Wrapping up the week

What a great week and can you believe it is already October? Time flies when you are having fun. Thank you to everyone who was able to attend this year's Open House this year!  We had a great turnout and based on the feedback it sounds like everyone is pretty happy with the start of the year.  Here is a few pics from some of the classes I had the chance to visit. 

Take the Box Tops Challenge

Once again we are hosting a BOXTOPS Challenge. The classroom that collects the most BOXTOPS between October 1st and October 15th will win a kickball game with Mr. Gobeil and myself. Last year we raised $3000 from BOXTOPS and we are hoping to top that amount this year. Please help us raise some money for the kids and thank you in advance for your help!

NEASC Overview

Middleboro High School recently completed their 10 year self-study and visit from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges and Mr. Branagan (HS Principal) will be here at 6 pm on October 9th in the HBB Auditorium to discuss with all Elementary parents the results of the final report and what is means for the Middleboro Public Schools. If you are available you are welcome to attend this informational night!  We hope to see you there!

Harvest Big Blast Save the Date

One of the most exciting events of the year is coming soon! Please mark your calendars for Friday October 25th for the Harvest Big Blast. The Big Blast is fun for the whole family and we want another good turn out this year so please save the date and plan on joining us. 

That is it for now, have a great weekend!

Open House and Big Blast

One last reminder, Open House is Wednesday night, doors open at 6:30!

Also, planning is now underway for the Harvest Big Blast, scheduled for October 25th from 6-8:30pm, so mark your calendars now!

The PTA will have a donation box in the front lobby starting this Wednesday at open house and running through the month of October. Needed items include cases of water & juice boxes, prizes for carnival games (medium to large prizes are needed most) and peanut safe candy (tootsie pops, star burst, skittles, dum-dum lollipops, dots & tootsie pops are all great peanut safe options). Fall & Halloween themed decorations are also needed.

Thank you in advance for your support!

Trustworthiness and Open House

Congratulations to the winners of this week's Character Word of the Week winners.......before we share the winners.........Don't forget to join us Wednesday evening for Open House......doors open at 6:30!

The following students have deemed themselves to be Trustworthy citizens of HBB.  Great job guys!

Great Week

We have had a great week here at HBB and we a wrapping up the week with PJ Day Friday! Thank you to all who have helped make today a success.  All donations for PJ Day are going to help support Pediatric Cancer Awareness so thank you for helping us make a difference!

As many of you know, we have chosen to mobilize the HBB Community to help raise funds for this important cause because one of our own students is in the midst of a heroic battle himself.  We have a number of things planned this month to raise money including all staff making donations and wearing gold ribbons.  You can also help make a difference by purchasing a Burkland's Best key chain, all proceeds will be donated.  Please take a moment to read the attached flyer and thank you again for your support!

 Open House

We would like to invite you to attend the 2013 HBB Open House Scheduled for Wednesday September 25th from 6:30-8.  This is a great opportunity to meet your child's teachers, tour the building and ask basic questions regarding your child's daily routines and curriculum.   Your child will get the opportunity to lead you on a tour of the building as you get to see what your child will be learning throughout the year.

This can be an exciting event for parents and teachers and we would like to remind all students that they are to remain with their parents at all times.  Our doors will open at 6:30 and will conclude promptly at 8:30.  We hope to see you there!

Health and Wellness Committee

Please read the attached flyer if you are interested in attending the next Health and Wellness Committee meeting!

Envisions

We are very excited this year about the many changes we have to our curriculum.  One of those changes is a new math curriculum called Envisions.  Please read the attached letter from Mrs. Rodriguez, the Director of Elementary Curriculum.

Burkland's Best Decals

Lastly this week we would like you to know that the PTA is selling Burkland's Best Decals fro your car.  I have one on my truck and they look great!  Please help the PTA in their fundraising efforts and know that all money raised by the PTA goes right back to the students here at HBB through the many enrichment programs and other events hosted by the PTA.  Thank you in advance for your support!

