What's Bruin at Pierce School?

Monday, September 12

• Author Renata Bowers comes to visit
• Special writers workshop with Renata for Grades 3 & 4

Wednesday, September 23

• Jeannie Connolly Comes to Make Lanterns for Children in the Arts
• Welcome Dinner and Title I Annual Meeting
• Open House

Thursday, October 1

• ConVal High School Day of Service.

Friday, October 2

• Cornucopia Visits grade 2

Friday, October 9

• No School ~ Teacher Professional Development Day

Monday, October 12

• No School ~ Columbus Day

Friday, October 16

• Picture Day

Week of October 19 - 23

• NHDI Returns to Pierce

Friday, October 23

• NHDI Performance! Come see your student dance!

Mrs. Gentilhomme will be joining us. Welcome!

Every fall, students take time to create their hopes and dreams for the school year. They reflect on what they would like to accomplish and then work together to form a class compact—a shared agreement about how they will support one another so everyone can learn and grow. Once the compact is complete, students sign it and display it in their classroom as a reminder that they are a team working together toward a successful year.

This September, our students will take part in important assessments that help us better understand their learning and ensure they receive the support they need.

Dyslexia Screenings (Grades K–3):
New Hampshire law (RSA 200:59) requires schools to screen all students in kindergarten through grade 3 for potential indicators of dyslexia and related disorders. These screenings are not diagnostic but help us identify students who may be at risk and allow us to intervene with systematic and structured literacy interventions. Between September 14th and 25th, K–3 students will participate in district-wide benchmarking assessments. These assessment measures look at foundational reading skills, including rapid automatic naming (how quickly students can name specific objects), word reading accuracy, and general reading comprehension. Families will receive results once testing is complete, including whether a secondary screener is recommended.

MAP Growth Assessments (Grades 1–4):
During the same testing window, students in grades 1–4 will also take the MAP® Growth™ assessments in reading and math. These adaptive tests adjust to each child’s responses, giving teachers valuable insight into what students already know and what they are ready to learn next. Following testing, families will receive a Family Report summarizing academic progress and growth. For more information, you can visit NWEA.org/familytoolkit.

Thank you for your continued partnership as we work together to support every child’s growth and success.

The Pierce Black Bears gathered to celebrate our wonderful community and ring in the new school year. Mrs. Germain's class led the gathering with a presentation on the seven continents, while Mrs. Garland shared an autumn poem alongside an energetic rendition of A Roosta Shaw.

The Annual Title I Meeting is next Wednesday, starting at 5:00 pm. Many thanks to Everyone who has sent back an RSVP for the Free Family Dinner. We will have a Title I slideshow at the end of the dinner while you are eating and I will be collecting some feedback from families about our Title I programming. This is a great opportunity to give your suggestions and let us know what additional ideas you have to stay engaged with your child's (children's) school experience and learning. Please remember that the Free Book Giveaway is happening as well that night and I have arranged for children to each receive a special "Northern Lights" pencil to take home! The kids are over the moon about the special pencil!! The book giveaway will be happening in the hallway heading towards the library. I will also be in my classroom with examples of Take Home Activities, and I will once again, have an opportunity for you to give feedback about the program. Thanks for your help with this process. See you soon.

We were so excited to welcome our amazing fourth-grade buddies into our classroom! Our buddies worked alongside us as we explored Play-Doh and shapes, creating, building, and learning together. We also continued building and exploring with our math tools and awesome task cards, putting our problem-solving skills to work! To wrap up our week we drew pictures to represent our favorite nursery rhymes. It was so much fun seeing our little learners bring their favorite rhymes to life through their artwork!

In first grade we have been talking about number patterns in math. When we count different ways, what patterns stand out and how can that help us with skip counting or adding and subtracting. In ELA we have been reading our fables and writing about our favorites and sharing the lessons we are learning from them!

The sparkling second graders have been thinking and practicing the Pierce School core value of kindness. We read a story about the importance of kindness and then created beautiful appreciation cards for the staff as a random act of kindness. We thought about how it felt to give the recipients these cards.

For the assembly, we practiced and performed our poem for the month, along with teaching the school one of our class activities, Tooty-ta. Ask your child about the difference between a fairy tale and a tall tale. Also, ask them about our math lesson of collecting data and organizing it on a pictograph or bar graph.

3rd & 4th graders are working hard to complete their favorite Summer Memories in writing to have them ready in time for Open House next week. The whole class is also taking part in the "Camp Scare" writing contest sponsored by Young Writers. There are some creative and creepy stories in the works. At different points in the writing process, students love to share their ideas as "Writers on Stage."

Due to testing this week, our schedule has zigged and zagged a bit however, this has allowed the opportunity for fourth graders to be peer tutors and assist third graders with their multiple writing projects. It is wonderful seeing how willing the 4th graders are to help out.

Last Friday, the class partnered up and participated in a STEM activity called Tower of Pasta! The goal was to use 20 pieces of spaghetti and mini-marshmallows to build the tallest structure they could within 20 minutes. It was a terrific teamwork effort for all!

This week in PE, we worked on the skill of catching, using different equipment and activities to help improve our technique. The students also did a great job working hard on their fitness. We did a lot of running, various locomotor movements, and bodyweight exercises to keep our bodies strong and healthy. It was a great week at Pierce!

Please turn in your Free and Reduced Lunch Application as soon as possible. Your child is eligible for free meals if any of the following conditions apply:

• Your household’s income falls within the limits on the Federal Income Eligibility Guidelines (see the FAQ Parent Letter link below).
• Your household receives benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), or the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.
• Your children participate in their school’s Head Start program.
• Your children are foster children under the legal responsibility of a foster care agency or court.
• Your children meet the definition of homeless, runaway, or migrant status.
• Please review this Free and Reduced Income Qualification FAQ Parent Letter.

Note: If you qualify this year, or have qualified in the past, please fill out the application as soon as possible. The application has to be renewed annually. To file your family's application (only one application needs to be submitted to cover all children in your household), please click the link below:

• 2026-2027 Free and Reduced Meals Application.

Please reference our school handbook with questions about our school. Need more information? Please contact Robin Lamothe (rlamothe@conval.edu) or Rachel Lunan-Hill (rhill@conval..edu) or (603) 588-2131

Gemini was used to check the document for typographical mistakes and grammatical errors and to suggest improvements and provide synonyms for select expressions.