Margaret Chase Smith School
Weekly Update
November 13, 2020
Why Do Stars Come Out at Night?
In Mrs. Morrison’s first grade class this is the question they learned the answer to. Groups A and B learned about stars and why the stars come out at night. They got to make their own star projector of the Big Dipper. They can show you at home if you have a flashlight and a dark area.
Kindness Week:
Mrs. Hallissey, our assistant principal, organized it so our school’s Spirit Days coincides with World Kindness Day (13th) – The theme was “Let Your Kindness Show” so, students and staff wore anything that was bright, shiny, neon or metallic to show they are kind people. This Friday students were treated to seeing Mrs. Hallissey dressed up as a unicorn upon their arrival to school as well as having several staff members outside greeting students. Below are some pictures of students and staff participating.
Proud Board!
Mrs. Sturtevant started a new class bulletin board for her 1st graders called “Can You See the Smile Behind my Mask?” This is a board that will be filled with pictures of times when her students feel proud of something they have accomplished at school.
Here's a Tip to Help Foster Independence in Your Learner! Mrs. Allaire, a 3rd grade teacher, offered this tip to her parents so, they can guide their child to be more independent. These are great tips regardless of the grade.
Prepare and Pack Your Bag the Night Before
Why: It is very common for morning routines to take longer than anticipated, and this makes it very easy to forget important things at home! Having things prepared ahead of time is just one less step to take in the morning and provides less stress for kiddos and grown-ups as they start their day.
How: Have your child pick their school clothes out for the next day and lay them out so that decisions don’t need to be made when they are tired and may not want to be getting up.
Prior to bedtime, have students pack all of their things that they need for school in their backpack-- Homework Folder (with any completed paperwork), and a charged iPad. If your child needs to charge their iPad overnight, a great idea is to set the backpack next to the iPad so that they remember to grab it when they leave.
Restorative Practices
As part of our schools’ focus on building relationships and maintaining positive connections, staff and students have adopted a system of restorative practices in our school. Restorative communities promote a positive and healthy school culture by building, strengthening and (when harm occurs) repairing relationships through social-emotional learning, circle practice, and restorative dialogue.
Why Restorative Practices?
- Blame, shame, punishment, and exclusion are not working for our youth, our teachers or our community.
- Pushing youth out of our spaces and communities is the opposite of what they need.
- Misbehavior is an opportunity to learn needed skills that we aren’t capitalizing on.
- Restorative practices give us new tools to replace outdated and ineffective methods of punishment.
What are the Principles of Restorative Practices?
- Acknowledges that relationships are central to building community.
- Builds systems that address misbehavior and harm in a way that strengthens relationships.
- Focuses on the harm done rather than only on rule-breaking.
- Gives voice to the person harmed.
- Engages all stakeholders in collaborative problem solving.
- Empowers change and growth.
- Enhances responsibility.
Restorative practices are not a quick fix but rather a change in mindset, in the way we approach our work with students, staff and community. We will continue to share information and encourage you to reach out to us if you have questions or would like more information.
The Weeks Ahead –
Here are some dates and events I want to give you a heads-up about so that you can plan for them.
- November 19th and 23rd – Parent Teacher Conferences. Your child’s teacher will be sending out a form to sign up for a time.
- Parent/Teacher Conferences will be November 19th from 3:30 to 8:00 PM and November 23rd from 3:30 to 6:00 PM. To schedule a conference with one of our specialist you can email them at the email addresses below, and they will get back to with with a day and time.
- MCS - Specialist Teacher Contact Information. To set up a conference time with your child’s specialist, please email:
- Art - Rachel Lewin-Grover rgrover@sanford.org
- Music - Heather Hastings hhastings@sanford.org
- PE - Rich Wilkins rwilkins@sanford.org
- Health - Lindsay Tibbetts ltibbetts@sanford.org
- November 23rd and 24th - Kindness Assembly (Virtually) with Author Barry Lane
- November 25th – 27th – Students are off for Thanksgiving.
- November 30th – Group A students return back to school.
- December 1st – Group B Students return back to school.
The specialist will follow up with you to set up your date/time and send you a zoom link.
Have a great week!
~ Chuck Potter