Thetford Elementary School News

Greetings TES Families,

As we approach the end of the trimester, we want to provide you with important information on how to access your child's report cards on Infinite Campus. Infinite Campus is our secure online portal for student information, and it's where you can find your child's academic report cards.

Here's a step-by-step guide on how to access your child's report cards once your account is created:

1. **Login to Infinite Campus:**

- Visit the Infinite Campus portal for our school district at Parent Portal Login or find the app in the app store on your phone.

- Enter your username and password. If you have forgotten your login information please contact the TES front office to assist you.

2. **Select Your Child:**

- Once logged in, you will see a list of your students if you have more than one. Select the child for whom you want to access the report card by clicking on their name. This is only required if you have more than one child. You will only see students that go to an Orange East Supervisory Union school.

3. **Navigate to Reports:**

- In the left-hand menu, you will see a "Reports" or "Grades" option. Click on it to access your child's report cards.

4. **Choose the Report Card:**

- You will see a list of available report cards for your selected child. Select the most recent report card to view and download.

5. **View and Download:**

- The report card will be displayed on the screen. You can view and download the report card as a PDF for your records.

6. **Contact Us:**

- If you encounter any issues or have questions about the report card, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. You can contact our school office for further guidance.

We encourage you to review your child's report card carefully, and if you have any concerns or questions about their academic progress, please feel free to schedule a meeting with your child's teacher or school counselor.

Thank you for your ongoing support of your child's education, and we hope that this guide helps you easily access and review their report cards. If you have any additional questions or need further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Happy Friday, and most importantly, Happy Spring!

With the change of the seasons and a few weeks after break, we are seeing more kids with absences because they are sick. We are seeing both upper respiratory illness and a stomach bug. Many thanks to our custodial staff for giving some added attention to our high touch surfaces, and many thanks to our staff in encouraging good handwashing techniques. Here are some tips that families can use at home!

We can help keep ourselves and our school community feeling good by:

• Wash hands often with soap and water. Remind your child to wash their hands for at least 20 seconds, especially after using the bathroom and before eating or making food. Handwashing works so well for germs, but works much better than hand sanitizer for stomach bugs.

• Keep your child home for at least 24 hours after symptoms are gone. Children should go a full day without a fever or medicine for a fever, without vomiting, and without diarrhea before they return to school. They also should be eating and drinking again, and feeling well enough to fully participate in their day.

As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out if I can help! You can call me at 802-785-2426, x7241 or email me at kathryn.dalpra@oesu.org.

Dear Families,

I hope you and your loved ones had a restful and joyful winter break. It is wonderful to welcome everyone back — we are grateful for your continued partnership.

Important Announcements

• Please remember sneakers! Students need appropriate athletic shoes for PE activities and recess to ensure safety and full participation.

• Action item: Please check that your child brings sneakers each PE day (or keeps a pair at school if that works better). Labeling shoes with your child’s name is helpful.

• If your family needs assistance obtaining sneakers, please contact the office or your child’s teacher — we are happy to help.

  
  

Celebrations from the Week Welcome back from winter break! We’ve had a wonderful week getting moving and reconnecting. Highlights by grade band:

• K–2

• Played "I’ve Been Working on the Railroad" and "Sharks and Minnows"

• Focused on learning how to properly hit the Omnikin Ball

• Students showed great enthusiasm and cooperation during group activities

• 3–4

• Played "Sharks and Minnows" and an "Indiana Jones" activity

• Practiced proper ball‑hitting technique with the Omnikin Ball

• Worked well in teams and demonstrated improved listening skills

• 5–6

• Played "Sharks and Minnows" and began learning the cooperative game "Kin‑Ball"

• Practiced communication and teamwork while using the Omnikin Ball

• Students impressed us with their sportsmanship and leadership

  
  

We are grateful for the energy students brought this week — it was a joyful way to return, and we enjoyed seeing classmates reconnect and support one another.

Dear families,

What a winter it's been! We hope your family has loved every snowy, muddy, magical minute of it.

The Passport to Winter Fun program ends on March 31st! This is your final reminder to cash in your incentive prizes earned on days 10, 20, and 30 before the end of the month. Businesses will no longer accept passports after March 31st, so go enjoy those prizes before time runs out!

Polar Bear Achievers: If your child has completed all 30 days, they've officially earned the title of Polar Bear Achiever! To receive their prize AND be entered into the Grand Prize Raffle, complete the Back Flap and:

- Turn it in to school, OR
- Mail it to: Upper Valley Trails Alliance, P.O. Box 1215, Norwich, VT 05055, OR
- Scan the QR code in the booklet to complete it online
- Fill the online survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/QVRTVZZ

Deadline: Friday, April 3rd

Check uvtrails.org to see the complete list of Grand Prizes (ongoing, but prizes include Jay Peak waterpark tickets, The Notch day passes, Dartmouth Skiway season pass, and more!).

Good luck!

Image Courtesy of the Yanker Poster Collection at the Library of Congress

The 2026 Women's History Month theme is "Leading the Change: Women Shaping a Sustainable Future."

Students have been researching women's achievements, leadership, courage, and the strength of the women who built America.

Since 1995,March has been Women's History Month. But before it was Women’s History Month, it was Women’s History Week, and before that it was only a day.

