OPR Weekly Update
February 16, 2024
Dear OPR Families,
Everyone at OPR enjoyed Kindness Week this week. Our School Counselors, Mrs. Murray and Ms. Bishop, planned many ways to share kindness. Below you'll see a picture of the OPR lobby decorated with hands that every student signed to show that "We are OPR." Another highlight of the week was on Wednesday when students traded Compliment Cards with their classmates. Every student received a card with written compliments from a classmate. The K in HAWKS (our mascot) stands for Kindness and Kindness is important to us every day of the year at OPR!
Be sure to watch the OPR Video News this week. Students learned about China from Elwin's and Carina's father, other guests, and our 5th grade news anchors. (Link below)
Click here to watch today's OPR Video News.
Have a safe and happy vacation week!
David N. Barner, Principal
dbarner@walpole.k12.ma.us
FEBRUARY
19-23 No School - February Vacation
26 OPR Talent Show Forms Due
27 OPR Talent Show Auditions from 3-4:00 in the OPR Cafeteria
28 OPR Talent Show Auditions from 3-4:00 in the OPR Cafeteria
28 Grade K and 1 visit from Dental Hygienist and a Puppet to learn about good dental hygiene
29 PAC sponsored STEM Night for Grade 3, 4 and Grade 5 Students and Parents in the Cafeteria from 6-7:30 PM. This experience is free for families. Sign Up Coming Soon.
MARCH
6 Grade 1 Field Trip to Moose Hill
6 Parent Teacher Conferences from 6:00-8:00 PM by Appointment
8 Early Release at 11:55
8 Parent Teacher Conferences from 1:00-3:00 PM by Appointment
18 PAC sponsored visit from the Discovery Museum to Grade 2 for Physical Changes of Matter
13 PAC Meeting, STEM Lab at 7:00 PM
14 Parent Teacher Conferences from 6:00-8:00 PM by Appointment
15 PAC sponsored Harney Dance Irish Step Assembly for All Students
19 OPR Talent Show Dress Rehearsal in the OPR Cafeteria from 3:00-4:30
21 OPR Student Council Talent Show at Walpole High School Auditorium at 6:00 - FREE Family Event!
22 Early Release at 11:55
22 Student Council Spirit Day: Wear Your Clothes: Inside Out - Backwards - Mismatched Day
26 PAC sponsored Author Visit to Grade 3: Author David Biedrzycki
26 OPR School Council Meeting at 3:05 in the STEM Lab
29 No School - Day of Low Attendance
Arrival: 8:15-8:25 AM
Tardy Bell is at 8:25 AM. (Students must be signed in at the office by an adult if tardy.)
Early Release Dismissal: 11:55 (Dismissal begins at 11:49)
Dismissal: 2:55 PM (Dismissal begins at 2:49)
If your child is going to be absent or tardy, please call the OPR office before school (508-660-7219) and press 1 for the absence line. The automated attendance verification system is in use. Those students marked absent and who have not called in will receive an automated phone call.
Parent-Teacher Conferences
The Parent-Teacher Conference scheduler will open on Monday, February 26th at 9:00 AM. It will remain open for your convenience until Monday, March 4th at 5:00 PM. Please be sure to sign up as soon as possible as each day only has limited slots available.
Parent-Teacher Conferences will be held on March 6th, 8th and 14th. We encourage all families to attend conferences as communication and collaboration are essential for your child(ren) to continue to have a strong school year. Conferences may be held in-person, virtually using Google Meet or by phone. If you are a parent with more than one child at OPR, please allow for at least 10 minutes between your conferences. We have found that back-to-back conferences do not allow for travel from classroom to classroom or transition between teachers.
Click on the day you would like to attend and sign up with each teacher. All classroom teachers and specialists are listed.
Wednesday, March 6th (6-8:00 PM) In-Person Conferences Only
Friday, March 8th (1-3:00 PM) In-Person Conferences Only
Thursday, March 14th (6-8:00 PM) In-Person, Virtual, or Phone Conferences
If you have questions or need help scheduling a conference please call the main office for assistance.
Student Report Cards
Families are now able to access to their child's Term I Elementary Standard Based Report Cards and Special Education Progress Report (if applicable) in the Aspen Family Portal
The Term I report card communicates student progress toward meeting end-of-the-year learning standards. The slight, but important, change we made last year to the descriptors of the Academic Performance Levels this year is the phrase “at this time”. The purpose of adding this phrase is to share with families where their students are academically, at this time of the year.
Teachers assess student performance against these learning standards, which are specific and observable grade-level skills. Our report cards reflect the learning standards as outlined in the current Massachusetts State Frameworks. Teachers assess by measuring individual student performance against the identified concrete learning standards, rather than in relation to the performance of other students.
Please check out the Parent/Guardian Guide by CLICKING HERE
Physical Education with Mrs. Green
All grades practiced Pickle-ball. Grades K - 2 simply practiced paddling to a partner and over the net. Grades 3 - 5 were able to get into more of a 2 v 2 and 3 v 3 game with the rules they learned from volleyball.
Kids Heart Challenge, Jump Rope Unit is currently being enjoyed by all grade levels.
Please check out this link along with the flier that was sent home with your child during PE class:
https://www2.heart.org/site/SPageNavigator/ym_khc_get_started_guide.html
Every year, we educate students on the importance of exercise, water, sleep and eating colorful food for a healthy heart. We include jump rope as the exercise to recognize our heart beating and the importance of such an important muscle. For the past few lessons, students practiced all different jump rope activities such as “Helicopter”, “The Wave”, “Snake”, short ropes, long ropes, double dutch and “Chinese Jump Ropes”, as well as learned about heart healthy habits. Students are encouraged to help raise money for the American Heart Association to help others and support heart research. Please consider donating.
