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Leaps & Bounds 2/6/09

Department/School: Deerfield
Type: General
Leaps and Bounds Issue 20 February 6, 2009 72 Deerfield Avenue Westwood, Massachusetts02090 781-326-7500 x-1504 (Fax: 781-320-0189) ________________________________________________________________________________________ Calendar: Wed., February 11^th: Early Release Day, all students dismissed at 11:25AM, no lunch Deerfield School Science Fair – 6PM-8PM Thurs., February 12^th: PTO Meeting – 7PM February 16^th – February 20^th: February Vacation – No School Wed., February 18^th – 28^th: WESC Online Auction Mon., February 23^rd: School Reopens Wed., February 25^th: Early Release Day, all students dismissed at 11:25AM, no lunch Wed., March 4^th: Early Release Day, all students dismissed at 11:25AM, no lunch Wed., March 11^th: Early Release Day, all students dismissed at 11:25AM, no lunch Deerfield Health and Fitness Fair 6-7:30pm Thurs., March 12^th: WESC Comedy Night, Dedham Community Theater Tues., March 17^th: Deerfield Musical Thurs., March 19^th: Deerfield Musical Fri., March 20^th: All Day Inservice – no school Wed., March 25^th: Early Release Day, all students dismissed at 11:25AM, no lunch Message from the Principal… One of the worst things that a principal ever hears is “The cafeteria supervisor is not coming in to work today.” For the first time this year (Carolyn Nesbitt, our cafeteria worker, has an iron immune system) I heard those fateful words. On Wednesday I spent two hours supervising the students in the cafeteria. I am happy to report that it was a pleasant experience. The students adhered to the Deerfield School Core Values during lunch. They cooperated with and respected each other, the adults, and the cafeteria; were responsible for their own belongings; and were generally very pleasant. They were able to have a nice time interacting with one another while following the school rules. This is a significant improvement from the start of the school year, when many students engaged in disruptive and disrespectful behavior. I am so happy for our students and proud of their progress. I am also thankful to Carolyn Nesbitt, Tricia DeAngelis (our school nurse), and the regular parent volunteers. They are doing a wonderful job promoting a positive climate in the cafeteria. Yours truly, Allan Cameron Parking Reminder Parents who are dropping off and/or picking up their children are asked to park along the right curb (closest to the school). We ask this for two reasons: student safety and traffic flow. Our top priority is keeping students safe. Therefore, we do not want students crossing the traffic circle road during arrival or dismissal. The traffic circle can be chaotic and we don’t want to have any accidents. If cars are parked along the left curb (along the lawn with the flag pole and Deerfield sign) traffic gets congested. Often busses cannot enter the traffic circle until all of the vehicles parked along the inside curb are moved. This wastes a considerable amount of time and can be very frustrating. DO NOT stop your car in the middle of the traffic loop to let your children out. This stops traffic and is very inconsiderate to the other parents. SCHOOL NEWS… 2009 MCAS Dates Grade 3: ELA - April 8, 13, and 14; Math - May 13 and 14 Grade 4: ELA - March 31 Long Composition, April 3, 6, and 7; Math - May 20 and 21 Grade 5: ELA - March 30, April 1 and 2; Math - May 11 and 12; Science - May 18 and 19; SS - May 26 and 27 FIFTH GRADE PERSUASIVE LETTERS… Congratulations to the Deerfield fifth graders for their recent writing success! Amy Hayes, the fifth grade ELA teacher, worked with the students on persuasive letters. The students selected topics of interest and wrote letters advocating their positions. The students have received several responses to their letters and some of their letters have been published in the Letters to the Editor section of the Westwood Press. We are very proud of them for their efforts. FROM THE HEALTH OFFICE… Flu Season It is that time of year when it seems everyone is sick and run down! Here at Deerfield, we have our share of colds, coughs, and the stomach bug. We do have 2 known diagnosed cases of the flu. As with most other illnesses, you can teach your children to protect themselves with frequent handwashing, keeping their hands away from their nose and mouth, properly covering a cough with their arm and not hand, and getting plenty of rest. If your child is sick, it is very important to keep them home until they are no longer contagious. They should be fever free without the use of fever reducing medication and should feel well enough to make it through the school day. Please call the health office if you have any questions. Refer to www.mass.gov/dph/flu for more information. Save the Date HEALTH AND FITNESS FAIR - WEDNESDAY MARCH 11, 2009 - FROM 6 - 7:30PM More information to follow. If you are a parent in a health profession and would like to volunteer your time and expertise, we would love to have you! Please contact Tricia DeAngelis, R.N., BSN, NCSN PTO NEWS… HEY DEERFIELD!!!! WESC is still looking for donations for its online auction. Please contact Sophia Bartholomew if you can help or go directly to www.wesconline.org. PTO MEETING Our next PTO meeting will be next Thursday, February 12^th at 7:00 p.m. Superintendent John Antonucci will be our guest speaker. He will be discussing the 2009-2010 budget that he presented to the school committee. BINGO NIGHT Deerfield School wants you to mark your calendars for BINGO NIGHT on Friday, March 27^th from 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. More details to follow!!! CALLING ALL COOKS!!! Please share with us you and your family’s favorite recipes for the Deerfield cookbook. We encourage the kids to get involved with writing and decorating their recipe cards. Please use the cards sent home (writing horizontally with a clear margin around the sides) and fill in the pre-order forms and return to school by this Friday, February 13^th. We hope to have the cookbooks back for an early spring delivery. We are still working on pricing, but we think they will be around $15 or less. Thank you to Mary Jo Hogan and Tish Verzino for getting mini-courses off the ground and running. We appreciate the time they put in organizing great courses for our children. Thanks for your continued support – Ali, Amy and Michelle Westwood Public Schools does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, sex, religion, disability, national origin, or sexual orientation.