Community Schools

Afterschool Program Newsletter

Rosanna Paribello, Director

Main Office, 8 Bonair St. Room 308 - Somerville, MA Adriana Guereque, Assistant Director

Phone: 617 625-6600 x 6970 Fax 617 629-5512 Gina Miranda, Student Services Coordinator

Dana Gordon, Clinical Consultant

Parent Information

You can pay your child’s afterschool tuition online at: https://www.ezchildtrack.com/parent2/ParentLogin.aspx?c=esp&FromTab=Y

You can also pay by check to the afterschool coordinator or through your personal online bank.

Nov 2nd PD day: Registration is Oct 5th-8th, starting at 9am! Hours will be 8am-4pm.

Please remember to read the updated Parent Handbook 2021-2022 for new tuition policies and rates.

Use this link to access the Parent Information Google Drive:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1A-8IXov-vrimaWSVQTOjLTcSQDGEoyRh?usp=sharing

In our commitment to making our program as available as possible, we continue providing financial assistance for families. If you need information, please contact Adriana Guereque at aguereque@k12.somerville.ma.us You can also contact the

Site Coordinator in your student school.

Thank you for all your support to Community Schools – being with your children makes us all happy!

Albert f. Argenziano

Coordinator; Keiry Nunez

Assistant Coordinator; Brianna Arevalo

Rachel Udabe, Seema Sood, Noelle DeCroteau, Harvinder Kaur, Patricia Cruz,

Rui Ribeiro, Lia Sokol

Hello Families!

Welcome to the 2021-2022 School Year!

Welcome to all of our new and returning families! We are so excited to be back to mostly normal programming in after school! Some of our students have never experienced clubs and are now finally getting the opportunity to participate in them. Our returning students are also excited to try out some of their favorite clubs again as well! We are happy to be offering popular clubs such as Smart Cookies and welcoming new club providers such as New England Soccer!

Our PreK friends have been adjusting to being in school and after school for the first time! Mr. Kenner and Ms. Seema have been working to make our tiniest friends feel comfortable and safe in their new environment. They have enjoyed walks around the field and trips to Lincoln Park! They have also loved exploring the different activity stations that Mr. Kenner and Ms. Seema set up for them!

Our K-2nd grade friends have started their clubs and are having fun getting to know their club providers and exploring the different options being offered this session. In Passport to Food club, our students have been learning about different countries and trying out fun foods! One of the foods they got to make were lemon cookies from Botswana! Our friends in Lego Challenge started off with building popular Marvel and Dc characters! Our students were very creative in their different interpretations of the most famous superheroes! In Super Heroes club, our students had fun drawing Spider Gwen and Spiderman. They were able to follow all the steps and build their drawing skills.

Our 3rd-5th students are getting to know their new teacher, Ms. Noelle! We are so happy to welcome her to the AFAS team. Our students have also been excited to start their clubs. They are able to hone their skills in Soccer club and sharpen their cooking skills in Smart Cookies with Chef Michael. A few of our students have been able to experience going out of the school to Metro Rock and learn some rock climbing skills. Ms. Noelle has also introduced some fun clubs such as Art in Time and Worldwide club! There is a lot to do after school this session! We would also like to thank our exceptional 6th Grade Mentors! They have been an invaluable part of our team and we are SO grateful to have them working with us!

REMINDERS

Please make sure to join our AFAS After School class on the REMIND APP. Please email me for the code! It is the fastest way to get updates on sudden weather changes and news.
Please remember to pack a water bottle and sunscreen!

Thank you!

Arthur d. healey school

Coordinator: Amanda Oppman

Henry Duarte, Nicholas Triant, Suri Gonzalez, Christopher Thompson,

Shekina Beaucicaut

Hello families! We’re so excited to be sharing all the fun we’ve been having in after-school with you this year. We got a sense of normalcy with the return of outside providers and clubs this year!

In room 208, 3rd through 5th grade students have been enjoying clubs with Mr. Henry including perler beads, soccer and nutrition and Master of Games. We’re learning strategies to play as a team and how to respectfully play alongside our friends. Our creative writing club is getting ready to start their collection of short horror stories to be published. MetroRock has been a huge success with our older group and they're having a ton of fun learning how to rock climb. Kidstock has been thoroughly enjoying acting out stories and students are thrilled to be learning circus tricks with Veggie Circus.

