 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
GDRSD |
|
Swallow Union News - May 2008 Important Notice To Parents/Students It is strongly recommended that students not be allowed to bring expensive, electronic toys to school. Wish List Items
ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS NEWS Dear Parents: The previous newsletter submissions have focused on the English Language Arts curriculum in the Groton-Dunstable Regional School District. These explanations are a road map to instruction and learning, and teachers and students travel together to arrive at the expected learning outcomes for each grade. It has been my great privilege to be present in many classrooms to participate in and observe their journey. As the 2007-2008 school year races to a close, I would like to take this opportunity to report to the school community about an accomplishment in literacy learning that our teachers and students experienced this school year. Our student writers continued to grow in the area of topic development, and our spring writing assessment confirmed this. Teachers and students across the district celebrated writing by submitting student samples to the Massachusetts Department of Education for consideration as grade level examples of writing that meets or exceeds the state standards. Teachers held authors' teas and created class books, student work was accepted for publication, and teachers continued their professional development in the teaching of writing. Reprinted below, with the author's permission, is an example of a third grader's writing that demonstrates all of the characteristics of effective writing: topic development, organization, effective word choice, sentence fluency, voice, and conventions. Squirrel Trouble It was late spring and we had just found out we had squirrels living in our attic. It all started when we saw scratches on the side of our house and that's when we found out we had a family of five squirrels that had made a nest in some rafters by the small window at the end of our attic. Thank goodness my Dad had an idea of how to get rid of the squirrels. I would stand on the deck with my Mom and Amelia and tell my Dad how many squirrels came out of the window with cell phones. The squirrels had built their nest in a part of the attic that was all insulation so if my Dad stepped there he would fall through! My dad had to inch along the rafters. Soon I saw a small gray foot stick through the attic window and was stuck. "He's stuck!", I yelled, so Amelia and I helped my Mom get the squirrel out with a shovel. The squirrel leaped onto the shovel and off as my Mom dropped it. The next squirrel skidded down the house and was gone. The tired squirrel leaped a few feet off the roof and onto the ground. Later we saw them in the woods and hoped they were happy. I congratulate the teachers and students in Groton-Dunstable for their continued accomplishments in literacy learning. It is my hope that you find authentic opportunities for your children to read, write, speak, and learn throughout the summer vacation. Sincerely, Kathy McCarthy A MESSAGE TO GRADE 4 PARENTS FROM MR. SILVERMAN - MIDDLE SCHOOL I look forward to having your child(ren) attend Groton-Dunstable Regional Middle School next September. We will be holding our Grade 4 Move Up Day on June 17th (Swallow Union and Prescott) and June 18 (Florence Roche). On this day, your child will be coming to the middle school to meet some of our staff and faculty. I would also like to inform you that the middle school will be reconfigured next school year. Grades 5 & 6 will be housed in the South Building and Grades 7 & 8 will be housed in the North Building. Some students will still need to change buildings for their Integrated Arts Classes (P.E., Art etc). However, we will be minimizing the number of students who need to change buildings compared to this school year. Have a wonderful summer! Please do not hesitate to call the middle school (978-448-6155) if you have any questions. Steve Silverman, Middle School Principal LOST AND FOUND Our Lost & Found table is full. Please stop by and take a look. You’ll be surprised at what you find. All the items will be donated at the end of the day on JUNE 25th. SPRING PICTURES Spring pictures were taken on Monday, May 5, 2008. We are not offering retakes. As in the past, the procedure is to send the picture package home, you decide whether or not you want to keep them in which case you can either make a check payable to LIFETOUCH and return the payment envelope to school. If you choose not to keep the pictures, please return the package to school before June 25. Someone from Lifetouch will pick up returned pictures and payments. ARE YOU MISSING YOUR FAVORITE SERVING BOWL? We have a large assortment of serving platters, serving bowls, baskets, pans, spoons, etc. multiplying themselves in the Teacher’s Executive Dining room. I’m sure they are left from Fun Fridays and Teacher Appreciation Day. Please feel free to stop by the school to check out what’s there. LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS We continue to look for volunteers to help clean and organize the science lab before we start the transformation of bringing the science lab back to life and transforming it into a "living" lab. Please send a note to your child's teacher if you are willing to help out.
