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I would like to thank all of the parents for making sure that
your children got enough sleep and got to school on time October
1st through October 22nd. We were able to successfully complete
our state-wide testing (New England Common Assessment Program
-NECAP). All our children in grades three, four, and five
were tested in reading and math, and the fifth grade students
were tested in writing. As most of you know, this test is
used by the state to measure how much progress our students
are making.
The first quarter of our school year ends November 6th. Report
cards will be going home with your children on November 16th.
Please call us (647-5100) to set up an appointment to meet
with your child (children)’s teacher(s). November 18th
between 3:45 p.m. and 8 p.m. has been set aside to schedule
times to meet with you. If you are unable to come on that
day, we will work with you to find a more convenient day or
time. Teacher/parent conferences are a wonderful way for you
to hear how your children are doing. Please make every effort
to meet with our teachers.
The teachers have been hard at work creating their own classroom
web pages. Some are still under construction, but many are
up and running, sharing news from their rooms, homework expectations,
and weekly spelling lists. Check them out by clicking your
teacher’s name on the Staff Page of our website (http://www.ri.net/schools/Foster/Staff.htm).
Please let the teachers know if there is something you would
like to see on their webpage.
On Wednesday October 21st the school was given a concert by
the US Navy Band Northeast’s Crosswinds Quintet. Students
and adults alike were captivated by the beautifully blended
professional musicianship and education-friendly repertoire
presented in the 40 minute program. Students will remember
variations on the theme “Happy Birthday” along with
Henry Mancini’s “Pink Panther.” Live music
is always a treat to be treasured. I look forward to extending
an invitation for a return visit in the spring. Meanwhile,
students can you identify the woodwind instruments by their
initials? (F C O EH B) Remember: Which brass instrument joined
the quintet? Keep listening!!
We are researching snakes of New England as part of our language
arts program. The Snake Lady of RI, Nancy Hopkins, visited
our 2 fifth grade classes on Oct. 27th. She brought in a variety
of snakes and taught us a lot about Native New England Snakes.
Local author, Kimberly Newton Fusco, is coming to Paine to
speak with the 5th graders about her book, Tending to Grace.
The students have read the book and are anxious to ask her
questions and to share their favorite scenes. Mrs. Fusco has
come in to talk to the 5th graders in previous years and always
gives an insightful presentation on her writing life and how
she came to write this beautifully written story about a young
girl who goes to live with her great aunt. I know Mrs. Fusco
will once again be an inspiration to the students.
The 4th graders have been very busy in French class learning
the alphabet, greetings, numbers, days, months and colors,
just to name a few. During the month of October they have
been practicing French Halloween vocabulary, using the words
for Halloween exercises and games.
The 5th graders have been reviewing their French from last
year as well as starting new topics such as likes, dislikes,
weather, seasons and classroom objects. They continue to improve
their pronunciation skills and engage in French conversation.
In November they are looking forward to writing their autobiographies
in French.
On October 9, the Fourth Grade toured the Resource Recovery
Facility and learned about ways to limit pollution and promote
recycling. On the way back they visited Pezza Farms where
they learned about erosion, gullying, and other effects of
water on land, which connects with their science unit on Land
and Water.
“Words for Thirds” Program
On Tuesday, October 13th, Mr. & Mrs. Rush, from the Moosup
Valley Grange, presented all Third Grade students and their
teachers with dictionaries. These dictionaries have been provided
through the “Word for Thirds” Program by the members
of the Rhode Island State Grange. The children love their
new dictionaries! They are using them to learn dictionary
skills in the classroom, and they will get to take them home
at the end of the school year. A special thank you to Mr.
& Mrs. Rush and the Moosup Valley Grange!
The second graders were busy last week painting Halloween
pumpkins. A great big THANKS goes to Mrs. Cotta and Mrs. Marx
for all their help. The children had lots of fun designing
their own special Halloween creations. We hope that you had
a great Halloween!
The First Grade Classes had a great trip to Pezza Farm on
Tuesday, October 27th. On the hayride Farmer Shelley gave
a guided tour of the farm and talked with the students about
the fall harvest and how this year's unpredictable weather
affected the crops. The students picked pumpkins in the field
and had the opportunity to feed many of the farm animals.
After eating lunch in the greenhouse, we finished off the
afternoon at the Scituate Rotary Playground. The rain held
off long enough for us to have a little fun. What a perfect
end to a perfect day. Thank you Farmer Shelley and Thank you
PTG!
The Green Team has 15 members, some new and some experienced,
but all with great ideas for helping make our school more
Earth-friendly. Our first project is to get container recycling
going in the cafeteria again for grades 3, 4, and 5. We can't
stand to see all those cartons going into the trash! Then
we hope to get grades K, 1, and 2 recycling their containers
too. We have an idea for a new contest, so stay tuned!
Keep those Campbell's labels and Caps coming in! We are continuing
the Campbell's program along with the Box Tops so why not
send them in together. Remember to clip the proof of purchase
off the participating products and send them in a baggie or
a collection sheet. If you would like a list of participating
products or collection sheet go to www.labelsforeducation.com/printable-resources.aspx
Also, our school has joined Recycle Caps With Aveda program.
