Some Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com

Dear Parents and Guardians of H. Olive Day School Students, Thanks to all of you, we had a great start to our new school year. Everyone has settled into the school routine and summer is already a distant memory! We thank you for all that you did to prepare your child(ren) for the new school year and help with the transition back to a school routine. Whatever you did, it worked very well!! To make sure that the beginning and the ending of each school day is as efficient and safe as possible for our students, we ask that you become familiar with the following guidelines. Morning Arrival from 8:45 - 8:55 A.M. * Please drop children off only at the circle at the flagpole. Children may be dropped off between 8:45 and 8:55 a.m. Children arriving after 8:55 will be marked tardy. * When you drive into the circle, please drive as far around the circle as you can in order to allow as many other cars as possible to discharge passengers at the same time. *Please have children get out of the car only on the curbside of the car. *HOD Staff members will assist children as they get out of the car. Your child needs to be ready to get out of the car - backpack ready to go, hat and gloves on when the weather dictates, etc. The purpose of having a staff member assist is for safety purposes and to keep the traffic moving. The driver should remain in the car. *Only use the circle if your child can get out of the car in a reasonable amount of time. If the driver needs to get out of the car or if your child needs assistance carrying items into the building, please park in the parking lot. *Once your child is safely on the sidewalk, please drive away. in order to maintain the traffic flow. There are always school staff members on duty to supervise and make sure that your child gets into school safely. * Please do not pass other cars in the circle unless signaled to do so by a staff member. Dismissal at 3:00 P.M. * If you are picking up your child at dismissal time, you MUST send in a note in the morning. We cannot accept a verbal message from our young students. Please do not call the school with this information unless the pickup is due to an unexpected event or an emergency. * Parking is not allowed in the fire lanes - no matter how short the period of time is. If an emergency occurred during those few minutes, emergency vehicles would not be able to get through. * Parking in the handicapped spaces is only for people who meet the criteria to park there. You must have a handicapped license plate or a handicapped placard in order to use those spaces. * We know that parking is very limited at our school, but you must park in an appropriate space when you are picking up your child. There are usually parking spaces available in the back of the school. Due to the limited parking, we ask that you pick up your child from school only when it is truly necessary. *Before leaving the library, you and your child need to check in with one of the teachers on duty so that his/her name can be checked from the official “pickup” list. In order to expedite the “check out” process, please talk quietly in the library so that the teachers can hear the children and parents who are ”checking out.” Thank you for your attention to these important safety issues and for helping us to make our morning arrival and afternoon dismissal procedures as safe and efficient as possible!! Sincerely, Linda A. Balfour,

Important Dates to Remember!

October 6: Library Volunteer

Meeting 9:00am

October 7: National Smile Day!

Nutrition Task Force Meeting – Room 14 HOD

October 10: Columbus Day -

No School!

October 11: Fire Safety Classes – Preschool

School Committee 7:30 pm Town Hall

October 12: Kindergarten

Field Trip

October 13: Fire Safety Classes – Kindergarten

October 14: Fire Safety

Classes – Grade 2

October 18: TPA Meeting - 7:30pm FC Library

October 21: Fire Safety

Classes – Grade 1

October 28: Progress Reports Issued for grades 1-2

October 31:

Halloween Parade 1:45pm

October 31-Nov 4

Book Fair

November 1 and 3 Early Dismissal - Parent Teacher Conferences

November 4: Nutrition

Task Force Meeting –Room 14 HOD

HOD HIGHLIGHTS October 2011 Newsletter

232 Main Street, Norfolk Ma. 02056 (508-541-5475) (fax 508-541-5482)

Debbie Dressler Thursday, October 6, 2011 10:46:43 AM ET

Some Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com

Physical Education with Mrs. Hunt

Physical Education is more important than ever! Participation in physical education can contribute to positive attitudes. Rigorous activity is essential throughout life to maintain health and to enrich the quality of life. October P.E. Activities *6-Goal Soccer *Roll with It Match Madness *2-Pass *Hooper’s Hulas *Spider Web *Halloween Matching Game We hope that you take time during the school year to ask your child about his/her physical education experience.

