Curiosity. Courage. Compassion.
NEWSLETTER
Issue Eight
Important Dates
5/9 – 5/20
Gates and G-MADE
Testing, grades 1-5
5/10
Reading Olympics
5/11
4th & 5th Grade Family
Meeting
5pm
Financial Literacy Program
for Families
5/17
5/20
5/25
5/27
5/30
6/1
6/2
Field Day
Spring Alumni Social
6pm
Student Violin Presentation
8:30am
Memorial Day; No School
for Students
Family Council Leadership
Meeting
5pm
Spring Concert
6pm
Head’s Corner
Congratulations on making it to the last month of the school year! It
takes diligence and patience to get to this point, and more than that,
finishing successfully requires good communication and a
commitment to working well together. So on behalf of our entire
staff, thank you for partnering with us and committing to working
together, even in those moments when it’s not easy.
But before we wish you a "bon voyage" for the Summer, remember
- we're not done yet! There's still more to do before the school
year's done. So here's to doing our best, for ourselves and our
children, to finish strong and finish well.
Dates (cont’d)
Monday, June 6-Tuesday, June 7, 2016, 5th Grade Camping Trip
Thursday, June 9, 2016-Last Day of School, Noon Dismissal
Thursday, June 9, 2016-Commencement, 5pm
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Community Partnership School
Issue Eight
Classroom Feature:
CPS Celebrates Oceania and Antarctica
We recently celebrated our yearlong
study of the continents Oceania and
Antarctica during our 4th annual
continent fair! Each year, CPS
chooses a different continent to
study, and each classroom chooses a
different country within that
continent to focus their explorations.
By the time our students leave CPS,
they will have studied all seven
continents.
This year, we focused on the
countries and islands located in what
is known as Oceania. Oceania
consists of large countries like
Australia and tiny islands such as Fiji.
On the day of the fair, each class
danced, sang, and played instruments
from the region. Then students
traveled the region, visiting
presentations from each country. In
Hawaii (actually part of the United
States), students watched volcanoes
erupt, in Papua New Guinea we
admired woven baskets, in Antarctica
we learned about the effects of global
warming on our coldest continent, and
Fiji presented us all with woven
welcome mats.
In addition to the class presentations,
students tasted foods from around the
region. Australian Vegemite was
universally disliked, but lamentations -
small coconut cakes - were a hit.
Students feasted on Hawaiian
Barbecue, coconut rice, and passion
fruit juice. There were also dog
sledding races (Antarctica), Maori
mask stations (New Zealand), and
wove welcome mats from Fiji.
This event is always successful
because of the hard work from both
teachers and parents. Thank you to
everyone who came to this year’s
event and helped us chop and serve
food, create beautiful art projects,
and man the photo booth. We hope
you will join us next year as we travel
to South America!
Curriculum Corner
It is hard to believe, but summer is
just around the corner. However,
we don’t want our students to
experience what is known as the
“summer slide”. Unfortunately,
many students lose achievement
gains they have made during the
school year over the summer if they
don’t keep their minds active.
the summer months. Access to a
variety of books is critical. Summer
is a time to let your child read
anything and everything they want.
Don’t worry if the books seem too
easy. Reading just four to six books
over the summer has the potential
to prevent a decline in reading skills
from spring to fall.
While all students deserve fun time
to relax, our kids need to keep
reading and physically active over
The Free Library of Philadelphia
always has a wonderful free reading
program. Details aren’t available yet,
but you can check the following link for
updates:
https://libwww.freelibrary.org/summerre
ading/index.cfm
The Free Library also hosts a science in
the summer series at various branches all
over the city. Please check out this link
for details:
http://freelibrary.org/libserv/scisummer.
htm
Happy summer reading!
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Community Partnership School
Issue Eight
Counselor’s Corner
A test of whether our Social
Emotional Learning curriculum is
effective is this: are our students
using the skills they’re learning more
and more independently, and are
the skills helping them to have
better relationships? Here are a few
observations I’ve made this week
that give me confidence:
problem. So she sat on a bench and
put her feelings into words. As she
talked and breathed and sat, she
grew calmer and recognized that the
other student had not intended to
hurt her. She knew that she wasn’t
yet ready to talk to him about it, but
she was calm enough to go back to
playing.
*Jaden in second grade was playing
basketball and grew visibly upset
about something that happened in
the game. Instead of lashing out
with words or actions, Jaden,
without any prompting, went to a
quiet corner of the playground
where he spent some time alone
with his feelings. Within minutes, he
returned to the game with a smile
on his face. He was practicing the
“RED” step of problem-solving,
which starts with “Stop and calm
down.”
*In the lunch line, third graders
Chrisma, Cameron, and Elizabeth,
began an argument about irritating
behavior. With the slightest
suggestion to take a quiet moment,
all three turned their focus inward.
Within a minute, Chrisma, without
prompting, offered an apology to
Cameron, who accepted it. They
were able to let go of resentments
and have a pleasant lunch. They
knew that this was a “pebble
problem” that could be tossed over
the shoulder.
*Second grader Taylor also
practiced the RED step when she
chose to sit and talk with someone
about her feelings after being hit by
another student during recess. She
knew that if she reacted with hurt
and anger it would escalate the
Brainstorming possible solutions is
part of the YELLOW step of
problem-solving.
criticism during class meetings.
First they ask whether someone is
open to feedback. Hearing
something positive can feel great,
but it takes courage to be willing to
hear concerns. We practice calming
strategies while we listen actively to
our classmates’ constructive
criticism. We also keep in mind
that the purpose of sharing this
feedback is to build stronger
relationships, not to tear people
down. When we share concerns,
we use “I statements” instead of
“You statements.” An “I
statement” says how we feel and
what we want. It does not blame.
“You statements” (like, “You’re so
bossy!”) cause people to feel
attacked and defensive. This week
I witnessed many students be
courageous in their openness to
feedback from their classmates.
And they were able to use
reflective listening to say back the
sharers’ feelings and wants.
-Eliza Taylor, School Counselor
*Finally, third and fourth grades
have begun offering and receiving
positive feedback and constructive
General Announcements
A big thank you to all the families that came out to support our students at the annual continent
fair!
We need parent volunteers for our annual Field Day event, Friday, May 20th. If you are interested
in volunteering, please let Ms. Vaccaro know by phone, 215-235-0461, or email,
[email protected].
Please don’t forget to buckle up your children while driving. No children younger than age 12
should be in the front seat of a car, also.
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