mcalister intermediate school november 2014 mcalister school community, grade 5 6:45 p.m. -7:45 p.m....

260 Mountain Road | Suffield, CT 06078 | 860-668-3830 | http://www.suffield.org

UPCOMING

EVENTS

Clothing Drive November 3rd - 7th

No School Tuesday, November 4th

Election Day

Book Fair / Show & Tell

Open House Wednesday, November 5th

Grades 3 and 4

5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.

Grade 5

6:45 p.m. -7:45 p.m.

BOE Meeting Wednesday, November 5th

6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

SHS Media Center

No School Tuesday, November 11th

Veterans’ Day

Sped PAC Wednesday, November 12th

6:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Suffield Middle School Cafe

Principal Conversations Tuesday, November 18th

8:15 a.m.

MIS Conference Room

BOE Meeting Tuesday, November 18th

6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

SMS Media Center

Early Release Wednesday, November 26th

1:00

Thanksgiving Break

No School Thursday, November 27th

Friday, November 28th

Thanksgiving Break

A Message From The Principal

Volume 2 Issue 2 McAlister Intermediate School November 2014

Dear McAlister School Community,

The year continues to busily roll along

as we approach the month of

November. We just finished up with

many meaningful and impactful

learning experiences for both our

students and teachers, and as we

continue onto the month of November,

we look forward to even more!

Some of the many special events in

which our students participated in

includes a third grade field trip to

Sturbridge Village, as well as a

presentation

for our third

and fourth

grade

students by

Wingmasters.

The field trip

to Sturbridge

Village provided our students with a

beautiful look back into life in rural

New England during the 1790s

through the 1830s and brought new

meaning to our students’ social

studies unit on colonial life. Another

special event from which our third

and fourth graders have benefitted,

has been a visit by “Wingmasters.”

Wingmasters is a program that works

to increase public understanding and

appreciation of North American birds

of prey, as well as provides care and

rehabilitation for these majestic

animals. Both of these experiences

are heavily supported and arranged

by our hardworking PTO in

conjunction with our teachers--this is

one of the many examples of how we

(and our school!) are better when we

work together on behalf of our

students!!

We are also happy to report that both

Funky Foot as well as our Expanding

Horizons programs are in full swing.

Funky Foot is open to all students and

provides our students with another

opportunity for physical activity

before the school day begins.

Expanding Horizons provides our

students with both physical activities

as well as enriching, after school

activities including photography,

active games, board games,

cartooning, and the like. If your child

would like to participate in either of

these programs, please know that we

will be running both of these

programs again in the spring! We are

grateful to both Mrs. Motter, Mrs.

Raymond, Mr. Desrosiers, and all of

our teachers who work so hard to

bring these programs to our students.

“Reading is to the mind,

what exercise is to the

body.” - Joseph Addison



Virtual

Backpack

http://www.suffield.org/misvb

2014-2015 District

Calendar

School Lunch and

Breakfast Menus

McAlister Family

Handbook

2014-2015 Suffield

Elementary PTO

Information

2014 - 2015 Parent

Letter about Enterovirus

D68

McAlister School Spirit

T-Shirt Order Form

NCCC - Parent and

Sibling Support Groups

NCCC - Recreational

Family Activity Group

Calendar

PALS Program - K-3

Parent Letter about

Head Lice

Park and Rec Youth

Basketball

PTO Clothing Drive

11/3 - 11/7

School Lunch and

Breakfast Payment

Information

Warriors Wrestling

Club 2014-2015 (DEC –

FEB)

We are also happy that we had our

first ever McAlister Family Hike to

Heublein Tower. This event was

organized by Denise Raymond and

attended by over 110 students and

family members. We were excited

with this event, as it was a time to

share in a physical activity with the

entire school community that included

lots of fun, and beautiful tri-state

views. We hope to continue this

tradition in years to come!

