Dear Sprague Community,
Can you believe it’s the 100th day of school already?
Written Progress Reports will be sent home with students today. Please remember that at mid-year, most students are working towards grade level skill development and that it is common to see 2’s on the Progress Report for developing skills.
Go Pats!
We had a fun Patriot’s rally on Friday afternoon! Many students and staff wore Patriot’s gear and we had fun with some Patriot Math (think roman numerals, adding and subtracting jersey numbers) and saw a video about how Tom Brady’s work ethic and growth mindset helped him overcome obstacles and some people’s belief that he would not be successful in the NFL. As we now know, he put his all into his job and became the G.O.A.T. !!!!!!! We talked about how we can learn lessons from the Patriots about doing your job and working hard even if you are not a Patriots fan. I think our rally helped them pull off the comeback victory on Sunday!
School Security
We partner with families, district administration, and the Wellesley Police Department to ensure a safe school environment. We have many routine procedures in place that are our first priority. All staff wear ID badges to identify themselves to students, families, and visitors. We keep the doors locked during school hours and require any parents or visitors to sign our visitor log and obtain a visitor badge. Please be sure to follow this routine even if you are just coming in to drop off a forgotten item. (Students will be called to the office to pick up items.) In the beginning and end of the school day, we ask that parents allow their children to manage belongings, and learn to pack and unpack their own backpack independently. Additionally, all staff members have been trained in emergency procedures and are familiar with our emergency plans. Our plans have been updated with the latest ALICE philosophy of emergency response and the WPD has come to train our staff using the ALICE philosophy. ALICE is an acronym used in emergency planning and stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate. This represents a change from the Lockdown and wait procedures that were in place a few years ago. We continue to work with and consult the WPD on the latest recommendations and look forward to some security upgrades that are proposed in a system wide security package that will come before Town Meeting in the spring. It is our hope that the security upgrades in the package will be approved at Town Meeting and would include card entry at exterior doors for staff, exterior security cameras, and PA system upgrades.
Recycling Efforts
Sprague School works to be ‘green.’ We have parent representatives on the Wellesley Sustainability Committee. In fact, there is a brief survey about this effort in our lobby. We have a 5th grade group working hard to increase our recycling efforts in the cafeteria. We hope to be recycling milk cartons, clean trays, and more plastic soon! The 5th grade group is planning out how students will learn new recycling procedures. We have been fortunate to rely on the recycling work done at the Bates School as a model and will be looking for some parent volunteers to help us with the implementation after the February vacation.
Dates to remember:
Feb. 8: Kindergarten Roundup (for 17-18) from 3-6 PM in Sprague library
Feb. 9: PTO meeting at 8:45 a.m.
March 3: A-Cat-emy Awards (2:15 PM)
March 7: Grade 5 vs. Faculty Basketball Game
March 10: MCBA Assembly for grades 4 and 5 (2:15 PM)
March 4: Kindergarten Roundup (for 17-18) from 9AM-12 PM in Sprague library
March 17: Open House 8:00-9:30 a.m.
March 21: Parent Talk on Technology and Kids at 7 PM (WMS is the likely location)
March 30: Sprague School Multi-cultural Night 6:00-7:30 PM
Please see updated MCAS schedule:
2017 MCAS UPDATED SCHEDULE:
Grade 3 ELA: April 27, May 1, 2,
Grade 4 ELA: April 24, 25, 28
Grade 5 ELA: April 7, 10, 13
Make up for Gr. 4 CBT and Gr. 3, 5: TBD
Grade 3 Math: May 11, 12
Grade 4 Math: May 22, 23
Grade 5 Math: May 8, 9
Grade 5 Science: May 15, 16
Make ups for Math/Science: May 18, 19