Inside this issue:

Where in NES am I?

News from our Classrooms

PTA News

Announcements

Important Dates & Contact Info

Upcoming Events & Flyers

April 29, 2011 Volume 1, Issue 16

The N.E.S. Newt-paper Newbury Elementary School Newsletter

Dear NES Community,

Thank you to those of you who have responded with your input for class placements for next year. We will be looking closely at the informa-tion you provided in the coming weeks to ensure we make the best place-ment possible for your child. If you have not turned in your form, please be sure to do so as soon as possible.

We have implemented an automated system to alert

parents and guardians when their child is absent from school immediately upon our daily attendance being taken at 9:00 A.M.. Even when you call your child in absent for the day, you will receive an automated message stating your child is not at school. You do not need to do anything, and the sys-tem is working as it should. If there is a question or con-cern, please call the office immediately so we can ensure the safety of your child. We still ask that you call the Nurse’s line at 978-465-5655 to let us know if your child is not com-ing to school. Thank you for your help!

Lastly, you will find in the enclosed pages that the current PTA

board steps down after they complete their terms at the close of this school year. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of the PTA Board members for their tremendous dedication to our students and our school. They have been an amazing board and each of the board members and current parent members have my gratitude for your advocacy for NES! Finding a new board is a matter of particular urgency and importance

for the future of the NES PTA. Please consider nominating someone or stepping forward to nominate yourself for a posi-tion on the NES PTA Board for next year so the PTA can continue its path of suc-cess! Michael Tracy, Principal

Page 2 Volume 1, Issue 16

Safe Routes To School News: NES parent, Liz Zukowski, would like to extend a huge thanks to students, parents, Ms. Leonard and Mrs. Molesso that participated in Tuesday’s “walk to school day”. We had an eventful walk picking up trash along the way in celebration of Earth Day, it was quite a success! Great job kids; Ronan Brown, Wyatt Desroches, Ella and Tyler Dooling, Alexa and Zach Englehart, Meri Fullford, Joshua Heselton, Katy Hylton, Jackson Irving, Eva and Katherine Kampmann, Mattie Knowles, Tegan and Liam Murray, Sam Na-than, Evelyn and Kyle Pearson, Lizzy and Samantha Protopapas, Allison and David Pugh, Ben and Nate Riely, Taylor and Morgan Shorey, Helena and Talia Strauch, Ella and Jonah Thompson, Ella and Frankie Vis-conti, Emma and Patrick Walsh, Tyler Willis, Alexandra Zabroski, Elaina, John, Will, Alex, and my daugh-ter, Paige Zukowski, who was handing out the blue and green bracelets. My apology if I misspelled any child’s name. Also, if I overlooked someone please email me, elynds@mit.edu, and their name will be published in the next Newt-paper. Our second walk is scheduled for next Wednesday, May 4th, to observe Massachusetts Walk to School Day. Please join us at Newbury Upper Green at 8:00 A.M. for the walk to NES.

Cyber Safety Student Presentation We are lucky to have the opportunity to partner with the Essex County DA's office to present NetSmartz to our students in grades 1-6. This presentation will focus on online safety including cyber-bullying, social networking, and information sharing on the internet. Presentations will take place for students during the school day on Thursday, May 12th. If you would like to view the presentation materials, or get some parent tips for online safety,

please visit the NetSmartz website: http://www.netsmartz.org/ Other Anti-Bullying websites you may enjoy;

Parents: http://www.stopbullying.gov/topics/what_is_bullying/index.html

Students: http://www.stopbullying.gov/kids/index.html http://takeastand.stopbullying.gov/kids/

News from our Classrooms

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Third Grade

Third Graders here at NES have just completed a math unit on fractions and equivalent fractions. Students also ex-plored how to add and subtract fractions. It's a Massachusetts State Benchmark that all 3rd graders will be able to multiply math facts from 0-10 by the end of the year. Rocket Math has helped move us all along to meet this framework--keep prac-ticing those facts at home! This skill will really be helpful as students move into fourth grade.

