June 18 Wow! What a great year! Thank you for all you do. The Raging Rhinos have been fun and ready to learn right up until the end! A few odds and ends: Our Look Park trip is on Wednesday. We are expecting to leave the school no later than 9:15. Chaperones should have received a Chaperone information list with a map and directions. We would like you to be here @9:00 to get phone numbers and final updates. While there is room on the bus, we understand if you would like to drive and meet us there. I would suggest carpooling and sharing the 5 dollar parking fee. Be sure you say you are a chaperone. When we arrive, I would like chaperones to scope out a table at our picnic area. You can store any belongings there. A school nurse will be there all day. We will have a sign out list at the park if you choose to take your own child at the end of the day. For students, be sure they have a lunch and water. If you plan on eating at the snack bar, make sure they have money for food and icecream. We would suggest a small backpack for belongings they want to carry with them. We require appropriate use of the cell phone for commnication and pictures. We should have a good day, good weather and good friends! This year marks the 16th Look Park end of year trip. I think of it as the trip you and your child will choose to have: busy by doing all the activities or playing sports in the fields or relaxing by the gardens!
June 11 First, what an amazing Showcase Festival on Friday! As usual, the 6th grade band and chorus really rocked the house but the talents of other Raging Rhinos were extraordinary! Many of us agree that we would not be able to do a performance on a stage like so many of these students. Second, we had so much fun last week on Adventure Day. We thank our chaperones, Mrs. Gibbons, Mrs. Giguere, Mrs. Skaggs, Mrs. Slonka, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Couture, Mrs. Sampson for spending the day with us. We hope the "Happy Salmon" handshake endures! This may be the last week you check this website. You should know, I will maintain the site for a few years, in case anyone feels sentimental. We have until Monday for grades to close, so students will have notebooks, graded papers, writing folders and journals on Monday afternoon. If students have borrowed any materials from teachers, it would be great to send in whatever you've been holding on to. Remember to turn in any extra books you've been using. The last pen pals from Israel have arrived. Many have been using social media for contact already, so you probably have been hearing news from Israel. We go to Look Park on Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. Let us know if you would still want to come with us.You will be welcomed, as long as you are CORI checked. It should be a fun day.
June 4 Looking forward to our Wednesday, Adventure Day trip! We have a number of brave chaperones volunteering to lead groups and activities. We would like chaperones to arrive by 9 for a briefing by the Adventure In, Adventure Out Director. The plan is to begin walking over to Foley Field by 9:15. Lunch is at 10:45, so students have to bring their own bag lunch. No one has requested school lunches. We need students to be dressed for a day outdoors in the beautiful weather we expect for Wednesday. That includes sunscreen and bug spray for themselves, not be shared with others. Students should have their own water bottle, non-disposable preferred, which can be refilled by the water barrels we will have on hand nearby. We have rented a portable bathroom to remain on site. We will begin walking back to CHCS by 2:30. I'm trying to concentrate on one field trip at a time, but please call or email if you have any questions about the upcoming Look Park trip or Graduation. Mr. Morton from JBMS guidance was here today with any follow up questions. JBMS Parent Orientation Night is tomorrow - Tuesday from 6:00 - 8:00. The Sixth Grade Showcase is on Friday beginning on 6:30. We really look forward to such a great evening of Sixth Grade talent! And the chicken wings and fruit are pretty good too!
May 29 It's funny how saying the Memorial Day weekend is the beginning of summer makes it the beginning of summer and the feeling that summer vacation can't come any quicker! Our team is going to Jabish Brook for Step Up day on Thursday from 9-11. All permission slips should be turned in by now. Last chance for an opportunity to chaperone our Adventure Day on June 6! It will be fun and we could always use the help, please? You do have to already be CORI checked by now.... Graduation preparations have been going strong with the cutest baby pictures for the slide show. I really appreciate the paper pictures for me to take for the slide show. We do have some concerns about the number of people arriving to support their 6th grader. While it was never our intention to limit the number of family members, our 1986 auditorium may reach maximum occupancy. We would appreciate it if families would limit themselves to only 2 attendants because of space and safety limitations.
