Leverett

FEBRUARY 12, 2016
Monday, February 15- Friday, February 19
            Winter Recess- NO SCHOOL
Friday, February 26
            All School Assembly - 2:15pm
            Featuring Grade 3!
Wednesday, March 2
            Puppetry performance: Help Save the Monkey! 
Friday, March 6
            MCBA MASH UP Party- 5:45 pm
            Shutesbury Elementary

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IN THE SCHOOLHOUSE

Shifting Winds

 After a very long weekend, the kids at LES are once again able to enjoy all that Mother Nature left behind, and students are a bit less resistant to dressing properly for the weather. While winter and snow have been a bit elusive this year, wind can make it hard to be outside on an otherwise beautiful day, and creates an additional challenge for children who come dressed for the ambient temperature, but unprepared for the wind chill. We have had several conversations with individual children about coming to school prepared with sufficiently warm clothes to be outside for a half-hour recess.

The fluctuating temperature this winter have made it difficult to know what ‘prepared’ means. When I talk to children, particularly in the upper grades, I encourage them to dress in layers, and to keep an extra layer in their cubby at school. This way, if the temperature doesn’t rise quite the way we expect it to, they will still be adequately warm. The opposite is also true when the temperature goes up significantly. Instead of going from a heavy winter jacket or coat to a sleeveless shirt, the child can peel of his or her coat and still have a light layer to protect against the chill. We recognize the kids often don’t experience cold to quite the same extent as their elders, but we also want to make sure that they stay safe and healthy.

We have just passed the 100^th day of school. This is a special celebration for the youngest grades, where children have been working on the concept of base ten, and/or learning to count to 100. Often, children make collages or special collections of items to show a visual representation of 100. I saw lots of great art work coming through the doors, and look forward to many lunchtime conversations about these hundreds of ideas!!

The parent surveys about the summer program (as well as afterschool and afterschool enrichment programs) are nearly ready. Many parents have started to ask what will be offered. The survey responses will guide decisions about all three programs—in essence we are providing an opportunity for you to be a squeaky wheel!  As the winds shift toward the second half of the year, we look forward to your ideas.

                        - Margot Lacey

Farm Table Dinner

The PTO is planning a dinner and auction fundraiser for June 4^th.  The first planning meeting will be Thursday, February 25 at 6:00. We need you!  Please contact [email protected] or Kate in the office if you’d like to help organize this fun new event.

The Wellness Committee Needs You!

Our recent review of our School Lunch and Breakfast program reminded us that our school Wellness Policy is out of date and in need of revision. The Wellness Committee will be meeting on Monday, February 29, 2016 at 3:15 pm to start the update process.  We invite parents to join us as we work on this important guiding document for our school. The Wellness Policy includes standards and goals for school nutrition, physical education and student wellness.  If you are interested, please tell Kate in the main office.

COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD

(Items listed here are not school sponsored)

Parent's Night Out

North Leverett Baptist church will have FREE child care Friday February 12th 5:00pm-9:00pm. Ages 0-12. Drop your kids off with responsible CORI checked adults for a night of fun! There will be games, crafts, ride on toys, sandbox, a movie, snacks and dinner. Enjoy a night to yourselves to do whatever you please! Children can be dropped off any time 5 and after. Pick up is at 9:00pm 

The Leverett Energy Committee is sponsoring a free presentation on ADVANCES IN RENEWABLE ENERGY on Tuesday Feb. 23 from 7-9 at the library. We are pleased to have Patricia Hynes, an environmental engineer and current director of Traprock Center of Peace and Justice, located in Deerfield, bring her program on the climate crisis--the defining issue of our time and our planet's most serious long-term peril--to our community. The slide presentation will focus on the recent and rapid advances in renewable technologies predicted to power our country by 2050 and identify the intransigent forces attempting to obstruct this process. We hope many of you make an extra effort to attend. Although most of the people and countries have expressed deep ongoing concern about this issue, we especially hope residents who haven't yet found their place in this conversation will attend. This is a chance for all of us to learn why and how we can make a difference in the colossal challenge of accelerating changes and disruptions in the earth's climate. Questions? Portia Weiskel     548-9737; [email protected].

KIDS YOGA

With Jai Fuller at The Yoga Center Amherst

Kids yoga is a playground that bridges the gulf between inner self and outer self. These classes draw on practices from Kundalini yoga, Hatha yoga and Awareness though the body to support kids in developing self awareness, (mind and body), self regulation, perseverance, and compassion. And they are super fun! Kids will learn that yoga is play, and play is yoga.

8 Fridays, Feb. 5th - April 1st

(no class Feb. 19th)

4:15 - 5:15 pm

$100 for the series/ $15 drop in or use a parents class pass

 The Happy Valley Children’s Chorus will be putting on  “Make Way for Ducklings: A Musical” this spring.  We are seeking young singers ages 4-10 to work together on this classic story and bring it to the public in a new format.  Rehearsals will be Mondays, 4-5:00 PM, March 7th through May9th, at the First Congregational Church of Amherst at 165 Main Street. Contact director Dorothy Cresswell at [email protected] for more information or to register your child.