FOX Boston and MCAS

Hello HBB! 

First let me start by letting everyone know that MCAS results will be placed in the mail on Monday.  You should receive your child's results shortly thereafter.  If you have any questions regarding MCAS please do not hesitate to contact us.

We are very excited to let you know that next Wed. Fox Boston will be here filming the BOKS program as we have been the lucky recipients of a $5000 grant from Fallon Community Health Care.  If you are interested in watching the segment it is set to air on October 10th at 9:45 am. 

Please start collecting BOX TOPS!  Next week you will receive information in the Tuesday Folder regarding a little competition we are having between classes to see which class can collect the most BOX TOPS.  The class which collects the most Box Tops will get some extra time outside with Mr. Gobeil and myself.  We will be dividing the class in half randomly and playing a kickball game with each of us participating on a team.....Who will win?????  Start collecting to find out!

Next week 4th grade will have an opportunity to participate in the Earth View Program and 1st Grade will be visiting the Outdoor Garden.  If you are interested in learning more about all the fun enrichment activities we have going on here click on the link on the left side of this page titled Enrichment, there you will find an overview of all the fun events.

As you can see we have quite a few great things going on here at HBB.  I hope everyone has a great weekend...........here are a few pictures from this past week.

5th graders celebrating HAT DAY

Our AWESOME PTA Parents working
hard at the School Store (Husky Haven)



Mrs. Serrilla and Mrs. Scanlon on Hat Day



What a great day

Hello HBB!

Yesterday was our first Student Council Meeting and it was a great success.  We had over 100 students attend our first meeting where we began the process of empowering students to make HBB the best school it can be.  Our students were treated to a visit from a couple of our High School Student Council Members who spoke to our kids about what it means to be a part of Student Council.  Yesterdays meeting was followed up today with an Administrative Round table where a group of 5th grade Student Council Members met with Mr. Gobeil, Mrs. Doak and myself to discuss the year ahead over lunch.

Our students listening to presentations from

 High School Student Council members

5th Grade Student Council Reps hard at
work over lunch with Mr. Gobeil and Mrs. Doak

Our 5th Grade Students also had an opportunity to attend a presentation yesterday from the folks at the Soule Homestead in our Outdoor Classroom.  Students had the chance to get some hands-on opportunities to learn about nature and the web of life.

5th Grade Students at the Outdoor Classroom

Please remember that tomorrow is an Early Release day and it is HBB Hat Day! 

Open House

Students and Parents from Ms. Schobel's
 2nd grade class

Yesterday evening we hosted our Open House and we want to take a moment and thank all who helped make this night a great success!  Our bake sale and apparel sales were through the roof.  The mood was incredibly positive and we continue to be impressed by our hard working teachers and staff.  We were also impressed and thankful for all the incredible support from the HBB Community and the PTA, thank you!

I also want to take moment and let everyone know about a couple of events coming up next week.  The first is the Soule Homestead taking place in the Outdoor Garden next Tuesday for Grade 5.  The Soule Homestead is an educational non-profit who's focus is teaching children about the "Web of Life." The Homestead offers a variety of low-cost educational programs that emphasize hands-on learning experiences and their educational programs will incorporate one or more of the Massachusetts State Educational Curriculum Standards and Frameworks, including: History and Social Science; Science and Technology; Mathematics; and Visual Arts.

I also want to let all Parents of students in grades 1-3 know that next week your child's reading ability will be assessed in class using DIBELS.  This assessment is simply a means of helping your child's teacher get an accurate gauge on their reading ability so they can be challenged appropriately in class.  Students will be assessed 3 times throughout the year to ensure they are making progress and this assessment has been given to your child last year as well.  If you have any questions regarding this or you want more specific information please do not hesitate to contact us.     

And lastly, I want to remind everyone that Thursday is an Early Release Day and it is HBB Hat Day. 

I hope you all have a great weekend and thank you all again for helping make Open House such a great night! 

New School Vegetable Garden

Hello HBB. 

