November Newsletter
Believe,
Achieve, Succeed

Principally Speaking…
Welcome to Fall and the busy
Our
There is no school on Monday, November 3rd due to
Parent/Teacher Conferences. If you have not arranged for a conference, and wish
to do so, please send in a note to your child’s teacher. Also on this day will
be our book fair in the library. Feel free to stop by to purchase some books
for you child or purchase tests for their classroom. Our school also won the
summer District
It is hard to believe, but our first trimester will be ending on
Thursday, November 26th with trimester reports going home on
December 9th.
In closing, we wish to extend to you and your family, a Happy
Thanksgiving!
Putting Children First,
Dr. Donna Raptakis, Principal

Dates
to Remember

Sunday, November 2 Daylight
Savings Time ends
Monday, November 3 No
school- Parent Teacher Conferences
Tuesday, November 4 No
School- Election Day
Wednesday, November 5 8:15
TEACH meeting in Library
Thursday, November 6 8:20
SBIT meeting in Library
Tuesday, November 11 No
School- Veterans Day
Friday, November 14 Regal
Reptiles grades 2-5 Cultural Arts
PTA
Movie Night
Monday, November 17 “Cool
to be Kind” cultural arts grades 1, 2, & 3
Tuesday, November 18 PTA
popcorn day
PTA
meeting 7p.m. in library
Tuesday, November 25 TEACH
Reward and grade 3 Rad Kids Program
Wednesday, November 26 Trimester 1
ends
Thursday & Friday,
November 27 & 28 No
school- Thanksgiving break
Book Fair Safari! 
The Book Fair Safari is coming to
Monday, November 3 – Friday November
7, 2008
Your child’s classroom will be visiting the
fair during regular library classes. We will be open from 12 PM – 8 PM during
Parent Teacher Conferences on Monday, November 3rd
Stop in the library and check out the
editions of many popular books. We will have quality books, suitable for every
interest and reading level.
Please join
us for the Book Fair Safari!
Mrs. McDonald
Music
News 
The music room is rumbling! Mr. Lucini
shared his beautiful tuba playing with us as we enjoyed listening to him play
some famous melodies. We said goodbye to our student teacher since he will now
be teaching at
The band students are playing together as a
band! Congratulations on starting your instrument. The new challenges are to
play without pausing and to read the notes without labeling the letter names.
Keep practicing every night! Also, mark your calendars for the Thursday,
December 11, 2008 holiday concert at 7 p.m. at Washington Oak. Students will be
wearing black and white. Boys need black pants and a white shirt. Girls may
wear a black skirt or pants with a white shirt or a black dress.
The chorus is halfway through their holiday
concert music. Remember you will need to wear black and white. Boys need black
pants and a white shirt. Girls may wear a black skirt or pants with a white
shirt or a black dress. The concert will be with the band on Thursday, December
11, 2008 at 7 p.m. at Washington Oak. The chorus will also be singing at the
State House in
Grades K through 5 have been working on
rhythm and tonal patterns with Mr. Lucini. This month we will transfer the
patterns to instruments. We will also be exploring some Native American music.
All students in grades 3 and 4 should have
a recorder at this point. If your child is missing one or has not yet paid for
one that they needed to order, please send me a note as soon as possible. We
will be playing them every week for the month of November.
Mrs. St.
Martin

