Inside this issue:

Martin Luther King Day writing, Where in NES am I?

2

News from our Classrooms

3-4

PTA News 5

Announcements 6-8

Important Dates & Contact Info

9

Upcoming Events & Flyers

10-12

January 21, 2011 Volume 1, Issue 10

The N.E.S. Newt-paper Newbury Elementary School Newsletter

PLEASE JOIN US! Please join Principal Michael Tracy, Assistant Principal Heather Leo-nard, Student Adjustment Counselor Kathleen deStadler, Police Chief Michael A. Reilly, and School Resource Officer Stephen May for our first Community Safety Meeting.

NES Community Safety Meeting Tuesday, January 25th 7-8 P.M.

NES Auditorium Topics to be discussed include a brief overview of the MA bullying prevention law, a review of the work being done at NES with bully-ing prevention, and a review of safety protocols for emergency situations at NES. Hope to see you there!

Congratulations! Thank you to all the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students for their efforts in the National Geographic Geography Bee! Congratulations to our NES Geo Bee Champion, Alec Sirols, 6th grader. Special acknowledgement to the following NES Geo Bee school Finalists; 4th grade: Meri Fullford, Abby Wing, Jackie Downs, Ashley Houlihan, Ethan Belt 5th grade: Cole Lojek, Travis Madden, Liliana Mor-ris 6th grade: Brendan Mahoney, Jack Krisko, and Alec Sirols (and Jed Cutter, a finalist unavailable to com-pete)

Page 2 Volume 1, Issue 10

Where in NES am I???

Here is our mystery picture from our last newsletter — did you find it? It is a close up picture of one of our cafeteria tables! There will be a new mystery pic-ture next newsletter!

Martin Luther King day fell on Monday, 1/17 this year. This is a great opportunity to discuss themes of diversity and equality. We are inviting all students and classes to participate in a school-wide writing prompt about these themes. We ask that the writing pieces be submitted to the office by Friday, January 28th. Teachers have the opportunity to work with the writing prompts with students, but we invite parents and families to get involved with your child! Teachers may select one of the following prompts that is the most age appropriate for the students OR provide choice and allow students to select a prompt to respond to: Younger Grades (gr. preK-1) * Draw a picture of one thing you can do to make the world a better place

Middle Grades (gr. 1-4) * Write a note of recognition, or a tribute, or an ode thanking Dr. King for his efforts to make the world a better place. * In what ways are people different? In what ways are all people alike? * Dr. King was one of the world's great activists for social change. If you could change one thing about the world today, what would it be? Upper Grades (gr. 4-6) * In "The Strength of Love," King claimed that fear was the ultimate cause of hatred, prejudice, and violence. Do you agree or disagree with this assessment? Write a persuasive essay defending your answer. * Explain how discrimination and prejudice impact our world today. * Dr. King was one of the world's great activists for social change. If you could change one thing about the world today, what would it be?

Second Graders have been working on Math Story Prob-lems. The students have been practicing visualizing what the problem is asking and initiating strategies for finding a solu-tion. Some of the strategies include counting on and count-ing back, using tally marks, and using traditional regrouping for addition. Our Flat Stanleys are off on their adventures around the country and around the world. We expect that many of them are enjoying warmer climates than we are. Second Graders are hard at work mapping the continents, oceans, rivers and mountain ranges of the world in order to map each Flat Stanley as it returns from its adventure.

News from our Classrooms

Page 3 Volume 1, Issue 10

Grade 2

The third graders have been very busy! Mathematicians are developing their ability to use measurement tools accurately as they dis-cover the perimeter of various 2-D objects. They are working to understand and identify area in square units, and are using this knowledge to measure an irregular area – their footprint!

In literacy, we discussed the honorable life of Martin Lu-ther King Jr. at length. Students recognized that forward progress is made when people initiate positive change. Each third grader wrote and shared their dream for our community, country or world. We welcome you to come read our dreams lining the third grade wing!

Grade 3

Fourth graders are researching their way through space. Each stu-dent is working on research for their Solar System projects. It has been so fun watching the way they go about learning. They all have such different styles and it comes across clearly in their crea-tions. This is such a pivotal point in the school year. You can see their independence grow every day with this project. We have started our next unit in math. We are exploring polygons, angles, area, perime-ter, and volume. We will continue to be practicing larger multiplication and division prob-lems to help build mastery of this concept. Students have been working on developing their writing skills in anticipation for the MCAS Long Comp. in March. We have been walking the children through the process of writing their 5 - 6 paragraph stories through brainstorming, rough draft, revising, editing, and final draft. They have developed into quite the authors.

News from our Classrooms

Page 4 Volume 1, Issue 10

Grade 4

Did you know…?

