Spring Glen Spotlight

Dear Spring Glen Families,

Happy Friday! Another busy but exciting week at SPG! Here are some highlights from the week:

1. Open House: Thank you to all of the parents/guardians who attended our Open House and curriculum night this past Wednesday. It was nice to be able to listen in to some of the presentations and hear the great questions many of you had. Additionally, I always appreciate the opportunity to bring the whole community together in the most meaningful ways, so I'm already thinking ahead to next year - how we can include students in some capacity and make the evening more interactive and engaging. 👀
2. Our First Town Meeting was held this morning! Our newest grade 6 Student Council and Principal's Advisory Committee members were presented to the whole school. Maddy from Mr. Trama's class introduced our new "Student Suggestion Box" which she created herself, and will be housed in the main office! Finally, we launched our brand new SPG Pledge, which was SC and PAC's first official job. See below for more photos and info.
3. SPG Caregiver Survey: As briefly mentioned during my welcome at Open House, one of my biggest goals has been to gather broad feedback from the parent/guardian population of our school. The responses to these prompts will help to inform the work we do moving forward, while also giving me helpful information on all the wonderful things already happening (and there's a lot of them!) I greatly appreciate you taking 5 minutes to complete the survey and the link below.

Enjoy the weekend.

Mike

As I asked students in my first weeks if they could recite the old pledge to me, very few (if any) were able to do so. This showed me that the words within the previous pledge may not have held significant meaning, but instead had just become a routine. At today's town meeting, SC and PAC shared the new pledge that THEY created. We discussed how the words in this pledge are (hopefully) what we all believe in, what we commit to doing every day, and exemplify what makes our community so special. The new pledge will begin being recited in our AM announcements starting on Monday!

Students were required to write an essay explaining the qualities they think they embody which would make them a good fit for Student Council, along with ideas they have to make our school an even better place.

The essays this year were so strong, we created a second group of students who we believe would be a great "sounding board" for me as we move through a new year. These students will meet with me monthly to share their thoughts on how things are going school-wide, what we need more of/less of, and ideas they have to further improve the culture of our school.

Check out https://www.mathinaction.org/spring-glen-school.html to print out the current challenge. Copies are also available in the submission boxes located outside the main office! Talk to Mrs. Mangini for more info or with questions. We can't wait to see how many of you will accept the challenge!

A big shout-out to 6th grader Maddy for suggesting a "Suggestion Box". Students will be allowed to submit their ideas for how to improve our school. This could be silly things like a suggestion for a theme day or a book they really want to see in the library, and more serious things like how we can make everyone feel more seen and heard in the cafeteria or how we can support each other more. We are excited to see what students use their voices to share!

Grade K: Jaxon from Mrs. Rosenberg's class

Grade 1: Malikhi from Mrs. Richards' class

Grade 2: Lydia from Mrs. Piazza's class

Grade 3: Maggie from Mrs. DiFonzo's class

Grade 4: Phalla from Mr. Esposito's class

Grade 5: Maxwell from Ms. Irwin's class

Grade 6: Joseph from Mr. Yelenik's class

At this morning's town meeting, students learned about their first whole-school goal: 750 Golden Tickets! As of now, students have earned a grand total of 511. When we work together, we can achieve great (and exciting!) things. The first whole-school reward will be Pajama Day! Now the question is, when will we meet our first goal?

This year, our school community is focusing on the following priorities:

• Student Well-Being: Reinforcing positive behavior through schoolwide systems and adequate time placed on social-emotional learning.

• Attendance: Encouraging daily attendance and on-time arrival for all.

• Teaching & Learning: Supporting strong instruction and consistent expectations across classrooms where ALL students are encouraged to take risks and make their thinking visible.

• Overarching Goal: Creating a safe, welcoming environment where every student feels comfortable and willing to challenge themselves and grow each day.

We have seen a few cases of lice over the past few weeks. Of course, this is expected. We are an elementary school, after all. However, there are steps that can be taken to prevent spread. Please remind your children to keep their hats, hoods, scarves, hair accessories, and brushes to themselves, and to give friends personal space, especially avoiding head-to-head contact. If you notice frequent scratching or anything unusual, a quick check at home and a heads-up to the school can help stop lice from spreading. We appreciate your support.

Saturday, 9/27 - Deadline to order mums (see flyer below)

Monday, 9/28 - Early Dismissal (Teacher Professional Development - 12:55pm)

Tuesday, 10/6 - Picture Day 📸

Thursday, 10/8 - PTA Meeting (5:30-6:30, in the SPG Library)

Monday, 10/12 - No School (Indigenous People's Day)

Friday, 10/23 - Fall Festival (6:00-8:00)

Most of the resources below are linkable - click on the photo and you will be brought to the correct website for further information.