Just a reminder to send CLEAN caps that twist on and are rigid
(non-flexible) plastic, milk tops and pumps are not recyclable,
but laundry detergents, ketchup, and peanut butter are examples
of those that are. We will be making our first caps submission
soon and boy do we have a lot of caps. These caps will be
recycled into new caps and containers for future products.
Just one more way to THINK GREEN!
The Cultural Arts Committee has met and is working on programs
for the coming school year. We’ve scheduled Celebrating
Ireland in Story & Song for March 4, 2010 as a whole school
assembly. It’s an educational, interactive program with
music and stories. We hope to have another Open Mic Night
with the 5th grade students running the show as a Cultural
Arts fundraiser. Last year we raised $250 and everyone had
a great time showcasing their talents. If you’d like
to join the committee, or have suggestions for programs and/or
fundraising, please contact Mrs. Murphy.
H1N1 Vaccination Information and Consent forms were mailed
to all families last week. If you did not get it, you can
get the packet on the RI Department of Health Website (see
below) or you can call the school and we can send it home
with your child. If you need additional consent forms we have
extras at the school or you can print one out from the website.
If you have additional questions, the RI Dept. of Health H1N1
Information Line numbers is 222-8022, or visit their website:
www.health.ri.gov/flu.
Congratulations! We have met our first quarter goal of earning
$400 in Box Tops. Just like last year, there will be a whole
school reward for meeting our Box Top goals. Earlier it was
mentioned that we would have a Fall Festival for this first
reward, but the weather got rough sooner than we had hoped,
and we decided to revise this first goal to an indoor event,
a magic show. The magic show will be held on Wednesday, November
18th at 2:00 p.m. in the cafeteria for the whole school to
enjoy. Please continue to send in as many Box Tops for Education
as you possibly can. Ask relatives, friends, neighbors and
others to help us meet or even exceed our Box Top goals by
clipping them for us. Our next goal period will end January
22nd when we hope to get another $400 in Box Tops. All the
money we collect goes to our school for projects such as our
"Outdoor Classroom", and this year we hope to update
our sound system for our stage presentations. Thank you to
everyone who helped us meet our first goal!
As part of a caring and sharing community, Paine School is
once again holding a food drive for our local food bank. The
drive will run from November 2nd to November 13th. Please
send in as many nonperishable food items as you can to help
our local families in need. We are holding this event earlier
this year because the food bank is in dire need of items for
the upcoming holidays as well as a greater need in general.
If you would prefer to send in a donation of cash or check
instead, that would also be greatly appreciated. Checks can
be made out to "Foster Human Services". Thank you
in advance for your generosity.
On Wednesday, October, 28th an assembly was held in the cafeteria
about the Paine Panther ROARS (Respect Others, Respect Self
and Respect Property) program. The students in fifth grade
got a chance to share their experience at Overlook Farm, a
Heifer International farm, with the rest of the student body.
They explained how their good deeds can help other children
in the world who do not have the same privileges and comforts.
Then the student council shared how students at Paine School
can earn paw prints by showing the traits of hard work and
enthusiasm in the month of November. The paw prints will go
towards earning a water buffalo for a family through Heifer
International. Each month different traits from the "Pyramid
of Success" will be highlighted to earn paw prints for
the purchase of the water buffalo.
We had our grand re-opening of the playground gym on Monday,
October 19. We owe a large thank-you to our PTG. They arranged
the repairs to make our playground safe for our children to
use during their recess.
Thank you for all the support with the Foster P.T.G.’s
28th Annual Nut and Dried Fruit Sale. We are happy to say
that Captain Isaac Paine sold 500 more pounds of nuts than
last year, and the P.T.G. will be rewarding the entire school
with an ice cream sundae day! Just a remainder: nut orders
will be ready for pick up beginning November 16th. Any orders
not picked up by November 24th will be donated.
Breakfast with Santa will be December 5th from 8 a.m. to 11
a.m. There will be a full hot breakfast, pictures with Santa,
the Book Fair and the Penny Social. It is sure to be fun for
the whole family. Our next P.T. G. meeting will be November
19th at 7 p.m. in the school cafeteria. We love seeing new
faces and hearing new ideas!
November 2nd-13th – Food Drive (for local food bank)
November 11th – No School (Veteran’s Day)
November 16th – Report Cards
November 16th–24th - Nut Order Pick-up
November 17th – H1N1 Flu Vaccinations (if
the flu vaccine is available)
November 18th – Parent/Teacher Conferences
(3:45 p.m. – 8 p.m.)
November 18th – Box Top Reward Magic Show
(2 pm in cafeteria)
November 19th – No School
November 19th – P.T.G. Meeting (7
p.m. in library)
November 24th – School Committee Meeting
November 25th – Learning Celebration (parents invited)
November 26-27th – No School (Happy Thanksgiving!)
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