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Dear Families,
It’s hard to believe we’re already in the final week of October! For those who attended the Haunted House, we hope you had a spook-tacular time! The students are excited to come to school in their costumes for Dress Up Day this Friday. We’ll also enjoy some Halloween-themed learning activities throughout the week. Thank you, as always, for your continued support. We can’t wait to see you at the parade!
Important Dates
10/24/25 - Snapshots shared in Parent Portal - 4:00 PM
10/31/25 - Dress Up Parade - No After School: Halloween
10/31 - Lost and Found Recovery Day, 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM (unclaimed items will be donated)
11/7/25 - School Closed: Professional Day
11/7/25 - Fall Conference Sign-Ups shared in Pulse
11/3 - 11/11 - Solidarity Week
11/11/25 - Solidarity Day: Pre-K & Kindergarten wear purple.
11/17/25 - United Voices, 3:45 PM - 5:00 PM (Rescheduled Date)
11/15/25 - HUGS B&L Friendsgiving, 6:00 PM
11/17/25 - POLY PM Winter Enrichment Registration Opens, 10:30 AM
11/20/25 - No After School: In-Person Conferences (3:30 - 6:30)
11/21/25 - Regular Day of School. After School Open.
11/24/25 - School Closed: Virtual Conferences (9:00 - 3:00)
11/25/25 - School Closed: Lower School Professional Day
11/26/25 - School Closed for Thanksgiving (Nov 26 - 28)
Here are some important reminders for the week:
Dress Up Day and Parade: Friday, October 31
On Friday, October 31, we will start the day with a fun parade. As soon as the students get settled in the classrooms, we’ll start our parade (typically around 8:40 AM). The PA will ensure we have coffee and donuts on hand for grownups to enjoy, and if it rains, the parade will move inside. There are NO after-school activities on this day.
We invite you to check out Ms. Penn’s Mathcast! On her website, you’ll find the latest Poly Problem Solvers, videos of students explaining their math work, and resources for families.
Please click here for an important notice from our nurse team. We have noticed an increase in strep throat, impetigo, and coxsackie virus (hand, foot, and mouth disease) within our Lower School community. Please help us keep our community healthy by letting Nurse Lisa know when your child is out sick, enforcing proper handwashing, guiding students to cough and sneeze into their elbow or a tissue, and ensuring students get enough sleep and water!
Kindergarteners will begin their Family Study soon. Please sign up here for your Family Share! We would love for everyone to participate! Please sign up as soon as possible so your child has the chance to share something special about your family with the class. This is a wonderful opportunity for the kids to learn more about one another and celebrate our diverse classroom community.
Solidarity Day Colors for Tuesday, November 11:
Solidarity Week is an opportunity to learn about and practice being in solidarity with others, especially members of the LGBTQ+ community. This year, Solidarity Week is Monday, November 3 to Tuesday, November 11. Each year during this week, our students learn about difference, respect, and safety for every member of our school community. On Tuesday, November 11, we will join the Middle and Upper School to stand up against bullying, gender stereotypes, and name-calling in schools, engage in meaningful learning and community-building activities, and take a picture in the colors of the rainbow. Students are asked to wear the following colors:
Pre-K, & Kindergarten wear purple.
Grades 1, 2, & 3 wear blue.
Grades 4, 5, & 6 wear green.
This year, we’re asking for parent volunteers to help prepare some of the activity materials before November 11. Keep an eye out for an email from Kimberly Davis Rivizzigno and your class representatives soon.
Click here for a message from Ms. Carmen about science shares and to find out which day your child is scheduled for a share. Every student has been assigned a date between now and December.
Please read below for this coming week’s learning goals and a few pointers for what you can do at home:
Social Emotional Learning
Kindness
How to stand up for yourself and others if you hear something unkind
Reading
This will be a trick word review week. “Trick words” are words that can’t always be sounded out easily (the, and, to, do, etc.) and need to be recognized by sight. Here are a few simple ways to support your child’s reading and writing of these words at home:
Spot them in books: When reading together, invite your child to find trick words on the page.
Play with words: Write trick words on index cards and play matching or memory games.
Use them in real writing: Encourage your child to include trick words in notes, labels, or stories they write.
Arm tap them: Have your child “arm tap” the word the way we do in class. Use your right hand to tap out each letter across your left arm, saying each letter name (not sound, since trick words cannot always be sounded out).
Learned words: and, the, a, I, to, do
Print Concepts
Distinguishing between letters and words
One-to-one correspondence
Pointing to words as they are read aloud; Using your “pointer power”
“Get your mouth ready.”
Look at the first letter in the word, think about the sound it makes, and then get your mouth ready to make that sound.
