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March
2 Talent Show6 Book Club7 Concert - 3 & 415 Orientation for
Parents of New Kindergarteners
20 K Math Night 22 METCO FF Day27 School Council27 - 2 Math Night31 Earth Hour 8:30p
April
4 12:15 Dismissal 5 METCO FF Day5 PTA Gen. Mtg.6 No School 11 12:15 Dismissal 12 HED Show16-20 Vacation Wk.24 School Council 26 Concert
Volunteer Opportunities
Talent Show(this friday)Parents sought to help before and during performance (p. 4)
From the PrincipalElaine Mead, [email protected]
Recently our fifth graders led a school assembly about Accountability, which your child could tell you is represented by the “A” in HAWKS. The HAWKS program deserves a more detailed description. It springs from Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), which is a research-based approach that begins with school-wide behavior expectations that are directly taught and practiced. The key characteristics of this systematic approach are: common language, consistent practices, positive climate, and social skills instruction. After several teachers took a PBIS course last year, they presented the ideas that they had learned to the faculty. The overarching goals of PBIS were embraced by the faculty and resulted in the "HAWKS" behavior promises. Teacher initiative, professional development, and student leadership have created a strong foundation for this work at Harrington. Harrington School, along with other schools in Lexington, has used the PBIS approach as a road map for promoting a culture of safety, friendliness, and focused learning. The Lexington Public School’s district goals include implementing a PBIS structure across the school system. The professional development courses in PBIS and Responsive Classroom have given teachers a vision of efficient and effective practices to improve discipline and academic
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From the PTAJennifer Devine, [email protected]
Fundraising at Harrington School is one of the most rewarding jobs of the PTA Executive Committee.
Not only are the related activities fun foreveryone, they directly enhance the lives of the children and teachers at Harrington School. For example, our tremendously successful Fall Festival for the Arts (formerly Walk for the Arts) provided resources for ACT. This year, ACT brought Harrington the Asia Map and Map night, Artist in Residence Giles Laroche, the Museum of Science Planetarium program for the 4th Grade, and aHistoric Lexington program, still to come, for the 5th graders. Fundraising dollars from Genevieves, Wilson Pie Fundraiser, and Shop at Wilson Farm Day (coming up on 2/29/12), make it possible for the PTA to provide folders, wet wipes, paper towels, tissues, and hand sanitizer for each classroom as well as a discretionary fund for the principal. And thanksto the generosity of the Harrington community, the PTA has been able to buy ELMOs and white boards for many of the Harrington classrooms. In addition to raising money, many of the fundraisers--Fall Festival for the Arts, Parents Night Out/Harrington Hurrah (3/10/12), and the Spring Fair (6/3/12) are meant to welcome both old and new families to our community. This year's Parents Night Out is a great opportunity to mix and mingle with other Harrington parents. It will be a relaxing event, focused on fun,
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Harrington Herald 1
Harrington School328 Lowell StreetLexington, MA 02420(781) 860-0012lps.lexingtonma.org/harringtones
Harrington
Principal’s Message, continued…
supports for students. The process for fully implementing the PBIS system takes three-five years. This year our focus at Harrington has been on developing procedures for teaching and practicing expected behaviors. We believe that students can and do learn better ways of behaving when they are explicitly taught and when they receive positive feedback. “HAWKS” behaviors provide a guide for our school wide expectations. One of the first steps in implementing a PBIS system is to have a matrix of expectations that are taught and practiced in all classrooms and common areas of the school such as the hallways, cafeteria, and playground. Honesty, Accountability, Work, Kindness, and Self-Control are concepts that we believe will promote behaviors that will improve interpersonal relationships and academic performance of all students. Students have embraced HAWKS and have taken the lead in presenting their understanding to the entire student body during all school assemblies. Grade Four students presented K for Kindness, Grade One presented S for Self-Control, and most recently Grade Five stepped forward and made the concept of Accountability come to life. Using song, video, and dramatization, the students demonstrated the HAWKS ideals in action. We believe the core values behind HAWKS will serve our students beyond their days at Harrington. We believe these life lessons are important for all of us. The faculty, staff, and students strive to model these values in all we do. None of us are perfect; we are a work in progress. HAWKS is our vision of community. Thank you for your patience as we grow together and for your support of HAWKS at home. I welcome your suggestions and comments.
