Hello Hardy Families

Hello Hardy Families:                                                                                                                                                                                                    Happy New Year! I hope everyone enjoyed time with family and friends over the break. Book Group:The Parent Book Group will be reading the book Creative Schools by Ken Robinson. We will meet on February 9, 2016 from 6:30 to 7:30 pm in the office. Many parents in the district have attended one of the viewings of the documentary Most Likely To Succeed; this book taps into that film. Everyone is welcome to attend the book club, the discussion is always great, (even if you don’t finish the book).HHU:The final PAC meeting will take place on January 21st at  7pm an the Wellesley High School Library. The meeting is open to the public.** For Information on the Hardy, Hunnewell, Upham Facilities Project: Here is the link for the WPS website- This website contains the draft summary report on the school project, plus other related documents. http://www.wellesleyma.gov/hhu  PTO General Meeting:Our next PTO General Meeting will take place on January 22 at 9:00am in the Hardy Library.  World Language:Hardy and Sprague students in grades K through 2 have been enjoying their Spanish World Language class with Barbara Barnett for over a month now. Helping guide our work to this point has been a national consultant on the subject, Helena Curtain, author of Languages and Children:  Making the Match. She met with groups of Hardy parents and all of the Hardy faculty last year. She is here again to help support Wellesley as we add World Language to the other elementary schools. If you want to hear her speak and get an overview of why world language is so important in the elementary years, you are invited to attend another presentation for parents. It will take place on January 12, 2016 beginning at 7pm in the Wellesley High School Auditorium.  Currently the plan is to provide FLES instruction for all students in grades K to 2. Sprague and Hardy students in grade 3 will receive FLES instruction next year resulting in K through 3 receiving FLES next year. MCAS:The MCAS testing windows are below.  Parents will receive specific testing dates for their children by mid-February.  2016 MCAS tests grades 3-5 English Language Arts Reading Comprehension:

• March 28-April 12

2016 MCAS tests grades 3-5 Mathematic and Science and Technology/Engineering:

• May 9- May 24

School Council: The Hardy School Council has been becoming familiar with some of the work that Dr. Lussier has shared with the WPS community. We will be reading the book Creative Schools and have read the article, Preparing 21st Century Students for a Global Society, An Educator’s Guide to the “Four Cs” (link to article below).  During our next meeting we will be discussing the 4 Cs and how they impact our work at Hardy.  The School Council meets the first Thursday of every month from 7:45am to 8:30am in the Learning Center, this is an open meeting.  http://www.wellesley.k12.ma.us/sites/wellesleyps/files/file/file/neaguide-to-four-cs.pdfJust a reminder: If you are changing the plans for your child to leave school:

• Call Janet, or
• If you email the teacher you must also c.c. Janet and make sure you receive a confirmation that the school has received your email.  If you do not receive a confirmation from Janet then that means we have not received the change of plans. Teachers are busy throughout the day and cannot always check their email. We do not want to miss important and timely information.

Thank you,Charlene Cook, Principal