Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays to all......

School resumes on January 4, 2010.

Honesty Assembly

Today we held our school-wide assembly and the core value we highlighted was HONESTY. To celebrate the occasion, our 1st graders sang "The Honesty Song" which they wrote.

The Honesty Song
sung to the tune of "Pop Goes the Weasel"

All around the Woodville School, everyone is honest.
The teachers and students follow all of the rules.
That’s being honest!

All around the Woodville School, everyone is honest.
The teachers and students tell the truth.
That’s being honest!

All around the Woodville School, everyone is honest.
The teachers and students do not cheat.
That’s being honest!

All around the Woodville School, everyone is honest.
The teachers and students do not bully.
That’s being honest!

All around the Woodville School, everyone is honest.
The teachers and students can be trusted.
That’s being honest!

All around the Woodville School, everyone is honest.
The teachers and students do not tattle.
That’s being honest!

All around the Woodville School, everyone is honest.
The teachers and students all share with each other.
That’s being honest!

All around the Woodville School, everyone is honest.
The teachers and students are all good friends.
That’s being honest!

The Polar Express

Students in our Kindergarten went to the "North Pole" aka our Library up on the 3rd floor today to enjoy a story about the Christmas season. They enjoyed cookies and hot cocoa when they returned to their classrooms. Students pictured are from Mrs. Greatorex's morning class and Mrs. Campbell's class.

'Twas the Night Before a Test"

Mrs. Ferguson's 4th grade students have been learning about poetry. They learned about stanza and rhyming patterns. This is a class-created poem entitled 'Twas the Night Before a Test."

Twas the Night Before a Test
by
Mrs. Ferguson’s Fourth Grade

Twas the night before a test, and I was freaking out!
So much Social Studies to remember about!
As I was studying, someone knocked on my door
"Leave me alone! I need to study some more!"

The test was on autumn in the Northeast
But I’ve been studying about the Pilgrims’ big feast.
I watched some TV to get my mind going
Instead, my nervousness kept on flowing.

I slipped into my PJs and hopped into bed
While visions of Social Studies danced in my head.
Import and export and aquaculture too
There are so many words, I’m feeling real blue.

I got dressed after I woke up for school.
I saw my brother, Chuckie, that grouchy little ghoul.
To the bathroom I went to wash my face
I fell down the stairs from my untied shoelace.

My mom sat me down to practice for the test
In came Chuckie and became a big pest.
We grabbed our backpacks and headed towards the bus
But the neighborhood dog came and chased us.

We missed the bus. I didn’t know what to do!
Maybe I’ll pretend to have the swine flu.
We decided to walk to the Woodville School

And I started to feel like a really big fool.

I got to school late and was surprised to see
The clock in the office read 9:33.
Mrs. Doherty gave me a yellow tardy pass.
I ran up the stairs and into the wrong class!

I turned as red as a berry and ran right out.
"You’re late!," Mrs. Ferguson started to shout.
I picked up my pencil and sat in my seat.
I looked at the test. My heart rapidly beat.

I stared at my paper as hard as I could
But the cash crop question was not understood.
As I was on number ten, I felt a big rush
But my brain felt a lot like a big cup of slush.

After I passed in my test, we lined up for gym.
I fell down the stairs and landed on Tim.
He said, "What do you think you got on the test?’
I said, "I don’t know, but I gave it my best."

Maybe I was having a day of bad luck
But if I got an A, Mom would buy me a duck
All of a sudden I had a bad hallucination
I flunked the test. It was a big humiliation!

I looked on my desk when I went back to class.
I thought to myself, I really hope I pass
Despite my crazy and nerve-wracking day,
Written on my paper was a BIG, FAT A!

A Christmas Carol

Members from the Hampstead Stage Company came to the Woodville school to perform Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" for our student body. The play was well done and students had an opportunity to ask questions of the performers. Many thanks to the Woodville PTO for supporting this event.

Crazy Hat Day --- Woodville Raising Money

Students at the Woodville School had a CRAZY HAT DAY this week and were encouraged to bring in loose change for our coin drive. We raised nearly $500.00 which went to purchase food for the Wakefield Interfaith Food Pantry. Thanks to all students and staff who donated and showed our core value of CARING!!

Reading Goal!

Mrs. Foley's fourth grade class collectively read 283 books during the first term. Mrs. Foley was so proud of her students and they were pleased with their accomplishment. For every 25 books a student reads, Mrs. Foley gives them a book as a present. Next term the class' goal will be to read 300 books!
Keep up the great work!