We have also just completed our Social Studies units on the American Revolution and its start right here in our own neighbor-hood! As a culminating project, children will be choosing a Massachu-setts hero or heroine to research, such as Louisa May Alcott, Emily Dickinson, Norman Rockwell, John Adams, John F. Kennedy, and Phyllis Wheatley, to name a few. Then each will present a speech to their class written in the first person as that hero/heroine. What a fun shared learning experience!

In writing, we have been writing non-fiction fiction (huh?!) about our made up Cursive Critters. Students have been creating imaginative "histories" and "facts" for our Alien Almanac. Look for these hanging in the hallway soon...

Second Grade Readers have been learning the elements of nonfiction through their reading of Scholastic News, National Geographic Magazine, guided reading and

in-class projects. They have been using their nonfiction knowledge to help research their countries of origin, as well as applying their skills in writing nonfiction paragraphs on a variety of topics.

Our Grade 2 Mathematicians have been working on number sense, problem-solving and place value. We are working to help students answer problems with effi-ciency and flexibility. Grade 2 is looking forward to our Country of Origin share and celebration on Thursday, May 5th at 1:30.

Second Grade

News from our Classrooms

Page 4 Volume 1, Issue 16

The fourth graders travelled back to the 1840s to experi-ence the immigration process firsthand. They became Irish immigrants escaping the potato famine and finding work in America at the Lowell Mills. Throughout the process, the children wrote about their experiences in a journal. Their learning and understanding of immigration made our field trip to the Lowell Mills a great success! The children were able to see the actual weaving machines and boarding houses that the early immigrants used. We were also ex-tremely fortunate to have Mr. Heffernan speak to the fourth grade about his job as a consul for the immigration depart-ment in Egypt and modern day immigration.

Fourth Grade

Where in NES am I???

Here is our mystery picture from our last newsletter — did you find it? It is a bolt that connects the handrail to the wall! There will be a new mystery pic-ture next newsletter!

Congratulations to all of our 6th grade students that participated in the Triton Sci-ence Fair. Your scientific thinking was fantastic!

A special congratulations to the following NES students:

Newbury Elementary School, 1st Place: Michelle Mar-tens and Abby Pike, Meet the Meat 2nd Place Overall: Jed Cutter, How Does Salt Affect the Buoyancy of Water? Congratulations to our 2 NES students moving on to the Science Fair Regional's: Harrison Speak (Solar Energy) Jed Cutter (Salt and Buoyancy)

News from our Classrooms

Page 5 Volume 1, Issue 16

Science Fair News!

The annual NES Field Day is coming! -Thursday June 16, (rain date - Friday, June 17). Important parts of this fun day are our parent volunteers. Activities are familiar and basic. Classroom teachers will stay with their children. We are also hoping to have junior activity assistants from Triton High School. If you can spare time in the morning, afternoon, or all-day to be a part of our school community celebration please e-mail Anna Molesso at amolesso@trsd.net. Thank you!

Field Day

Congratulations to 3rd grade students Melina Robertson and Oliver Hermann from Ms. Winter’s class. They won national awards for their achievements in the Online Math League program. Great Job!

Online Math League

I am pleased to be leading discussions in each classroom in grades 3-6 based on the Steps to Respect Bullying Prevention Program. The Steps to Respect Program is a nationally rec-ognized, research-based program developed by the Committee for Children. We have used this program at NES for many years. We begin by reviewing the C.A.R.E.S. skills of Cooperation, Assertion, Responsibility, Empathy, and Self-Control as they are key aspects of the Steps to Respect focus on friendships skills, conflict resolutions skills, emotional skills, and using positive values to guide behavior. We then discuss the definition and types of bullying and how to recognize, refuse, and report bullying if it happens to a student or classmate. We consider the similarities and differences among conflicts, bullying behavior, and har-assment. We discuss and do role plays about how to speak up assertively in those situations if you feel safe to do so. The discussions emphasize the importance of by-standers speaking up and the importance of reporting any instances of bullying be-havior. With the older students we talk in more depth about relationship problems, dealing with rumors and cyberbullying. In the discussions we have had so far, the students have been eager to participate in role plays and have had very thoughtful comments and questions. We look forward to the upcoming presentation from the District Attorney’s staff. I have also recently shared information with teachers about ways to respond to bul-lying behavior and updated information from Elizabeth Englander, Ph.D. of the Massa-chusetts Aggression Reduction Center and Rosalind Wiseman, author of Queen Bees and Wannabees. We look forward to ongoing initiatives on bullying prevention and promoting a posi-tive school climate and to working with all of you. Kathleen de Stadler Adjustment Counselor

