I NDIAN B ROOK S CHOOL
N EWS
October 17, 2014
Volume 1, Issue 2
1181 State Road, Plymouth, MA 02360 Phone 508-830-4370
Dan Harold Principal
Erica Manfredi Vice Principal
Principal’s Corner
Dear Parents,
I would like to begin by introducing our
new Assistant Principal, Erica Manfredi. Miss
Manfredi is also the Title One Director in the
district, a position that requires her to be out of
the building from time to time. If you call and do
not receive an immediate response, it may be
due to her being out of the building. I assure
you that she will contact you as soon as
possible.
Now that we are well into the first term,
you hopefully have a good indication as to what
your child’s teacher expects this year.
Communication between teachers and parents
is essential for the success of your child. If you
have any concerns, I strongly recommend you
contact your child’s teacher. Also, if you have
not yet done so, I recommend you contact your
child’s teacher to schedule a Parent/Teacher
Conference in December. The two early release
days in December (10th & 17th) are specifically
set aside for this opportunity.
We encourage you to contact the school
with any questions or concerns. It is vital that
communication between the school and parents
remains high.
Thus far we have had a very smooth
start to the school year. Our Social Thinking
program that we put in place is up and running
after our kick-off assembly on Friday,
September 19th. Our students have really
bought into the program and are working hard
to use expected behavior.
Dates to Note
Please visit our website at
http://www.plymouth.k12.ma.us/page.cfm?p=2490
and check out the school calendar. Dates of events
may change due to weather, etc. and the school
calendar is a great resource when trying to keep up
with what’s happening at school. Below are some
dates to note:
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Principal’s Corner
1
What is Social Thinking?
1
Dates to Note
1
Indian Brook School Council
2
Attendance
2
Indian Brook Breakfast/Lunch Program
2
Winter Attire
Parent Pick-up
2
2
What is Social Thinking?
Superflex Our Social-Thinking
Super Hero!
The children of Indian Brook are continuing
to learn about social thinking through the use of a
fun, new curriculum using a social-thinking
superhero named SUPERFLEX. This curriculum
is used with all of our students.
The goal of this curriculum is to provide a
fun, motivating way to improve the child’s social
and behavioral flexibility and to ultimately develop
better self-monitoring and self-feedback skills for
their social behavior.
It will be important for parents to carry over
the concepts and strategies that the children learn
in the sessions to assist with generalizing their
skills. Parents of students in grades 3-5 you can
find the information in the front of your child’s
school agenda.
The vocabulary and concepts used in this
curriculum should provide students the supports
to develop both the knowledge and skills to use
“expected” behavior at all times.
All of the Social Thinking documents are
on our web page.
At home we encourage you to reinforce our
work towards having all students use expected
behavior through Superflex. After examining the
material you can reinforce our efforts at home.
Continued on page 2
Wednesday, October 22 Early Release 1:00 Dismissal
Tuesday, November 4 State Elections – No School
Tuesday, November 11 Veteran’s Day – No School
Wednesday, November 19 Early Release 1:00 Dismissal
Wednesday, November 26 Early Release for Thanksgiving
Recess
Page 2
Indian Brook School News
Indian Brook School Council
The Department of Education requires every school
to create a School Council. The responsibility of
the school council is to create school goals that
combine state requirements, district initiatives,
and concerns that may come from parents in the
school community.
Every two years the Indian Brook School Council
solicits our parents to see if they have any
concerns that may support a school goal. These
items then are turned into a survey which is then
sent to all of our Indian Brook parents to complete.
This allows us to see where we should focus our
goals in the coming years. Please take the time to
think about this and if you have a concern, an idea,
etc.
please
email
me
at
[email protected] and provide me with
your thoughts on this matter. Your input is
essential in this process.
Winter Attire
As winter begins to approach, please be
conscientious of how your child is dressed for
school each morning. We encourage you to dress
your children in layers, with proper fall/winter attire,
so they will be prepared for the climate swings both
in the building as well as outdoors. We will continue
to try and get the children out for recess whenever
possible. In addition, we strongly urge you to label
all of your child’s coats, sweatshirts, sweaters, etc.
Parent Pick-Up & Student Drop
Off
Parents
who pick their children up daily - It is
imperative that you maintain close proximity and
control of where your children are outside in the
Parent Pick-Up Area. With the number of
students that are being picked up daily, as well
as the number of cars that begin to exit after
pick-up, we want to maintain a high standard of
safety. Also, we start Parent Pick-up promptly at
3:20. Please make sure you are on time. Children
should not be dropped off earlier than 8:45. This
is a safety issue. Please help us with our efforts.
Attendance
Please call 830-4370 to report all absences, day or night. The
(What is Social Thinking? -Continued from page 1)
To support students displaying expected
behavior we have instituted a building-wide
program to recognize expected behavior. All
staff members have tickets that they can give to
students as recognition of expected behavior.
The staff member fills in the reason for the ticket
and it is to be brought home for your
acknowledgement and signature. Students then
return their tickets to school where they deposit
them in our raffle bin.
Each Friday four tickets are drawn where
four Heroes of the Week are recognized during
the morning announcements and have their
picture taken and displayed on the Indian Brook
Heroes Hall of Fame bulletin board.
Approximately every six weeks we will have an
assembly to encourage our students to continue
to use expected behaviors as well as to
recognize additional students through our raffle.
If you have any questions related to this
program, please feel free to contact Erin
Bennett, our School Psychologist or Nikki
Morrison, our Adjustment Counselor.
Please go to the following helpful links for
more information.
https://www.socialthinking.com/what-is-socialthinking/michelles-blog
http://www.socialthinking.com/what-is-socialthinking/introduction
http://www.socialthinking.com/what-is-socialthinking/superflex-the-unthinkables-and-the-five-steppower-plan
Indian Brook School
Breakfast/Lunch Program
I would like to take this opportunity to remind parents
that we offer breakfast each morning starting at 8:45.
The cost is only $1.00 for both a hot or cold breakfast.
Children do not need to go every day -- it can be
utilized by all students whenever needed. Running
late one morning, drop your child off at school for
breakfast! If you have any questions, please feel free
to call the school.
Also, we are aware that many families are struggling
to make ends meet. If you are struggling you may
qualify for free or reduced breakfast/lunch. Please
contact the school if you have any questions.
Transportation
recording will tell you what information is needed.
Also, please be aware that if you go on a trip during unscheduled
school vacation periods, work for your child(ren) will be given to
them after they return. This is a school policy. It is stated on the
vacation letter we send home when you notify us of the vacation.
Please do not request work ahead of time from your child’s teacher.
Thank you.
Bus passes will be issued shortly. If you live
within 2 miles of the school, you are required to
pay for transportation. Please contact the school
if you need a transportation application or have
any questions.