The Penguin Post

Sunday, April 28: Phelps Beautification - 10:00 a.m.

Thursday, May 2: 4th grade field trip to the CT Science Center

Thursday, May 9: Half day for students (district PD)

May 15 & May 16: 3rd and 4th Grade Math MCAS

Thursday, May 16: 2nd grade field trip to the Forest Park Zoo

Monday, May 27: No School - Memorial Day

Tuesday, June 4: 4th graders visit Doering and 4th grade picnic.

Thursday, June 6: Field Day

Wednesday, June 19: No School - Juneteenth

Thursday, June 20: 4th Grade Moving Up Ceremony (11:00am)

Friday, June 21: Last day of school (half day for students)

To wrap up their unit on the history of the earth, room 6 made some fossils!

Room 2 sold the most Krispy Kreme donuts this year! The prize for the winning classroom was an opportunity to silly string the principal. Despite numerous attempts from Mr. V. to change their minds, students (and Mrs. Keefe) unloaded 24 cans of silly string in a matter of seconds. Way to go room 2!

On Monday, April 8 students had the opportunity to learn about and witness a solar eclipse. A solar eclipse happens when, at just the right moment, the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth.

Every student and staff member had a pair of special eclipse glasses and had an opportunity to go outside for viewing.

Students in 3rd grade took a trip around the solar system! Students researched different planets and even created travel brochures to explain why you should "visit" their planet!

The staff Crystal Apple Award for the month of March is Mrs. Netzer!!!

Mrs. Netzer is an amazing and talented educator who deserves to be honored with the Crystal Apple Award. I am nominating her for 3 main reasons, but the list could go on and on. The first reason is that Mrs. Netzer is a leader. She is a leader on the second grade team, as she runs our IST meetings. She is incredibly organized, guides us through each step of the process and makes sure the deadlines are met for each child's progress monitoring period. Her fastidiousness in note keeping and efficient approach to running each meeting has allowed our team to assist many children in their learning journey without having to pursue official testing. It has also been her leadership that has led us to pinpointing specific learning needs and getting the appropriate interventions set up for each child.

The second reason I am nominating Mrs. Netzer is for her strong support and effective use of the district's SEL programs and strategies. Every year, Mrs. Netzer runs an emotionally safe classroom. Besides being an adept manager of classroom behavior, Mrs. Netzer fosters the growth of each child's emotional maturity. She has many SEL related books, activities and lessons that she introduces to the students in September and continues to build upon throughout the year. Outside of the materials she has found or created on her own, she also uses the Zones of Regulation and Quaver lessons expertly to help her students learn how to identify and regulate their emotions. These activities teach them important skills like being able to self regulate, the importance of hard work and the great rewards of kindness. I have worked with her for 15 years and regardless of the class Mrs. Netzer starts the year with, the class that comes out in June has the social and emotional skills to successfully enter third grade.

The third reason I am nominating Mrs. Netzer is because she is a constant mentor to not only her students, but to staff as well. Mrs. Netzer is a member of the Data Team and is always willing to provide guidance on the IST process. She has a wealth of pedagogical knowledge which she happily shares with others even when it costs her, her own precious planning time. I cannot count the number of times she has stayed late with me to discuss one of my student's behavioral or academic progress and helped me brainstorm solutions. I see her generously giving of her time, resources and wisdom every single day. She has trained some of the most skilled paraprofessionals Phelps has ever had, several of which have gone on to be teachers. Mrs. Netzer goes above and beyond every day to make sure that our school, its staff and its students are the best that they can be!

Mrs. Netzer has been a devoted educator in Agawam for 17 years and she is an exemplary example of a teacher and I believe that she should be honored.

The link is open for families to shop!

Avoid the summer back to school lines this summer! Once again, Phelps will offer parents the opportunity to buy next year's school supplies through School Tool Box. All of the supplies needed for the classroom come in the box, with options for additional add-ons or items to donate to the classroom (i.e. bandaids, tissues). Supplies are shipped directly to the school and will be waiting in your child's homeroom on the first day of school. All items are name brand. Please make sure to purchase the box for your child's grade level for the 2024-2025 school year.

Before April vacation, students in 3rd and 4th grade took the English Language Arts MCAS assessment. On May 15 and 16, students will take the Math portion of the MCAS. It is important that all students are present and on time for these tests. Additionally, they should try to get a good night’s sleep and have a good breakfast the day of testing. Students and teachers have worked very hard to prepare for the MCAS tests. We are confident that all our students will try their best and do well!

Every month at our all school meetings, students of the month are recognized in front of the entire school community! Pictured below are the February and March students of the month.

Staff at Phelps have already started to look at class placements for the 2024-2025 school year. This is a long process that involves collaboration between administration, counseling staff, special education teachers, service providers, and classroom teachers. Forms went home at the end of March to give families an opportunity to provide school staff with input about their child. We do not solicit requests for specific teachers.

Unlike previous years, all elementary schools in Agawam will send class placements through PowerSchool in August. Class placement will not be on the final report card as many variables change over the summer. If you are having trouble activating your PowerSchool account, please reach out to Mrs. Solivan at vsolivan@agawamed.org or the IT department at support@agawamed.org.

The week of April 22 was International Week at Phelps! Students participated in the morning broadcast and announcements by reading greetings in different languages. Bulletin boards around Phelps all had an international theme. Teachers had access to an international reading room to read books from many different countries. Our first grade students led an all-school meeting on diversity. On Friday, we welcomed the Bolivian band Inca Son who performed an amazing concert for our school. The highlight of the week was our first annual Taste of Phelps event. Families from our community got together to share their cultures and heritages in one of the best ways - food! Families brought home-cooked dishes from 9 countries (Turkiye, China, Ukraine, Kenya, Italy, Ireland, Canada, Finland, and Lebanon). We are looking forward to having this event next year!

At our October faculty meeting, all classroom teachers at Phelps had the opportunity to participate in a classroom redesign contest! Several teachers took advantage of the opportunity and worked with their students to design their ideal classroom. Classrooms presented their designs at the end of December and the winner was announced in January. Room 4 - Ms. Bushey's class - was the winner of the contest! Their design featured new whiteboard tables, a rocking chair for EVERY student, whiteboards on almost every wall space, a new mount for the Samsung Flip to de-face the classroom, and several other cosmetic upgrades! Orders have been trickling in since January and as of April 2, everything has arrived! Congratulations room 4!

Phelps is looking for a lunch monitor for the remainder of the school year. The position starts on Monday, May 13 with hours of 11:15am-1:15pm. If you or anyone you know might be interested, please email avillamaino@agawamed.org - even if someone can help a few days each week.

Teacher Appreciation Week is coming up in a few weeks! We’ve got an awesome Hawaiian themed week planned for our Tiki-Riffic teachers!
In order to make this week possible, we are looking for families to help donate some items.
If you can help out, please check out the two links below. Items from the sign up genius can be brought in and left in the bin outside the office and items from the Amazon list can be shipped directly to Katelyn or to you and left in the bin by May 3rd.

Thank you for your support and help in making it an epic week for our fantastic teachers!

Phelps Teacher Appreciation - Signup Genius

Phelps Teacher Appreciation Donations 2024 - Amazon Gift List