Please complete the Lawrence’s Fall Family-School Relationship Survey by clicking here, or clicking on the image below. 

VISION:

The Lawrence School is an inclusive community that supports and values the academic, social, physical, and emotional development of every student. We create a safe environment and foster mutually-supportive relationships among all stakeholders so that all children can maximize their potential in order to succeed as global citizens. 

Principal’s Corner 

Principal’s Newsletter for March 2019

Parent Conferences are right around the corner on Wednesday, March 13, Thursday, March 14, and Friday, March 15. I want to strongly encourage all families to either attend the parent conferences or conduct a phone conference with your child’s teacher. This is a great opportunity to hear how your child is doing and to work with the teacher on how to help your child improve. Sharing your goals for your children and discussing ways to collaborate on achieving those goals is ideal! There will be early dismissal at 1:15 p.m. on those days and lunch will be served.

 
Spring Book Fair: March 11-15, 2019

Our Spring Scholastic Book Fair is here. Please make plans to visit our Book Fair and be involved in shaping your child’s reading habits. The funds we raise through Scholastic are used to enhance the literary selections in both your child's classrooms, as well as the library.

The Book Fair will run from Monday, March 11 - Friday, March 15 (same week as parent-teacher conferences). Please consider volunteering your time during the Book Fair; it is a week-long event that requires a lot of help from our families. A huge thank you to Parent Kelly Weisenberg and Administrative Assistant Mary Monarca for organizing the event and beautifully decorating our library with a dinosaur theme.  

Shopping Hours:                      

Tuesday, 3/12            Grand Lunch from 11:20 am-2:00 pm    have lunch with your Child or Grandchild and then come visit the Book Fair together

 Gr. 1: 11:20-11:45       Kindergarten: 11:45-12:10        Gr. 4: 12:10 – 12:35

  Gr. 2 & Gr. 5: 12:40 – 1:05         Gr. 3: 1:05-1:30  

 Wednesday, 3/13        Student and Family shopping from 10:30 am-7:30 pm

Thursday, 3/14           Student and Family shopping from 10:30 am-4:30 pm

Friday, 3/15                Student and Family shopping from 10:30 am-4:30 pm

Grand Lunch: If you are unable to attend the lunch on Tuesday, you can choose another day or week to come and have lunch with your child or grandchild. Children love when their families visit, so if you cannot come on March 12, telling them that you will come on a different day will be something for them to look forward to. 

Dr. Seuss’s Birthday Party on Read Across America Day on March 1 was another great success. I love seeing so many families attend and participate in arts and crafts, reading, family games, and of course face-painting. I want to thank our two amazing and creative face painters, Aimee Blair from Party Face and Mildred Martinez, for making this a special night. A huge thank you deserves to go to Teachers Melissa Nelson, Kerry Darby, Kelly Tuttle, and Shannon Johnson for co-planning this event and organizing the materials with me. This annual event is a great way to celebrate reading and family time. Thank you to all of the students who participated in our reading challenge and handed in their logs of all the books they read. I strongly recommend Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss if you like funny tongue twisters. ENJOY YOUR READING!    

Girl Scouts: During Parent Conferences, Brownie Troop 60441 will be selling all your favorite cookies: Samoas, Thin Mints, Tagalongs, and more!  Proceeds will help support our Brownie troop with activities and service work in Middletown.

  

Middletown Public Schools K-12 District Art Show

Zilkha Gallery at Wesleyan University                 
Opening Reception is March 9, from 5-7 pm

 ^{Hours: Sat. and Sun. 1-4pm, Mon.-Fri. 12-7pm}

Individual invitations have started going home to those students who will have their artwork on display.  However, everyone is welcome!  Additional information regarding the show can be found on the district homepage, as well as by visiting my Lawrence Art website.  The Lawrence Art site is also where you will find what your children are working on and learning about in the art room.

                         Thank you!          Alison Kaye       kayea@mpsct.org

Music Notes - March

The annual All-City Music Festival is coming up this month for 4th and 5th grade students.  These students have the choice to perform in band, chorus, and recorder ensembles at this event, and many students perform in all three! The festival is a great way to see the scope of the Middletown Public Schools music program as students from fourth through twelfth grade all perform.  The finale piece, a long-time Middletown tradition, involves all of the students present and is truly a sight to behold. Please join us! Rehearsal and performance dates are below.

