East Shore Middle School Milford Public Schools 240 Chapel Street Milford, CT 06460 (203) 783-3559

Volume 25, Issue 4 January 2016

Principal’s Message – January 2016

Dear East Shore Community, It’s hard to believe, but 2015 will soon give way to 2016. Since our last newsletter, our students have continued to demonstrate tremendous quality in the classroom and great character outside of the classroom. In December, our 6th graders have learned about the Fertile Crescent in Mesopotamia, started book clubs, and now understand fraction operations and expressions. In 7th grade, our students studied two and three dimensional geometry, learned about Africa, and also created virtual characters in Spanish. Our 8th grade class finished The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton, learned about Newton’s laws of motion, and our approaching the Revolutionary War in social studies. In addition, our students have collectively demonstrated the positive qualities associated with character – determination, self-control, and positivity. We see these qualities demonstrated by our students each and every day and we are thankful that you have entrusted your children with us. We hope that you all have a wonderful holiday break and that our students take the time to enjoy family and friends, rest and relax, and reflect on the positive contributions that they have made to East Shore Middle School in 2015. See you in 2016! Sincerely, Mrs. Williams, Principal Mr. Piselli, Assistant Principal

Statement of Compliance In compliance with Title VI, Title IX and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Milford Public School system does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, age, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, or disability in establishing and implementing hiring and employment practices and establishing and providing school activities and educational programs. The Title VI and Title IX Coordinator and Compliance Officer is Wendy Kopazna. The Section 504 Compliance Officer is Susan Kelleher. They may be contacted by mail at the Milford Public Schools, 70 West River Street, Milford, CT 06460 or by phone at (203) 783-3400. Questions, concerns or comments regarding possible discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) should be made in person or in writing to the following: Regarding Facilities: James L. Richetelli, Jr./Chief Operations Officer Regarding Employment: Wendy Kopazna/Director of Human Resources Regarding Programs: Susan Kelleher/Director of Pupil Personnel Services

Contact Information School Phone Number: (203) 783-3559 Principal’s Email: Cwilliams@milforded.org Assistant Principal’s Email: dpiselli@milforded.org School Secretaries: Mrs. Sheryl Carpenter Ms. Molly Dryman *All staff email addresses are first initial last name @ milforded.org (i.e.John Smith would be JSmith@milforded.org)

Inside this issue:

Team Pages: Grade 6, Team 1……page 2 Grade 6, Team 2…….page 4 Grade 7 News…..……page 8 Grade 8 News….……page 10 Humanities ……………page 13 Support Services …..page 16 Library/Media……….page 17

Team 1: January

Social Studies “The Land Between Two Rivers”

Our current focus has been on Mesopotamia, site of the present-day Middle East, an area

greatly in the news. We have been practicing our map skills and knowledge with maps of this region of the world. We are learning about three different groups of people (Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians) in this unit. Students are amazed at what these ancient people invented that we still use today! We are also concentrating on how the geography of an area can influence the culture of the people living there. ***Students MUST study their notes, vocabulary, and handouts every night in order to be prepared for class, quizzes, and tests. They also need to follow the steps for URACE responses to be sure that they have met the expectations of the assignment. The students are looking forward to our upcoming unit on Egypt! Happy Holidays! Social Studies – Mrs. Balamaci (Team Leader) – Kbalamaci@milforded.org & Mrs. Higley Chigley@milforded.org

6th Grade Math – 6th/7th Grade Advanced Math -

6th Grade Math – Six Grade mathematicians are now working in the Let’s Be Rational unit. In this unit students will use real life situations to develop ways to add, subtract, multiply, and divide fractions. Students will use their knowledge of benchmarks, number and operation sense to estimate solutions helping them to decide if their answers are reasonable. The unit focuses on when and how to use algorithms for solving fractional equations.

6th/7th Grade Advanced Math - Our students are finishing up Unit 4 Understanding Positive Using Expressions. In this unit students learned to represent positive and negative numbers on a number line and used them to describe situation in the real world situations. They graphed order

Team 1 – Grade 6 – Page 2

pairs of positive and negative numbers on coordinate planes and can name what quadrants the points are located in. They can now distinguish the absolute values of numbers.

Helpful hints: please encourage our mathematicians to utilize the resources available to them for help with their homework i.e. their textbooks, and notes. Checking back over their work for accuracy is another key to success. They should also be logging onto Khanacademy.org for extra practice while earning points.