Over the next 10 weeks our students will be busy taking turns visiting our new school vegetable garden. Each Friday classes will be going to the garden to learn about what is growing and how to help take care of it. They will be participating in lessons involving composting and seeds.  We will be starting this week with all Grade 2 classes and each grade will have their chance over the course of the following weeks.  (please refer to the calender at the bottom of this page for specific dates)

The vegetable garden has been put together completely by volunteers.  Thank you to all who have helped and especially Jennie Teceno and Michele Reynolds for organizing the garden, the lessons and the classroom visits!

Mrs. Teceno and Mrs. Reynolds are looking for volunteers to assist with the lessons.  If you are interested and available to volunteer on Fridays please contact either Jennie Teceno at jenteceno@yahoo.com  or Michele Reynolds at mimireynolds66@yahoo.com.   If you are not available to volunteer on Fridays but have an interest in helping in other ways they would like to hear from you.

This is a wonderful community based project and the more people who become involved the more successful the garden will be. Thank you to all who have helped make this possible! 

Odds and Ends

Hello HBB! 

All is going well here at HBB as we are just now settling in with all our routines and our day to day schedule.  Her are a few things to look for over the coming days.

Boks Registration

As we had announced previously we are extremely excited that we are the recipients of a $5000 grant and we will be offering the BOKS program free of charge this year.  Please be on the lookout for the registration forms which will be coming in the Tuesday folder.  If you are interested in participating you must mail your form back to the address listed on the form. 

Open House

Just a reminder that Open House will be Thursday September 20th from 6:30-8:00 pm.  This is a great opportunity to meet your child's teacher and see the building.  We will also have sign up sheets for parent teacher conferences available.

Student Handbook

This year the student handbook is available online.  Please be on the lookout for the form we sent home asking you to let us know if you prefer a hard copy of the handbook as that will still be an option.  Regardless of the format you choose please sign and return page one of the handbook acknowledging you have read the handbook. 

Council on Aging Food Pantry

We are currently collecting non perishable food donations for the Council on Aging Food Pantry.  Please help us help the elderly on our community!   We have a box outside the main office and any donations would be greatly appreciated.

That's it for now......as always, please let us know if you have any questions, comments or concerns!

Great First Day of School

Despite the rain, today was our first day of school and if today is any indication as to how the rest of the year will go I am even more excited now than before the year started!

Today went great!  Our students were greeted this morning by their teachers, our staff and a number of parent volunteers.  By no means did the rain dampen the spirits of our kids or the staff.  The energy in the building was extremely positive and the day went exceptionally well.

I apologize if you were waiting this afternoon and your child was late on the bus.  It usually takes a few days to iron out the buses and we were a little behind schedule today.  We may be a bit late again over the next couple of days as the students get acclimated to their buses.  Please know we will be working very hard to get our system down and ensure that our buses get rolling on time.  If you have any concerns about the buses please call us anytime!

I also want to make sure everyone is aware that parent pickup in the afternoon takes place in the back of the school and parents and guardians must park, get out of their car and come to the door by the Auditorium where you will be asked for a photo id. 

Lastly, thank you to all the parent volunteers and staff who worked so hard in making today a memorable first day for all our students!

Happy Labor Day Weekend HBB!

I have a message to pass along from all of the BOKS trainers. They have asked that I let you know how much they appreciate the overwhelming support for the BOKS program.

Many of you got out and voted during our recent grant application and we are thrilled to announce that we have been awarded a $5,000 grant from Fallon Community Health Plan.

100% of this money will go directly to the BOKS program and will enable us to continue offering this program free of charge to 160 students in grades 1-5.

Registration forms for the Fall session will be available to download from the BOKS website beginning on September 11, 2012.  www.middleboroboks.com

In the meantime I hope everyone is enjoying the weekend and I hope everyone is as excited as I am to get the school year started. I recognize that some of you may be anxious and possibly nervous. If so, check out this article, it may help.

http://www.hearingfamilies.com/2010/08/the-first-day-of-school-without-fear/

Again, enjoy the weekend, see you on Wednesday!