LUNCH TICKET REMINDER If you prepay for your child’s lunch, please check your payment carefully now that we are getting closer to the end of the year. Consider field trips and half days as well. Lunch tickets become invalid at the end of the year and do not roll over into the following school year. At this time we are only accepting pre-payment for two weeks at a time (ten lunches maximum). As of Monday June 16, we will not accept any further pre-payments. If you have a lunch ticket that is already pre-paid past June 16, it will continue to be valid. Parents are responsible for balancing payments made to lunches purchased. We would like to avoid reimbursing for unused lunch tickets. Note that lunches are $2.25 each. If you have an outstanding balance, please make arrangements to have that paid by June 20. MANY, MANY THANKS TO THE STUDENTS AND PARENTS WHO SUPPORTED THE S/U RELAY FOR LIFE TEAM With your help, the S/U Team raised $900.00. HAT DAY was a wonderful success as were the donations for luminaries! It is so heart warming to see how many families came together for this event! Swallow Union is proud to be part of a community where people help their neighbors and friends. By supporting and participating in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life, the Groton-Dunstable School District is helping in the fight against cancer. Thank you for your generosity and for being a part of our Team! From The Nurses Office Congratulations to all of the students who joined the Brushing Brigade by documenting that they brushed their teeth twice a day. Improving dental health in children has been a focus of the Mass Department of Public Health this year, and we were happy that Swallow Union students participated in a related project. We hope this healthy habit will continue for life! Thanks to the APT for their donation, which helped make the project possible. As we reach the end of another school year, we would like to thank everyone for their help in keeping our school safe and healthy! Parents, thank you for sending in copies of physicals and immunizations and other forms requested, informing us of communicable diseases like strep throat, and keeping your children home when they were sick. Students, thank you for covering your mouths when you sneezed and for washing your hands! We hope you all have a wonderful summer- eat healthy foods, get plenty of exercise, rest up, and HAVE FUN! NOTE: Please pick up any medications you have sent to the Nurses’ Office this year. Any medications left after the last day will be discarded. Epi Pens and Inhalers can be sent home with students. From The Student Council Mrs. DesBois and Ms. Scafidi would like to all the members of the student council for the wonderful work they have done this past year. The student council had a very busy year starting with our second annual Thanksgiving Food Drive to help the Lowell Wish Project and needy families in the Lowell area. We sponsored monthly School Spirit Days…the second Friday of every month. We continued with our school-wide recycling project. On the 100th day of school we celebrated Math Day by proudly displaying math vocabulary, math terminology and algorithms. In conjunction with the Lowell Wish Project, we sponsored a senior citizens appreciation month by collecting “brighten your day” gifts to bring some cheer to home-bound senior citizens. Lastly the student council helped out with our annual Hat Day collection for the District’s Relay for Life Team. Student council members collected donation jars and sorted and counted money to be donated to the American Cancer Society! Our most aggressive project was the school-wide Logo Contest with over 60 students at all grade levels participating by submitting a design or slogan for Swallow Union. All and all it was a very busy year. Each member of the council should be proud of their efforts. They displayed leadership and responsibility! I know Mr. Myerson, Ms. Scafidi, and I are very proud of them! From The Computer Lab A LOOK TO THE FUTURE As this school year comes to a close, I thought I would take time to reflect on what will be happening next year at Swallow Union as we continue to improve the integration of technology into the curriculum. One big change that is scheduled to happen over the summer is the upgrading of our computer lab equipment. With the upgrading of the lab, we will have a world of new Web 2.0 technologies available for students to explore. According to Wikipedia, Web 2.0 is a term describing the trend in the use of World Wide Web technology and web design that aims to enhance creativity, information