5/15/12

BoE Presentation 5-14-2012
2-Minute Report items from Wakelee School

Good evening, Toma the Mime came to Wakelee on April 25th. He trained under the legendary Marcel Marceau in Paris, France. In his demonstration, he discussed the importance of conveying different story elements (person, place, problem and solution) in his act. He then asked for student participation to help him create a story with these elements. This reinforced the components of narrative writing for the students in a fun, visual way. Thank you to our PTO for arranging this event.

The Creative Cats Celebration (our Art Show) was held on Thursday April 26th. This was a great opportunity for the students to showcase their talents. The students have been working hard all year creating art and learning about famous artists and artistic styles. A special thank you goes to Mr. Fontaine and Mrs. Deloy for providing musical entertainment and to our PTO for supplying light refreshments for all in attendance. We had about 400 people attend this special event.

On April 27th, our 5th grade students went on a Field Trip to Tyrrell Middle School to learn about the school, meet some of their teachers and learn more about the academic programs and offerings that await them for their 6th grade year next year. We appreciate all the help of the 8th Grade Project Explore students, 6th Grade teachers and Mrs. Tansley and Mr. Simpson that helped make our students comfortable, welcomed and excited for going to Tyrrell next year.

On Thursday, May 3rd, we had our annual Variety Show at the show. We had 11 talented performances ranging from grade 3-5. It was a nice event to showcase some of our talented students. Some of the acts included singing and dancing and I would like to thank Mr. Fontaine, Mrs. McCasland and Mrs. Osvald for their help in organizing this Show.

On Friday May 4th, our 5th Graders went on a Field Trip to the State Capitol Building and the Connecticut Hall of Fame Museum, in Hartford, Connecticut.  On the tour, students learned of the history of the National Historic Landmark and viewed items important to Connecticut History.  The students learned about the legislative process while viewing the House and Senate chambers, and also observed the proceedings of the general assembly from the public galleries while the House and Senate were in session. 

On Friday, May 11th, our Fourth Graders went on a field trip to Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, MA. There they learned about what it was like to live in the 1700s. For example students saw what schools were like and what they would learn in school. They also witnessed different trades of that time including, blacksmiths & tinsmiths, farming, pottery, milling, bonnet making and textile production.

Also on May 11th, our 5th grade students went on a field trip to Wolcott Lanes to go bowling. The students and teachers had a great time bowling and they recorded their scores in order to learn about graphing their data (bowling scores), as well as calculating the mean, median and mode. This was a fun way for the 5th grade to extend their learning of the math curriculum.

That's the news from Wakelee School.

4/23/12

BoE Presentation 4-23-2012

2-Minute Report from Wakelee School

Good evening, with our CMT test booklets safely packed up and shipped out of the building, our students and teachers are preparing for some important upcoming end of year events.  We did have our traditional Volleyball game to celebrate the end of the CMTs, suffice it to say that the best “team’ did win that tournament (my team). Some of our 4th and 5th grade students participated in a local Invention Convention at the end of March. Students worked at school and at home on their different inventions. Their inventions, display boards and oral presentations were then judged by different local scientists, engineers and educators. The top 6 inventors will be representing Wolcott at the State level on April 28th at UConn Storrs. We wish all our future inventors good luck at the Convention.

We have begun to incorporate theme weeks that will lead up to our Olympics-themed Field Day on June 5th. Wakelee School has been divided up into 4 continents representing various countries around the world.  Each classroom and team can earn points toward Field Day by participating in our weekly themes. This week’s theme is “donation,” where we are asking our students to bring in canned goods for future donation to the Food Bank. Other themes that we will be using include: recycling, fitness and school spirit, and acts of kindness to name a few.

The Wakelee School “news team” has been practicing to go “live” on their morning announcements and we should be ready to go by next week. Thank you to the Board of Education, Mr. Macary and Mr. Sette for providing the necessary technology and equipment for our students to present the morning announcements to each classroom through their classroom television.

The first week in April, the Wakelee School team conducted its Kindergarten Registration and Screening for parents for the 2012 school year. The Registration and Screening was attended by 54 parents of future Wakelee Kindergarteners. Ms. Murphy, Ms. Stec, Mrs. Garland and Mrs. Jones provided information to all parents, exchanged contact information and discussed the Kindergarten Schedule, student expectations, different district assessments and got to know each child during their 15 minute interview and answered all of their questions.

