Rotation Schedule

Day	Rotation	Tech	Library
Mon	1	3rd-5th	K-2nd
Tues	2	3rd-5th	K-2nd
Wed	3	3rd-5th	K-2nd
Thurs	4	3rd-5th	K-2nd
Fri	5	3rd-5th	K-2nd

 

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What’s Happening in Our Ray School Classrooms?

Grade K

• Mrs. Connelly’s class is collecting survey data using tally marks.

• Children are focusing on the high frequency words is and his.

Grade 1

• Learning oi and oy vowel teams 

• Interpreted different base-ten representations of multiples of ten

• In Mrs. Hotvet’s class, student authors stated opinions, supplied reasons for the opinion, and wrote closing sentences. 

• Added and subtracted 10 from multiples of double digit numbers!

• Ms. Courtney’s class learned the game All the Ways to Make 94.

Grade 2

• Mrs. Eccher’s students are writing opinion pieces

• In Ms. Irish’s class, students are learning about how living things work together in an ecosystem and learning the academic vocabulary producers, consumers, and decomposers.

• All grade 2 classes are working on the genre of biographies. Ms. Vashel’s class has read about Susan B. Anthony, Martin Luther King Jr., and Ruby Bridges. The students are asking thoughtful questions about how inequality begins. 

Grade 3

• Mrs. Griggs class celebrated International Pi Day by having students explore how to find the circumference of a circle to create a math and art in a project.

• The grade 3 team joined together to hear the presentations about water conservation by Ms. Langsner’s class.

• On Thursday, students listened to a presentation by Ms. Rydjeski, Ray School ESOL teacher. She showed slides of Japan and told students about her experience living there. 

• Grade 3 continues to collect and analyze weather data

• Asking the challenging questions: How does nature affect culture?

Grade 4

• Mrs. Hendrickson’s class met their buddies in their Learning Buddy class, Ms. Courtney’s grade 1.

Grade 5

• The trout were released last Wednesday!

• In Ms. Cindy’s class, they are reading Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse. The children are realizing the brevity of the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, and the push-me and pull-you people experienced between good times and bad.

• Daily Language Review focused on context clues, parts of speech, subjects/predicates, prefixes/suffixes, facts/opinions, figurative language (similes/metaphors), syllable division, and editing sentences with a focus on conventions.

• Learning Latin: What do the Latin roots “tract” and “ject” mean?

• Mr. Stone’s class is responding to this promb:Write about someone who has a profession that you admire. What do you find inspiring about his or her job?

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Celebrations at Ray!

• Release Day for the Grade 5 trout

• International Pi Day!

• Physical Education Party

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Important Dates:

• March 23 Stripe of Pattern Spirit day 

• April 10-14 Spring Break   

• April 17-21  Clifford/Perry NHSAS   May 1-5  Clifford/Perry make ups

• May 1-5      Grade 3 NHSAS       

• May 15-19   Grade 4 NHSAS  

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Kindergarten Registration

We are now accepting registrations for incoming kindergarten students for the 2023/24 school year. Please see this letter for more details. Contact Gwyn Dessert, gwyn.dessert@rayschool.org, with any questions.

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2023/24 Enrollment

Please complete this short survey if you haven’t already done so to help us plan for the upcoming school year. We do ask parents/guardians of current 5th grade students to complete it too as we work very closely with the Richmond Middle School. Any questions please contact Gwyn Dessert at gwyn.dessert@rayschool.org.

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New Hampshire Statewide Assessment System (NHSAS)

Students in grades 3-5 will be taking the statewide spring assessments (NHSAS) during the following weeks: 

• 5th grade @ April 17th week 

• 4th grade @ May 15th week

• 3rd grade @ May 1st week 

Please try to book appointments and planned absences outside these testing windows if your student is testing this spring. Additionally, please view this parent notification letter from the NHDOE that contains additional information about statewide testing for students in grades 3-5, including information about exemptions, results, and practice tests. Reach out with any questions!

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WANTED!

For an upcoming school wide project - the Art Room is looking for donations of unwanted CDs and plastic bottle caps (clean, please).  See photo attached.

Please have your student put the donations in the box on the table outside the art room for this collection.  

Thanks for your help!

Robin Henry - art teacher

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Passport to Winter Fun -- Back flap deadline

Back flaps for the Passport to Winter Fun are due Friday, March 31st. Please make sure they include your child's first and last name, and are signed by a parent/guardian. Stay active!

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From the Ray School Library 

Birthday Books - As of this week, we have added 198 new books to the library in honor of our students! This is a reminder that you can sign up at any time, even if your child's birthday has already passed. Our hope is to get every Ray School student a book in the library during this school year. There are funds available if this presents a challenge for your family. Just reach out to me (rebecca.sexton@rayschool.org), Pam Graham (pam.graham@rayschool.org) or Gwyn (gwyn.dessert@rayschool.org) Here is the sign-up: https://forms.gle/YbTmCYtmdeo2ESa19

Overdue Notices - Each Friday at 3pm, our OPAC system sends out notices for any student who has an overdue book. These notices are intended as friendly reminders to keep families in the loop and to offer grown-up assistance in looking for books when needed. There are no fines for overdue books, we just ask students to return or renew them. If you know a book has been lost and needs replacement, please contact us before purchasing a new copy. We may be able to get a better price or may need to find an alternative replacement based on our collection development policy. I am more than happy to answer any questions or talk with you about a lost or ruined book at any time. Our number one goal is for students to have access to books! If you have any questions, feel free to send an email to rebecca.sexton@rayschool.org or pamela.geason@rayschool.org

Spam - Check your spam folder! Some families have let us know that they haven't received our messages. Please check your spam folder. The messages are coming from Ray-Library@rayschool.org. 

Sora - Your library on the go! 

The collection of titles in Sora is an extension of the Ray School physical library, only it’s in an app with 24/7 access to ebooks and audiobooks. It’s convenient for students to check out titles at home, on the weekends, or during school breaks with no worry about misplacing a book or running up late fees – these digital titles automatically return at the end of the lending period!

How can my student access Sora?

1. Download the free Sora app or visit https://soraapp.com/library/nhssdcnh
2. Find our school in the drop-down menu and sign in with Follett credentials (email me if you need your student's credentials)
3. Enjoy anytime, anywhere on a computer, tablet, or smartphone

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PTO Information

• Our March meeting was held on March 16. Minutes can be found by clicking this link.

• April's meeting will be our last meeting held via Zoom. Join us at 7:00 pm on April 20 by clicking this link.

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PTO Volunteer Opportunities 

Chair/Co-Chairs for Flower Day on Monday May 8. This year, we are going back to having students bring in flowers to create bouquets for staff. The last time we did this was in 2019 so we are excited to be doing it again! We are looking for 1-2 volunteers to head the team. On the day itself, you'll be organizing the team to collect flowers in the morning and put together the bouquets. Ahead of the event, you would also need to contact local florists/the mini-coop to bring in extra stems for the day, and ensure you have enough vases/mason jar containers for the individual bouquets.

Please contact Mary-Ann at maryanntan@yahoo.com if you are interested in heading or being part of the team.