News From The Nest: Issue #13

Hello Elm Street School Families and Friends!

What a wonderful week at the Nest! We wrapped up Family/Educator conferences on Tuesday evening and appreciate all the time you took to come in or connect with our team virtually and hear about ways to support your child(ren) on their educational journey this year. Wednesday evening we celebrated each other and the rich and vibrant diversity of our community with a fantastically well attended, and super delicious, Elm Multicultural Potluck. It was so wonderful to learn more about each other and the special foods and traditions our families bring to the Nest and listen in to conversations between students discovering and appreciating more about each other! On Thursday night we had another well attended PAC meeting full of great discussions about all the ways volunteers and fundraising are enriching the experiences students have here at Elm and how the community is supporting our teachers.

We finished off the week strong with so much celebration and joy. We had our first Student Council Spirit Day, Dream and Team Day, and loved seeing all the professional aspirations and favorite sports teams reflected across the grades. To start off our November assembly we learned two Thanksgiving themed greetings that your child(ren) can teach you and whoever you may be celebrating the holiday with this upcoming week. The community share was hosted by the second grade who sang a fun song that taught us all about the states of matter. We then congratulated all our football and field hockey teams who recently won championships and heard from our Student Council about this year's plan for Spirit Days and community service projects. Lastly we ended the assembly with a high fives that celebrated all the hard work our students have been putting in this month.

In addition to our assembly, our Fantastic Friday rolled on with a Fall Craft Day for our grade 5 students, a work share in 3rd grade, and opportunities for families to join in workplaces and choice time in kindergarten classrooms. All week classes have been reflecting gratitude in preparation for the Thanksgiving holiday and sharing their thoughts through writing and art projects. We have so much to be grateful for at the Nest, including all of our amazing teachers and fantastic volunteers who make our school so special.

In this edition of our newsletter you will find more information about:

• upcoming dates and celebrations for November
• Elm Street School Counselor November: topics include- nurturing gratitude in the family, assistance for Elm families, and upcoming SEL lessons in each grade level
• Essentialist Newsletter: STEM
• Elm Turkey Trot
• Health Office Notes: Injury and Illness Protocols
• Reminders from previous newsletters: Math Corner: November, MCAS 2026 Dates, Attendance Information, front office reminders, Walpole Food Pantry
• Lunch Menus
• Walpole Virtual Backpack (community notices)

We have a short week coming up with an Early Release Day on Wednesday and school closed on Thursday and Friday. Our Elm Turkey Trot is on Wednesday so please be sure your child(ren) is(are) dressed for the weather as we will run our laps outside unless there is heavy rain. If you are able, please consider having your child(ren) bring a donation to the Walpole Food Pantry on either Tuesday or Wednesday.

Have a wonderful weekend and we will see all of our Eagles back at the Nest on Monday!

Jen

At the beginning of each month I will share a calendar of some upcoming Elm events as well as upcoming cultural celebrations and heritage months with hyperlinks to more information if you are interested in learning more. Below is information for November.

If there are cultural celebrations that are important to you and your family that you would like to share with the adult Elm community, please email me so I can be sure to include them in upcoming newsletters. If you have any questions about anything you see on our calendar, please don't hesitate to reach out to me directly.

November

• • Native American Heritage Month

  • 11/1 All Saints Day

  • 11/1 - 2 Day of the Dead

  • 11/2 11:00a - 2:00p Elm Fall Festival

  • 11/3 Glow Run

  • 11/4 Election Day

  • 11/11 Veterans Day, School Closed

  • 11/13 5:00 - 7:00p Family Educator Conferences

  • 11/14 Early Release Day- Family Educator Conferences

  • 11/18 5:00 - 7:00p Family Educator Conferences

  • 11/19 6:30p Elm Multicultural Potluck

  • 11/20 Transgender Day of Remembrance, 6:45p School Committee meeting, 7:00p Elm PAC Meeting

  • 11/26 Early Release Day, Elm Turkey Trot

  • 11/27 - 28 School Closed

  • 11/27 Thanksgiving, National Day of Mourning

Elm Street School is hosting our annual Turkey Trot on Wednesday November 26, 2025 during the half-day. Each grade will be invited outside during their designated time to see how many laps they can run, walk, jog, or roll! Students are encouraged to bring in nonperishable food items on the mornings of Tuesday 11/25 or Wednesday 11/26. These items will be donated to the Walpole Food Pantry to help members of the community. Please remind your child(ren) to dress appropriately for the outdoors including sneakers. In the case of inclement weather the Turkey Trot will take place in the gymnasium. This event is for students and staff only.

In order to keep everyone healthy and safe here at Elm we follow the WPS illness and injury protocols. It is important to know that if your child has any surgery, fractures a bone or is in any type of cast, brace, splint or wrap- you need to check in with Nurse DiCicco prior to the student returning to school. A doctors note is required in the injury protocol.

Illness Protocol and Guidelines

• Children who are ill with a temperature over 100, or who have diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, undiagnosed rashes, uncontrolled coughing, impetigo, or conjunctivitis should remain at home.

• If your child is ill with a fever they must be "Fever Free" for 24 hours WITHOUT the use of TYLENOL, MOTRIN, or any other fever reducing medication before they can return to school.

• If your child has a viral stomach illness with symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea, please keep them home for an additional 24 hours after symptoms have subsided.

Activity Restrictions and Injuries

• It is the responsibility of the parent/guardian to notify the school nurse of any activity restrictions for a child. A note from the health care provider is required if a student is to miss physical education classes for more than one week.

• The physician's note should include the kind of activity restriction and duration of the restriction.

• Any student who returns to school, for any reason, with a cast, sling, ace wrap, or crutches must be seen by the school nurse before the start of classes.

