Principal’s Newsletter for April 2014
Wow, it is certainly wonderful to finally have some nice weather here in Middletown.
Spring is finally here and Snow School has many activities going on. OUR SPRING
CLOTHING DRIVE ENDS ON MONDAY, APRIL 28! If you are cleaning out your clothes,
shoes, towels, or linens, please donate them to the school. Our school receives money for every
pound of clothes we bring in. You can leave the clothes in the auditorium. Thank you for
supporting our school.
The PTO is organizing a Bottle and Can Drive at Snow School on Saturday, April 26,
from 9:00 am – noon. Please bring your bottles and cans to Snow School, as the money raised
will go to support our activities and field trips. With Earth Day celebrated on April 22, this is a
great way to stress the importance of taking care of our environment. For more activities
that families can do together, please read on.
The Parent Involvement Committee will be meeting on Thursday, April 24, at 6:00
pm at Snow School to plan the numerous summer events we have at Snow School and to
look at our school survey results. The teachers and I want to thank all of the families who
completed the survey and gave us feedback. If you would like to see the raw data and results,
please come to the meeting where we will discuss and analyze the results in order to set new
goals. We will also brainstorm a few summer events for families. In the last few years, we have
planned math nights, reading games, story-tellers, drummers, endangered animals shows, and
campfires. We are looking for new ideas and for families to volunteer to organize some of
these events. All are welcome to join us on April 24 to share their creativity and ideas!
Our next Dad’s Club meeting will be Thursday, May 1, at 7:00 pm at Snow School.
Since Earth Day is in April and spring is in full bloom, several fathers have expressed an interest
in having an outdoor spring cleaning event where children and their families would work together
to plant new flowers and shrubs and clean the grounds. If you cannot attend the meeting but you
want to be involved, please call Mr. Gaudreau at 860-347-2579 for more information. The Dad’s
Club is an excellent way to get involved! Our annual Spring Cleaning Event will be May 4.
Snow School is currently looking for families to help us run a community garden.
The vegetables that we plant can be given to Snow School families, so it is basically like having
free vegetables throughout the summer. We need volunteers to plant, weed, water, and collect
vegetables. As of today, only 5 families have volunteered to help run the garden. We need more
participation or we cannot meet our goals for the garden. If you can help out, please contact me.
On Wednesday, April 23, at 2:45, Snow School students and teachers will take their
annual panoramic school picture. This picture will be on sale for those interested.
The Board of Education revised the school calendar to reflect the snow days that we have
had this school year. As of today, the last day of school for students is Friday, June 20, 2014.
You can find the calendar posted on the web at:
http://www.mps1.org/calendar/cal1314.pdf
Thank you!
Jim Gaudreau [email protected]
CELEBRATE EARTH DAY WITH CREATIVE PROJECTS
ARTS AND CRAFTS ACTIVITY
1. Go around your yard and neighborhood and collect as many different types of nature as
you can find (leaves, twigs, grass, etc).
2. Take one piece of construction paper and some glue and stick the items onto the paper.
Try and be creative as you move the items around the paper. You can make a pattern or
arrange the items to make a shape of something.
3. Bring the posters to school and we can hang them up in the hallway – let’s showcase all
of our talented students!
Creative Writing & Poetry
Go outside and find a nice place to sit or lie down. While outside, make a list of
everything you sense (see, hear, taste, touch, and smell). Try closing your eyes and feel the nature
around you.
After you make your list, try writing a poem about all of the things you sense.
Example:
As I am sitting in my backyard, I can feel the wind blowing my hair.
I see two squirrels running around the yard.
Flowers give a fresh smell to the yard.
Acrostic Poems: write a key word or phrase related to Earth Day (SPRING, NATURE,
EARTH DAY, etc.). Try and think of words or phrases related to your KEY WORD and write
them next to each letter. EXAMPLE:
Squirrels running in the yard
Pretty flowers
Rabbits
Insects crawling on my leg
Nature
Green grass
Recycling
Take a look around your house for recyclable materials. After you collect a bunch of
different objects, use glue or tape to connect the objects in order to make something. You can try
and make the shape of an animal, flower, or object, or try to make something very tall. Try to
turn your trash or recyclables into something creative and wonderful. These will be
displayed at school.
Shoe Box Habitat
Pennies For Patients
In our recent collection, we raised a lot of money. Thank you to all of the children,
families, and teachers who supported the collection. A special thank you deserves to go to
Teachers Sue Bates and Kristin Taroli for all of their help with organizing the collection.
Teacher
Abrahamson
Dykas
Eriksen
Peterson
Schryver
Takiff
Fitzpatrick
Sosnovich
Murdy
Smith
Hoffman
Pramuka
Donatelli
Morton
Schulenburg
Kern
Shiffer
Boorman
Thompson
Total
Class Total
35.54
20.05
74.23
73.09
10.95
50.78
76.24
13.39
64.09
25.53
166.19
43.48
45.49
89.49
89.45
56.65
65.94
19.33
105.52
1,125.43