Technology News from Mrs. O’Connell

In the world of technology, we have set up a new lab and dispersed the old computers to the classrooms. SMARTBoards have come or are coming to each of the classrooms. We have several in the building at this point. They are a big hit with both staff and teachers! • Kindergarten students have begun working on

mouse skills while enjoying math. • Grade 1 has begun our leveled Lexia reading

program and word processing using Stationary Studio.

• Grade 2 is also working on Lexia and word processing using our new word processing program called “Pages”.

• All can practice typing first and last names using shift keys for upper case letters!

We are looking forward to an exciting year of project based learning at the H. Olive Day School!

October Math Haunts/Hints from Mrs. Jennifer Pfeiffer

Math can be part of the fun memories we carve out of each day this month. Count something seasonal like the number of pumpkins you spy on your trips around town. First to spy 20 is the math champ for that moment. The kids will create new versions of this game as the season unfolds. At HOME: Check out numeracy games @ www.ictgames.com/resources.html Read, Math for all Seasons by Gregory Tang Share some laughs. Try this joke, Q. “Why didn’t the quarter roll down the hill with the nickel? A. “Because it had more cents.”

The Reading Center

Ms. Beth O'Connor and Mrs. Faith Tierney are the Reading Specialists at H.O.D. We will be in and out of many classrooms helping children become better readers. We will also work with specific children in small groups in the Reading Center. If you would like to learn more about us, please visit our websites, which can be found on the H.O.D. school staff page of the school's website. Look for "Reading Tips" in future newsletters! HOD Teacher Webpage List

Debbie Dressler Thursday, October 6, 2011 10:46:43 AM ET

Some Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com

Library with Mrs. Carney We are off to a great start in library! The children are signing out books that they can read themselves or be read to. I look forward to reading a special story to each class every week. Please remember to take the time to read with your child every night. It is important for your child to watch and listen to you read in addition to reading her/himself. Books to check out: Halloween Trick or Treat Smell My Feet Arthur’s Halloween The Stubborn Pumpkin The Biggest Pumpkin Ever The Halloween Play

Music with Mrs. Madden

The children have been experiencing music in September by singing together, playing BoomWackers, jingle bells, and maracas. (Ask your child what a BoomWacker is and how to play it!) : ) We have listened to high sounds, low sounds, and played a steady beat with the instruments mentioned. I was glad to see so many parents and siblings at this year's Open House. You may have seen and heard the musical sounds of instruments during the "Animusic " video played during Open House. The children and I are playing the instruments and adding layers of sounds with as many percussion instruments as we can during the month of October! month of October.

Counseling Corner with Mrs. Kelley The Lunch Bunch Clubs are off to a great start! There are typically 5-6 children in a group that meets once a week for six weeks. Several are Friendship based right now as well as a couple Girls’ Groups. I am also running a Cool Kids group to help students understand and handle challenging feelings. My hope is for every child to have an opportunity to participate in a lunch bunch before she/he leaves HOD. Keep your eyes open for an invitation to the Lunch Bunch Club for your student! Book recommendations: Parenting/Teaching Responsibility Parenting with Love and Logic by Foster Cline, M.D. and Jim Fay

Art with Mr. Reilly It was great to see so many parents and students checking out the art room at the recent Open House. Visitors were treated to the first art projects of the new school year that were hung with pride in the hallways! It was especially nice to see HOD alumni return to say hello. The artwork of last year's second graders – the popular Beatles portraits – was on display. It is still capturing the attention of art lovers! I would like to request that parents send a smock in with your child to keep in his/her classroom cubby to be worn during art to protect their clothing from paint, glue or any of the other messy things we might encounter while creating our masterpieces! An old T-shirt, slightly oversized, works best. Look for autumn themes in your child's art! Work the coming weeks.

Debbie Dressler Thursday, October 6, 2011 10:46:43 AM ET