Newbury Elementary School Principal Michael Tracy, Assistant Princi-pal Heather Leonard and Adjustment Counselor Kathleen deStadler recently attended a conference at Endicott College in Beverly on bul-lying and cyberbullying, presented by Elizabeth Englander from the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center at Bridgewater State College. Information presented included some of the most current research and work within the fields of bullying, as well as ideas for educators in addressing bullying situations.

Page 5 Volume 1, Issue 10

PTA News

**PIZZA DANCE RESCHEDULED!**

Please join us on Friday, 2/4 for the NES Pizza Dance! Come en-joy pizza, baked goodies, and have fun dancing to the music from our favorite DJ, Nancy Sweeney from Coastal Music Services. The Pizza Dance is from 5:30 to 7:30 pm and students must be accom-panied by an adult.

The NES PTA invites you to the 2nd Annual Pub Quiz Night Fund-raiser, March 12, 2011 at 7:00 pm at the Governor’s Academy, Phillips House. Enjoy your picnic dinner; socialize with friends while testing your knowledge on the Quiz with a chance to win gift bags for the winning team. There will also be a chance to win an iPad or many other great prizes. $200 for a table of 8 includes complimentary champagne and hors d’oeurves reception. Please contact Wendy Wood at wendywood17@comcast.net to reserve your table today!

The next PTA meeting is scheduled for Tuesday Feb-ruary 1st from 6:30 – 7:00pm in the school library. At 7:00pm our meeting will move to the auditorium where the Town of Newbury Task Force (made up of Select-men, Finance Committee and our School Committee Representatives) will be providing information on the very critical financial situation of our town. Please consider coming to the very important meeting – pro-vide feedback, and get your questions answered!

Page 6 Volume 1, Issue 10

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Happy New Year! Now is a great time to start new traditions in your home.... like recy-cling! We plan to provide you with tips in each newsletter on where you can recycle your household goods, from your cleaning products to old Crocs and batteries. If you need assistance, please let us know and we will be more than willing to try to help you find where to recy-cle any items. The NES Recycling Committee is getting ready to hold an assem-bly. Some of you may have heard that we held a waste audit in the cafeteria in December. During the assembly we will explain to the students why we did this, what the results were, and what they can do to reduce the amount of waste they produce. We will also an-nounce that we are holding a competition and prize for the grade with the largest reduction in waste, to be measured after a second waste audit. More information to come....... Please contact Co-Chairs, Tammy Cotter (tammycotter@comcast.net) or Sally Milliken (MillDoo@comcast.net), if you are interested in helping or would like to know more about our activi-ties. Recycling Tip: Aerosol cans..... These can usually be recyled with other cans, as long as you pull off the plastic cap and empty the canister completely.

NES Recycling Committee Corner

All NES girls are invited to join the Newbury Softball League for the 2011 season. Players are grouped by grade (Instructional - grades 1 & 2, Farm - grades 3 & 4, and Jun-ior - grades 5 & 6). In person registration will be at the NES cafeteria on Wednesday, January 26 from 6 - 8 pm. Cost is $100 for farm level and up, and $50 for instruc-tional. Any questions, please contact Michelle Rybicki at newburysoftball@gmail.com.

Newbury Softball League

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Page 7 Volume 1, Issue 10

Parents of prospective preschool children are invited to an Open House and Information Night to be held in the Newbury Elementary School preschool class-rooms and library on Thursday, February 3, 2011 from 6:30-7:30PM. The Open House is for par-ents of prospective students and will consist of an overview of the classroom program, including a power point presentation, as well as a tour of the preschool classrooms. Preliminary applications will be available for next year’s program. Children must be three years old before September 1, 2011 and live in Newbury or Byfield in order to apply. Spaces are limited.

The Preschool provides child-centered developmentally appropriate preschool classes for young children ages three to five. The preschool program is fully accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Classes meet two, three, or four half days each week. Tui-tion is based on the number of days/week. Financial assistance based on income is available for those who qualify.

NES Preschool Information Night

With our wintery-months upon us, we have a high frequency of nurse-visits for wet pants. Please consider sending an extra pair of pants and/or socks with your child if they get too wet during recess. We are requesting your help for donations of children’s pants to the nurses office. If you have any pants that no longer fit your child, or are sitting unused in the bottom of the drawer, consider donating them!

The best types of pants to donate include: *sweat pants *pants with elastic waistbands *exercise/gym pants *pants in child small, medium, and large

Nurse Request

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Page 8 Volume 1, Issue 10

We currently have a large collection of items from our student Lost & Found. If your student has recently misplaced any items please come to the Little Gym to see if it is in our NES lost & found collection. ALL ITEMS REMAINING IN LOST & FOUND AFTER WEDNESDAY JANUARY 26TH WILL BE DONATED TO A CLOTHING BANK. Please encourage your student to pick up their items, or come sign in at the office to locate that lost mitten or lunch box!