Math – Mrs. Wells – Mwells@milforded.org

Social Studies – Mrs.Higley/Mrs. Balamaci– Chigley@milforded.org/ kbalamaci@milforded.or

SCIENCE Students are applying learned skills and successfully connecting concepts from their chemistry and energy units. Students are looking forward to our next unit on Earth’s Waters. They will be provided with the opportunity to have hands-on activities with a guest speaker from the CT Audubon Coastal Center! As we continue to work on evidence-based explanations, students will be challenged to consistently develop claims, elaborate evidence and provide scientific reasoning to their claims. Students continue to improve textbook reading strategies, summarizing and taking notes, and skills to improve daily responsibility and preparation. Team 1 students have actively engaged in and enjoy working with their peers in cooperative group activities. As the holidays approach, let’s continue to stay focused and work to our full potential.

Science – Mr. DeBassio – Pdebassio@milforded.org

LANGUAGE ARTS

Happy New Year! Students successfully completed their first Book Club! There were many meaningful discussions surrounding each book and its theme of mystery. We will begin this month by completing several mid-year assessments. Students will complete the NWEA test on reading, language, and mathematics. In addition, students will complete the District Common Assessment that will focus on argumentative writing. We have been working on this genre of writing, thus this will be our central focus for the better portion of the trimester.

Team 1 – Grade 6 – Page 3

Friendly reminders:

• Students need to come to class prepared. i.e. paper, pens, pencils, independent reading

books, etc. • Students should treat everyone with respect! • Encourage reading at home. Try to discuss the books with your child.

– Mrs. Higley – Chigley@milforded.org & Mrs. Balamaci (Team Leader) Kbalamaci@milforded.org

Team 2 – Grade 6

Core Math & Advanced Math

TEAM 2 NEWS – SHARKS

MATH

6th Grade Math – General math students are just finishing Unit 3 - Operating with Positive Rational Numbers. Our next unit will be Covering and Surrounding which includes finding area, perimeter, volume, and the surface area of various polygons. Students will draw diagrams and develop formulas to find their solutions.

Team 1 – Grade 6 – Page 4

Team 2 – Grade 6 – Page 4

6th/7th Grade Advanced Math – Advanced math students are currently in Unit 4: Operating with Positive and Negative Rational Numbers. This unit is an introduction to integers - positive and negative numbers. They will visit this topic again, later in the year, in order to learn how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide with integers. Our next unit will be Using Equations.

PRACTICE YOUR MULTIPLICATION FACTS!!!!!!!

CORE UNIT 4: Covering and Surrounding

Students will:

Analyze what it means to measure area and perimeter. Relate perimeter to surrounding a figure and area to covering a figure. Develop strategies, procedures, and formulas for finding areas and perimeters of rectangles, parallelograms, and triangles. Investigate relationships between perimeter and area. Analyze how the area of a triangle and parallelogram are related to the area of a rectangle. Use nets to find surface area of prisms. Find the volume of rectangular prisms with fractional side lengths. Use area, volume, and surface area to solve problems.

ADV. UNIT 4: Operating with Positive and Negative Rational Numbers

Students will:

Represent positive and negative numbers on a number line and use them to describe situations in the real world. Identify the opposite of a number and learn that numbers with opposite signs are located on opposite sides of 0 on the number line. Graph ordered pairs of positive and negative numbers on the coordinate plane and identify the quadrant in which a point is located. Use a number line to order a set of positive and negative numbers. Learn the relative positions on a number line of two unequal numbers and write a statement of inequality. Use your knowledge of rational numbers to describe and explain real-world situations. Learn that absolute value is a distance on the number line and apply absolute value to real-world situations. Graph various points on the coordinate plane to solve real-world and mathematical problems.

ADV. UNIT 5: Using Equations

Students will learn how to use substitution to determine whether a number is a solution of an equation or inequality. Students will write expressions to represent real-world or mathematical

Team 2 – Grade 6 – Page 5

problems. Use their knowledge of operations to solve equations. Understand that an inequality has many solutions and will graph these solutions on a number line. They will write inequalities to represent real-world situations. Analyze relationships between two variables and write equations with two variables to represent real-world problems.

