Volume 18, May 22, 2015 - Killington Elementary School

KES Newsletter
Volume 18
Dates to Remember May 22­August 9
Art Show, Where I am, at
Killington Artists' Guild
Gallery, opening reception
May 22 @5pm
May 24
R.S.V.P. for the Spring Fling
May 25
Memorial Day/No Classes
May 31
Save the Date! KES Spring
Fling @ The Foundry at
Summit Pond
3­5PM
June 1
R.S.V.P. for Maker Faire
June 2
Maker Faire @KES
5:15­7:15 PM
June 5
Special Meeting at KES for
all Killington voters @8:30 am
Grade 2 to MBRNHP
8:30 ­ 2:30
June 6
Fishing Derby @ The
Foundry @ Summit Pond
Proceeds for KES
May 22, 2015
Memorial Day Tribute Killington Elementary School students, staff, and guests gathered around
the KES flagpole today to participate in a ceremony to commemorate
Memorial Day. Students honored deceased veterans from their community
by reading their names aloud. Thoughtful poems, songs, a flag ceremony,
and a moment of remembrance took place to honor the veterans and fallen
troops who courageously served our country from the Revolutionary War to
the present. Thank you to the KES Band and the KES Student Council for
helping to make this ceremony very special and thoughtful. And thank you
to all those in the United States Military, past and present, for ensuring the
safety and freedom of our citizens. Maker Faire and Science Night Come join the fun at KES' first ever Maker Faire! Maker Faire is an event
created by Make magazine to "celebrate arts, crafts, engineering, science
projects and the Do­It­Yourself (DIY) mindset." It is a family­friendly
festival of invention, creativity, resourcefulness, and a celebration of the
Maker movement. Thanks to The KEEPERS, KES families can enjoy
pizza from 5:15 ­ 5:45 pm. At 5:45 pm, Maker Faire presentations will
begin in the KES gym. At 6:25 pm, everyone will find a seat for a special
science event, Bubble Trouble, brought to us in large part by the Sherburne
Memorial Library. The evening will conclude at 7:15 pm. Please join us for
this exciting family event! We request an RSVP for this event to help us determine the amount of
pizza needed. Please RSVP by Monday, June 1st, to
spilsmaker@wcsu.net.
June 8
KES Step up Day
Field Day & Picnic
Families last name A­H,
please bring a salad to share;
I­Z, please bring a dessert to
share
June 10
KES Kingergarten and Grade 6 Graduation @9AM
June 12
Last day of classes/full day
3rd & 4th Grade Play
July 6­10, July 13­17, & July
20­24
Killington Mountain School
Camp opportunities
Annual Killington Elementary School Talent Show July 27­31
Mountains and Rivers
Forever Camp @MBRNHP
for ages 11­15
KES students from kindergarten to grade 6 sang, danced, and played
musical instruments during a recent talent show in the school gymnasium.
Students, parents, and community members delighted in nine acts
featuring: Alexis Fuster, Logan Sudol, Ben McKenna, Schuyler Hagge,
Emma Durney, Amelia Hurd, Summer Walker, Adi O'Keefe, My Fletcher,
Leo Durney, Abigail Masillo, Jack Desena, Sophia Nisimblat and Chloe
Masillo. Wesley Cloutier and Maeve Haff announced the show and Alex
Rice and Chloe Bergstrom helped out as stage crew.
July 27­August 14
KES Summer Enrichment Thank you to Mrs. Knipes, Mrs. Laird, Mrs. Garland, and Mrs. Simonds for
June 29­July 24
WCSU Summer SOAK
@WUHS
www.wcsu.net/summer­soak 8 am ­ noon
organizing and producing the show.
Step­Up Day All students, incoming kindergarteners through grade 5, will participate in
"Step­Up Day" on Monday morning, June 8th, from 8:30 ­9:30 am.
Meanwhile, sixth graders are invited to participate in "Step­Up Day" at
Woodstock Union Middle School on Friday, June 12th. Step­Up Day
provides students with an opportunity to hear about some of the new
learning that will go on in the next year and ease the transition from one
grade to the next. Come Join the Fun at the Annual Picnic The annual KES Field Day and Picnic will be held on Monday, June 8th,
following the hour long Step­Up Day on that same morning. At
approximately 10:30 am, all students, their teachers, and Greg LaBella,
take the bus to Johnson Recreation Center on River Road for a fun­filled
morning of field games. Parents and community members are invited to
join us at noon for a potluck lunch under the pavilion before heading to the
pool. Hamburgers and hotdogs are supplied by KES; families bring salads and
desserts, please! Parental supervision is required at the pool. Students
without adult supervision will not be permitted to swim. A form for
confirmation of a parent or designee is attached and must be completed,
signed, and returned to school prior to the event. If you would like your
child to wear sunscreen and/or bug repellant, please apply this prior to the
start of the school day or when you see your child at the picnic. Third and
Fourth
Grade News
On May 21st,
third and fourth
graders enjoyed
their annual
barbecue and
sleepover at
KES. Teachers,
Kate Carey and
Maria Garland,
introduced their
upcoming play,
while students
created scenery
and learned the
songs from their production. Thank you to Mr. LaBella, who joined students
for evening events, Dory McClure, Brian Walker, and John Durney for all of
their help at the barbecue, and Joyce Stevens and Rebecca Ruben for
lending a hand everywhere!. We thank M.B. Neisner for preparing a
delicious breakfast for students as well as the many parents who donated
healthy foods for the meals, along with a few treats. Please come to see Project Rescue: Save the Planet, presented by the 3rd
and 4th grades on Friday, June 12th at 1:30 pm.
