Falcon Family Flyer

Greetings, Forestdale families!

Last week, I thought it would be a good idea to try to mediate a pretty heated argument between two second graders. They had just had a misunderstanding in gym class, and it spilled into the cafeteria at lunch. It wasn’t very dramatic, but it was clear that something was off with these two.

I pulled up three chairs to a different table, and asked the two kids come sit with me so we could try to talk it out. Fast forward, almost 10 minutes of talking devolved into some tears, a little bit of raised voices, and the two people very clearly still upset with each other. It was obvious to me that they were both upset with how the other was communicating with them, but it was not as obvious to them! One kid was clearly a verbal communicator - trying to be very direct, saying he just needed to hear the words in order to understand the big emotions that were happening. The other kid was quite the opposite. He couldn’t understand why his body language and physical moves didn’t make it crystal clear to his friend that he was upset and did not want to talk.

We decided we would sit at different tables for lunch, give each other a break, and revisit the conversation later in the day. When we have these kinds of conversations with our older middle schoolers, we can talk about intent vs. impact, empathy, different styles of communication, etc. However, when you’re 7, it’s not as easy to digest.

Spoiler alert - the next day both students came in and it was completely fine. All they needed was some time to process, to let it go, and to start fresh.

If the month of March could be an interaction, that would have been it! March is a long month in schools, and it usually feels like it drags a bit. We spend a lot of time moving quickly, and sometimes in different directions, trying to keep routines going as efficiently as possible. All the meanwhile, we do our best to remind people to assume best intentions, to give each other grace and space, and to not underestimate how meaningful acts of kindness can be.

However, like our second graders reminded me, sometimes you just need to let time pass to come back with a fresh perspective. They blinked, and a new day came. We blinked, and March has flown by.

On to April!

Mr. Weldai

We have an amazing team of people supporting our students each and every day at the Forestdale School. Each newsletter, we'll try to showcase one of our amazing staff members here!

Mr. Henry Figueroa joined the team at Forestdale as one of our new custodians this year, and is already making his mark! Henry has been a member of the City of Malden maintenance team for a number of years now, but made the leap this year to come join us at Forestdale. He is already proving to be such a huge support to our staff and students, and has enjoyed getting to know everyone in the community!

In collaboration with Malden Overcoming Addiction (MOA), the City of Malden, and the Malden Public Schools, Forestdale participated in the 9th annual "Stop the Stigma Day" on Wednesday, March 12. Students have been working with Health educators Mr. Joe DelGallo and Ms. Kaitlyn Fazio for the past few weeks to learn more about stigma, and think of ways to spread awareness in our school and community. The students presented projects to the visitors from MOA and the city, we wore our blue ribbons, and were excited to be a part of leveraging our collective power to advocate for change in our community!

National Literacy Month was celebrated all month long at the Forestdale! Although literacy is celebrated all year long, there were activities and special events happening all around the building through the month of March. We were happy to be joined by many guest readers from around the community, engaging students in both talk and text. We also had a lot of fun participating in a building-wide door decorating contest focused on literacy themes.

A huge thank you to our guest readers that came to engage with our students, Mayor Gary Christenson, School Committee members Jennifer Spadafora and Elizabeth Hortie, Councillor Ari Taylor (and Emily Taylor!), State Representatives Steve Ultrino, Paul Donato, and Kate Lipper-Garabedian, Police Commissioner Barbara Murphy, Chief Glenn Cronin, School Resource Officers Katelyn Centore and Conor Cloherty, Superintendent Tim Sippel, Asst. Superintendent Komal Bhasin, Asst. Superintendent Sarah McLaughlin, Ray Carpenito, Keren Reese, and retired Forestdale Falcon Pam Zelaya! Also, a big congratulations to our door decorating contest winners, Ms. Molly Whisler's group, and Ms. Erin Gannon and Ms. Christine Leva's group!

The Title 1 department is looking forward to the next Caregiver Workshop Breakfast this month on Tuesday, April 15th at 8:15am in the cafeteria! This month we'll be focusing on Supporting Student Literacy at Home. We look forward to seeing you there!

