Rose L. MacDonald School
September 5, 2025
Armani Smalls Instructional Assistant
Emily Trabulsie .5 School Nurse
Victoria Russo Grade 3 Long Term Substitute
For the safety of all students, please ensure your child exits the vehicle on the passenger side closest to the sidewalk during both drop-off and pick-up. This helps avoid any risk of students stepping into traffic.
We also ask that families do not allow children to play on the playground before dismissal, including younger siblings or children waiting with adults (as mentioned in the back to school procedures). There is no staff supervision on the playground before dismissal, and we want to ensure all children remain safe.
Thank you for your continued cooperation in keeping our school community safe!
What will my child be learning about this year? How can we support our children as learners? These are some of the questions that will be answered at curriculum night. Parents and guardians (not students) are invited to attend this event. Important topics of curriculum and expectations for each grade level will be addressed. Teachers will speak about the programs and materials used in each content area as well as the timeline for skills and topics that are covered during the school year.
In order to accommodate our families’ schedules and support parents in visiting multiple classrooms, we have modified the schedule. Classroom teachers will be presenting the same information during two different sessions. Therefore, parents only need to attend one of the sessions.
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Parking is very limited. Please plan ahead, as parking will most likely go along Steppingstone Drive. Teachers begin their presentations promptly at 5:15 and 6:15 respectively.
The schedule for the evening is as follows:
- 5:00 Doors open
- 5:15-5:45 pm Grade 1, 2 & 3 Session 1
- 6:15-6:45 Grade 1, 2 & 3 Session 2 (same information as session 1)
- Goal - I will be sharing highlights, updates, and activity or book recommendations each month as our school community commits to reading and grows stronger with books and stories.
- Announcements -
- If your son/daughter has not yet returned their summer reading calendar, please do so ASAP. Certificates and raffle drawings are being prepared on Monday!
- Our first seasonal reading challenge will start at the end of the month. Teachers/staff and parents will be invited to join the students in their reading efforts! More information will be sent home when the time nears.
- Our Fall DIBELS testing to monitor students' reading development will be taking place the week of Sept. 14th. All K-6 students will work one-on-one with the Reading Specialist or Special Education teachers to complete their assessments.
- Did you know birthdays are a big deal to us here at RLM? The night before each student's birthday, I email families a short video where I initiate the birthday celebration and read a special birthday story (an example of what I send home is included below). Then, kiddos' birthdays are announced over the intercom during morning announcements on their day (Saturday birthdays are celebrated on Fridays and Sunday birthdays are celebrated on Mondays; vacation birthdays will be announced on the Friday before vacation break starts). Students will not only have their names and birthdays announced, but they will be invited to visit my room during snack or recess break to receive birthday gifts (a book of their choice and some birthday trinkets). Birthdays are a big deal at this age and deserve to be treated as such! PLEASE BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THAT BIRTHDAY EMAIL! You may have to check your junk folder
- Parent Tips and Home Recommendations:
- It's a gift every parent can give: reading aloud to a child before he or she can read on his or her own. Or even better, read aloud to share a great chapter book together! Once a child can read alone, continuing to read aloud can build his/her vocabulary and keep his/her excited about books. And it builds reading stamina!
Here are ideas for helping your child get the most from story time. There are three main parts of reading aloud. From choosing a book to talking about what you read, you can fit learning and fun into every minute of story time.
Before Reading - Let your child pick a story, even if she always reaches for the same one. Familiar stories are comforting, and she'll recognize more and more words each time she hears a story. To introduce her to new titles, you can choose the next story. Read the title and author before you open a book. Look at the cover picture and predict what the story might be about. (“This is Corduroy by Don Freeman. Look! That bear is missing a button. I wonder what happened to it.)
During Reading - Allow your child to set the tone. He may want to point out rhyming words, ask questions, tell you something the story reminds him of, or turn back to an earlier page to look at a picture again. This lets him participate in reading aloud. You can draw his attention to pictures of objects by pointing out things mentioned in the story. (”He thinks that's his button on the bed.”) But here is an important tip. Relax while you're reading! Laugh and let your child see how much you enjoy books. Change the sound of your voice and make silly noises as actions happen in the story.
After Reading - Have your child show you her favorite page and explain why she likes it. Compare the book with another story you have read to help her make connections between books. (“Corduroy reminds me of Home for a Bunny because they both have a character that needs a home.”) Ask your child questions about the characters’ feelings so she can learn to read between the lines. (“How do you think Corduroy felt when the girl came back?”)
Use consistent read-aloud time to introduce your child to a wide variety of book types. You can use picture books for a one-night commitment, but don't be shy about using chapter books either! A chapter a night is a great goal and introduces many vocabulary words and story concepts. Always aim to read 5 nights a week to strengthen those reading muscles of yours!
- Breakfast and Lunch are free to all students
- Ala Carte items are an additional choice. Students must have money on their My School Bucks Lunch account to pay.
- Currently, the only Ala Carte item at RLM is milk, at a cost of $0.75.
- Students are using PINs to record lunch and breakfast purchases.... currently each student has a card with their PIN in the cafe. Our goal is to have students learn their PINs so the cards are no longer needed by mid-October.
- Snack/Breakfast is offered daily. We offer daily specials and always have cereal and graham or cheese crackers available. Students also take fruit/juice and milk is available.
- Lunch: students order their lunch in the morning with their teacher. In the cafe, as they come through the line, they choose their fruit and vegetables. We typically have at least one fresh fruit and a canned fruit plus 1-2 vegetables. Each student needs to take at least 1 of those items. Milk is always available.
- Water is available in the cafe at a filtered water bottle filling/bubbler station. Students are encouraged to bring a water bottle to meals.
- If you have additional questions, please reach out to AnnMarie Grinder, Food Service Director at agrinder@wbridgewater.com
Contact Info:
Principal
Email: kgoulet@wbridgewater.com
Website: https://www.wbridgewaterschools.org/o/rose-l-macdonald
Location: 1 Steppingstone Drive, West Bridgewater, MA, USA
Phone: (508)894-1240
Facebook: facebook.com/RoseLMacDonaldSchool
Twitter: @rlmschool