Kip’s Corner
Volume 7, Issue 2
November 18th, 2016
A Fantastic Fall at Tariffville School
Inside this issue:
Teacher ‘Rounds’
2
Math Pilot
2
Quick Notes
2
Student Recognition
3
Conferences Coming Up!
3
KIP’s Challenge
4
Kip’s Cards
4
Our School Mission
Statement:
“The Tariffville School com-
munity provides a safe and
nurturing environment where
mutual respect among adults
and students is practiced,
diversity is celebrated, and
where parents and families
are seen as valued partners in
layering the foundation of
life-long learning.
Our school implements a
rigorous curriculum with high
academic expectations and
cultivates the character development of each student. We
prepare our students to be
successful learners and responsible citizens in today’s
world.”
Our School Motto:
“Knowledge is Power”
Our School Mascot:
“KIP” the Owl
At Tariffville School “We Try
Everything!” This is our
theme for the year inspired by
a song from the popular Disney movie Zootopia. This will
take on many meanings this
year and right now we are focusing on trying everything to
be more optimistic and empathetic. We have been talking
about these positive mindsets
at CLIMB assemblies, watching videos about developing
optimism and empathy, engaging in staff development, and
integrating these words in to
daily instruction. The third leg
of the triangle in our child’s
world is the home relationship
and I hope you can reinforce
our efforts by using the words
optimism and empathy in
some of your
daily interactions and noticings with
each other.
The more
they see us all
working on
the same
thing the better they will
internalize it.
I will keep
you in the
loop as we
add more
ways for our
awesome students to keep trying everything!
heard speeches from Mr. Carpe
and Mr. Papale, and Mr. Langlais. Our celebration included a
slideshow, a concert of songs
celebrating each branch of the
military, artwork decorating the
gym, and our field of flags
planted by our local girl scout
troop! (Thanks Girl Scouts!) I
am so proud of how our children honored our veterans and
learned about real life respect
and responsibility! A special
thanks goes to our third and
fourth grade teachers, along
with Mrs. Brown, for planning
the event.
Character Projects— The
student council is currently
engaged in running the Turkey
Trot drive to help provide food
for families in need at this time
of year. We
just concluded a successful kindergarten project to collect
supplies and
raise awareness for
homeless
animals.
Our citizenship projects
are off to a
great start!
Look for
continued
projects
throughout the year. These
Veteran’s Day— We had an- projects are a core component
other successful Veteran’s Day of our CLIMB program and
celebration. This year we
teach our children about large
and small ways we can show
citizenship.
The summary of events this fall
is just a sampling of all the ways
that you and your children can
be involved in our school community beyond the classroom.
It is critical for children to be
connected to their school if they
are to reach their maximum
potential in the classroom. If
your children have not had the
chance to get involved, there are
many more chances in the coming months. Mark your calendars:
 Book Fair-Conference Week!
11/28 to 12/2
 Family Skate Night 12/17
 Family Game Night 1/13/17
 Movie Night 1/27/17
 Science Fair 2/7/17
 Invention Convention
Date TBD
 Family Dance– 2/24/17
I truly hope that you have a
productive conference and that
you and your family enjoy some
much needed down time to
focus on some other 3Rs: rest,
reconnect, and remember. This
is such important time with
family and friends over the
Thanksgiving break.
Have a great remainder of the
fall!
Mr. Baker
Principal
PAGE 2
V OLUME 7 , ISSUE 2
Why were there all these teachers in my child’s classroom last week?
The teachers at Tariffville School are constantly looking for ways to fine tune their
instruction. This year we are engaging in a
series of peer visits structured after the
medical model of ‘Rounds.’ Individual
teachers identify some aspect of teaching
that they would like to improve and then a
team of teachers come and watch and take
notes. The team then has time to meet
and discuss the implications of the teaching and what implications that has for their
own instruction. Every classroom teacher
will have the opportunity to host their
team.
This is the second year of our
peer visits and I truly believe
that our best professional developers are right here in our building. There is so much to learn
from each other.
I share this with you because I think it is
important to recognize that our school is a
place for learning whether you are
a student, teacher, staff member,
or family member. While this is a
great way for our teachers to improve, it also sends a powerful
message to the children that we
are never done learning and that
we can all learn from each other.
