May 28, 2015 

Volume 24, Issue 17   Thursday, May 28, 2015

NOTES FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK

Greetings,

As the school year starts to wind down, I am grateful that Swift River School has so much support and generosity from our communities. Knowing how much our small school means to everyone, I’d like to remind our New Salem families to attend the town meeting on Monday, June 1st at 7 pm, and our Wendell families to attend the town meeting on Monday, June 8th at 7 pm, at their respective Town Halls.

I’m happy to report that we have sent all of our students’ completed standardized tests off to PARCC and MCAS. I was very impressed with the students’ attitude towards testing, especially because of the amount of testing they were required to do this year.  A big thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make this testing period successful for all our students. 

Last week, the fourth grade went to work on the Nature Trail and finished raking the trail. They did a great job; it was a lot of hard work.  This week, the sixth grade teamed with the Trailblazers to widen parts of the trail and clear the fitness and educational areas.  The North Quabbin Trails Association has GPSed our half-mile trail and will have maps made for us.  NQTA has given us many design ideas, and we started a Pinterest page to showcase them (there will be a link on our website for those who wish to view the page).  Next week, the sixth grade will work with the Trailblazers to build Station Two by the Brook. Please feel free to stop in and join us on a Wednesday morning. 

As many of you may know, Ed Hines will be retiring from teaching at the end of this school year. We would like to honor Mr. Hines’ 21 years of exceptional service to Swift River School after the Talent Show on June 12th. Our hope is that families can stay to enjoy refreshments and celebrate all of the musical memories we’ve shared with our wonderful Mr. Hines.

We have many events coming up in the next three weeks, so please mark your calendars!  We look forward to seeing you.

Fondly,
Kelley



100 Mile Club -
Run4KidsMA

Sunday, May 31, 2015

11:00 am - 4:00 pm

at the Mahar Regional School Track

Please see the flyer sent home today which includes all the information you need about Run4KidsMA. Join us for this special day that we hope will become an annual event!

Nurse’s Notes

Postural Screenings: The annual postural screenings of 5th and 6th graders will take place on Tuesday, June 2 during PE classes. Girls are asked to wear a halter top, a bathing suit top, or a sports bra under their school clothes that day.  Referral for a follow-up examination by your family physician will be made only if I have a concern regarding your child’s posture. Most curvatures of the spine that we see are minor, due to rapid growth, and often will correct themselves with little or no treatment. However, all curvatures need to be monitored by a doctor. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts requires postural screening of all school children in grades 5 through 9. Please call me if you have questions.

Tick Awareness

Warm weather brings TICKS: as we spend more time outdoors, we will be encountering adult ticks that overwintered and are now looking for hosts. Be sure to do daily tick checks of all family members and pets that have been playing outdoors. Be sure to remove any attached ticks at once, by grasping the tick close to the skin and pulling upwards using fine-point tweezers. Avoid squeezing the tick. If you suspect you may have a tick-borne disease, you should contact your doctor.

For more information about ticks, tick-borne diseases and tick identification go to: http://ag.umass.edu/services/tick-borne-disease-diagnostics. They will even test ticks for various diseases for a fee. We have also attached the Public Health Fact Sheet on Lyme Disease for reference. Both people and animals are susceptible to this fairly common tick-borne disease. Feel free to contact me at the school with any questions.

Nan Mead RN

[email protected]

Library Lines

The Scholastic "Buy One, Get One Free" Book Fair will be held in the library from Tuesday, June 2 through Friday, June 5 from 8:30 am to 5:30 p.m each day. The "Buy One, Get One Free" Book Fair is a wonderful opportunity to promote summer reading!

This week in the library we played Caldecott Bingo. Instead of numbers on the Bingo card, there are titles of Caldecott Award books. Children must listen to the clue about the book and determine the correct answer. The winners (and everyone is a winner!) receive a $1 gift certificate to the upcoming Scholastic Book Fair. This has been a lot of fun and many classes have asked to continue playing even after their library time has ended.

All library books are due by Monday, June 8.  Again this year I am offering a Book Return Challenge! Each student who has returned all of their library books by Monday June 1, will be entered into a drawing for a free book (valued at$6.99 or less) at the Book Fair. Five winners will be selected.  This is open to preschool through sixth grade.  Let's try to get all library books returned by June 1!