Each year the National Women’s History Alliance chooses a theme for Women’s History Month. Previous themes have included "Women Taking the Lead to Save Our Planet"(2009) and "Celebrating Women in STEM" (2013). The theme for 2020 and 2021 was "Valiant Women of the Vote." (Learn about the fight for the right to vote.)

Women’s History Month: A Book Every Day

In honor of Women’s History Month, each day Social Justice Books features a children’s book they recommend to highlight women’s history in the United States.

Find many more titles for children check out the booklist: women’s history and women’s lives.

Elementary | Upper Elementary | Middle School | HS Fiction | HS / Adult Nonfiction

What are Ozobots?

Ozobots are little robots that are designed as an introduction to coding.

TES has two classroom kits of 18 Ozobots. The newest kit, purchased in 2024, are Evo-Ozobots. They are compatible with iPads and Chromebooks, are bluetooth enabled, and can be charged in less than an hour. Our older kit, almost 10 years old, is pretty worn out, we hope to replace the older kit soon.

We have been exploring 2 ways to code: Completely screen-free with Color Codes, and more advanced Block-Based programming with Ozobot Blockly. We will be using the newest Ozobot kit throughout the spring in Library classes.

Jon Klassen print from ExtraYarn (Page19)

Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett, Illustrations by Jon Klassen

Annabelle has an ordinary box of yarn and she loves to knit sweaters for everyone and everything. She never runs out of things to knit, magically, she never runs out of yarn!

Students love Mac Barnett’s books and this one was a big hit! After we finished reading, we made yarn bookmarks with beads and thought about all the different uses for yarn.

Dear TES Families,

Since we’ve returned from break, primary wing students have been finishing up their heart prints and beginning a unit on landscape painting. In addition, the gorgeous weather and perfect snow conditions made it possible for three out of the five primary class groups to enjoy some time outside making snow sculptures! The kids did a great job working together to create a range of interesting characters, including snowpeople, dinosaurs, lions, and birds nesting in the trees.

Meanwhile, third and fourth graders did a fantastic job with their National Parks stamps! I was impressed by their dedication as they persevered through challenges with the text and the ink. Now that the kids are familiar with the relief printmaking process, they are working on larger prints that depict flora, fauna, or landscape features from their chosen park. Most students have reached the printing stage, and we will soon move on to new projects.

Fifth and sixth graders are also wrapping up a unit on relief printmaking. We’ve discussed what makes a “quality” print, and students are learning how to practice good printing habits, such as maintaining an appropriate level of ink, keeping the paper borders clean, and placing plates squarely on the paper so the image will be straight. Everyone has signed and dated their finished prints, and soon they will select their favorites to display later this spring.

Thanks to everyone who signed up for extracurricular art activities this winter. We had lots of fun! The winter Art Club and Ski Friday Clay Class both just had their final meetings, and spring Art Club will be starting soon. This round is currently full, but please feel free to contact me if you’d like to join the waitlist, and add your email to the art program mailing list if you’d like to be among the first to be notified about upcoming art opportunities.

Last but not least, there are several arts organizations in the upper valley that offer after-school classes and vacation camps, and now is a great time to sign up. A.V.A. in Lebanon and Craft Studies in White River Junction both offer spring classes and summer programs in traditional media, and J.A.M. in White River Junction is a fantastic option for older students who are interested in film, animation, and video.

Happy Spring!

Ms. M.

Alexandra Mathis, M.F.A.

TES Art Teacher

alexandra.mathis@oesu.org

We did a few things in Music Class that tied in very nicely with the VSO Trio coming to visit. Almost all of the classes watched a Reading Rainbow Special called Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin. In this video, we heard the story “Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin”. Next we were introduced to the conductor of a youth orchestra. Some of the children in the orchestra talked about what it was like to be a part of a musical group like an orchestra. Later in the video we see a group called STOMP that is all about percussion. Some classes, but not all, watched The Four Seasons. This is a famous piece of music by Vivialdi. Students were asked to reflect on what the music made them think of as they were watching.

We have finished our African Drum Unit. All classes have been introduced to the songs that they will be singing in our Spring Concert. The Spring Concert is part of Art’s Night, which has become an annual event. This year, Art’s Night is scheduled for Thursday, May 14th. At 5:00pm families will be invited to walk around and view student art work throughout the building. At 5:30pm everyone will come to the gym for the concert. Our theme for the concert this year is Perseverance. All songs that will be performed have some message that has to do with this theme.

For the next few weeks, classes will be doing a small dance unit. We will focus on dances that are often done at birthday parties, school celebrations/dances, and weddings. I thought it would be fun to dance our way into our April “Vay-cay”.

If you have any questions, please feel free to send me an email. katherine.hollander@oesu.org

Dear Thetford Academy employees and community members:

We invite you to join us for an opportunity to gain knowledge and insight into how we can all play a part in preventing suicide. We will host a Connect Training on March 31, 4:00-6:30 in the Library at TA. Please see the attached flyer for details!

The NAMI NH Connect Suicide Prevention Training increases the capacity of professionals and community members to prevent suicide using a public health approach and key elements of the National Suicide Prevention Strategy. This comprehensive training will be tailored to our community's needs and has community planning built in. It is a unique and holistic model that focuses on preventing and intervening in suicide across the lifespan. As a leading model for both prevention and postvention, The Connect Program provides training and support across the U.S. and internationally and recognizes that we are all community helpers.

This opportunity is geared towards adults, and we plan to offer a separate opportunity to students, focused on their perspective, at a later date.