• Students who have a cast, hard splint, air boot, or other protective covering to promote healing of an injury may not participate in active recess or physical education classes.

• Limitations on student participation in recess and physical education are imposed in order to avoid further injury to the student and / or their classmates.

• Students may return to active participation once a physician has determined that the student is sufficiently healed and the cast, hard splint, air boot, or other protective covering have been removed.

• At this time the student must provide a note from a physician stating that the student may participate in all activities without restrictions.

For more information visit: https://sites.google.com/walpole.k12.ma.us/wpsnursingservices/home

During family conferences next week, you will be hearing about your students’ progress in our Bridges math curriculum, which is designed to build deep number sense around key grade-level standards. A crucial component of this progress is fact fluency. You might wonder what exactly is fact fluency and how does it change across the elementary grades?

Fact fluency is the ability to recall basic math facts (like 5+3 or 7x4) accurately, efficiently, and with flexibility. This skill is essential because it provides the foundation for higher-level mathematical thinking and problem-solving. When students develop fluency with their basic math facts they can complete complex tasks more efficiently and with greater confidence.This fluency allows students to focus their mental energy on understanding new concepts and applying strategies rather than struggling to compute simple facts. Moreover, strong fact fluency supports number sense, pattern recognition, and mathematical reasoning, all of which are critical for success in later math learning. Building fluency through engaging practice and conceptual understanding helps ensure that students develop flexibility, precision, and logic in their mathematical work.

Our district uses a systematic and strategic approach to ensure that all students have opportunities to develop fluency. Our kindergarteners focus on building number sense and the foundation for facts through hands-on activities in Number Corner and Bridges as well as spatial-temporal activities in ST Math. In Grades 1-5, students use Math Fact Lab, an online program that utilizes a systematic approach with visual models to master facts. We suggest students complete at least three sessions per week (each session closes after 8-15 minutes). Once students complete a certain number of activities they have an opportunity to pass a “level lifter” which will then move them on to the next level of facts. Our students are doing an amazing job passing their level lifters on the path to becoming Math Fact Masters! Here are the core facts students are expected to master by the end of each grade level:

Kindergarten: Fluently add & subtract within 5

Grade 1: Fluently add & subtract within 10

Grade 2: Fluently add & subtract within 20

Grade 3: Fluently multiply all products up to 10x10 and related division facts

Grade 4: Fluently multiply all products up to 12x12 and related division facts

Grade 5: Keep practicing all facts for fluency!

We encourage you to visit our district’s Family Math Site which has resources about fact fluency for parents and caregivers as well as a whole page of fun practice ideas for students to use at home (online and printable). Thank you for your partnership in helping our students become confident and flexible mathematicians and supporting your child’s fact mastery at home.

Below is the schedule for MCAS that will take place in the Spring of this school year. We will share more information about MCAS and testing dates as we get closer. For now, please mark these dates in your calendar and help ensure that your child(ren) are present for each testing session for their grade level.

Grade 3

ELA Session 1: Tuesday March 31

ELA Session 2: Wednesday April 1

Math Session 1: Tuesday April 28

Math Session 2: Wednesday April 29

Grade 4

ELA Session 1: Thursday April 2

ELA Session 2: Tuesday April 7

Math Session 1: Thursday April 30

Math Session 2: Friday May 1

Grade 5

ELA Session 1: Wednesday April 8

ELA Session 2: Thursday April 9

Math Session 1: Tuesday May 5

Math Session 2: Wednesday May 6

STE Session 1: Wednesday May 13

STE Session 2: Thursday May 14

Absences: If your student is going to be absent or tardy, please call the absence line and let us know in advance. You may call this line at anytime and leave a message. The telephone number is 508-660-7374 and then press 1

Early Dismissals: Please send a hand written note with your student in the morning or email the classroom teacher and Ms. Torigian in the main office (atorigian@walpole.k12.ma.us)

Afterschool dismissal changes: If your student is changing their typical way of leaving Elm Street School at 3:30pm, please send a note into school with the plan that morning.

*If you haven't already filled out the dismissal plan form sent by Ms. Torigian, please do so as soon as possible.

What is Chronic Absenteeism?

A student is considered Chronically Absent when they miss 10% of the school year. In Massachusetts, this means a student who misses 18 or more days, regardless of an excused or unexcused reason, is classified as chronically absent. Just two missed days each month can lead to this status.

Why is school attendance so important?

Students who are in school consistently are more successful learners. Per the National Center for Education Statistics: A missed school day is a lost opportunity for students to learn and interact with their classmates. Students who attend school regularly have been shown to achieve at higher levels than students who do not have regular attendance. This relationship between attendance and achievement may appear early in a child's school career. Greater absenteeism during the school year can lead to lower achievement in reading, math, and general knowledge. Poor attendance has serious implications for later outcomes as well. High school dropouts have been found to have exhibited a history of negative behaviors, including high levels of absenteeism throughout their childhood, at higher rates than high school graduates.

If your child starts to accumulate absences, we will work with families to figure out the best way to help improve your child's attendance at school.

The Walpole Food Pantry continues to support local families in need throughout the year. Donations of non-perishable food items, household essentials, and grocery store gift cards are always appreciated. You can help by dropping off contributions at the pantry during open hours or at one of the collection boxes located around town. Every donation—big or small—makes a meaningful difference for our neighbors in need.

https://www.wcfp.org/receiving-food

Email: jbuller@walpole.k12.ma.us
Website: https://www.walpole.k12.ma.us/o/ess
Location: 415 Elm Street, Walpole, MA, USA
Phone: 508.660.7374

Instagram: ElmStSchool