December 18, 2014

Hello Memorial Families,
Excitement is certainly in the air here at Memorial!  It's been a busy week and we're looking forward to lots of fun activities next week including the Holiday Sing, visiting carolers from the High School and our winter break parties.  Please keep in mind that school will be in session next Monday and Tuesday (both full days).  Winter break dates are December 24th - January 4th.

Thank you to the CSA and the many amazing volunteers who organized the Holiday Luncheon for the Memorial School staff.  We are so grateful for the amazing kindness and support and truly appreciate the fantastic lunch on Friday.  Thank you!!

At last week's professional development day, first grade teacher, Mrs. Pendergast learned about Plicker, an app that allows teachers to quickly collect student responses and immediately calculates the data.  She tried it out with her class this week having students generate multi-part questions and then collect, record and analyze the results.

"Plickers is a powerfully simple tool that lets teachers collect real-time formative assessment data"...(www.plickers.com)

Thank you to the Blake Middle School students who came to help our first grade students code using Scratch Jr.!


On behalf of the Memorial School staff, I would like to wish you and your family the happiest of holidays and a wonderful New Year!  See you on January 5th!

Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,
Missy Bilsborough

December 11, 2014

Hello Memorial Families,

What an exciting week at Memorial!  For the first time ever, students in grade one participated in the Hour of Code along with millions of other students around the world.  Led by Mrs. Groden, with assistance from Mrs. Redding, Mrs. Manuel and the classroom teachers, the kids used iPads to program their characters to walk, jump, and speak.  It was amazing to watch their perseverance and excitement.  Check out a few of the pictures from one of the classes.

Memorial School's Family Literacy night last spring accepted donations in lieu of an event fee for the Timothy's Toybox Program based out of Framingham. This program supplies toys and books to 60+ area children in need at the holidays. Last year's donations amounted to $158.00. First grade families in Mrs Paget's Class made additional, voluntary donations in lieu of teacher holiday gifts to the program or supported it via their Scholastic book orders. Bonus points earned from the class book orders were donated to the program in the form of free books.  The children in Mrs Paget's class made suggestions of good books to purchase for the children in the program.  Approximately 150 books were purchased with the funds which provided 1-3 new books for each child on the TTB list. Below are some pictures of the first graders in Mrs Paget's class assisting with the sorting and labeling of the books to prepare them for their December 3rd delivery to Sharon and Timothy Gilbert of Framingham, the mother-son team who run the program.

Pokemon Cards
Over the past several weeks, there have been a number of issues surrounding Pokemon cards. Instances of lost, misplaced and taken cards as well as trading are resulting in hurt feelings and classroom investigation time.  As a result, we are asking that Pokemon cards be left at home.  Thank you in advance for your understanding.

Have a wonderful weekend and as always, thank you for reading.

Sincerely,
Missy Bilsborough
Memorial School Principal

December 4, 2014

Greetings Memorial Families,

Welcome back.  I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving Break!  The days and weeks are flying by here at Memorial.  It's hard to believe that in just a few short weeks (yikes!) it will be time for winter break.   There will be many great things happening and I look forward to sharing them with you.

As a reminder, students will be dismissed at 11:40 a.m. on Wednesday, December 10th as the staff participates in professional development.   Please mark your calendars.

From the Medfield Music Association …

Spaghetti with Santa is celebrating its 41^st year as a beloved holiday tradition for Medfield families. This year’s event will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 10, and two seatings are available – one at 5:15, and another at 6:30 p.m.Tickets can be purchased at Park Street Books for $10 each or outside of Brothers Marketplace during the holiday parade on Saturday, Dec. 6. Tickets will also be sold just prior to the start of the 5^th grade band, chorus and strings concert on Thursday, Dec. 4 in the high school auditorium.

Spaghetti with Santa features a spaghetti and meatball dinner, a fun kid-friendly basket raffle, a bake sale, photos with Santa, and music by our Medfield High School students in band, concert choir and orchestra. Proceeds benefit the Medfield Music Program across all schools.