Please contact me with any questions at scalaf@mpsct.org        Mrs. Scala

Rehearsal: Saturday, March 23, at Middletown High School

                         5^th Grade Band: 9-10 am                   Chorus: 10:05-11:05 am

                        Recorder Ensemble: 11:05-11:25 am   4^th Grade Band: 11:30-12:30 pm

Rehearsal: Friday, March 29, at Wesleyan University Hockey Arena

                        6:00 – 8:00 pm       All Elementary Performers

Concert: Saturday, March 30, at Wesleyan University Hockey Arena

                        Students should arrive by 5:30 pm                  Show starts at 6:00 pm

                         Please purchase tickets before the day of the performance!

News from the Library Media Center

Students will be practicing a new way to ask and organize questions called the Question Formulation Technique. This method gives students practice in different types of thinking. Kindergartners through second graders will ask and explore questions about wind, and third through fifth graders will ask questions about the mayor’s proposed plastic bag ban in Middletown. I am very excited to guide them through this process!

Once again, the PTA will hold the Scholastic Book Fair in the library media center during the week of March 11.  Stop in before or after your child’s conference and pick out some great books.  THANK YOU to the PTA for all the work they do to support literacy in our school!                                                                      Kerry Darby, Library Media Specialist

                                      News from Physical Education

Greetings from PE! February has been a month of challenge, growth, and of course FITNESS. Over the past few weeks grades 3-5 completed official CT Fitness Testing on the following 4 components: PACER test (cardio endurance), Push Up test (muscular strength), Curl Up test (muscular endurance) and Sit & Reach test (flexibility).

Our K-2 students engaged in various activities related to both Fitness Testing and fitness components as a means to expose and prep for when they reach 3rd grade and perform official state testing. All students K-2 rose to the challenge while 3-5 students crushed their score goals that they set prior to testing. WAY TO GO! Top scorers in grades 3-5 will be acknowledged on our “Fitness Testing Wall of Fame” bulletin board located in the gym.

SNEAKER REMINDER: It is very important for students to have sneakers on days they have gym (safety). If your son/daughter wears boots/shoes/non-sneakers to school on the day they have gym, please SEND sneakers in their backpack.

Minds in Motion  March 16, 2019   1-4 pm

Minds in Motion is a fun state-wide event held annually in Middletown. The event will be held at our beautiful high school, and all Lawrence students are invited to attend. Children participate in creative, hands-on activities and critical thinking and problem-solving activities designed to challenge the mind.  Parents get to participate in free workshops while the children are in classrooms from 1-4 pm, or parents can browse the amazing vendor stations with fantastic books and games to develop your children as creative thinkers and problem solvers. It is a fun day for all. Please consider attending.

     Workshops fill quickly. Register at http://mimmiddletown.weebly.com.

BOX TOPS UPDATE! Thank you to all the families who sent in their Box Tops for Education.  Our grand total was 3,138, which equates to $313.80 that our school PTA will receive.  Special thanks to parent Stacey Mendes for cutting, sorting, and counting all those Box Top for Education coupons.  Start saving your Box Tops for our collection next February!

Fire Prevention Poster Contest: Lawrence School is so proud of 5^th graders Ana C. and Sophia A., who were recognized for their amazing creativity and artwork to promote fire safety. Congratulations to both of our talented artists!

Additionally, Sophia’s poster won the contest for all of Middlesex County, and her poster is now in the running to win the Connecticut State Fire Prevention Poster Contest. 

NEW AND EXCITING NEWS: The City of Middletown's Department of Public Works is going to repave Kaplan Drive and add some parking spots this summer. As part of this project, the Department of Public Works is working with the Garden Club to plant a garden in honor of Gracie Wall, a Lawrence School student who unexpectedly passed away 11 years ago.    

We would like to thank Mr. Bill Russo, Director of Public Works, for thinking of this idea and offering to be the lead on this project with the Garden Club.