The Title 1 department held their annual "Bingo for Books" on Tuesday, March 11th in the cafeteria. We had a huge crowd, and a whole lot of fun! Every family walked out with some new books, enjoyed pizza, and probably won at least one game of bingo, too! Huge thank you to Ms. Martha Jancaitis, Ms. Patti Amirault and Ms. Lisa Hammersley from the Title 1 department, as well as coaches Ms. Kathleen Bracken and Ms. Wendy Byrne for helping things run smoothly!

The next PTO meeting of the year will be Wednesday, April 9th at 6pm! Come join this great group and hear about the upcoming events, ways to get involved, and more. The meeting will be held virtually on google meet, and the link can be found on the Forestdale PTO Facebook page.

The spring book fair was a success! From Monday, March 17th through Friday, March 21st, the library hosted our annual spring book fair, with access during the day and after school. Thank you to Ms. Jenna Camell for all her hard work coordinating times and volunteers with Ms. Lillian Wong, our Media Center Specialist. Ms. Lillian was also able to choose many new titles for our students to enjoy in the library. Thank you for all your support!

The annual Rock the Walk fundraiser was a huge success! Our Forestdale families and PTO did an amazing job raising funds for our school community. Together, we raised $21,309!

This is an awesome accomplishment, and we are truly grateful to our PTO for running it, and to each and every one of you for supporting it.

The final update from the PTO can be found here: https://shorturl.at/TXTKA

This Friday, April 4th from 5:30pm - 7:30pm, join the Forestdale PTO and families to celebrate the hard work and dedication that led to such a successful Rock the Walk fundraiser! Meet in the Forestdale lobby to take part in the two-lap route around the school. Then stick around for food, music and some photo booth fun!

Be on the lookout for the next round of Spirit Wear gear for sale - coming soon from the PTO!

The Malden Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) invites parents, caregivers and staff to a presentation by Dr. Joseph Moldover, Psy.D, APBB/CN titled "What are Test Takings? Understanding School and Neuropsychological Assessments." This event will be held on Tuesday, April 8 from 6pm - 8pm at the Salemwood School cafeteria, and available remotely on zoom at this link: https://cityofmalden.zoom.us/j/98040098325 . For more information, please see the attached flyer.

The Harlem Wizards are coming to Malden! Sunday, April 6th at 5:00pm, Malden educators (some Forestdale folks, included!) will be playing against the Wizards! Tickets are available at the link below - be sure to get yours!

Tickets: https://pretix.eu/harlemwizards/maldenma04-06-25-05-00pm/

Spring registration for Malden Youth Soccer is on! Information is in the attached flyer, and for more information, please visit https://www.maldenyouthsoccer.org/registration

The next Malden Youth Baseball season is almost here! To learn more and to register, please see the attached flyer. For more information, please visit https://www.maldenyouthbaseball.org

The Great Malden Outdoors is proud to produce a free adaptive outdoor event series with Waypoint Adventure starting on Saturday, April 5th with a hike in the Middlesex Fells. Please sign up at the Malden Recreation Department website (www.maldenma.myrec.com). More information is on the attached flyer!

Come join the City of Malden on Saturday, April 5th from 10am - 12pm to help clean a beloved outdoor recreation space and keep it safe for a season of fun and adventure! Details are on the flyer attached.

The City of Malden needs your help! On Monday, April 7th from 6pm - 7pm at City Hall, come give input on the future of public art around our community. More information can be found on the flyer attached.

Ward 5 will be hosting a community yard sale this year! On Sunday, April 27 from 12pm - 4pm join in on the fun! Details are on the attached flyer.

MCAS testing is underway! Week one is done, and grades 3 and 4 have started their testing. Linked below is a schedule of testing dates throughout the next few months. Any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out! Huge shout out to Ms. Karie Carpenito, our testing coordinator, for getting everything ready, training our staff, and being available as a resource during testing times!

Spring picture day is almost here! On Wednesday, April 9th, Lifetouch Studios will be back in the building to hold spring pictures for any students interested in participating. More information can be found on your lifetouch parent portal, and please reach out to the main office if we can be of any assistance! As a reminder, our picture day ID is "EVTDTDRKX"

Quarter 3 report cards are coming! On Tuesday, April 15th, report cards will be available to parents through the parent portal on Aspen. If you need any help accessing your grade portal, or need a paper copy printed when the time comes, please don't hesitate to reach out!

