Hello Hardy Families

Hello Hardy Families:

I am sure we are all thankful to be back on a regular schedule.  The snow is absolutely beautiful and provides a wonderful playground for the children.  The town and WPS custodians have worked very hard to get the grounds ready for us so I would like to send them a big thank you.

On December 12th, 2017,  AJ Vij and Amiah Vargas from Mrs. Poole’s grade 3 classroom attended the School Committee meeting to present their experience with Project Based Learning.  AJ and Amiah represented Hardy students very well as they enthusiastically shared all about their projects and identified a few highlights from the three week unit of study on the impact of severe weather conditions.  As many of you may know, this is the first year Hardy has participated in PBL (Project Based Learning) in grades 3, 4 and 5 and our students have engaged in meaningful learning standards across content areas while diving deep into real world problems, challenges and questions.  Grades 4 and 5 have finished their first PBL units with the same degree of success.

Thanks to the contributions from WEF, Ken Kay will be coming to Wellesley to discuss “Preparing Students for Their 21st Century Lives”.  This presentation will take place on Monday, January 22nd at 7:00 p.m. at Wellesley High School.  Our PBL work directly supports the work that Ken Kay and others in the field have identified as 21st century learning so I encourage you to join the WPS community for his talk.  Here is a link for more information.  Also on the district Web Page:  https://www.wellesleyeducationfoundation.org/events/an-evening-with-ken-kay.

Just a reminder that Catherine Steiner-Adair, author of The Big Disconnect, Protecting Childhood and Family Relationships in the Digital Age, will make a presentation to our Wellesley families tonight, Jan. 10th at the middle school from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.  We are fortunate to have her here and can thank the PTO Central Council for writing a grant to receive funding for her visit.  She also visited all of the grade 5 students this week. I would encourage you to attend Wednesday night as she will be sharing her research and recommendations.

Thanks to Hardy parents and the Cultural Arts and Science Committee we will be presenting an assembly on January 16th by Guy Louis called “Understanding World Cultures” (Link to his page).  Two grades at a time, K-1, 2-3 and then 4-5 will share in the fun for 45 minutes of music and culture.

Don’t miss our Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Assembly on Friday Jan. 12h at 8:45 a.m. All are welcome. A couple of students from each class will be sharing information about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Just a couple of reminders:

• All guests and visitors must sign in at the office and wear a badge.  Hardy values safety so if you are in the building without a badge you will be asked to go back to the office and get one. 
• The parking lot is not to be used as a drop off or pick up for the 8:30 arrival or the 3:05 pick up. Any parent picking up their child by car should use Hardy Road. If you are a walker please meet your child outside the gym or grass area. Snow season is hard so you may need to wait closer to the gym, on the path or the open space near the loop.
• Parents walking with their children should not wait for them at the bottom of the steps near car pick up.  All parents picking up a walking child should wait at the area outside of the gym area as described above.  
• If you are arriving late, after 8:30 a.m., you must park your car in the loop and walk your child into the office and sign them in.  Cars should not be parked in the parking lot and students who arrive after 8:30 should not be entering the building on their own if you are dropping them off. 

Thank you,

Charlene Cook, Principal

Hardy Elementary School

781-446-6270, ext.2301

cookch@wellesleyps.org