Killingworth Elementary School Dennis Reed December News.pdf · KES CORE VALUES • Be Respectful • Be Responsible • Be Caring • ... Q-tips Aluminum foil Magnets Glue/glue sticks

Important Dates

1 Board of Ed meeting 4 First Friday Family Read 6 Hanukkah begins at sunset 8 Referendum HS renovation 11 Report cards issued 15 Mrs. Sullivan Craft Activity 15 Winter Concert 15 Board of Ed meeting 16 K Gingerbread Houses (Isleib/Viens) 16 Holiday Wish Drive ends 17 Gr.K Snowman movie 17 Gr. 1 Polar Express 17 Sr. Citizen Gathering 17 K PJ Day/Snowman movie 17 Gr.2 Book Swap 18 KES Spirit Day (Red/White) 18 Gr. 1 Holiday Celebration 21 Gr. 4 Holiday Celebration 22 Gr. 3 Holiday Celebration 22 Winter begins 23 Minimum Day/Spirit Day (favorite/not-so-favorite Holiday wear) 24-3 Holiday Recess 25 Merry Christmas! 26 Kwanzaa begins 1/4/2016 Welcome back!

KES Parents, Families & Community Members!

In our on-going efforts to foster innovation and creativity among

our students, KES is excited to announce that we will be creating a

“Makerspace” that will allow students to participate in engaging

learning opportunities fostering curiosity, critical thinking, and

problem solving. We are at the beginning stages of the process,

and we need your help! In order to begin to stock our

“Makerspace” with materials that can be used, we are looking for

donations of certain items. Below are items that we are looking

for at this point. If you are able to donate anything we would ap-

preciate it, and our very own students will benefit directly from

your generosity. Donations can be sent into school with your

child, or dropped off in the Main Office. We would like to have a

good supply of things by the start of our winter vacation. If you

have any questions, feel free to contact the school.

Safety Reminder

If KES ever needs to be evacuated in case of an emergency, the students will be transferred by bus to the H-K Middle School. Their main office phone number is 860-663-1241.

WWW.RSD17.ORG

Regional School District #17 • Killingworth Elementary School • DECEMBER NEWS

Killingworth Elementary

School Dennis Reed

Principal KES CORE VALUES

• Be Respectful • Be Responsible • Be Caring •

Toilet paper tubes

Paper towel tubes

Straws

Cups

Scrap paper

Cardboard

Milk/juice cartons (clean)

Post-it notes

Coffee filters

Index cards

Tissue paper

Paper bags

Newspaper

Doilies

Construction paper

Shoe boxes

Paper plates

Empty cereal boxes

Empty oatmeal canisters

Rubber bands

Buttons

Beads

Thread

Duck/making tape

Nuts (to use as weights)

String

Playing cards

Old game pieces

Bubble wrap

Corks

Fabric scraps

Clothes pins

Cookie cutters

Felt

Bottle caps

Ribbon

Cotton balls

Q-tips

Aluminum foil

Magnets

Glue/glue sticks

Foam brushes

Paint brushes

Ink pads

Glitter

Crayons/markers/colored

pencils

Tempera paint

Styrofoam trays

Stencils

Pipe cleaners

Yarn

Craft sticks

Legos

Tinker toys

Play-doh

KILLINGWORTH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DECEMBER 2015

From the Health Office

November flew by and the December

holiday break will be here before you know

it!! I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful

Thanksgiving and four–day weekend.

The fall weather will soon transition into

colder, snowy days so please have your children dress

appropriately so they can enjoy their daily outdoor recess.

Once the snow is here, the fields are open for play only to

those with snow pants and boots so you might want to have

those items handy sooner than later!

I often am asked when students need to provide updated

physical exam information to me. The State of Connecticut

Department of Education requires complete primary

immunizations and a health assessment by a legally

qualified practitioner of medicine prior to entry into school.

