 Primrose Hill Elementary School Weekly Newsletter January 13, 2023 |
Primrose Pandas are Respectful, Responsible and Safe |
Mission: Barrington Public School’s mission is to empower all students to excel in character, citizenship, collaboration, creativity, communication, and critical thinking, so that they may positively impact the future. |
Vision: Together we inspire, learn, love and grow. |
Dear Primrose Families, A very busy week for us here at Primrose and lots of great learning across our school. We have such a fantastic team here to help flex and stretch when plans need to change in support of the weather, staffing needs and most importantly, for our students' needs. As I shared in previous newsletters, we have been making progress towards opening our new learning spaces in the modular classrooms this month. This week we have continued the work on the communications, security and utility work and fire safety. Having these two new classrooms, for our third grade class and for our Art room, will allow us to transition to the full use of the cafeteria for lunches and other activities and events. I have included a few photos as a sneak peak to what the space looks like inside. Grateful for all the coordination and open communication with our facilities department and central administration for this project. We are getting close to launching this new space here!   Our Fastbridge midyear assessment window is opening today. Our students will be participating in these midyear screeners in their classes based on the classroom schedules. As you know, we use this in combination with their classroom work and performance to best align our support and interventions. There is no additional preparation or work that needs to be done at home, but for any volunteers coming to school in the next two weeks, please be mindful that these are taking place if your work here requires you to enter the classrooms. We try as best as possible to reduce distractions and interruptions so our students can do their best to show what they know and can do. We’re doing all we can to help one another stay healthy by practicing safe handwashing and healthy reminders throughout the day. We appreciate that families are calling the office to let us know when their child will be out sick and following the guidelines to wait a full 24 hours of being fever free without medication before returning to school. In regards to our ongoing challenges with Covid-19 Mrs Carlson has shared the tips below: Safety Tips to help keep staff and students healthy in school:
In closing, I have one more exciting piece to share. We had highlighted Kindness for December, but based on the students’ focus and energy we are extending it to January. Next week we will be hosting a Spirit week at Primrose. Below is a flier created by one of our teachers for the theme of each day next week. Participation for these is always voluntary, but a great way to show our school spirit and come together under the focus of Kindness. If your children want to create a poster, poem or story that I can share in an upcoming newsletter, please feel free to have them bring it to the office. Would love to highlight their thoughts on this or how they respond to any of the “fun questions” included below.
Enjoy your long weekend and we will see you all on Tuesday! Educationally yours, Coleen Smith |
Fun Questions To Ask Kids: It is always a treat to hear how our children think about the world and what they would do if they were in charge. Here are some questions from MomsHack101 that you can use at dinner time or part of your commute home or when out on errands. If you come up with any interesting questions of your own, please don’t hesitate to share. Who knows, you might see them in an upcoming newsletter.1. If you wanted to make everyone on the planet smile, how would you do it? 2. If you had a time machine where would you go? Why? 3. What is one thing you would change about the world? 4. Imagine you just won a million dollars, what would you buy first? 5. What is something that helps you fall asleep at night? 6. If you could change your whole name, what would you change it to? 7. If the sky could rain food, what food would you like for it to rain down? 8. What is something that makes our family special? 9. If our whole family lived in a zoo, what kind of animals would each person be? 10. What makes you feel happy? 11. When you are angry, how do you deal with those feelings? 12. If you had to pick a theme song to describe you, what would it be? 13. What is the best thing that ever happened to you? 14. If you found a genie in a bottle, what would be your three wishes? 15. What has been the best dream you ever had? 16. If you could have a superpower, what would it be? 17. What do you look forward to when you wake up every day? 18. What is your favorite dessert? 19. When was the last time you felt lonely and what made you feel better? 20. What do you think is the most difficult job in the world? Why? 21. What do you think is the best job in the world? Why? |
Chartwells: Just a reminder milk only purchases are not covered by the free or reduced lunch program. This is considered an ala carte purchase and students must have money on account in order to purchase milk only. Please remember that there is always portable water available in all schools. |
A message from Nicole Mastan, lead for our Green Squad…
Hi Green Squad Families, and Happy New Year! I hope everyone has had a restful winter break. We are so proud of what our Green Squad has accomplished since the beginning of the school year, and we're looking forward to getting back to it soon! The Next Green Squad Meeting will be Friday, January 20. (Additional schedule information below).
Our Green Squad did a great job working together on our final project before break: eco-friendly gift-wrapping for the Gingerbread Express. Thank you to the PHS teachers for their generosity in gifting to kids in need, and allowing us to share in this wonderful effort!
We have some exciting projects and learning goals planned for the next term. I’ve provided our expected schedule for January to March below, and will continue to send reminders. Given winter schedules and the school calendar, there will be a few gap weeks, and some weeks we will meet consecutively to make up for this time. We apologize for any inconvenience. Along the same lines, we understand student schedules may have shifted, and there may be weeks your child cannot attend. We will make sure everyone is kept up to speed, so no worries on a missed session. If, however, you expect your student will be missing most or all of the winter meetings, please let me know. We will be meeting on 1/20, 1/27, 2/10, 3/10, 3/24 and 3/31.
We will continue to plan a variety of activities, and attempt to get outside when possible, so please send warm outerwear for your student on Green Squad days! We will adhere to the school guidelines as to weather and temperature limitations, and move inside as needed (our activities will adjust accordingly).
Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions. Thank you, and we look forward to seeing everyone soon for the Green Squad meeting on January 20th!
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PRIMROSE PTO Spring Family Fun Event Planning Committee The PTO is looking for a few volunteers to help with planning for our Spring Family Fun event on May 19. This planning committee will research and coordinate activities and materials, and provide support during the event. Please sign up on the PTO website or contact Liz Giordano at lizdgiordano@gmail.com with questions. Thanks!  PTO Website: Please take a quick moment to log into the PTO website and opt into the family directory at https://www.primrosehillpto.org/directory. Once this is done, you’ll be included in the Room Parents' list to be informed when class parties, events, and fundraisers are being planned. Support the Primrose Hill PTO through Box Tops for Education and Amazon Smile!
Box Tops for Education: No more clipping! All you need to do is download the app and scan your receipts. The new and improved Box Tops mobile app finds participating products on your receipts and instantly adds money to the school's earnings online. Box Tops works with paper receipts and digital receipts.
Here's how to sign up for Box Tops for Education: 1. Download the app for iOS or Android 2. Sign up for an account 3. Choose: Primrose Hill School Elementary School 4. Buy Box Tops products at the store 5. Scan your receipt to submit Box Tops within 14 days of purchase => Open the app => Tap scan receipt
Amazon Smile: Amazon will donate 0.5% to Primrose Hill Elementary School for your eligible Amazon Smile purchases. AmazonSmile works just like the Amazon you already know; same products, same prices, same service. AmazonSmile can even be used with your Prime membership.
Here's how to sign up for AmazonSmile:
1. Visit smile.amazon.com 2. Sign in with your Amazon.com credentials 3. Choose: Primrose Hill School Parent Teacher Organization 4. Add a bookmark for smile.amazon.com to make it even easier to return and start your shopping at AmazonSmile 4. Start shopping!
Turn on AmazonSmile in the Amazon Shopping app 1. Make sure you're signed up for AmazonSmile (use your web browser to visit smile.amazon.com) 2. Download or update to the latest version of the Amazon Shopping app for iOS or Android 3. Open the app and find “Settings” in the main menu (☰) 4. Tap on “AmazonSmile” and follow the on-screen instructions to turn on AmazonSmile in the app. |
Have a wonderful weekend!