VOLUME IX NO 6 March 30, 2007

OUR MISSION: CHALLENGE, SUCCESS AND LOVE OF LEARNING FOR EVERY ONE EVERYDAY.

OUR MOTTO: TOGETHER WE LEARN

Our school lives by the Golden Rule. We expect everyone to treat each other in a kind manner. As adults we model that respect daily.

March certainly came in like a lion! It was a wonderful month of cooperative efforts and activities. Our students have worked together with our staff and our community to accomplish many goals.

March was an activity-filled month. We enjoyed seeing you and your children during our classroom, grade level and whole school activities and special events. March began, after a late season snow day, with our celebration of READ ACROSS AMERICA. Officer Chris Burbank was our guest reader and helped us celebrate the day by reading a favorite book. Guest readers shared favorite books with students throughout the day. South Berwick's Friends of the Library rescheduled their very special evening event to Friday, March 9th. It was another very successful PJ event with a focus on family and reading. Your participation in this event was wonderful. We are so fortunate to have our community support our children and their families with enriching literacy activities. On Friday, March 16th many students came to school wearing PJs and most came with a favorite stuffy. We met in the gym that afternoon to recognize students who had been "Caught Being Good", were "Students of the Week" and were members of "Golden Sneaker" winning classrooms. We will have one afternoon meeting (2:15) each month to recognize student and community members so our afternoon students are included in these celebrations of success that are usually held on Friday mornings. Our next afternoon meeting will be held at 2:00 on Friday April 27th. We invite you to join us for those Friday morning meetings at 8:25. We still plan to have students walk to the South Berwick Library to get their own library cards.

March was the month for third grade MEA testing and Stanford testing for first and second grade students. Thank you for sending your children to school so well prepared. Both are standardized tests. The MEA is a test given to all third grade students in Maine and the Stanford is a test given nationally. These tests are sent away and scored. The results will be shared with you when we have the information. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about the tests or the results.

The first grade concert was a great success. Each grade level concert is performed for the school at 2:00 and later in the evening for families. Your children feel so successful when they have the opportunity to perform for their classmates and families. Thank you for coming with your family and friends. It is so rewarding to see your children sharing their skills and talents with a gymnasium filled with respective audience members. The photo slideshow made the event even more enjoyable.

The walkers' dismissal routine continues to be a success. Dismissing students by one grade level at a time makes the number of students heading out the front door more manageable. Pre-K and Kindergarten students are dismissed whenever they reach the front door with their teachers. Now that the season for snow pants and boots is over, the youngest students will be dismissed first. Thank you for your suggestions for and cooperation with this new dismissal routine. We remind your children to remain on the steps until they see the person who has planned to meet them. We also ask them to start their walk home right away so families can expect them to arrive home at a regular time. Thank you for continuing to park in the back parking lot or on the street while picking up and dropping off your children.

April is another month filled with unique activities for your children. WOW (We Offer Wonders) will begin after school on April 3rd. We have a record-setting number of participants this spring. It is a wonderful program that is possible because of the participation of district staff members, community members and our Central School students. The variety of class offerings is greater during each session.

Rick Charette, singer and keynote speaker at the National Association For The Education Of Young Children Conference in Washington, D.C., will be performing on Thursday, April 5th at 9:30. He will be singing songs from "I've Got Super Power" and sharing ideas about personal safety. We are fortunate to have this talented educator share this valuable information with our students.

Central School students will participate in the thoughtfully planned Fine Arts Week program that begins on Friday, April 6th and ends on Thursday, April 11th. This year's theme is Native American Arts. Students will participate in special activities in art, music, physical education and literacy. Our district food service director has joined our cafeteria staff to provide a theme related lunch. On Monday, April 9th, Standing Owl will present his flute performance to your children. The week will end with a whole school assembly on Thursday, April 12. Our PTO has made a generous contribution to make this week of enriching activities possible. Please encourage your children to tell you about their Fine Arts Week activities.

