Woodville students earn the ‘respect’ of their peers - Wakefield, MA - Wakefield Observer

Woodville students earn the ‘respect’ of their peers - Wakefield, MA - Wakefield Observer

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Illustrating Respect

For this month's school-wide assembly on RESPECT, I solicited the help of our 4th grade student council to draw pictures that illustrate our core value of respect that we will share with the entire student body in our assembly today. They did a great job!

Creative Projects!

Students in Mrs. Foley's 4th grade class have been studying rocks in Science. To extend their knowledge about structures made from rock and stone, the students created projects to represent items made from rock and stone from throughout the world.

Are You Smarter Than a 4th Grader?

As a review and for preparation for the MCAS exams, Mrs. Ferguson's Fourth Grade class invites parents in to play "Are You Smarter Than a 4th Grader?" where the student challenge the parents. This is a fun way to review key concepts, vocabulary, and test taking strategies. It was lots of fun.

This Week's Principal's Award Winner

The winner of this week’s Principal’s Award is Emma in Mrs. Burdick’s first grade class. Emma has been a wonderful student in the classroom. She always brings in her homework. She helps students who need extra help in the classroom. She works her hardest and pays attention ALL the time and completes her work on time. She is a good friend to her classmates, bringing in things to share when there is a holiday and is respectful to adults. Also, she follows the rules of the hallway. She is truly an exemplary student!

Wakefield schools to be given anti-bullying books - Wakefield, MA - Wakefield Observer

Wakefield schools to be given anti-bullying books - Wakefield, MA - Wakefield Observer

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Jump Rope for Heart

Our Physical Education Teachers, Mr. Feldman and Ms. Edson, coordinated Woodville School's Jump Rope for Heart day this past Monday. Students exercised and completed different types of jump roping. Woodville students raised over $6,600 for the American Red Cross. Thanks to all who supported us!!!

This Week's Principal's Award Winner

This week’s winner is Liam from Ms. Purrington’s Kindergarten class. Liam demonstrates a positive attitude toward school and his peers. During circle time, the class discussed kindness and being nice to one another and one of his friends said, "Liam is a nice friend." After the comment, many kids agreed with her. Liam puts his best effort forward even when things are difficult. He is helpful and offers to help his peers and teachers. He demonstrates all of the core values and positive behavior. Liam is very deserving of this elite award.

President Obama's Education Plan

The link below will bring you to detailed information about President Barack Obama's Education Plan and the changes that his administration plans to make to No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

Click Here for the Press Release

Strategic Planning Committee

Over this past summer, a team of Wakefield Administrators, Teachers, School Committee Members, Parents, and Community Members assembled to begin the process of creating a Strategic Plan for the School District. The plan is meant to serve as a blueprint for improving the district over the next five years. After the initial committee met and identified major areas for improvement, several sub-committees (action teams) were formed to flesh out the ideas and create an action plan for improvement.

The areas identified were:

• Student Learning
• Facilities/Technology
• Professional Community
• Funding
• Community Relations
• School Culture

Today, our Strategic Planning Committee reassembled and heard reports on all of the action team leaders. It was a very wonderful experience to hear all of the exciting ideas that are in Wakefield's future. Our task for tomorrow is to begin to make the plan come to life.

The picture below is a picture of Mrs. Estelle Burdick, a Woodville 1st grade teacher, who was the Action Team leader for the School Culture sub-committee.

This Week's Principal's Award Winner

This week’s winner is Kelly from Mrs. Siafakas’ class. She demonstrates the five core values daily. She is respectful, caring, cooperative, responsible and honest. She is a new student to Woodville this year. She tries her hardest on ALL tasks, even learning her multiplication facts which were a challenge. Kelly is frequently seen straightening and organizing the classroom. She sits quietly at her desk reading, or talking to her classmates when appropriate. She makes crafts to supplement lessons. Her webs and words decorated the classroom after reading Charlotte's Web, she brought in a big book about King Tut after our discussion on Egypt, she dressed in Afghanistan clothing while presenting her Social Studies country project and she was Laura Ingalls Wilder for Literacy Week. She is a quiet, enthusiastic learner who is an absolute joy to have in class.

