Newsletter Date Volume 1, Issue 1

Newsletter Title

Volume 31, Issue 2 November 4, 2016 Sheehan Elementary School, Westwood, Massachusetts

The

Core 4 Chronicle

~ Respect & Not Neglect ~ Voice the Right Choice ~ Listen, Learn, Try, Ask Why ~ School Wide Pride ~

Important Dates Message from the Principal

No School

Election Day-

All Day In-Service

for Teachers

Tuesday,

November 8th

Picture Retake

Day!

Thursday,

November 10th

No School -

Veterans Day

Friday,

November 11th

Early Release

Afternoon Parent

Teacher

Conferences

Wednesday,

November 16th

Early Release -

Dismissal Time

12:00

Wednesday,

November 23rd

Thanksgiving

Break

No School

Thursday and

Friday, November

24th and 25th

Dear Parents and Families,

Thank you to the wonderful volunteers for making the

Halloween Fun Night a huge success! We had a

wonderful turn out especially for the the Haunted

Hallway which is always very “Spooktacular!!”

We will be starting our Before School Math

Enrichment League for students in Grades 2-5 on

December 2nd. Math League is open to any Grade 2-5

student who wants to have a FUN but SERIOUS math

enrichment opportunity. We will be sending home sign

up sheets with more information for Math League in a

few weeks!

Last Tuesday at our Open Share, we were visited by four

former Sheehan students now Westwood High School

juniors. Jack Stebbins, Will Danforth, Emma Harte and

Oriana Attridge spoke to all Sheehan students about

how to be great citizens. They reinforced with our

students our Sheehan Core 4 values and talked about

the different ways to be good citizens in our Sheehan

School community and in the Westwood community.

Jack, Will, Emma, and Oriana asked ALL Sheehan

students to participate in The CItizenship Challenge.

Principal’s Message

As Citizens, we ask you to:

Participate in ALL Sheehan Student Council Service Projects.

Complete a community service activity outside the Sheehan School.

Consistently show kind and respectful behavior.

Always act responsibly.

Follow the Sheehan Core Four Values.

Our students have been asked to keep a log of their service. Our WHS students will be meeting

with our students to check in at our December Open Share and have our students share some

examples of good citizenship. Please see the attached documents for

The Citizenship Challenge. We hope all students will participate!

Mrs. Evans

Classroom Connections

Classroom Connections

Classroom Connections

November 2016 From the Stacks

October was BUSY!! In the Sheehan Library. I hope you had a chance to stroll

through the Character Pumpkin Patch and see all the amazing pumpkins trans-

formed into book characters. We had over 40 entries from a wide variety of

books. If you didn’t get a chance to see it in person, you can see it here:

https://sites.google.com/a/westwood.k12.ma.us/the-sheehan-library/

We estimated the number of seeds in my pumpkin. Lots of guesses under 200

but Joseph Sullivan of 5D won the Halloween gift bag with a guess of 523 -

just 1 seed away!!

We also had Gloria Gavris, author of E is for Election, visit our 3,4, and 5th

graders last week. Each student made an acrostic poem using Ms. Gavris’

election terms. We are experts in ballots, conventions, and political parties.

Classroom Connections

We held our first book club for the year with 5th graders. We had so much

turnout, that we split it into 2 clubs of 7 students each. We read The Four-

teenth Goldfish by Jennifer Holm which the students loved! Plus it earned

them a poster chip for their class in the MCBA competition. As a reminder,

the MCBA book collection was organized by Salem State and if your 5th

grader reads at least 5, he or she gets to vote which one was the favorite!!

Past Massachusetts’ winners include Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper and

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. Kids know a good book when

they read one!!

It’s been a fun month. Looking forward to November. We are researching in

5th grade and becoming experts at finding books in 2nd and 3rd grade.

Best,

Mrs. Tenreiro

Classroom Connections

The First Grade class was treated to a visit from Vicki Oman of Plimoth

Plantation on Thursday! The students had the chance to learn about the past

with someone from the past! Ms. Oman looked like a Pilgrim, but spoke to the

children from a modern perspective. She wore accurate reproduction Pilgrim

clothing and came with a variety of objects from Colonial daily life.