Related Web Sites:PBIS – http://www.pbis.org/Responsive Classroom – http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/
PTA Message, continued…
not fundraising. We will have the wonderful splatter paintings made by Harrington children at the Fall Festival for the Arts for sale, as well as information on exciting new things to come at Harrington. Each fundraising event is the product of the creative and dedicated Harrington parents who spend many volunteer hours organizing and executing each event. We could not do it without you!
Kindergarten Fall RegistrationJennifer Minasian, [email protected] Office Administrator
The kindergarten registration forms will be mailed out mid-February. If you have a child or know of a neighbor that will have a child who will be 5 years old on or before August 31st, 2012 you should be receiving a packet. If you do not receive a registration packet by Feb. 29th please email Ms. Minasian (listed above) and include your mailing address. The mailing goes out based on the town census information so if you don’t fill it out we don’t know about you! There will be a district-wide orientation for parents of children beginning kindergarten in the upcoming fall. This will be held at Harrington on 15th of March at ____
Lexington School Committee UpdateLisa Smith, [email protected]
The following is taken from the Lexington Minuteman:
The FY13 Budget has been approved. Following weeks of review and discussion, the School Committee swiftly and unanimously approved the fiscal 2013 operating budget at $72,925,966. The budget includes the elimination of the full-day kindergarten fee and the fee for music/instrument lessons at the elementary school level, as well as a 50 percent reduction in the Estabrook School bus fee during the upcoming construction project. "This is a strong budget," Superintendent Paul
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Ash said. "That feels very good in these fiscal times that we're building on our strength, not dismantling (programs). . . I enthusiastically recommend the budget before you and I'm quite optimistic it will be funded by Town Meeting." The School Committee also unanimously approved the FY13 capital budget at $2,515,000. Also, two School Committee candidates are running for re-election. They are Jessie Steigerwald and Mary Ann Stewart. Jessie invites Lexington residents to join her for coffee to learn more about her bid for re-election to the School Committee on Tuesday, February 28, 8:15-9:15am at Via Lago, 1845 Mass. Avenue and Thursday, March 1, 9-10am, at the home of Mary Ellen Alessandro, 9 Cutler Farm Road. Mary Ann will continue to engage residents on topics of interest or concern on Wednesday, February 15, 8-9am at Panera Bread in Lexington, 1684 Mass Avenue - "Our Community: What's the Long View?" Other dates and locations can be found at Mary Ann's website: MaryAnn-forSchoolCommittee.com.
Harrington School Council�Suzanne Cherenson, [email protected] Council Co-Chairperson
The first ever Harrington School Council Parent Survey launched during February. We used Survey Monkey to gauge parental awareness and satisfaction with various school initiatives and communication. HAWKS, an acronym for Honesty, Accountability, Work, Kindness and Self-control introduced during the 2011-2012 school year is a key component of Harrington's School Improvement Plan. Parent education and communication efforts will be informed by the survey results.As of Friday, February 17th we had a 56% response rate of Harrington households, which us excellent and statistically significant. Survey results are not available as of the Herald publication date. The Harrington School Council thanks all families who participated.
A.C.T. ProgramsThe following programs were sponsored
by ACT (Arts Created Together) and funded by Harrington PTA.
