Thetford Elementary School News
May 15, 2026
Note from the Principal's Desk
Dear TES Families and Caregivers,
As we move through the final stretch of the school year (20 days of school left), there is so much to celebrate and also some exciting work ahead as we continue strengthening the learning experience for all students at TES.
Classroom configurations in ⅚
As we look ahead to next school year, we will be moving to straight grade classrooms in grades 5 and 6. This decision was made thoughtfully and with a clear focus on creating the strongest possible instructional environment for our learners.
Over the past several years, our multiage model has offered many benefits, including opportunities for leadership, collaboration, and community building. At the same time, as we prepare to implement new academic programming, we believe this shift will allow us to provide even more targeted and responsive instruction during this important developmental and academic stage.
TES is entering an exciting season of instructional growth as we continue our implementation of Orton-Gillingham practices in literacy and prepare for the rollout of Illustrative Math as our core mathematics program. Both initiatives represent a significant investment in high-quality, evidence-based instruction for students.
Creating straight grade classrooms in grades 5 and 6 will allow teachers to more precisely align instruction to grade-level standards, deepen collaborative planning around curriculum implementation, and provide students with a learning environment that best supports success during these transitions. As always, our decisions are grounded in what we believe will best serve students academically, socially, and emotionally.
Arts & Music Night: Thursday, May 21
We are looking forward to one of our favorite TES traditions: Arts & Music Night on Thursday, May 21 beginning at 5:00 pm!
This special evening is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the creativity, talent, and hard work of our students. Families will have the chance to experience student artwork, musical performances, and the joy that comes from seeing our learners shine outside of the traditional school day.
A tremendous thank you goes to Alex Mathis and Kathy Hollander, classroom teachers, and students for the incredible effort that goes into making this event possible. We hope to see many of you there as we celebrate the arts together as a community!
Sharing TES Work at the Regional Level
I’m also excited to share that Sara Bailey and I presented at the Northeast PBIS Regional Conference on Thursday, May 14.
Together, we highlighted the work TES has done around developing and implementing our Tier 2 Behavior Inventory, a systems-based approach that helps us identify, organize, and respond to student behavioral supports with greater consistency and intention.
This work reflects TES’s continued commitment to creating strong systems of support for all learners and ensuring students receive the interventions they need to be successful. It is an honor to share our learning with other educators across the region and to showcase the thoughtful work happening right here at TES.
Looking Ahead
This time of year is always filled with celebration, reflection, and planning for what’s next. Thank you for your continued partnership, trust, and support as we work to create the best possible learning environment for TES students.
Caitlin Toleno
Principal, TES
Both Kindergarten Classes have enjoyed spending time outside in the warmer weather! We had a fun time together in the outdoor classroom climbing trees, playing in the lookout tower, hiding in the shelter, finding nature items, and building fairy houses.
Ms. Anmari's Class has been learning about teen numbers and is doing a great job making teen number posters. Each student chose a number and represented it in several ways, using ten frames, drawings, stickers, tally marks, equations, etc... They are all working hard, and have been creative in showing their math understanding.
Mrs. Rogers' Class has been doing some hands-on activities to learn more about 3-D shapes. We have been exploring three-dimensional properties by sorting solid shapes based on whether they stack or roll. We played some math games called Roll Add and Compare and Make it Five! Each student also made their own paper numberline and a "Hap the Hopper" Grasshopper to help them play games using the numberline.
The Kindergarteners have enjoyed riding bikes during P.E this week. Thank you Mr. C. for making this happen!
Ms. Kate’s First Grade math class has been exploring two digit numbers! We started by exploring the tens - 10, 20, 30, 40, and so on. We practiced building tens and counting by ten. We then explored what happens when we add a ten or subtract a ten. The class has now moved on to using two digits numbers with tens and some ones. (Such as 23, 46, and 35.) Students are practicing recognizing, naming, building, and writing these two digit numbers. They are also working on using different methods to name these numbers, such as 35 is 3 tens and 5 ones. Unifix cubes and popsicle sticks have been key math tools in our math classroom the last month. Students have explored all of these concepts through class discussions, partner games, hands on activities, and written work.
Second grade math students in Ms. Oliver's class are spending the last chunk of school zeroing in on their math facts and math strategies, preparing for the jump to third grade! Math games are one of the best ways to practice working with 2- and 3-digit numbers, and Race to the Cookie Jar allows kids to do both through addition and subtraction. Students are also practicing their addition and subtraction through 20 (for example, 9+6=15 and 17-9=8) to reach automaticity by the end of the school year.
Second graders in Ms. Maggie’s math class have been working on building their number sense into the hundreds. We have been doing this through measuring projects, including growing and measuring bean plants in centimeters, measuring some of our outdoor spaces in yards and then calculating feet, and measuring and plotting height in inches for Kindergarten, Second grade and Fifth grade on a graph. We’ve also been practicing using a hundreds grid to solve addition and subtraction problems. Over the past week, we have been working on steps and strategies for solving word problems with two and three digit numbers about dinosaurs, tacos, salamanders and cookies.
Third and fourth graders have spent the last few weeks learning about wolves, pack behavior and roles, learned and inherited traits, and the history of wolf hunting and rewilding in the United States. Through research and a very special visit from Everett's uncle, National Geographic photographer Ronan Donovan, TES third and fourth graders have become some of Vermont's youngest and best educated wolf activists!
Our 6th graders have been enthusiastically participating in BridgeUP auditions and learning their parts in the play. It has been wonderful to see their confidence and creativity begin to shine throughout the process.
Meanwhile, our 5th graders have been busy exploring science concepts during afternoon activities. Students have shown great curiosity, asked thoughtful questions, and enjoyed hands-on learning experiences together.
Before break, students enjoyed our visit to the Hood Museum of Art. Museum staff shared many compliments about our students’ respectful behavior and the insightful questions they asked during the visit. We were proud to represent our school community so well.
We have also begun our cardboard arcade project! Students are working in small groups to design, build, and problem-solve through this fun engineering challenge. Creativity and teamwork are on full display as the arcade begins to take shape.
