News to Use May 16, 2022

  

Dates to Remember

May 16 & 17                                                            Grade 4 Math MCAS

May 19 & 20                                                           Grade 5 Science & Technology/Engineering MCAS

May 20th                                                                 Friends of Cutler Adult Social

May 27th                                                                 Memorial Day Assembly

May 30th                                                                 Memorial Day No School

Fifth Grade Transition

To support students and families with the important transition from Cutler to Miles River Middle School, the following events will take place on June 7th:

For Students: - Student Move-up Day - During the school day, students from all three elementary schools will join staff and students at Miles River where they will learn the landscape of the school, meet key staff, and be provided with some insights from current students about how to prepare for the transition to middle school. 

For Parents/Guardians of incoming 6th graders - Welcome Night 6:45 - 8:00pm - Parents and guardians are invited to a Welcome Night in the Multi-Purpose Room at Miles River. School administration, nurse, and counseling staff will be joined by current students to welcome you and provide valuable information about the transition to middle school. After the presentation, attendees will be offered a tour of the school led by some of our Peer Leaders (student mentors).

Covid-19 Update    

As expected, since we have returned from April vacation, Covid-19 cases in the district have been rising. Currently, masks are optional. MA DESE has extended pooled testing through the end of the school year and at home tests are still available to any student or staff member who would like one

You can find more information on the district Heath Office webpage.

Cutler School Building Project Committee Members Wanted

We are looking for community members who have architecture, engineering, or construction experience to volunteer to participate as a member of the School Building Committee for the Cutler school project. 

  

The SBC is required by the MSBA to be made up of town representatives with backgrounds in construction, architecture, landscape, and education as well as the town administrator (municipal school districts), the district superintendent of schools, a school committee member, the school principal, district schools' facility management director, at least one teacher from the school, a member of the finance committee or local budget official, and a representative from an office authorized by law to construct school buildings. Hamilton and Wenham residents will serve on the committee.

  

If you have architecture, engineering, or construction experience and would like to volunteer as a member of the School Building Committee, please email Eric Tracy at e.tracy@hwschools.net.

Hamilton Police Donation to the HW Special Education Parent Advisory Council:

In an effort to raise awareness and acceptance during National Autism Awareness Month, the Hamilton PD  partnered with Five Sons Pizza for a fundraiser to benefit our school district’s special education department. On May 11th the Hamilton PD presented a check for $2,512.30 to the Hamilton-Wenham Special Education Parent Advisory Council. A special thank you to the entire staff at Five Sons Pizza and the residents of HW for their support. 

 

Friends of the Arts Monthly Meeting

Melody Miles is back!

The annual Melody Miles is on Saturday, May 28, 10 a.m. Melody Miles is one event that helps to keep the arts vibrant in HW! To learn more about Melody Miles and to sign up to run click here

Updated District Website

Our updated website was launched on Monday, May 9th. The new website has a fresh, clean look with updated information, pictures, calendars, etc. It also has a translation option to translate the site into different languages. We are still completing some of the work so images and layouts may change as we move forward, but be on the lookout for the change.

Spring Concerts:

It is concert season at the secondary level!  The Middle School will host its annual concert on Tuesday, May 17, 2022, at 7 PM. The concert will be held in the Ferrini Auditorium at the HS.

Class of ‘22 Seniors Helping Seniors: 

Could you use some help? Once again, the Senior Class of HWRHS is giving back to the HW community. On Tuesday, May 31st from 8:30 AM-12:00 PM our students will be sprucing up the yards of our senior residents of Hamilton and Wenham. Small teams of our students can provide help outside with chores that could include lawn care, raking, cleaning flower beds, planting flowers, and spreading mulch. If you would like to put in a work order call Mrs. Lisa Heitz at 978-468-0496 or email l.heitz@hwschools.net before May 24th.

Please note that School Store for all grades will be next week. The schedule is as follows:

Monday: K and 1st Grade, Tuesday: 2nd Grade and 3rd Grade, Wednesday: 4th Grade, Thursday: 5th Grade and makeup, Friday: Makeup.

Cutler Family Fun Night: A Multicultural Festival

Friday, June 3

4:30 - 7:30

The Friends of Cutler is pleased to announce that the community

tradition of Family Fun Night returns this year - with a twist!

