William E. Lancaster
Memorial School
May and June - 2008
Communication
As in the past, the
“Principal’s Message” will be one avenue for inviting communication between
Lancaster and our students’ parents. I
will always include my email address at the end of the message so that you can
respond quickly with questions or comments.
Several parents are receiving
the monthly newsletter through email. Check the Lancaster Home Page for a place to join our
distribution list. This email feature
can be used to provide timely updates throughout the year. For example, if there was a need to dismiss
students in a weather emergency, this is one avenue for notifying parents that
the students will be on their way home.
Click here for the link to the Lancaster Home
Page.
Lately at Lancaster
Lancaster offered an awful lot to
the students and families throughout the month of April.
Grade 4 traveled to the State
House in Concord to learn about NH Government and History. The students persevered through some
terrible rain that failed to dampen the enthusiasm of the day.
The Scholastic Book fair was held
and students, parents, and teachers visited to enthusiastically bolster their
book collections at home and at school.
Mrs. Sobol did a wonderful job organizing the book fair and she could
not have done so without the assistance of her wonderful volunteers.
“Historical Perspectives” returned
to Lancaster to present Marie Curie.
Student were engaged by the importance of Marie Curie to history as well
as the various experiments that she demonstrated for the students, staff, and
visitors. Many of the students were
able to ask questions of the actress that presented the show and their questions
demonstrated their curiosity for learning about science.
Our “Vote For Books” Reading
Incentive Program concluded and we held the Gold Medal Ceremony in conjunction
with the Spring Open House. Student
effort during this program was recognized, as was their perseverance in keeping
to their reading goals. Our volunteers
were also recognized and the parents also received our gratification for
assistance throughout the program. I
hope you were able to visit many of the classrooms during the open house. The quality of the work samples on display
helped to demonstrate why Lancaster students do so well academically.
NWEA testing was completed for
Grade 5 students. These tests are
helpful to teachers in the classroom as one measure in evaluating the
effectiveness of classroom instruction throughout the year. Woodbury Middle School will be utilizing the
students’ scores as a placement tool for students for next year too.
In early May the Volunteer
Appreciation Supper was held. This is
one of the staff’s favorite days as we have a chance to say “Thank you.” Our volunteers were indeed “voted number
1.” We could not do what we do in the
classroom without the support of our classroom and library volunteers.
Calendar Items
Check out the
Lancaster Website for a new look at our Monthly/Yearly calendar. This will be updated regularly. Click Here
then look on the right side of the page.
·
May 11–16 –
Staff Appreciation Week
·
May 12 – Dress
Rehearsal for Talent Show
·
May 13 – Talent
Show
·
May 15 –
Beautification Day
·
May 16 –
Progress Reports
·
May 19-21 –
Grade 4 Science NECAP
·
May 19 – Chorus
Concert (2:00 and 7:00)
·
May 21 – PTA
Meeting 7:00
·
May 22 –Grade 5
Top Shelf Concert at Woodbury
·
May 23 –
Grandparents’ Day (Special Friends invited too)
·
May 27-28 –
Incoming First Grade Orientation (no school for current Grade 1)
·
May 27 – SSD
Grade 5 Band Concert at Woodbury
·
May 30 –
Memorial Day Program (1:00)
·
June 4 – Grade
5 Move-Up Day
·
June 9 – Grade
5 Camp Lincoln
·
June 10 – Field
Day
·
June 12 – Book
Picnic, Field Day rain date
·
June 16 – Final
Assembly of the Year
·
June 18 – Last
Day of School
Please watch those
backpacks. More information about these
events will be coming home shortly.
Academic Initiatives
I am happy to
announce that Lancaster has achieved “Adequate Yearly Progress” as a result of
our performance on the NECAP tests that were completed last October. This means that our students continue to
increase their proficiency when assessed against the grade level expectations
developed by the state. The No Child
Left Behind legislation will continue to raise the bar for student expectations
and performance in the coming years, and it will continue to become more and
more difficult for students to meet the standard. But the Lancaster staff is up for the challenge, and we believe
the rest of the Lancaster community is too!
Last month I summarized the NECAP
data analysis that the Lancaster staff had performed in February and
March. I will restate those conclusions
about our students’ performance here again because it is so important.
The teachers reviewed the released items and our students’
responses to those questions to look for consistent patterns of success or
problem areas for our students. In
general, the teachers throughout the building noted that students most need to
persevere in their responses to questions.
Consistently throughout the test, but especially in the “open response”
or “constructed response” questions (i.e. writing), students only provided
partial answers to the questions. In
some of the multiple choice questions, students did not follow through in
exploring all of the steps needed to answer a problem completely. Please help to emphasize these “habits of
mind” as you work with them on homework and projects at home.
Monthly Character Themes
Each month the classroom teachers will
emphasize a different character trait within the classroom. Teachers will model the character traits and
recognize those students that put them into action. We hope that this will build a strong foundation for the year
ahead, and assist in the development of our students into fine young men and
ladies. Your recognition of these
traits at home would help us greatly.
In the month of March we emphasized Perseverance. Congratulations to the students who were
selected by their teachers as excellent models of the character trait.
In the month of May we
will emphasize Wellness and in June we will emphasize a Sense of
Humor. The teachers have many
activities planned for the students. Be
sure to ask what they have been doing in class.
Several of the character
traits that are highlighted throughout the year are emphasized in our Learning
Expectations. To view a complete list
of the Salem School District Elementary Learning Expectations, please click
here. Many of the character traits
can be found within our “cross cutting competencies” which are the first five
learning expectations.
PTA News
In April, the PTA offered the annual Spring Family Fun Night. A welcome addition this year was the
opportunity to get balloon animals created by Mr. and Mrs. Hamel. The balloon creations were a huge hit with
the kids that were in attendance. The
donated Karaoke machine was busy throughout the night too.
The final PTA meeting of the school year will be on May
21st. Please plan to join us.
On the Horizon
May and June are the busiest time
of the year – just take a look at the calendar above! It seems that there is an event every week, and in some weeks, an
event every day. This is a good time of
year though. Fifth Grade students will
soon be getting their memory book, and will be consumed with transition activities
for making the move to Woodbury School, and the other end of the year
activities.
The younger students will be
encouraged by the teachers to realize that next year will be even more
demanding, and the content and pace will move much more quickly. They are challenged to live up to these
expectations and continuously challenge themselves academically and
socially.
Because the good weather is here
and there is so much excitement and activity at school, it is sometimes
difficult to keep the students focused on the learning that is yet to be
done. Please help students to remember
to do their homework and make good choices at school.
Thank you to all of you for your
continued support of the staff and students at Lancaster. For those readers who may be parents of our
Grade 5 students – Congratulations! You
are almost there. It has been a
pleasure working with your students for the past two years. Good luck at Woodbury.
Sincerely,
Adam D. Pagliarulo
Principal