Math Pilot is Underway
As you are already aware, the district is in the process of reviewing
our elementary math program. The math pilot adoption
team consisting of teachers, parents/guardians, and administrators met on October 26 to kick off
the piloting process. The committee reviewed the Simsbury Public
Schools Math Philosophy Statement, achievement data, tools
and processes used to analyze various programs, teacher/parent
survey results, and the timeline
for the pilot. There was great enthusiasm in the room among the
forty-three teachers, parent representatives, school and district administrators, and our board of education representative. This week
all of our Tariffville teachers who
are piloting (14 teachers!) have engaged in professional development to learn the key components
of their first unit to pilot. Over the
next several months our teachers
will begin the pilot by teaching
two units from our selected programs. If your child is in one of
these classrooms, you will receive
a letter explaining the program
and will be encouraged to provide
feedback based upon your child’s
experience.
mittee will utilize the feedback
from the survey as one of the criteria for selecting our new math
program. Click on the link that will
take you to the results from the
Parent/Guardian Math Survey.
(http://www.simsbury.k12.ct.us/uploaded/District_Content/
Curriculum/Parent_Guardian_Math_Survey_Oct_2016.pdf )
In addition, thanks to all of you
who volunteered your time to
complete our family survey. The
themes from the surveys were
shared with the committee helping to establish what’s important
to all our stakeholders. The com-
Quick Notes
Winter is coming! We believe it is very important for children to get fresh air and exercise
every school day. We generally only stay inside
when it is actually raining or the temperature is
below 20 degrees. For this reason please make
sure your child has a warm winter gear bag to
use for recess. Use the
same motto I do when
packing in the morning
‘when in doubt we go out!’
Thank You to:
-Mrs. Barcomb and Mrs. Conners for organizing the book fair and for everyone who has
already signed up to volunteer!
-Mrs. Schuster for organizing Kip’s Cards.
This is a way for the PTO to raise money for
the school that does not cost our community
anything, just a little planning ahead. We’ve
raised over $500 so far this year! If you haven’t tried it yet, the holidays are a perfect time!
-Mrs. Savage for years of bringing a nice feel
to our building with beautiful decorations and
to Mrs. Falco for taking over this year!
-Mrs. Curtis for a great series of events with
our pumpkins!
-Mrs. Plaut for organizing the election day
bake sale. We raised over $700!
-Mrs. MacQuattie for running our Box Tops
collection. Mrs. Mastrianni’ s class won this
round!
V OLUME 7 , ISSUE 2
PAGE 3
Recipients of Feet at our September and October CLIMB Assemblies
Kindergarten: Kenneth Arzu, Vinny Beauregard, Gabriella Bulgajewski, Delaney Busam, Kendall Coxon, Ava Crosby, Liliana D’AmoreChasse, Amelia Deary, Ajayla Dennis, Giovanni DiMascio, Emmett
Durham, Nathaniel Falco, Isabella Flores Inacio, Josephina Fox,
Dominic Fronek, Greyson Goetz, Jackson Gregg, Hafsa Haidara, Layla
Huguley, Seri Johnson, Haylie Levesque, Payton Levesque, Abigayle
Luzietti, Brody Pintoff, Cayden Ranstead, Elizabell Rivera, Kareum
Skovron-Rasheed, Adam Tigno, Arthur Wallace
Kot, Elijah La Tour, Nicholas Maskaitis, Julia Moriarty, Antwan Morris,
Emma Murphy, Kennedy Ortiz, Sophia Perdikis, Ryder Quigley, Abigail
Scarcella, Jasmine Seam, Amelia Smarelli, Jackson Thibodeau, Audi
Thomas-Anderson, Alexandra Wallace, Kevin Wojtowicz, Jason Zhang
Gr. 3: Maya Appiah, Kadi Bennett, Jonathan Budlong, Brodie Busam,
