April 28, 2017 - Week 32

Happy Friday Dale Street Community!

I hope that you all had an enjoyable vacation week!  Our first week back at #beproudbedale has been fantastic!  A lot going on - take a look......

Mrs. Lowerre's class had a great time experimenting with recursive drawing this week.    Beginning with rectangles and circles the students were able to use their spatial skills to create some amazing designs.  

On Thursday, former Dale Street student and current Medfield HS freshman, Sophia G. visited our school to share Earth Day information with our fourth graders.  Students learned about our environment and participated in interactive seed planting.  Special thanks to Sophia - it was a great time!  

Thank you to Mona in Mrs. Lowerre's class for reading today's book recommendation.  Mona recommended The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill because it has "fantasy, magic and exploration."  Mona rated this book 5 stars.  Thanks Mona!

MCAS This Week

Our Dale Street fifth grade students also made us so proud with their efforts this week during their MCAS testing.  Most fifth graders completed all the ELA sessions of MCAS this week.  Any student who missed Session 1, Session 2 or Session 3 will make up the session they missed on Monday, May 1st as there is a limited window for make-up testing.  Students will only take one session per day.  Please see the Dale Street schedule below.

Grade 4: May 16 and 17 (Mathematics). 

Grade 5: May 18 and 19 (Mathematics) and May 22 and 23 (Science, Technology and Engineering).

Mr. Douglas' fourth grade students spent time this week taking a virtual road trip to Canada.  What a phenomenal way to explore!  

Please click here for the PTO update; including information on the last PTO meeting on May 3rd, teacher appreciation week and school supply kits.

This week students in Ms. MacDonald's fourth grade class had some fun with figurative language as they created poems focused on alliteration.  

On a visit to Mrs. Flynn's fourth grade classroom, I was amazed at the math students were doing on the stylus Chromebooks.  

Today students in Mr. Mason's fifth grade class learned how to make Simple Circuits, Complex Circuits and Electromagnets. What talented students! #funlearning 

Fourth Grade teacher, Margot Hayes completed her second Boston Marathon.  We are so proud of you!  

*A group of Dale Street staff members participated in a professional book group each month since October.  The group read, discussed and took part in activities surrounding the book, Teach Like A Pirate by Dave Burgess.  #continuousgrowth

*There will be a half day of school (11:40 a.m. dismissal) on Friday, May 12th.

*Transition Day will take place on Monday, June 19th.  More details will be forthcoming closer to the date.    

*Our last day of school is scheduled for Tuesday, June 20th.  There will be an 11:40 a.m. dismissal on this day.  

*The 2017-2018 District Calendar is now available.  

5/2 Grade 4 visits the Wheelock Family Theatre
5/3 Dale Street PTO Meeting - 10:00 a.m.
5/3  Fifth grade classes (Sager, Mason, Burnham) visit the McAuliffe Center 
5/4  Fifth grade classes (Walunas, Foley, Lowerre) visit the McAuliffe Center 
5/5  Fifth grade classes (Curran, Condon, Bertschmann) visit the McAuliffe Center 
5/24 Pre-K - 5 Family Literacy Night - 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. - Memorial School

As always, thank you for taking the time to check in and read the Dale Street Blog.

Enjoy the weekend,

Steve

April 13, 2017 - Week 31

Greetings Dale Street Community!

What an incredible week!  There was so much going on during these four days leading up to break. Take a look.....

Congratulations to Jack from Ms. DiPesa's class for his invitation to the GetReal finalist program held last Monday night.  Jack was able to meet Jeff Kinney, author of the Diary of Wimpy Kid series!  Jack also received signed copies of this series for Dale Street's Library Media Center!  Thanks Jack!  

Congratulations to Dale Street students: Lucas, Kyle, Sam, Eva, Caroline, Kelly, Liam, Amelia, Isabel and Lukas for having their artwork selected for this year's Student-Faculty Art Exhibition.  Bravo to these talented artists!  

Officer Maganello escorted Jennifer and Martine to school on Tuesday morning for their winning price from the MCPE auction.  Thank you to the Officer Maganello for participating and the girls' families for supporting the MCPE!