The flyer  is included in this week’s Thursday packet.

Informational letters for incoming Kindergarten students will be mailed out to families during the week of December 15th with pre-registration for the 2015-2016 school year opening on January 30th.  For your planning purposes, a parent informational night will be held on Wednesday, January 28th (snow date February 4th) at 6:30 p.m. I look forward to seeing you there.

Have a wonderful week and weekend and as always, thank you for reading.

Sincerely,

Missy Bilsborough

Memorial School Principal

November 25, 2014

Greetings Memorial Families,

On behalf of the entire Memorial School staff, I would like to wish you and your family a very happy Thanksgiving.  Enjoy the holiday break. We will see you on Monday, December 1st.

The boys and girls in Mrs. Paget's first grade entertained their audience with a wonderful reenactment of the first Thanksgiving.  They concluded by singing some Thanksgiving songs including this one called "Albuquerque Turkey". Enjoy!

A note from Medfield Public Schools' Food Service

We are off to a good start this year. There have been a lot of good, positive changes in the food service department.  I have been working hard to create healthier menus with more lunch options that your children will enjoy. With the increase in food costs, especially on the healthier options, it will be necessary to increase the cost of lunch. Beginning in January, when we return from the holiday break, lunch prices will change as follows: 

Elementary schools will go from $2.35 to $2.50

Middle School and High School will go from $2.75 to $3.00

All Adult meal will go from $3.50 to $3.75

If you have any questions or concerns with anything that pertains to food service, please do not hesitate to contact me . dlavallee@email.medfield.net or 508-242-8897

Thank you

Dawn M. LaVallee

Thank you for reading.  Have a wonderful holiday.

Sincerely,

Missy Bilsborough

Memorial School Principal

November 20, 2014

Dear Memorial Parents,

Due to the Thanksgiving Break, there will be no school on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday next week (11/26, 11/27 & 11/28). 


Mark your calendars!

“Stuff theTruck”

Saturday, November 22nd – 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM

Blake Middle School Parking Lot and Cafeteria

Connecting Kids Who Have With Kids Who Need

Come help with a collection and sorting event for gently used kids’ clothing, book & toys that we will donate to Cradles to Crayons which helps kids in need. Here’s what you can do to help:

The easiest way to participate is to drop off something to donate – the most needed items right now are winter clothing and boots. (Any gently used kids’ clothing, books & toys are also welcomed and greatly appreciated!)

Want to do more? Who can help? Everyone! 

There will be jobs for all ages!

Younger helpers can make cards and sort clothing while older kids and adults can work at the triage station; helping with sorting and bagging and loading the different categories of clothing, books, and toys onto the truck. Kids can also help publicize the event by holding up posters in the center of town.

To sign up for a time slot that works for you, please use the following Sign-Up Genius link:
www.signupgenius.com/go/9040e4aada82cab9-townwide

Thank you in advance for your support of Medfield High School student, Julia Steeger, as she works towards her Gold Award.

Have a wonderful rest of your week!
Sincerely,

Missy Bilsborough
Memorial School Principal

November 13, 2014

Hello Memorial Families,

Don't forget!  Picture re-take day will be held on Monday, November 17th.  

On Monday, Captain and Cadet Wilson visited the Memorial School. Thank you Memorial CSA! We learned about the 5 branches of our military, discussed what it means to be free, looked at some wonderful photos and sang lots of songs!

The kids and teachers greatly enjoyed the presentation and would like to thank our special guests for joining us today and for their service to our country.  We are so grateful.

 Skydivers

  U.S. Air Force in Antarctica

  "At Attention"

 "About Face"

 

"Proud to be an American"

Preschool Survey
We are looking at our preschool program and are interested in your feedback.  If you have or will have preschool age student, please click here to fill out our very brief survey.  Thank you!



Response to Intervention (RTI)
At Memorial, we are fortunate to have many layers of support available to our students.  Coming Soon...our K-5 Response to Intervention/Child Study Team brochure outlining the tiers of services/support offered.

