Frank I. Brown Elementary School 37 Highland Avenue

South Portland, ME 04106

Margaret Hawkins, Principal Telephone 207-799-5196 Email Address: hawkinma@spsd.org FAX 207-767-7742

February 3, 2016 Dear Brown School Families and Friends, Welcome to the second half of the 2015-16 school year. During the beginning of the first half of the year, teachers spent lots of time helping students learn the routines and procedures of their classrooms and the school. This helped everyone settle in for the all-important work of teaching and learning. All of the teachers at Brown School are very explicitly helping students understand the Essential Learning Targets for their grade level. Using “I can” statements, teachers are helping students understand what it is that they need to know and be able to do in order to meet their learning targets. In December you received our first JUMPROPE progress report. I talked with some parents who had questions about the new format for reporting progress. In January, our PTA meeting was focused on Proficiency Based Learning. Although the group was small, they had great questions. If you have questions about the JUMPROPE progress report or Proficiency Based Learning, I am happy to talk with you. Just call or email me. I have had a few questions about our policy regarding the temperature guidelines for outdoor recess during the winter months. All five elementary schools in South Portland have agreed to use 15° (with wind chill factored in) as the cutoff for determining if it is indoor or outdoor recess. We also agreed to use the same website (wunderground.com) to get the temperature before making the call. It is our preference to be outside as much as possible. Children should dress for the winter weather. When there is snow on the field, students need to wear boots and snow pants to be able to go out into the snow. Students who do not wear boots and snow pants play on the paved, plowed area of the playground. February is a busy month at Brown School, with parent conferences going on the first two weeks. Hopefully by now you have scheduled your conference with your child’s teacher. On Saturday, February 6, 2016, we will be having our annual Valentine’s Pancake Breakfast. This is a great family event that we have been doing since 2007. Teachers will be doing the cooking and/or serving. Hope to see many of you there. While you are in the building for conferences or the Pancake Breakfast please check out the Lost and Found collection. Anything left behind during February vacation will be donated to Goodwill. As always, if you have questions or concerns about any aspect of Brown School, feel free to call or email me. Sincerely, Margaret Hawkins Principal