Dear Calais Families,

What a year it’s been! From recess to special events to reading with students I’ve greatly enjoyed my first year here at CES. Thank you, once again, for the warm welcome and support you’ve provided throughout the year. We have a true learning community here and that wouldn’t be possible without our great parents and families.

While many great events – Bring a Neighbor to Lunch, Gifts for Giving, and Pi Night, to name a few – are behind us, we have a few more big ones next week. On Monday, unless it is thundering or there is lightning, we will at last have Mr. Fish’s Famous Field Day! Please remember to bring your bathing suits or a change of clothes to be ready for the slip and slide. On Wednesday morning, we will have our Step-Up Day. Students will spend about 45 minutes in their new classrooms. The 2013-2014 5/6-ers will stick together as class placements will not be announced until report cards are sent home at the very end of the year. Finally, on Thursday morning, we will hand out yearbooks, enjoy the annual slideshow at 11:30, and, of course, handout birthday pencils to all our students and staff members born in June, July, and August.

Before everyone disperses for restful, rejuvenating, and family-filled summers, I’d like to make one last pitch for summer reading. All students have worked very hard this year in reading – 100% of students met the end-of-year grade level expectation or grew by 1.5 or more grade levels! This is amazing progress and the students’ and staff members’ hard work should be commended. We want to be sure that all students return to school with the very same reading skills and ready to have another great year. I can’t wait to hear what students have learned from cereal boxes, newspapers, road signs, and regular old books when they return in August!

 I’d like to flag a few things that will be new or a bit different in 2013-2014. First, federal regulations and increasing costs in food mean that we will need to increase lunch and breakfast prices for next year. Beginning in August 2013, student lunches will cost $2.75 and student breakfasts will cost $1.75. We will continue to operate on a debit system – meals are to be prepaid. The Free and Reduced Price Meals program will continue.

Also new in 2013-2014 is a behavior support system called PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports). This program provides a general framework for school teams to design a system that focuses on teaching expected behavior, reinforcing positive behavior, and using data to make decisions about how to meet the behavioral needs of all students. For students, the truly noticeable change will be working together to earn a school-wide celebration every few months.

Thank you again for an amazing year! I hope everyone has a wonderful summer full of exciting adventures and peaceful moments.

Take care and we’ll see you in August!

Marissa

After scanning the skies and our magic crystal ball, we decided to reschedule our annual Field Day for Monday, June 17^th and

the backup rain date for Wednesday, June 19^th.  Field day starts with a BBQ lunch of burgers and hot dogs.

Here are the changes to the hot lunch menu due to the change in Field day dates:

• Thurs 6/13 – Spaghetti Pie, garlic bread, broccoli & fruit
• Mon 6/17 – Field Day BBQ burgers & hot dogs  (if no field day due to rain, we will have the Wed 6/19 menu)
• Wed 6/19 – Chicken & cheese quesadillas (If field day is today, lunch is BBQ burgers & hot dogs)

This week’s news brought to you by Librarian Eric Mongeon

Dear Calais Families,

            It was great to see so many families at our Literacy Night this week; thank you to everyone who supported the event.  Whether you were here for the evening or made a donation to the book swap, we appreciate all your participation in spreading the joy of reading.  Our kids came up with some great ideas about creative ways to read this summer.  Read a map, read to your dog, and read T-shirts were among the suggestions.  When asked why it is important to read over the summer kids responded with “to stay smart,” “to keep from getting bored,” “because it’s fun,” and perhaps my favorite “to keep dreaming.” 

            The endless days of summer offer so much opportunity for adventure, and it is important to remember that reading can be part of that.  Access to more books results in more reading.  We are trying to help with access by encouraging all students to borrow a bag of books from the CES library for summer reading.  Beyond that, the Kellogg-Hubbard Library is offering great summer programs throughout the summer. Their summer kickoff party is Friday June 21^st at 2 o’clock.  They will also be hosting story times, programs on dinosaurs, rock gardens, lemonade lounging, and more!   Kellogg Hubbard will also be making the rounds in their Book Mobile on Wednesdays at 10:30.  They will be at the East Montpelier Fire Department July 17^th, Maple Corner Community Center July 24^th, and Adamant Methodist Church July 31^st. For more information checkout http://www.kellogghubbard.org.

            Children’s author Deborah  Hopkinson once said “Summer is what made me a reader – and reading is what made me a writer.” We hope that you all find time to dive into a few good books and eager to tell a few of your stories.

            Be well,  Eric

DATES to REMEMBER:    

Wed 6/12 - Field Day!    (rain date Thurs 6/13)

Wed 6/12 and Fri 6/14 – Last day for PreK students

Tues 6/18 – Grade 6 Graduation 6:30pm

Thurs 6/20 – LAST DAY for K-6 students!  **12:30 dismissal **

Mon 6/24 – School Board meeting 6:00pm at CES

Tues 8/27 – First Day of School for 2013-14

Principal’s News

Dear Calais Families,

You know what they say… if you don’t like the weather, wait a minute. We’re certainly learning that this week. While we’ve certainly had some yucky weather, we’ve gotten out to do some great things too. The 5/6-ers spent Wednesday touring some local farms (and eating a sample or two). Many of our 3^rd-6^th grade girls ran a practice 5K on Thursday evening. Our 1^st graders are traveling to U-32 for some literacy and science today. How lucky we are to have so many great learning opportunities in the neighborhood!

On Thursday, our Continuous Improvement Plan Committee (the body formerly known as the Action Plan Committee) met with teams from across the supervisory union to share our progress so far. It was a great opportunity to explore our shared challenges and brainstorm together. While we still have several hours of work ahead of us, I want to be sure to thank Maggie Weiss, Katie Reed, Drew Lamb, Kelly MacMartin, and Kate Rob for their great contributions to our plan so far. The team’s collective depth of knowledge and range of perspectives is helping us create a timely, targeted plan.

We are working on final preparations for next week’s Literacy Night. Please join us on Wednesday, June 5^th at 6:00 for a tour of your child’s writing projects this year and a book swap! Again, we are hoping to receive all books for the swap by Monday the 3^rd. If, however, you are unable to bring in your contribution(s) before Wednesday, please do bring books with you to the event.

Next week we will also finally recognize our amazing corps of volunteers who make everything from Hands On Nature to the yearbook to fieldtrips to science and reading lessons possible. Our Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast is on Friday, June 7^th at 8:00. We hope to see you there!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Marissa

DATES to REMEMBER: also found on the school website: www.calaisschool.org  Click on CALENDAR from the home page.

 Wed 6/5 – Literacy Night: School-wide celebration of literacy & a book swap!  6-7pm

Thurs 6/6 – PreK picnic 5:30pm

Fri 6/7 – Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast

Wed 6/12 - Field Day! (rain date 6/13)

Fri 6/14 – Last day for PreK students

Tues 6/18 – Grade 6 Graduation 6:30pm

Thurs 6/20 – LAST DAY for K-6 students!  **12:30 dismissal **