Kindergarten Snapshot

​Wondering what happens all day in kindergarten?  KJM Video & R. Herskovitz Consulting spent time with the kindergarten ​classrooms at Jackson Street School to document the rich learning and activities that happen there.

The crew spent a whole day following the teachers and students in classrooms and on the playground.  They were able to document authentic learning activities as well as some of the fun and joy that happens on a daily basis in a kindergarten classroom.

School Local Northampton will continue to film at Jackson Street School to create short videos about other grades as well as family & caregiver experiences.   They currently have videos created for Leeds and are working with Bridge Street & RKF Ryan Road as well. All School Local Northampton videos can be found on their page and Youtube channel.

​Please share these wonderful snapshots widely.  

To get in touch with Jackson Street School please call 413-587-1510. ​

​Reach out to Beth Maurer at jssvolunteers@gmail.com to connect with other Jackson Street Families.

For more information about Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten programs in Northampton email: earlychildhood@northampton-k12.us or visit the Northampton Public School website: northamptonschools.org/kindergarten​

The post Jackson Street – A Day in the Life of Kindergarten appeared first on Northampton Public Schools.

Learning to Vote

Ms. Cowhey, JSS math teacher, showed 2nd graders how to vote today – authentically since she actually cast her ballot with them as her “shadow”!

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Kim Gerould, JSS 3rd grade teacher, was awarded a Grinspoon Excellence in Teaching Award at a ceremony and dinner at the Log Cabin on April 26, 2018.  The award honors outstanding Western Massachusetts educators in Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden counties and seeks to motivate teachers at all stages of their careers to aspire to excellence.

Kim has taught for about 40 years, first in adult education, then with teen parents, and the last 23 years here at JSS.  For the first 8 years, Kim was a bilingual and sometimes ESL teacher, and taught in all the grades.  Then when bilingual education was abolished, she became a 3rd-grade teacher.  She got into teaching because she wanted to work with and advocate for immigrants and refugees, and she also wanted to learn from people from other countries.  That same curiosity about people, both adults and children, keeps her going every day.  Kim is also curious about the world, and teaching makes her a bit of an expert in everything!  One project she’s proud of is her Revolutionary War Living History “Museum.”  Each students takes on a 1700s character from Northampton and experiences history through that person’s eyes.  Outside of school, but totally connected, is her work with Families with Power, a grassroots empowerment project.  A fun fact about Kim is she may be happiest when she’s dancing salsa!

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On April 26, at the Log Cabin in Holyoke, teachers from Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden counties were awarded The Pioneer Valley Excellence in Teaching Award from the Harold Grinspoon Foundation.  Among those outstanding teachers, was Leeds Elementary 4th grade teacher, Hannah Kristek.  Principal Canata sings Ms. Kristek’s praises, “A very well deserved honor. She is amazing and appreciated by her peers and her students. CONGRATULATIONS!”

At a community appreciation ceremony held on Saturday, April 28, Mary Jo Nagle of Leed’s Elementary School, was honored by the Barnes & Noble in Holyoke, as the winner of the “My Favorite Teacher” essay contest.  Taryn Conway, a former student from West Springfield Middle School, wrote the winning essay highlighting the great work and compassion Ms Nagle demonstrated to her during her year as a second grade student in her class.  Congratulations to Ms Nagle!

The post A week of Awards for Leeds Elementary Teachers – Hannah Kristek and Mary Jo Nagle appeared first on Northampton Public Schools.

Ugly Sweaters and Blue Hair

In honor of Bridge Street School students working toward the school-wide read-athon goal Principal Choquette dyed her hair blue!  To celebrate the final day of school in 2017 many staff and faculty also joined Principal Choquette in wearing their most festive sweaters.

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THE JSS GREENHOUSE IS BUILT! 

Click here for the full album of photos.

The new JSS Greenhouse is built and beautiful and ready for the winter!  Classes took tours of our new space in early December, and there were lots of “Oohs” and “Aahs” on the part of children and adults alike.  In early spring we will add the finishing touches (ramp, stairs, fan and solar panel), and build raised beds for the plants we will begin to grow next spring!

The 18’ by 20’ greenhouse will extend the growing season and be able to accommodate an entire class of students!  Our indefatigable PTO raised more than $10,000 over a two-year period for the purchase and construction of the greenhouse, and raised additional funds on Giving Tuesday to cover the rest of the construction costs (join over 200 contributors here).  Many thanks to PTO Board Members Alyssa Richardson, Phil Mathews, Summer Cable, Gavin Grant, Sarah Moore, Jo Comerford, Julie Harvey Park, Pallavi Balaji and Alana Kaczmarek, and PTO members Scott Biddle and Liz Horn, for your leadership, time and commitment to this project!  And thank you to all the donors who contributed so generously to make it happen!

Our school is sooooooo grateful to the Greenhouse Garden Team for the many days and weeks spent building the retaining wall, preparing the site, and building the frame for the greenhouse.  Parents Scott Biddle, Chris Chamberland and Mike Charland-Tait spearheaded this effort and donated hours of their time to this project.  They were joined on various Saturdays and Sundays by many volunteers, including:  parents Chris Dole, Jared Kajka, Paul Fitzgerald, Jen Spencer, Matt Wool, Tom Benjamin, Kat Allen, Julie Harvey Park, Tricia Loomis, Marc Lussier, Johanna Radding, Marti Pomputius, Antonello DeMattia, Simon Hildt, Marissa Hoechstetter, Jordan Abbot, Justin Gianesin, Adil Elkalai, and first graders Rowan Chamberland, Salim Elkalai and Owen Fitzgerald; and teachers Nick Ames, Sarah Carlton, Katharine Walmsley, Kathleen Bredin and Mary Bates.