Artist-in-Residence ProgramKathy Taudvin
For five full days in January and February, Giles Laroche, an accomplished fine artist and children's book author, worked with Harrington School as its first Artist-in-Residence. Mr. Laroche kicked off his residency with two assemblies where he shared his original artwork as he read his latest book, If You Lived Here: Houses of the World. The oooo's
and aaaahhh's that went up with each display of art was evidence enough of his awe-inspiring cut paper creations. From there, Mr. Laroche transformed the computer lab into an art studio and worked with every classroom by first giving a careful demonstration and then helping the kids as they created individual cut paper masterpieces. Each piece of art was then arranged on foam core to create stunning collages. Grade level themes were tied to the curriculum and related to the topic of "the natural world." Kindergarten: parts of plants; 1st Grade: human and animal shelters; 2nd Grade: butterflies; 3rd Grade: water on landscapes; 4th Grade: animal adaptations and 5th Grade: seasons in New England. Mr. Laroche's residency concluded with an all-school assembly where he unveiled and commented on each collage. The school was then treated to a video photo journal which beautifully captured the spirit of the process and the accomplishments of the artists.
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The gallery of collages are on display along the hallway opposite the Nurse's Office. An all-school mural, with selections from each grade, is being framed and will become a permanent installation at Harrington. Autographed copies of Mr. Laroches two most recent books are available in the library as well as the DVD of the slideshow of children’s work.
Chinese Ribbon Dancer ProgramKathy Taudvin
On Wednesday, January 11th, Chiao Bin Huang returned to Harrington School to bring some Chinese culture to the Kindergarteners in the form of Chinese Ribbon Dancing. The workshop began with a history of Chinese Ribbon Dancing, followed by a demonstration of the Fan and Ribbon dances, and finally, a dance lesson and practice for the students who demonstrated their newly learned moves with their own Chinese Ribbons.
Changes In Matter Program Kristen Reed
This Science Enrichment program from the Discovery Museum in Acton was a big hit with the second graders in January. They enjoyed seeing the gas created when the presenter placed dry ice in water and seeing dry ice tied inside a balloon blow up the balloon! The kids all sat back as liquid nitrogen boiled at room temperature and marveled over what happened when the presenter placed different objects in the liquid nitrogen:
· A fresh flower shattered after being touched.· A stretchy rubber band broke into small pieces.· A metal ring shrank so that a ball that could easily pass through before got stuck. The following quotes were heard from second graders: "I liked when she hammered the nail with a banana!""It was so cool when the rubber band froze in the liquid nitrogen! It felt like a noodle.""I learned you have to be careful with dry ice which is carbon dioxide because it can give you frostbite."
LEF Event: A Night at the Museumwww.lexedfoundation.org or find LEF on Facebook
The Lexington community is invited for an evening of dining, dancing, and socializing to help support the next round of grants that enrich the education of all our public school students. There will be an incredible list of silent auction items and dinner bites with an international flair. A LHS Jazz Ensemble will provide live music, followed by a program highlighting LEF successes this past year, and a DJ spinning favorite tunes from the 80’s through today. “Artistic” dress is encouraged! The venue, deCordova’s Dewey Family Gallery, is dynamic, featuring large-scale wall installations. Guests will have the option to roam through the Museum’s other fascinating galleries presenting The 2012 deCordova Biennial, featuring dynamic art from across New England. Details are available at the website above. LEF is not affiliated with the Lexington Public Schools.
Talent ShowGrace Clackson, [email protected]
Show begins at 6:45. Parent helpers are asked to arrive by 6:15, and email Grace in advance to let her know of your availability.