Character Word of the Week Winners and PJ Day

Before I share our Character Word of the Week winners I would like to let you all know that Friday is PJ/Comfy Clothes Day.  All students who donate $1 on Friday are encouraged to wear their PJs or Comfy Clothes.  All donations will go to support our efforts to recognize National Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month which is this month.  Thank you in advance for your help in recognizing this very important cause!

Congratulations to our first winners for the 2013-2014 school year!  The Character Word of the Week for the first week of school was Honesty and we recognize and celebrate the following students for demonstrating the characteristics of Honesty!  Great Job!  The word for this week is Trustworthiness.

Hello HBB!  September is National Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month which is something that is very close to our hearts here at HBB.  For those who don’t know one of our students is in the midst of a heroic battle with Childhood Cancer and he is a very important part of our HBB Community.

In honor of him and all the other children out there battling childhood cancer HBB and our fabulous PTA has a number of events and fundraisers planned over the course of the next few weeks starting with September 20^th, which is PJ/Comfy Clothes Day.  All students who donate $1 are encouraged to wear their most comfortable PJ’s or clothes to school.  Also for our first early release day is (Sept 26^th), we will have our first half day hat day.  All students interested in wearing a hat are asked to make a $1 donation.

Lastly, we will be selling Burkland’s Best Key Chains for $5.  The Key Chains are handmade, durable and they look great!  Key Chains will be on sale at Open House and we will be sending home order forms shortly.

All proceeds from Hat Day, PJ Day and from the sale of key chains will be donated in support of National Pediatric Cancer Awareness and to the family of our student currently battling cancer.

Please help us make a difference and remember, every little bit helps!  Thank you!

Open House

Please mark your calendars for the HBB Open House which is scheduled for Wednesday September 25th at 6:30.  Open House is a great chance for you to come in, see your child's classes, learn more about the curriculum and get an overall sense of their day.  We ask that parents please remember that Open House is not a time for individual conferences with teachers.  You will have an opportunity to sign up for parent teacher conferences which are scheduled for November 13th and 14th.  We hope to see you there!

Expanded Learning and Intervention Block

Next week will be our first week of Expanded Learning Block.  For those of you new to HBB Expanded Learning occurs once per week in the afternoon for each grade and begins at 2:30 and runs to the end of the school day.  The expanded learning block is designed to enrich and extend the curriculum in new and creative ways while focusing on helping students acquire essential 21st century skills appropriate for each grade level.

New for this year will be our intervention component.  Students who may be struggling to grasp and retain concepts in class will receive extra help during this time in an effort to keep them caught up with the rest of the class.  Most parents should expect that there will be a time at some point during the year where your child may be held back for extra support.  Most students encounter concepts they find challenging at some point and the purpose of this block is to make sure students have the support they need.

We are very excited about the changes we have made at HBB to make the Expanded Learning and Intervention Block possible.   We feel that one of the keys to moving HBB forward is to differentiate and to give students who are meeting grade level standards the opportunity to go above and beyond and to help those who may be struggling when they need it.

Common Core

I am sure by now you have all heard about the new Common Core State Standards.  Here is some helpful information (courtesy of our ELA Coaches) on some of the main ideas about the Common Core and what you can do at home to support your child's learning at school.

That is it for this week.  Thank you and have a great weekend!   

Great First Week!

Hello HBB!

It is great to be back!  We had an excellent first week and it was great to see all the students so happy to be back.  We spent most of the week going over routines and getting kids all settled into their new classes.  Students were introduced to their new Math Program, new Units of Study in ELA and lots of new technology.  Next week students should be prepared to roll up their sleeves to work hard in their class and do some learning!

As we head into week two I again would like to remind everyone about the importance of good attendance.  That is why we are asking all parents to help us this year make every day count! Students with good school attendance are much more likely to perform well in school.  In fact, research suggests that students who miss just 2 days a month are much more likely to fall behind academically.  Additionally, research suggests that students with attendance issues are much more likely to experience problems later in their school careers and they have a higher likelihood of dropping out.

So again, HELP US MAKE EVERY DAY COUNT!  Encouraging good school attendance is one of the best things you can do to ensure your child does not fall behind!

Have a great weekend and we will see you all next week!