sharing, and, most notably, collaboration among users. Examples of Web 2.0 technologies are podcasts, wikis and blogs. There is a great series of instructional videos available on YouTube and TeacherTube called the ‘Plain English series’ that explain what these terms mean and how the technology can be used in real life. Check them out yourself: As I am given the opportunity to train teachers on the use of these technologies, our students will then be exposed to them. I anticipate blogging will be used to enhance our Language Arts curriculum. Podcasting and wikis will be used across the curriculum. I also expect that the ipods we received from the Best Buy Te@ch grant will be used increasingly both as a learning and teaching tool. Students can listen to well-produced podcasts in all subject areas. We plan to use the ipods for lower grade literacy improvement as well. Recorders attached to the ipods will be used to generate digital voice recordings. Students can capture their thoughts on field trips and/or what they have learned in a particular project and use the recordings to produce their own podcast. I am also very excited to roll out the use of wireless interactive whiteboard carts in the classrooms. Thanks to the generosity of the APT, Swallow Union will have an interactive whiteboard in the computer lab, and 2 mobile carts that can be used throughout the building. There is a vast array of technology waiting to be utilized by our tech-savvy students! I look forward to working with the teachers and students to begin our adventure. From Guidance SELECTING FAMILY FRIENDLY FILMS June at last! What will you do all summer? Many students have begun to talk excitedly about the new crop of movies that are going to be released within the next few weeks. Several years ago I wrote an article detailing the moving rating system and how to exercise caution in choosing movies to view at the theatre and at home. While many movies seem to be geared toward children the contents can sometimes be questionable. Here is some information to help you better understand movie ratings. When did the movie rating system begin? The rating system went into effect on November 1, 1968.
What do the rating symbols mean?
What can parents do to make the best choices possible? Despite the fact that a recent poll found 79% of American parents surveyed satisfied with this system it is not a foolproof one and has been criticized over the years. It is not the be all and end all. Parents and guardians are the gatekeepers of it, and as such have a responsibility to take this role very seriously. Parents are urged to find out as much as possible before letting their children see any movie. My father used the “I’ll see the movie first and then decide if it’s appropriate” approach. This was very effective. Of course I hated it at the time, particularly when other parents were more permissive, but now I completely see the reason for it. Read the reviews. Talk to other parents. Ask the manager of the theatre. When in doubt err on the side of caution. Remember that children are extremely impressionable. If you even suspect your children could possibly be frightened, misunderstand the content, or be exposed to something that is well beyond their years choose a different film. If you really want to see the film go without your children, attend different movies at the same theatre, or wait until it comes out on video and watch it after they go to sleep. References: www.filmratings.com www.suntimes.com www.latimes.com Have a safe and happy summer!!
From the Reading Room SUMMER READING AND WRITING TIPS from Catherine Dart Swallow Union children have worked hard this year! If you can keep the momentum going at home during July and August, the return in September will be a much easier transition. Your child will return with confidence, sufficiently prepared to tackle new material. There are many things you can fit into your summer schedule that do not seem like "work". Send away for brochures for places you want to visit or look for vacation information on the Internet. Send postcards back to friends and family when you go. Reading menus is not "work" if you are hungry enough. Stop to read historic markers if you travel by car. Keeping a journal over the summer, writing even one sentence a day is worthwhile. Children can the write the captions for your photographs. The local public library has a summer reading program. Bookstores may schedule visits from authors who'll inspire your youngsters to read and write. Perhaps your child would like to write to a sports figure or someone in the entertainment industry (in my experience, usually you can anticipate a response) . This might be a good time to subscribe to a magazine your youngster would enjoy. Please do not stop reading aloud. Perhaps this summer would be a good time to consider the Harry Potter series? Let your child see you reading the newspaper. Giggle over the comics together after you read about the latest Red Sox victory. If you have younger children taking naps, set aside that time for a quiet book hour with older siblings. You can surely think of more ways to engage your young student. My paragraphs are intended only to introduce the concept and to stress the importance of continuing to read and write over the summer. From the Music Room Congratulations to the kindergarten and first grade classes for putting on a fabulous concert on May 15th! We will now be looking to strengthen our music reading skills with some fun in-class projects. Second grade has been rehearsing tirelessly (but happily!) on their musical which will debut on Tuesday, June 3rd. We are all so excited! Third graders just finished a small study of Australian music by listening to a didgeridoo and attempting to play one themselves by using our musical boomwhacker tubes! Fourth graders are working on writing their very own recorder composition. As the weather warms, I hope to take both the 3rd and 4th classes outside for some jumprope songs and games. Happy Spring! From the Art Room Wow, the end of the school year is just a few weeks away! The art room has been busy finishing up projects and getting clay into the kiln! 4th graders- The students have been finishing up their tessellations. Some friends have completed a cut-paper plan for their landscape tile and started making it out of clay! A few friends have worked with a compass to create interesting radial designs. 3rd graders- The students have completed printing and some are finishing a color project on "Shrinky Dink" paper. We have also been doing some gesture drawings using manikins. We will be creating clay coil pots this week. 2nd graders- The students have been busy finishing their watercolor paintings and creating clay pinch pots with a small animal figure on it. We will be glazing our pots this week. 1st graders- The students have been completing their own version of "Starry Night" and making clay suns. We will be glazing our suns soon! Full Day Kindergarten- The students are working on a watercolor flower project. This year we are not having a Fine Arts Festival at the middle school, so instead each child who participates in art will be choosing a favorite work of art to put on display in the Swallow Union Cafeteria. This art show will be on display in the beginning of June. I hope many of you will be able to come see our wonderful creations!
From the Gym Well, here it is the last newsletter of the school year. Where has the year gone? We are looking forward to getting outside. June is a great time for P.E. classes. We get outside for baseball, capture the football, lacrosse, and even tennis. We also prepare for our Field Days: Tuesday, June 17th for K, 1, & 2, Wednesday, June 18th, grades 3 and 4. Field Days only work because of the help from many volunteers. Please keep an eye out for the volunteer Sign-Up Sheets which have already been sent home.
Thank you for another great year in the Gym and I look forward to seeing you all in the fall. Enjoy the summer; play, have fun, and good luck to our 4th graders moving on to the Middle School. See you in September. From the APT As the 2007/2008 school year comes to a close, we would like to thank the following volunteers who took on the roll of Coordinator for one or more events that was sponsored by the APT: Jackie Estes, Kim Terwilliger, Kristen Irby, Beth Dahlberg-Falkner, Carmelina Johnson, Diane Cao, Lisa Barnes, Marie Sebastyn, Jen Spencer, Helen Dzwonek, Renee Whitney, Sue Whitney, Karen Johnson, Carol Towle, Lynn DeNyse, Rosie Pellizzari, Julie McNamara, Tori Murray, Cheryl Scammell, Laurie Keough, Sandy Freiter, Lisa Ansara, Linda Cook and Jackie Frey . We’d also like to thank the on-going support and dedication of the APT teacher representatives, Jayne Girouard and Joyce Bertrand. We would also like to thank all of the volunteers who provided support to these event coordinators throughout the year. We could not have made this past year successful without the support and dedication from all of you. We look forward to your support next year! On June 13th, the APT will host a year-end Ice Cream Social celebration from 6:00-7:30. If you plan on attending, please make sure you return your form so that we can plan