Winter Store

Students at the Woodville School participated in the Winter Store this week which gives students a chance to purchase gifts for their families and friends for the holiday season. Many thanks to Mrs. Jellison and Mrs. Goddard from the Woodville PTO for organizing the event!

Visit to Music Class

Mrs. Barry, the Woodville music teacher, was teaching this class of 4th graders about the life of composer Peter Tchaikovsky. He is probably most remembered for composing The Nutcracker.

Fine Motor Skills in PreSchool

PreSchool students in Mrs. Sokol's class have been working on developing fine motor skills. In this activity, the students were using tools to cut the play-doh to work on their fine motor skills.

Study Island

Students in Mr. Bouchard's 4th grade class were working on Study Island, a computer program to help students with math and english language arts skills. The questions test the student's knowledge in different areas through quizzes and educational games. All Woodville third and fourth graders have a Study Island account. The questions are designed to help students prepare for the MCAS exams.

Snowy Reading

Mrs. Siafakas' third grade class wrote book summaries for this timely bulletin board.

PreSchool Christmas Party

The Sons of Italy in Wakefield sponsored a Christmas party and students from our preschool programs were invited to attend and had a blast. We thank the Sons of Italy for their generosity!

No School Announcements in the Event of Snow

No School Announcements will be on the Wakefield Public Schools web site (www.wakefield.k12.ma.us) as soon as the decision to call off school is made.

Announcements will be made as early as 6:00 a.m. through radio stations WBZ (1030/am) and WRKO (680/am) and TV Channels WBZ, Channel 4; WCVB, Channel 5; WHDH, Channel 7; and Fox 25.

No calls should be made to the School Department Offices, Police or Fire Departments for "No School" information. These telephone lines must be kept free for emergency purposes.

In the case of a two 2 hour delayed opening, school arrival times will be as follows:

Schools Teaching Staff Students
High School 9:15 a.m. 9:30 a.m.
Galvin Middle School 9:45 a.m. 10:00 a.m.
Elementary Schools 10:15 a.m. 10:30 a.m.
All day Kindergarten 10:15 a.m. 10:30 a.m.
P.M. Kindergarten & Pre-School as scheduled
Full day Pre-K 10:15 a.m. 10:30 a.m.

When there is a two (2) hour delay there will be no A.M. Kindergarten or A.M. Pre-School

METCO students’ first pick-up will be delayed 90 minutes

Be advised that every effort will be made to avoid early dismissals.

Celtics Raffle

The Woodville School recently held a raffle to win 6 Celtics tickets to the April 2nd game against the Houston Rockets at the TD Garden. David Cullen of Burlington, MA was a our big winner.
The two Woodville students that sold the most tickets also each got 2 tickets to the game. Our top winners were Alexander Joly who sold 353 tickets and Ryan P. Smith who sold 140 tickets. The Woodville PTO made over $4200 profit from this raffle to directly impact the programming that is provided at the school for students in grades PreK through 4. Thanks to all who purchased a ticket to support the Woodville School!
The runner-ups were Carter Margolis who sold 106 tickets and Bobby Keegan who sold 83 tickets.

Thank you WEF!!

The Woodville PTO recently was awarded a generous grant from the Wakefield Educational Foundation for a Cultural Arts presentation.

Pictured here (l-r) Principal Brian Middleton-Cox, Christine Wilson, WEF Treasurer, Kim Margolis, Woodville PTO Co-President, and Karla Cerule, Woodville PTO Treasurer.

Studying About Native American Tribes

Students in Mrs. McCarthy's third grade class have researched Native American Tribes as part of their Social Studies curriculum. Students were presenting oral reports describing details and characteristics about the different tribes.

Congratulations Coach!

Mr. Verge, 3rd grade teacher, is a coach for the Wakefield High School Football team. Here, Mr. Verge proudly displays the winning trophy. The Wakefield Warriors beat Melrose by one point for a score of 14-13 on the annual Thanksgiving day game. Congratulations to Coach Verge and the entire team!

Thanksgiving Feast

Students in our Kindergarten classes celebrated a Thanksgiving feast last week.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Kindergarten students in Mrs. Greatorex's class performed a Thanksgiving show for their parents as they have been studying the Pilgrims and Native Americans. They did a great job with poetry and music.