November 17, 2017

PWS PrinciPal’s News

PWS Families,

The students are clearly getting excited about the upcoming Thanksgiving Break!  Kindergarten had their Thanksgiving Feast today. We have included some pictures of this festive event below.  When we talked to a first grader in the hallway he was telling us how he was learning about the first Thanksgiving!  Second graders have continued to learn about habitats. Meanwhile, third grade is continuing to work on their Native American unit and fourth grade is getting ready for Ellis Island Day!

We want to congratulate the students whose artwork was selected for our 2017-2018 Yearbook. The front cover was designed by Aziz Halilovic, the back cover was created by Leena Hafeez, and a special feature page is the work of Mia Moranti. Congratulations to these three students and to all the students who submitted work for consideration. With all the high quality designs, the selection certainly was not easy by any means.

Finally, we want to express our heartfelt thanks to the PTG for providing much needed snacks for our teachers during these past two weeks during parent teacher conferences. They were greatly appreciated. Thank you to all who coordinated and donated these wonderful snacks.

Cheryl Daley (Principal)

Dan Mitchell (Assistant Principal)

Message from Mrs. Daley

I will be on a medical leave starting Tuesday, November 21st.  I look forward to spending all of my day on Monday in the classrooms with the students.  Dan Mitchell is ready to take on the role of principal. Mrs. Bouchard, our behavior specialist, will be helping with discipline and behavior. I want to take this opportunity to thank you for all your kind words, emails, cards, thoughts, and prayers.  I am so lucky to work in such an amazing community, filled with fantastic students, staff and families.  I wish you all a fun-filled holiday season!

Upcoming Dates to Remember

Sat. Nov. 18	PTG Ski & Skate Sale - BHS
Wed., Nov. 22 Thurs., Nov. 23 Fri., Nov. 24	No School - Thanksgiving Recess
Wed. Nov. 29	PWS Wreath Orders and PTG Gift Card Orders Due
Fri. Dec. 8	Ellis Island Day

News from PWS

Benefits of Early Literacy Lessons

From time to time we will share with you some articles or research that help to explain our approach to teaching and learning. This week we found this interesting article on the benefits of early- literacy lessons that we want to share with you:

Study cites benefits of early-literacy lessons  Development of early-literacy skills has benefits beyond academics, assert researchers at the University of Washington. They studied children for five years and found that students whose parents read to them at home improved both their progress in school and in life skills such as self-regulation and goal-setting.  The New York Times (free-article access for SmartBrief readers) (10/16)

PWS Holiday Wreath Sale

Help support the PWS Garden Club by purchasing your Holiday Wreath through us.

Orders are due to your child’s classroom by Wednesday, November 29.

Wreaths will be available for pick up on Friday, Dec. 1st from 4pm-6pm

(Drive up to the back lot near Kindergarten doors and we will bring your order to your car.)

NO orders will be sent home with students. Contact Mrs. Peggie Hart (hartm@bedfordnhk12.net) with any questions.

Thank you again for supporting PWS Garden Club,

Peggie Hart, Jessica Ferenc and Katie Curran

Wreath Order Form

Box Tops for Education Program Update

The fall collection numbers are in, and the PWS community raised $1,175. Thank you to everyone for supporting our school. Congratulations to Mrs. Beecher’s classroom for collecting the most Box Tops across all classrooms!

·         Our next collection date is Monday, December 4 – please do send in any and all Box Tops that you have around the house and be sure to tell your friends and family over the holidays about our Box Tops program.

·         The website always has fantastic raffle opportunities to earn Box Tops dollars – we encourage you to create a login at www.btfe.com and enter the raffles on behalf of PWS.

·         New graphs will be posted on the Box Tops Bulletin Board in January that will include the December collection numbers. There are a few classrooms that are closing in on Mrs. Beecher’s totals, so keep clipping!

From the Superintendent

WHAT IS VAPING? - November 27 from 7 - 8 pm at the Bedford Public Library

Bedford Police Chief John Bryfonski, Officer “Spike” Donahue and Officer Danielle Nightingale, School Resource Officers at Bedford High School/Ross A. Lurgio Middle School and McKelvie Intermediate School respectively, will give you the facts about vaping. Can you smell it?  Can people vape marijuana? Can people vape other substances?  What does a vape look like?  Where do people get vapes?  Is it legal for kids to vape? In addition, Dr. Joseph Hou, Pulmonologist at Catholic Medical Center, will also provide clinical information on vaping.  Is it addictive?  Is it harmful?  How does it affect young people?  How does it compare to smoking? The 40 minute presentation will be followed by a 20 minute question and answer session.  Get your questions about vaping answered!

From the PTG

SKI & SKATE SALE THIS SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18TH

Save​ ​HUGE​ ​on​ ​new​ ​and​ ​used​ ​winter​ ​sports​ ​equipment​ ​&​ ​apparel!

