Our Classroom 

In addition to our supportive classroom environment, we have created this dedicated page where students and parents can stay connected and informed about the exciting happenings within our learning community. Here, you will find weekly updates on what is happening in our classroom, including the topics explored in various subjects. Effective communication between home and school is essential for student success, and through this platform, we aim to keep everyone engaged and involved in the educational journey. By sharing the latest news, accomplishments, and insights, we hope to foster a sense of shared responsibility and collaboration, where students, parents, and teachers work together to create an enriching educational experience.

Week: 9/2-9/5

9/2: First Day of School!

 WELCOME BACK!

This week was filled with excitement, curiosity, and a mix of emotions as we kicked off our new school year! Some of us were a little shy, while others couldn’t wait to meet new friends and dive right in. We spent the week getting to know each other, practicing yoga and meditation, and taking our first steps into our academic routines.

We learned and practiced our classroom expectations, shared about ourselves, and started building a strong, caring community. It was a wonderful start to the year, and I’m so proud of how quickly everyone is settling in. Here’s to many more weeks of learning, growing, and having fun together in C-1!

Week: 9/8-9/12

Dear Families,

Welcome to Week Two! I hope your child had a great first week and is ready for more learning and fun ahead.

This week, I will be sending home your child’s specials schedule so you know when they have P.E. On P.E. days, please make sure your child wears sneakers so they can participate safely and comfortably.

We will also begin library this week! Please check the specials schedule to see which day your child has library, and remember to send back the book they checked out the previous week. Students can only check out one book at a time, so returning it on time will allow them to choose a new one.

In addition, we will start sending home the daily point sheets for students. Please take a few minutes to review the sheet with your child. Celebrate their successes when they receive all of their points, and if they miss any points, have a conversation about what happened and allow them to explain why they think they didn’t earn them. At school, students self-reflect on their points after each period, so this reflection at home will be a valuable extension of that process.

Thank you for your continued support! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Week: 9/15-9/19

Dear Families,

Welcome to Week Three! Over the past two weeks, we have focused on learning our classroom routines and building our community. Now that students are comfortable with our routines, it’s time to dive into our academic work.

This week, we will begin our ELA and Math rotations. Please be on the lookout for math homework coming home with your child.

• For students in grades K–2: Your child will start bringing home a book baggie. Please encourage your child to read the books in their bag each night. You may notice that some books repeat—this is intentional, as rereading helps build confidence and fluency.

• For students in grades 3–4: Please continue to make sure your child is reading daily. If they don’t have a book at home, they are always welcome to borrow one from our classroom library.

We are so excited to begin this next stage of learning and can’t wait to see our students grow as readers, writers, and mathematicians! Thank you for your continued support at home.

Week: 9/22-9/26

9/23: No School

Dear Families,

     Welcome to Week 4! Students have been doing a wonderful job getting used to our different rotations in ELA and Math. While we still have a few routines to smooth out, we are well on our way.

     Students have started bringing home their book baggies and math homework. Please make sure your child is reading for at least 15 minutes each night. Some students may be bringing home books that feel very easy and below their reading level. At this time of year, our focus is on building confidence and fluency so they’re ready to take on bigger challenges soon.

      In Math, all grades are working on Topic 1. This unit is designed as a review of skills from last year, so it may feel easy at first. That’s okay—it helps students strengthen their foundation before moving on.

      This week, we are also beginning to post the point sheets in Google Classroom. If you haven’t yet received an invitation to join, you should get one at the beginning of the week. Please bear with us as we may not have it running perfectly right away, but I promise it will be up and working soon.  

Reminders for this week:

• Tuesday – No school

• Wednesday–Friday – MAP Testing (Reading & Math). Please be sure your child gets a good night’s sleep and a healthy breakfast.

• Thursday at 6:15 PM – Back-to-School Night / Open House. We are very excited to welcome you into our classroom!

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out.

Thank you for your continued support!

