Spring Street Link

April 12, 2021

Good afternoon,

Much appreciation for your support for a successful transition back to full time, in-person learning for most of our students.  Much appreciation to our teachers and staff members, in person and remote, for their dedication to continuing to build strong relationships and classroom communities, we’re so fortunate to have caring and dedicated team members.

We’re looking forward to another successful week as we head into Spring Vacation next week.  Wishing you and your family a restful and relaxing vacation.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we’ll be able to spend some time outdoors enjoying spring and all that comes with it.  Enjoy!

Book Check Out for Remote Students 

Media center book checkout for remote students begins when we return from vacation. Families who fill out the Google form to request a book by Monday at noon will be able to pick up the book from the  bin labeled "Media Center Remote Book Pickups" outside the building at noon on Wednesday or after. The book will be labeled with the student's name. Once the student is finished with the book, families will return it  to the bin outside the school labeled “Media Center Remote Book Returns.”  After returning a book, families can fill out the form again to request another book. The directions for requesting a book and the Google form are at this link. 

MCAS Testing Dates for In-Person Grades 3 and 4 (dates for remote students are TDB)

ELA

Grade 3             Monday, May 17th

Grade 4             Tuesday, May 18th

Math

Grade 4             Friday, May 21st

Grade 3             Wednesday, May 26th

Spring Street Spirit Days, Fabulous Friday on April 30

Our next Spring Street Spirit Day is almost here! This month, students and staff are encouraged to wear all kinds of hats...red hats, blue hats, funky hats, silly hats, or cowboy hats!  Maybe some students will wear hats from different countries!  We won’t know until it happens!  Families, go through those closets and search for those hats you haven’t worn in years.  Let’s join in the fun!  Check out the attached Spirit Days Flyer.

PTO News (SpringStPTO@gmail.com)

Chalk the Walk was a great success, thanks to all who volunteered!

Thank you for participating in our Family Dinner Night at The Mill 185, we’d love to see your pictures on our Facebook page. Stay tuned for our May event. 

Please mark your calendar for our next PTO meeting on June 1 from 6-7.

PTO Board Member Needs 

President

We want you!  We’re looking for a creative leader who likes to be involved and communicate regularly with other board members and sub committee coordinators.  There are great plans in place for next year and we’d like you to be a part of them.  If you’re ready to play a substantial role in supporting our school, please contact us.

Treasurer

Looking for a way to help out Spring Street School?  Familiarity with QuickBooks or Quicken and Excel is helpful, but a willingness to learn is all that is needed. This is a great way to be involved and help the PTO continue to provide great things for SSS.

SSMA’s Online Rockin’ Auction! 

The Shrewsbury Schools Music and Theater Association is a 60 year old volunteer, nonprofit group. We are asking for help in supporting SPS music and theater programs for all ages with the SSMA’s online silent auction! The SSMA buys music, instruments, and uniforms, funds special school events such as storyteller Kemp Harris, and so much more. There are over 100 items to bid on, valued from $10 to $500, with something for everyone. There’s wine, jewelry, art, and a signed baseball; gift cards to grocery stores, restaurants, and fun activities; plus so much more! You can browse items and sign up for a bidding account anytime. 

Bidding opens 10:00 AM Saturday, April 24 and closes 7:00 PM Sunday, May 9. 

Visit www.MySSMA.com for the link to the auction. 

Anyone can participate, even “Aunt Peg” in Florida, so please share this link!

Free Online Math Competition for 4th and 5th Grade Students

Students at Winchester (MA) High School hold an annual math competition called WinMaC for students in Grades 4 & 5 with the mission of creating a fun and inspirational, yet challenging, contest that will foster greater interest in mathematical problem solving outside of school. Due to this year’s pandemic, WinMaC will be completely online from April 17th. This free math competition is open to all fourth and fifth grade students, who are encouraged to form teams of up to four. In addition to the traditional math competition format, the day will include fun math-related activities! For more information, specifically on the contest details and format, please visit their website at https://winchestermc.com/information/. Please email winchestermathcomp@gmail.com with questions.

From previous links:

Early-Release Day on Wednesday

This Wednesday, April 14th is an early-release day, dismissal is at 12:15pm.  Students will engage in asynchronous learning during the afternoon and should be on the ‘lookout’ for lessons and activities from their teacher.  Students will be invited to take a bagged lunch home with them on these days, a brunch bag is on the menu for Wednesday. 

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Connections from Mrs. Braun-Lush and Ms. Richardson

“Respect is seeing good in people and things (and treating them with care).” (https://characterstrong.com/).  Respect is both about our perspective and practice.  To practice respect we need to get to know about others as well as use kind and thoughtful words and actions with others. We can show respect not just to others, but also to ourselves in speaking kind words, taking care of our bodies and listening to how it feels.  Some ideas for practicing respect include:  

Talking about manners and how we can show them in different settings

Discuss what respect looks and feels like 

Share about how to respect those who are different from us 

Ask what makes you feel respected? 

Here are two great reading resources for families from the Character Strong Toolkit: 

Parenting Magazine: The Return Of Respect

The Respectful Child: How To Teach Respect

Kindness Counts! 

We all know how kindness affects us all - even the smallest act of kindness can go a long way to make us feel better! The Student Council Leadership Team will be posting a “Kindness Counts” mural in the SSS foyer to demonstrate how kindness makes our days a little brighter! We are encouraging all students, their families, and staff members to add to the attached Padlet to share how we can be kind to each other, as well as to share stories and messages of kindness. Fourth graders will put the messages on the mural for everyone to read and see how kindness counts!

Eagle Scout LEGO Project

Are you a big fan of LEGOS? Did you know that Thomas Rabideau, Mrs. Solis’ (a SSS teacher) nephew, is collecting new LEGO sets for patients at the Boston Children’s Hospital? There will be a collection bin placed in the lobby of Spring Street School. If you are interested in helping out with this great cause, students can bring in new LEGO sets and place them in the collection bin. Thomas will bring these sets to patients at BCH to brighten their days! Check out this link to see Thomas speak more about his Eagle Scout project.

Box Tops for Education

Chances are you're still buying grocery and other items with Box Tops.  Before you stuff that receipt in your pocket, purse, or trash, scan it to earn money for our school!  Download the Box Tops app and enter our School Code: 130878.  Buying groceries online?  No problem! Take a picture of your receipt and email it to: receipts@boxtops4education.com with our School Code 130878 in the subject line. 

App to Access eBooks

The media centers across the district are excited to share that we now have a K-12 subscription to an iPad app called SORA that provides access to ebooks and audiobooks that students can read or listen to on their iPads. SORA enables users to borrow up to 3 books at a time. Users can also place holds on an additional 3 books at a time.  Here is a video overview of SORA.  Here is the link to a step-by-step tutorial that explains how to get started using SORA on your child's iPad:  https://bit.ly/2JZa2SZ

Important Dates

April 19-23, Patriots Day/April Vacation

Monday, May 31, Memorial Day, No School

Tuesday, June 1st, SSS PTO Meeting via Zoom

Friday, June 18, Last Day of School, 12:15 Dismissal

Have a good week.
Bryan Mabie