Spring Fling Event Come join the fun at the free "Spring Fling" Event at The Foundry at
Summit Pond on Sunday, May 31st, from 3 ­ 5 pm. Children must be
accompanied by an adult, and it is requested that everyone dress in semi­
formal attire. Please R.S.V.P. to Susan Clarke, susanc595@gmail.com or 267­261­
0793, by Sunday, May24th.
KES Gardening News
Students at KES have
worked to prepare our
gardens for the new growing
season! Every class is in
charge of a different
vegetable: K/1 ­ pumpkins,
2nd ­ beans, peas, and
cucumbers, 3rd ­ corn and
squash, 4th ­ tomatoes, 5th
­ potatoes and peppers, and
6th ­ carrots! Thank you to
Mrs. Laird and her second
graders and Mrs. Garland
and her fourth graders for
prepping the soil and making
sure the beds are ready for
planting! Four Winds Engages Learners
Students and staff appreciate the generous gifts of time and effort given to
us by Four Winds volunteers throughout the school year. Through the Four
Winds Science Program, parent volunteers offer a series of hands­on,
science­based lessons throughout the year based upon Next Generation
Science Standards. Students eagerly await these engaging and enriching
lessons and look forward to the time spent with parent and community
volunteers. We extend a TREMENDOUS "Thank you" to the following
individuals for their help and leadership with the Four Winds Program:
Courtney Desena, Tyler Gugliotta, Liz Cotter, Jennifer Iannantuoni, Wilbur
Abrams, Laura McKenna, Erin Webster, Stephanie Kowalczyk, Shari
Borzekowski, Kristina Tooker, and especially Annie Masillo, for her hard
work in organizing and coordinating the program throughout the year. Sherburne Women's Club Donates to KES A generous donation of $200 will allow us to help purchase various
necessary items for students in need. Thank you, thank you to all
members of the Sherburne Women's Club for thinking of the students at
Killington Elementary School! Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle at KES Watch our recycling bins fill each day, and consider all of the materials we
no longer send to our landfills. Great job, KES students!
Thank you to Gail Flynn and Dave Cleaves for helping all of us become
more diligent in our efforts to reduce, reuse, and recycle! And thank you to
Mrs. Kaija for teaching us to use recycled materials in our art projects! Loren M. Pepe, Principal
­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­
Four Winds by Annie Masillo, Volunteer Coordinator We are on our last unit in Four Winds for the school year. Some classes
have already headed out to the KES stream to check out what is living (and
lurking) in there...it's truly amazing!
Because it is the end of the year, I wanted to thank our parent volunteers
again for doing such a wonderful job. They have spent each month
instilling an appreciation and fascination for nature and the outdoors in our
children. The kids are so lucky to have their parents sharing their time and
energy with them.
I especially want to point out two of our parent volunteers. Both Shari
Borzekowski and Wilbur Abrams are "graduating" from the program this
year. They have been in the classroom with both of their children: Shari for
9 years and Wilbur for 7 years. Their commitment and dedication has been
outstanding. Four Winds is a great program for what it teaches. But, it is
our parents who make the content thrive. We are going to miss Shari and
Wilbur, who have added to the fun and special quality of the group.
p.s. And don't forget to ask your children what they did in Four Winds this
month!
Dining Hall News
Snack, drink, and lunch bills went out this past week via e­mail directly to
parents or paper copy with children. The end of the school year is rapidly
approaching and we appreciate efforts to make payments before balances
become burdensome. The last bill for this school year will go home June
1st and needs to be paid in a timely manner to close out our school year
food service account. Sixth graders will receive a final bill on June 10th.
Help Us Keep KES Kids Safe!
The KES community in conjunction with the national Safe Routes To
School program worked out a safe and efficient traffic flow pattern for
morning drop off and afternoon pick up times to ensure the safety of all
children by minimizing conflicts between students and vehicles.
1. The curb in front of the school is for live parking only ­ parents should not
leave their vehicles. This ensures that children walking in without parents
do not need to interact with traffic at all. If parents park here and leave their
vehicles for a while, then drop off parents end up double parking and we
have gridlock as well as children walking between cars, which we do not
want.
2. There is no parking of any type beyond the cones at the walkway to the
Kids' Kingdom Island. This area is for the bus only. Do not block access to
this area.
3. Parents walking in with students should park along the Kids' Kingdom
Island ­ parallel along the right side of the drive between the Kingdom and
the Sugar Shack Island or head ­in behind the Kingdom. Please leave
enough space along the Kingdom to walk with your children. We prefer to
have everyone walking inside of the row of cars instead of in the roadway,
again to minimize conflicts between people and vehicles.
4. Please do not park anywhere along the Sugar Shack Island.
Thank you for your cooperation ­ in past years, this plan has resulted in a
smoother, safer drop off area!
If you have additional suggestions, or would like to join the Safe Routes to
School Group, please let me know! Jenn Conley, jconley@conleyassociates.com Safe Routes to School Coordinator Killington Elementary School 686 Schoolhouse Rd.