Literacy continues be a focus in April. Central School's weeklong Read-a-Thon will begin on April 23rd. On April 24th the "Community Reads" Poetry Slam to celebrate the book A Kick in the Head, will be held from 6:00-9:00 PM at Marshwood High School. Students' work from each of our district schools will be on display. Your children are invited to join other community members to share poetry that night. We hope you will join us in this celebration.

Thank you so much for your participation in our parent/teacher conferences. The meaningful conversations that take place are an important part of your children's education.

Central School students continue to work together to accomplish "big things". Our Recyclops teams of third grade students and their families have worked to collect paper and other recyclables to take to our recycling center each week. They make a difference! Our Pre-K walkers have walked a total of 132 miles. Thank you Mrs. Caruso, Mrs. Oakley and Mrs. Polichronopoulos.

Thank you for everything you do to make Central School a wonderful challenging and safe place for children and adults to learn and grow. It's been quite a month!

**CHANGES IN CAMPBELL'S SOUP LABELS**

There has been a recent change in what the Campbell Co. wants as proof of a label. In the past, we cut the entire front portion of the label and sent that in. Now the company only wants the UPC code section on the side of the label. Please send in that entire section (UPC code and Campbell Soup person). They are no longer accepting the front portions of labels. Thank you for your help!

ART NEWS

We are gearing up for Fine Arts Week this month. Our theme is Native American Studies. The art room will be a bustle with activity as we start making jewelry, baskets, and paintings. If anyone has paper bags they are not using, the art room could really use them! Also, if anyone would like to help with Arts Week, there will be plenty to do. Thank you again for all of the donations and help!

The projects we have been finishing up look awesome. First grade has been working diligently on a sewing project. A big thank you goes out to all the parent volunteers who have helped me thread a LOT of needles. The colors and designs have amazed me, students are working hard.

Second grade and Multigrade are working on pen, ink, and watercolor pieces with the topic of "The circus". I have seen some very unusual circuses, like a truck circus and an alien bug circus. I can't wait to see them with all of the color added.

Third grade "met" Andy Warhol, and have been working on mapping faces for a self-portrait. They have been very attentive as I show them each step. They are so careful that we may need to take a break for the Fine Arts Week, and go back to them afterwards!

I have been enjoying teaching an after school art class on Thursdays. Last Thursday it was warm enough to go outside! Spring has sprung! - Rhonda Mann

LIBRARY NEWS

The MSAD35 Community Reads book this spring is A Kick in the Head, poems selected by Paul Janeczko and illustrated by Caldecott Award winning artist Chris Raschka. We invite the community to join in and read the book. Students are excitedly reading poems from this collection as well as many other poetry books in their classrooms and the school library!

We have many exciting events happening on Tuesday, April 24th. Maine children's poet Robert Pottle will be spending the day at Central School reading and performing his poems. That evening we will culminate our program with a POETRY SLAM at Marshwood High School from 6:00 &endash; 9:00 PM. Please join us and see poetry displays in the lobby and hallways, as well as readings by students from all five district schools in the MHS cafeteria. Both school and town library staffs are excited that there will also be an "open mike" hour for adult members of our community to read and perform poetry as well! Refreshments will be served.

Schedule of poetry readings:

6:00 to 7:00 p.m. - Poetry readings by students attending Central School,

Eliot Elementary School and Marshwood Middle School

7:00 to 7:30 p.m. - Marshwood Junior High School poetry readers

7:30 to 8:00 p.m. - Marshwood High School poetry readers

8:00 to 9:00 p.m. - Open Mike &endash; Adults!

