Principal's Newsletter
by Robin Croteau M.Ed October 16, 2026
After the long weekend, students started a new WIN rotation. Most grades have decided to alternate between ELA and math skills, assuring both content areas get equitable attention. Teachers and other WIN facilitators are pre and post assessing students to inform their instruction on further skill development.
This past week the "Skip The Line" fundraiser for kindergarten and Grade 2 started! The parent who wins this raffle gets to move the front of the parent pick up line for a few weeks. Mrs. Magurk is also running the CPR/Library Fundraiser after school on Monday. This is great opportunity to get certified and support our library.
It was fall picture day on Wednesday and we also sent a handful of our students to Miner Memorial Library Club for the second time with the new town librarian, Ms. Doyle. A lot has been going on this past week! A huge THANK YOU goes out to all of the new parent and teacher members who have recently joined the PTO and are committed to keeping this very important organization up and running! In addition to new members, the PTO has elected the following new officers:
President - Jennifer Delisle (Parent)
Vice President - Jennifer Earthrowl (Parent & Paraprofessional)
Secretary - Amy Murray (Teacher)
Treasurer - Kristin LaRocque (Parent)
Both the school staff and the PTO are excited for this upcoming year and remain committed to collaborating to create a welcoming, supportive environment where positive relationships, shared responsibility, and STUDENTS remain at the center of everything we do. We hope everyone joins us for our first collaborative event; the Spooky Spaghetti Dinner & Pumpkin Walk! T
The more information we have, the better when it comes to planning for this annual favorite. Please take a few moments to answer this survey so our staff and the PTO know how many families to expect. Please also check Dojo and student take home folders as information about the costume parade, pumpkin pick up and drop off will be sent home soon!
Fall STEM Lesson: Extracting Pigments From Fall Leaves!
This week Ms. Shepard in collaboration with Ms. Croteau (a former science teacher) taught the 6th grade class to extract different pigments from fall leaves. After studying the differences between animal and plant cells (and the process of photosynthesis to capture light energy and store it in sugar molecules), this was the perfect seasonal extension to students' learning. Students learned that leaves contain more than just the green pigment chlorophyll and that other pigments are also present to capture different wavelengths of light. Those other pigments are only visible in the fall when chlorophyll production slows down!
After selecting a leaf of their liking and learning about different pigments , students hypothesized what pigments they thought existed in their leaf? After this this rubbed their leaf on filter paper and used a solvent to pull the pigment molecules up the filter paper separating them out by size. To make sure the pigments were correctly identified, students used a math formula to calculate what is known as the Rf value. The Rf value is the predicted distance each pigment will move up the filter paper. Students were able to then see if their hypothesis was correct! Mathematics, measurement and new fall fun were had by all and Ms. Croteau and Ms. Shepard plan to continue to provide this opportunity to all middle school students in the future!