In addition to all of the classroom

learning and special events that took

place during the month of October,

our teachers were also busy

collaboratively learning and planning

together . Teachers also worked to set

student learning objectives for their

classes--more evidence of our work

that is “better together!” As part of

this work, teachers worked with our

ELA Supervisor, Reading Specialist,

and Math Specialist, in order to

analyze student data and set student

learning targets. They will then work

throughout the year on these goals,

reviewing them throughout the year

and continually analyzing the data in

order to continue to meet students’

learning needs.

Our staff members have also been

working to further develop “The

McAlister Way.” These efforts

positively impact our school climate

and continue to provide character

education to all students. You can find

out more about our specific efforts

with “The McAlister Way,” as well as

ordering information for our

McAlister School Spirit T-Shirt in the

following pages of this month’s

newsletter.

As we look forward to the month

ahead, we anxiously anticipate our

Show and Tell Open House and Book

Fair Event! This is a time for both

students and families to come in and

learn about their child’s day to day

learning,

their

classroom

environment,

and to peruse

Scholastic’s

latest books.

This fun-

filled evening

will take

place on Wednesday, November 5,

2014 according to the following

schedule:

Grades 3 and 4->5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.

Grade 5 ->6:45 p.m. - 7:45 p.m.

Also during the month of November,

we will hold our traditional Veteran’s

Day Assembly on Friday, November 7.

This is one of my all-time favorite

celebrations, as we invite veterans to

join us as we learn about the holiday

and express our thanks to those who

have served in the armed forces. I

look forward to sharing pictures of

this event and more details in our

next newsletter!

As always, we are excited for the

month ahead and look forward to

working together to continually

improve and make our school the best

it can be!

Warm Regards,

Karen Carpenter-Snow

http://www.suffield.org/misvb

Partne

ring

With

Parents An

opportunity

for parents

to :

Meet with

Karen

Carpenter-

Snow

Hear

about the

latest

school and

district

initiatives

Discuss

important

events

Solidify the

home-

school

connection

that is so

vitally

important

to the

success of



Principal

Conversations An opportunity for

parents to :

Meet with the

principal, Karen

Carpenter-Snow and

assistant principal,

Jack Ferraro

Hear about the

latest school and

district initiatives

Discuss important

events

Solidify the home-

school connection

that is so important

to the success of our

students.

Please join us for our next meetings:

Tues., November 18th

at 8:15 a.m.

Tues., February 10th

at 8:15 a.m.

Tues., May 19th

at 8:15 a.m.

McAlister

Main Office

Conference Room

Library Media Center

Our library media

center is a very busy

place that buzzes with

excitement throughout

the day. Our students

routinely use the library

not only for their weekly

class time, but also to

sign out books

throughout the day, complete research,

and learn about new digital resources. If

you would like to volunteer to help out in

the Library Media Center, please contact

Mrs. Karen Pakula at

[email protected], as she welcomes

many volunteers each day to this

exciting (and busy!) part of our school.

Nurse’s Corner—by Mrs. Michele Fall

November is the month we begin vision and hearing screenings!

Vision screenings, as mandated by the CT general statutes,

consists of screening for distance visual acuity. This screening is

required annually for K-6 grades and again in grade 9. The

purpose is to identify possible vision problems and to treat

recoverable loss at a young age before it interferes with learning.

The process is conducted using an eye chart (Snellen eye chart)

from a 20 foot distance with one eye covered.

Pure tone hearing screening is mandated annually for K-3, grades 5 & 8. The

purpose of the audiometric screening is to identify students suspected of

hearing impairments or middle ear disease. Once identified, the appropriate

treatment and services can be provided to minimize the adverse effects of

auditory impairments on speech, language, educational and social-emotional

development.

All screenings outside of normal/passing limits are rescreened before a

referral is sent home. A written notification will be sent home to any child

who has failed the screening. This referral will require parents to seek a

professional for a full examination.

Please call or email if you have any questions or concerns about these

important screenings.