A very special thank you to builders Eric Payne (former JSS parent), John Lebhar and Ben Edmonds for their work in installing the drainage system for this site, and for raising the walls and roof of the greenhouse.  They worked three days straight last week to complete the greenhouse before the winter!

The JSS PTO has been a partner and strong supporter of the JSS Outdoor Garden Classroom program since 2010.  Our PTO members helped to create the garden, and have been involved in growing and sustaining the garden through the annual Harvest Festival, fall and spring Garden Work Days, and summer maintenance work. Thank you, JSS PTO, for making the new JSS Greenhouse a reality!

The JSS Garden Committee 

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Happy Thanksgiving to you!

I am so thankful to our wonderful families at R.K. Finn Ryan Road School!!

Happy Retirement, Mr. Owen!

Bill Owen, our kind and thoughtful School Adjustment Counselor, will be retiring at Thanksgiving. We will all miss his calm, good humor, and steady devotion to our school community. The PTO bought him a bench for the lobby. I attached a photo of our Student Leadership Team presenting it to him last Friday. There is also a photo of our Student leadership Band playing Happy Birthday to Mr. Owen. We had a nice celebration.

Mrs. Brown will be our new Adjustment Counselor, and she will be starting with us today. She has many years of experience working in the Holyoke Public Schools.

Movie Night

We had a great crowed for our PTO Movie Night last Friday. It was a fun night and everyone seemed to enjoy The Emoji Movie with friends and popcorn! Our next movie night will be January 19.

The other photos of are some of our kindergarten turkey creations (such beautiful feathers!), a first grade pilgrim, and Mr. Ted with some of our first graders on a hike near our school.

Important Upcoming Dates

• Wednesday, November 22: Early Dismissal (12:20) for the Thanksgiving break
• Thursday, November 30 5:30-7:00 (continuous seating): R.K. Finn Ryan Road Spaghetti Supper at the Elks! Proceeds will go to the PTO’s Nature’s Classroom Fund.
• Wednesday, December 5 6:30-7:30: Kindergarten Information Night (for next year’s kindergarten)
• Wednesday, December 6: Early Dismissal (12:20) Teacher Work Day
• Friday, December 15: Pajama Day (sponsored by the Student Leadership Team) with requested donations to the Sydney F. Smith Toy Fund
• Thursday, December 21: Winter Solstice & last day of school before the holiday vacation
• Tuesday, January 2: School Resumes.

I hope that all families feel welcome and comfortable at our school. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Sarah Madden, Principal

The post Principal’s Weekly Update—Week of November 20 appeared first on Northampton Public Schools.

NORTHAMPTON — A tall, lanky 15-year-old approaches a hurdle made of rope strung between plastic cones.

An athlete at a Special Olympics track and field event, he is guided by an aide to step over one hurdle after another.

Cheers of “We got it!” and “Yes!” come from watching teachers, peers and parents, as the boy, Aaron “AJ” Strack, starts toward the final hurdles. His foot catches on one, but the crowd only gets louder. He steps over the last hurdle, and then comes what Gino Roman, Strack’s teacher at Northampton High School, said is Strack’s favorite part: the applause.

To read the full article visit the Daily Hampshire Gazette

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By Dusty Christensen
Staff Writer
Monday, March 06, 2017

NORTHAMPTON — Amid the piles of brightly colored building blocks, Barbara Black, 66, kneels comfortably among several 4- and 5-year-olds on the floor of a Bridge Street School classroom.

“What’s this one?” she asks each child, her seeing-eye dog, Ms. Pie, wagging its tail patiently at her side. “What are you making?”

For Black, this is what early childhood education is all about.

“It’s really being part of the world that wants to keep letting children play, because that’s how they learn,” said Black, the early childhood coordinator for Northampton Public Schools. “They need to experience the world.”

It is Black’s dedication to those principles — to improving education for young children and their families — that has made her the third annual Daily Hampshire Gazette “Person of the Year.”

Read the entire story form the Gazette here >>>

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By AMANDA LEVENSON
For the Gazette
Friday, October 21, 2016

NORTHAMPTON — Ellen Kennedy teaches her JFK Middle School students that they are capable of saving the day, a pursuit which has gotten her the title of 2016 Fire and Life Safety Educator of the Year from the state Department of Fire Services.

Kennedy was previously a paramedic in Northampton, but her shift in career path led her to become an eighth grade science teacher at the middle school 15 years ago. She now incorporates safety lessons into her curriculum, and they act as an underlying theme in nearly everything she teaches.

“I’m teaching them that you can be the person that saves your family,” said Kennedy.

Kennedy teaches her students the importance of having a family escape plan, the harmful effects of smoke and drugs on the body, how to treat burns, the basics of being a firefighter and how to detect what started a fire.

Read the entire article here >>>

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