Falcon Family Flyer

Greetings, Forestdale Families!

November is one of my favorite school months of the year because there are so many conversations happening in classrooms about “giving thanks” and “what we are thankful for.” Students talk about their family, friends, activities, teachers, and so much more that they appreciate. My favorite photo down below is just one example of where we see it every day.

Along with giving thanks, the Forestdale community knows how to give back as well. This year, Ms. Kim Barber, our music teacher, wanted to find a way to involve the whole building in giving back to our Malden community and to help those in need. Over the next month we’ll be collecting donations to bring to the Bread of Life in Malden, helping to fulfill some of their highest needs during the winter season. Please take a look at the flyer below, which will be shared through classrooms as well, and if you’re interested in taking part please feel free to bring in any items you can to donate between November 27 and December 22. Every little bit counts, and we know they appreciate all of our support!

On behalf of the Forestdale School, we wish you and your families a very happy Thanksgiving, and appreciate all your support throughout the year. I know that being here, and being a part of this school community, is one of the things that I’m most thankful for this year.

Mr. Weldai

Our students and staff have been working very hard with our PTO to put on a great Fall Festival for the Forestdale community. Come join us tonight as the festival makes it's triumphant return! There will be food, games, raffles, and a new face being taped to the wall tonight - Mr. Patrick Kane, one of our stellar 6th grade teachers! Proceeds will benefit field trips and activities for the students this year, including the recently approved Nature's Classroom field trip for 6th and 7th grade students in April, 2024!

We have an amazing team of people supporting our students each and every day at the Forestdale School. This year we were able to bring on board a great new group of team members, and each month we'll try to showcase some of our new Falcons here.

• My name is...Kayla Connolly.
  
• I am...the 2nd and 3rd grade ILP teacher.
  
• What I am looking forward to this year is...learning more about my students and what it means to be a special educator! As this is my first year teaching I continue to learn new things everyday.
  
• What I love most about the Forestdale Community so far is...how welcomed and appreciated I have felt! From being a student teacher, to a substitute, to an ILP teacher, I have been welcomed by both students and staff with open arms and enthusiasm.
  
• Outside of school I enjoy...doing things outdoors such as skiing or biking, spending lots of time with my friends and family and trying new foods! I am a total foodie :)

• My name is...Amy Despres
  
• I am...the 7th grade math teacher!
  
• What I am looking forward to this year is...watching my students grow and achieve their goals!
  
• What I love most about the Forestdale Community so far is...the welcoming and supportive staff!
  
• Outside of school I enjoy...walking and playing with my dog Cooper!
  

Title 1 ran a wonderful workshop recently on the how to support your students with literacy at home. There was a lot of great information shared, and many questions answered. We appreciate all the parents and caregivers who came to the event, and a big thank you to Title 1 Director Martha Jancaitis and Family Coordinators Lisa Hammersley and Patti Amirault for organizing, and Forestdale Literacy Coach Kathleen Bracken for presenting!

Just a reminder, the next PTO meeting will be December 13, at 7:00pm! Come join this great group and hear about the upcoming events, ways to get involved, and more. The meeting will be held virtually on zoom, and link can be found on the Forestdale PTO Facebook page.

The Forestdale PTO will be holding a craft fair on Friday, December 8 from 5:30 - 7:30pm in conjunction with the gingerbread cookie event! If you'd like to volunteer, or sign up to be a vendor, follow the link here: https://forestdalepto.membershiptoolkit.com/form/m/261922

If you ordered pies and cookies from the PTO fundraiser, pickup will be this coming Monday, November 20th, starting at 2:00pm in the main lobby. If you can help distribute, please reach out to the PTO and let them know!

The Bread of Life and the office of Mayor Gary Christenson invite you to the annual "Francis and Barbara Brown Thanksgiving Dinner", Thursday, November 23rd from 12-2pm at Malden High School (77 Salem Street). For more information, please visit www.breadoflife.org or call (781) 397-0404.

A reminder that this upcoming Wednesday, November 22 is an 11am early release day for the Malden Public Schools! There will be no school on Thursday November 23 and Friday November 24 for the Thanksgiving holiday break.