Suffield Public Schools is currently seeking licensed R.N.’s for

substitute nursing positions. If you are interested, please

contact Kathy Carney in Human Resources, 860-668-3802.

mailto:[email protected]



Curriculum Highlights

As the weather transitions to cooler temperatures, the fourth graders will be transitioning to new

curriculum units this November. In math, students will learn about factors & multiples and complete

many exciting and challenging activities that explore prime and composite numbers, divisibility rules,

and finding patterns in numbers. In reading, we will begin a non-fiction unit. Students will read non-

fiction books of their choice and discover how text features and the text

structure helps them to understand the main idea and author’s purpose.

Students will also learn how to use their background knowledge and

clues from the text to make inferences while they read. In writing,

students will research a topic of their interest using books, the Internet,

and online databases and publish an informative piece. In social studies,

we will begin to learn about the geography of Connecticut and the first

people to settle in our state. What an exciting month of learning!

Third graders are in the midst of an exciting writing residency with Leslie

Johnson. Over the last few weeks Mrs. Johnson has inspired students with

her innovative approach to developing vivid characters in narrative writing

pieces. We are very fortunate to have her working with our third grade

students for a few more weeks! The focus of third grade reading instruction

has been on strategies for reading nonfiction text. We have been learning

about nonfiction text features and how they help us understand the text.

Other areas of focus have been asking and answering questions about the

text and identifying the main idea. In math, third graders have been

working on a unit of study on perimeter and area. The children have been

introduced to repeated addition and multiplication as ways of determining

the area of rectangles. This will help us transition nicely to our next unit of study on multiplication and

division. We have concluded our science unit on animal and plant adaptions and recently launched our

first social studies unit on colonial times with a field trip to Sturbridge Village on October 24th.

Third Grade - By Mary Halzack

Fourth Grade - By Gina Quimby

Fifth Grade - By Amy Larson

In ELA, we continue to work on writing personal narratives. Our focus in reading is on genre studies!

We are studying characters, settings and events in a story. In science, students are wrapping up their

sound unit with a fun instrument project! They will apply their learning to these creative new designs as

they build an instrument that demonstrates the ability to change pitch and volume,

as well as a few other requirements. We will delve into learning about light

throughout the month of November. In math, our focus switches to mastering the

traditional algorithm for three-by-two digit multiplication -

(whole numbers first, then decimals) and into long division of

whole numbers and decimals. Fact fluency is important, so we ask that students

work on their addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts for 10-15

minutes each night. In social studies, students have been analyzing the key

features of the middle Atlantic as well as significant people. We are moving into

the characteristics of the southern colonies. At the end of this, students will wrap

up with a colonial project. Students will apply what they have learned about successful colonies.

Partnerin

g

With

Parents An opportunity for

parents to :

Meet with

Karen

Carpenter-Snow

Hear about the

latest school

and district

initiatives

Discuss

important

events

Solidify the

home-school

connection that

is so vitally

important to the

success of our

students.

Please join us for

our next meeting:


Volume 2 Issue 2

What is your favorite part of

the school day?

My favorite part of the day are

all those small moments I have

with my students every day. It

might be a quick good morning

hug, or a great conversation

about a book they are reading

during readers workshop.

Those small moments make

each day brighter.

What does the McAlister

Way mean to you?

The McAlister Way means

community to me. Having a

strong sense of community

and belonging is so

important. The McAlister

Way makes it fluid

throughout the school as to

what is expected. This sets our

students up for success each

and every day.

Staff Spotlight - Mrs. Jessica Marzi

McAlister Intermediate School November 2014

Third Grade Teacher

What motivates you to be in education?

I love being a teacher. What motivates me the most each day is my students. I try to make each and every day

even better than the day before. My students always motivate me to make lessons fun, fresh and exciting. I enjoy

figuring out new ways to teach material and to create a positive classroom community.

Years of Service: I have been teaching for 7 years. In years past I have taught Kindergarten - 2nd

grade. I am so excited and lucky to be teaching 3rd grade at McAlister!!