Kayden Butler, Justice Corey, Danica Derosier, Mazey Douthit,
Heather Foley, Gianna Goff, Nathan Gritzmacher, Anaya Huguley,
Caleb Hyman, Souhaib Lamfadel, Callie Langlais, Reid LeBlond, Aubrie
Gr. 1: Makayla Appiah-Yeboah, Zoe Backofen, Ansley Barcomb, Alen Levesque, Tate Mairano, Emily Narciso, William Papale, Adam PaveBinnoy, Camille Bolles, Dylan Curtis, Ameerah Dennis, Aliya Dupont, glio, Vinayak Rajesh, Kylie Stillman, Phoebe Tartaglia, Kimberly
Nithin Ganesh, Adelaide Gritzmacher, Amelia Hamel, Lara Hanley,
Tetreault, Cameron Wilson
Emily Klorer, Irene Koob, Hunter Lenarz, Caden Lewis, Morgan
Gr. 4: Jermaine Arzu-Tarrant, Ela Bansal, Julia Battistoni, Tarimah
Lewis, Collin Mitchell, Kendall Mobley, Ava Pasquariello, Emerson
Caesar, Colleen Conners, Brianna Coxon, Brady Davis, Cameron
Romero-Vicini, Daniel Sardinha, Chase Stillman, Ely White, Tristan
Denalsky, Shiloh D’Hereaux, Izabella Dressikie, Raj Ghole, Ria Ghole,
Williams
Macie Goetz, Vivian Haberbosch, Jenna Hamel,
Gr. 2: Mariah Appiah-Yeboah, Jonathan Backofen, Radha Bansal,
Rachel Joyce, Brooklyn Mills, Liam Murphy,
Lucas Batchelar, Charles Bolles, Aoibheann Browne, Abigail Butchyk, Gianni Perdikis, Alexander Rees, Marissa Rivera,
Ivie Caffee, Timothy Clavette, Aiden Crosby, Jackson Davis, Tey’Jah
Grace Rodner, Andre Sardinha, Emma Sheldon,
Fagon, Ayla Goetz, Gabby Joyce, Serena Joyce, Owen Klorer, Trey
Ashley Triumph, Savana Vearil
Gr. 5: Ellery Barcomb, Jacob Bush, Robert Bush, Alaya Chalwell,
Thomas Chambers, Nicholas Cordani, Alex Cotto, Tatum DeSouza,
Tanner Gladden, Ranganathan Kidambi, Sophia Luzietti, Charlotte
MacQuattie, Story McCarty, Andrew McRavey, Brodey Mills,
Meaghan O’Connor, Dante Oliveira, Marina Perevozchikova, Samuel
Pitblado, Jacob Rozbora, Cameron Ruzsbatzky, Taylor Schuster, David
Scoll, Ruby Scudder, William Tanzosh, Kentaro Tolles, Kellen Wilson,
Christina Zhang
Gr. 6: Katharine Batchelar, Devyn Battistoni, Akshita Choudhary,
Natalie Chykirda, Lia Crosby, Martin Dahlin Jake Donahue, Sofia
Duran, Alexa Goff, Brody Jacobson, Tanner Jadovich, Christopher
Kokines, Blase Kot, Ava Lilley, Tyler Ma, William McCusker, Braden
Moriarty, Theodore Murphy, Kathryn Paveglio, Nelson Perry, Jillian
Plaut, Matthew Savage, Katelynn Smalley, Christopher Smarrelli,
Jessica Symolon, Paul Triska, Jack van Dyke, Caitlin Wild
Principal’s Awards: Phoebe Tartaglia, Cameron Wilson,
Nicholas Cordani, Meaghan O’Connor, Natalie Chykirda,
Brody Jacobson
Tips for a Successful Parent/Teacher Conference
Before each parent conference session I like
to provide reminders to both parents and
teachers of how to make the most of our
short meetings. This time is too important
to leave things to chance and being prepared
is the key to successful meetings. I am writing this message a week after my own conferences with my daughters’ teachers and reflecting on what made them successful and
what I might have done differently. There is
no question that this process can create anxiety on the part of the student who is being
discussed, the teacher who may have to deliver some difficult news, and the parent who
is unsure of what questions to ask. I believe
that these conference days are among the
most important of the year for our children.
It is a chance to make sure they have a consistent approach between home and school
and it is an opportunity for the most important adults in their lives to work on a
relationship that is critical for their success.
The following are some ideas and tips to
follow when preparing for this important
day.
Before the Conference
Listen- Any time you hear your child talking
about something he or she is doing really
well in or is having trouble with – either with
schoolwork or classmates - make a note of it.