May 21 The Massachusetts Book Award Pizza Party is this Wednesday from 3:30 - 4:30. Art Night is Thursday from 6:30 -8:30 in the CHCS cafeteria. Everyone is welcome to see the amazing projects our students have done in art. Showcase Festival is coming up on June 8. This event is a lot of fun gathering together to listen and watch our talented sixth graders. And we're eating fruit and chicken wings! Get your tickets early for table seats which include the food because they sell out before the wall and chair seats. Graduation is June 21 at 1:30. If you want your child to be in the slide show, just have them bring in a picture. We take a photo of the picture and give them right back, so there is little chance of losing them. And, please, do not send digital pictures to my email. Communicating with 100 parents about digital photos is a little too much for me to handle. There's plenty of time to print out a hard copy for the slide show by June 18.
May 18 Our librarian, Ms. Hanson, does need permission slips for the pizza party that will be on May 25 from 3:30 - 4:30 Students should be bringing you the invitations to our first ever graduation ceremony on June 21 from 1:30 - 3:00. We are collecting baby/childhood pictures for a slide show . Please come! We would love to see you show your support for your children and CHCS!
May 16 There is so much happening at this time of year. I truthfully think it is busier now than during the November-December holidays! 5/24 Art Night from 6:30 to 8:30 in CHCS cafeteria 5/31 Step Up day for our section of Sixth grade. Field trip to JBMS 6/5 Adventure Day for our section of Sixth Grade 6/20 Sixth grade field trip to Look Park 6/21 Sixth grade graduation Ceremony 1:30 p.m.
May 14 Tomorrow is an early release for students. If this is your main source of CHCS information, I apologize for mentioning this earlier. Truthfully, the days are slipping by with so much going on, I thought I had more time to write this! Dismissal begins at 1:00. We're sending out an invitations for our graduation cermony on Friday. Save the date, June 21 at 1:30 for our first graduation ceremony. Friday is Hat Day here at CHCS!
May 7 We need chaperones for our field trip days! A whole free day to spend with us! Please consider volunteering for these fun days as long as you are CORI checked. Final days for Boxtops for Education collection. Each boxtop is worth .10, so it certainly adds up. It's the last chance to order the artwork from the Square 1 Art program. This will support our school's art department with money going towards buying a kiln. Check out www.square1art.com/shop Just an odd notice: You may have noticed a change in PowerSchool grades because we had not adjusted our category weights with Term 3. Not a big deal but getting more credit for a big project should now be fair.
April 30 Spring has arrived! Sort of...... And with spring comes spring fever with all the distractions of the season. Not wanting to get out of bed, not wanting to do homework, not caring about tests and major assignments...and our students are feeling the fever too! Field trip permissions slips are due: the first deposit of $40 for Adventure Day or the total payment of $60 for Adventure Day and LookPark is due on Tuesday. Call or send us an email if you have any questions! We could really use chaperones for those days, if you could arrange to spend the day with us, please? Students received the Seasoning and Dip CHCS PTO Fundraiser forms today. Evidently, the money will be used to install a "gaga pit" for recess. Go ahead. Ask your child what a "gaga pit" is.
April 25 MCAS for ELA tomorrow! Permission slips for our 2 end of the year field trips are due as soon as possible by May 1. You can have the option of paying the full amount of $60 for both the Adventure Day and Look Park or a deposit of $40, for just the Adventure Day. This is our schedule so far: May 1 Deposit ($40) or full field trip amount ($60) due June 1 Field trip balance due ($20) June 6 Adventure Day June 7 Adventure Day for the 300 hallway 6th graders June 20 Look Park June 21 Sixth Grade Graduation ceremony Ms. Hanson is sponsoring Screen Free week from April 28 - May 4. An orange permission slip was sent home to let Ms. Hanson know you're participating. A celebration will be after school on May 4 for all students who made it1 Students received the Honors Math 7 test permission test today. The test will done during Math class but requires a permission to sit for the test which will determine eligibility for Honors Mathj at Jabish. Students received their free stickers for the Square 1 Art today. Please consider ordering either on line or with the accompanying order form because besides being really cool, it is a funraiser to buy a kiln for CHCS.
