Multicultural Fair returns to KT Murphy

K.T. Murphy celebrates diversity and unites our community with the return of our Multicultural Fair!  After a 4 year hiatus, The Multicultural Fair returned for the 10th year.  K.T Murphy families showcased their countries through art, music, dance, and traditional foods from around the world.  It was an opportunity for people of different cultures to learn about each other.  This year 13 countries were represented. Students performed throughout the afternoon by dancing, singing and even playing the piano! The best part of the day was to see the smiles on our families faces as they shared bits of their country and culture with others.  A heartfelt thank you goes out to Laura Cruz and Lydia O'Hagan for making this event a huge success.  It was truly a labor of love for both of them!  Thank you to all of our staff who volunteered.  We appreciate that you gave up some of your Saturday to be with us!  Thank you to families who shared their countries and thank you to those who came to take a tour around the world!

 

 

Toquam Parent Meeting With EL Department A Great Success! 

The Toquam EL department hosted a parent meeting on March 9th that allowed parents to become familiar with the EL program and get to know the teachers that make up our team. The sessions gave us an opportunity to share strategies for parents to help advance our students' English language development. In addition, parents gained a better understanding of the CKLA/Language Studio curriculum we follow at Toquam. We look forward to working in continued partnership with our EL parents as we focus on our student's academic success. 

Toquam Kindergarteners are Kings and Queens For A Day at a Royal Tea Party! 

This month all kindergarten classes participated in a Royal tea party to close out the CKLA kings and queens unit. We pretended that our classroom was a palace and all students came to school dressed in their best clothing. The children addressed each other by calling their peers prince and princess. We practiced basic manners such as saying, “please and thank you”. We also sipped cold tea and ate muffins and cookies and referred to them as crumpets and biscuits.  All classes had an amazing time living life in the palace and engaging in royal treatment!

Women's History Month Celebration

In celebration of Women's History Month, one of Juila A Stark’s fourth-grade teachers, Abby Curry created an interactive bulletin board with her class. Her class used their communication talent to write many varied, single words to describe who women are. They invited our entire staff to come by and add their special word to the bulletin board. 

Royal Tea Party 

Stillmeadow’s kindergarten team recently finished the CKLA unit about kings and queens. Students enjoyed so much learning about the royal family and concluded this unit by having a royal tea party ! What a special day with lasting memories!

Inspiring Teachers 

Two of Stillmeadow’s teachers have been nominated for prestigious awards.  Title I Reading Teacher Jennifer Grant has been nominated for a national Science of Reading Star Award.  Nominees for this award include educators with outstanding commitment to implementing best in-class literacy practices and driving student success using the Science of Reading.  

Third Grade Teacher Kimberly Balch has been nominated for the SPEF Educator of the Year Award.  In addition to being an exemplary teacher and grade level leader, Kim has helped to establish an International Book Club program for students in fourth and fifth grade.  Kim has facilitated a series of Zoom discussions in which students engaged in book discussions with students from the Mark Twain IB School in Bucharest, Romania.  

Good luck to Jen and Kim as the winners of these awards are announced this spring!

Gotta Catch 'Em All!

With St. Patrick's Day upon, the Northeast first grade students built leprechaun traps in hopes of catching the magical leprechauns.  Thank you to the first grade teachers, Ms. Brown, Ms. Karayiannis, Mrs. Ronaghan, Ms. Kopec and Mrs. Hunt, the students and families.  The families did an amazing job supporting their scholars.  Check out their creativity and talent!

 

Read-A-Thon Extravaganza!

Springdale's voracious readers raised over $11K during our Read-a-Thon! They read over 150,000 minutes total.  We are so proud of our students! 

St. Patrick's Day STEM 

Mrs. Florio's fifth graders and Miss Kanel's Kindergarteners at Northeast collaborated for an exciting St. Patrick's Day themed STEM activity. The fifth graders worked with their kindergarten buddies to plan and construct a trap to catch the leprechaun. The students demonstrated such creativity and teamwork. 

Westover Reads 77,573 Minutes and Raises $20,814

Westover’s Read Across America and Read-A-Thon week took place from March 3-10.  This year’s theme was Colors of Our World! The school kicked off the week-long event with an assembly where students learned about our reading goals and listened to Mrs. Saba-Price read one of her favorite books, Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss. The event also included a visit from the PTO to review the many, varied, and unusual prizes students could earn.  Daily prizes for participation included no HW passes, extra recess, Gopher ice cream certificates, and a choice from a prize box. Raffle ticket grand prizes for reading and fundraising minutes included opportunities to pass out Lexia Certificates, do the morning announcements, attend an extra gym class, serve as a special guest in a drumming class, and have lunch with Assistant Principal, Keriann Maxelix. The homeroom from each grade level that raised the most money also earned a movie in the auditorium. 

The week featured daily spirit days and read alouds related to colors, crayons, and artists. On Monday, March 6th, Westover hosted a family literacy night with Nancy Churnin, the author of Beautiful Shades of Brown: The Art of Laura Wheeler Waring. Nancy is an award winning author of 10 biographical picture books and joined us virtually from Texas. Families learned more about her writing process and all about the artist Laura Wheeler who was born right here in Connecticut. 

Children brought home new books thanks to community partner, Stamford Public Education Foundation and a grant they received from Reading is Fundamental.  Many parents also stopped by Westover to serve as “guest readers.”  Thank you to all of our students, families, teachers, and PTO members who helped make the week such a success.  Westover read 77,573 minutes and raised $20,814!

March Madness @ Westhill

Shout out to Kaylin English and David McFillan who hosted a March Madness basketball tournament  at Westhill after school Monday, March 13th and Tuesday, March 14th to raise funds for the Junior Class.  Fun was had by all!

Winners are pictured below:

Board of Realtors visit Hart Magnet

Thank you to our Stamford Board of Realtors who took the time to visit Hart Magnet Elementary School last month and learn about all the fun and exciting things we do.  They learned about science and technology classes, Mini-courses, Learn to Look, RSPACEE, Palace Theater, Yale Museum, The MET Museum, Mill River Collaborative, Junior Achievement, Before and After-School Programs (Chess, Coding, SoundWaters), guest visits from: authors, scientists, paleontologists, storytellers, bee keepers, and even a Judge.  Each month, members of the Stamford Board of Realtors are invited to tour SPS school buildings with the Superintendent.

Joy of Reading!

Hart celebrated a fun week of reading themed days in honor of Read Across America day! Students had fun dressing up as their favorite book characters, dressing wacky, and of course dressing up as what they want to be when they are older - because at Hart, Readers are Leaders!  #hartreadersareleaders

Hart Magnet grades 3-5 were awestruck when they heard a “real” scientist was coming to their school. On February 22nd, Stacy-Anne Parke came to Hart to share what life is like as a scientist and the road she took to get there.  She discussed the world of science through observations, research, discoveries, and problem-solving.  Our students were inspired and asked many inquisitive questions.  

Pi Day Winners

Congratulations to TOR Pi Day Winners! 3rd Place Josh Friedman (137 digits); 2nd Place Harry McMullan (271 digits); 1st place and NEW TOR record holder Rajul Agarwal who was able to recite 363 digits of Pi!  Amazing job!

What is an SPS Shout Out?

An SPS Shout Out is a special recognition that acknowledges school communities, staff members or students who have inspired us with a unique project, an outstanding job or a special effort that had a positive impact on our students or community.  Each week we will celebrate a few by sharing with all SPS staff and posting on the district website. Please share any or all of these with your friends and families.   

SPS Administrators can submit Shout Outs for consideration through the form shared with them in the Administrators’ Weekly.