Meadow Pond Elementary School

November 4, 2019

Dear Meadow Pond Families,

Hopefully you took advantage of the twenty-five-hour Sunday this weekend. Turning the clocks back can confuse us somewhat, but an extra hour of rest can also be quite enjoyable!

 There were many exciting events at MPES this month including Harvest and Soup Day, an author visit for Grades 3-5 with Elise Broach, the Pre-K Panel, Red Ribbon Week, field trips to the Sharpe Reservation, John Jay Homestead, the Leon Levy Preserve, the Pound Ridge Reservation, the Ridgefield Playhouse and Gossett’s Nursery, just to name a few. We also enjoyed Town Meetings about Trick or Treating Safety, wearing black and orange, seeing the Kindergarten Halloween Parade, playing Pumpkin Math and joining in classroom activities that incorporated learning with fun.

 The Spooktacular was a wonderful event this month that was sponsored by our PTO. Many of our families enjoyed the fun and participated in special activities. If you have been at MPES this past week, you have probably seen the scarecrows and some of the pumpkins that our students created. It is always amazing to see what they can do with a lot of creativity and a little guidance!

 PROGRESS REPORTS AND PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES

This week on Wednesday, the Parent Portal will be opened for you to view your child’s Progress Report. In addition, in the upcoming weeks, you will have the opportunity to meet with your child’s teacher(s) to discuss your child’s progress.  Our teachers have been “getting to know” your child since September and are looking forward to having a conversation with you.

 PTO BOOK FAIR

During the week of November 4^th, the Book Fair will be open.  There is a wide selection of books and other materials to choose from. Please refer to the communications that have come directly from the PTO as they have arranged for hours of operation that should work for many different family situations – including hours during Election Day - when you would likely be in our gymnasium to cast your vote.

 CHARACTER EDUCATION:

In addition to our teachers, social worker and psychologist guiding learning around the NYS Social and Emotional Learning Standards, we will have outside consultants visiting with our students during the year. Recently, a nurse from the Northern Westchester Hospital spoke with our fifth grade students about the importance of being able to see things from another person’s perspective and to develop empathy for them. The conversations and videos around this topic in the small classroom settings, including our teachers and school psychologist, were interesting and effective in helping students to develop empathy.

 RED RIBBON WEEK:

During the week of October 21^st, we celebrated Red Ribbon Week, a nationally well-known drug prevention event. At MPES, we focused on making healthy lifestyle choices.  Some of the fifth grade students interviewed Dr. Spoto and Mrs. Pomeroy about how they stay healthy, and Mrs. Marcoux spoke with the students about medication safety. Many of the students shared their healthy habits and received a glow in the dark bracelet to stay safe while trick or treating. As a continuation of these healthy habits, you might want to enlist their help in packing their own lunch and encourage them to make healthy choices.  

 SAFETY DRILLS:

We have had additional fire drills since our October letter, and we continue to challenge our students and staff by conducting drills at times when students are not necessarily in their classrooms with a teacher. A fire drill at lunch/recess helps our students to learn, during a non-emergency, what they should do if they are in a different place than they are accustomed to.  We are proud of our students and how they handled the drill at an “off” time. We continue to help them to think in the moment and apply what they have learned in a new situation.

 In October, we had an announced Early Dismissal Drill, but we would like to take this opportunity to remind you that an Emergency can happen at any time.  In that kind of situation, bus notes will not be honored and there will be no CCC and no afterschool activities in the building. Please review your family plan with your children so they are aware of what to do if we must dismiss in an emergency. 

 Within the next few weeks, we will conduct our annual Off-Site Sheltering Drill. This drill is to help us to practice what to do if we needed to leave Meadow Pond and relocate to another place within the District. This drill usually takes about an hour and ten minutes from the time we begin until the time we return to MPES. 

 CALENDAR:

Please review and mark your calendar for these upcoming events.

 PTO Book Fair                                                        Monday-Friday, November 4^th -8^th

Superintendent’s Conference/Election Day         Tuesday, November 5^th

        (school closed for students)                           

Parent Portal Opens for Progress Report #1       Wednesday, November 6^th

Dismissal at 12:15 p.m.                                           Thursday, November 7^th

Evening Parent Teacher Conferences 

Board of Education Meeting at JJHS                 

Veterans Day (school closed)                                 Monday, November 11^th

Dismissal at 12:15 p.m.                                          Tuesday, November 12^th 

Afternoon Parent Teacher Conferences                  

Dismissal at 12:15 p.m.                                           Thursday, November14^th

Evening Parent Teacher Conferences   

MPES Differences Day                                          Wednesday, November 20^th 

Board of Education Meeting at JJHS                   Thursday, November 21^st

Thanksgiving Holiday                                            Thurs.& Fri., November 28^th &29^th

We wish you and your families a very Happy Thanksgiving Holiday!

Sincerely,

Carolann Castellano & Dawn Pomeroy