MCAS This Week

Our Dale Street fourth grade students made us so proud with their efforts this week during their MCAS testing.  It was the first time that these students utilized Chromebooks to complete a state assessment.  Most fourth graders completed all the ELA sessions of MCAS this week.  Any student who missed Session 1, Session 2 or Session 3 will make up the session they missed on Tuesday, April 25th as there is a limited window for make-up testing.  Grade 5 will begin their ELA sessions on Wednesday, April 26th.  Please see the Dale Street schedule below.

• Grade 4: April 11, 12 and 13 (ELA) and May 16 and 17 (Mathematics).
• Grade 5: April 26, 27 and 28 (ELA), May 18 and 19 (Mathematics) and May 22 and 23 (Science, Technology and Engineering).

PE/Health Update

Over the past several weeks students have been very busy in the gymnasium and health classroom.  Students have acquired some new skills in PE.  Students learned how to dance to the Merengue and Hustle!  Ask your son or daughter about it!  It was very impressive.  Additionally, students participated in a Basketball Unit.  They continue to develop important Basketball skills such as dribbling, passing and shooting.

In Health class, students have been exploring many topics as well.  Fifth grade students have watched short character-based scenarios from the Foundation for a Better Life.  Students have role played decision-making skills.  Fourth grade students have begun First Aid lessons.  They are role playing emergency situations.  Important life skills to possess!  

Thanks to Grace in Ms. Hayes' class for reading today's book recommendation.  Grace recommended Diary of a Wimpy Kid Roderick Rules because "It is very funny and it is enjoyable to read!"  Grace gave this book 5 stars.  Thanks Grace!

Ms. Sager's fifth grade students had some fun this week while investigating area and volume.  

Click here for the PTO update.  The last PTO meeting of the year will be on May 3, at 10:00 a.m.

Thank you to all who took the time to submit a placement letter.  We will begin working on creating classes/groupings at our PD day on May 12th.

Thank you to Mrs. Condon's fifth grade class for inviting me to watch their reenactment of the Boston Massacre trial.  What a great display of student engagement!  Great job, young learners!  

Special thanks to Nathan in Ms. Burnham's class for sharing this AWESOME letter with me this week.  You ROCK!

Best wishes to 4th grade teacher, Margot Hayes who will run the Boston Marathon again on Monday.  She has trained extremely hard and I know that she is going to do great!

Attention all 5th grade students and parents -- Keep an eye out for the YEARBOOK flyer after vacation in your child's backpack. All orders will be due by May 19th.  You can also find this form in the Thursday packet.  Thank you, The Yearbook Committee 

Best wishes for a safe and enjoyable April vacation.  Enjoy the time away!

Sincerely,

Steve

April 7, 2017 - Week 30

Dear Dale Street Families,

Dale Street was highlighted this week in Wicked Local Medfield.  If you did not get to see this awesome article, you can view it here.  

Students in Mrs. Foley's fifth grade class combined Explain Everything and a scavenger hunt to explore volume and prisms.  Wonderful student engagement! 

It was great to visit Mrs. Delaney's art room this week.  Ms. Bertschmann's fifth grade students spent time working with camouflage and color theory.  Great job young learners!

So proud of all the #beproudbedale Spelling Bee participants!  Your costumes were great and you all did a great job!  

Congratulations to The Zebulons: Carl, Josh, Travis, and  Sam for winning this year's MCPE Spelling Bee!  Great job!

The sights from Dale Street's 

The instrumental students from the Dale Street School played beautifully in front of a jam-packed audience at Wednesday's Band-o-Rama.  Congratulations to our talented young learners!  

This week students in Mrs. Lowerre's class studied condensation.  Students used different  food coloring and room temperature water vs. ice cold water to observe similarities and differences.  Great student-led discussions!  

Congratulations to this week's Positive Referrals!  These students exemplified what Dale Street stands for!  Way to go!

Medfield’s First Annual Family Literacy Night!

Wednesday, May 24, 2017 6:00-7:30

Pre-K ~ 5

*More information to follow in upcoming Thursday packets

Thank you to Ms. Sager's fifth grade students for sharing their incredible informational writing this week!  

Parent input narratives are due back no later than April 13th.  For further information please refer to the parent email that was sent on March 30th.  Additional information on the placement process can be  viewed here.  Thank you in advance for your cooperation. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Best regards,

Steve