Next, we will be finishing up with jump rope after break and begin working on our basketball skills along with some small sided games.
Math with Mrs. Rinaldi
With February Vacation next week, your students may be looking for some fun ways to fill their time, and you may be looking for something that is not on a screen! Board games are a fantastic way to build number sense and math skills while having fun! A compilation of research that explored relationships between playing board games and mathematical knowledge and numerical skills found significant gains in 52% of the tasks analyzed. When comparing the intervention group and the control group, there were significant positive differences in 32% of the cases (Ballardes, July 2023). Board games provide an engaging, fun atmosphere, boost critical thinking, enhance number recognition, and offer flexible learning opportunities.
So, what are some of the best games? Well, many of us grew up with Monopoly of course, the board with 10 spaces on each side, adding and subtracting different amounts of money, etc., so it is no surprise that it is number 1 on many lists. Here is a Top 20 list of the best board games to enhance your child’s math abilities. Artful Math offers some tips to look for when choosing a math board game to play-find one that all players can win and that helps all kids practice and improve while playing. If just the fastest or the most skilled player is going to win, it can be frustrating. That would negate the last tip of choosing one kids will LOVE! You want to hear them laughing and having fun while playing. This top list focuses on games for specific grade levels. Finally, our Family Math Website has this list of Family Board Games that you might enjoy. You probably already have some of these games in a closet somewhere, so dust them off, take a break from screens and enjoy some good, “old-fashioned” fun while growing your math brain at the same time!
News from the Nurse
Here is a link to the WPS Health Services website. On this site you can find links to forms (i.e. medication administration, over the counter medication consent forms), medication policies, and information regarding illnesses, concussions and injuries.
Our substitute nurse is Mrs. Karen Laracy.
Mrs. Laracy's email is: klaracy@walpole.k12.ma.us
99 Old Post Road
East Walpole, MA 02032
phone: 508-660-7219 ext 5804
fax: 866.809.6567
PAC NEWS
Please join us for the OPR PAC Meeting on Wednesday, March 13th at 7:00 PM in the OPR STEM LAB or virtually via ZOOM.
Who loves OPR? We do! Sign up here to volunteer to coordinate one of our great events or fundraisers this year. PAC Coordinator Sign up:
https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/9040e49a4aa2ba2fb6-oprpac1
mabel's labels
https://mabelslabels.com/en_US/fundraising/support/
Starting to lose those water bottles? Put a label on it! Please navigate to Support a Fundraiser and select Old Post Road Parent Advisory Committee.
Box Tops
Download the App for BoxTops for Education and scan receipt within 14 days of purchase. Assign Credit by selecting the Star and entering the Teacher’s Last name before you hit submit.
PAC Socal Media / Contact Info.
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OPR.PAC
please add: Follow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/oprpacwalpole
Email with questions: oprpacwalpole@gmail.com
OPR Textile Bin Donations
Massachusetts no longer allows clothing to be disposed of in the trash. Clothing must be donated or recycled. RECYCLE your clothing and textiles in the OPR Collection Bin and OPR receives money.
The collections resulted in the following:
2022 Calendar Year Total - $907.50
January 2023 - $102.00
February 2023 - $83.25
March 2023 - $95.50
April 2023 - $93.00
May 2023 - $88.20
June 2023 - $126.90
July 2023 - $100.20
August 2023 - $92.40
September 2023 - $118.80
October 2023 - $90.60
November 2023 - $113.70
December 2023 - $81.30
2023 Calendar Year Total - $1210.60
January 2024 - $85.80
Arbor Day Poster Contest!
The Town Forest Committee along with Walpole Cultural Council is excited to enhance students' experience of connecting Art and Science. The DCR theme this year is "Healthy Trees, Healthy Towns" this statewide contest is open to all third, fourth and fifth graders. Please see attached for guidelines/ rules of this contest.
Per DCR rules only one entry can be chosen per grade level from each elementary school. Please submit any OPR student entries to Ms. Kroll, OPR Art Teacher, by February 27th. The link to this contest can be found here.
Multilingual Learner PAC (MLPAC) Meeting
Please contact the Multilingual Learner Family Engagement Center at mlfec@walpole.k12.ma.us or at (508) 660-7257 ext. 5033 for further information or to request an interpreter or child care for the event.
WPS Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) MEETING
Please note the following contact information for Walpole’s Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC). Co-Chairs are Sue Pace and Deborah Mulroy. The SEPAC can be reached by email at walpolesepac@gmail.com. Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/walpolespedpac. Notices of future events can be found in this Weekly Update as they are scheduled.
About Us
OPR Mission Statement
The Old Post Road School community educates all students to excel and become productive citizens.
OPR Vision
OPR students will be motivated to learn in a supportive and safe environment. The faculty will foster self-confidence in the students and encourage them to make positive choices. Students will learn to accept responsibility for their behavior and will mature into responsible citizens and lifelong learners. All students will appreciate that they are part of a diverse, global society.
Instagram: OLDPOSTROADSCHOOL_WALPOLE
Twitter: @oprschool
Email: dbarner@walpole.k12.ma.us
99 Old Post Road
East Walpole, MA 02032
508-660-7219