Week: 9/29-10/3

10/2: No School 

Hello Families,

It was wonderful seeing so many of you at Back-to-School Night. Thank you for taking the time to connect with us. It truly helps build our classroom community.

Math Update

This week, some students will be taking their first math test of the year. Once tests are graded, they will be sent home for you to review with your child. Please sign the test and return it so we know you’ve seen it.

Social-Emotional Learning: Nonviolent Communication

Last week, we began learning about Nonviolent Communication (NVC), a way for students to share their feelings and needs respectfully.

Here’s the simple 4-step process we are practicing:

1. Observation  – Say what happened without blaming.

Example: “When you took the ball…”

2. Feeling  – Share how it makes you feel.

Example: “…I felt sad.”

3. Need – Explain what you need.

Example: “…because I need a turn to play too.”

4. Request  – Ask kindly for what you’d like.

Example: “Would you be willing to give me a turn with the ball?”

At home, please practice this with your child. It’s an important skill for learning how to express feelings and be heard. Last week, we focused on Step 1 (Observation) and Step 2 (Feelings). This week, we will practice Step 3 (Need) and Step 4 (Request).

Looking Ahead

Next week is our Week of Respect. A flyer will be sent home with the dress-up days and daily challenges. We are excited to celebrate kindness, respect, and community together.

As always, if you have any questions or need anything, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Wishing everyone a wonderful week! 

Week: 10/6-10/10

Good morning families,

Welcome to Week 6! We have a busy and exciting week ahead.

• Life Skills: Students will be learning about fairness.

• Writing: We’ll begin working on opinion writing.

• Math: We’re continuing to review concepts from last year. Some groups are starting Topic 2, while others are finishing Topic 1.

• Grammar: Our focus this week is on nouns and the different types of nouns.

We also have a few special events this week:

• Picture Day – Tuesday

• Fire Truck Visit – Thursday

• Harlem Wizards Assembly – Friday

Please remember to sign and return your child’s Topic 1 math test if you haven’t done so already.

As always, thank you for your continued support. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or concerns.

Have a wonderful week!

Week: 10/13-10/17

Dear Families,

     Welcome to Week 7! The weeks are flying by, and it has been so exciting to see how our students are settling into their classroom routines. Each day, I am seeing more growth as they learn to use their coping skills and problem-solving strategies. It is wonderful to watch their progress and confidence grow.

     This week in Life Skills, we will be learning about coping strategies and creating our very own relaxation bottles to help us calm down and refocus when needed. In Math, we will continue reviewing and practicing addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division strategies to strengthen fluency and confidence.

     Beginning this week, we will also start sending home fact fluency cards.

• Grades 1 and 2 will receive addition fact cards to practice each night.

• Grades 3 and 4 will receive multiplication fact cards to review daily.

     Please make sure your child spends a few minutes each evening practicing their math facts. All students will also practice during our daily math rotations, but extra practice at home is extremely beneficial. Developing automaticity with basic facts will help prepare students for more complex math concepts in the months and years ahead.

      Please continue to encourage your child to complete their homework daily and read for at least 15 minutes each night. If your child does not have books at home, they are always welcome to borrow one from our classroom library. There are plenty of fun choices waiting for them.

I hope everyone has a great week! 

Week: 10/20-10/24

10/20: No School

Welcome to Week 8!

We hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Just a quick reminder — there will be no school on Monday, October 20th.

Life Skills

This week in Life Skills, we are learning about self-control and how to use the traffic light strategy as a reminder of what to do when we feel upset or frustrated:

 Stop and calm down.

 Think about solutions and possible consequences.

 Go ahead and try our best choice or action.

We’ll also continue to practice using our Zones of Regulation and keep working on yoga and mindfulness during our calm-down times.

Math:

1st Grade: Continuing to practice addition and subtraction using mental math strategies.

2nd Grade: Exploring arrays and repeated addition.

