Dear Sprague Community,
I can feel the anticipation building for Halloween. Before that, though, we have our Scholastic Book Fair to look forward to. It is a great time to shop for gifts, look at books with your child, and choose titles he or she is excited about. Special thanks to PTO Book Fair Chairs, Matt McKay and Andrea Doglioli for their work organizing the fair…
Don’t miss our annual Book Fair. Tuesday 10/24 to Thursday 10/16.
Hour of operations: Tuesday and Thursday 7 am to 3:30pm. Wednesday8:30 am to 12:30.
New this year is Moms’ Market (Tuesday 10/24 at 7 am), a way for Moms to spend time with their children going through the books.
As always don’t miss the popular Dads and Donuts! (Thursday 10/26 at 7 am).
Both events are opened to everyone, including extended family.
Halloween
Getting back to the topic of Halloween, I’d like to remind families that our parade will take place outside the school on October 31st at 9:00 a.m. I will send the map with the parade route next week. Parents should wait outside for classes to come out. As always, violent themed costumes, fake blood, and toy weapons of any kind are not allowed. Masks are strongly discouraged and students will need to be able to see clearly to participate in the parade. There will be alternate activity for any child who does not wish to participate. Thanks for your support.
MCAS Results
Last spring, students in grades 3-5 across Massachusetts took the new “Next Generation” MCAS test. This new version of MCAS was needed as the test had not been updated for almost 20 years. The “Next Generation MCAS” is aligned with Common Core standards. As the MA Dept. of Education developed new scoring procedures for the test, they needed to delay the release of results. Parents can expect individual student reports to go home in the mail sometime before the second week in November. School and District Accountability ratings will not be reported in this first year of the new test. Scores are considered baseline scores for schools and districts as we move forward with MCAS testing.
Update
After careful consideration, and upon the advice of town professionals and consultants, WPS will be adding additional security cameras to the exterior areas at Sprague near the basketball hoops, fence, and Oak St. side of the school to have a better view of the path from the field to Oak St. These cameras have not yet been installed. We will let you know when these new security features are operational and you will see signs indicating that cameras are in use.
From the Nurse:
I’ve been conducting the mandated annual hearing and vision screenings, as I do each year in the fall. This helps identify barriers that would hinder a child’s ability to learn because so much learning is accomplished through vision and/or hearing.
Early identification of hearing and vision difficulties helps to prevent problems that relate to speech and language development, social and emotional development, academic achievement, and/or permanent vision loss. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health has established guidelines that I follow regarding screening procedures and referral criteria for school-age children.
Vision screening checks for
- problems in acuity (sharpness)
- amblyopia (reduced vision in an otherwise healthy eye)
- binocular function (one image using both eyes)
- hyperopia (farsightedness – problems seeing close images)
- myopia (nearsightedness – problems seeing at a distance)
- strabismus (eyes not properly aligned)
- stereopsis (three-dimensional vision) grades K-3
This screening helps identify students who may have an unrecognized vision problem that could lead to the development of permanent vision loss if not detected early.
Hearing screening checks for response to tones in the frequencies most used for spoken communication. A hearing impairment interferes with normal speech development; school age children with even minimal hearing loss are at risk for academic and communication difficulties. Early detection and proper medical treatment insures a better chance of successfully correcting any hearing problems.
School screening tests are designed to identify students who need further evaluation, with the goal of early detection, diagnosis and treatment of any hearing and vision problems before they can interfere with a child’s academic success. Each year here at Sprague the students undergo the mandated screenings. Then I contact parents of those children who do not pass the screenings to refer for further evaluation by their physician.
Please call me at 781-263-1969 x 2502 if you have any questions or concerns.
Sharon
Dates to remember:
Oct. 23: School Council Meeting at 3:15 PM
Oct. 31: Halloween Parade at 9:00 AM
Nov. 1: Parent Conferences
Nov. 7: EARLY RELEASE TUESDAY –Parent Conferences
Nov. 8: Parent Conferences
Nov. 10: No school—Veteran’s Day
Nov. 23, 24: No school—Thanksgiving Break
Nov. 27: No school—Staff Professional Day
Dec. 8: Concert featuring Grades 3 and 4 at 8:45 AM—Parents invited