Important Reminders

Families are reminded that “End of the Day Student Pickup” is at 3:05 p.m. We have pickup

in the cafeteria on every day except Wednesdays (on Wednesdays pickup will be in the gym).

Please remember to enter both the cafeteria and the gym via the entrances at the back of our

school. Additionally, since every instructional minute is important to our students’ overall

academic success, please be sure to use the 3:05 p.m. pickup time and let your child end the school

day getting organized for the day ahead with their class instead of picking them up a few minutes

before.

Be sure to check out our first ever, McAlister School Spirit T-Shirt! These t-shirts were created

by our staff to celebrate our school and to show off our school spirit. Order forms went home in

late October, so be sure to download a form from the virtual backpack or pick up one in the main

office. T-shirt orders are due by the end of day Wednesday, November 5th.

‘Show and Tell’ Open House and Book Fair

Wednesday, November 5th

This is an exciting evening for both students and their families, as student work will

be on display, all classrooms will be open, and of course the Book Fair will be on!

Times for the Open House are as follows:

Grades 3 and 4 --> 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

Grade 5 --> 6:45 p.m. - 7:45 p.m.



The 10,000 McAlister Way Ticket Challenge is

officially under way! Last week, Mrs. Carpenter-

Snow and Mr. Ferraro met with each grade level

(we actually split each grade level in half and held

six “mini assemblies”) introducing our new

McAlister Way Pledge and prompting students to

reflect on what The McAlister Way “looks like” and

“sounds like” as we go through our school day,

within and beyond the walls of our classrooms. Our

students have been challenged to earn 10,000

McAlister Way tickets, given out by staff members

who observe students demonstrating The McAlister

Way with behavior that is kind, respectful,

responsible and safe.

Our collective commitment to living The McAlister

Way is captured in our new pledge, which we now

recite every morning as a school community as part

of our daily morning announcements:

“We strive to be our very best

each and every day.

We’re kind, respectful, responsible, safe -

That’s The McAlister Way!”

Throughout each day, attentive staff members will

recognize students demonstrating behavior

emblematic of The McAlister Way with a blue,

McAlister Way Ticket. The staff member will tell

the student what specific behavior was observed

when handing over the reward ticket to positively

reinforce that student’s good choice. Students will

also receive a special McAlister Way Paw print that

will be dropped into a special bucket in the main

office. Each grade level has its own bucket, and we

will be keeping track of how many McAlister Way

tickets each grade level receives. At the end of each

week, we will hold a special raffle and draw one

ticket from all those submitted for the week. The

lucky student whose ticket is drawn will be

announced and receive a special prize! All of the

McAlister Way Paw prints will be plastered on our

walls throughout the school. As the year evolves,

we envision thousands of paw prints symbolizing

the many acts of kind, respectful, responsible and

safe behavior that occur so frequently at our special

school.

Two other special items were on display at our mini

-assemblies. First, we were able to show off our

new McAlister tee-shirts featuring our paw print

logo. The tee shirts are Suffield blue with white

letters. On the chest pocket is the new paw print

with the words “McAlister Intermediate School –

Suffield, CT” forming a circle around the paw. On

the back is a large paw print and the words,

“McAlister Wildcats.” Tee shirts are $8.00 each.

Order forms were sent home last week and can be

found in the virtual backpack.

Finally, at the end of each mini-assembly, all

students and staff members signed our new 2014-

15 McAlister Way banner. This banner will hang

in the main hallway outside of our office and serve

as a constant reminder that we are all united in our

effort to be kind, respectful, responsible, and safe.

Living “The McAlister Way” is “what we do” at

McAlister Intermediate School, and we are

committed to recognizing and celebrating students

as they make positive choices reflecting kind,

respectful, responsible and safe behavior.

“The McAlister Way” by Jack Ferraro

More Pictures From the McAlister Family Hike

mcalister intermediate school november 2014 mcalister school community, grade 5 6:45 p.m. -7:45 p.m....

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