April 23 So glad the warm weather has arrived just as we get back to school! At least it will make for wonderful recess time... MCAS season has arrived for us on Thursday and Friday when Sixth graders take 2 sections of the ELA test. We, of course, want them to try their best and we know that they are prepared for the test. The testing period is officially 2 hours but rarely takes that long. Please make sure students are here before 9. As usual, studies have show that having a good breakfast (even one at school) and a good night's sleep help for concentration. Brain science also would suggest students limit screen time in the evenings before the test. We are planning on board games day for the afternoon following the test on Friday. Bring in those box tops for the Library Box top contest for pride of winning as well as contributing 10 cents for each boxtop.
April 11 Mrs. Walker, a sixth grade teacher from the across the hall, is running a Cooking Club during next week's vacation week. For just $30, students will learn to make 4 delicious and decorated cupcakes from 9 - 11 at the Belchertown Recreation Department. Having home baked goodies delivered to my door would be incentive enough for me! Here's the link: http://www.belchertownrec.com/info/activities/program_details.aspx?ProgramID=29923 An information packet about the 6th grade spring activities for the rest of the year will be in a packet distributed
April 9 Tonight is the PTO fundraiser at Antonio's By the Slice! From 5 - 9, on dine in or carry out, 15% of your purchase will be donated to the PTO. There will be a 50/50 raffle, and PTO will be selling t-shirts and spirit sticks! Come on over for a good cause and good food!
April 3 Today we welcome special guest Mrs. Marino to talk to our students about her job at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service!
April 2 We hope every one had a good weekend and enjoyed Passover or Easter. Now if we can just get rid of snow in the forecast... Today is Light It Up Blue for Autism Awareness Day.
March 27 The school district is closed on Good Friday, this Friday!
March 26 Students received report cards last Friday. There's no big reveal like there used to be with REPORT CARD DAY being a big event. With PowerSchool students can access grades anytime they want. However, contact us. please, if you have any questions. Join the community of CHCS at the Springfield Thunderbirds hockey game this Saturday night! Proceeds go to the music programs of CHCS and SRE and we get a great night of hockey! Mrs. Laplante is running a cool fundraiser with Square One to raise money to buy a ceramics kilnn. Students can put artwork on a page to become stickers but can be turned in to become mugs or totebags. The original plan was for Mothers' Day but snow days have pushed it to making this a phenomenal Fathers' Day gift! Next Monday, April 2 is Light It Up Blue for Autism in Belchertown. Let's all wear blue to show our support!
March 19 Can we handle having a 5 day week? How will we wake up early 5 consecutive days in a row? Are we ready fo do homework each night and not have a break in the middle? These are all questions we're asking ourselves. Our students have the same questions! LOL Grades closed last Friday with report cards going home this coming Friday. Last week for loose change deposits in our Pennies for Patients drive!
March 15 Phenomenal performance by both the CHCS band and the chorus. Listening to "Uptown Funk" and "Nothing More" takes on a whole new quality when you've heard it performed by our students. Great job! And Term 2 grades close tomorrow! Such a long term...we've been getting ready for grades to close for so long but here it is...Report cards next Friday. Let's gather loose change for the Pennies for Patients program! Empty those pockets, clear off the dresser in the bedrooms and dump that random container down by the washing machine with all the loose pocket change when you do laundry!
