ALFRED ELEMENTARY Parent NEWSLETTER SPRING 2019 Important Dates School News NO SCHOOL DATES: 5/27 - Memorial Day EARLY RELEASE DAY: 5/29 - Dismissal @ 1pm PTSA MEETINGS AND OTHER EVENTS: 5/31 - Deadline for final collection of box tops! 6/5 - PreK Screening @ Lyman (by appointment) 6/10 - Kindergarten Screening @ Alfred (by appointment) 6/19 - Field Day 6/19 - 5th Gr. Celebration @ 5:30-6:30pm 6/20 5th Grade Bowling @ 11am-1pm 6/21 Last Day of School and Variety Show. Student Dismissal at 12:15pm Dear Families, As we approach the final month of our school year, I wanted to pass along a few additional reminders and important dates: 5th grade families: A reminder that the MMS incoming 6th grade Parent Information Night will be held on Tuesday, May 28th, from 6:00- 7:00pm in the MMS Cafeteria. There will be a slideshow available afterward for those who are unable to attend that night. Our Last Spirit Day! ...will be this Friday, May 24th! Our final Bubble Gum and Crazy Hair Day will be hosted by our Alfred specials teachers. Field Trips: There are many school field trips planned for this spring. Please remember that you may only chaperone if you are on the approved volunteer list. The volunteer form must be filled out every year. If you plan on chaperoning please ensure that your forms are back to school at least two weeks prior to the trip. This will allow the necessary time for the district office to complete the background check. You may pick up these forms in the office or on the district website. End of Day: Please remember that our school day officially ends at 3:05pm. We have seen a SHARP increase in the amount of early dismissals during the final 10-15 minutes of the day which causes continuous interruptions to our teachers and their classroom. Please only dismiss early in the case of an appointment or due to an extenuating circumstance. Thank you for your help with this! Box Tops: Thank you for your continued support! We recently turned in over 5,400 box tops! Please keep them coming! Attendance Note: Please remember to call the office when your child is absent. If this is not done it gets recorded as unexcused. When a child has 5 consecutive days unexcused or 7 non-consecutive unexcused absences, we are mandated to report the student to the state as truant. When planning a vacation, you must fill out the planned absence form located in our student handbook. Summer Literacy and Numeracy Initiatives: You will be receiving from your child’s teacher instructions regarding how to participate in the Maine Department of Education sponsored “Read to Ride” literacy initiative. You child simply needs to log and track their hours of reading over the summer to attain a particular goal and then return the paperwork in the fall. This will automatically enter them into a statewide drawing for a new bicycle. Last year Alfred Elementary had a winner! Please be on the lookout for details... In addition to Read to Ride, you will receive a “Summer Reading and Math Pledge” form. Students reaching their goal will be acknowledged at care time and receive a certificate when we return in the Fall! End of Year Dates: Please be sure to check out the dates to the left. I would like to highlight that dismissal time for the last day of school is 12:15pm! Variety Show: We will run our annual variety show similar to last year. Please be on the lookout for sign up information from your child’s teacher...There will be a deadline for sign ups so that we can move forward with program playlist creation. Alfred Celebration Highlights! ● Our Alfred and Lyman 3rd and 4th graders performed beautifully during their “Night of Recorders” concert held at MMS! ● Our 1st annual choral concert was a wonderful performance! Thanks to the parents, students and staff who dedicated themselves to making this new program a success! ● The Movie Night and Penny Wars fundraiser hosted by our 4th graders was a success thanks to your support! The class earned nearly $1,000 to be put towards this year’s field trip! ● Congrats to Daniel Kelly and Emma Feeney as they prepare to throw the first pitch at this weekend’s Sea Dogs game! ● Our Band students did an amazing job performing for our school! With 40+ 4th and 5th graders participating, we look forward to continuing to build our programming! Well done to both the students and Mrs. Schaefer! ● Congratulations to our students for demonstrating perseverance as our 3-5 completed the MEA this spring, and K-5 completed the final round of the NWEA! ● Additional special events this spring included our family dance, a visit from author Martha Couture, a visit from the MHS Chamber Singers, Literacy/STEM Night (with an egg drop event during the day), spring bookfair and a 5th grade project in partnership with 3 rivers land trust and the center for wildlife! ● THANK YOU TO OUR INCREDIBLE PTSA AND FAMILIES WHO WERE ABLE TO SUPPORT OUR STAFF APPRECIATION WEEK! Our staff was overwhelmed by the generosity and support and we cannot thank you enough! As we move towards our final month for June, I would like to once again thank you all for the privilege of working with your children. I am so thankful to be a part of such a special community. I look forward to our continued partnership, and wish you all a restful and safe summer! ~ Mrs. Poulin and Mrs. Pellerin ~