Lost & Found Items

It has been a good winter for snow! Fifty five of our 4th, 5th and 6th graders have been out enjoying the slopes of Bradford Ski Area, along with our fearless parent volunteers. Some of our students are skiing and boarding for the very first time, while our more seasoned skiers and boarders are enjoying their independence on the slopes. Parents: Pick up on January 21st will be a the main entrance. All students must be picked up at the return bus by an adult. Parents picking up at Bradford are reminded that they need to sign out before 5:45 pm so that we may load the buses for our trip home. Thanks!

NES Ski/Snowboard Program

Cash Calendar Sales for 6th Grade Environmental Camp Calendar Ticket Stubs & Payments are due this Friday Jan. 21st Please send them into the NES Main Office

Have you purchased your calendar? It's not too late. Each calendar purchase gives you 28 chances to win! If there are any questions or you would like to purchase a calendar please con-tact Erin Fournier @ Erinsjunk@verizon.net or 978-465-0692.

Thank you for all your support!!!

Newbury Elementary Triton Regional School

District 63 Hanover Street Newbury 01951

Phone: (978) 465-5353

Fax: (978) 463-3070

E-mail: mtracy@trsd.net

hleonard@trsd.net

PTA Officers President Maureen Heffernan, maureen.heffernan@comcast.net Co-VP Michelle Walsh,mwalsh9@msn.com Co-VP Patty Olson, patricianeil@comcast.net Treasurer Wendy Wood, wendywood17@comcast.net Secretary Betsy Carter, betsycarter21@gmail.com School Committee

Dina Sullivan, Chair, dsullivan@trsd.net Deborah Choate, Vice Chair, dchoate@trsd.net Suzanne Densmore, Secretary,suzannedensmore@trsd.net Lane Bourn, lbourn@trsd.net Linda Litcofsky, llitcofsky@trsd.net Holly Janvrin, hjanvrin@trsd.net Mary Murphy, mmurphy@trsd.net Paul Lees, plees@trsd.net Robin Williams, rwilliams@trsd.net

January 1/21—Student Council Crazy Hat Day 1/25—Community Safety Presentation,

7:00 P.M. in NES Auditorium 1/27—Historic Newbury Days, gr. 5 & 6 1/28—NES Ski Program February 2/1—Town Meeting re: finances, 7:00

P.M. in NES Auditorium 2/2—Recycling Assemblies 2/2—School Committee 7:00P.M. 2/3—Chinese New Year 2/3—Pre-school parent info night, 6:30

P.M. 2/4—NES Ski Program 2/4—PTA Pizza Dance RESCHEDULED

DATE* 5:30 P.M. 2/11—HALF DAY 2/11—NES Ski Program 12-6 P.M.

Upcoming Events

We’re on the Web! www.trsd.net/newbury

School Community The NES Newt-paper is published on a bi-weekly basis. If you would like to submit something to be included in the NES Newt-paper, please email your information to hleonard@trsd.net by the Tuesday be-fore the newsletter is published.

Plus Coupons for:10% off at :

DRAGONS NEST, MODERN MILLIE, PINK HEARTS/BLUE SOLES, JUST DOGS, LORETTA RESTAURANT, LIVELY KIDS, MK WINSTON JEWELERS, FLIPPIN OUT, DENISE’S FLOWER SHOP, & THE CUCKOOS NEST

20% off CHILDRENS ORCHARD, BOOK RACK, & KATWALK

15% off PARTIDGE IN A BEAR TREE, VALERIE’S GALLERY, & JL COOMBS

PLEASE FILL OUT THE ORDER FORM BELOW AND RETURN TO SCHOOL - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Please give me _______ coupon book(s) at $25 each to be sent home with my child

in their TAKE HOME folder. I have enclosed a check/cash for $___________

(PLEASE MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO NES PTA)

STUDENT NAME: _____________________ GRADE/TEACHER: _____________________

BUY YOUR NEWBURY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL COUPON BOOK TODAY!

Filled with great coupons for local shops you love and patronize – this book has been cus-tom designed to save you hundreds of dollars – all while helping the children at NES! -

Books cost $25 and all proceeds go directly to the NES PTA

$5.00 off purchase of $50 at Valentines Free large thin crust Pizza when you buy a large thin crust pizza at Rowley House of Pizza $10 off a purchase of $30 or more at A SHORE THING $10 off a $35 oil change at state street MOBIL $40 off a $139.95 car detailing at FRASER AUTOMOTIVE 20% off TAMARA handbags Free $3.00 cupcake when you buy one cupcake at EAT CAKE Save $2.00 on a $20.00 purchase at GRAND TRUNK Save $5,00 on any $20 order from UPPER CRUST 15% off any catered party from 2 – 100 people GOT THYME PERSONAL CHEF Half price beverage at SOUFFLES

Order forms were sent home with students—send your order back soon! Please contact Tina Kennedy (Newburyyearbook@yahoo.com) with any questions