Principal: Michael Foxall
Phone: 603-298-8202
March 2010 Newsletter
Dear Parents:
March 9 Vote: Last year, voters narrowly defeated the approval to build a new middle school in Lebanon. On Tuesday, March ninth, the Mt. Lebanon School will open its doors to voters. I believe strongly that our students deserve the very best of educational instruction, facilities and services and that means, necessarily, getting our priorities in order and making sacrifices to help bring to fruition the vision of the Lebanon School District. School will be in session on March 9, though there will not be hot lunch served on that day. We'll need to know by this Wednesday whether or not your child will order a bag lunch. Parking may be tight so you might want to plan ahead and not vote during arrival or dismissal times.
I Love to Read Week/ No TV Week/ Family Literacy Night/ Young Authors and Artists Celebration: Next month we are going to promote literacy in our school by holding several initiatives and activities simultaneously. Classroom teachers will be promoting special reading and writing activities in the classroom all week. You may be asked to come in as a guest reader. We are also encouraging you to turn off the TV during "No TV Week" on April 26 - 30. The statistics and research around television viewing, media consumption and screen time effect on student performance and health is daunting. I recently read that the average American student between the ages of 11 and 17 spends every waking moment outside of school consuming some type of media. More than half
of those are viewing or listening to more than one source simultaneously! Primary school is the ideal age to establish constructive reading and writing habits in your child.
On Thursday, April 29, we will be having two separate but related evening programs. The first is our annual Family Literacy Night from 5:15 - 6:15 PM in the multipurpose room. This program is for parents of students, and the children, presently eligible for and receiving additional reading services at school. From 6:25 - 7:30 all Mt. Lebanon students and parents, including those in the first program, are invited into school to celebrate the creative process and view student art and written work. Mrs. Schultz, our art teacher, has been working tirelessly with the students teaching the principles of artistic composition using a variety of mediums. We'll be turning our hallways into a student art gallery for the evening. You will also be invited to accompany your child to the
classroom at 6:30 where your child will share with you pieces of written composition and explain how they are developing their writing skills. I will address the assessment and growth of student writing more in the April Newsletter.
Mt. Lebanon School Book Club Books: Every year we purchase four outstanding childrenís books to be distributed one per classroom library. This month students are reading The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson. The central symbol of the book is a fence and children from very different backgrounds live on each side. The characters' natural curiosity sets the stage for fascinating questions and discourse. Ask your child what a fence means to him or her.
Responsive Classroom: In my many conversations with parents, the topic of punishment or leniency sometimes comes up. We have high behavioral expectations for our students at all times, and that most of the students live well within reasonable behavioral bounds, all of the time. As a "Responsive School" we use logical consequences with students when they have transgressed our school or classroom rules. If the situation is particularly disruptive the teacher asks herself, "Do I need to restructure the environment? Are my expectations for this child or this group reasonable? Has this child broken something that needs repair (including trust)?" Then we ascribe a logical consequence that is practical and reasonable. If part of the
consequence is a loss of a privilege, we restore it as soon as possible so the child can show us that he or she has learned. Lastly we use empathy and structure. We say, "Making mistakes is part of learning. Here are the consequences for your actions. Here are our expectations and a time frame. We care about you."
Thinking Games: Thinking games are easy, fun and promote creativity. These games can be played at the dinner table or in the car. One such game is "Would You Rather?" Offer two choices such as "Would you rather fly in an airplane or ride on a train?" or "Would you rather live on the beach or up in the mountains?î" There are no right or wrong answers and the fun is in listening to their reasons and rationale. Another is "Three Favorites." Pick a category, such as movie mysteries or sports teams and list your top three and why. Another is "What Doesn't Belong?î" Select three different but related items and ask what doesn't belong. For example, Mercury, Venus, Saturn, or sharks, tuna, jellyfish. What
matters is that the children enjoy sharing their thinking while simultaneously improving their reasoning skills.
Summer Projects: This summer the Mt. Lebanon School will be having a new boiler installed. While the original facility was built in 1952, the district purchased a used boiler built in 1929. After 81 years, a new wood pellet burner is replacing this boiler. It is going to be installed behind the multipurpose room on what is now the black top playing area. This means that we will be extending the black top into existing fields. With the equipment on site, we will level and improve our skating rink. We are also going to add a foyer to the front entrance. This will provide a nice weather barrier and some added security. Given the issues around the construction and student safety it is likely that some, if not all programs, typically held at the Mt. Lebanon School during
the summer months, will be held elsewhere.
Passport to Winter Fun: There's still time to complete the journey to Winter Fun!~ The Upper Valley Trails Alliance's (UVTA) Passport program works like a board game where children and their family's progress along a path through a winter landscape full of animals at play. For each day that the children are active for at least an hour, they fill in a step along the path. Their healthy play is rewarded with incentive prizes along the way. The program runs in time for Healthy Heart Month (February), from now through March 19. Please~be sure to look for the letter to parents/guardians on page 2 of your child's passport. Visit www.uvtrails.org for more info.~
Dates to Remember:
Tuesday, March 9. VOTING DAY for school budget and related articles. Cold lunch.
Thursday, March 11 is an Early Release day for teacher workshops and professional development. There will be Jump Rope for Heart at the CCBA that afternoon 1:30 ñ 2:30.
Friday, March 12, NO SCHOOL for students, as this is a teacher workshop day.
Michael Foxall
"Wrinkles should merely indicate where the smiles have been." Mark Twain
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