3rd Grade: Reviewing Topic 2 to prepare for our upcoming lesson assessment.

4th Grade: Working on multi-digit addition and subtraction, focusing on place value and regrouping.

ELA:

In ELA, students are continuing to work on opinion writing — stating their opinion clearly, adding supporting details, and closing their writing by restating their opinion. We’ll also continue practicing grammar, reading comprehension, and sentence structure.

SEL & Wellness:

We’ll continue learning about our Zones of Regulation and practicing yoga and meditation to help our bodies and minds stay calm and focused throughout the school day.

Reminders:

Please visit our classroom website for updates and information shared by the PTO about the upcoming Halloween Hoot and other fun activities planned for October!

Have a wonderful week!

As always, please reach out if you have any questions or need anything.

Week: 10/27-10/31

Hello Families,

This week is full of fun activities and excitement as our students eagerly count down to Halloween! We have lots of learning (and a little bit of spooky fun) happening in every subject.

Writing:

We will continue working on opinion writing—sharing our thoughts and reasons clearly in complete sentences.

Life Skills (SEL): 

Our focus this week is on Kindness—learning how to use kind words, kind actions, and how to make our classroom a caring place for everyone.

Math

• 1st Grade: Finishing up Topic 2 and taking their assessment this week. A reteach packet will be sent home for optional review—this is not mandatory, but it’s a great way to build confidence and reinforce skills.

• 2nd Grade: Also taking their Topic 2 assessment. A reteach packet will be sent home for optional review—this is not mandatory, but it’s a great way to build confidence and reinforce skills.

• 3rd Grade: Beginning Topic 3—a letter will be sent home explaining what we’ll be learning.

• 4th Grade: Wrapping up Topic 2 and moving on to their assessment. A reteach packet will be sent home for optional review—this is not mandatory, but it’s a great way to build confidence and reinforce skills.

Reading

We will continue to build our reading stamina, work on reading strategies, and  focus on comprehension strategies to help us understand what we read.

SEL & Mindfulness

We’ll keep exploring our Zones of Regulation, learning how to recognize our emotions, and practicing yoga and mindful breathing to help us stay calm and focused throughout the day.

Halloween Reminder!

If your child plans to wear a costume, please leave any toy weapons or accessories at home for safety.
Our Halloween Parade will be on Friday! Students will walk outside and circle the tennis courts. More details will be shared in a later email.

Last Week’s Highlight: Camping Day!

Friday’s surprise Camping Day was a huge success! Students set up their own tents, enjoyed a special treat, and practiced teamwork and social skills. It was heartwarming to see friendships growing and our classroom community becoming even stronger. (Pictures will be shared soon!)

As Always...

Thank you for your continued support! Please reach out if you have any questions or need anything. Have an amazing week ahead! 

Week: 11/3-11/7

11/6-11/7: No School 

Welcome to week 10!

     Hello families, and welcome to Week 10—and to November! This month is jam-packed with exciting events. Parent–Teacher Conferences will begin on November 20th, and before we know it, Thanksgiving will be here. December is right around the corner!

     For our families who are new to Bradley Gardens, I’m excited to share one of our favorite school traditions: our annual Thanksgiving Feast! On November 19th, the entire school enjoys lunch together as one big Bradley family. Students sit at long tables and share a special Thanksgiving meal with classmates and staff.

     Today, your child will be bringing home their Thanksgiving Feast permission slip. Please return the slip with the payment as soon as possible so our PTO can have an accurate head count and place the food order in time.

     The PTO is also looking for parent volunteers to help during the feast. If you are able to volunteer, we would love to have you! Students get so excited when they see families taking part in school events, and it truly strengthens our school-home connection.  To sign up or learn more, please log on to the PTO website. You can access it through the school homepage or on my classroom website under PTO Events. There, you’ll find details about volunteering and other upcoming PTO activities.  