Page 6 Volume 1, Issue 16

Update about Promoting a Positive School Climate and Bullying Prevention Efforts

FLIP FLOPS

The warm weather is beginning, and I have already seen several injuries of student’s toes, feet and even ankles over the past few weeks and all that were injured were wearing flip flops on their feet! You may want to en-courage your child to wear more supportive or protective sandals or even sneakers to school rather than flip flops. Flip flops are not a good choice for running and playing on the playground.

Fourth Grade Parents, I still need some fourth grade physicals. Please make sure to get a copy of their child’s physicals to me for their school health record if you have not done so. This is a Massachusetts’ schools health requirement. Sixth Grade Parents must be sure that your child has updated immunizations for entry into the Middle School for the next school year. Next year, your child will need a Tetanus-Diphtheria booster within the last 5 years and a Varicella (chicken pox) booster or documentation from the doctor that your child has had the disease. If you have an updated immunization record, please send it to me as soon as possi-ble. I have checked through the sixth grade health records, and I have very few of these updated immunizations on file here. Thank you! Mary E. Goldsmith, RN School Nurse Newbury Elementary

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Nurse Notes

A friendly reminder… If your child is out sick and you visit the doctor’s office, please ask for a note when you are there. Turn in a copy of this note to our NES of-fice when you get a chance to help keep our attendance records up-dated and accurate. Thank you—and stay healthy!

Page 8 Volume 1, Issue 16

PTA News

Congratulations to Mrs. Arsenault’s 4th grade class. They are the lucky winners of the 4th Annual Penny Challenge and a Pizza Party. The total amount raised in the Penny Challenge was $1,630.81 Thank you to all who participated.

NES’ annual Spring Fling is around the corner - May 20th from 5:30 – 7:30. There will be games, music and lots of fun. Come join us!. We need many volunteers (5:30 P.M. – 8:00 P.M.) to help us run games, sell tickets, serve treats, hand out prizes, and monitor the event.

. Please contact Belen Wieler-Hawes, NES PTA Volunteer Chair at bwieler.bwc@verizon.net or at 978.504.9250 to discuss or sign up for any of these upcoming events. As always, thanks for your help and support. We couldn't do it without you!

Our next PTA meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 3rd at 6:30.

Page 9 Volume 1, Issue 16

PTA News

Urgent NES PTA Officer Nomination and Replacement Update

Dear NES Parents: Background Information The NES PTA has been an instrumental resource to Newbury Elementary by linking students, parents and staff together through various events, funding enrichment activities, upgrading the school library, and providing teacher grants. All current PTA officer (president, two vice presidents, treasurer, and secretary) terms expire at the end of this year and none of the current officers are seeking re-election. As such, a nomination commit-tee was formed to fill these positions. Nomination forms requesting candidates were placed in the lobby and distributed via the Newt-paper, school emails, and at all monthly PTA meetings. Unfortunately we have not received many nominations, and, to date, have only located one person will-ing to take on an officer role next year. The NES PTA is in jeopardy if positions remain unfilled. All 5 officer positions must be replaced by the end of the school year in order for the PTA to re-main intact. If the officer positions remain unfilled there is a contingency plan where a treasurer and one officer can manage the $40,000 budget (as long as we have 25 members). In this contingency scenario, many of the current student activities would not take place in the 2011-2012 school year and the school would not have a PTA in 2012-2013. We hope the situation does not lead to this. Opportunity: This is your chance to shape the next PTA We need officers for the 2011-2012 school year. We need your help and support in identifying candi-dates for the positions or lending a hand yourself. The new officers would be able to revisit the PTA mission, determine the meeting schedule and times, have childcare at meetings, and manage the $40,000.00 budget to support the needs of Newbury Elementary in the 2011-2012 school year. The prior board officers are willing to help the new ones as needed and we already have members who have volunteered to organize some of the large events, should you decide to continue with them. How Can You Help/Find out More Information We are holding officer information fairs at next week’s kindergarten screening sessions on May 2 and 3, 8:30 am-2:30 pm in the kindergarten rooms, and on Tuesday, May 2, 5:30-6:30 p.m. in the library to dis-cuss positions and answer your questions. Additionally, any of us are willing to talk to you and answer questions; just email one of us. As always, thank you for your help and support. Sincerely yours, The NES PTA Nominating Committee Renee Toth- reneeh1992@aol.com Patty Olson - patricianeil@comcast.net Belen Wieler-Hawes- bwieler.bwc@verizon.net