Immunization update and additional health

assessments are required in the Grades 6 OR 7 and in the

Grades 9 OR 10. The RSD#17 required assessment is prior

to the first day of school in the seventh grade. If your child

is going to play sports at HKMS, an assessment is

mandatory yearly. With that being said, I do accept any

updates you have and document the information on the

cumulative health record. Flu vaccines are mandatory for

preschool in Connecticut and although not required after

preschool, they are highly recommended and I appreciate

notification as I do document that information as well.

Enjoy the month and stay healthy!!!

Students and staff brought in over 600 non-perishable food items last month during our Fall Food Drive. Helping Hands of Killingworth was thrilled with our donation and would like to thank everyone who donated. We had a “competition” among the grade levels, and the students waited every afternoon to hear the new totals. The contest was very close amongst all the grades, but fourth grade ended up bringing in 143 items to lead the grades in donations. Thank you to everyone who donated!

Anna Wessinger-Neumann,

a fourth grade student in

Mrs. Basroon’s class, is

pictured above working at

the Killingworth Lions

food drive. Anna collected

food for the needy in lieu

of birthday presents!

Great job Anna!


On Tuesday, November 10th, thirty-four Veterans were honored at Killingworth Elementary School during our

annual Veterans Day Program. Each grade level from K to 4 took part in this very special program. One of our

visiting veterans, along with his grandson, led the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by a moment of silence. Our

fourth grade students sang America, followed by the third grade students reading Poppies for Remembrance.

The kindergarten students performed Soldier Boy and the history of Veterans Day was explained by students in

fourth grade. Select chorus performed America and the poem Veterans Day was read by first grade students.

Third graders read a poem entitled They Did Their Share and the fourth grade students ended the program by

singing Thank You, Soldiers. Veterans from Massachusetts to as far away as West Virginia, as well as many

local Veterans, were in attendance. At the conclusion of the program, several of the veterans participated in a

question and answer session in each of the fourth grade classrooms.


Second grade students have being studying Pablo Picasso. They have made their own critical analyses and interpretations of his works of art. The students created self-portraits in the Picasso style of drawing (pictured at

left). Other grades are working diligently on their projects painting, gluing, coloring, and drawing. All students will begin winter projects soon!


Band members are making great progress, especially those who practice

AT LEAST three to five days each week. Parents, please remember to

take a look at your child’s practice log and initial it. All third graders

should be playing three-note recorder songs now. Please encourage at

least five minutes of practice at home. Please remember that our KES Winter Concert has been

rescheduled to December 15th at 6:00 P.M. The concert dress code is black bottom/white top.

Mark your calendars now so there will be no disappointments.

News from the KES Gym

At this time of the year, fourth grade students are extremely happy that the

Connecticut State Physical Fitness test is over and classes are getting back

to normal. We will be busy compiling the scores and sending them off to the State Department of

Education. Since testing took so long, the fourth graders as a reward are choosing which games they

would like to play. Third grade students continue to learn new games while working on teamwork

and strategies. They are going to have a fun project coming in December, more details to follow in

the next newsletter. Second grade students are working on teamwork and strategies during game

play as well. First grade students are continuing loco motor skills and basic throwing, kicking, and

catching. They also have a special project called Finklehopper the fitness frog. All classes have

been introduced to Finklehopper. A letter was sent home explaining this to parents. Kindergarten

students are being introduced to smaller skilled games and working on teamwork.

We hope everyone has a peaceful holiday season with family and friends.

Miss Mac

Mr. B

Students have been busy publishing and posting work on their

classroom websites. Did you also know that our students’ work

is often published on SchoolTube so students around the

country can learn from us? To access our SchoolTube page, go

to SchoolTube.com and then search for “D17.” Once you search for “D17,” you will

find our videos and work under the “Schools – D17” section. Scroll down to see

many of our projects published this school year. Students love to check in to see

how many “views” their work has received. Thanks for checking out their work!

Don’t forget that links to great websites like PebbleGo and Storyline Online can be

found on the library website. Go to bhklibraries.weebly.com to see all of the

resources available to our students and families!


It’s hard to believe December is upon us! The school year is

moving quickly and I am continuing to work my way through each

grade level for their developmental guidance lessons. This month,

I will be finishing up lessons with second and fourth grades and

heading into kindergarten rooms to meet our youngest students!

