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William G. Vinal School NewsletterTrisha Nugent, Principal February 28, 2014
03/03 Read Across America03/04 District Wide PTO Meeting, 9:00 am, Central Office03/13 4th Grade Parent Meeting, 6:30 pm, Library
THIS WEEK AT VINALIt was a week of artistic expression and appreciation at Vinal. Wednesday, the PTO’s Original Artworks program ran forstudents in grades 3 - 5. Altogether, approximately 170 students participated in this art fundraiser. Art Teacher TabithaFinn guided our young artists as they created beautiful pieces to be reproduced on magnets, coasters, t-shirts and much more.Music Teacher Kathy Medairos organized a field trip to the Boston Symphony Orchestra for our 5th grade on Thursday.The BSO offers concerts geared toward students in grades 4 - 6 to act as an introduction to the full orchestra experience, andhopefully, encouraging a life-long appreciation of music. Some of the selections they heard included Tchaikovsky’s “CoronationMarch”, Anderson’s “The Waltzing Cat” and Williams’ “Flight to Neverland” from the movie Hook.
PEACEFUL SCHOOL BUS PROGRAMSeveral staff members at the Vinal School are preparing to pilot a new P.T.O. funded initiativecalled the Peaceful Bus Program. The main goal of this program is to develop a positive and safeenvironment on the school bus for all students. It is designed to decrease inappropriate behavioron school buses, create a climate of respect and cooperation on the bus and help change thesocial dynamics on the bus by building strong relationships among students and the bus driver.
For the purposes of our pilot, one bus has been chosen and students will be meeting with stafftwice between now and the end of the school year. These meetings will help students get to know each other andtheir bus driver better and create a shared vision for their Peaceful Bus. Parents of students on the selected bus havebeen notified about this program. We look forward to sharing our results and observations of this program later inthe school year. If you have any questions about this program, or any social programs at Vinal, please contact ourGuidance Counselor, Lois Wheelock, at [email protected].
NOTES FROM THE NURSEA Note about Fifth Disease: Fifth Disease is a common childhood viral illness that causesa rash. It is called “fifth disease” because it was the fifth of a group of similar rashillnesses to be identified. It is not unusual to see groups of children in the school settingwith this illness in late winter and spring. At Vinal School a case was diagnosed this week.
Fifth disease usually starts with the child experiencing mild symptoms of headache, bodyache, sore throat, and mild fever. This stage may last 2-3 days and may not even benoticed. In the second stage the child is without symptoms. This stage lasts about a week.The rash appears in the third and last stage. The child may have a “slapped cheek” rash on
the face, and/or a fine lacy rash on the arms and legs. Fifth disease is most contagious at the beginning of the illness andchildren are no longer contagious when the rash appears. Unless fever is present, students may be in school with the rash.
Fifth disease is generally mild but may be serious for individuals with a weakened immune system. Pregnant women who areexposed to the disease should contact their doctor. Fifth disease is spread by respiratory droplets from coughing and sneezing.Primary prevention occurs by hand washing and careful disposal of tissues.
A Note about Strep: There has also been diagnosed cases of Strep throat at Vinal School in the past few weeks. Symptomsmay be mild or more severe with sudden onset and may include some or all of the following complaints:
● Sore throat, Fever, Headache, Stomachache, Tender neck and swollen glands, Bad breath
Treatment includes antibiotics. Students should not return to school until they are fever free for 24 hours without feverreducing medication and have taken at least a full 24 hours of antibiotics.
For more information, see the Mass Department of Public Health at www.mass.gov/dph.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call or email me at [email protected] .
VINAL AUTHOR, HEIDI MARTINVinal’s very own Heidi Martin has published a children’s book ! Heidi will be signing copies of her book,Treasure Hunt at Storybook Cove on March 8th. She will also be at Barnes & Noble in Hingham on April26th! Stop by and say “Hi”.
PTO NEWSIf you child would like to create a piece of artwork but was not able to stay for the after school sessions, packageswent home today, along with order forms. The order forms for the PTO art fundraiser, Original Artworks, are due
back no later than April 1st. This will ensure delivery in time for Mother’s Day.