When it is time for the conference with the
teacher, you’ll have a ready made list of
things to discuss.
Ask-Sit down with your child and ask them
what you should discuss with the teacher.
You may be really surprised what they come
up with. Another good question is to ask
them what they think the teacher will tell
you.
Bring notes and papers-Write down questions you want to address with the teacher.
Bring copies of any assignments you have
questions about. Think ahead of time of
how to be tactful and kind in wording concerns you have.
During the Conference
the phone or get together in person.
After the Conference
Talk to your child-Sit down with you your
child and tell him or her what you and the
teacher discussed. Emphasize the positive
things the teachers said. It is so important
for your child to feel positive about learning,
their teacher, the relationship you have with
their teacher, and the school.
Be on time
We schedule our conference tightly to accommodate all parents. If you show up a
few minutes early you
can ensure that we
“BE HEARD”
move along the meetings to be respectful of Keep these principles in
mind for a great
everyone’s time.
conference:
Follow up-If there is an important
issue that needs to be dealt with,
such as practicing math facts, focusing on school more than socializing,
etc… make sure to follow up on it
with the teacher soon after the conference. Clarify what your responsibilities are, what the school will do,
and a timetable.
Take notes-In addiBest intentions assumed
tion to presenting the
Emphasis on learning
questions and concerns Home-school collaboration
you brought to the
Examples and evidence
meeting, make sure to Active listening
take notes about what Respect for all
the teacher is telling
Follow through-This may seem
Dedication to follow-up
you about your child.
simple but it is the hardest thing to
Be sure to address these important areas:
do. Once you know what you can do to help
strengths, weaknesses, and social skills.
your child be more successful make sure you
do it. Often times helping requires a change
Keep emotions in check-It is always diffiin routine or habit. It takes hard work to
cult to hear that your child is not exactly
change how a home operates but in the end
where you thought they may be in their
it will be worth it when your child is even
academics or in their social lives. Keep in
more successful than they already are!
mind that we are a team and are giving inPlease know that conferences are just one
formation to help accomplish a common
time to guarantee that we have a chance to
goal we share; success for your child.
get together to discuss your child. Our doors
are always open for further discussion. We
Communication going forward-Make
believe that an open, honest, and ongoing
sure to confirm the best avenues for future
dialogue is what is necessary for every child
communication. While email is very conto reach their true potential. Have a great
venient for most of us, and is great for a
conference and I look forward to seeing you
quick exchange of information, it is often
in the halls as you come in after Thanksgivvery easy to misinterpret tone and emotion
in email. A good rule of thumb I express to ing!
teachers is that if the email needs to be more Excerpts taken from:
NAESP Publications. (2012). Having Successful Parent-Teacher
than a paragraph, or there is any emotion at
Conferences. Report to Parents 31(4).
all connected to an issue, it is best to pick up
CO NTACT I NF OR MAT IO N
Simsbury Public Schools District Vision Statement
Scott Baker, Principal
42 Winthrop St.
Tariffville CT, 06081
The Simsbury Public Schools community cultivates the mind, body,
and character of each student.
Phone: 860-658-5825
Fax: 860-658-3626
[email protected]
Simsbury Public Schools on the web:
www.simsbury.k12.ct.us
KIP’s Challenge:
Our challenge from the last
CLIMB assembly: Think about
ways you can actively show empathy
for a friend or family member.
We provide our students with a rich and rigorous academic foundation designed to stimulate the skills necessary to thrive in an ever
changing and global society: critical and creative thought; problem
solving; effective communication; artistic expression; an understanding and appreciation of diverse cultures; and physical, social, and
emotional wellness.
Supported by an exceptional faculty, committed families, and a generous community, we create a safe and supportive environment that
fosters deep and enduring personal relationships. Within this caring
atmosphere, our students explore their talents and interests, set individual and group goals, and pursue courageous endeavors in all areas
of their lives.
We value a culture of civility where students and adults are treated
with fairness, are respected for their contributions, and are celebrated
for their successes.
Above all else, we prepare our students to embrace the next phase of
their lives with integrity, compassion, and resilience, enabling them to
act knowledgably, lead thoughtfully, share generously, and contribute
meaningfully.
Orders are due, Wednesday
December 7th
A great way to give gifts and
raise money for our school!