Mathematics – Mrs. Casey (Team Leader) – DCasey@milforded.org

LANGUAGE ARTS

December promises to be a month in which we celebrate our knowledge by assessing and looking at our growth in writing and reading. Students are currently writing informative/explanatory essays and working to identify their areas of strength and weakness. They should be growing by leaps and bounds as we investigate how to avoid plagiarism by paraphrasing, summarizing, and using parenthetical citation of sources when synthesizing information from articles to create a strong essay. Notice and Note Signposts have also been a focus of the past and Shared Inquiry should be expanding our understanding of what we read as we begin our Mystery Book Clubs. Speaking of reading, hope the holiday break provides an opportunity to catch up on everything you have been wanting to read but haven’t had a chance to get to yet! One recommendation for from Mr. Hribko and Mr. Cannizzaro is The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen. Said to be the “Game of Thrones” for middle schoolers, this series offers a fantasy filled with lies and deception set in the medieval world of Carthya where four orphaned boys have to lie to live in order to be named the lost prince of Carthya. Who will survive?

English Language Arts – Mr. Hribko/Mr. Cannizzaro- RHribko@milforded.org/DCannizzaro@milforded.org

SOCIAL STUDIES

Students are currently learning about the Fertile Crescent. They are studying Mesopotamia, Sumer, Babylonia, Assyria, and Hammurabi. As students read, they are learning how to take notes using graphic organizers, completing Venn diagrams to compare and contrast empires, completing concept webs, and recording and defining vocabulary.

Tips to help your child in Social Studies:

1. Make index cards to help study vocabulary.

2. Create games such as Jeopardy or Memory to review major concepts and vocabulary.

Team 2 – Grade 6 – Page 6

3. Study with your child or help them review their notes/assignments daily to prepare for class discussions and tests. The workbook is a great study tool to read and review for tests.

Social Studies – Mr. Hribko/Mr. Cannizzaro – RHribko@milforded.org/ DCannizzaro@milforded.org

SCIENCE: Is Fun

During the month of January, we will work on the water unit while sharpening our skills. Students have done a great job in class working together and identifying goals for their units. Our word wall is filled with over 30 new science vocabulary terms. Students have created visual vocabulary charts for all their new terms. Exciting news!! The Connecticut Audubon Society will be visiting our classes and the students will participate in a variety of hands-on activities related to water. We will continue to work on our scientific, evidence based explanations which include developing claims, elaborating with the use of evidence and scientific reasoning. Students are also utilizing the text and practicing various reading strategies in cooperative group settings. Keep up the great work kids!!!!

Science – Mrs. Cruciani – JCruciani@milforded.org

Team 2 – Grade 6 – Page 7

MATH

7th Grade Math – Our forthcoming unit explores proportions, a concept that may perhaps seem a bit scary to some of us. Whenever we compare two quantities we are actually making and using proportions! We can make predictions or find solutions to real world situations such as tax or percent decrease in the price of items. We will also discuss the constant of proportionality and explore graphs to determine if a graph is proportional or not. If I had 4 popsicles for three people, how many would I need to give me an equivalent amount for seven people? Ask your child to show you how to solve this problem. 7th/8th Grade Advanced Math – In our unit on probability students will determine the probability of chance events through experimentation with concrete materials, develop probability models for both simple and compound events, and make predictions of outcomes using these models. Does the outcome of one event have an impact on the outcome of subsequent events? What is the difference between experimental and theoretical probability? Again, ask your son or daughter!

Mathematics – Mrs. Mahon (Team Leader) – Kmahon@milforded.org

Mrs. Astrosky (Team Leader) – Kastrosky@milforded.org

SOCIAL STUDIES

In the New Year students will begin a unit on East and Southeast Asia. Much of our attention will be centered around the Chinese dynasties and the contributions made by each. Did you know that paper was invented during the Han dynasty? The Buddhist faith as well as Confucianism, a code of ethics or morals, will also be explored this unit. Several comparisons to Chinese life today will be made seeing as though much of their early history relates to modern times. Additionally, causes of economic growth such as trade, farming, advancements in technology, and the possession of natural resources will also resemble that of today. Please continue to reference your resource list if questions arise while working at home and check PowerSchool regularly.

Social Studies – Ms. Lucibello – Slucibello@milforded.org

Mrs. Rossi – Mrossi@milforded.org

Grade 7 News – Page 8

SCIENCE

Seventh grade science classes continue our unit on genetics and heredity. We will focus on the fact that all living organisms have genetic information that is passed down from one generation to the next. Genetic information is stored in genes found on chromosomes. These genes, along with interactions of the environment, are responsible for the appearance of traits. Our work includes understanding the history of genetics, understanding dominant and recessive traits, predicting probability using Punnett squares, and relating the model of DNA to our understanding of genes. Please refer to the website www.biology4kids for additional information on our units. We look forward to studying human biology and to the New Year! Enjoy a happy and healthy 2015!