Weather Bug

The Woodville School, through the generous funding of WEF and other sources, has been able to purchase WeatherBug! WeatherBug (http://www.weatherbug.com/ and http://weatherbugprofessional.com/) ensures that individuals, schools, businesses and government agencies receive the most precise live weather information, the most relevant weather reports, and the earliest weather warnings to safeguard property, lives and to plan with confidence. With 8,000 WeatherBug Tracking Stations and over 1,000 cameras primarily based at neighborhood schools and public safety facilities across the U.S., WeatherBug maintains the largest exclusive weather network in the world. The live, local weather conditions are delivered to millions of consumers via the Internet and mobile devices, more than 100 state and local government agencies including the National Weather Service, and to 80 broadcast television stations, schools, and businesses. WeatherBug data is unique as it is the only live, neighborhood weather available anywhere.

We will be incorporating this into our science and technology curriculum.

Students pictured are in the WeatherBug Club in the Wakefield Academy - led by Mrs. Thomson.

Visit from 5th Graders

As the beginning part of the transition of 4th graders to the Galvin Middle School, 5th grade students come to visit our current 4th graders to talk about what life at the Galvin is like. Students are encouraged to ask questions and the students are able to put student's minds as ease. This is a wonderful beginning to our transition of "moving on."

Reading to Raise Awareness Against Violence and Bullying

The Wakefield Educational Foundation (WEF) awarded Principal Brian Middleton-Cox and the Wakefield Alliance Against Violence (WAAV) with money to purchase books for every elementary school classroom in the four public elementary schools with books that address the issue of bullying. This supports "Stories for a Safer Wakefield" which will be a month-long event during May 2010 to raise Wakefield's awareness on violence and bullying.

Picture: Wakefield Elementary Students and members of WAAV show books purchased with the grant money.

Book Donation to the Woodville School

On Tuesday, March 9, 2010, the Woodville School accepted hardcover books that were donated to the Woodville School Library in memory of Mr. Charles Greene. These books were given by his neighborhood friends to honor Mr. Greene's 14 years of dedication as Principal to many students of Wakefield Public Schools.

Books and Ice Cream -- What a Perfect Match!

Our second annual Book Fair Kick Off and Ice Cream Social was a wonderful event for our school's culture. Families had a chance to each ice cream, socialize, and support our school with the purchase of books from our Book Fair by BookEnds. Many thanks to Mrs. Michaud and Mrs. Cohen for organizing the book fair and this wonderful event!

Author in Residence

Through the generosity of the PTO, Woodville School students celebrated Literacy Week with Author in Residence, Judith Jango-Cohen. Author of forty-three books, Jango-Cohen engaged and educated children with a variety of techniques such as role-play, puppets, music, and games--including Paragraph Playoffs and Revision Decision. Pre-schoolers and Kindergarten students enjoyed the science program "Gators, Octopi, and Grizzlies, Oh My!" Older children learned about the experiences of many of their ancestors with "Images of Immigrants." They also picked up writing tips and techniques through the "Exciting Writing" program. "Our goal during Literacy Week," says Principal Brian Middleton-Cox, "is to expose children to an author and to inspire them to read and write."

Giddy-up Cowboys and Cowgirls!

Mrs. Russell's first grade students earned a prize for their marble jar and they choose to have a cowboy/cowgirl day. Yee-haw first graders!!

This Week's Principal's Award Winner

This week’s winner is Madison from Miss Christine’s preschool class. She is an outstanding student. She follows all of the school rules and demonstrates appropriate behavior at all times. Madison is a kind and helpful friend and shows respect for both her peers and teachers. Congratulations!

Reading to Classrooms

As part of our Literacy Week, I visited every classroom at the Woodville School to share my love of reading with our students. I miss being a teacher and opportunities like this are so special to me.

Character Dress Up Day

To celebrate Literacy Week, students and staff around the Woodville School dressed up as their favorite literary characters. Enjoy this sampling of our school's creativity!

Author in Residence - Literacy Week

This week for our literacy week, we had author in residence, Judith Jango-Cohen who is no stranger to the Woodville School. Ms. Jango-Cohen met with all of our students in grades PreK through Four to share her love of reading and writing. Her program for students in grades PreK-K was called "Gators, Octopi, and Grizzlies, Oh MY!" Then, for students in grades 1-4, the program was called "Images of Immigrants." In addition, she did an "Exciting Writing" program for students in grades 1 through 4. This was a wonderful experience for our student body and our staff. I would also like to thank the PTO for their generosity to fund the literacy week.