Math & Reading Support
As part of the regular education program, we offer students support in math and/or reading. Our classroom teachers and the reading and math specialists work in tandem to examine data and determine who needs support and what skills should be targeted. Staff members then typically work with small groups of students within the classroom.  This is a fluid process with student progress determining the length  of the support; several meetings or possibly months of intervention.


In closing, thanks to all who attended parent/teacher conferences today.  Next week, conferences will be held on Tuesday, November 18th.  Students will once again be dismissed at 11:40 a.m. and there will be no a.m. kindergarten.

Have a wonderful weekend.
Sincerely,

Missy Bilsborough

"Proud to be an American"

November 6, 2014

Greetings Memorial Families,

Andrea Moores has been working hard over the last months to be sure that all contact information has been updated in our system. Thank you Andrea!  If you are not receiving weekly emails, please contact her at amoores@email.medfield.net to let her know.

Please also remember to let the school office know if there are any information changes throughout the school year so that we can maintain the most up to date records.

 Keep in mind that Tuesday is Veteran's Day. There will be no school on November 11, 2014.

Parent/Teacher Conferences

Conferences will be held on 
Thursday, November 13th and Tuesday, November 18th.  Students will be dismissed at 11:40 a.m. on both of these days.  

Please note, there is no half-day kindergarten on either of the conference days.

Picture re-take day has been scheduled for Monday, November 17th.  Please refer to the Thursday packet  for specific information.

Don't Forget!

The first Tuesday of every month is MCPE Subway Day!

Twenty percent of all proceeds from 2:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. will be donated to MCPE. Thank you for your continued support!

Preschool  Playground

Thank you to all who were able to come to help us celebrate the opening of the newly updated preschool playground at the Memorial School.

A few rain drops didn't diminish the excitement of those in attendance as we recognized the lovely, "Mrs. T", thanked all who contributed and enjoyed some cookies and juice.  Mrs. Typadis taught for 24 years in the Medfield Public Schools and upon her retirement, many donated generously towards the purchase of new playground equipment. 

Thanks for reading!

Have a great weekend.

Sincerely,

Missy Bilsborough

October 30, 2014

Dear Memorial Families,

Happy Halloween! What a great day at the Memorial School! Thank you to all who were able to come and enjoy the Halloween Spooktacular parades. Also, we want to say a huge thank you to the room parents and all of the many volunteers who helped to make our parties so much fun.  Lastly, thank you to Officer Manganello and the entire Medfield Police Department for the stickers and glow sticks!

Enjoy the evening and be safe!

Check out some of today's great moments!

Ocean World

On Monday and Tuesday, the Kindergarten students had an opportunity to learn about the various creatures that live in the ocean.  They touched different crustaceans including lobsters and crabs, examined shells, and even got to see a Sperm whale's tooth, two example of baleen, and the "sword" from a Swordfish.  In addition, each child had the chance to create a print of a starfish or skate.  Thank you to the CSA for sponsoring this wonderful program. 

Preschool  Playground

Come help us celebrate the opening of the newly updated preschool playground at the Memorial School on Thursday, November 6th at 4 p.m.

The improvements were made possible, in part, by the generous donations made in recognition of Angie Typadis, "Mrs. T," on her retirement after 24 years of devoted service to the Medfield Public Schools as a preschool teacher.  As a result of these donations we were able to purchase four brand new pieces of equipment: a twisting adventure tunnel, a mountain climber, a climbing wall, and a 4 person spring a-bout.  O'Brien and Sons also generously donated a digger for our new sandpit. 

 Please join us for cookies, juice, and some playground fun as we show our appreciation to Mrs. T, who will be there for it's Grand Opening, and to show our thanks to everyone who generously contributed to this wonderful playground. Hope to see you and your kids there!

Thank you for reading!

Have a wonderful weekend and don't forgot to switch your clocks!

Sincerely,

Missy Bilsborough

Memorial School Principal