Science – Mrs. Theriault – Dtheriault@milforded.org

Mr. Thomas – Mthomas@milforded.org

LANGUAGE ARTS

During January, seventh grade students will be starting a unit on memoirs and autobiographies. Students will be practicing the Common Core Standards of Reading by doing close readings of multiple texts, analyzing the interactions among individuals, events and ideas while being exposed to different perspectives. They will also explore how different authors are influenced by social, cultural, and historical events. For example, we will begin the unit by reading “The Noble Experiment,” an excerpt from the autobiography of Jackie Robinson. There will be several assessments in January, including the NWEA and the midyear common assessment in Language Arts. Be sure your child comes to school well rested and ready to learn!

English Language Arts – Ms. Richiski – Arichiski@milforded.org

Ms. Johnston – Ljohnston@milforded.org

SPANISH

¿Cómo eres tú? Ask your child to describe themselves in Spanish! Students in 7th grade Spanish classes are gradually working on the Spanish writing process. We are currently learning the basic components of all Spanish sentences and how each sentence is structured. We have been working on the verb, SER and practicing Spanish adjectives. Our new unit is all about the classroom and school! You can help your child to study for Spanish by quizzing them on their current vocabulary list! We wish you all a wonderful holiday and ¡FELIZ AÑO NUEVO!

Spanish – Mrs. Elgart – Lelgart@milforded.org Ms. Hannigan – Khannigan@milforded.org

Grade 7 News – Page 9

Team 4 – 8th Grade

Ways to help your 8th grader be successful: Tip #4

Time management. Many students find it difficult to manage their time properly and often procrastinate when it comes to homework, long term projects and preparing for tests/quizzes. Show your child how they can plan a week in advance and figure out when would be the best times to work on particular assignments. For long term projects, it is helpful if students break the project up into sections, and then complete a little piece each night. For tests and quizzes, it is beneficial for students to start studying a few nights before the assessment is given to better prepare. In order to help your student with their time management, they can use their assignment pad or a desk calendar to see when assignments are due and then plan accordingly.

LANGUAGE ARTS

Happy New Year! When we return from break, students will be writing a research paper on various Elizabethan topics. We will be practicing the Common Core Standards of Writing by reviewing the elements of clear, effective and fluent writing and using textual evidence to support students’ research. Next, students will be reading A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare. Students will be acting out sections of the play in class and taking an active role in the text. There will be several assessments in January, including the NWEA and a common assessment in Language Arts. Be sure your child comes to school well rested and ready to learn! English Language Arts – Ms. Buckley– Abuckley@milforded.org Ms. Johnston – Ljohnston@milforded.org

Grade 8 News – Page 10

SOCIAL STUDIES As 2015 comes to a close, the students are right in the middle of the combat of the French and Indian War. Often cited as one of the major factors that led to the American Revolution, the students have been analyzing documents written before, during, and after the war in order to understand how the British colonies arrived at the decision to fight for their independence. We encourage you to ask your children to explain the impact of this war on the relationship between Great Britain and her colonies. We wish you all very happy holidays and look forward to all that 2016 has in store. Social Studies – Mr. Storey – CStorey@milforded.org Mrs. Rossi – MRossi@milforded.org

SCIENCE The New Year continues our study of Newton’s Laws with the study of how mass and force affects the acceleration of objects. Newton’s 2nd and 3rd Laws are on the list of concepts that will be examined through investigation and inquiry. Car crashes, demonstrations of action- reaction pairs and the Law of Conservation of Momentum will be some of the activities taking place in our classroom.

Next, I would like to remind parents and students to check Power School on a regular basis on order for students to make up missing assignments and/ tests and quizzes in a timely fashion. (See grading policy) Also, have your son/ daughter show you their science notebook so that you can see the type of activities that are going on in their class. Finally, a review of class notes on a daily basis is a great strategy to prepare for class the next day.

