expedite the process and get students to class as soon as possible.   
Our food drive for the NH food bank was a huge success!  We collected and donated more than 3,000 items.  A special thank you to all of you as families and  Mr. Brown and his class for organizing this yearly food drive.

Today, the second grade enjoyed a presentation from the Mad Scientist.  They won this from the PTG for being the grade level that sold the most gift wrap.  "The chemical reactions were awesome!" according to the students.

Have a wonderful weekend,
Cheryl Daley            Dan Mitchell
Principal                  Assistant Principal

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Friday, December 6, 2013

Happy December,

Here is your "PWS Student Story of the Week"
I was observing two first graders during reading instruction.  The word the student was trying to decode was nag.  The teacher asked the student to use the word in a sentence.  The student said, "My mom nags my dad!"  These are the stories that I love to share.

School Nurse Intern
Today, our fourth graders had the opportunity to hear from our nursing intern, James Ndirangu. He shared stories of growing up in Kenya as well as what it is like there today. He talked to them about his goal to open a medical clinic and the importance of him being able to come and study here in New England and the impact that education will have on his home country. The students were engaged the whole time and asked many questions. We feel so fortunate to have had James be able to share these lessons with our students.

Box Tops
We are happy to report that PWS made $1,400 from Box Tops this fall.  This is $500.00 more than last fall.  Thanks for all your help with this.  The next cycle of Box Tops is from December until March.  Optional Box Tops worksheets will be going home with students. Students are not required to complete these, but we think it would be a fun way to organize the collection of them.  We've decided to have a competition at each grade level for the classroom that collects the most Box Tops.  The winning classroom will get a special prize. 

Food Drive
We are holding our annual food drive to benefit the NH Food Bank.  Items include;
Monday-12/9-Mac and Cheese
Tuesday-12/10-Tuna
Wednesday-12/11-Peanut Butter
Thursday-12/12-Personal Care Items
Friday-12/13-Juice
Thanks for all your help with this!

Please read the link below from Bedford Fire Fighter, Scott Hunter.

http://www.nhfps.org/Education/2013/DecemberSafetyEducatorFromtheStateofNH2013.pdf

Please read the message below regarding a special concert coordinated by BHS students.
My name is Elizabeth Eby and I am a Senior at Bedford High School.  Rachel Collins and I have organized an a cappella concert for our CAS Project (an IB Diploma requirement).  Below are the details. 
CONCERT DETAILS:
 Join us for an a cappella concert!
 Tuesday, December 17th 
7:30-9:00 PM  
McKelvie Intermediate School  
 Rhythm and Jews, the University of Chicago's premier Jewish student a cappella group, will perform along with Achording to Us, the BHS A Cappella Group.
 Tickets at the door or reserve tickets at acappellaconcert@gmail.com.
            Adults  $7        Students  $5                Children Under 5--Free
 Proceeds to benefit the BHS Music Boosters Club.

We hope everyone gets outside and enjoys the snow that is coming this weekend!

Take Care,
Mrs. Daley                     Mr. Mitchell
Principal                        Assistant Principal