accordingly. This will be a great time to close out the year with your friends and meet some new friends, as the families and students that will be joining us from Prescott and Florence Roche in September will be attending as well. We welcome all of the new families to Swallow Union! Don’t forget the ticket sales for the baseball games to the Nashua Pride and Lowell Spinners ends June 2nd. Tickets will be sent home with the students in the next couple of weeks. Thanks to Beth Dahlberg-Falkner for coordinating this sale. During the meeting in May we approved over $1,600 to support funding for the computer lab and the 4th grade Nashua River field trip. The annual Staff Luncheon, hosted by the APT on May 6th was another success! Many thanks to all of the volunteers who contributed to this event. We had an overwhelming response. A huge thanks to Jackie Estes, our Hospitality Coordinator, for organizing this event. The staff looks forward to this each year. Many thanks to our Fun Friday hosts for May and June: Cheryl Scammell, Julie McNamara, Lori Welch, Marie Sebastyn, Alyce Tulley, Brenda Richardson, and Noreen Crandall. A huge thank you to Carmelina Johnson for coordinating this event for the staff each week. The staff looks forward to each Friday to see what the host has to share with them. If you didn’t get a chance to participate this year, watch for information coming home after the start of the new school year! The Box Tops program came to a close on May 23rd. The Box Tops program will kick off again in September, so please keep cutting those Box Tops/labels during the summer. The Target Rewards program runs year round and Swallow Union benefits directly from your purchasing power. This year we have received over $1,500.00 from Box Tops and Target. Anyone can designate Swallow Union as their school if they choose to obtain a credit card from Target. So spread the word to friends and family. Many thanks to the families who supported our annual Beautification Drive. We are still looking for some volunteers to help keep the grounds weed-free during the summer. It doesn’t require much more than stopping by once a week during the summer to check on things. If you can spare the time this summer, please just stop by and clean up what you can. Please help us keep the school grounds looking great. Save the date……..September 26th the APT will be sponsoring it’s second annual Back to School Picnic. We are still in need of volunteers to work that evening. Please contact Karen Johnson or Carol Towle, if you are interested in helping! Our final meeting of the school year will be Monday, June 2nd in the Teachers Conference Room. Please consider joining us! Watch for information to come home from the APT in early September. We will be kicking off the year with our one major fundraiser, the Back to School Raffle. We wish everyone a safe and fabulous summer! Thank you to everyone who supported our efforts and volunteered their time this past school year. APT Board Members 2007-2008 Leslie Blodgett, President Leslie Willson, Treasurer Marie Sebastyn, Vice President Sue Whitney, Secretary APT Coordinator Contact Info for 2007-2008 Phone & email addresses can be located in the School Directory or by contacting one of the board members. Beautification: Leslie Blodgett Book Fair: Marie Sebastyn Box Tops for Education: Carol Towle and Lynne DeNyse Frightful Feast: Marie Sebastyn Fun Friday: Carmelina Johnson Holiday Sale: Diane Cao Hospitality: Jackie Estes Spiritwear Sales: Lisa Barnes S/U Raffle & Picnic: Kim Terwilliger and Kristen Irby Target Program: Sandy Freiter
FAST (The Groton Dunstable Food Allergy Support Team) The Groton Dunstable Food Allergy Support Team (FAST) congratulates our winners during Food Allergy Awareness Week, May 11-17.
Congratulations to our Coloring Contest winners, and a big THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to help FAST! Your entries were all wonderful, and they showed thoughtfulness and compassion for your friends with food allergies. Great job!
May 11-17 marked the 11th Annual Food Allergy Awareness Week, sponsored by the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN). The aim of this week is to give people the opportunity to learn more about the seriousness of food allergies. The mission of FAAN is to “raise public awareness, to provide advocacy and education and to advance research on behalf of all those affected by food allergies and anaphylaxis.”
FAST meets during the school year at 7:00 p.m. at the Middle School North Library. For more information on FAST, please contact co-chairs Alison Bailey or Lisa Chau.