The Union 28 librarians met last Friday to work on compiling the new Massachusetts Children's Book Award Mash-Up (MCBA) Master List for 2015-2016. We plan to keep many of the books on the official list and substitute books for any we feel do not have strong literary value. The list should be available soon. The New Salem Public Library and the Wendell Free Library will have these books available this summer for children to begin reading. 

There are many summer reading programs available to encourage children to read. Your child received information this week about many of the programs listed below. The New Salem Public Library and the Wendell Free Library will once again offer their wonderful summer programs filled with many activities. Please check with the local libraries for specific information.

Barnes and Noble offers a summer reading program where kids can earn a free book when they read eight books. There are some wonderful titles available this year! Each child in kindergarten through fifth grade was given an entry form; you may also visit your local Barnes and Noble store or go online to www.barnesandnoble.com/summerreading/. This is available to children in first grade (who will enter first grade in the fall) through sixth grade. This program runs from May 19 until September 7, 2015. Supplies may be limited, so don't wait too long!

TDBank is giving $10 to children who read ten books, which will be deposited into a new or existing Young Saver account.  Again, each child was given an entry form to complete, or you can visit your local TD Bank, or you can go online to www.tdbank.com/summerreading.  This program is offered June 1, 2015 through August 31, 2015 and is open to children in kindergarten through fifth grade.  

I have also included a Chuck E. Cheese Reading Reward sheet. Children read every day for 2 weeks and place a checkmark in the appropriate box.  They will receive 10 free tokens when the form is taken to a participating Chuck E. Cheese.

Make time to read,

Betsy

The Enchanted Forest News

On Thursday June 4 in the Enchanted Forest, we will make Fresh Fruit Cones.  Children will enjoy a bit of summer as they cut fruit into bite-size pieces and stuff waffle cones with their delicious fruit salad. The activity ends at 4:15 and costs $5.00. Please call Ariel at 978-544-6926 or send a note in to school to sign up in advance.

Looking ahead: EF will offer a Summer Spectacular on the last day of school (Monday, June 22).  Dismissal is at 11:30, and we’ll have Friendly Town pizza and fresh vegetables for lunch. An afternoon of summer fun water activities includes Bucket Ball, Bubbles, Water Balloon Play, a Sprinkler Dash and more. The day will end quietly with a movie and popcorn. A flier will be sent home soon with additional details and a registration form.

Invoices for May will be sent home the first week of June. Estimated June bills will be sent home the week of June 15 and all balances must be paid in full by Monday, June 22. Thank you for your cooperation. If you have a question about your bill, please contact Betsy at 978-544-6926 ext. 206 or email [email protected].

Come join the fun!

EF Staff

PTCA News

Next month is going to be busy, busy, busy and fun, fun, fun!  Donations are coming in for the June Jamboree so it looks like we’ll have some wonderful items to auction off.  Have something you want to donate or an idea for something we can add?  Join us at our meeting next week.  Thursday, June 4th we’ll be in the library at 6:30 pm, and don’t worry if the kids need to tag along, there’s free babysitting provided by the Mahar Key Club.  If you haven’t done so already, like us on Facebook, Swift River School PTCA, and stay up-to-date with all our happenings.  Don’t forget to support us at the upcoming paint and sip fundraiser.  We’ll be gathering for food, drink and artistic magic that anyone can take part in.  Don’t worry if you’ve never painted, Art on the Rocks will be instructing and promises you’ll go home with your own masterpiece!  Contact Tracey Carroll if you’d like more information: 978-577-8436.  Hope to see you Thursday the 4th!

5th Grade Performs The Phantom Tollbooth

Come one!  Come all!  Please join us on Wednesday, June 17th for the 5th grade performance of The Phantom Tollbooth, a play by Susan Nanus, based on the book by Norton Juster.  The show will start promptly at 6:30 pm  on the Swift River School Main Stage.  Admission is FREE!

COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD

These announcements and events are not school sponsored.

New Salem Library LEGO Club

The LEGO Club asked and the Library listened! We will convene on June 11th for our last meeting of the school year. Come prepared to build something fabulous! Swift River students can take the bus.   This activity is open to kids 5 and up. Snack  will be provided. Children are supervised during this program which ends at 5 pm.

The New Salem-Wendell School District assures that all programs, activities, and employment opportunities are offered without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, disability, economic status, homelessness, religion or sexual orientation.

Posted by On 28 May, 2015 at 1:55 PM  

Leave Your Comment
Security Measure