Art Studio
News 
Is it November already? Wow, the time is
changing fast! And Wow is the theme for
this years’ Reflections Art Contest sponsored by the Washington Oak PTA. We will be creating all sorts of Wow
paintings in the art studio. Become a
member of the PTA and pick your favorite art piece.
The Kid’s Art Faire is coming to Washington
Oak. Be ready to support a wonderful art
experience for your child. All grades
are continuing to explore different media in art. 5th grade is working to finish
their Jacob Lawrence collage; 4th is busy painting the autumn
still-life. 3rd grade is
exploring the world communities with pattern and rhythm in design. Pastel is
all the rage in second grade, To rub or not to rub,
that is the artist’s dilemma. First grade is working with scissors and glue to
create masterpieces of all sizes and shapes. And kindergarten is busy mixing
colors for fun and messy art so make sure to wear old clothes on art studio
days.
Mrs. Carlu
Gym News 
Thank you parents for the wonderful turnout we had for the hat day. We were able to raise over $311.50 for Dance Dance Revolution!
This month grades 3-5 will be working on project adventure games to improve teamwork skills while grades k-2 work on throwing and catching to improve their hand eye coordination. Please remember sneakers for P.E. days.
Mrs. Mc Govern
Reading News
The
We have each made a website and hope we
have parent visitors. You will find
information and links to other sites there, as well as reading games and links
to our e-mails.
The reading room is abuzz with all kinds of
reading from Reading Recovery to guided reading.
Our students’ favorite books of the
month from grades 3 and 5:
Next time we will hear from grades 2 and 4.
Happy
Mrs.
Malachowski
Ms. Wright
From the Health Office 
The beautiful
season of Fall brings with it the start of the cold
and flu season. Flu shots are readily available at pharmacies or call your
doctor for more information. You may also go to www.healthri.gov for more information.
To help celebrate the wonderful season of
Thanksgiving, visit www.freerice.com.
It’s a fun yet challenging vocabulary game. Rice is donated to the United
Nations World Food Program for every word you get correct! Great website!
Have a
wonderful Thanksgiving,
Mrs. Hennessy
Preschool 
The preschoolers
enjoyed exploring pumpkins during October while learning about the letter
Pp. They had an opportunity to feel the pulp and seeds inside the pumpkin
and learn how the pumpkin grows from a seed, ripens and matures.
The children are
enjoying the new scooters, tricycles and climbing toys on our recently enclosed
play area. We are grateful to Cedar Craft Fence Company for their
generous donation to help keep our students safe. We will be going outside
daily throughout the fall and early winter, weather permitting. Please
dress your child for the cooler temperatures. Now that the children are
wearing sweaters, jackets and other outerwear, please label them with your
child's name. The young students do not always recognize their own
belongings.
We are looking forward
to meeting with families on Conference Day, November 3rd. Remember that
there is no school on Conference Day and Election Day.
Ms. Joy Marshall
Mrs. Ellen Murray
Kindergarten 
The month of October flew by as we began to
explore the wondrous season of Fall. We had an exciting visit from the Audubon
Society where we learned many owl facts and met a live owl. We also had an
informative and fun visit from the fire department. As we move into November we will focus on
the theme of Harvest and Thanksgiving.
We will be utilizing our social studies curriculum as we learn about
Thanksgiving, past and present, and discuss family traditions. We will be
learning concepts of print through the shared reading of two wonderful big
books. With their repetitive texts, The
Monster’s Party, by Joy Cowley, and In
A Dark Dark Wood have been favorite stories to
share. We are looking forward to
discussing your child’s progress at Parent Teacher Conferences! J
Mrs.
Schofield and Mrs. Abood
Grade 1
Midtrimester reports have gone home. We
look forward to sharing your child’s progress at Parent Conferences on Monday, November
3rd. Conferences are only 15 minutes. Please arrive on time. Our
schedules leave little room for adjustment. Appointments can be made to
accommodate an extended conference if necessary.
Science teachers continue to provide hands
on explorations in living organisms. Students are having a great time with
plantings, guppies, and snails. They have observed the growth and changes of
both organisms. We have begun computer classes. They meet once a week in the
computer lab. Our students love this! Continue to practice vocabulary words
along with nightly reading. We greatly appreciate your help.
Enjoy the Fall chill- 
Grade 1
Teachers
Grade
2 
Thank you to all the field trip chaperones,
you helped make our trip to Pezza and the
Grade two will be completing and
presenting a November project commemorating the First Thanksgiving (more
information to follow soon).
In Math this month, we will be working on
the skills from Unit 3. We will be working on place value of one, tens
and hundreds. Review of coin values and exchanges among coins; also finding
coin combinations to buy things and counting up to make change. Help your
child make as many real world connections as possible in this area. Also
children should continue to practice their basic facts.
We ask that children are reading at least
20 minutes each night. Also, a Book It reminder that October forms should
be handed in and children should begin filling out their November
calendar. Free pizza slips for all completed calendars!!!
A reminder that as it begins to get
colder, children need to have warm clothes to wear as they are going outside
for recess.
Grade
2 Teachers

Grade Three
Our weekly “Pod Meetings” have been
exciting for students. Students are acknowledged for following the TEACH Values
(Tolerance, Enthusiasm, Achievement, Citizenship, Hard Work). Please encourage
your child to complete and return homework and also to make good choices each
day at school - and at home too, of course!
We feel strongly that our classrooms should be positive learning
communities that reflect an understanding of the TEACH values.
The Structures of Life Science Kit is a
huge hit with the students and they enjoy working with the RIC students. Seeds are sprouting and crayfish are crawling
in all our classrooms. We look forward
to continuing our observations and data collection as we learn about living
things and the life cycle. Students are
recording information in their Science Notebooks, which will be sent home after
the science unit is completed. Ask your
child some questions about crayfish behavior!
Now that state testing is complete we look
forward to returning to our regular routines with the children. Guided
Regarding mathematics students will be
reviewing some addition and subtraction and moving on to multiplication and
division. Consistent practice at home
can be very beneficial. We do our best
to try and make computation and problem solving in the classroom connect to
everyday life. Any connections you can
make at home (time, money, adding, multiplying, etc.) are very important to
show how valuable math is in our daily lives.
Agendas should be coming home on a regular
basis, with homework assignments recorded Monday through Thursday. You may use these at any time to communicate
with your child’s teacher. In addition,
Parent-Teacher Conferences will take place on November 3rd and we
hope to see you then.
Sincerely,
Grade 3 Teachers
Grade 4 
We would like
to congratulate the 4th grade on their hard work during NECAP this
year. Great Job 4th graders!! Fourth grade welcomed
During the
month of October, students in grade four began reading stories in Theme 2 of
Signatures and some began literature circles. Students are reminded to continue
working on their cereal box book reports. They are due on Monday, November 24.
We would also
like to wish Miss Scott well as she starts her next student teaching experience
at Oak Haven. She did a great job here
with our 4th grade!
Congratulations Miss Scott!
Happy
Thanksgiving!
Grade 4
Teachers
Grade 5 
Our “Marine Life Protection” presentation from
Thank you to the many chaperones who
joined us on our fieldtrip to the
Coming soon: A Thanksgiving Family Fun Activity
Reminder: On December 15th, students will be attending
the play, “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens, at the Trinity Repertory
Company Theater.