FAST would also like to express our sincere appreciation to our district advisor, Flo Ro nurse, Phyllis Lang for all her hard work supporting our group. THANK YOU PHYLLIS! From the GDEF The Groton Dunstable Education Foundation held its Annual Grants Celebration on May 15th, honoring this year’s recipients of 25 enrichment grants to our district schools, totaling $31,045. We’d like to thank everyone who helped contribute to another successful year through your generous donations, attendance at events, and by volunteering your time. You’re invited to learn more about what GDEF has been doing this year, and our plans for next year at GDEF’s Annual General Meeting on Tues., June 3rd, from 11 a.m. to noon at the Groton Public Library, Sibley Hall. Light refreshments will be served. And if you’re looking for a unique way to thank teachers and other staff members for a great school year, please remember our “Teaching Stars” program. When you honor a favorite educator by donating to the program, GDEF will send that educator a personalized letter of recognition, and the money raised will help fund more grants to our schools. Look for the gold Teaching Stars forms coming home in student backpacks, or visit WWW.GDEFINC.ORG to print a form to mail in. The GDEF Board of Directors thanks you again for your support this year and wishes everyone a safe, happy summer! SPED PAC News DATE: Tuesday, June 17 TIME: 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. PLACE: GD Regional High School – Library SpedPAC's final Annual Business meeting for the school year will be held on Tuesday, June 17, @ 7:00 P.M., in the High School Library. Annual elections will be held for Officer positions - President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer - for the school calendar year, 2008-2009. Anyone interested in becoming more involved in SpedPAC or running for a Board position, please attend this Annual meeting. We welcome anyone who is interested in special education issues and volunteering their time and ideas to this 'energetic' parent advisory council. Over the past several years, some of SpedPAC ‘s important accomplishments have been: substantial progress in collaborating and communicating with the District Administration, successful lecture series, establishment of and additional contributions this year to the Education Resource Library for use by all of the District Schools' staff members and successful roundtables at the High School, Middle School and Florence Roche Elementary. Among the items on this meeting's agenda will be: review of this past year's accomplishments, goals for the upcoming year, update and status of SpedPAC's grant applications, discussion regarding the 2008-2009 Lecture Series, and of course, elections for new officers. All are welcome and invited to attend. Coffee and dessert will be served. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
For additional information and parent resources visit the SpedPAC website: www.gdspedpac.org For more information or to volunteer please contact: Nancy Bugbee, SpedPAC President Sarah Campbell, SpedPAC Vice President Maryanne Squeglia, SpedPAC Treasurer Melissa Sweeny, SpedPAC Secretary
REMINDERS FROM THE OFFICE MESSAGE LINE 978-649-5078 (please add this number to your cell phone) to report your child’s absence or to make a change in after school plans. This is a message line only, we will not be answering this phone. Please call by 9:00 am to report an absence. Please call before 2:00 t make changes for the afternoon. WHENEVER POSSIBLE SEND A NOTE TO SCHOOL WITH YOUR CHILD IN THE MORNING.THE MESSAGE LINE SHOULD ONLY BE USED FOR ABSENCES OR WHEN UNEXPECTED CHANGES OCCUR. Cori Alert If you were NOT CORI’d by the Groton Dunstable Regional School District in the 05-06 or 06-07 school year, it is important that you get CORI’d for the upcoming school year. Remember you will not be able to come into the classroom or go on any field trips unless you have been CORI’d. Once you have completed the CORI form and we have submitted it from S/U it can take up to 3 -4 weeks to be processed. Some field trips are planned as early as September. Please stop by the office with your driver’s license to complete this form. Forms must be submitted to the School Office IN PERSON with your driver’s license. LUNCH TICKET REMINDER If you prepay for your child’s lunch, please check your payment carefully now that we are getting closer to the end of the year. Consider field trips and half days as well. Lunch tickets become invalid at the end of the year and do not roll over into the following school year. Beginning on Monday May 12, we will accept pre-payment for two weeks at a time (ten lunches maximum). As of Monday June 9, we will not accept any further pre-payments. If you have a lunch ticket that is already pre-paid past June 9, it will continue to be valid. Parents are responsible for balancing payments made to lunches purchased. We would like to avoid reimbursing for unused lunch tickets. Note that lunches are $2.25 each. LUNCH TICKETS AVAILABLE AT SWALLOW UNION SCHOOL For your convenience Lunch Tickets are available in the SU Cafeteria. Tickets may be purchased for any amount divisible by $2.25 and do not expire (ex., 10 lunches for $22.50, 23 lunches for 51.75). If you wish to pay in advance, please send your money in to Miss Cheryl in the kitchen. You must include your child’s name and his/her teacher’s name on the check.