In room 208, Mr. T has captivated his 1st and 2nd grade students with the newspaper club, reporting on all the events during the day at the Healey as well as after-school. We’re learning how to ask informative questions and put our notes into a story. Around the World club has enjoyed creating their passports as well as native salsa dancing. Chef Michael and Smart Cookies have taught us delicious recipes for cookies and apple pie muffins. Farrington nature has been helping us get back to nature with walks to Blessing of the Bay park while the greenery on our campus is under construction. Students return each Friday exclaiming “nature is awesome!”

In room 107 our PreK and Kindergarten students have been focusing on Social Emotional Learning. We’re reading stories from the “A Little Spot of Emotion” book series. We’ve learned the names of some of our feelings such as anger, sadness, confidence and anxiety. We’re getting really good at asking for help when our feelings get too big!. We also started diving into learning our letters. To help us start we made the letter F into a fish and are counting with frogs.

Thank you for bearing with us as we continue to navigate pick up around construction zones. We’re so happy to have so many returning and a great bunch of new students joining us this year. Our hope is to continue to grow our program here at the Healey to continue supporting our community members the best we can. I’m looking forward to continuing sharing our daily activities with you all. As always please be sure to check your balances on EZchildtrack and always feel free to reach out with questions or concerns

benjamin g. brown school

Coordinator: Kelsey Kent

Ashley Marks, Will Whelan, Marie Cheney, Katherina Dinka, Grace Barton,

Kelliann Marks, Karen Oppman

We’re back in school and kicking off to a great start! We were able to bring back outside providers like Soccer, Metro Rock, Kidstock and soon we’ll have Strong Women Strong Girls! We’re in our second week of clubs and settling into a fun routine.

Group 1 is the boisterous silly new kiddos to the Brown Schools. They’ve been dancing, crafting and kicking their way into new activities. Their teachers, Ms. Grace and Ms. Marie, are very happy to be able to use Ms. Carrols room for a lot of choice time and club time. Did you know that Ms. Carroll used to work for Afterschool! Once we get another Lead Teacher for after school we plan to split the Kindergarten group and have two boisterous silly groups. This year we brought back our Leaders in Training. These kiddos come twice a week to assist and read to group 1, 2, 3 and 4. Group has fully accepted their new buddies during reading time.

Group 2 is Ms. Kelli’s group of board game enthusiasts. They’ve fully decorated their new room in the basement. It’s colorful and creative with drawings and paper chains strewn around the room. They’re so happy to have their own classroom this year and they are making use of the space.

Group 3

Ms. Ashley is happy to bring back her kiddos to their old classroom. They’ve decorated the walls and created a real nice space for themselves. One of the benefits of having an indoor classroom is making use of all the technology! We play trivia and do mindful exercises. During the day this room is the Art room and Music room!

Group 4

We had to say goodbye to Mr. Adam last week, and now Ms. Kelsey is Group 4’s afterschool teacher! This group has already earned a park day for following our room and kindness expectations for two weeks straight! Each day at 4:00 they read for 20-30 mins in groups or individually then they get to choose a choice time activity. If they complete their reading they earn 5 mins to the park. One of the things we’re most proud of is our ability to tidy Mr. Gurry’s (the day time teacher) room. This also earns us 5 mins! Next half-day Wednesday our group will venture to Davis Sq park to celebrate our accomplishments.

Group 5

Our 3rd-5th grade group is extremely excited to be back. They’ve come back with a fierce passion in perler art and wall ball. Mr. Will has brought back some the classics, CreatorSpace and Gametime were a big hit last spring and he introduced a new favorite. Climate Crusaders. The students are taking their leadership skills to the next level and engaging in some of the hot topics of climate change and starting some real conversations about our impact on the world.

Now that we are back in person, MetroRock is available to our program! We’re reaching new heights this fall and challenging our limits. We’ve gone twice already and haven’t tired out yet!

Parents & Afterschool

Parents can join in on the fun too! We’re always looking for ways to connect the students with their community and families. Next session Ms. Kelsey will be recruiting parents interested in doing short 20-30 minute zoom or in person reading sessions. We have the technology to do career days, guest readers, and fun stuff. Ask Ms. Kelsey how you can become a part of the team or be a special guest to the program.

Michael e. CApuano Early childhood center

Coordinator: Shirlyne Pierre-Rene

Alex Mendoza, Bryan Convey, Ana Treska, Michael Horowitz, Silva Dinka,

Christian De Leon, Neelam Sehil, Mei Idris, Jaqueline Gaffney

Hello Capuano families,

We would like to welcome our new students and parents to Capuano Afterschool Program. These last couple of weeks have been great as the children and teachers settle in their new classrooms and routines.

While in afterschool, your children will have the opportunity to participate in engaging activities lead and planned by their afterschool teachers. The teachers plan weekly themed curriculum that includes a variety of arts and crafts, science, literacy, and movement activities.