Page 10 Volume 1, Issue 16

PTA News

Before vacation, the NES Recycling Committee and the after school Re-cycling Club held an assembly for grades 1-6 to announce the results of a waste audit we did in December. As a reward for all the hard work with recycling by everyone at NES, a reusable metal water bottle was given to all students and staff members. We hope your children are using them on a daily basis. For more information on how to care for the bottles, go to http://www.hope-2o.org/cleaning.html. Many thanks to our sponsors - Boat Camp (http://www.boatcamp.org/) and the Institution for Savings (https://www.institutionforsavings.com/site/index.html) for these bottles, as well as Hope2o, the nonprofit through which we received the bottles (http://www.hope-2o.org/). We will be selling more of these beautiful metal bottles for a Dishwasher Challenge through Hope2o. All proceeds go towards the cost of a new cafeteria dishwasher at NES. If you are interested in purchasing addi-tional water bottles, please contact one of us. We will also send out the direct link to the website as soon as it is available. Some time in the next month, we will hold another cafeteria waste audit and will compare the findings from December’s assessment. Students in the grade that reduce their waste by the most, by weight per student, will win extra recess time for the entire grade. For more information about the waste audit, the results, and the waste reduction contest,

CLICK HERE Please contact us if you are interested in helping or would like to know more about our activities - Tammy Cotter (tammycotter@comcast.net) and Sally Milliken (MillDoo@comcast.net). We received wonderful thank you notes and artwork from mem-bers of Mrs. Williams' second grade class. Thanks to all of them for their thanks!

Environmental Corner

Page 11 Volume 1, Issue 16

ANNOUNCEMENTS

NES Alumni DI Team Seven NES Alumni are headed to Knoxville, Tennessee for the Destination Imagination Global Fi-nals. Destination Imagination is an educational program promoting teamwork and creative thinking, where student teams compete in open-ended challenges and present their solutions at regional and state tournaments. The team presented its “Triple Take Road Show” performance and won their regional and state tournaments, landing the opportunity to compete in Globals. Team members are: Olivia Anderholm, Tess Broll, Michael Marcolini, Hannah Morgan, Kylie Smith, Kyle Stackpole, Keegan Wallace The team is raising money for their trip by having a multi-family YARD SALE including a raffle and baked goods.

Sunday, May 1st 8:00-2:00 14 Sea View Lane, Newbury We appreciate your support!

NEWBURY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRESCHOOL SCREENING

On Friday, May 13, 2011 Newbury Elementary School will hold preschool screening for interested 3 and 4 year old children. Preschool screening is completely voluntary and is available to any parent who has a concern about their child’s development. Screening consists of a brief check of a child’s language and learning development and provides infor-mation about a child’s functioning in the areas of speech and language ability, fine and gross motor skills, and overall cognitive growth. Most children’s development in these areas is within the usual range for their age. Screening results help to indicate whether more specific information or evalua-tion in a particular area of development is needed. Special services, if necessary, are available

through Newbury Elementary School. Screening will be done from 8:30 A.M. -11:30 A.M. and takes approximately 20 min-utes for each child. Children currently enrolled in the pre-school program at Newbury Elementary School do not need to be screened. If you would like your child to be screened, please call New-bury Elementary School at 465-5353 to schedule an appoint-ment

Page 12 Volume 1, Issue 16

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Helping Hands collaborative of NES has been very successful this year helping many of our families in need. We will continue to present our advocacy project as an op-portunity for you to extend your goodwill by helping in providing for families attending Newbury Elementary School. The program is in need of gift cards from local department store merchants such as; K-Mart, Marshalls, TJ Max, Walmart, and Target. Any and all denominations are welcome. All gift cards will be distributed by the school nurse to those families in need. We invite you to participate in our fundraising efforts. Should you express interest in continuing our vision, please deliver gift cards to Mary Goldsmith, school nurse office.