Special Education Update: The Special Education and Pupil Services Department would like to invite you to a very important event.  On Saturday, April 6th, we are hosting a Parent "Unconference" for Families of Students with Special Needs.  The event will be hosted at the Middletown Senior Center, 61 Durant Terrace, from 9 a.m.-12 p.m., and is being hosted by Middletown Public Schools Department of Special Education and Pupil Services, in collaboration with Middletown School and Family Partnerships and Middletown Parks and Recreation Department.  The event is comprised of a collection of unstructured discussion sessions, where families can talk with one another and with school staff to share information and talk about how we can work together to support our children's success.

Some of the topics that will be discussed will be Dyslexia, Behavior Strategies, Learning about the IEP, Transitioning to High School and Beyond, Autism, Fostering Independence, and Helping your Child Grow Socially, Emotionally, & Behaviorally.

More information can be accessed on our district website homepage https://www.middletownschools.org/ under announcements, as well as on our district Special Education department page 

https://www.middletownschools.org/departments/special_education.

We hope to see you there!

   Upcoming Events and Important Dates

March 10                     Daylight Saving Time Begins               Clocks spring forward one hour J

March 12 – 16             SPRING BOOK FAIR                        

March 12: GRAND LUNCH       families can have lunch, visit the book fair

March 13: Book Fair open from 10:30am  – 7:30 pm. Shop at Night! 

March 13–15               Parent Conferences                 Students are dismissed at 1:15 pm each day

Report cards are distributed                Lunch is served each day!!!!

March 11-29               Penny Wars continues all month

March 13            Special Education Un-conference at Lawrence School

March 16            Minds in Motion, 1-4 pm at Middletown High School

March 20          First Day of Spring

March 26        Chili’s Restaurant – Give Back Night     PTA Fund-raiser      

     Lawrence School earns percentage of all sales from Lawrence families

March 30        All City Music Festival                        6 pm at Wesleyan 

  Social and Emotional Learning Opportunities

 CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL NEWSLETTER

We emphasize the importance of students being able to recognize their emotions and to learn strategies on how best to regulate their emotions. The staff has been trained in the RULER, a strategy from the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence (ei.yale.edu).

                R      Recognizing                  Identifying emotions in ourselves and others

                U     Understanding             Knowing the causes of emotions (why do we feel the way we do)

                L      Labeling                           Knowing feeling words to help us communicate feelings accurately

                E      Expressing                     Learning how to display our feelings and act in the school setting

                R      Regulating                     Developing strategies to manage our feelings

Your children will be coming home and will most likely be using some of the vocabulary and strategies we teach at school. You may hear about the META-MOMENT or TRIGGERS or your children may talk about breathing techniques and strategies. We will send home for you copies of the strategies and vocabulary we use so that you can also reinforce this at home if you so choose. Thank you.  

MISSION STATEMENTS:

1. We foster students’ emotional intelligence because we believe social-emotional learning is key to the development of the whole child.

    

2. We cultivate a growth mindset among students, families, and staff because we believe in the value and importance of perseverance, varied learning dispositions, goal setting, and reflection.

    

3. We foster a safe and welcoming environment that promotes a school community of supportive, empathetic, and cooperative individuals who are socially responsible.

    

4. We engage learners by purposefully planning lessons that encourage inquiry and critical thinking, value student interest, and promote collaboration and discourse.

    

5. We value a comprehensive arts and physical education program that enhances the core curriculum and allows students to explore, experience, and appreciate world cultures, while encouraging creativity, curiosity, and healthy movement.

    

6. We provide rigorous challenges so students take ownership of  their learning as they use reasoning and thinking skills and academic risk-taking in order to develop creativity, perseverance, and  recognition of their role in the global environment.

Statement of Non-Discrimination

The Middletown Board of Education is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer, and it does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religious creed, age, marital status, civil union, military or veteran status, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or past or present physical or mental disability in any of its education programs, activities, or employment policies.  All educational programs and offerings, including vocational education and extracurricular activities, subscribe to this policy. Marco Gaylord, Director of District Operations, has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the district non-discrimination policies and may be reached at 311 Hunting Hill Avenue, Middletown, CT  06457; phone (860) 638-1485.