Attached are 3 letters from Oak Hill regarding 5th grade transition.
February 6, 2012
Dear Parents,
As always, your participation in classrooms, on field trips and with special events is much appreciated by our staff and students. Your generous gift of time is one of the most precious and special attributes of our school. As a reminder, please read the following guidelines for volunteering or chaperoning at Bowen School. Continue reading
Get a chance to meet and socialize with other Bowen parents at the first ever Bowen Mystery Dinner! So here’s what will happen that night: we’ll all gather at one location for appetizers, and then divide up into small groups for dinner at one of many host houses, and then gather together again as a whole group for dessert and coffee at a third location. You’ll know the first and last locations, but your dinner location and your fellow diners are a mystery until that night! Continue reading
The Support our School Library Program ended in December and we raised over $600.00 in new books for the library. Thank you so much! We received the books and the students were SO excited to see all the great new fiction and non-fiction books. Many families have asked if they can still donate…yes! If you would like to make a general donation to the library you can send a check made payable to Bowen Elementary School, attention Donna Mason.
Here is a way to show your support for all school library programs: http://wh.gov/Wgd
Thank you!
Donna Mason
Save the date! Our next Coffee with the Principal will be Thursday, March 8th at 8:30am (originally listed as Friday, March 9). The topic that will be discussed is the School Improvement Plan. Please mark your calendars.
Dear Parents,
Progress Reports will be sent home with students on Friday 2/3/2012. Please look for your child’s report in his/her backpack. The Progress Report Guide below includes tips and guidelines for understanding your child’s report. On the last page of your child’s Progress Report, you will find important information to read and save regarding the new ParentCONNECT portal which will be available to families in February.
As always, please call or email me with any questions.
Sincerely,
Diana
BowenElementary School
Progress Report Guide
Reporting Student Progress
The Newton Public Schools has published grade level benchmarks that are directly linked to the content and learning standards of each subject area developed by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. These benchmarks summarize the essential understandings as well as identify the most important principles, ideas and concepts for each subject area. The expected and desired knowledge, skills, and processes based on age, grade, and developmental level are also included in these benchmarks.
The Newton Public Schools has a process for reporting student progress and performance, including fall and winter conferences as well as winter and spring progress reports. The conferences provide parents and teachers the opportunity to discuss student progress and achievement. The progress reports provide detailed information about how a child is doing in relation to the grade-level standards for each subject area based on ongoing assessments including standardized tests, informal inventories, observations and student work.
The Newton Public Schools Progress Report is aligned withNewtonbenchmarks. It reports performance and effort in the following areas:
In addition, it includes:
How to Utilize the Progress Report Information
Read the Progress Report and look for patterns and trends. In what areas and subjects does your child thrive? What is challenging for your child?
Progress Report Levels
Level 4: Consistently Exceeds Standard
The student:
Level 3: Demonstrates targeted degree of proficiency at mid-year or end-of-year and is making satisfactory progress at this time
The student:
Level 2: Has made progress toward standard, but is not meeting expectations for this time of year
Level 1: Has made limited, inconsistent, or no progress toward standard
Thank you to all of the families that attended yesterday many of who brought their favorite family games to share. We have a lot of people to thank so here goes.
First, to the Bowen family that generously underwrote the event so that we did not have to charge admission. Continue reading
January 30, 2012
Dear Bowen Families,
The past two weeks have been challenging for our community as we try to process the recent news about a popular former second grade teacher at Underwood. Although we did not discuss the news events in school we understand that some children have information and are attempting to process it in a way that is meaningful to them. Continue reading
Illustrator Eujin Neilan visits the 1st Grade
Eujin grew up in Korea. Her illustrations reflect the rich folkloric culture of her native country. Her program is an intimate, interactive presentation. Continue reading
A Message from the Superintendent
January 19, 2012
Dear Newton families:
As you are undoubtedly aware, this week has been very upsetting and trying for the Newton Public Schools, especially the Underwood community. Our attention over the last couple of days has been on providing support to Underwood students, staff and parents.
The news of a Newton teacher’s arrest and arraignment on such serious charges has a real impact on the entire Newton community. Due to the media attention focused on the matter, we know that students are talking about information that may make them feel shocked, anxious and angered. While I expect that many of you have already spoken with your children about the sensitive nature of the allegations, they may need additional support.
As a way to begin addressing various concerns that have arisen, I have highlighted three resources that might be useful in helping parents talk to their children about the sensitive issues related to this incident.
The first link is from the Child Assault Prevention Program (CAPP)
It’s Time to Have a Talk with your Children about Sexual Abuse.
CAPP is the program used in the Newton Public schools that teaches children how to recognize and respond to potentially dangerous situations.
Another resource is from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, www.nctsn.org, which provides information for parents on how to talk about traumatic events.
Finally, I have included the Middlesex Children’s Advocacy Center in Woburn: www.middlesexcac.org.
We hope these resources will help to provide the background needed to assist your conversations with your children.
We will continue to pay special attention to the social and emotional needs of all of our students and encourage you to share any concerns you may have with our faculty, staff and administrators. I also want to inform you that we will be holding a community meeting to both share how we are responding to this situation and to provide further information for families. Details will be forthcoming.
Thank you very much for your understanding and support during this difficult time.
Sincerely,
David Fleishman
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