hetford Elementary School

News and Views

November 17, 2006 Issue 6

FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK:

This has been a busy month with a variety of arts residencies. The puppet residency in Cyrie Lange’s third grade ended with a culminating performance on November 1_st. This project is an annual collaboration between Nancy Cressman, Cyrie, Karin Rothwell (artist) and always includes senior citizen helpers. It was a wonderful exhibit of an integrated art and language arts learning opportunity for the children who did a super job of producing and performing. The drama residency culminates this week with three performances of two Shakespearean plays beginning with the school performance, which took place Wednesday at 1:00. The students, parent volunteers and of course Director/Producer David Kelman have done another amazing job. I hope everyone gets a chance to see this production on either Thursday or Friday evenings. A Native American clay pot-making residency for the fifth grade is presently underway (also Karin Rothwell, artist). In addition to these, Jennifer Yocom organized and produced with a number of student helpers a memorable Veterans Day assembly on November 3_rd. And…our newest staff member, Joey Waxman, will begin two sessions of chess club, which will be held after school, at the end of the month!

On Wednesday November 15, we hosted a meeting with our Thetford town safety personnel, a Vermont State Trooper from the Bradford barracks and two members of the Vermont School Crisis Team. Martha Rich and Bruce Hyde from TA also joined us. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss our safety protocols and tour the school to ensure that the safety personnel could support us in the event of a threat. We will continue to work together to provide a safe environment for the students and staff at TES.

Reminder that Wednesday November 22_nd is a half-day of school. We will be dismissing students at 12:30.

School Announcements:

From the Health Office: MUD, MUD, and MORE MUD!!! Please pack extra clothes in your child’s backpack. The unseasonably warm temperatures and rainy weather have teamed up to create the TES mud bowl on the playground, and children are slipping and sliding regardless of how careful they are. The selection of dry clean clothes in the Health Office does not always meet either the fashion or size criteria of our students; clothes from home are always the best. If your child does come home with borrowed clothing, please wash and return it to TES ASAP, so it can be used for the next emergency.

Community Calendar and Announcements:

The Thetford Ski/Snowboard Program is coming! Registration forms for alpine and snowboarding at Dartmouth Skiway will be arriving soon. In order to offer a X-country ski opportunity this winter, parent volunteers are needed to organize this activity.