Some upcoming themes for the month are Community Helpers, Fire Safety, and Apples just to name a few.

We are looking forward to a fun-filled wonderful year!

So far in the classrooms, children are learning rules and expectations for play in the classroom and playground. This will be an ongoing reminder for the children as they get adjusted to being in school/afterschool. Children are also learning the names of their new friends through songs and icebreakers and practicing respect and friendship skills. This also includes social-emotional and self-care practices as well.

Some of the hands on activities happening in the classrooms include making, friendship wreaths and bracelets, leaf printing with leaves collected from their nature walk, tracing numbers, and making “All About Me” books. The children have also spent time playing some games in the school’s gym as well as spending time running and climbing on the playground.

east somerville community school

Coordinator: Yolanda Andrade

Raymond Corsini, Janice Pousland, Sonia Barahona, Sarah Ali, Mario Quiroz,

Diana Posada, Nathalya Castillo, Sarah McClelland

Welcome to the ESCS Afterschool Program! We welcome new and returning students as well as new teachers. We look forward to a great school year, with new friends and new memories to be made!

The beginning of the year has been busy and it is moving along just great!

In the past two weeks in after school, students have been busy getting to know one another through active and engaging activities, adjusting changes and learning the schedule, learning the rules and expectations! We have been learning each other’s names, building community through playtime in the gym, and having fun and being active outside on the playground, taking advantage of the sunny and beautiful weather.

Afterschool clubs have started and many of our kids have been enthusiastic about making Lego creations, working with Watercolors, learning about Nature, playing Sports, Cooking, and discovering Artwork with Beads, that are more and more engaged as the days go by. Most of all, we have all been playing outside!

Our 4^th -6^th graders have taken the kindergartens, 1^st, and 2^nd grades under their wings and have been great “big buddies.” They have read some books together, played some games, walked them to the door for dismissal, and really proved what amazing role models they can be this year. Way to step it up 4^th–6^th graders!

On a logistical note, please make sure you check in with your child’s teachers at pick up time and each day with our Door Monitor, Ms. Sarah at the main entrance cafeteria door.

Please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns. We are here to help and support you in any way we can and want to continue hearing directly from you.

Upcoming Events:

October 6^th & 27^th - Half-Day ALL students
October 11, 2021 - No school

john f. kennedy elementary school

Coordinator: Allison Gills

Nicole Estey, Enkeleda Gjerazi, Kelly Lopez, Nicole Tolbert, Annahita Forghan,

Emma Oppman, Mary Lou Hodgdon, Philip Murray

Hello Everyone!

It has been a very busy and quick start to this new school year and in After School it is the same. It is wonderful to see so many faces we didn’t see last year and meet so many new students as well! While we are still following many Covid Protocols, it is nice to be able to get back to some normalcy this year. With that normalcy comes clubs and outside providers.

We have had a great first week of clubs; welcoming many new teachers and activities to the Kennedy After School Program. We were the lucky recipients of a whole bunch of donated legos and over a hundred new books! It was so fun to see the students so engaged while building legos this week.

Another club- Mad Scientists had fun being engineers this week. They got to build marshmallow and toothpick structures. It was great to see them work together to make some pretty neat creations. In the Around the World club we learned about the 7 different continents and then students worked together to put two different puzzles of the world together. We welcomed a brand new club to the Kennedy with the outside provider- BUDA- Ultimate Frisbee. Students will learn how to throw and catch a frisbee in this club as well as the way to play the game. While the weather is still nice out, we have also been enjoying extra time outside on both the front and back lots/playgrounds!

We also had a half day this week so we had some extra time for free choice/coloring, reading the new books, making bracelets and creating different art projects out of pieces of foam and stickers. Our Pre-K friends have been learning about different modes of transportation and have really been enjoying it! Our Eric Carle Book club was fun too! We read the classic “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and did a fun activity related to it once we read the book. Lastly, when we go outside to the front basketball court and all the grades are together of the students who still are here, it is fun to play games altogether and see young students playing with the older ones. We played an awesome game of “red light, green light, 123”. Everyone was engaged in the game and it was a lot of fun!

As always, please ask Ms. Alison any questions you may have!

winter hill community innovation school

Coordinator: Danielle Gentile

Latifa Mortady, Kaisy Espinoza, Yolking Goin, Alaa Bautkhourst

Hello, welcome to a new school year. All the after school teachers and myself are excited to spend some afternoons with your children. This month we learned some rules and are earning stickers and tickets. Over the next few weeks we will be meeting some new outside providers and participating in fun new activities. As always please reach out to me if you have any questions!

