Reading Elementary Rockets Report: November 2017

Sunday, November 26, 2017

RES PRINCIPAL'S BLOG - ROCKETS REPORT - Sun., Nov. 26, 2017

Dear Reading Elementary "Rockets" Families & Community Members:

We so enjoyed celebrating the community Thanksgiving feast with you on Tuesday! Thank you for joining us and taking time out of your busy schedule to join your student for lunch! Memories made will be cherished for a lifetime!

Kudos and heartfelt thanks to:

Donna and Rick Stahl's family for all of their extra, extra effort cooking eight turkeys, mashed potatoes, squash, stuffing, and sweet potatoes for our feast!
The town hall who graciously let us cook 4 turkeys there for the feast!
Everyone who joined us that day!

Other Items of Interest:

Winter Sports - We are still in the process of investigating transportation, funding, etc. I will be speaking to the coordinator of Ski Runners to investigate options. I have confirmed that anyone who wants a refund can get one. We will be sending home a survey on Monday and would appreciate you completing it and sending it back in ASAP.

We believe that all students should have equal access to every opportunity offered. Last year only 15 students participated in Ski Runners while 27 stayed back at school. 100% of students participated in swimming and the RES PTO generously paid 100% of the cost. More to follow in next week's blog.

Artist in Residence - Lisa Kaija has spearheaded a wonderful opportunity for our students through grants from the Hall Foundation and our RES PTO. Students will be creating marionette puppets with the presenter, Alita Wilson, from the No Strings Marionette Company. Students will work with her over six art and music class periods to create puppets to support the "December Round the World" musical. Each student will make and get to keep their puppet after the concert Dec. 14.

Upcoming Field Trip - On Wed., Dec. 13, RES Students K-6 will be traveling to neighboring Weathersfield Elementary for a "Puppets in Education" workshop with a focus on bullying prevention and awareness. Permission slips will be coming home this week. This date was chosen last June, before the Artist in Residence dates were announced. This is a wonderful grant-funded opportunity.

PBIS Celebrations - The RES Student Council met and decided on the next few celebrations. We'll announce more in the next blog!

S - Everyone wears a sports jersey/t-shirt of a sport they love! Fri., Dec. 1!
P - PJ Day - Fri., Dec. 8 - everyone wears PJ's - shoes required!

Please share with your friends and families on Facebook:

Help our school earn free classroom equipment when you shop at Price Chopper this holiday season!
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Share this post to ask family, friends and neighbors to support our school, too.

OTHER WAYS TO HELP READING SCHOOL

Send in Box Tops for Education!
Read to some of our students!
Sign up for Price Chopper School Tools - check out the homepage!

LUNCH & BREAKFAST MENU FOR NEXT WEEK:

Is your lunch account current? All accounts should be paid in full each month. Thank you for helping us keep our costs down!

Mon., Nov. 27, 2017 - Turkey Soup, Oranges, Iceberg Lettuce, Mixed Veg. and Beans in Soup; Breakfast: Oatmeal & The Regulars
Tues., Nov. 28, 2017 -Chicken Pot Pie, Pears, Broccoli, Mixed Veggies in Pot Pie w/Biscuit Topping; Breakfast: Hard Boiled Eggs & the Regulars
Wed., Nov. 29, 2017 - Peanut Butter Apple Wraps, Carrots & Cucumbers; Breakfast: French Toast and the Regulars
Thurs., Nov. 30, 2017 - Cheeseburger Soup, Melon, Spinach Salad w/Tomatoes, Whole Grain Pita Bread; Breakfast: Hard Boiled Eggs and the Regulars
Fri., Dec. 1 - I will send this out this week with the Dec. menu.

Happening this Week:

Mon., Nov. 27 -

Art is the Special
Artist in Residence begins

Tues., Nov. 28

PE - students should wear or bring tennis shoes and appropriate clothes

Wed., Nov. 29 -

Spanish is the Special

Thurs., Nov. 30

Music is the Special, Artist in Residence here

Fri., Dec. 1

Students wear a sports jersey/t-shirt!

Mark Your Calendar/Upcoming Events:

Fri., Dec. 8 - P. J. Day! (Shoes required.)

Wed., Dec. 13 -

Puppets in Education/Bullying Awareness Field Trip to Weathersfield Elementary 8- Noon
PTO Meeting 6 PM

Thurs., Dec. 14 - Holiday Concert Town Hall 6 PM (Students should be there at 5:45 PM.)

Wed., Dec. 20 -

Snowflake Bazaar - more news to follow on this

RES Board Meeting 6 PM

Mon., Dec. 25 - Tues., Jan. 2 - SCHOOL CLOSED - Happy Holidays!

Mon., Jan. 15 - SCHOOL CLOSED - Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday

Wed., Jan. 18 - RES Board Meeting

Thoughts to Ponder:

LIFE AT READING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL:

More photos to follow next week!

Sunday, November 19, 2017

RES PRINCIPAL'S BLOG - ROCKETS REPORT - Sun., Nov. 19, 2017

Dear Reading Elementary "Rockets" Families & Community Members:

We are so blessed in so many ways, and this is our annual reminder to take the time and count them! We are so very thankful for our students, families, community, and lovely school to work in!

