Day School News
November 17, 2019
Hello Day School Community,
It is that time of year to connect with teachers to celebrate the progress your child has made so far this term. To prepare for parent teacher conferences, here are some tips from the National Education Association (article reprinted from http://www.nea.org/home/60103.htm).
The first on the list: Show up, please!
“We know parents are busy, but it is important to carve out time to invest in your child’s education and ensure success at school,” said National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel. “To get the most out of parent-teacher conferences, parents need to take an active role in their child’s education year-round and come prepared to discuss how their child can reach their full potential.”
Here are the rest of our tips for parents:
Get Ready. Do your homework prior to parent-teacher conferences. Prepare by writing notes to yourself concerning:
- Any questions about the school’s programs or policies.
- Things you can share with the teacher about your child and his life at home.
- Questions about your child’s progress.
Ask Important Questions
Don’t be afraid to engage in a frank conversation with your child’s teacher. Your goal is to develop an action plan for your child’s success at school. Good questions to ask the teacher include:
- What are my child’s strengths and weaknesses?
- How does my child get along with classmates?
- Is my child working up to her ability? Where could she use improvement?
- What can we do at home to support what you are doing in the classroom?
Initiate the Action Plan
Start immediately on the action plan you and the teacher put together. Discuss the plan with your child and track his progress. Stay in touch with your child’s teacher throughout the year with regularly scheduled “report card” conferences that can keep the communication lines open.
“Parents are the best resource for a child to make the grade,” said Van Roekel. “When teachers and parents work together, we can help a child have a successful school year.”
Parent Teacher Conferences will take place on Monday, November 25 (no school day) and the morning of Tuesday, November 26 (2-hour delay). We look forward to seeing you!
Sincerely,
Chris Louis Sardella, Principal
Norman E. Day Elementary School
Thank you!
We wish we had the means to personally thank all of the generous donors who supported our PTO fundraiser. Thanks to you, we have exceeded our goal of $20,000. The students also had a blast during the fun run. All of our profits will go directly back to the students, teachers, and staff at the Day School. We are looking forward to amazing arts and education programming, offering teacher grants, and considering larger technology purchases like a new Chromebook cart. We are so grateful to be supported by such a generous community!
The 7 rules parents must not break in the school drop-off line
There's a right way to navigate the school car line, and a wrong way. Actually, so many wrong ways.
So, for all of those parents who know somebody who could use a reminder as to how it all works, here are the 7 unbreakable rules of the school drop-off or pick-up line. Print them up, keep copies in your car, and when when you see an offender, paper the h*ll out of their car:
Rule #1: Do NOT get out of your car. Ever. Not to “quickly grab” your kid, wave “come on” to your child over the playground fence, or just say “hi” to your friend in line behind you to tell her how much fun you had at Girl’s Night Out. Stay in your car. And when the car in front of you moves, you move.
Rule #2: Put down the cellphone. Don’t text or type emails. Waiting for your kid in your empty (and wonderfully quiet) car seems like the perfect opportunity to catch up on work – but it’s also a distraction. People on their phones don’t notice the car in front of them has moved, and as we learned in Rule #1, you know what to do next. More importantly, it’s dangerous. People on their phones don’t see children darting out between cars to the parents breaking rule #3.
Rule #3: Don’t double park. Maybe you’re thinking “I’ll just pull up alongside this nice lady here and my kid can run out in front of her and jump in.” No. “But I see my kid right there!” Good. Then you can wave at them to meet you at the end of the line when you circle back around the block. Plus, it’s illegal.
Rule #4: DON’T cut the line. It doesn’t matter that there is a gap the size of the one in Lauren Hutton’s smile in front of that BMW ten cars up. We’re all waiting for them to get off their phone and move up (pop quiz: “What do you do when the car in front of you moves?”). Zipping into that gap is like cutting the line at a cupcake shop. You wouldn’t pull that $#*% at Sprinkles, would you?
Rule #5: Leave the PDA at home. You love your little one and want to send him on his way to school with a kiss. That’s lovely. You’re cute. But if little Johnny won’t get out of the car or he’s not ready to say “goodbye,” go park your car and walk him in. Even better? Install an ejector seat. People are waiting, folks.
Rule #6: The rules of the car drop-off lane apply to everybody, no matter what kind of car you drive. So move your Maserati to the back of the line, dude. You’re giving the 1 percent a bad name.
Rule #7: Move swiftly. Once your kids locate you, get them into the car and get going. Don’t sit there in line and have the “how was your day?” discussion with them.
In short, a little politeness goes a long way in the car lane (and beyond). Remember, being behind the wheel of a car doesn’t make you invisible. We see you. We all see you. Including our children. So let’s try to set a good example. Now put the phone down… the car in front of you just moved up.