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Spring Fair: Save the Date!Christine Chisolm - Chair, [email protected] Parks - Fair PR, [email protected]
Sunday, June 3, 2012
The flowers haven’t bloomed yet, but we are already getting ready for the biggest event of the school year: The Harrington Spring Fair. If you have not been before, this event is filled with non-stop fun for kids of all ages. All of the popular favorites are back like the Giant Slide, Moon Bounce, pony rides, petting zoo, dunk tank, cake decorating contest, class baskets raffle, “tennis can” game, fabulous food, fun games and prizes. And new for this year we are adding some exciting activities that should put an even bigger smile on everyone's faces:• The Balloon Wizard comes to the Harrington Spring Fair! You will not believe all of the amazing things Mr. Balloon Wizard can do with a few balloons and he will show you as he performs at the Spring Fair this year. Check out his web site at “mrballoonwizard.com” and see some of the incredible things he can make with balloons-and come to the Spring Fair and see it all live. You are not going to want to miss this show!• Does your child’s favorite doll need a little pick me up? Have them bring it to the Doll Salon at Harrington Spring Fair where their favorite doll can get pampered.• LEGO Workshop: There will be Lego building challenges and spin your way to victory in our Ninjago Spinner competition. Come show off your ninjago and lego building skills!! Check your child’s backpack in the coming weeks for more information on the Harrington Spring Fair along with how to register for some of these new activities. This is the school’s largest PTA fundraising event and we need your help so please consider volunteering; sign-up sheet will be coming soon. So mark your calendars for June 3rd and come out for a fun filled day and support your school.
New Addition to the PlaygroundLeslie Zales, [email protected]
This all-weather, wheelchair-accessible game table was gifted to the Harrington School with the funds raised from last year's Graduating Class of 2011 and installed in November 2011. The PTA purchased chess pieces in honor of Grant Smith, former Vice Principal, for the students to use with the table The chess pieces (along with the other playground equipment/toys) are brought out by the playground staff at each recess.
Beautification Harrington Outdoors
In addition to the game table, a couple swings were lowered for the littler ones. These initiatives are part of the Beautification Harrington Outdoors project which will aim to enrich our outdoor space on a continual basis. We will be sending a survey for students, staff and families to ask what they would like to see for improvements or additions. Some examples include a shade structure, a painted map of North America on the hard surface, etc. If the community deems this important, the Beautification project (as part of the Harrington PTA) will raise money through various fundraisers and create an account that is earmarked specifically for Beautification projects. If you have additional suggestions for playground improvements or enhancements, please relay them to Leslie Zales who is overseeing Beautification Harrington Outdoors ([email protected]).
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Big Backyard: Spring SyrupPamela Cohen, [email protected] Muckenhoupt
How would you live if there weren't any supermarkets? Each fall, Harrington's second grade classes think about the answer when they go outside to learn how Native Americans used local plants for food, medicine and shelter. The walk is part of Harrington's Big Back Yard Curriculum. The students learn that Native Americans used Sugar Maple trees to produce
maple syrup 400 hundred years ago. Stone tools were used to make incisions and hollow reeds (such as a twig of a staghorn sumac plant) were used to run the sap into buckets made out of birch trees. Hot rocks were then placed in the sap to concentrate it into syrup. Maple syrup is a syrup usually made from the xylem sap of sugar maple, red maple, or black maple trees, although sugar maples have the highest sugar content in its sap. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before the winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in the spring. New England and eastern Canada have the ideal climate for getting sugary sap from the tree. The sap flows the best when temperatures are above freezing during the day and below freezing at night. Right now is when the sap is flowing! Sugarmakers across New England are harvesting sap and producing maple syrup. Many local farms and nature centers offer a look at how maple syrup is made, so go online or watch the local paper for information.
For more information about the second grade walks or Harrington’s Big Backyard program visit http://bby.lexingtonma.org/.
METCO Family FriendsDebra Morales, [email protected] Horne, [email protected]
Spring is arriving soon , Please look in your child’s backpack for upcoming Family Friends events. Thanks again to all the parents for their continued support, throughout the year.Reminder: 3/22 4/5 5/17 6/7
Fifth Grade Valentines-Susanne Fernandez
Beautiful hand made Valentine's Day Cards were created as part of the Valentine’s Day Celebration in Mrs. Moussa's fifth grade class. Students created their own thoughtful message and creatively decorated their cards for the residents of Lexington Health Care Center. The cards were delivered onValentine's Day by four Harrington students: Dallie Jackson, Paola Kefallinos, Joey Fernandes and Jake Fernandes. The students handed out the cards and visited with the residents. The residents really enjoyed reading the messages that the students wrote for them.