Join friends and neighbors to celebrate cultural diversity with 

international games, entertainment, food, and activities!

Featuring Performances by:

 Illstyle & Peace - Promoting Positivity through Hip Hop 

The Afro-Brazilian Ensemble: Discover Capoeira, combining martial arts and folk dance

 Odaiko Drumming: Taiko Thunder, Enjoy the Voice and Spirit of Japanese Storytelling

Enjoy Food From:

Mei Mei Dumplings: Enjoy interactive dumpling making demonstrations, a variety of steaming hot choices, or frozen to take home.

Tres Latinas: Yummy Fresh Arepas - and for dessert Quesillo and S’More Tequenos!

The Hot Dog Lady: For those not as adventurous, our favorite is back, and as American as Apple Pie

Note: Please consider volunteering to help with this fun new event for our school community.  From origami to croquet, there will be fun for the whole family! 

Shifts available ranging from 3:30-7:30, and we welcome celebrating your own cultural heritage with a game or activity. 

Please contact:Laura Studley: laurastudley@gmail.com, Matti Acworth: marthareiss@yahoo.com or Ashley Serrotta: ashleyserotta@gmail.com

Adult Social:

Let’s book those babysitters because the Cutler Adult Cornhole Social is back!!!! Friday, May 20th @ 6:30 p.m. in Essex at Great Marsh Brewery. We have secured 5000 sq feet of open space for the tournament overlooking the Essex Marsh. Whether it’s your first year attending Cutler as a kindergarten parent or your last year and want to defend your previous Cornhole title, we want you to be part of this! Let’s make for a fun and memorable evening! We’re so happy to have this back after a couple of years hiatus!! Please see the sign up genius to register for the tournament :

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090a4aaba92daaf94-cutler1

 

News to Use May 9, 2022

 

Dates to Remember

May 9 & 10                                                             Grade 5 Math MCAS

May 12 & 13                                                            Grade 3 Math MCAS

May 16 & 17                                                            Grade 4 Math MCAS

May 19 & 20                                                           Grade 5 Science & Technology/Engineering MCAS

May 20th                                                                 Friends of Cutler Adult Social

May 30th                                                                 Memorial Day No School

Teacher's Appreciation Week

A heartfelt thank you to our Friends of Cutler Teacher's Appreciation Week team for a wonderful week honoring our staff with a special luncheon, beautiful decorations, snacks galore, flowers and more flowers, chalk messages, cards, and a superb raffle! We are so grateful!

School Lunch Hero Day

During Teacher's Appreciation Week we honored our Cutler lunch ladies, Donna Stephens and Jennifer Purdy with School Lunch Hero Day full of gifts, decorations, cards, and many, many thanks for all they do for all of us all year long. Despite staff shortages, supply chain issues, and increased food costs – the Food Services Department has served 124,495 meals throughout the district so far this school year! Many thanks, also, to the fabulous Wendy Ng, our Director of Nutrition Services for all that she does. 

Scholastic Book Fair 

The Scholastic Book Fair hosted by the Friends of Cutler last week was a huge success. All Cutler children AND teachers were able to add to their personal libraries. Each class had a designated time to browse and shop, and those that were absent or wanted to revisit the store were provided with additional flexible shopping hours. Thank you so much to the Friends of Cutler for re-instituting this hugely popular event!

Fifth Grade Memory Book - A request

It's that time of year... The Cutler 5th grade Memory Book is well underway, and we wanted to give you the opportunity to include any well wishes/memories, etc., that you have. Please send along any notes that you'd like included to cutlerfifthgrade@gmail.com by this Friday, May 13th. (Sorry for the tight deadline- tis the season!) We know the 5th graders would love to hear from you!

Fifth Grade Transition

To support students and families with the important transition from Cutler to Miles River Middle School, the following events will take place on June 7th:

For Students: - Student Move-up Day - During the school day, students from all three elementary schools will join staff and students at Miles River where they will learn the landscape of the school, meet key staff, and be provided with some insights from current students about how to prepare for the transition to middle school. 

For Parents/Guardians of incoming 6th graders - Welcome Night 6:45 - 8:00pm - Parents and guardians are invited to a Welcome Night in the Multi-Purpose Room at Miles River. School administration, nurse, and counseling staff will be joined by current students to welcome you and provide valuable information about the transition to middle school. After the presentation, attendees will be offered a tour of the school led by some of our Peer Leaders (student mentors).

