Calendar and Events

Cornerstone Campus March 2013 Newsletter

Dear Parents,

One of the greatest aspects of Cornerstone is the tremendous sense of community among our families evidenced by the willing cooperation and generous contributions of volunteers that support our school every day. The staff and I are so very grateful for all you do to help make our school special.

Thank you to Courtney Perdios and Meredith Earnest for helping meet and greet prospective families during our Open House. Thank you to everyone who contributed the many special treats for our Valentine’s Day parties.

Thank you to all who attended our fundraiser move night last Friday. Also a grateful thank you to all our volunteers who helped in the kitchen and contributed baked goods. Finally, thank you to Mr. Earnest for picking up and delivering our pizzas. Friday was a fun family night with all of the children getting cozy dressed in their PJ’s and snuggling in their blankets while watching A Bug’s Life. A new water table for our 3 year old classroom and shelving for the Pre-K classroom has been ordered with the proceeds.

Although we are on the lookout for signs of spring such as bird calls, green shoots in our garden and buds on our tree branches, we will miss the winter fun we had sledding in our enlarged playground and making snowmen with all the snow that fell during February. Let’s all stay young at heart and hope for at least one more snow storm before the winds of March pass.

Best, Meg

KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION

Quincy Public Schools’ Kindergarten Registration for the 2013–2014 school year will begin on March 5, 2013. Children who will be 5 years of age on or before August 31, 2013 should be registered at their home schools. If you are not sure which school that is you can consult the street directory located in our school’s foyer. Parents seeking open enrollment need to first register at their home school. Children do not need to come to registration.

The following documents must be produced in order for a student to be registered:

a. Child’s birth certificate (with a raised seal)

b. Proof that the child resides in the home school district

(any two: tax bill, utility bill, copy of lease, car registration)

c. Photo I.D. of the adult seeking to enroll the student

d. Copy of a recent (within one year) physical examination by a physician

e. Written records of immunizations

PHYSICALS:

Please remember to bring in a copy of your child’s physical after his annual check-up. Thank you!

EVALUATIONS:

You will receive an individual evaluation for your child during the first week of April.

Mrs. Dignan and Mrs. Jackson will be scheduling conferences with you after you receive your child’s evaluation

Mrs. O’Leary and Mrs. Summering will be available Thursday, April 4^th for conferences during school hours.

Mrs. Andrews and Miss Skinner will be available Friday, April 5^th for conferences during school hours.

Mrs. Roche and Mrs. Dooley will be available Monday, April 8^th for conferences during school hours.

Please see your teachers to sign up for a time on those days. If you are unavailable on those days, please see your teacher to make other arrangements.

EARLY RELEASE DAY:

Reminder that Wed, March 13th is an early release day (11:45) for all sessions due to staff meeting.

NO SCHOOL:

School will remain closed on March 29th in observance of Good Friday.

UPCOMING APRIL DATES:

TEETH TALK:

On Tuesday, April 2^nd a representative from Quincy Pediatric Dental Associates will talk to our children about dental hygiene.

PICTURE DAYS:

Save The Date - Picture Days will be held on Tues. April 9^th and Wed. April 10^th.

CHURCH FUNDRAISER:

Tuesday April 9^th First Baptist Church Fundraiser – Visit Uno’s Restaurant at South Shore Plaza for eat in or take out, show your waitress or cashier your coupon and the church will receive a percentage of all bills. Coupons will be available in our school lobby.

News from Mrs. Roche and Mrs. Dooley’s Class:

The month of February was so much fun. We had fun learning about chocolate. We learned that chocolate is made from cocoa beans that grow on cocoa trees in Mexico and the Philippines. We also talked about dinosaurs, added the word “extinct” to our growing vocabulary and learned many facts about the history of those incredible creatures. Teddy Bear week was lots of fun and we all loved wearing our PJ'S to school and enjoying a pancake party. Thank you to all the parents for contributing treats to help us celebrate Valentine’s Day. We ended February with a discussion of nursery rhymes and fairy tales. We made really cute Humpty Dumpty's with real egg shells. Check them out; they will be sitting on a wall. Hopefully they don't fall!

In March we will be celebrating the birthday of author Dr. Seuss! We will read many of his books and enjoy some real Green Eggs and Ham! We will discuss the celebration of St. Patrick's Day and ask everyone to wear something green on Thursday March 14 and Friday March 15. We will also focus on shapes and colors this month with a number of activities to help us have fun while learning about different colors and shapes.

As the weather is starting to warm we will be going outside more often so please make sure your child has suitable clothing for outdoor play (mittens, boots, hats) Thanks!

News from Mrs. Andrews and Miss Skinner’s Class:

March is an exciting month! We came back from vacation to start a new unit on nursery rhymes in which we studied egg science, hunted for Bo Peep’s sheep, and embarked on teensy weensy spider adventures. We have begun a week long celebration of Dr Seuss’s birthday by reading his books, cooking green eggs and making funny hats. We will welcome in spring with outdoor explorations including experiments with seeds and plantings. Our new journals are filling up with our pictures and some great wonderful writing

News from Mrs. Summering and Mrs. O’Leary’s Class:

Welcome March! The children came back from February vacation all rested and happy to tell their stories of sledding and snowman making. We began our unit on nursery rhymes and fairy tales. We have been reading lots of new stories, building houses out of different materials like the three pigs and have attempted to put Humpty Dumpty back together again!

We have begun discussing the weather and the upcoming change of seasons from winter to spring. The children have learned that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. We will be graphing the lion and lamb days all month long. We are also celebrating Dr Seuss’s birthday by making our own Truffela trees, a hat to match the Cat and sampling some delicious green eggs and ham. Saint Patrick’s Day will bring lots of fun as we embark on a search for a leprechaun and his pot of gold. We will also incorporate some experiments with various colors during this unit and finish off the month with an egg hunt!

News from Mrs. Dignan and Mrs. Jackson’s Extend Day PreK Class:

During February, we completed our study of the solar system by making planets out of paper mache. We learned about coins and used them to purchase a special snack. We also built an igloo in our classroom out of milk cartons and learned about the Inuit people who inhabit the Arctic regions of the north. We ended the month by celebrating our 100^th day of school.

In March we will continue to reinforce literacy skills in a number of ways. We are discussing letter blends (‘ch’, ‘th’, ‘sh’) and punctuation, learning more sight words, using book terminology such as title, author, nonfiction, analyzing our weekly poem and even beginning to write sentences in our play plans. We are also starting individualized reading in class.

Our focus in science is moving from the five senses to the human body. We will also be learning about chemistry, colors and physics as we move through March. Our math curriculum will continue to build on the children’s understanding of patterns, numbers greater than 20 and shapes. We have also introduced the class to simple addition problems by asking questions during our morning message. We count the number of each response and then determine how many children answered the question.

We will be completing our assessments during the month of March and will be scheduling meetings with you during April.

Here’s hoping that spring springs quickly!