They will learn more about my role in our school and we will explore

different feelings. As always, please visit my blog at www.elemcounseling.rsd17.org for

more information on my work in our schools! I wish everyone a safe and relaxing

holiday season. See you in 2016! - Ms. Nash

December will be a busy month in kindergarten! Our Reading

Workshop lessons will continue to focus on helping students

become “super readers” by teaching them strategies to figure out

“tricky” words. During Writing Workshop, kindergartners will

continue learning about writing “true stories,” doing their best to make them easier to read

by adding more letters to words, spelling sight words correctly, and leaving spaces between

each word. Our math work will move forward to include counting, comparing and representing

addition and subtraction in many ways with numbers to ten. In mid-December,

kindergartners will be allowed to wear their pajamas to school for our annual viewing of the

movie “The Snowman,” and afterwards enjoy a special snack of hot chocolate and Dunkin

munchkins!

http://www.elemcounseling.rsd17.org


Second graders have spent the month of November learning

about the history of the first Thanksgiving. They have been

taking a virtual classroom field trip through Scholastic that has

helped them to see the comparisons between the daily lives of the Pilgrims and the

Native American Wampanoag Tribe. In science, we have also been hard at work

looking at the characteristics of a solid. Students have been observing 20 different

solids, identifying ways to categorize them, as well as comparing and contrasting which

can stack and which can roll. Students will continue with more observations and

activities to help them define the characteristics of a solid before moving on to liquids.

December is an exciting time for first graders! We continue to learn strategies for interacting with informational texts. In

Writer’s Workshop, we will continue writing non-fiction chapter

books focusing on elaboration and teaching our reader all we know about a topic. In math, we will spend a great deal of time focusing on place value

and learning about pennies and dimes. We will also continue to learn strategies to quickly

solve math addition and subtraction facts within ten. In Social Studies, we will learn about holidays and traditions around the world. In Science, we will learn about how

animals survive in arctic climates.

In Language Arts, we have been busy reading about a variety of non-fiction topics and creating informational books and essays about them. Students have been sharing what they learned about

these topics to their classmates. We are beginning narrative non-fiction and will be reading biographies in small book clubs. We continue to learn about non-fiction text features and how using these can help us comprehend the text better. We are learning strategies for our basic multiplication and division facts. Students continue to work on problem solving strategies for all operations and how to show their thinking. We have been working on these skills in our math journals and in small group practice. Third grade students continue to do the pledge every morning during the morning announcements and have been working hard on following the core values of KES: to be caring, responsible and respectful students.

Grade four has furthered their learning about ecosystems through

the observation and study of the living organisms in our aquariums

and terrariums. The students are extending their knowledge of

non-fiction texts and learning many new facts and exciting information about a variety of

informational topics. The fourth grade is beginning a new unit of study in math involving

using different strategies to multiply and divide larger numbers. The students have also been

hard at work in their planning and writing of multi-paragraph opinion essays.


Registration for students who will be entering kindergarten in

RSD#17 schools in 2016 will be held on Wednesday, January 13th

from 9:00-7:00 and Thursday, January 14th from 9:00-3:00.

Children do not need to be present at the time of registration.

Pupils eligible to enter kindergarten in 2016 must reach their fifth birthday by January 1, 2017.

Original birth certificates must be presented before students start school. Proof of residence is

also required. Please bring them at the time of registration if possible. Acceptable forms of proof

of residence include deed or current mortgage bill, homeowners policy, rental agreement, bank

statement, current paystub - we have a complete list in the office. Parent orientation and school

visitation dates will be provided at registration.

Our Square One Art Fundraiser items have been shipped

and will arrive shortly. Thank you for participating and

celebrating our little artists!

KES Spirit Wear was a huge success, thank you for your support. These items should also

be arriving shortly!

Family movie night was an enjoyable evening, thank you to all who attended.

Thank you to all who helped on Beautification Day! We had perfect weather (albeit a little

windy) for a November day. A huge thank you to Joe Lenart, who once again pulled

everything together. All his efforts made for a great day!