And a preview of some upcoming events, the “Creative Cats Celebration” (our Art Show) will be this Thursday April 26th from 6:30-8:00 p.m. The students have been working hard creating art while learning about famous artists and artistic styles all year. This will be their culminating event. Music will be provided by Mr. Fontaine and Mrs. Deloy and light refreshments will be available for all.

Last week, students auditioned for our “Variety Show,” which will be held during the first week in May (May 3rd). We had a number of talented students that tried out over a 3 day period. Our judges had a difficult time deciding which of our talented acts would make the cut, and we are looking forward to a very entertaining show.

That’s the news from Wakelee School.

3/27/12

BoE Presentation 3-26-2012
2-Minute Report items from Wakelee School
I am pleased to announce, at this time, we are all caught up with our CMT testing and we are in the packing up process. Our students worked very hard this month and we hope to reap the benefits of our hard work when the results come out this summer. Thank you to all of the teachers, parents and especially the students for coming prepared and ready to go this month!

A week and a half ago, the Wakelee Choral Ensemble had the opportunity to perform at the Wolcott Senior Center. We were postponed due to the weather earlier in February and were able to make-up the date. I would like to thank Mr. Jason Fontaine for his dedicated work and organization to our students and to the community for his efforts.

On the 21st, Wakelee had its Kindergarten Orientation for parents for the 2012 school year. This Orientation was attended by about 40 parents, mostly parents of future Wakelee Kindergarteners. Mrs. Murphy and Ms. Stec presented a 20 minute PowerPoint that highlighted the Kindergarten Schedule, student expectations, district assessments and report card and parent conference dates. Additionally, our Student Registration and Screening dates will be coming up on April 2nd, 4th and 5th at the school.
As most of you know, the Second Marking Period has closed and Report Cards have gone home last week. Parent Conferences have been scheduled with teachers. Parents, if you would still like to schedule a conference with your child's teacher, please contact the school for an appointment. Thank you.

On the 24th, our school went to see the Dr. Seuss movie the Lorax at the Brass Mill Theater in Waterbury. We celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday and the end of the CMTs. We had a great turnout, over 250 people attended the private show for our school. Thank you to our PTO for organizing this wonderful event.

That's the news from Wakelee School.

3/2/12

CMT Pep Rally

3/2/12

Wakelee Chorus and Band Winter Concert

2/28/12

BoE Presentation 2-27-2012

During the week of February 13-17, Wakelee conducted its Book Fair. I would like to specifically thank Tammi Melisky and the Wakelee PTO for their work and support of the Book Fair, we did great this year!
On Tuesday February 14th, our PTO sponsored a Cultural Event called the Spirit to Overcome, which was presented to the whole school by Mrs. Lluana Jones. Mrs. Jones used a variety of costumes to transform into some of history's notable characters. She used slides as visual aids for most of the famous women discussed (these included: Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Maya Angelou, Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott King just to name a few). This interactive program not only offered a glimpse of the many contributions made to our society and world by African American women, but also celebrated the triumph of their undying spirit.

On Thursday February 16th, Mrs. Calabro's 4th Grade class and the Project Explore students went to the Community Center and met with Mr. Macary, Mr. Hubeny, and other dignitaries to try to understand the recycling process and energy saving measures that can be taken & implemented in the district. Prior to the meeting, students generated questions about recycling at school and home. They also asked questions about how we can help conserve energy at school. The outcome of the meeting was that Wakelee School is going to pilot a paper and plastic recycling program.

On Friday, February 17th, we had a movie night at Wakelee School. Due to the overwhelming response, we needed to move the event from our Cafeteria to the Gym. We saw a movie voted on by the students and offered all in attendance popcorn and a drink. It was a lot of fun, brought a sense of community to our school and was a great way to kick-off the long President's Holiday Weekend.

Also on the 17th, Miss Wolcott (Emily Audibert) visited our school as a Guest Reader. She read the book Sylvester and the Magic Pebble to Miss Stec and Mrs. Murtaugh's classes and discussed the importance of family and family values with the students.

On Friday February 24th, the Wakelee Choral Ensemble was scheduled to perform at the Wolcott Senior Center. We were postponed due to the weather and plan to reschedule that date very soon. I will let you know when that new date will be when it is established.

Lastly, we will have a Pep Rally this Friday to get us excited and pumped up about the CMTs that will start next week. Along with some special activities, I will have a couple of surprise announcements on Friday that I will be happy to share with all of you at the next Board Meeting at Wakelee School on the 12th of March. So stay tuned

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