Hanlon Core Values
Welcome to the Paul R. Hanlon School, a K-5 elementary school where we strive to foster the best possible environment for teaching and learning. At Hanlon, we celebrate and honor the similarities and differences of individual students while building a learning community where children feel safe, known, and challenged. The Hanlon staff is committed to seeking continuous improvement, supporting high expectations, and providing challenging learning experiences that facilitate each child's cognitive, social, emotional, and physical growth. We value collaboration, perseverance, and risk-taking. We encourage all children to give their best, and to view their mistakes as learning experiences that build character and resiliency. Our core values guide how the Hanlon community learns, works, and plays together.
THE HANLON SCHOOL’S CORE VALUES
Achieve academic success in a safe and nurturing environment
Develop knowledge and understanding through exploration and discovery
Demonstrate effort, pride, respect and responsibility
Dear Hanlon Families,
Hanlon School has been very busy during the month of February. After kicking off Black History Month with workshops and performances from Tony Vacca, Hanlon’s focus on diversity and cultural proficiency continues throughout the month. All classrooms are accessing texts from our Diversity Collection for shared and independent reading. Fourth grade book clubs center around the biographies of influential change-makers like Malala, Ghandi, Harriet Tubman, and more. For our February Hanlon Global Grammys, we are listening to songs by American Jazz vocalist Ella Fitzgerald. Students in second grade presented about Ms. Fitzgerald at our All School Meeting. Click here to see their video. Buddy classes in grades 2 and 5 got together to do some research on famous African Americans. Take a walk down the hallway to see their posters. You can even try your hand at Ms. Kessel’s interactive Black History Month word search.
If you are interested in taking advantage of Black History Month offerings in and around Boston, there are events planned on weekends, during the vacation week, and throughout the month. Click here for a flier with live links to activities and books for the whole family. Many thanks to Brendan Reeves, Mandy Taft-Pearman, and the Inclusive Westwood group for putting together the flier.
Student Council is sponsoring Valentines for Veterans this month. Many classrooms are buddying up to make valentines that will be given to local veterans. If your family would like to make some at home, you can send your cards to the main office by Thursday, Feb. 13th. If your child’s class is exchanging valentines on Friday, please remember not to send in candy or food. We have many students with allergies and in order to keep the holiday safe and inclusive for all students, we ask families to help us with this.
Our next Spirit Day will be Crazy Outfit Day on Thursday, Feb. 27th.
In honor of Mrs. Goldstein, Ms. Jennings is kicking off another year of Jump Rope for Heart to raise awareness for heart health and support the American Heart Association. This is an optional fundraising event with a large focus on healthy habits and a healthy lifestyle. Please join us in supporting the American Heart Association and/or promoting an active and healthy lifestyle. The Fitness Unit has already begun throughout Physical Education classes, however the fundraising and rope jumping portion kicks off Tuesday, February 11th, and lasts through Feb. 28th.
January 27, 2020
Dear Hanlon Families,
It was a musical day at the Hanlon School!
Thanks to the generosity of the Foundation for Westwood Education, Tony Vacca, international percussionist and composer, brought his World Rhythms program to our school. Students in grades 3, 4, and 5 participated in a multicultural, hands-on, ensemble workshop. Using djembe drums, gongs, rattles, bells and other percussion instruments, students learned call-and-response patterns, chants, and signals in order to play 5 different sections in a percussion ensemble. The pieces learned in the workshops connected rhythms from African, Caribbean, and American traditions. This afternoon, the entire school was treated to a concert featuring Mr. Vacca and his 5th grade student ensemble! Mr. Vacca spoke with children about his travels throughout Africa, teaching them about the instruments and musical culture that is found in places like Senegal, Ghana, and the Cote d’Ivoire. He shared messages of diversity, generosity, and the humanity that connects us together. Here is a link to Mr. Vacca’s website for interested families. 
Students in the K1K and 1S classrooms also spent the morning learning about and experimenting with sound. Thanks to the generosity of our PTO, the Discovery Museum brought their Sound Enrichment Science program to Hanlon. Children explored the properties of sound by plunging vibrating tuning forks into bowls of water, watching ping pong balls react to vibration, and creating their own musical instruments. We are very fortunate to be able to bring programs like these to Hanlon, thanks to donations to the FWE and PTO from our families and Westwood residents. 
As we gear up to honor and celebrate Black History Month, I wanted to share two resources: Here is a link to a brief, 20 minute podcast about talking with young children about race. While many adults are uncomfortable discussing race, and some find it easier to brush off the innocent questions and comments of their children, we know that it is particularly important to tackle this topic early, honestly and in age-appropriate ways. The podcast linked above gives some helpful examples and tips for parents. The next resource is something I have shared in the past. Here are three book lists with picture books and chapter books that you can borrow from the Hanlon Library and classrooms, or from the Westwood Public Library: K/1 List 2/3 List 4/5 List The books have characters from diverse backgrounds and cultures, and are great to read aloud at home with your children. The lists were compiled by a group of Hanlon parents, vetted by the WPS librarians, and purchased by WPS for all classrooms at Hanlon. I hope you’ll check some out!
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Spanish
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Chinese
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Arabic
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If you need to contact the Main Office for attendance/dismissal changes or if you have questions, email hnoffice@westwood.k12.ma.us or call 781-326-7500 x8424
Hanlon School on Twitter
Follow @HanlonSchool_ps to see photos of our #HappyatHanlon kids!
School Committee
Did you know that Carol Lewis is Hanlon’s School Committee Representative? If you have questions, contact Ms. Lewis at clewis-sc@westwood.k12.ma.us
Co-President: Serina Barkley
Co-President: Jason Hatcher
Secretary: Amanda Philips
Treasurer: Caitlin Jondro
Events Chair: Meg Carleton
PTO Calendar
*Click here to access the PTO Google Calendar. Click the +Google in the lower right hand corner to add it to your personal calendar.
SHOP AmazonSmile
Support Hanlon School with every purchase
AmazonSmile is a simple, automatic way for you to support the Hanlon PTO every time you shop, at no cost to you.
You will find the exact same prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to the Hanlon PTO. Just log onto smile.amazon.com, choose Hanlon PTO as your charity of choice and shop away!
Amazon shopping with an iPhone?
You can use AmazonSmile just like an App by following a few simple steps. Open smile.amazon.com in your browser, tap the “share/forward link” button then tap the “Add to Home Screen” icon (you may need to swipe left to see this). You will now have an AmazonSmile icon which can be used in exactly the same way as the Amazon App but now all of your purchases support the Hanlon PTO.
PTO Save the Dates
School Play: Auditions 3/9; Rehearsals 3/16-3/26; Performance 3/27
Science Fair: 3/31 6:30-7:30PM
Spring Mini Course Session: 3/30-5/29
Teacher Appreciation Week: May 4-8
Art Show: May 20 5:30-7:00PM
PTO Meeting: 6/4 7-8PM
Field Day: 6/10
The Hanlon PTO is now using Paypal. Pay your $60 dues, make a donation, or pay for a course through this link: paypal.me/hanlonpto
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