Thank you to everyone for sending in your BOX TOPS FOR EDUCATION and LABELS FOR

EDUCATION! So far this year we have collected 5,854 Box Tops. That equals $585.40 for

our school. Keep on clipping Box Tops, they really do add up!

Our next PTO meeting will take place on January 26, 2016, in the Library.

Visit the PTO website at http://www.rsd17.org/kes/index.shtml

Happenings at the Killingworth Library

A B C Amigos – a hands on Spanish program for toddlers,

preschoolers & early elementary children

Love 2 Sign with Jaye – sign language for children ages 6 months to 6 years

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Terrific Twos for children between 24 to 36 months – every Thursday morning in January

Call Gayle at 663-2000 for questions, times

and registration information

(Thursday mornings - December 3 thru February 18 – registration is required for A B C Amigos and Love 2 Sign with Jaye)

Storytime for children ages 3 and 4 – every Thursday morning in February

(Drop in Format – no registration required for Terrific Twos and Storytime)


If your child is going to

the after-school

program (or any rec.

dept. program) you

MUST send in a note to

the teacher.

We currently have 94 Stop & Shops cards

registered with KES as their designation.

Have you registered your card? If not,

please log into www.stopandshop.com/

aplus and select Customer Registration.

Our ID number is 07499.

If your child’s regular

dismissal plan changes,

you MUST send in a note

to the teacher.



SNOW CANCELLATION PROCEDURES

The decision to cancel/delay school is made

between 5-5:30 a.m.

1. Transportation gets the report from the State

Police and Public Works.

2. RSD #17 Superintendent consults with

Transportation, Director of Fiscal Opera-

tions, area town superintendents and

Director of Facilities.

3. Weather conditions are reviewed using local

and area media services.

4. A decision is made by the Superintendent

using all available information.

5. School Messenger alert system is initiated.

If school is delayed, the start time will be at

10:40.

If school is dismissed early, the dismissal time

will be at 1:05.

A decision to dismiss early will only be used when the threat of weather is predictable and

probable. The logic here is as follows:

In some cases, we would be dismissing students

during the height of road crews completing the

treatment of the roads. It is always best to wait

until treatments are completed to a certain level.

In some cases, we would be sending students home without anyone home and without ad-

vance notice. We respect the fact that many

people work away from their homes.

This year the Haddam Killingworth High

School’s 27th annual Holiday Show Telethon

will be raising funds and awareness for the

Children’s Tumor Foundation (CTF.org). CTF

supports research to find a treatment for

Neurofibromatosis (NF), which is the growth

of tumors on nerves throughout the body that

can cause pain, blindness, cancer, and other

health problems. This disease affects one in every 3,000 people

including Emma Becker, a local HES student.

What makes 9 year old Emma so very special

is that as sick as she is, Emma still finds time

to help other sick children by hosting

lemonade stands, making cards, and donating

money to CTF.

The Children’s Tumor Foundation is dedicated

to improving the lives of children like Emma.

With your help and support of the HKTV

Holiday Show, we can all make a difference.

If you are interested in hosting a fundraising

event and supporting The HKTV Holiday

Show, please contact Mr. Lewis at

[email protected].

The Holiday Show will broadcast live on

Comcast Channel 18 and on the worldwide

web at www.hktvholidayshow.org on

December 23rd from 8:00 am- 11:30am.

Encore presentations will

air everyday from

Dec. 23rd –Jan. 4th 2016 at

8:00 am and 7:00 pm.

H-KTV 2015 Holiday Show


Last month our Student Nutrition

Ambassadors had the pleasure of

tasting pumpkin bread, a sweet

potato roll and a fruit smoothie. They also enjoyed Tom Turkey

Nachos with mashed potato and

gravy, which was our

Thanksgiving “Try It” Day

in November.

Documents

Killingworth Elementary School Dennis Reed December News.pdf · KES CORE VALUES • Be Respectful • Be Responsible • Be Caring • ... Q-tips Aluminum foil Magnets Glue/glue sticks