Milk is included in the lunch price. You may buy milk only for 50¢. Orange juice is not included with lunch but is available for an additional 50¢. Snacks are no longer available. If you wish to pay in advance, please send your money in on MONDAY or the 1st of the Month if paying by month. You must include your child’s name and his/her teacher’s name on the check. IMPORTANT NOTICE FROM THE CAFETERIA FOR THOSE STUDENTS PAYING DAILY If your child forgets their lunch money, they will be served a hot lunch. They will receive a reminder slip to bring home and are expected to bring in the money the next day ABSENCES If your child is sick, please call the message line -649-5078. The office opens at 7:45 AM, but the answering machine is always on, so you’re welcome to leave a message. Thanks. BUS NOTES We are offering S/U Bus Notes (50 sheets/pad) for sale at $1.00. The profit we’ve made in the past has supported office needs. IS IT LABELED? Remember to label your child’s lunch box, wallet, hats, coats, mittens (I know, it’s early!) etc. This way lost items can be delivered as soon as they are turned in to the office. SECURITY SIGNING IN TO VOLUNTEER We will continue to use the "Sign In" Book for all visitors to the building & appreciate your stopping by the office to sign in and say hello. You don’t need to "sign in" if you are only coming in to pick up your child. The purpose of the book is to let us know who’s in the building for an extended time. Locking the doors As part of our safety concerns, after the buses arrive in the morning we will be locking all doors except the front door so that all visitors will need to enter through the doors. Any time you pick up your child, you will need to enter through the front doors. This includes afternoon pickups. Classroom deliveries Items such as forgotten lunch money, shoes needed for gym, or glasses that are dropped off for your child will be delivered to the classroom by the office. However, items such as forgotten homework or library books will be put in the teacher’s mailbox. Sneakers Please keep in mind when buying your child’s sneakers to buy those with NON-MARKING BLACK soles. It takes our custodians hours to clean up the scuffmarks left with regular soled shoes. Our continuing goal is for all of us at S/U to take pride in our building and with this in mind we’d appreciate your talking to your children about keeping the floors looking good. ARE YOU DROPPING YOUR CHILD OFF IN THE MORNING? We have been noticing extremely unsafe practices happening in the parking lot in the morning during drop offs. Please pay attention to the following guidelines to avoid congestion and possible accidents Drop your child off curbside and exit as quickly and safely as possible being aware of other traffic Do not park your car Do not walk your child into the building Form a single line for drop off Do not pull out of line to drop your child off – no child should walk between cars or buses to get into school Do not drive by a school bus which has its “Stop” sign extended PARKING/DROPPING OFF & PICKING UP CHILDREN Please drop children off in the morning at the sidewalk and make an immediate turn to the left. You can circle through the parking space and around the church and out. Please be aware of other vehicles around you. ALL CHILDREN SHOULD BE DROPPED OFF AT THE FRONT DOOR. NO CHILD SHOULD BE DROPPED OFF AT THE SIDE DOOR. When picking up children after school please park on the side of the building and pick up children in the cafeteria. You will need to enter through the front doors to get to the cafeteria. The side door will remain locked. Please EXIT through the side door to alleviate congestion at the front doors during dismissal. Children being picked up will be dismissed at 3:00. PLEASE DO NOT DRIVE, PARK OR LEAVE YOUR CAR IN THE BUS LANE AT ANYTIME!! When picking up your child at the end of the day, PLEASE, either stop by the office (if it’s before 2:55) or go directly to the cafeteria. This is a very busy time of the day and it’s disruptive when parents go to a child’s classroom. Teachers will be very happy to talk with you at another time if you have concerns. Please feel free to call for an appointment. We’re always happy to hear from you. ARE YOU HAVING A BIRTHDAY PARTY? It is the policy of Swallow/Union not to give out addresses or phone numbers. A student directory is in the making and you received information about it in the opening packet. Until then, you may request a class list from your child’s teacher. It is also our policy not to give out birthday card invitations within the classroom. We ask parents to please mail them. Our experience has been that it is hurtful to those children who are not invited. You should be able to find most addresses in either the Dunstable or Groton phone books. If you still have a problem, please contact the office. BUS NOTES We are offering S/U Bus Notes (50 sheets/pad) for sale at $1.00. The profit we’ve made in the past has supported office needs.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||