March Newsletter

March 1, 2022

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Happy March! It is hard to believe that the first day of spring is just around the corner. We are looking forward to seeing you at our virtual parent teacher conferences on March 17 and March 18. Conferences are a great time to celebrate your child’s progress and all they have accomplished this school year. Conferences will be held virtually over zoom and you should receive a link to your child’s conference over the next few weeks. To help the process run smoothly, please login to your conference 5 minutes before it is set to begin. When you login, you will be in a virtual waiting room and the teacher will be able to see that you are there and will let you in for the conference. Students are welcome to attend. On both days, lunch will be served and students will be dismissed at 11:10. We hope to have 100% of our parents/guardians attend conferences this year. Please call Talbot at 874-8210 if you need to reschedule your child’s conference time.

Read Across America

Talbot School is celebrating literacy the week of February 28—March 5, 2022. Each day our students and staff will participate in a fun way to call attention to literacy. We will have guest readers on March 2, and students will be receiving stickers and bookmarks that promote the joy of reading!

Arrival Times

The school day at Talbot begins promptly at 7:45am. Students’ arrival time is between 7:25 am—7:45am and the official start to the school day is 7:45. Each day we have students who arrive after the 7:45am bell. Please know that when a student is tardy, they are missing learning, and it causes a disruption to the instruction in the classroom. We appreciate your efforts to have our students arrive in a timely manner so that they can begin their school day in their classroom promptly at 7:45 am.

March is School Social Workers Month

March is a time to celebrate the great work of our school social work workers.

School social workers are trained mental health professionals who provide services related to a student's social, emotional and life adjustment to school and/or society. School social workers are the link between the home, school and community in providing services to students, families and school personnel to promote and support students' academic and social success. Here are just some of the services that School Social Workers provide:

· Helping to address problems that affect the child’s attendance and abilities in school

· Counseling (group or individual)

· Assisting in developing positive behavioral intervention strategies

· Providing crisis intervention

· Developing intervention strategies to increase academic success

· Assisting with conflict resolution and anger management

· Helping the child develop appropriate social interaction skills

· Assisting the child in understanding and accepting self and others

· Working with parents to facilitate their support in their children's school adjustment

· Assisting parents to access programs available to students with special needs

· Assisting parents in accessing and utilizing school and community resources

· Participating in special education assessment meetings and Individual Educational Planning meetings

Thank you to the wonderful social workers at Talbot that include Sarah Beam, Karen Hunter, Chris Salamone, Nicole Tourigmy, Sophie Ranta and Bianca MacDonald.

Kindergarten Registration

Would you like help with registering your child for Kindergarten? The online registration process can be somewhat confusing. Please feel free to come to the Riverton Public Library (use the community entrance near the playground) at one the following times to get in-person support with the registration process:

· 12:00-2:00 pm on Friday, March 4

· 12:30-2:30 pm on Tuesday, March 8

· 12:00-2:30 pm on Friday, March 11

If possible, please bring with you the following documents:

- Original proof of birth document (this document will be reviewed but not kept)

- Immunization records

- Proof of residency in Portland (electricity, cable, internet bill, or lease agreement/title of primary residence)

Upcoming Events:

PTO Meeting Thursday, March 3, virtual-here is the link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85108842278?pwd=Qi82cThsRzYrYXZReW9mSGJKUzVzdz09 Meeting ID: 851 0884 2278 Passcode: nnpuR4

Early Dismissal for Parent Teacher Conferences, March 17, March 18. Students dismissed at 11:10 both days.

Sincerely,

Ann Hanna