Pre K/ K

Ms. Latifa

Our first two weeks in Preschool and Kindergarten were successful! Our kiddos have done a great job adjusting to our daily routine.We continue to review our classroom rules and procedures as well as center rules and proper indoor voices level . We are learning this Month -all about School- our learning play will continue to process well throughout our Monthly activities as Literacy,craft ,sensory, stem, Physical,Yoga and meditation. Our Preschoolers and kindergarten will continue to build on new skills daily ,please encourage these at home

Grade 1

Ms. Kaisy

Welcome Back Winter Hill Families,

Hello everyone my name is Ms. Kaisy and I am the lead teacher in the first grade group.

We have had a great start in our first grade afterschool classroom. This week, we have focused on “we are one”. That means we have been making sure we are including everyone. Students were given out puzzle pieces and were told to write their name and three things they like. After students wrote their information we tried to put the pieces of the puzzle together and once it was together we saw how even though we are all different we are one team. We also spent a lot of time outside getting comfortable with the playgrounds and learning playground safety and rules.

Grade 2-5th

Ms. Yolking

Welcome Back Winterhill Families,

In the 2^nd-5^th classroom we had such an amazing few weeks which we covered classroom rules and understanding the classroom community. We also went outside to the backlot to get familiar with playground rules, and safety. We read books during academic time, which focus on community involvement. The books were “All are welcome” and “You matter” which were great books that covered equity, unity and mentioned that everyone matters. We also discussed classroom expectations, being respectful, and focused. This week during our first couple of days of club, we had Kids Stock which was an introduction to theatre drama and acting. In Let’s Read we did a fun read aloud Pete the Cat Rocking in my school shoes and then student’s will create their own shoes for school.

west somerville neighborhood school

Coordinator: Joshua Leibovitz

Christine Wang, Jane Fabiano, Vanessa Nason, Dan Kazenel,

Lindsay Davis-Braun, Tajae Smith,

Hello Families!

Welcome to the 2021-2022 School Year!

Well hello there families, and friends we are so excited to be back to mostly normal programming in after school! It has felt like it’s been over centuries since I seen everyone in afterschool. Some of our students have never experienced clubs and are now finally getting the opportunity to participate in them. Our returning students are also excited to try out some of their favorite clubs again as well! We are happy to be offering popular clubs such as Farrington Nature and welcoming new club providers such as New England Soccer!

Our Pre-K friends have been adjusting to being in school and after school for the first time! Ms. Jane has been working to make our tiniest friends feel comfortable and safe in their new environment. They have enjoyed Ms. Jane and Ms. Darley especially when it comes to their weekly talent show. Always wanting to share their most valuable and precious things to them with their friends and teachers.

Our K-2nd grade friends have started their clubs and are having fun getting to know their club providers and exploring the different options being offered this session. Our friends are experience variety of learning, ranging from Meditating with our very own Mr. Dan, understanding Mother Nature in Farrington Nature, becoming famous chef in smart cookies with Chef Michael! One of the foods they have made in the past week were mini apple turnover muffins! Our friends in Lego Challenge started with building popular bridges and how it will benefit the world! Our Students understood the fundamental of architect and wanted to see if their bridges can hold weight by adding weights to their bridges! We cannot forget our very own teacher Ms. Vanessa in Crafty Minds were we used our imaginations to create a pumpkin using pipe cleaners. Introducing the new season with our own imaginations and creations.

Our 3^rd-5^th students have also been excited to start their clubs. They are able to enhance their skills in Soccer club and sharpen their cooking skills in Smart Cookies with Chef Michael Soccer club has let their dreams come true by joining their favorite soccer team, and making a tournament just like the World Cup. Defending their title against the world. . Mr. Tajae has also introduced some fun clubs such as Totally irresponsible science, and Comics. In Science club, Mr. Tajae grabbed his entire mad scientist students and recreated the world most diabolical bomb by mixing baking soda and vinegar in a bag. There is a lot to do after school this session! We would also like to thank our exceptional 6th Grade Mentors! They have been an invaluable part of our team and we are SO grateful to have them working with us! Helping our younger students with homework and reading, to making sure everyone is having fun in clubs. Assisting their teachers, and becoming role models to those that look up to them.

REMINDERS

Please make sure to join our WSNS Afterschool class on the REMIND APP. Please email me for the code! It is the fastest way to get updates on sudden weather changes and news.
With the change of weather, make sure to pack a sweater!
Packing extra clothes for our younger students in case of an emergency
THE REGISTRATION PERIOD IS OCTOBER 5- 8^th for PD November 2

Thank you!