Please feel free to contact Louisa Simboli at LSim-boli@comcast.net for information about this program. Your support is necessary for the success of our program.

It's Free! It's Fun! It's the Newburyport Literary Festival! Walk, skip or ride your bike to the Newburyport Library this Satur-day, 4/30, to meet your favorite authors and illustrators at our sixth annual literary festival. Find out what Jackie Davis, author of THE LEMONADE WARS, has planned for a sequel. Put on your princess finery and join Stephanie Greene, author of PRINCESS POSEY AND THE FIRST GRADE PARADE, as you make a magic wand to take home. Or watch New York artist Elisha Cooper show how he came up with his beautiful drawings in FARM. You can even learn how to make magic cut paper designs from Judith Moffatt, a mas-ter of the craft. West Newbury author Elizabeth Atkinson will read from I, EMMA FREAK while you make a beaded masterpiece. And that's not all, Gregory Mone will tell pirate tales from his latest novel, FISH, and, Rodman Philbrick, celebrated author of FREAK THE MIGHTY, will talk to about his latest book, THE MOSTLY TRUE ADVENTURES OF HOMER P. FIGG. Parents, there are a host of programs you'll want to attend, too. Please visit us at http://www.newburyportliteraryfestival.org/ for times and information.

Page 13 Volume 1, Issue 16

ANNOUNCEMENTS

PLEASE DONATE! The Triton Senior Class, in conjunction with the High School and Middle School Libraries, is running the first annual Book and Flower Sale on Saturday, May 14th. The sale will be running from 9 A.M.- 1 P.M. Books are needed! We are accepting books, CD's, and

DVD's. No textbooks and encyclopedias please. Drop off boxes will be available in the High School, Middle School, Pine Grove Elementary, Newbury Elementary, and Salisbury Elementary school offices beginning on Monday, March 28th. Any questions, please contact Senior Class Officer, Ashley Killam, at: 978-948-8636 or Email: aakillam@aol.com.

Reminder: There will be no school for kinder-garten students on Monday and Tuesday, May 2nd and 3rd due to kindergarten screening of next year's students. Kids Club will be available for a limited number of children on those days. Contact Eliza-beth Rogers at erogers@trsd.net.

NES is a participant in the Safe Routes to School Program (SRTS), promoting healthy alter-natives for children and parents in their travel to and from school. NES parent, Liz Zu-kowski, is scheduling two “walk to school” days for students and parents. The first took place on Tuesday, April 26th, in celebration of Earth day, which was the previous Friday of April vacation. And the second walk Wednesday, May 4th, to observe Massachusetts Walk to School Day. Please join us at Newbury Upper Green at 8:00 A.M. for the walk to NES. All children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. If you have any questions, please contact Liz Zu-kowski at elynds@mit.edu.

Newbury Elementary Triton Regional School

District 63 Hanover Street Newbury 01951

Phone: (978) 465-5353

Fax: (978) 463-3070

E-mail: mtracy@trsd.net

hleonard@trsd.net

PTA Officers President Maureen Heffernan, maureen.heffernan@comcast.net Co-VP Michelle Walsh,mwalsh9@msn.com Co-VP Patty Olson, patricianeil@comcast.net Treasurer Wendy Wood, wendywood17@comcast.net Secretary Betsy Carter, betsycarter21@gmail.com School Committee

Dina Sullivan, Chair, dsullivan@trsd.net Deborah Choate, Vice Chair, dchoate@trsd.net Suzanne Densmore, Secretary,suzannedensmore@trsd.net Lane Bourn, lbourn@trsd.net Linda Litcofsky, llitcofsky@trsd.net Holly Janvrin, hjanvrin@trsd.net Mary Murphy, mmurphy@trsd.net Paul Lees, plees@trsd.net Robin Williams, rwilliams@trsd.net

April 4/29—Progress Reports go home May 5/2—5/3—Kindergarten Screening (no

school for current K students) 5/3—PTA meeting,, 6:30 P.M. 5/3—Candidate Forum, 7:00 P.M. 5/4—MASS Walk/Bike to school, Newbury