Sarah Maizes is author of "On My Way to School," and a mother of three. For more of Sarah’s parenting wisdom and unsolicited advice, go to www.SarahMaizes.com, or find her on Facebook or Twitter.
Reprinted from https://www.today.com/parents/7-rules-parents-must-not-break-school-drop-line-t135643
Make a date to have lunch with your child on Fridays at the Day School. RSVP by contacting Elizabeth Sawyer in the main office.
Tuesday, November 19
Join the Westford Parent Connection and the Westford Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) for a screening of the highly anticipated film, Intelligent Lives. Intelligent Lives stars three pioneering young American adults with intellectual disabilities – Micah, Naieer, and Naomie – who challenge perceptions of intelligence as they navigate high school, college, and the workforce. This is one of the area’s first screenings of this important film. The screening with then be followed by a panel discussion, with panelists Melanie Perkins (Intelligent Lives producer), Sophia Johannson (MA Families Organizing For Change), and Jenny Lawton (Westford Public Schools). For more information, go to https://intelligentlives.org/. This event also begins at 7:00 p.m. at the Stony Brook Middle School and is free and open to the public.
Tuesday, December 12
The Westford Parent Connection has its next book discussion group on Tuesday,December 12, at 10:00 a.m. at the J.V. Fletcher Library in the Mary Atwood Room. The book being discussed is Michele Borba’s Unselfie: Why Empathetic Kids Succeed In Our All-About-Me World. A limited number of books are available at the front desk for check out. Registration is not required. Questions? Go to https://westford.org/wpc/ or contact Mary Anne Seraphin at mary.anne.seraphin@gmail.com.
Complete CORI Forms before December 20
A reminder for any parent or guardian who is planning to start volunteering at the Day School: An approved CORI for Westford Public Schools is required. CORIs can be submitted only from August-December each school year. If you hope to join your child's class on a spring field trip or in-school event Jan-June 2020, please be sure to visit the Day School (or any other school in the district) before winter break starts on December 20th to submit your CORI. The Day School office is open between 8:00am-3:00pm.
5th Grade Band - Before School Sectionals
Fridays - 7:30-8:15am
Please check the schedule below for Friday morning band sessions. These sessions are only for students who play the instruments on the designated dates.
11/22 - Flutes
12/6 - Clarinets
12/13 - Trombones
Memo to Parents from
Food Services Department
Each student in Westford Public Schools has a unique ID number which follows him/her throughout his/her years in the system. Using this ID number, students may charge lunch purchases to an “account” or may pay cash for their purchases. Parents are able to fund their children’s account via the on line site Myschoolbucks or by sending cash or a check to school with their children.
Our policy is that each child is allowed to accrue a negative balance of $10.00. That is roughly 3 lunches, depending on the grade level. However, prior to an account reaching that limit, we employ steps such as weekly negative balance emails and letters to protect parents from excessive “over purchasing” and unmanageable lunch debt.
The alternate cheese sandwich meal given to students with outstanding debt greater than $10.00 is common practice in most districts in the Commonwealth. When it is necessary to give an alternate lunch, it is done so discreetly and by the cafeteria manager. We do our best not to cause embarrassment to the student.
In addition to the menued school breakfast and lunch meals, there are many A La Carte options from which students may choose. Yogurt/fruit smoothies, snack items, bottled water and dessert are among these choices. Parents may restrict their children’s purchases by contacting Colleen Wallace, cwallace@westfordk12.us. A note can be added to a child’s lunch account limiting purchases and/or options.
Day School is collecting gently-used, wearable pairs of shoes this year for a fundraising program called ShoeBox Recycling. Donated shoes are shipped around the world for resale and reuse. Our school earns 50 cents for each pound of shoes. This money goes directly toward funding our many activities, including arts and education programs. Let's see how many shoes we can collect this year!
Shoes must be in wearable condition, without holes in the soles, cannot be wet or mildewed, and must have shoelaces if they are necessary for the shoe to function.
Types of shoes ACCEPTED: Almost all types of gently used shoes including adult and children's casual shoes, dress shoes, athletic shoes, boots, work boots, and sandals.
Types of shoes NOT ACCEPTED: Shoes in need of repair, wet or mildewed shoes, heavy winter boots, ski boots, roller skates, rollerblades, ice skates, flip flops, Crocs and bedroom slippers.
To help, please drop off gently-used, wearable shoes in the lobby of the Day School. And thanks!
114.00
Lbs. Recycled Clothes
123.8k
Gallons of water saved
0.73
Trees Saved
661
Lbs. CO2 Emissions reduced