Science – Mrs. Coulson – Acoulson@milforded.org Mr. Thomas – Mthomas@milforded.org

MATH

8th Grade Math – Unit 4: Proportional Relationships & Linear Equations In this unit, students will represent proportional linear relationships in tables, graphs and scenarios. They will interpret slope in terms of the context of the real world application or mathematical situation. For the first time students will be using slope intercept form to graph linear equations on the coordinate plane. In this unit, students will use their knowledge of solving linear equations and apply that to solving systems of equations through graphing, substitution and elimination. This unit allows students to actively engage in many real world scenarios where the solution for a system of linear equations has a practical application.

Key Vocabulary: system, graph, slope-intercept form, standard form, substitution, elimination, slope, rate of change, analyze, solve, explain, distance-time graphs.

Grade 8 News – Page 11

Algebra I: Happy New Year! We hope the kids enjoyed some time to rest and are ready to learn! Students will be finishing their unit on data analysis. They have been busy analyzing relationships between two variables using scatter plots, summarizing the relationships with equations and lines, and using that information to make predictions. Next, students will be exploring different types of sequences as an introduction to functions. The kids have been working really hard and will continue to need to do so as they delve deeper into the world of Algebra! We are impressed with their perseverance and hope they can continue into the New Year!

Mathematics – Mr. Lombardi – MLombardi@milforded.org Mrs. Astrosky (Team Leader) - KAstrosky@milforded.org

SPANISH

¡FELIZ AÑO NUEVO! We hope you all have a wonderful and relaxing holiday! Students will begin the New Year with our unit on sports in Latin America. The students will be able to describe a number of sports in Spanish and provide information about which sports they like/prefer to watch or play. During this unit, we will be learning about stem-changing verbs, which are often referred to as “boot verbs”. Students will be able to accurately conjugate these types of verbs and correctly use them while writing and speaking. Ask your child to explain why these verbs are called “boot verbs”.

Spanish –Mrs. Einstein (Team Leader)– AEinstein@milforded.org

Ms. Hannigan –Khannigan@milforded.org

Grade 8 News – Page 12

Humanities News

Physical Education

Now that it is beginning to feel like winter, the Physical Education program moves inside learning, practicing, and perfecting the various skills required for pickleball, basketball, floor hockey, volleyball, badminton, and team handball. To make things more interesting, class tournaments will take place in badminton and pickleball in order to determine a class champion. Also, students will be able to make extensive use of our fitness room and all the equipment contained within. Happy Holidays!!!! Mr. Conrad- DConrad@milforded.org Mr. Kirkpatrick-Ikirkpatrick@milforded.org

Speaking of Music

General Music Mr. Bednarsky -Bbednarsky@milforded.org Band/Strings and Chorus We would like to thank all of our students for their hard work over this winter concert season! Congratulations on all of your performances this semester! Your musical growth and achievement has been tremendous and we are looking forward to continuing with brand new music in the new year! We would also like to thank all of our East Shore families for all that you do to help our musicians! Whether it is encouraging your child to practice at home, picking them up from rehearsals, or bringing them to their performances and helping out behind the scenes or being in the audience, we would never be able to do what we do without your support! Thank you so much and we hope that you enjoy a safe and joyous holiday season! Mr. Boccia – Eboccia@milforded.org Mr. Juhasz – Sjuhasz@milforded.org Mrs. Friedman – Rfriedman@milforded.org

Humanities Team – Page 13

Health The second trimester with the eighth graders has started off on a great note. They have finished

examining the importance of maintaining good social, mental/emotional and physical health, known as the health triangle, and analyzing their own health triangles and coming up with strategies to improve the balance of their health triangles. In addition, they have just finished learning about the importance of maintaining a high self-esteem and the strategies that will help them do so. Currently, they are learning the importance of managing stress. Soon after, they’ll be assigned the Strength Project, in which they’ll have an opportunity to do a project about one of their strengths and how it has benefited their self-esteem and helped them with expressing emotions and stress in healthy ways, Afterwards, they will have an opportunity to research information about different mental illnesses, and in conclusion, they will learn how and why to seek out help for mental/emotional health and social health problems.

The second trimester with the seventh graders has also started off on a great note. We are just finishing up the First Aid and Safety unit, during which they learned some basic information about common emergency situations. In the next unit, they will be studying diseases (communicable diseases and non-communicable diseases) and analyzing how unhealthy lifestyle choices can increase the chances of disease.

