Dear Sprague Community—October 14, 2014 The long weekend certainly felt like fall! I went to a UNH football game on Saturday and the Topsfield Fair on Sunday. I got to see the 1900-pound pumpkin and a logging show featuring “Lumber Jills.” They are the female counterparts to “Lumberjacks.” But of course, the Fair experience wasn’t complete without the super sized chocolate cream puff! We had a school gathering last Friday and recognized students who were nominated for HEART awards. We are focusing on the E for Effort during the month of October. We talked about how learning new things requires effort and taking a risk. Students demonstrated how they would support one another when learning and putting in effort. I tried to juggle scarves and they were very supportive of my effort. Five 5th graders also showed how they would take a risk and put in effort to try something new. If you are in the school, check out the H.E.A.R.T. letters in the hallway near the grade 2 classrooms. Each letter has small hearts with the names of students who received HEART awards so far this year. This will be a lasting display of those names as well as a reminder that we will focus on one value (and letter) each month. We also sang Happy Birthday to many October birthday students and enjoyed a song with Mr. Hagar-McKee. We then presented our new Sprague school-wide rules. These 4 rules are a result of the “Hopes and Dreams” process that began earlier this year. Students and teachers shared their hopes and dreams and then generated rules needed in our school so everyone could accomplish their goals. Each class shared a rule from their classroom at the last school gathering. Those rules were sorted into 4 categories: rules about taking care of ourselves, rules about taking care of others, rules about taking care of our school, and rules about doing our best. By looking for similarities, a team of teachers then took those lists and condensed them to the following rules that we feel represent our needs and values as a school community. Sprague School Rules • Use your HEART. • Treat others the way you want to be treated—with caring, patience, and kindness. • Take care of Sprague. • Bring your “A” game—do your best! 5th grade students read the story, The Recess Queen to highlight the need for school-wide rules. There are still spaces in both the Engineering Club and Lego Robotics Club for grade 5. Please see information below: It’s registration time for Sprague BOKS! BOKS begins Tuesday, October 21st. This fall session will run Tuesdays and Thursdays, Oct. 21-Dec. 18 from 7:30am-8:10am. Space is limited. If you are interested in having your child participate, please email Elaine Marten at spragueboks@gmail.com and she will send you the information to register. What is Reebok BOKS? It’s a before-school physical activity program for elementary schools that sparks a child’s mind and body for better learning during the day. Typical BOKS Class: -40 minutes long -Fun warm-up game or movement drills -Running activity, relay races, obstacle courses and strength movements -Fun game -Cool down and BOKS Bits, a nutrition component of the program What we need: PARENTS! We can serve more students with more parent volunteers. If you are interested in helping facilitate this program, please email Elaine Marten at spragueboks@gmail.com Thank you! We are fortunate in Wellesley to integrate technology into our curriculum. Teachers use Smartboard technology on a daily basis. Our 5th graders participate in a 1:1 iPad initiative through a special program that will continue this year into the 6th grade. We also have access to laptop computers in the classroom. With this technology comes the responsibility to teach our children to be savvy consumers of information and to provide safeguards in school. Recently, the district technology department reviewed our safeguards, including our firewall and filtering software. Secondary filters and a “safe search” feature were incorporated. The “safe search” filters for inappropriate content on the Internet when students are logged into our network at school. We always highlight the need to check with an adult if a student has questions and to follow our district acceptable use policy. As a reminder, this can be found on the district website at http://www.wellesley.k12.ma.us/sites/wellesleyps/files/file/file/wpselemaup.pdf. Internet safety expert Katie Greer will give a presentation for all interested parents on November 3rd at WMS. She will also present to our 4th and 5th graders during the school day that day. Mark your calendars: Oct. 17: Grade 4 Architectural Showcase Book Fair: October 28, 29, 30. Halloween Parade on Friday October 31st. Nov. 3rd: Internet Safety Assembly for grades 4-5 (Evening presentation for parents at 7 PM at WMS.) Both presentations will be by Katie Greer. Nov. 7th: Recycling Assembly—Dr. T, Trashologist (Jack Golden)
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