Believe it or not, it's almost April Vacation! Please make sure to mark your calendars, and remember that April school vacation is the week of Monday, April 21st through Friday, April 25th. School for students will resume on Monday, April 28th.

We are excited to invite Malden middle school students in grades 6–8 to participate in the Mini Writers’ Den after-school program! Here is the link to register your child for the Mini Writers’ Den here. (All the dates for the different sessions are listed in the registration form.)

If your child would like to participate in comic writing but is unable to make the first session due to other commitments, it is OK to register for the session and attend the remaining dates (please just email us to let us know – maldenreads@gmail.com).

Here’s a sample of student work so you can see what students who participate in the program can do. A parent of a child who previously participated in the Mini Writers’ Den had this to say about it:

“Thank you to everyone involved with organizing and making this program possible. My daughter really enjoyed going every week and is sad to see it end.”

Students will have the opportunity to have fun with creative writing by practicing comic writing, play writing, comic writing, and food writing. They will also meet other Malden middle school students and have the opportunity to connect with two high school student-mentors. The session will be led by an Education student from Tufts University, with support from other educators. Students will work with published authors who will share their own experiences during the sessions!

The Drama Club has been hard at work for their upcoming spring performance of "The Little Mermaid!" Save the date, May 21st and May 22nd at 6pm in the auditorium.

The MOST Adventure Summer Program registration period is now open! The program will run from June 23rd to August 1st. Details are on the attached flyer. Space is limited, so make sure to sign up soon!

Registration is now open for the Middlesex Sheriff's 2025 Youth Public Safety Academy! Malden's week this year is July 21 - July 25. More information is on the attached flyer, and on the website at www.middlesexsheriff.org.

The main office has received a number of questions last year about excused vs. unexcused absences. If you are keeping your student home sick, have an appointment, etc. and would like to have the absence excused, please make sure to write a physical absent note and send it in, or write an email to your student's teacher. The phone call to the office line does not excuse your student's absence, it does however stop the automated absent phone call that comes home based on Aspen/X2. Any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out!

Please make sure to check backpacks regularly for important notices from the nurse, and from your teachers. While most things are done electronically, a regular backpack check is always a good idea.

**Speaking of backpacks, if anyone still needs one for their student we have extras to give away in the main office. Please don't hesitate to reach out and let us know!**

Our lost and found is already going strong! For any students looking, the lost and found is in the cafeteria directly to the right when you walk in. If you're missing something, please encourage your student to come check it out. For a list of what's there so far, please check out this google doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rK0N_O9rfX86rsG1t2fpV2dG4mFw7PK9RKRTezANSt0/edit?usp=sharing

The April school lunch menu is pictured below, and the link to the monthly menu can be found here: https://shorturl.at/Fw2mQ

We were recently able to celebrate our next groups of students-of-the-month! For the month of February, students were honored for their excellence - the fifth virtue from our school motto of P.R.I.D.E. (positivity, respect, independence, determination, and excellence). Many of them are pictured here, and a full list of students for this month can be found here: https://shorturl.at/QBW2t

For the month of March, students were honored for their Forestdale PRIDE! These students were highlighted by their educators for exemplifying all five of the characteristics of our school motto of P.R.I.D.E. (positivity, respect, independence, determination, and excellence). Many of them are pictured here, and a full list of students for this month can be found here: https://shorturl.at/6809G

While they're starting to think about high school, Malden High School Choral Arts Director Mr. Todd Cole brought members of the choral arts society down to visit our Forestdale 8th graders! They performed for the team, answered questions about high school, and got the kids excited about some of the opportunities they could take advantage of next year!

The Harlem Wizards came to Forestdale this month, in preparation for their debut at Malden High School on April 6! They wowed the kids with some moves, got some students involved in the action, and had a great time pumping up the crowd to come see the big game at MHS!