Sixth grade students are continuing the first unit of Personal Safety with the topics of bullying and Internet and technology safety. Once that unit is over, they’ll be moving on to the Nutrition unit, during which they’ll be learning all about the importance of healthy eating and how to incorporate healthy eating habits into their daily lives. Ms. Giampaolo-JGiampaolo@milforded.org Mrs. Moore- Emoore@milforded.org

Visual Arts

Sixth grade students in Mrs. Delio’s are exploring the rainforest for their color unit, Henri Rousseau said he

used “23 shades of green” when he painted his jungle scene. Seventh graders are arranging positive and negative shapes to create interesting compositions.Eighth graders are learning to use line to create the illusion

of depth. Grade six students in Mrs. Dotson’s room are starting a Fauvist color unit. They are learning about 2 Fauvist

artists and how to create either their own self-portrait or still life composition using oil pastels techniques. Grade 7 students are learning about shape and color creating a 4 Way Color Design. Grade 8

students are creating a Tim Burton style Self Portrait using large ghastly eyes, elongation of limbs and exaggeration of skinniness. We have a lot planned, be ready to work and BRING A PENCIL!

Happy Holidays! Mrs. Delio mdelio@milforded.org Mrs. Dotson ddotson@milforded.org

Humanities Team – Page 14

TEC Ed

Technology Engineering Communication Education

Trimester 2 has started. The 7th grade students learned about drafting communications: Why drafting is done; the types of drafting; and the importance of drafting. 7th grade learned to draw isometric drawings. 8th grade students are studying a unit transportation. With this unit we concentrate on aerospace education. The students learned about rockets, what makes them different than airplanes. They then constructed rockets from scratch and we launched them on Friday 11 DEC 15. The students then, with the use of trigonometry, calculated the altitude of the rockets. Thank you, Mr. Kania Mr. Kania -dkania@milforded.org

Enrichment This trimester Enrichment students will be exploring math topics. 6th graders will be doing double duty - learning about Google Drive by planning and budgeting a road trip as well as learning about and preparing for Milford’s Invention Convention on April 2nd. 7th graders will have the opportunity to learn about nautical navigation from the Milford USCG Auxiliary. In conjunction with this unit, they will be visiting Mystic Seaport for a special tour of the “Quest for Longitude” exhibit on loan from the National Maritime Museum of London. 8th graders will spend the semester becoming financially literate and studying the ins and outs of investing. This promises to be a fun and exciting trimester! Meghan Kim - mkim@milforded.org

Humanities Team – Page 15

Support Services

Welcome to the 2015-2016 school year. At East Shore, the support staff consists of a school counselor, a school psychologist and a school social worker. We are committed to assisting students, parents and staff in attaining your child's academic, social, and emotional development. In conjunction with the National Parent Teacher Association, East Shore Middle School recognizes that parents are the primary influences in their children's lives which can positively impact education. When schools work together with families to support learning, children tend to succeed not just in school, but throughout life. We would like start this school year off by offering you 3 tips to support your child's academic achievement: 1. Provide a home environment that encourages learning (i.e. a designated spot to complete homework and talk to your child about school work). 2. Communicate realistic academic expectations with your child (i.e. praise and encourage your child's best effort). 3. Maintain involvement in your child's school and community activities (i.e. join the PTA, and keep lines of communication open regarding your child's progress). (Henderson, p. 2-3).

We look forward to partnering with you and your child as they progress throughout their middle school years and will continue to communicate tips in the East Shore newsletter.

The ABC's of Parent Involvement in Education: Preparing Your Child for a Lifetime of Success. Washington, C.D.: Parenting Coalition International, 1999. Print.

Mrs. Murphy – Social Work – Smurphy@milforded.org Ms. Megan Marcarelli – School Psychologist – Mmarcarelli@milforded.org Mrs. Rubino / Ms. Szabo – Guidance Counselor / Speech – Krubino@milforded.org / Aszabo@milforded.org

From the Desks of the PPS Staff

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year East Shore!

Can you believe we’re almost halfway through the school year! It is definitely time for a break! We have one between December 23rd and January 4th. There will be time to relax, vacation, and enjoy activities with family and friends. During the break don’t forget to remind your child to continue to READ, READ, READ! Reading has been shown to improve fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, and writing. If you’re planning on giving gifts, consider a book, magazine subscription, or kindle. Enjoy the well deserved winter break and take time to READ! PPS Staff

From the Desk of our Support Staff – page 16

Reading Tips From Ms. Jagoe and Ms. Dahlinghaus – page 17