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Fifth Grade Perspectives!
Hobby NightBy Claire Jenisch & Madeline Ellmore, Fifth Graders
Hobby night was held on January 12, 2012 and it was a big success. It was fun exploring the many great hobbies and collections displayed in the Harrington cafeteria. Some of these were: Legos, coins, origami, crafts, Japanese erasers, metal detecting, Hess vehicles, Geocaching, Barbie dolls and lots more! Mrs. Mead and Mr. Maxwell were there, and Mrs. Mead said "I love seeing the children and their families and all of the collections because I learn a lot about people." A lot of people came to hobby night and it is a great way to find out what kids at Harrington like and what their hobbies are. There should definitely be another one next year. All in all it was a very successful night.
The Martin Luther King Jr. CelebrationBy Caroline Pfrommer, Fifth Grader
On Sunday, January 15, the town gathered for a celebration about Martin Luther King Jr. First, all fifth graders who could come went up on stage and practiced all 4 songs: Walk A Mile, Peace and Liberty, I Have A Dream, and What Can One Little Person Do? While we were practicing, the town did a walk from the Lexington Green to Cary Hall, where the event was held. After we sang the first three songs, most fifth graders left, but about 10 stayed, and we watched a sad documentary about the civil rights movement. The film showed just how horribly African-Americans were treated during the years of segregation, and what
happened when they tried to gain equal rights peacefully. I learned a lot from it but it made me sad to see all those innocent people going to jail or getting hurt. Then Reverend Victor Carpenter came in and reflected on the civil rights movement (Reverend Carpenter is an amazing man who worked for civil rights a long time). Next there was time for questions, and the remaining fifth graders and some other Harrington students came on stage to sing the last song, What Can One Little Person Do? The audience even sang along! This event was a huge success.
Artist-In-Residence ProgramBy Athena Buchan, Fifth Grader
Over the past couple of weeks Harrington was very fortunate to have Giles LaRoche come and visit us. Mr.LaRoche showed us some of his amazing pieces at an assembly. He also had a session with each class in Harrington to do some work with us. Each grade had a different themed collage depending on what they were learning in their classes. The 5th grade students made a collage that showed the 4 seasons in Massachusetts. Mr.LaRoche gave us some tips before we got started with our pieces. One tip he gave was to dab a triangular piece of paper into a small portion of glue and to spread glue with the triangular piece of paper so that you didn’t put too much glue onto your art piece. We had a lot of fun making our pieces and it was also cool to see other student’s pieces too.
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BINGO NIGHTBy Christopher Hughes, Fifth Grader
Bingo night was an awesome and an enjoyable night for everyone who participated! There were a lot of teachers who attended like Mrs. Class, Ms. Yardley, Ms. Wojack, Mrs. Nasson, Ms. Crotty, Mrs. Mead, Mr. Maxwell, Ms. Parkinson and Ms. Korpalski. There was a wide range of winners this year! I saw students from Harrington that won prizes as well as their siblings and grandparents, and parents. Also, there were a lot of amazing prizes too. Prizes from Masa Restaurant for $20, Whole Foods for $50, Snip-Its for $25, a Disney Channel bag, also Harrington Hawks Spirit wear, Rancatore’s ice cream for $25, to Nourish Restaurant and Catch a Falling Star! Many different types of Bingo were played this year, like Stand up/Sit down bingo which happened twice, traditional bingo, there was the “X” and “L” bingo and lastly, the full square bingo. A really nice thing that also happened was that for the Harrington students who didn’t win a bingo game, they got to come up and choose between Harrington pencils, pencil cases, note books, erasers or bubbles! The Harrington 5th Graders sold pizza, and drinks and desserts as a class fundraiser. And all together this year, Bingo was an amazing and fun night for everyone!!!
