Hello Elm Street School Families and Friends,

We sure packed a lot of fun and excitement into our short week! There were so many special events, surprises, celebrations, and expressions of gratitude all throughout our Nest. Our Turkey Trot was a huge success and we avoided getting washed out with the last minute date change to Tuesday. Thank you to everyone who was able to give a non-perishable item to the food drive connected with the Turkey Trot. We will bring the many boxes of donations next week to the Walpole Food Pantry to help restock their shelves after the Thanksgiving holiday.

Thank you to the Walpole Police Department, Walpole Fire Department, and our team of volunteers for the Elm Family Fall Fest who helped add some extra special rides to school and fun for our raffle winners (see photos below). As her final act as Principal for the Day, Principal Lee made the afternoon announcements and granted the entire school an extra recess to be scheduled between now and Winter Break, cementing her place as the best principal ever! :)

In this week's News from the Nest you will find additional information about:

• Upcoming Dates/Events: December
• Upcoming Elm Street School Spirit Days
• School Council Schedule and Members
• Dedham Savings Bank Holiday Card Contest
• Winter Maker's Market
• Elm 180 Fundraiser
• Elm PAC News
• Craft Local Event

I hope everyone has an opportunity during the Thanksgiving break to connect with family, friends, and/or those who spark warmth and joy for you. I want to share my gratitude to the entire Elm community for your warm welcome, patience, and grace during the start to this school year. I feel so thankful to be here at Elm and supported by such incredible educators, students, and families.

Have a safe and restful Thanksgiving break and we will see everyone back at the Nest on Monday!

Jen

• 12/4: Elm Crafts Local: Towne Crafters
• 12/6: Elm Street School December Assembly
• 12/6 3:15p: Elm Street School Council Meeting
• 12/7 - 15: Hanukkah
• 12/7 7:00p: PAC Meeting
• 12/8: Early Release Day
• 12/16 - 24: Las Posadas
• 12/18 6:30 - 8:00p Elm Winter Maker's Market
• 12/21: Winter Solstice
• 12/25: Christmas Day
• 12/25 - 1/1 Winter Break: School Closed (School Resumes on 1/2)
• 12/26 - 1/1 Kwanzaa

To foster connection and celebrate these 4 weeks leading up to the winter break we will be having 4 Spirit Days on Wednesdays. Below is each Wednesday's Theme:

Wednesday November 29th: Pajama Day - dress in your coziest PJs (please leave slippers and stuffed animals at home)

Wednesday December 6th: New England Sports - dress to represent your favorite New England sports team (all sports and group activities welcome!)

Wednesday December 13th: Bright and Sparkly - we want to chase away the long dark days with as much bright colors, sparkles, and sequins as possible!

Wednesday December 20th: Celebration - dress up to show us a favorite holiday, tradition, and/or celebration you have with your family this time of year

I want to thank everyone for their interest and commitment to our Elm School Council. Below you will find our membership for this school year along with our meeting dates. Meetings will take place in the Elm Street School Media Center and be available online through a link posted in our newsletter closer to each meeting date.

All meetings are open to the public per Open Meeting Law and I encourage everyone to attend and participate as family engagement is one of the keys to the health of any school community. Closer to each date I will post an agenda and link to the meeting in our weekly Smore newsletter.

Elm Street School Council Members
Jen Buller, Principal

Michelle Perron, Grade 4

Shannon Graziano, Partnership MSN

Tini Cantrell, Grade 5

Christopher Burke, Elm Family

Erin Collins, Elm Family

Saranya Ashwin, Elm Family

Elm Street School Council Meeting Dates

Wednesday December 6th 3:15p

Wednesday February 7th 3:15p

Wednesday April 10th 3:15p

Wednesday June 5th 3:15p

For more than 25 years the Walpole Elementary Schools has partnered with Dedham Savings Bank and participated in their Holiday Card Contest. If students would like to participate in the contest, we are asking that this take place at home and possibly at indoor recess (if applicable). Students will need to drop their completed cards off at the front office.

Here are the details:

• All cards should be on 8.5 by 11 white paper
• On the back of the card, please put the student's name, school, and grade.
• The cards need to be returned to school by Thursday, December 7th

Below are the generous prizes for each grade(district-wide) donated by the Dedham Savings Bank:

• 1st Prize $100
• 2nd Prize $50
• 3rd Prize $25

This year we are introducing a new event- The Winter Maker's Market. On December 18th from 6:30 - 8:00p we will transform the Cafetorium to a market for students to sell and buy handmade crafts. All students are invited and encouraged to sign up for a "booth" to sell their own homemade crafts and everyone is welcome to attend to purchase crafts. We will even have a station to wrap your purchases if you intend to give them as gifts for any of the winter holidays.

We welcome all art, stickers, soaps, candles, perler bead creations, wire and beaded jewelry, pillows, friendship bracelets, and whatever craft you would like to produce and sell. Set your own prices, work individually or with a friend, and most of all HAVE FUN!

See below for more information and the link to sign up!

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