March 12 Today we will be having a special guest visit us for science! Mrs. Dubey will be joining us this afternoon for some exciting experiments. Students will get to see photos of her science lab, swab their cheeks for cells, and even attempt to extract some DNA from a strawberry. We are so lucky to have her joining us!! Again, join us at the Winter Band and Chorus concert on Wednesday at 7:00 and on Thursday, the PTO is running a STEM night with fun and games from 6:30 - 7:30. Spring picture day is this Thursday.
March 1 A few reminders: Next Friday is a Professional Day so students have the day off! Yay!!!! Grades close on March 16 with report cards going home on March 23. February 27 We want to remind you of a few music events we have coming up: The Sixth Grade Band and Chorus will be having the Winter Concert next Wednesday beginning at 7:00 here at CHCS. The following day we think the concert will be repeated for the 6th grade class. The ticket order deadline for the Springfield Thunderbirds hockey game which wil feature the CHCS band and chorus during the intermissision is on March 28. Tickets cost $15 for game night on Saturday, March 31. And to the left, is the upcoming Girls on the Run program. February 26 Vacations never seem long enough, right? News of pretty busy vacations were the talk of the day: evidently there are a lot of bowlers here and PINZ at the mall gets most of our business. We've had trips to Maine, Vermont and Iceland. There were dance competitions and ropes course and a couple hundered sleepovers. We may have to go to school to relax, based on what we've heard! February 12 Last week before February vacation! How is it that we get a vacation just when we need a vacation? We hope everyone has safe travels and relaxing time with friends and family while we make this last push to spring! Valentine's Day is this week. It has been the tradition in 6th grade is to observe this earth-shattering event as any other day. There will be no extra desserts, no exchange of candy, gifts and no valentines distributed to the class. It sounds kind of cranky, we know, but we have to observe the Wellness policy, and the allergy policy. It also can be so disruptive when students emotions get carried away! We hope you understand. February 5 Condolences to the Patriot fans and congratulations for the Eagles fans! Scoliosis test in PE tomorrow! The consumable contest continues: please consider donating to our class any tissues, wipes, hand sanitizer, and colored pencils! We are deep into this second term which started before Thanksgiving. The holidays and vacation make for a very long term which ends the end of February. Just 2 weeks before February vacation! February 1 It is Patriots Day tomorrow! Show up in your red, white and blue to support our New England team! And, if you're an Eagles fan, dare to wear the green and white! January 30 Oh , it's testing season! We've got DIBELS to test Reading fluency and STARS to test Reading and Math comprehension. It seems full of irony that we also have to have a few Life Skills lessons to deal with stress and decisionmaking!. The Life Skills is a schoolwide program for health and personal improvement. The Consumable Contest is in full swing! Tissues and wipes are always welcome! January 25 Tomorrow is Double Points for Specialists ! Bring in your cheap paper plates! ( and anything else on the list...) Tomorrow is also Hot Cocoa day! Since we read a story about the Iditarod, I am inviting students to bring in a packet of hot cocoa or cocoa in a travel mug to enjoy while we are taking our spelling test . Unfortunately, students are not allowed to take packets from other students who have extra. I will provide the hot water.... January 24 Cold and flu season has hit us hard! We seem to have large numbers of nurse dismissals and absences. Time to pull our the hand sanitizers and disinfectant wipes, right? We also sent home a packet to get tickets for the March 31 Thunderbird game yesterday, but it has been sent out prematurely. It evidently pertains to Swift River but since there will be the Chestnut Hill Chorus and Band this year, our letter should have been sent from Mr. Guerraz and Mr. Mosall. Stay tuned. The end result is that we should all go to the Springfield Thunderbirds hockey game on March 31! January 22 Tomorrow is double points for tissues! Yes, it is that amazing February consumable contest between homerooms which keeps our kids in tissues