Dear Sprague Community,
We had a very successful Walk to School day on Friday with 307 out of 394 participants—that’s 78% of our students! Kids love the footie charms! They can collect them each month on Walk to School day, but need to keep the chain they got in September and add the charms each time.
Spanish
Spanish FLES classes will begin in grades K-3 on Monday, September 26th. Ms. Peare has been meeting with other Spanish teachers and stopping by classrooms to get to know our students better. Students in grades K-3 will have Spanish classes 3 times per week for 25 minutes. Spanish classes take place right in the classroom. I bet you’ll be hearing some more Spanish at home soon if you have a child in one of these grades! Ojala! (I really hope so!)
Lost and Found
As the weather starts to change, we notice that often students come to school with a jacket and when it warms up outside, the jackets can get left behind after recess. We strongly urge you to write your child’s name in all items that could be easily left behind: coats, jackets, lunchboxes, water bottles. Thanks!
Ice Cream Social—Thursday, Sept. 22
We hope you can come to the PTO sponsored Ice Cream Social on Thursday! The PTO generously purchases pizza as well as the ice cream, so it’s an easy night to head back to the Sprague playground and see Sprague friends. It begins at 6:00 and ends by 7:30—it will likely be dark before then anyway!
Growth Mindset
It was great to see so many parents at our Back to School Night last week. We are so fortunate to be part of such an engaged and committed school community! If you were able to come to the Principal presentation, you heard about our commitment to supporting a “growth mindset” in our students. We really hope kids see themselves as learners who have the confidence to take risks in their learning and see mistakes as opportunities to learn and grow. With the “Week of Inspirational Math,” students were reminded that scientists have discovered that the synapses in the brain actually fire more and show more activity when one makes a mistake that leads to new understandings. Here are the tips for parents for how you can help foster a growth mindset at home (from www.oxfordlearning.com/growth-mindset-tips-for-parents/):
- Pay attention and verbally praise kids for skills like hard work, persistence, rising to a challenge, learning a mistake, etc., rather than being “smart,” “brilliant,” or “gifted.”
- Be a growth mindset model. Be honest: how often to you say, “I can’t (cook/sing/manage money)” or “I’m terrible at (math/spelling/public speaking)” as if there’s no hope for you? Make sure you’re sending the right message or maybe even take on something new!
- Encourage your child to embrace challenges instead of taking the easy route where less learning is done.
- Remember that growth mindset isn’t just academic; it applies to many areas of life (athletic, musical, social). If your child is having trouble getting that basketball through the hoop—practice and seek out tips for improving form.
- Talk to your child about what he or she can learn from peers who may appear more successful, but do it in a way that discourages envy. While some skills come more easily to some, most often there’s an element of practice, persistence, and hard work which leads to achievement.
Handbook
The 2016-2017 WPS Elementary Parent Handbook is attached. It contains important information that is common to all the Wellesley elementary schools. Information about access to Student Records as outlined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) has been added to the handbook this year. We have updated the handbook on the website.
Dates to remember:
Sept. 22: Ice Cream Social from 6:00-7:30 PM
Sept. 26: First day of Spanish FLES in grades K-3
Oct. 3: No school—Rosh Hashanah
Oct. 10: No school—Columbus Day
Oct. 12: No school—Yom Kippur
Oct. 18: Walk to School Day
Nov. 1: Early dismissal (Tuesday) for parent conferences
Nov. 8: Election Day (Tuesday) LATE START—2 hour delayed opening—10:30 start time