We look forward to celebrating with you Tuesday at the "feast!" This year the feast has food contributions from the students: Gr. 3/4 made amazing homemade bread, Kindergarten will make the Green Bean Casserole, and Gr. 1/2 will be making the pumpkin cake! Gr. 5/6 will be setting up decorating the cafeteria and Gr. 6 will be serving the feast. We will have a 'blessing tree" in the lobby outside the cafeteria and hope that you can add your blessing to our tree!

Kudos and heartfelt thanks to:

The parents who came in and volunteered to help bake pies!
The PTO members who baked pies at the town hall!
The PTO for all their hard work with the Chili Cook-Off!

Other Items of Interest:

Thanksgiving Community Dinner - The annual RES Thanksgiving Community Dinner will occur, Tue., Nov. 21. We hope you'll be able to make it! Due to limited space, we're staggering the seatings this year.

Winter Sports - We are reviewing this and investigating options. I received three e-mails asking us to reconsider. I've heard from many families directly that they like the Jan./Feb. field trip ideas better that the Ski Runners. One of the reasons some people believe that we should reconsider is that the students will miss interacting with other students from the SU. However, I have spoken to all the principals, and apparently Killington students do not participate as they ski at Killington. Woodstock offers four other activities for students that do not participate that day, and they have only about 40% of their students that do participate in skiing. Transportation is one of the factors we considered. To get a bus to transport our students for the entire Ski Runners season is $2000, and there is simply no money for that. The superintendent came to our Board meeting the other night and we discussed this for over an hour weighing all the options. We are the only school in the SU that has their students leaving the building five to six times to go to swim lessons, and we are so thankful that the PTO pays for this so all students can participate. More news will follow next Sun.

PBIS Celebrations - The RES Student Council met and decided on the next few celebrations. We'll announce more in the next blog!

E - Everyone wears slippers AFTER they get to school in street shoes! Mon., Nov. 20!
S - Everyone wears a sports jersey/t-shirt of a sport they love! Fri., Dec. 1!
P - PJ Day - Fri., Dec. 8 - everyone wears PJ's - shoes required!

Basketball Team - We will try this again in the new year and hopefully do two teams K-2 and 3-6. More news to follow in December!

OTHER WAYS TO HELP READING SCHOOL

Sign up for Price Chopper School Tools - check out the homepage!
Send in Box Tops for Education!
Read to some of our students!

LUNCH & BREAKFAST MENU FOR NEXT WEEK:

Is your lunch account current? All accounts should be paid in full each month. Thank you for helping us keep our costs down!

Mon., Nov. 20, 2017 - Bean & Bacon Soup, Tangerines, Spinach Salad, Whole Grain Chips; Breakfast: Bagels & Cream Cheese & The Regulars
Tues., Nov. 21, 2017 - Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Green Bean Casserole, Cranberry, Butternut Squash, Homemade Bread, Pumpkin Cake; Breakfast: Hard Boiled Eggs & the Regulars

Happening this Week:

Mon., Nov. 20 -

Art is the Special
Jill/Guidance in
Slipper day! Students wear shoes to school & change into their slippers!

Tues., Nov. 21

PE held in classrooms
11:30 AM RES Community Turkey Dinner PK-2
NOON GR. 3-6 Families

Wed., Nov. 22 - 24 - SCHOOL CLOSED

Mark Your Calendar/Upcoming Events:

Fri., Dec. 1 - Students wear a sports jersey/t-shirt!

Fri., Dec. 8 - P. J. Day! (Shoes required.)

Wed., Dec. 13 - PTO Meeting 6 PM

Wed., Dec. 20 - RES Board Meeting 6 PM

Thurs., Dec. 14 - Holiday Concert Town Hall 6 PM (Students should be there at 5:45 PM.)

Wed., Dec. 20 - Snowflake Bazaar

Mon., Dec. 25 - Tues., Jan. 2 - SCHOOL CLOSED - Happy Holidays!

Mon., Jan. 15 - SCHOOL CLOSED - Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday

Thoughts to Ponder:

Sunday, November 12, 2017

RES PRINCIPAL'S BLOG - ROCKETS REPORT- Sun., Nov. 12, 2017

Dear Reading Elementary "Rockets" Families & Community Members:

Thursday was "Rice Bowl" day and the students and staff were so excited! The base is a bowl of nutritious brown rice, and on top you can choose your own toppings from ground turkey, sausage, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, cottage cheese, mangoes, avocados, cranberries, pumpkin seeds, hot green peas, and so much more! We are so blessed to have Heather as our chef. You'll see from some of the photos below how much the students love it!

Kudos and heartfelt thanks to:

All the parents who came in for parent conferences!
Donna Martin Stahl for helping serve rice bowls!
The PTO parents who spend countless hours behind the scenes supporting our school and met Wed. evening!