through cold, flu and allergy season! January 18 It is postural screening season in P.E.! Written documentation from a family physician is encouraged by February 1, if you are planning on declining the private screening done in PE. January 9 Don't forget that Monday is Martin Luther King Day and that Tuesday is an early release day beginning at 1:00! January 8 We're all very much affected by cabin fever with a constant indoor recess. The upside, I guess, is that a lot of students use the indoor recess to begin homework! We've got a theme day coming on Throwback Thursday. Those fashion and hair styles from the 1980s just keeping coming back like a bad dream. Looking forward to a Thursday of big hair, leg warmers, tie dye, hair scrunchies and earth shoes..... January 2 Happy New Year! We hope everyone had a relaxing enjoyable holiday break. I don't want to complain because I do love my job but...the holiday break never seems long enough! There is plenty of room to complain about the freezing temperatures though! I am always overwhelmed with the generosity of parents at this time of year. Thank you so much for the wonderful and thoughtful gifts. It seems as though you have a biased interest in keeping us in coffee through the winter! December 18 And the countdown begins! The holiday and canned food drive finished last week with Chestnut Hill sending out a respectable amount of contributions. The SCRIPS gift cards were given out last week. Thank you for your support! The Ugly Sweater contest is on Wednesday. Bragging rights go to the funny and ugly, although school, appropriate sweaters and tops. December 11 Students received report cards on Friday. With access to PowerSchool, it seems as though the excitement and drama of report card day is gone but, nevertheless, if you have any questions please feel free to contact us at [email protected] or [email protected]. Today is the last day of the Book Fair, postponed from Friday because of the toxic smell emergency last week. We sent a Happy Hanukkah song and dance video to our penpals in Haifa, Israel. You can see it on YouTube as Happy Hanukkah Meginim. I will be loading it onto this website soon. December 4 Grades close this Friday. It seems disorienting to be saying that report cards are going out before Christmas vacation, but there it is! PTO Bingo is tomorrow night in the cafeteria starting at 6:30 The last SCRIPS fundraiser collection date is this Friday. The Annual CHCS Ugly Sweater contest is on Wednesday,, December 20! November 30 It's time for the annual CHCS PTO non-perishable food and hygiene items drive! The notice was sent home yesterday which describes the possible items to contribute to those in need such as canned meats, fruits, vegetables, pasta, cereal, canned juices and beverages as well as shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, new books, puzzles, art and hobby kits. Donations will be collected in the CHCS lobby from November 27 - December 13. Be sure to check the expiration dates on everything! We are "sweetening the pot" by offering a Raging Rhinos Homework pass to each person making a contribution!
The CHCS Scholastic book fair begins next Monday! Students will have some shopping time during school hours but there is a special event on Tuesday, December 5 from 6 - 8 pm if you'd like to get a jump on your holiday shopping! November 27 We hope everyone had a great Turkey day and some nice time to be with family and relax. Now th big push for Christmas vacation! I feel I haven't stressed the SCRIP Gift Card Fundraiser sponsored by the Belchertown PTO. It really is a great deal: you get the face value of gift cards to so many stores and the stores give a percentage back to the schools. It's kind of a win-win-win situation when you factor in getting your holiday shopping done as well! Forms were sent home around Veterans Day and can be seen on the PTO Facebook page. We also have extras here at school. Orders received December 1 will be delivered by December 8 Orders received December 8 will be delivered by December 15 Thank you for supporting this valuable source of funding for our school! November 20 Great movie trip to see "Wonder" last week. I think it is a universal kind of movie and book. Imagine if we all followed the precepts of the characters? "If you have the choice between right and kind, choose kind." Grades close on December 1 with report cards the following week. Let us know how you like this trimester