What’s Happening in Our Classroom

• This week, we began our new Life Skills topic: Cooperation. Students practiced teamwork through group activities and hands-on collaboration. We will also be reading The Little Red Hen and connecting the story to cooperation in both reading and writing.

• In Social Studies, we are learning about voting. Students will even cast their votes tomorrow to choose the theme for our bulletin board in November!

Important Reminder

• This is a short week—there will be no school on Thursday and Friday.

We hope everyone has a wonderful week and that the kids enjoy their long weekend!

Week: 11/10-11/14

Hello and welcome to Week 11!

We have an exciting week planned in C-1!
In Life Skills, students will be learning all about conflict resolution. We’ll explore what it means to solve problems with a calm body, kind words, listening ears, and respectful choices. We will be acting out real-life situations, practicing how to stay calm, and learning different strategies to work through disagreements.
Please take a moment at home to ask your child what conflict resolution means and which strategy they liked best!
The kids always love teaching their families what they learned.

This week we’ll also be talking about how to care for nature and the animals that live in the wild. Students will learn that animals are not so different from us—they need food, water, shelter, safety, and care just like we do. We’ll look at pictures, read a short story, and watch a couple of short videos that connect to a special experience I had this weekend.

Over the weekend, I met a tiny little friend who needed some help. The students will hear the story of what happened and learn how we can protect and care for small creatures in our environment. This surprise encounter inspired a hands-on science lesson, and I know the kids will be so excited to tell you all about it!

Ask your child: “What happened with Ms. Cintron and the little animal?”
I can almost guarantee you’ll get a very enthusiastic response!

We are looking forward to a fun, busy week of learning, helping nature, and practicing kindness.

Have a wonderful week, and thank you for your continued support!

Week: 11/17-11/21

11/20-11/21: Early Dismissal 

Hello families, and welcome to Week 12!

We have an exciting and busy week ahead as we begin Parent–Teacher Conferences and get ready for our school-wide Thanksgiving Feast. If you would like more information, please visit my website and click on PTO Friday Features.

Reminder:
Thursday and Friday are half days.
Dismissal will be at 1:15 PM.
Students will not have recess on these days, but they will still have lunch.

Our lunch menu will be adjusted this week—Pizza Day will be on Tuesday instead of Wednesday. If your child typically buys pizza on Wednesdays, please keep in mind that this week it will be served a day earlier.

On Wednesday, our entire school will share lunch together to celebrate our own Bradley family Thanksgiving Feast. If your child will not be eating the provided meal, please be sure to pack a lunch for them.

Life Skills Focus: Respect

This week in Life Skills, we will be learning all about respect and how we can show respect to others in our classroom, at home, and in our community. Please continue asking your children about the life skills we are learning and practicing them at home. Encourage them to share the strategies they have learned in class, including Whole Body Listening (Lisa Listener), Conflict Resolution (using I-Messages instead of You-Messages), Cooperation, Coping Strategies, and our Traffic Light Tool—STOP and calm down, THINK about solutions and consequences, and GO with the best choice.

It has been so exciting to see the students apply these strategies on their own. Sometimes I even hear them whisper the steps to themselves as they work through tough moments. They are showing amazing growth, and we are definitely moving in the right direction. The progress is steady but so meaningful. Watching them regulate themselves using the strategies we’ve taught fills me with joy and makes me feel like a proud mamma every single day.

Yoga in Our Classroom

This week I will officially be getting YOGA certified—yay! (If I pass! ) I shared this with the students, and they were so excited when I told them my idea: that they will eventually help create and lead their own yoga or meditation class for our group. They have already enjoyed learning different poses, and our community poses last week were a huge hit. Ask them to show you—some of them have become quite the little yogis!

This week, we will continue learning about grounding ourselves and how to begin our yoga routine with calm, focus, and breathing before we warm up our bodies. Teaching yoga with kids is always an adventure—they can get a little silly and sometimes forget we are meditating—but it is truly heartwarming to see their smiles, their effort, and the way they bond with each other during our practice. We have a lot of fun, and integrating yoga into our class has been a beautiful way to support self-regulation and community.