MUSIC NEWS

Your child is invited......to sing and perform with me at the Poetry Slam at Marshwood High School on April 24th at 6 PM. All of Central School students, from Pre-K through third grade, have been taught the song, "Back to School Blues". This is based on the poem of the same name by Bobbi Katz that can be found in the Community Reads! book, A Kick in the Head. If you would like a copy of the song so you can learn it too, please send in a blank CD with your child. This has been a very popular activity, especially now that we've added our own special choreography! If your child wishes to perform with me, simply bring him/her to the High School on April 24th. It's that easy! We are working hard to have black top hats for the kids to wear. If you have any ideas on where we can find black hats in bulk, please let us know!

Third grade is wrapping up their Garageband projects and getting ready for their concert on May 24th. We've been pretending to be "ethnomusicologists" as we study songs associated with the Underground Railroad. Second grade will be creating their own fairy tale raps as we play with the rhythm of words. First grade will be composing their own songs as we learn about melodic direction, pitch and "home plate". Kindergarten students are getting ready to create their own audiobooks while Pre-K learns their songs for the spring concert on May 17th. All classes will take a break to study Native Americans during Fine Arts Week, April 9-12th. We will be listening to Standing Owl play Native American flute music, do our own storytelling, drumming and pow wows. It's sure to be a special week!

PE NEWS

Well we have sprung into Spring in the gym! Classes have been learning various gymnastics skills like jumping and landing, various rolls, balances and many ways of traveling. Ask them to share their sequences that they created, I was very impressed!

Congratulations to Mrs. Trites, Mrs. Wendell, Mrs. Bousquet, and Mrs. Dorr-Garrity's classes for earning the Golden Sneaker for the second trimester. As the weather gets warmer, please remember the best thing for your child to wear is sneakers. Krocs, flip flops and sandals are NOT appropriate for class or recess.

April 23-27 is National Turn Off Your TV Week. We will be having a board game and open gym night one night during that week. Look for more information to come. - Mrs. Tiede

NURSE NEWS

A few tips on Sun Safety: You don't need to hide from the sun completely or wrap up like a mummy to protect yourself. But taking these steps will reduce the risk for developing skin cancer. (See the attached PARENTS! page for other strategies to decrease contact with harmful UV rays).

1. Always wear sunscreen.

2. Take frequent breaks from the sun by going indoors or moving into the shade.

These steps are especially important between 10:00 in the morning and 4:00 in the afternoon, when the sun's rays are strongest.

Use a sunscreen with an SPF rating of 15 or higher. The letters SPF stand for sun protection factor, and the number rating tells you how much longer you can stay in the sun without getting sunburned.

Reapply sunscreen every 2 to 3 hours, just to be safe. Do this more often if you've been swimming or sweating a lot - even if the sunscreen is waterproof. You can get sunburned more quickly when you're swimming or boating because the reflection from the water intensifies the sun's rays.

Be sure to put sunscreen all over your body. This includes some places you might not think of, like the tops of your ears, the back of your neck, your face, and the tops of your feet. If you want to block the sun's rays, wear clothing that you can't see your hand through. You may still get burned through sheerer fabrics. (kidshealth.org)

IMPORTANT DATES AND EVENTS:

April 2 Hike Through History T-shirt orders go home

April 3 Spring WOW After School Program begins

April 5 Rick Charette Performance 9:30

April 5 Parent Teacher Conferences 4:00-7:00

April 6 Hike Through History T-shirt orders due

April 6 Fine Arts Week begins

April 9 Fine Arts Week All School Performance-Standing Owl 2:00

April 10 PTO 6:30

April 12 All School Assembly 2:00

April 13-22 April Break-No School

April 23 School and Read-a-Thon begins

April 24 Community Reads "Poetry Slam" MHS 6:00-9:00

May 3 Special Olympics Kittery, Maine

May 10 PTO 6:30

May 17 Pre-K Concert MHS 6:30

May 18 Hike Through History

May 21 Hike Through History (rain date)

May 24 Third Grade Assembly

May 25 No School

May 28 No School

May 31 Ice Cream Smorgasbord

June 5 PTO 6:30

June 15 Kindergarten Graduation 9:15 and 1:00

June 18 Last Day of School Early Release

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