Did you know that this year the Malden Public Schools adopted a new standards-based report card for students in grades K-4? On November 2nd, Mr. Weldai held a zoom presentation, followed by a question and answer period with two members of the district-team that reevaluated the report cards, Ms. Suzanne Millett (Forestdale K) and Ms. Cara Hovhanessian (District Director of STEM, K-5). The slides are attached here if you are interested in learning more: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/17FTWPxBTTUsdWgZ3CUKQ9_O-BQZrqU-Jvx1YdO-wZmI/edit?usp=sharing

Speaking of report cards...all students in grades 1-8 should have received their Q1 report cards today! They are being sent home with your student, but should also be available on the parent portal on Aspen. If you need any help accessing them, please don't hesitate to reach out. (Students in K will get report cards Q2!)

If you missed picture day, or need retakes, we will have a second round for Picture Day when Lifetouch comes back to Forestdale on Monday, December 4th. Remember, you can access your digital files in your portal on mylifetouch.com

Parent/Caregiver conferences are coming up quickly! Tuesday, December 5, from 4:30 - 6:00pm here in the building. Your team of teachers will reach out about scheduling appointments to meet - stay tuned!

The Winter Concert is approaching, and our students are getting ready! On Thursday, December 14th at 10am, Grades 1, 3 and 5 will be hosting a singing performance for families. On Friday, December 15th at 10am, Grades 6, 7 and 8 will be hosting an instrumental performance by the students participating in band for families. Looking forward to hearing the music!

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!

We know it hasn't been too long, but 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.

The Forestdale School is still seeking a few candidates for open positions! If you or anyone you know is interested, we have a newly created Special Education position, and four Education Support Professional (ESPs, formerly known as ParaProfessionals) positions open. If you'd like to learn more, please feel free to reach out or visit https://maldenps.tedk12.com/hire/index.aspx

The November school lunch menu can be seen below, and the link to the monthly menu (December will be coming soon!) is here as well: https://malden.schooldish.com/SchoolMenus/Forestdale?fbclid=IwAR2ZJ0dwZiruvvYiJhtVAk1yngQak5OmO8hyTVKfUV_rzL5gzDOlwP540_k

Last week our Kindergarten and 8th grade buddies had guest readers come in to talk to them about Veterans Day, read books, and engage in some activities together. We're so grateful to our Forestdale family veterans Kendra Rocca (8th grade civics), Conor Cloherty (one of our SROs from the MPD!), and Kendra's father-in-law John Rocca, who also came in as a guest reader!

This week, 2nd grade students were visited by a former Malden Public Schools student who is a Captain in the US Marine Corps, Kory Fitzpatrick! Captain Fitzpatrick is the brother-in-law of 2nd grade teacher Rachelle Fitzpatrick who arranged for this wonderful experience for our students this year, as she has done in years past. Students were able to learn a little more about Veterans Day, ask Captain Fitzpatrick questions, and give him letters that they wrote for him to pass out to his platoon members. It was a great experience for all!

On Halloween, Kindergarten students had the opportunity to visit our neighbors at Forestdale Park for some trick-or-treating. They loved being able to spend time with the residents there, and have some sweet treats, too! We look forward to finding more ways to collaborate with our neighbors at Forestdale Park.

This week, students in grade 2 were treated to a performance by the Tufts Traveling Treasure Trunk! Trunk is Tufts University's oldest student-run theatre troupe, who specialize in visiting area schools to put on engaging performances for kids of all ages. The students loved being visited by this animated group of performers!

Students in Mrs. Skinner's grade 5 social studies class created globe models using pumpkins! Students enjoyed seeing and getting a closer look at them in the main lobby this past week.

There are a lot of wonderful things happening in our classrooms each and every day - and many of those things get displayed around the building for students and staff to see! I'll try to share some of my favorite snapshots so you can get a chance to see them, too!

This snapshot is from the 5th and 7th grade hallway, where there's a pumpkin patch bulletin board filled with pumpkins that include student writing of things that they appreciate and are thankful for. This is one example of the many ways we see students discussing and practicing gratitude throughout our school community that stuck with me!

Congratulations to Elizabeth Hortie, who was elected and sworn in to the Malden School Committee this week representing Ward 5 in the City of Malden! Elizabeth is a Forestdale School parent, mental health clinician, and public school counselor herself, so our students and community are gaining a strong advocate for our schools.

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