Harrington ReadsFlavia Vidal, [email protected] Novogrodsky, [email protected]
The title for our Harrington Reads book discussion this spring is Newbery Honor book Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus. Harrington Reads is for 4th and 5th graders and their parents. Please join us on Tuesday, March
6 from 7:00-8:00 pm in the Harrington library to discuss this novel.
Let us know if you will be attending by filling out the form below and returning it to your child’s teacher or to the Harrington Reads box in the PTA mailbox area (across the hall from the office).
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YES! Sign us up for Harrington Reads!
Parent
Child
Classroom Teacher
Please return this form to your child’s classroom teacher or drop it off in the Harrington Reads box, located across the hall from the main office.
. . . to custodian Mr. Miles for helping with the set-up and clean-up of BINGO NIGHT;
. . . . to Principal Mead, Assistant Principal Maxwell, Ms. Yardley, Ms. Class, Ms. O’Neill, Ms. Nasson, Ms. Korpalski, Ms. Crotty, Ms. Parkinson, Ms. Rosie & Ms. Wojcik for their time, patience and energy;. . . to the vendors who so generously donated gifts to Bingo Night: Whole Foods Woburn, Snip-Its, MASA, Catch a Falling Star, Rancatores, Nourish Restaurant, and Sweet Beats. . . . to Nick’s Pizza for providing pizzas at a special rate to help the 5th Grade Graduating Committee.. . . to all of the parents & students who made Bingo Night 2012 so successful. We were able to raise $955.00 thanks to each of you!
. . . to LPS Department of Public Facilities for installing the new game table; lowering a couple of the swings and laying new mulch in the fall of 2011.. . . to the Class of 2011 for that great chess table that now resides in the playground!
. . . to Seiza Viana and Kathleen Henry who took on HOBBY NIGHT for the first time this year and did a fantastic job!
. . . to Tanya Gisolfi & Kathy Taudvin for extensive behind the scenes work to bring the Artist-In-Residence ACT program to Harrington and make it flow seamlessly for two weeks.. . . to all of the parents who volunteered their time to help with each class and hanging the collages, . . . to Cristina Burwell for creating a spirited video and to Mrs. Weeks, our librarian, for her generous support throughout the residency.
… to Steve Monks and Kristen Reed for their engaging FAMILY MATH NIGHT presentations; to the older students and Harrington alums who helped oversee the Metric Olympics for this year’s First Grade Family Math Night: Julie Westvik, Andrew Tram, Bruce Wan, Ethan Xi, Benjamin Leshan, Charlie Mitchell, Ian Bulovic, and Katya Bulovic.. . . to Grace Clackson, Hilde Westvik, Scott Stuart, Steve Vincent, Allen Ferrell, Lisa Emsbo-Mattingly, and Dave Weissburg for delivering inspiring Math Mornings.. . .to the dozens of parents who have helped in other ways to make Family Math Nights and Math Mornings run smoothly thus far this year.
. . . to Christine Chisolm for her support with the METCO program.
. . . to Ms. Stumpf, for a lovely concert, for the 1st and 2nd graders.
The Harrington HeraldEditor: Cristina Burwell - (781) 862.2018, [email protected]
Proofreader: Barbara Yates - [email protected] & Natalie Gornstein, [email protected] PTA Co-Presidents: Kim Goldinger, [email protected] & Claudia Lavin, [email protected]
The Harrington Herald is the monthly newsletter of the Harrington PTA, published six times a year. In keeping with PTA Newsletter Policy, The Herald will print items directly related to the schools and their PTA’s. This includes curricular, co-
curricular, and extra-curricular activities that are PTA- or system-supported, and school-sanctioned projects. All articles are subject to editorial discretion. Newsletter material may be emailed to Cristina Burwell (see above). If you cannot
email your submission, please call her to make other arrangements. Visit the Harrington School website for online editions and archives at http://harrington.lexingtonma.org.
Next Submission Deadline: 20 APRIL
Heartfelt Thanks. . .
Harrington Elementary School 9
