Fisher Family Update

Good afternoon Fisher Families,

We’re wrapping up a busy week, highlighted by our fun and colorful Rock Your Socks for Down Syndrome Day! It was wonderful to see so many of our students and staff showing their support and spirit.

Wishing you all a restful and enjoyable weekend!

Brian

March

28 - Early Release, Dismissal at 12:25

28 - Fisher Scene (Details below)

April

1 - Gr. 3 ELA MCAS Session 1

2 - Gr. 3 ELA MCAS Session 2

3 - Gr. 4 ELA MCAS Session 1

4 - Gr. 4 ELA MCAS Session 2

8 - Gr. 5 ELA MCAS Session 1

9 - Gr. 5 ELA MCAS Session 2

16 - PAC Meeting 7pm

18 - No School / Day of low attendance

21 - 25 April Vacation

28 - Classes Resume

29 - Gr. 3 Math MCAS Session 1

30 - Gr. 3 Math MCAS Session 2

May

1 - Gr. 4 Math MCAS Session 1

2 - Gr. 4 Math MCAS Session 2

6 - Gr. 5 Math MCAS Session 1

7 - Gr. 5 Math MCAS Session 2

7 - District Wide Art Show - 6pm-8pm Walpole Public Library

8 - Fisher (Incoming) Kindergarten Orientation 6pm

14 - Gr. 5 Science MCAS Session 1

15 - Gr. 5 Science MCAS Session 1

16 - Early Release, Dismissal at 12:25

21 - PAC Meeting 7pm

26 - Memorial Day NO SCHOOL

Our Fisher School Spelling Bee champion, fifth grader Kedar, placed 4th overall at the Regional Spelling Bee. Kedar competed against middle school students and correctly spelled challenging words like "sauerkraut" before unfortunately stumbling on "chasuble." We are incredibly proud of Kedar and all his hard work!

Every year, each public school and school district in Massachusetts receives a report card. Just as your child’s report card shows how they are doing in different subjects, the school’s report card is designed to show families how our school is doing in different areas. A link to our school’s report card is available at https://reportcards.doe.mass.edu/2024/03070015.

The report card includes multiple measures of a school’s performance – more than just MCAS scores. It represents a new way of looking at school performance, by providing information on student achievement, teacher qualifications, student learning opportunities, and more.

Report cards are designed to be useful tools for everyone connected to our school. Families can use the information to have meaningful conversations with us about what the school is doing well and where there is room for improvement. Community and education leaders can use the information to better understand how to support students and our school.

You will notice on our report card that Fisher students attend on average nearly 96% (95.6%) of all school days. To further improve student achievement, we will continue to work with families to decrease the percentage of students who miss more than 10% of the school year. Our students continue to meet or exceed our goals for student achievement in the areas of English Language Arts and Mathematics, making “substantial progress toward targets”. As a result of these efforts, Fisher School was named a “School of Recognition” by the Department of Education for 2024. To continue to improve student outcomes, we have implemented an intervention block in each grade to best meet the varying needs of our students in both English Language Arts and Math. We greatly value our partnership with families and see you as a critical contributor to the success of our students and school, and we are grateful for your continued support.

If you have questions about our school’s report card or would like to become involved in school improvement activities, please contact your building principal or district administration. To see our district’s report card or to search for other schools’ report cards, visit https://reportcards.doe.mass.edu/

Sincerely,

Brian Bemiss

Fisher School Principal

William Hahn

Assistant Superintendent

Spring Enrichment sign-ups will begin on Monday, March 24 at 7:00pm and will not be accepted prior to that time. Link to Sign-Up Genius. Session 4 will begin on Tuesday, April 7, and classes will be held on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for five weeks (no classes the week of April 21 for Spring Break). The cost is $35 or $45 per class. For questions or confidential scholarship information, contact Kate Anderson directly at: kanderson@walpole.k12.ma.us. See a list of class offerings.

March Mathness is in Full Swing!

If your student has been buzzing about March Mathness, it’s because our exciting, math-filled tournament is in full swing! This school-wide competition, inspired by NCAA’s March Madness, has classes competing to solve the most ST Math puzzles and advance in the bracket. But here’s the best part—every class stays in the game! Wild Card opportunities and Honorable Mentions keep all students engaged, celebrating their hard work and progress throughout the tournament.

You may be wondering—why do we focus on ST Math puzzle progress? It’s more than just solving puzzles. ST Math builds essential problem-solving skills, perseverance, and most importantly, Number Sense—a critical foundation for mathematical thinking. Since ST Math has no written directions, students must analyze patterns, think critically, and apply what they’ve learned to help JiJi cross the screen. The challenges get progressively harder, encouraging students to build connections and deepen their understanding.

What is Number Sense?

Number Sense is a person’s ability to:
Compose and decompose numbers
Compute mentally using a variety of strategies
Make reasonable estimates
Recognize patterns and relationships in numbers
Solve problems efficiently

From learning to count to tackling complex math problems, strong Number Sense helps students approach math with confidence. In addition to ST Math, students build these skills daily through Number Corner and classroom activities.

Want to support Number Sense at home? Check out these links:
Developing Number Sense at Home – Activities for car rides, meal prep, or while waiting at a restaurant
How to Build Number Sense: Simple and affordable ideas for the busy parent (video)(at the end of the video, she mentions the Starfall app which our students have access to through their school web page.)
What is Number Sense?

As we near the finish line of March Mathness, the energy in our classrooms is electric! The puzzle progress goal for March is 62%, and we’re aiming for every student to complete at least 80% of their grade level’s ST Math journey by June. This tournament is helping so many students take positive steps toward that goal, and we love seeing their enthusiasm for math grow. Thank you for your support—we can’t wait to celebrate all their hard work!

All Fisher students (K-5) will be participating in a special team building activity in March. We kindly request donations of unopened, regular size boxes of cereal. We need approximately 500 boxes since we are looking for enough to line our halls to make a "domino formation". After our team building activity, the cereal boxes will be donated to the Walpole Food Pantry. Thank you!

**We are still looking for cereal**

Grade 4 field trip to the Norfolk Aggie School

First Grade enjoyed the Pumpernickel Puppet Show! The puppeteer put on 2 shows for us : The Lion and the Mouse and The Three Billy Goats Gruff. He also spoke about how he learned how to make his own puppets as a young boy by reading books from the library and using recycled materials from around his house. The kids enjoyed every minute of the shows and had BIG SMILES and lots of laughs.

Miss Romano is "Feelin' like one lucky teacher to have this class!"

Learning all about maple sugaring at the Norfolk Agricultural School!

Harney Academy treated Fisher School to some Irish Step dancing on St. Patrick's Day! Good job!

Pictures of third graders measuring area around the classroom. They are working on measuring larger areas using different measuring tools. These pictures show students measuring the top of a desk and the seat of a chair.

Absences: If your student is going to be absent or tardy, please call the absence line and let us know in advance. You may call this line at anytime and leave a message. The telephone number is 508-660-7234 and then press 1

Dismissals: Please send a hand written note with your student in the morning or fill out this form with at least 2 hours advance notice.

Afterschool dismissal changes: If your student is changing their typical way of leaving Fisher at 3:25pm, please send a note into school with the plan that morning.

We understand that there are unavoidable last minute changes, however, please be mindful that we must call the classroom and upset time on leaning with each change.

Please feel free to email the front office: fisher-secretaries@walpole.k12.ma.us

School Day Begins at 8:55am

Dismissal is at 3:25pm

Early Release Days - Dismissal is at 12:25pm

Click HERE to view our arrival and dismissal procedures