Fourth graders had an exciting visit recently from meteorologist Jason Mikell from WBZ! He came to the building to talk about all things weather with our students, from weather instruments and tools, to weather preparedness. The kids asked a lot of great questions, and learned a lot, too! Thank you to Ms. Sue Ellis for organizing this experience, and to Ms. Kelly Rufo, Ms. Lauren Gorse, Ms. Julie Fisk, Ms. Jess Surette, Ms. Candy Powers and Ms. Cindy Cook for their support!

Music in our Schools month was celebrated all March long in B221! Ms. Kim Barber works every year to give our students exposure and introduction to music and dance from around the world, taking into our account our diverse student population and where many of our students have ties to. This year’s theme is “United Through Music” and Ms. Barber held a school wide competition to create an original work of their own - a poem, song, story, composition, or more - that represents our own diverse backgrounds. The school-wide winners of this year's competition are: Lindsay Alas Carabantes (8th Grade), Sorrel Nathan (2nd Grade), Xerxes Nathan (4th Grade), Ava Cao (4th Grade), Kemondre Solomon-Lee (5th Grade) and Fuad Mohamed (5th Grade)! Honorable mention went to Grace Johnston (3rd Grade) and Jad Saidi (1st Grade)!

March's activity with our Kindergarten and 8th grade buddies was a spring themed STEM activity! Students created leprechaun traps using the engineering design process, and had a great time doing it! The buddies work so well together, and are developing stronger relationships as the year goes on.

Ms. Chelsey Powell's grades 3-5 Art students have been working on poster submissions for the MA Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) annual Arbor Day Contest! Students were asked to reflect on the theme "Trees Around the World," thinking about the importance trees have in our community. The students all participated, and then selected a winner for each grade to be submitted to the competition state-wide. Congratulations to our finalists, Iselin Knight (grade 3), Xerxes Nathan (grade 4), and Claire Johnston (grade 5)!

Thank you to Ms. Jess Surette for spearheading the celebration of World Down Syndrome Day at Forestdale this year! Many of our staff and students were wearing their mismatched socks, their blue and yellow, and their buttons and stickers (thanks to fourth grader Ruby Morelli!) to help raise awareness of the day and the theme this year of "Improving Our Support Systems."

This month, eighth grade band students were able to go visit Malden High School with Mr. Greg Waite and Ms. Erin Gannon! They had a chance to see what the band rooms look like, play some music, and experience what fun they could have next year as part of the MHS band!

5th grade students were recently given a chance to do some hands-on learning by a special guest! 7th grade science teacher Ms. Meghan Bowe invited the 5th graders to her room to participate in a science experiment for the second year in a row learning about chemical and physical changes. In ELA with Ms. Susie Horvitz, the students were reading a lot about chemistry in their text, and the entire 5th grade team (Ms. Pam Skinner, Ms. Kayla Connolly, Mr. Joe Ialuna, Mr. Ron Fales, Ms. Priscilla Cruickshank, and Ms. Beth Ganley) were grateful that Ms. Bowe went out of her way to create and facility this great learning experience for our 5th grade falcons so they understood some of these concepts even better!

Kindergarten students recently celebrated the wedding of "Q" and "U", and it was the event of the season! Every year, this is such a great way to teach kids in K about grammar, blending and reinforce the spelling pattern of "qu" in a way that's both memorable and fun!

Shout out to the City of Malden DPW and director Bobby Knox for all your support with the snow removal! When we had some trouble with pick up and drop off because of the snow banks, the crew came right down and cleared out the sidewalk and walking paths to make sure our students and families were safe. Thank you, again!

Ms. Kayla Connolly spearheaded an effort in February to have our students participate in the "Valentines for Veterans" drive through the radio station Mix 104.1. Although she started working on this with her 5th grade students, she made sure to bring it to the whole building so everyone could participate and make an impact on the lives of veterans around our community. Thank you, Ms. Connolly!

If there's anything that we can do, please don't hesitate to reach out to any member of our main office team. Our phone number is (781) 397-7326, and each of our email addresses are listed below.

• Mr. Adam Weldai, Principal: aweldai@maldenps.org
• Mrs. Karie Carpenito, Assistant Principal: kcarpenito@maldenps.org
• Mr. Kenji Foster, Assistant Principal: kfoster@maldenps.org
• Mrs. Megan LoPilato, Administrative Assistant: mlopilato@maldenps.org