Placement for 2022-2023 School Year                                                              Each spring we begin to think about the placement of students for next fall.

This process is complex and takes into consideration a number of factors.

Classroom teachers and principals will soon begin to discuss the academic and

social/emotional progress of students and how this affects their placement

for next year.  Your child’s teacher has a wealth of knowledge about each

student.  Consultation with the specialists gives us more information about

your child and how s/he interacts in different instructional settings. We seek

to create balanced groupings at each grade level. All of us recognize this

complex process as an important part of our professional responsibility

to your children.

 

If you would like to offer your thoughts about your child’s placement with

us, please respond in writing to the questions below and submit your response

by May 13 to your child’s teacher. This information will be helpful to us as

we work to create classes that best match your child’s learning style and

personality. We ask that you refrain from requesting a specific teacher by

name especially because our teacher assignments for next year are not yet

final. Please understand that the entire placement team will view the

information you share.

 

We recognize that the partnership between home and school is vital to your

child’s educational success. Your continued support makes our school an

exciting and enriching learning environment. If you have any questions, please

feel free to contact us.

 

Sincerely,

 

Rebecca Butler & Ed Kaufman

1. What are your child’s greatest areas of success in school?

2. What are your child’s greatest challenges in school?

3. What does your child like most about coming to school?

4. How would you describe your child’s learning style?

5. What type of learning environment would provide your child with the best opportunity for success?

6. Is there anything else that you would like us to know about your child?

Updated District Website

As we continue to improve communication, we will be launching our updated website on Monday, May 9th. The new website has a fresh, clean look with updated information, pictures, calendars, etc. It also has a translation option to translate the site into different languages. We are still completing some of the work so images and layouts may change as we move forward, but be on the lookout for the change.

Spring Concerts:

It is concert season at the secondary level! The HS will host the annual art show and a spring concert on Wednesday, May 11, 2022, starting with the art show at 6 PM and the concert at 7 PM.  The Middle School will host its annual concert on Tuesday, May 17, 2022, at 7 PM. Both concerts will be held in the Ferrini Auditorium at the HS.

HW’s Nutrition Program to be Recognized:

Our Director of Nutrition received the following message from the Massachusetts Health Council:

“The Massachusetts Health Council would like to recognize the Hamilton-Wenham regional school district’s excellent nutrition program at our award dinner on October 6 at the Seaport Hotel in Boston. Every year the Mass Health Council, a 101-year-old health advocacy organization, honors people and organizations that contribute to good health—school nutrition is vital to a community's health and we hope to highlight that by featuring your school and a few others at the award program.” Way to go Ms. Ng!

Class of ‘22 Seniors Helping Seniors: 

Could you use some help? Once again, the Senior Class of HWRHS is giving back to the HW community. On Tuesday, May 31st from 8:30 AM-12:00 PM our students will be sprucing up the yards of our senior residents of Hamilton and Wenham. Small teams of our students can provide help outside with chores that could include lawn care, raking, cleaning flower beds, planting flowers, and spreading mulch. If you would like to put in a work order call Mrs. Lisa Heitz at 978-468-0496 or email l.heitz@hwschools.net before May 24th.

Cutler Family Fun Night: A Multicultural Festival

Friday, June 3

4:30 - 7:30

The Friends of Cutler is pleased to announce that the community

tradition of Family Fun Night returns this year - with a twist!

Join friends and neighbors to celebrate cultural diversity with 

international games, entertainment, food, and activities!

Featuring Performances by:

 Illstyle & Peace - Promoting Positivity through Hip Hop 

The Afro-Brazilian Ensemble: Discover Capoeira, combining martial arts and folk dance

 Odaiko Drumming: Taiko Thunder, Enjoy the Voice and Spirit of Japanese Storytelling

Enjoy Food From:

Mei Mei Dumplings: Enjoy interactive dumpling making demonstrations, a variety of steaming hot choices, or frozen to take home.

Tres Latinas: Yummy Fresh Arepas - and for dessert Quesillo and S’More Tequenos!