Other Items of Interest:

PTO Help - The PTO will be having their annual Pie Sale on Sat., Nov. 18 followed by the 1st annual Chili Cook-Off. Help is needed from the community and parents to make this happen. Please contact Tatiana McCarthy if you can help. Stop by the town hall and buy a pie!

Calling all Chili Makers and Eaters!

School Nurse News -

Dear Families,

It is the time of the year when there are more germs being passed between children and families. Please, be supportive in keeping our school community healthy by keeping children home when they are sick. We appreciate it when you notify the school of illness for it helps us be alerted of symptoms in the school community.

Please keep your child home with fever, vomiting, diarrhea for an additional 24 hours with no symptoms. In addition, rashes from viruses and bacterial infections need treatment and time to not be contagious. Coughing is a common way to spread germs to others especially if the child has an infection.

Handwashing is one of the best preventive routines to keeps away illness. We promote handwashing throughout the day at school. Your efforts to encourage handwashing at home will benefit your family’s health.

We appreciate everyones efforts to stay well. We all want to be healthy, and learning is limited when one is sick.

Stay Well, Jean Chick, RES School Nur

Winter Sports - After a great deal of though and discussion, the RES staff have unanimously requested that RES not participate as a school in Ski Runners. We decided this based on four main factors: academic learning time, equity, cost, and transportation.

First, class time is limited. Every student in our school participates in at least 2 hours of swimming lessons that occur over a period of 4-6 weeks depending on the grade. Swimming is a life skill. Ski Runners as announced is 8 weeks, so that would be a total of 14 weeks of interrupted learning. That's a lot of time away from classrooms. One of the biggest reasons is equity. Scholarships are limited and we have many families that simply cannot afford their portion of the fees, much less equipment and clothing for the sport. Transportation is another key challenge as most parents work, and getting the students to the mountain for eight weeks was difficult, especially since using a school bus is expensive for eight weeks.

We value winter sports not only as a Vermont tradition, but as a component of a 12 month healthy lifestyle. We plan to have the students participate differently this year through three "winter outings" in Jan., Feb., or March. We are still working out the details and will keep you informed.

We understand that a few families will want to still participate in the proposed Ski Runners program which are scheduled from 2 - 4 PM. If a parent chooses to transport their child to participate in the program, the student should leave by 1:30, and miss 50 min. of academic time. The student will need to arrange with their teacher to make up that work. Please send in a note or e-mail Mrs. Hatt in advance if this is the case so she can notify the teachers. We appreciate your support and flexibility as we work together to support all students in learning! If you have more questions, or would like to discuss this further, please don't hesitate to contact me or your child's teacher.

PBIS Celebrations - The RES Student Council met and decided on the next few celebrations. We'll announce more in the next blog!

R - "Wear Red" Day - all students will wear as much red, or similar to red as they can - Fri., Nov. 17.
E - Everyone wears slippers AFTER they get to school in street shoes! Mon., Nov. 20!
S - Everyone wears a sports jersey/t-shirt of a sport they love! Fri., Dec. 1!
P - PJ Day - Fri., Dec. 8 - everyone wears PJ's - shoes required!

Digital Kids - As many of you know, I'm taking three graduate courses for my librarian/ed tech. endorsement. This is an article shared with us in class that I thought you might find interesting.

Basketball Team - Due to lack of response, we will try this again in the new year.

Ski Pass for 5th Graders - Many thanks to the Slukas who shared this link. We're happy to provide the documentation needed.

OTHER WAYS TO HELP READING SCHOOL

Sign up for Price Chopper School Tools - check out the homepage!
Send in Box Tops for Education!
Read to some of our students!

LUNCH & BREAKFAST MENU FOR NEXT WEEK:

Is your lunch account current? All accounts should be paid in full each month. Thank you for helping us keep our costs down!

Mon., Nov. 13, 2017 - Turkey Meatloaf Muffins, Apples, Broccoli, Potatoes, and Couscous; Breakfast: English Muffins & The Regulars
Tues., Nov. 14, 2017 - Florida Chicken, Pineapple, Peas & Green Beans, WG Rice; Breakfast: Hard Boiled Eggs & the Regulars
Wed., Nov. 15, 2017- Minestrone Soup, Pears, Icebeg Lettuce, Mixed Vegetables & Whole Grain Pasta in Soup: Breakfast - Pancake & the Regular
Thurs., Nov. 16, 2017 - Tuna Casserole, Oranges, Spinach Salad, Carrot Shred, Whole Grain Pasta; Breakfast: Hard Boiled Eggs & the Regulars
Fri., Nov. 17, 2017 - Roast Beef Sandwiches on Whole Grain Bread, Kiwis, Sweet Potatoes, Corn; Breakfast - Omelet & the Regulars

Happening this Week:

Mon., Nov. 13 -

Art is the Special

Tues., Nov. 14

PE is the special - students should wear tennis shoes & comfortable clothes to be active in!
PK/K Trip to Lebanon Opera House

Wed., Nov. 15-

Spanish is the Special
Report cards will be sent home for some classes - some teachers are holding until they meet with you during conference
RES Board Meeting 6 PM - Multi-Purpose Room