The teacher began by introducing the students to artifacts of daily life and

Colonial children’s clothing, inviting comparisons to their own household objects

and clothing. Then the objects and children’s clothing were arranged at play

stations, which the students rotated through in small groups. The program

closed with a brief discussion and a story told by Ms. Oman.

The First Grade class and teachers very much enjoyed the Life in 1627 Plymouth

Colony presentation. It is an outstanding and timely addition to the curriculum of

the first grade class.

Thank you to the PTA and parent contributions for making this wonderful

Curriculum Enrichment Program

available.

Classroom Connections

Classroom Connections

Classroom Connections

Thursday, NOVEMBER 10TH

If you’d like to have your child’s picture retaken, please email

Mrs. Erwin at eerwin@westwood.k12.ma.us so she can make a list for

the photographer! Please have your child bring his or her

picture to give back to Coffee Pond. Your child may keep their class

photo.

Please click here to read Mrs. Yennior’s Fall Newsletter!

Classroom Connections

We have been invited and asked to join Wellesley Dental Group's 9th Annual Community Candy Drive to benefit the US troops serving overseas. From November 1st to November 9th, we will be collecting candy, along with handwritten notes and cards for our soldiers. Our goal is teach our students lessons in giving, by encouraging them to share their extra Halloween candy with our troops. The sweet treats and the handwritten cards are a little reminder of home for our troops, and a message of support just in time for Veteran's Day. The packages via Care Packs, a non-profit organization, along with oral hygiene supplies. We will have several drop off boxes outside the main office beginning November 1st. Candy Drive 2016 Flyer.jpg

Classroom Connections

Last week, the Sheehan welcomed back the Discovery Museums Traveling

Science Workshops. The 3rd graders learned about Simple Machine

Technology, specifically levers and all their components. Groups of

students were challenged with hands-on experiments to make their own

levers work. It was especially fun for them to solve the dilemma of

making a lever that would lift up the instructor. You can find out more

ideas for at-home science activities by visiting http://tinyurl.com/

TSWactivity.

Many thanks to the Sheehan PTA for providing this wonderful program

that coordinates with the 3rd grade curriculum so perfectly. Thanks also

go out to the 3rd grade parents that came in to volunteer.

Classroom Connections

The Boks before school exercise program meets before school on Wednesday and Friday mornings. BOKS is an awesome way to kick start the student’s morning and their brain! Exercising before school helps improve their aptitude for learning each day! On November 15th, the Sheehan BOKS program is finishing its Fall session. K-5 students are moving their bodies through skills like sit ups, planks, push-ups and burpees. By the end of the sixth week, they've built endurance through running and playing fun games that teach teamwork and good sportsmanship. When the weather is nice, we even run laps around the Sheehan School! Nutrition talks are incorporated after each class to teach about healthy food choic-es, real vs. processed food and sugar awareness. There will be two more BOKS sessions this school year, one starting in January and another in the Spring, so keep a look out for a sign-up letter coming home soon!

A special thank you to the parent volunteers, Mrs. Hazen, Mrs. Colleran, Mrs. Bhatti, and Mrs. Radell and to Mrs. Bertone for coordinating this fabulous program!

Classroom Connections

Classroom Connections

November Spirit Day= Pajama Day on Wednesday, November 23rd (no slippers or stuffed animals please) November Service Project= 1. Please consider donating candy for "Candy for Troops." Collection bins are located outside the office. Students may also consider crafting cards to send along as well. Donations will be collected through November 9th. 2. Students are also encouraged to participate in the Sheehan Citizenship Challenge. Teachers, please send returned yellow permission slips to a bin located in the office. Thank you for your continued support! The Sheehan Student Council

3FB is raising money for Boston Children’s Hospital. We are doing this so we can help save kids, and everyone likes kids! We do not want anyone to be hurt or sick. We will be collecting money through-out the school year. The donation bin is located in room 01. Help us get kids help, health, and care! We hope you donate money! Thank you!

By, Max O’Shea, Molly Place, Olivia Leyden, and Blaney Toole

Classroom Connections

The Kindergarten kids are working hard to build their stamina for independent and partner reading. Right now we are noticing and reading the pictures and thinking about what the author is trying to

teach us as we explore "Learn About the World Books" (a.k.a. nonfiction)

independently. We can then share what we learned from our books by

sitting side-by-side with a partner and taking turns talking about our

books and listening to our partners. It is a challenge to stay on task but

we are working hard to do this work for 5 whole minutes!