Phonemic awareness:
Rhyming
Identifying beginning sounds
Identifying ending sounds
Breaking words into syllables
Fundations / Handwriting
Letters e and r
Recognizing lowercase letters e and r
The sounds of e and r
Writing lowercase letters e and r
Letters learned: t, b, f, m, n, i, u, c, o, a, g, d, s
Fundations At Home Pack for letters e and r
The Fundations Home Support Pack provides you with the “why” and the “what” regarding our reading program, Fundations. The Fundations Home Packet also provides you with the language that the teachers use when forming their letters. Please use the same language when instructing and practicing with your child at home.
Writing Workshop
We will continue with our first writing unit called "We are all Writers!" This unit introduces children to writing by exploring both informational pieces and true stories. Students are encouraged to think, draw, label, and write about their pictures in their own way. It's an exciting step in developing their storytelling skills.
A sentence…
Tells a complete thought. It has a who and a what.
Starts with a capital letter and ends with punctuation.
Has spaces between the words.
Promoting independence: We are “risk-taker spellers!” When we’re unsure of how to spell a word, we won’t let that stop us, and we won’t say to a teacher, “How do you spell…?” Instead, we can:
“Tap it out” (touch thumb to index finger, say first sound; then thumb to middle, say the next, etc.)
“Rubber band the word.” Say it very slowly several times. Each time you hear another sound, write the letter that makes that sound.
Check the word wall to see if it’s a learned “trick word.”
Take a risk! Write down any sounds you can hear, even if only the very first sound.
Math
Numbers to 10
Count, read, and write numbers from 6 to 10
Use ordinal numbers to tell order by naming the position of objects in a small ordered collection
Order numbers to 10 in both increasing and decreasing order
Students will learn how numbers work together and take numbers apart through purposeful activities
Social Studies
Anti-Racist Read-Aloud: This month’s ARRA is All the Colors We Are: The Story of How We Got Our Skin Color by Katie Kissinger. We read this book to give students a simple, scientifically accurate explanation of how our skin color is determined by our ancestors, the sun, and melanin. Together, we will celebrate the beautiful variety of our skin tones and understand that our differences make us special.
We are also celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month or Mes Nacional de la Herencia Hispana. Every grade has been assigned a Spanish-speaking country to learn more about. Kindergarten is learning more about Mexico.
What You Can Do At Home
Read Aloud Your Child’s Favorite Books – Listening to stories helps children hear what fluent reading sounds like and strengthens their language and listening skills. As you read, ask a few questions about the characters and the story to strengthen comprehension.
Ending Sounds: Say a word. Then, have your child repeat the word and “punch out” the ending.
Memory with Letters: Using index cards, make two sets of lowercase letters t, b, f, m, n, i, u, c, o, a, g, e, and r, and turn it into a game of Memory. You could also use the same set of cards to play Go Fish!
Letter Formation: Use materials like building blocks, connecting cubes, playdough, or magnetic letters to form the lowercase letters t, b, f, m, n, i, u, c, o, a, g, e, and r. Encourage your child to trace the letters with their finger and say the letter sounds aloud.
Rainbow Writing: Have your child write our current “trick words” (and, a, I, the, to, do) on paper, then trace them several times using different colors. You can use crayons, markers, or even colored chalk outside.
Word Chain: Pick a topic, like Autumn. Start with one word, then take turns thinking of new words in the same category that begin with the last letter of the previous word. See how long your chain can grow before starting a new round!
Subitizing: Use dot stickers to create a set of “quick look cards” with eight dots or fewer, arranged in different ways (for example, 3 dots in a triangle, 4 dots in a rectangle, or patterns like those on dice). Hold up each card for about half a second and see if your child can tell you how many dots there are without counting. Ask them how they saw the total!
Number Hunt: Hide number cards or objects around the house, each representing a number from 0 to 5. As your child finds them, ask them to find another card or object that, when added to the first, makes 5. Feel free to add a challenge and increase the number.
Story Problems: Create simple story problems related to everyday scenarios. For example, “If we buy 5 pumpkins and carve 4 into jack-o-lanterns, how many will be left?” Story problems help connect math to real-life situations.
Discuss the importance of celebrating Heritage Months: In September, we take time to celebrate the history, cultures, and contributions of people whose families come from places like Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Central America, and South America. We celebrate because Hispanic people have shared so many important traditions, stories, foods, music, and ideas that make our communities stronger. It’s a way to honor them and to learn about different cultures.
National Hispanic Heritage Month: Introduce your child to famous Hispanic artists like Frida Kahlo or Pablo Picasso. Let them create their own artwork inspired by these artists using crayons, markers, or paints. You can also explore traditional crafts like papel picado (colorful paper banners) or molas (colorful textile art).
On November 1, visit Green-Wood for their annual Day of the Dead Family Celebration.
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