approach. Have a terrific Thanksgiving vacation! November 13 Excellent performance by the 6th grade band and chorus on Saturday! Good job, Rhinos! This is a 5 day week! A big push before the big Thanksgiving week. Remember Thanksgiving recess begins next Wednesday! We will be going to see the movie "Wonder" on Friday! Very excited to see how the movie connects with the book everyone read last year! Students need to bring in their own bag lunch that day but we are taking orders for cafeteria lunches. November 7 Note the band rehearsal tomorrow is on WEDNESDAY until 4:30! Thank you, ever vigilant parents! November 6 Don't forget! Thursday is a professional day and Friday is the observed holiday for Veterans Day! There will be a rehearsal for band after school on Wednesday until 4:30. And, for those of you used to seeing a report card, grades don't close until December 7 with report cards the following week . We are now in trimester mode... November 3 Following our 4 day week this week, students will have a 3 day week next week with Thursday as a professional day and Friday as our observed Veterans Day. The Veterans Day concert featuring many Raging Rhinos in Band and Chorus will be on the real Veterans Day, Saturday, November 11. October 31 We did have a great time at the cemetery and learning a little about local history. Thank you Mrs. Gibbons and Mrs; Skaggs for taking the time to be with us! October 30 Well, a 3 day weekend was a nice surprise but probably not worth it to anyone who suffered a long power outage. Our brief trip to Warner Memorial Cemetery is still on for Tuesday. Students are reminded to dress in warm layers. Just a reminder to parents: Next Thursday is a FULL PROFESSIONAL DAY. Students will also be off Friday, which is the observed Veterans Day. The 6th grade chorus and band will be performing the annual Veterans Day concert beginning at 11:00 on NOVEMBER 11 at the BHS Auditorium. It's a great honor for our students to perform at this ceremony. October 23 We had a lot of fun on the UMASS MultiBand trip, although the volume of the Marching Band can be awesome! Thank you Mrs. Roy, Mr. Rybicki and Mrs. Gibbons for choosing to spend your day with us! Our next trip is next Tuesday when we go to the cemetery on October 31. You do need to sign a purple permission slip for this walking trip which takes place entirely during our school day. Please feel free to contact Ms. Brach or Ms. Blunt if you would like to go with us and are CORI checked! Donations for the Walk A Thon are due on October 27. We had a lot of fun outdoors on the track. Show us that the time was fun and valuable by sending in a donation or contributing online! October 19 UMASS Multibands trip tomorrow! Students should have their own lunches unless they have already made arrangements with us or the cafeteria. Go! Go U! Go UMASS! Go-U-Mass! October 18 Students received a purple permission slip for our mini-field trip to the Warner Memorial Cemetary on Halloween Day. We'll talk about some local history, practice some math and geometry and make some inferences about the stones. It should be fun. Any CORIed parents are welcome to join us from 12:45 to 2:15! October 16 Remember that the district has an early dismissal tomorrow. Students from CHCS get dismissed at 1:00 after lunch and recess. We've got Picture Retakes on Wednesday. Remember to return the original pictures! The UMASS MultiBands trip is on for this Friday. Mr. Mosall is still looking for any parent chaperones interested in this awesome trip! You can even ride the bus with us! We leave at 9:00 and return at 1:30. Help us show the Minuteman spirit! Send in pledges for the Walk A Thon Fundraiser as soon as possible! October 13 We've had a pretty lucky Friday, the 13th, if we do say so! A few reminders: Students will have an early release day on Tuesday with dismissal beginning at 1:00. As usual, students will have lunch and recess before they get on the bus. Thursday's Walk A Thon was a really fun way to begin a day and now we get the added benefits of pledge forms coming in with contributions to the PTO. Remember you can also contribute online on the links page. October 10 Walk A Thon is this Thursday. Our sixth grade time is from 9:15 - 10:00. Blunt's Rhinos should be dressed in blue and Brach's Rhinos should be in white. Pledge sheets are due by October 27. You can also contribute to PTO online at https://99pledges.com/fund/chestnuthill2017. Remember this is