Green, 8:00 A.M. 5/5—5/6—Fire Safety Program, grades

preK, K, 1, 2 5/6—Student Council Spirit Day 5/10—5/11—MCAS grades 3 & 5 5/11—School Committee, 7:00 P.M. 5/12—NetSmartz Presentations during

school 5/13—HALF DAY 5/13—preK screening

Upcoming Events

We’re on the Web! www.trsd.net/newbury

School Community The NES Newt-paper is published on a bi-weekly basis. If you would like to submit something to be included in the NES Newt-paper, please email your information to hleonard@trsd.net by the Tuesday be-fore the newsletter is published.

2011 NES PTA Board Member Nomination Form

Are you interested in becoming a Board Member or know someone that would be a great fit? If so, please fill out this nomination form and return it in an envelope marked “PTA Board Nominating Committee” to the school office in the PTA Mail Box. Below is an overview of Board member roles and responsibilities:

President: Candidate Name/Contact Info: ___________________________________________ Preside at all NES PTA meetings. Serve as a member on all committees except the Nomination Committee. Directs and oversees the work of NES PTA officers and committees. 1st Co-Vice President: Candidate Name/Contact Info: ___________________________________________ Act as aide to the president. Perform the duties of the president in the president’s absence. 2nd Co-Vice President: Candidate Name/Contact Info: ___________________________________________ Act as aide to the president. Perform the duties of the president in the president’s absence NES PTA Secretary: Candidate Name/Contact Info: ___________________________________________ Record all NES PTA meeting minutes and distribute to membership. File and retain all records. Maintain a membership list with names and addresses of members. NES PTA Treasurer: Candidate Name/Contact Info: ___________________________________________ Present treasurer’s report at the NES PTA meetings and have custody of all NES PTA funds. Maintain a full and accurate account of receipts and expenditures of the NES PTA. Complete and file required tax forms.

Nominations will be accepted until April 30, 2011 and we will share updates at the monthy PTA board meetings and via the NewtLetter. If you have any questions about the PTA Board Member positions or the nomination process, please contact any of the Nominating Committee Chairs: Belen Wieler-Hawes (bwieler.bwc@verizon.net), Patty Olson (patricianeil@comcast.net ) or Renee Toth (reneeh1992@aol.com). Thank you for considering this great opportunity to make a difference to the children and families of the NES community.

Plus Coupons for:10% off at :

DRAGONS NEST, MODERN MILLIE, PINK HEARTS/BLUE SOLES, JUST DOGS, LORETTA RESTAURANT, LIVELY KIDS, MK WINSTON JEWELERS, FLIPPIN OUT, DENISE’S FLOWER SHOP, & THE CUCKOOS NEST

20% off CHILDRENS ORCHARD, BOOK RACK, & KATWALK

15% off PARTIDGE IN A BEAR TREE, VALERIE’S GALLERY, & JL COOMBS

PLEASE FILL OUT THE ORDER FORM BELOW AND RETURN TO SCHOOL - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Please give me _______ coupon book(s) at $25 each to be sent home with my child

in their TAKE HOME folder. I have enclosed a check/cash for $___________

(PLEASE MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO NES PTA)

STUDENT NAME: _____________________ GRADE/TEACHER: _____________________

BUY YOUR NEWBURY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL COUPON BOOK TODAY!

Filled with great coupons for local shops you love and patronize – this book has been cus-tom designed to save you hundreds of dollars – all while helping the children at NES! -

Books cost $25 and all proceeds go directly to the NES PTA

$5.00 off purchase of $50 at Valentines Free large thin crust Pizza when you buy a large thin crust pizza at Rowley House of Pizza $10 off a purchase of $30 or more at A SHORE THING $10 off a $35 oil change at state street MOBIL $40 off a $139.95 car detailing at FRASER AUTOMOTIVE 20% off TAMARA handbags Free $3.00 cupcake when you buy one cupcake at EAT CAKE Save $2.00 on a $20.00 purchase at GRAND TRUNK Save $5,00 on any $20 order from UPPER CRUST 15% off any catered party from 2 – 100 people GOT THYME PERSONAL CHEF Half price beverage at SOUFFLES