Classroom Connections

Mrs. Cusick’s gave her students in Fourth Grade Class a new challenge and it proved to be nothing less than a wonderful experience in continuing to show their best efforts and determination! This week, students participated in a STEM (Science-Technology-Engineering-Math) activity to collaboratively construct a realistic spider web utilizing only: * one container of dental floss, scissors, and a black piece of paper to use as a mat. In the final judging, it was determined that Lola and Lauren crafted the most realistic web. It is clear that we have some creative thinkers in 4C with big futures ahead! Below, please enjoy the amazing creations which were developed!

Community News

The Fifth Grade is having a Fundraiser! They are selling stadium size

Westwood blankets. Please click here for the letter and order form.

Please click here for information on the Westwood Turkey Trot to

support the Miracle Families of Boston Children’s Hospital.

The Sheehan PTA Gift Card fundraiser is now taking place. The

deadline for ordering is Friday, November 18th! Please click here

for the letter and order form.

Jaron Minsky in Mrs. Cain’s third grade class had an opportunity to

act in a play, Welcome to Weirdsville, at “An Unlikely Story

Bookstore” in Plainville, MA.

Dear Parents, My name is Eileen Erwin and I’m the Administrative Assistant at the Sheehan School. If you have questions about anything at all, please do not hesitate to contact me at eerwin@westwood.k12.ma.us or 781-326-7500 x7120.

Please note that no dismissal requests will be taken after 12:00 PM. I understand that exceptions must be made but I want to ensure that every child arrives at their destination safely! If your child’s dismissal routine MUST be changed, please notify the main office by 12:00 PM.

We understand that emergencies do arise, which could require a change in the dismissal plan, but other than that there should be no reason to change your child’s plan. Please keep your child’s dismissal plan as consistent as possible. As always, safety is our main concern, and it

is critical that ALL children arrive at their after school destination safely. Students are not permitted to take

an unassigned bus home to accommodate an arranged play – date. Children may arrive on school grounds at 8:30 AM when supervision begins. If your child is driven to school, please park on Pond Street, the same side as the school to allow your child to exit the vehicle onto the sidewalk fire lane. In inclement weather, all grades gather in the cafeteria. The bell rings at 8:45 AM to mark the start of the school day. Attendance is taken promptly in classrooms. If your child will not be in school, please be sure to call the school office attendance line at 781-326-7500 x7100 before 9:00 AM. This helps us to ensure the safety of all our students. If we do not receive a call, Mrs. Eileen Erwin will call home to verify your child’s absence. Dismissal begins at 3:10 PM. Extended Day students and walkers are dismissed first, immediately followed by bus students. If you are interested in volunteering at the Sheehan, you must complete a CORI form. CORI forms

are good for three years. Please see Mrs. Erwin in the office for a form.

If you need this document translated, please call the Westwood Public Schools’ Student Services Department at 781 326-7500 x1345 or email your

request to mmartin@westwood.k12.ma.us Thank you. 如果您需要翻译本文档，请致电Westwood 的公立学校的学生服务部在 781 326-7500 x1345或

_子邮件您的要求mmartin@westwood.k12.ma.us 谢_你。

x1345 1077-623 187ىالةجاحب اذا ذ يفةيبالطالتامدخال' دووتسيوةماعالسرادمالةرادإىلعالصتاالىجري ، ةمجرتمالةقيثوال كل.بلطل اركشتنك mmartin@westwood.k12.ma.usكبصاخالينورتكالالديربالىلعوأ Есливамнуженэтотдокументпереводится, пожалуйста, позвонитеВествудгосударственныхшколах"СтуденческиеслужбыДепартаментапо 781 326-7500 x1345или поэлектроннойпочтезапроснаmmartin@westwood.k12.ma.us Спасибо.

Notes from the Office

Lunch Volunteers If you have some time during lunch, please come for all or any of the

lunches, signing up is simple. Visit http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090e49a4a622a0f94-

lunchroom. Once you click on the day, just go to the bottom of the page and click "submit

and sign up". If you'd like to volunteer only during your child's lunch time, just put in a note

in the "My Comment" column.