Greetings,

I hope that each of you had a wonderful vacation with family and friends! I am looking forward to hearing the children’s vacation adventures tomorrow when they return.

We have a busy week ahead of us at Ruggles Lane with MCAS testing starting on Tuesday for third and fifth grades and on Friday for fourth and sixth grades – please see below for the full schedule. Our message to the students regarding these assessments is that this is not something they should be anxious about as they are well prepared. All we ask is that they put forth their best efforts. That, coupled with the high quality teaching and learning provided by their teachers from K-6, is a recipe for success! Should you have any questions regarding these assessments, please do not hesitate to reach out to me and/or your child’s teacher.

This week, I am looking forward to our Walking Wednesdays returning. For those interested in joining us, please meet us on the front lawn of the Barre Police Department for an 8:00 departure. Parents do not have to join us; we just ask that you check in with a staff member prior to leaving. When possible, an email will be sent out the night before if we need to cancel. Otherwise, look to Facebook, Instagram and/or email for cancellation notices in the morning. Keep your fingers crossed for nice weather as currently their is rain forecasted 😦

Should you have any questions or concerns about anything in this newsletter, or any other aspect of your child’s RLS experience, please let me know. Do not hesitate to give me a call, to send an email or to stop by the office!

Julie

April/May At-A-Glance

*At the top of this post, on the left hand side are a series of links to different pages of our blog. Click on the RLS 2016-2017 Calendar Link for a year long Google calendar. Some events only pertain to staff, but this calendar will be used to post all school events as well. Events are also posted to our Facebook page so that is a good resource to stay connected too! If you subscribe to the Facebook calendar you will get notifications which are helpful reminders!

Wednesday, April 26th: Walking Wednesdays resume
Wednesday, April 25th: MCAS begins – see below for complete schedule
Thursday, April 27th: School Committee, Consolidation Committee Update (click here for the agenda)
Wednesday, May 3rd: Walking Wednesday
Wednesday, May 3rd: PTO Meeting, 7:00
Friday, May 5th: Spelling Bee
Tuesday, May 9th: 4th grade Wind Energy ‘Field Trip’ @ RLS
Wednesday, May 10th: Walking Wednesday
Wednesday, May 17th: Walking Wednesday
Thursday, May 18th: Grade 1 Field Trip
Friday, May 19th: Daddy/Daughter Dance sponsored by the PTO
Wednesday, May 24th: Walking Wednesday
Friday, May 26th: Memorial Day Concert, 9:00
Monday, May 29th: No School, Memorial Day Observance
Tuesday, May 30th-Friday, June 2: Nature’s Classroom Field Trip, Grade 5
Wednesday, May 31st: Walking Wednesday
Tuesday, May 30th & Wednesday, May 31st: Kindergarten Screening – No school for kindergarten

MCAS

Below you will find the MCAS assessment schedule for Ruggles Lane. All students will be taking this year’s assessment online. Should you have any questions regarding these assessments, please do not hesitate to reach out to me and/or your child’s teachers.

English Language Arts

Mathematics

3^rd Grade

Tuesday – Thursday

April 25-27

Tuesday & Wednesday

May 16 – 17

4^th Grade

Friday – Monday

April 28-May 1

Thursday & Friday

May 18 – 19

5^th Grade

Tuesday – Thursday

April 25-27

Tuesday & Wednesday

May 16 – 17

Science & Technology Engineering

Monday & Tuesday

May 22 – 23

6^th Grade

Friday – Monday

April 28-May 1

Thursday & Friday

May 18 – 19

2017-2018

The School Committee recently approved the calendar for next year. Click here for more information.

Walking Wednesdays Resume After April Vacation!!!

Those students and families who join us are having a blast with our weekly Walking Wednesdays. If you would like to join us, meet us on the front lawn of the Barre Police Department for an 8:00 departure. Parents do not have to join us; we just ask that you check in with a staff member prior to leaving. When possible, an email will be sent out the night before if we need to cancel. Otherwise, look to Facebook, Instagram and/or email for cancellation notices in the morning.

In a continued effort to have our students use an authentic purpose for writing and to have them connect with students around the world, one of our 6th grade WINN groups is blogging with students in Bogota, Colombia through a Global Pen Pals Project. Their project was recently highlighted in a blog post for the Massachusetts Elementary Principals Association. Click here to learn more about this project and to access their blog. I am sure they would love to see your comments!

SchoolBusSafety

Recently we have had an increase in bus referrals. Because of this, I would ask, if your child rides the bus to and from school, that you review the rules of bus safety. The driver’s primary goal and focus needs to be on driving the children safely home. When time is spent on redirecting student behavior, safety is compromised. Please remind students to stay in their assigned seat, to use quiet voices, not to eat on the bus and to always be respectful of the driver and his/her requests.

SummerVaca

I am hopeful that our snow days are over – everyone should collectively knock on wood! With the six snow days we have had this year, our last day of school is projected to be Friday, June 23rd. This will be an early release day with dismissal at 11:45.

Fun Frontier

This year QRSD will continue to run Fun Frontier, a before and after school program. Click here for their flyer and click here for their brochure. Should you need information, feel free to reach out to the director, Kari Sacramone, at ksacramone@qrsd.org.

Office Hours

With the revised start and end times, our new office hours will be 8:00-3:45. During these times, if we do not answer the phone we are helping another family and ask that you leave us a voice mail. We can also be reached via email at RLS@qrsd.org.

Greetings,

I have been remiss in my communication with you all through this forum since mid-December. I could spend time sharing with you a myriad of excuses for that right now, but, truth be told, there is no excuse that is a good excuse for not communicating with you all. The purpose of this newsletter is to keep you in the loop of what is happening at Ruggles Lane currently as well as in the month to come. I am sorry that I have not performed this aspect of my job well. My goal for the remainder of the school year is to have a Barre Blast to you on or near the 1st and the 15th of each month for the remainder of the school year!

Please scroll down to see calendar updates and some important, timely reminders! I also want to encourage you to follow either our Facebook account or our Instagram account as those feeds will give you real time updates of the wonderful things that are taking place in each of our learning communities. In addition to our day-to-day updates, stay tuned in the coming weeks for a glimpse into this Wednesday’s science day in first grade during which 3rd graders will help them to do online research. We are also looking forward to the kindergarten science fair next Friday with their 6th grade learning buddies. We hope to also get the 6th grade Computer Chips out and about taking pictures of our #RespectfulLearningSafeCommunity in action. Look for their posts using #RLSComputerChips.

Julie