our main fundraiser. What a great way to support your child and support your school at the same time! And we get a great morning walkk out of this as well! Parent Conferences begin tomorrow night from 3:30 - 6:30. If you are unable to make the conference, please call the front office at 4133230437 or text us on Remind! We are looking forward to meeting with you. It's new for us to conference BEFORE the report card so our topics will cover more about study habits and other concerns, rather than the report cards. October 2 Still waiting on conference forms from you but we will send out confirmation of conferences with your child by Friday. UMASS Multibands trip is still on for October 20. Many of you have volunteered for the day, so I will say that Mr. Mosall will be getting back to you. Students will need to provide for a bag lunch or make arrangements with one of us to get a cafeteria bag lunch. September 28 We handed out this year's PTO Walkathon Fundraiser which will take place on October 12 with a rain date on October 13. This is a lot of fun. Rooms have designated colors, students can walk at their own pace , it's healthy for everyone to begin a day with a nice walk and , we can raise quite a bit of money for the CHCS PTO! It's a quadruple win! So, it would be great to pledge for the number of laps your child walks that day. It shows support for him or her and the school. September 26 Parent conference forms went home today with students. They are due on Friday . Conferences are on Wednesday, October 11 and Thursday, October 12 from 3:30 - 6:30. The fifteen minute meeting times fill up fast so the schedule will fill up on a first come and first serve basis. September 25 Such a fun Belchertown Fair weekend with so many participants. We are very happy to see such an important tradition continue each generation. And CHCS survived yet another Fair Friday, although I really felt the energy in this building made the building vibrate by 3:00! September 20 Congratulations to the Raging Rhinos Student Council representatives: Ashanti, Derek, Tyler and Ellie! The meetings are always on Tuesday until 4:00 . Here's a date reference list: September 26 October 24 November 21 December 19 January 30 February 27 March 27 April 24 May 22
September 19 Pink permission slips for the Belchertown Fair bus on Friday were given to students today. Signed permission slips are due on Thursday. Verifications by phone calls will not be permitted. September 18 Open House was fun. It was great to meet many of you for the first time and catch up with others of you. It will be important for us to be a team and to work together to provide your children with a terrific experience in the coming year. Early dismissal tomorrow begins at 1:00. Students wil have lunch here at school. Students will receive Belchertown Fair permission slips today or Tuesday to be able to ride the special bus to town. No students will be allowed to walk to the Fair. Students will be taking the STAR test this week. The tests assess reading and math abilities. Students will also have a chapter 1 math test on Thursday. Review will take place in class on Tuesday and Wednesday, and students can earn 5 bonus points by completing an online practice test. All students have received their McGraw-Hill usernames and passwords. This is a great tool for practicing skills at home, reviewing concepts, and gaining access to additional videos and examples of problems associated with each lesson. This week we are also working on our ratio projects. Students needs grocery store advertisements to complete this. Class time will be used, but projects that are not finished by 9/22 will be taken home over the weekend for completion. A Note About Power School: You will now find several grades on the Power School program. We hope that you will find it a helpful way to monitor your child's progress; however, we also hope that it won't cause tension or confusion. Sometimes one grade can impact the overall grade. This happens more in the early stages of a marking period before other factors, assignments and projects are included in the grading program. Don't panic. Don't hesitate to contact us either, if you have questions or concerns. Grades in the 6th grade should be kept in some perspective. It is more important to learn how to get good grades and we seem to learn best when we make mistakes. So, let's work together in this area and help your child learn those valuable lessons.
