Windham Elementary School Newsletter
February 14, 2020
Habits of Mind: “Safe, Responsible, Respectful, Ready to Learn”
100th Day Celebration
Hair ties, pennies, pretzels, scrabble pieces, dog food, popcorn kernels, scarlet runner beans, legos, mini dice, valentine hearts and a collection of pins were all represented at the 100th day celebration on February 11th. It was wonderful to see all the collections together and to see the kids sort and count by 5’s or 10’s to show that they did indeed bring in 100 items! In addition to seeing their collections, they took some time to do some projects using 100 items. Some include a town of 100 blocks, unifix cube trains of 100 cubes, and a book that will have 100 drawings (10 to a page)!
Appreciation Days
During the week of Valentine’s Day, the students pick a name of another student each morning and by the end of the day an appreciation card is constructed to be given to the student they chose. The appreciation cards are a way to show thanks and appreciation for a kind gesture, words or friendship that they have shared with one another during the school year so far. After the cards are made, they are put in the school mailbox and a younger and older student are selected to deliver the appreciation cards during the afternoon. It is a joy to watch the smiles and hugs that are given after the cards are delivered. It shows how such a simple thoughtful gesture can mean so much.
Bus Route
Reminder, that starting Monday, February 24th, the AFTERNOON bus route will change. Kord will proceed to take the students that live on the SOUTH end of Windham Hill first, return back to school, and then pick up the students that reside on the NORTH end of Windham Hill to finish his route for the day. With the winter weather upon us, Kord is doing a wonderful job to ensure that all our students are getting to and from school safe and sound. Please remember that pick-up and drop-off times will vary and often be delayed due to what road conditions are like (snow/slush and frost heaves). Thank you all for your patience and understanding.
Ukulele
Ukulele will be on Thursday, February 27th when we return to school after February vacation instead of Tuesday that week. It will return back to normal schedule in March.
Kentucky
Sara will be gone February 26-28th to Louisville, Kentucky with her oldest daughter, Emily. Emily is a freshman musical theater student at Rider University in NJ who auditioned and was accepted to attend the Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC) to audition for 50-60 theaters that will be attending the conference looking for summer stock work. Since this is Emily’s first big conference, she asked Sara to accompany her to help with callbacks etc. In Sara’s absence, Cindy Kehoe, has graciously offered to be at school to help Sally & Mr PJ in her absence.
WinTerm
On February 27, the Compass School will be conducting its annual Winter Term of Community Service (WinTerm), during which their students and faculty do a wide variety of community service oriented projects in lieu of regular classes. One of the teachers at the Compass School, Ron Bos-Lun (Lydia Dutton’s grandfather) is bringing a group of students who do storytelling to entertain us. They typically do a blend of read-aloud or recitation by one or two storytellers with acting by a group of four to eight students. They generally include at least one tale that involves significant audience participation, and their performances are extremely well-received. Performances typically consist of stories from five to twenty minutes in length, with most groups receiving 30-40 minutes of enrichment, including a brief talk back session with our storytellers. They will eat a bag lunch with our students at lunch before their performance.
Harlem Rockets
We will have a special visit by the Harlem Rockets at Windham Elementary around noon on Friday, February 28th before their performance on Saturday, February 29th at 6 PM at the Leland & Gray main gym. The Harlem Rockets are a comedy basketball show geared to all ages. Adults: $15 Students/Children: $10 for their Saturday performance.
Upcoming February Dates
February 17-21 - February Vacation - No School
February 25 - NO UKULELE today - rescheduled for Thursday 27th
February 26 - JISP
February 27 - Ukulele after school and Compass WinTerm performance
February 28 - Harlem Rockets visit Windham Elementary
Upcoming March Dates
March 1 - Inservice Day - No School
March 2 - No School
March 4 - NO JISP
March 6 - Mighty Acorn trip for K-1st graders
March 11 - JISP
March 12 - 3rd-6th graders visit Latchis Theatre to see a production of “Peter & the Wolf”
March 18 - JISP
March 19 - Early Release
March 25 - Last JISP day