Our annual Ski and Skate Sale will take place on Saturday, November 18th from 9AM-2PM at Bedford High School. Join​ ​local​ ​vendors​ ​bringing​ ​top​ ​name​ ​brand​ ​equipment​, ​both​ ​new​ ​and​ ​used, along​ ​with​ ​our​ ​tremendous​ ​consignment​ ​inventory​ ​of​ ​ski​ ​and​ ​boarding​ ​equipment,​ ​skates,​ ​and winter​ ​apparel​ ​and​ ​outfit​ ​your​ ​entire​ ​family​ ​for​ ​the​ ​upcoming​ ​season!

Drop off items for consignment on Friday, November 17th from 5PM - 8PM.

Visit our Ski and Skate Sale  page to find out more information about the sale and how you can tag and consign your items.

If you would like to sign up to volunteer, please email BedfordPTGSkiSkate@gmail.com.

Items are needed for the bake sale (homemade or store bought), click HERE to donate a baked good.

GIFT CARD FUNDRAISER

ORDERS DUE 11/29.  A gift card is the perfect gift for any occasion! Purchasing gift cards through the PTG provides support for the Bedford schools with no additional cost to you! Final order due date is Wednesday November 29th.  To download an order form please click here… Gift Card Order Form For more information about this program, click here… Gift Card Program. HAPPY SHOPPING!

MANCHESTER MONARCHS-Discount Tickets

Join the PTG at the Manchester Monarchs Ugly Sweater Holiday Game on Saturday, December 9th, at 6pm as they take on the Royals.Special discounted ticket price of $15 for child or adult! Kids will have a chance to participate in the “high five tunnel” to cheer on the Monarchs players as they take the ice.  Click HERE  for order form and return to your child’s school by Friday, 12/1.

SCREENAGERS: Growing up in the Digital Age Documentary

Join us for a special screening on Wednesday, December 6th 6-8pm at Lurgio. Following the movie there will be a panel of staff and guidance for a discussion and Q&A session.

Are you watching kids scroll through life, with their rapid-fire thumbs and a six-second attention span? The film SCREENAGERS…explores struggles over social media, video games, academics and internet addiction. Through poignant, and unexpectedly funny stories, along with surprising insights from authors, psychologists, and brain scientists, SCREENAGERS reveals how tech time impacts kids’ development and offers solutions on how adults can empower kids to best navigate the digital world and find balance. VisitScreenagersMovie for more information.

PTG NIGHT AT PANERA BREAD  

Take the night off from cooking and stop by Panera at Colby Court on Thursday 12/7, between 4-8pm, a percentage of the proceeds will be donated back to the PTG. A hardcopy of their flyer must be turned in and electronic versions not accepted. You can find a copy of the flyer here: Panera December Flyer

AmazonSmile!

Did you know that every time you buy on Amazon, you can support the Bedford PTG?  Simply visit AmazonSmile and select “Bedford NH PTG” as the organization that you’d like to support.  Now, every time you shop at smile.amazon.com, Amazon will donate a percentage to the Bedford PTG.

From the Community

No news at this time

Repeated News & Messages

Girls on the Run

The girls on the run program is in need of coaches for the Spring Session. The session begins in March with the 5K Final event taking place in May. There will be four coach training sessions that will take place prior to this. If you are interested please let Mr. Mitchell know by phone or email.

More information can be found HERE

Girls on the Run Community Service Project

Girls on the Run (GOTR) is a physical activity based, positive youth development program for girls in 3rd-8th grade. As part of this program, the girls are tasked with making a positive impact on their community by implementing a service project. The Fall GOTR team is seeking to collect items for the Animal Rescue League of NH in Bedford. A bin will be placed in the lobby of PWS and donations will be accepted until November 30th. A list of items that are needed can be found at  http://www.rescueleague.org/wish-list  There will also be a list on the bin in the lobby. Any questions can be directed to Stacey Klein at kleins@sau25.net

Thanks for your support!

PWS School Store

We are excited to announce that the school store will open on November 8th. Fourth grade Student Council members operate the school store as a fundraiser. The store will be open to students in grades 2-4 every Wednesday morning from 7:30 am - 8:00 am (morning bus drop off). It will be located in the gym. Please click HERE for more information about the store.

Science and Math Volunteers

Have you ever considered volunteering with the BEST Science Activities or with Australian Math tasks? If so, John Boucher, our district K-8 Math and Science Coordinator, will be holding training sessions for parents who would like to volunteer. If you are interested, please follow the link to sign up for trainings.

Math and Science Volunteer Training

Homework Club

Homework Club has started! Third and Fourth grade students are invited to the library on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday each week after school until 3:10p.m. to have a quiet spot to complete homework. They will have access to Chromebooks and two paraprofessionals, Mrs. Barthelemy and Mrs. Eldridge, who are familiar with the curriculum.

If your student attends the after school program they can also attend Homework Club, however a release needs to be signed for New Morning School.