September 12 Next week students will do a short math project involving calculating the unit rate of foods/beverages at various stores. For this project, students will need to bring in some flyers from places like Big Y, Stop & Shop, CVS, Aldi, etc. Any extras would also be appreciated, as some students may not be able to bring any. Printed ads from BigY.com, Stop & Stop, Aldi will also work. Students should bring these in on Monday, September 18th. September 11 We will be observing a special moment of silence to honor the victims of September 11, 2001. Our Open House is slated for this Wednesday night from 6:30 - 7:30 and we look forward to seeing you if you can make it. We welcome our students to come too, to show you around and introduce you to us. We will offer a short presentation and be there to meet you but this is not a time for conferencing. We hope to see you there. There is an early release day on September 19. Some students are running for Student Council offices. The campaign speeches will be on Tuesday and the election will be on Wednesday. In order to be nominated, a student had to return the permission slip stating he or she will be able to stay after school on Thursdays until 4:00 and have a ride home at that time. Lots of people have signed up for the Remind app. Please restrict messages to what you would "tweet" and have it be of timely interest like, On my way with a trombone for band! Other issues that require additional information should be addressed in emails September 6 Tomorrow is picture day! Remember to make sure your child has his or her picture envelope with payment with them tomorrow! We're lucky it's a no gym day! Mrs. Blunt sent home paper invitations for the REMIND app if you would like to be able to text her. To: 81010 Homeroom 102's password is @ragingrh and Homeroom 104's password is@cbbe3c
September 5 These weekly newsletters will serve as a window into our classroom and allow you to know what is happening here at school. They will also explain our goals and philosophy as educators. We hope they will help you help your child enjoy a terrific year of learning in sixth grade. )
Just as it may be overwhelming for your children to try and learn every procedure within the first few days, it would be lengthy to explain all of our policies in the first letter. We ask that you check your child’s agenda for information about homework assignments and tests. We do assign a fair amount of homework and classwork. Our phone numbers are 323 0437 X104 for Mrs. Brach and X102 for Mrs. Blunt. It is our hope that this will be a terrific year of learning. We are off to a great start. You can expect letters home like this one at the start of each new week to help you stay connected to all of it. Power School is our on line grading program that allows students and parents access to the student’s grades. Many of you have already been power schooling since last year and if not, please contact us to obtain your child's password. Full Band will be on Wednesdays and sectional days will follow as Mr. Mosell works on the schedule. Picture Day is this Thursday, September 7. Envelopes went home on the first day of school. Open House is Wednesday, September 13, from 6:30 - 7:30. Early Release Professional Day is on September 19. More information of that dismissal time will follow. Finally, thank you for all the tissues and antiseptic wipes on the first day of school! No sick days for us! Hi Sixth Grader!, We (Mrs. Brach and Ms. Blunt) are your teachers this fall at CHCS. We hope you’ve been enjoying these last few weeks of a great summer. We know we’ve been having fun and we wish the summer would never end. But, we are starting to get ready for school and we thought we’d let you know what you may want to buy at all the back to school sales. It would be terrific if you could come in with as many of the following as possible. Most of these will be for your individual use but some items will be for the community:
1 (one) 3 ring 1 1/2 inch binder 1 (one) heavy duty double pocket folder without metal fasteners, preferably with 3 holes for the notebook and not made of plastic 3 (three) jumbo stretchy book covers lots of #2 pencils and erasers (preferably cap erasers) subject dividers for the binder 1 (one) box of colored pencils with at least 12 pencils 1 (one) 100 page composition notebook, college ruled (not spiral bound) 1 (one) one subject spiral bound notebook 1 (one) manual pencil sharpener 1 glue stick pencil case disinfectant wipes box of tissue
Be thinking of our team name. We like to combine an adjective and a noun.
Last year we were: the Patriotic Penguins
A Note from Ms. Blunt I love summer as much as you do but I also love my jobs as a teacher. I love the fun things about learning. One thing you will be saying this coming year is how interesting and exciting school can be. My goal is to have you say this was one of the best school years ever! To make that happen all of us will have to come to school with a good attitude and a willingness to take on challenges. I will be your English Language Arts, Reading, and History teacher.
A Note from Mrs. Brach I’m so excited to be a part of the Chestnut Hill Community School team this year! Though I’ve been enjoying relaxing with my family this summer, I’m ready to jump into the coming year and get learning with all of you. I will be your Math and Science teacher, and I look forward to all of the success and positive experiences that this year will bring. A positive outlook and can-do attitude will go a long way in reaching all of our goals. I can’t wait to meet you!
Any questions? Contact us. Communication by email is the best way to reach us: Our email addresses are: [email protected][email protected]
Be ready to come in and be part of a great community of learners! See you on August 30!
Site maintained by Victoria Blunt and Christina Brach. Last updated July 17, 2018