STEM Boxes & Craft Supply Donations

In our classroom, We’’ve been working hard on putting together STEM Boxes for students to explore during centers. Our kids love hands-on activities, and STEM boxes are a wonderful way for them to be creative, problem-solve, and challenge themselves—often without even realizing they’re learning!

We are setting up a STEM Supply Center, and donations would be greatly appreciated. If you have any extra materials at home or items you’d like to contribute, please send them in with your child.

We are looking for:

• Popsicle sticks (we have a class that LOVES them!)

• Pom-poms

• Pipe cleaners

• Hatch tags/building pieces

• Any type of building materials

• Glue sticks or bottles

• Foam sheets

• Yarn

• Buttons

• Feathers

• Paper towel/toilet paper rolls

• Any other craft or STEM materials you think kids could use

Our students are incredibly creative, and no matter what materials come in, they always find a way to turn them into amazing projects!

Math & Reading Practice at Home

Last week, I sent home new addition and multiplication fact cards. Please encourage your child to practice these each night. Once they master the facts on their ring, I’ll add new ones.

It is absolutely okay for students to practice the facts in order. The most important part is that they:

1. SEE it – look at the equation

2. SAY it – say the equation and answer out loud

3. WRITE or TRACE it – use their finger to trace the equation 3 times

This helps build strong connections in the brain and supports fluency.

The same goes for the flashcards inside their guided reading folders, whether it’s sight words or concepts: see it, say it, write it.

Thank you for everything you do at home to support your children. I appreciate you, and apologize for the long message—but there’s a lot happening this week!

Have a wonderful Week, everyone!

Week: 11/24-11/28

11/24-11/26: Early Dismissal  

11/27-11/28: Thanksgiving Break

Hi Families,

Thank you so much to all of you who attended Parent-Teacher Conferences! It was wonderful getting to meet with you and talk about your child’s progress. I truly appreciate your time, your support, and the partnership we are building together.

Important Reminders

• This week is a short week!

• We have half days on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

• No school on Thursday and Friday in observance of Thanksgiving.

Life Skills Focus: Integrity

This week in our Life Skills lesson, we will be learning about integrity—doing the right thing even when no one is watching.

Please take a moment this week to ask your child:

• What does integrity mean?

• Why is it important?

• How can you show integrity at school and at home?

These conversations help reinforce the skills we are practicing in the classroom.

Even though it’s a short week—yay!—we are excited to keep learning, practicing kindness, and ending November strong.

I hope you all enjoy a safe, restful, and Happy Thanksgiving with your loved ones.

As always, thank you for your continued support! 

Week: 12/1-12/5

Week: 12/8-12/12

Week: 12/15-12/19

Week: 12/22-12/26 

12/23: Early Dismissal

12/24-12/26: Winter Break

Week: 12/29-1/2 

Winter Break

Week: 1/5-1/9

Welcome Back!

Week: 1/12-1/16

Week: 1/19-1/23

1/19: No School 

Week: 1/26-1/30

Week: 2/2-2/6

Week: 2/9-2/13

Week: 2/16-2/20

2/16-2/17: No School 

Week: 2/23-2/27

Week: 3/2-3/6

Week: 3/9-3/13

Week: 3/16-3/20

3/20: No School 

Week: 3/23-3/27

Week: 3/30-4/3

3/30-4/3: No School

Happy Spring Break!

Week: 4/6-4/10

Week: 4/13-4/17

Week: 4/20-4/24

Week: 4/27-5/1

Week: 5/4-5/8

Week: 5/11-5/15

Week: 5/18-5/22

Week: 5/25-5/29

5/25: No School 

Week: 6/1-6/5

Week: 6/8-6/12

Week: 6/15-6/19

6/17-6/18: Early Dismissal

6/18: Last Day of School

HAVE A GREAT SUMMER BREAK!