The Hot Dog Lady: For those not as adventurous, our favorite is back, and as American as Apple Pie

Note: Please consider volunteering to help with this fun new event for our school community.  From origami to croquet, there will be fun for the whole family! 

Shifts available ranging from 3:30-7:30, and we welcome celebrating your own cultural heritage with a game or activity. 

Please contact:Laura Studley: laurastudley@gmail.com, Matti Acworth: marthareiss@yahoo.com or Ashley Serrotta: ashleyserotta@gmail.com

Adult Social:

Let’s book those babysitters because the Cutler Adult Cornhole Social is back!!!! Friday, May 20th @ 6:30 p.m. in Essex at Great Marsh Brewery. We have secured 5000 sq feet of open space for the tournament overlooking the Essex Marsh. Whether it’s your first year attending Cutler as a kindergarten parent or your last year and want to defend your previous Cornhole title, we want you to be part of this! Let’s make for a fun and memorable evening! We’re so happy to have this back after a couple of years hiatus!! Please see the sign up genius to register for the tournament :

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090a4aaba92daaf94-cutler1

Book Fair:

Thanks to everyone who came out to shop at the Book Fair last week! The kids were so excited to pick out their books, and we were able to purchase some new books for the classrooms as well. We are so happy we were able to have this fun event return to Cutler!

Staff Appreciation Week:

A big THANK YOU to all the volunteers and families that made Staff Appreciation week such a special week at Cutler! We're so fortunate to have the best teachers and staff out there, and we're glad we were able to show them just how much we appreciate them! 

 

 Dates to Remember

May 2 - 6                                                                 Staff Appreciation Week

May 2 - 6                                                                 Scholastic Book Fair

May 9 & 10                                                             Grade 5 Math MCAS

May 12 & 13                                                            Grade 3 Math MCAS

May 16 & 17                                                            Grade 4 Math MCAS

May 19 & 20                                                           Grade 5 Science & Technology/Engineering MCAS

May 20th (tent)                                                     Friends of Cutler Adult Social

Puberty Lesson for 4th and 5th Grade Students

 

Each year as part of our Growth and Development Curriculum, we present a lesson on puberty to our fourth and fifth grade students.  We address the growth and development process, physical and emotional changes that occur during puberty and the increased responsibilities that accompany this important milestone.  This lesson will be presented to students on Friday, May 6th.  If you would like to preview the video that accompanies your child’s lesson, the elementary counselors are offering a parent viewing through zoom on Tuesday, May 3rd.  I included detailed information about the viewing in an email I sent out on April 15th.  Also, if you have not submitted a response to our online permission form, please do so here.

 

Thank you,

Ann Creilson

School Adjustment Counselor

978-468-8475

 

Placement for 2022-2023 School Year                                                                                  

                                                                             

Each spring we begin to think about the placement of students for next fall.

This process is complex and takes into consideration a number of factors.

Classroom teachers and principals will soon begin to discuss the academic and

social/emotional progress of students and how this affects their placement

for next year.  Your child’s teacher has a wealth of knowledge about each

student.  Consultation with the specialists gives us more information about

your child and how s/he interacts in different instructional settings. We seek

to create balanced groupings at each grade level. All of us recognize this

complex process as an important part of our professional responsibility

to your children.

 

If you would like to offer your thoughts about your child’s placement with

us, please respond in writing to the questions below and submit your response

by May 13 to your child’s teacher. This information will be helpful to us as

we work to create classes that best match your child’s learning style and

personality. We ask that you refrain from requesting a specific teacher by

name especially because our teacher assignments for next year are not yet

final. Please understand that the entire placement team will view the

information you share.

 

We recognize that the partnership between home and school is vital to your

child’s educational success. Your continued support makes our school an

exciting and enriching learning environment. If you have any questions, please

feel free to contact us.

 

Sincerely,

 

Rebecca Butler & Ed Kaufman

1. What are your child’s greatest areas of success in school?

2. What are your child’s greatest challenges in school?

3. What does your child like most about coming to school?

4. How would you describe your child’s learning style?

5. What type of learning environment would provide your child with the best opportunity for success?

6. Is there anything else that you would like us to know about your child?

Pick up and Parking

Once again we ask that you be mindful that dismissal can be an extremely busy time in the Cutler parking lot. Our mission is to make sure that your children are loaded into their cars safely. Sometimes this can take a little time. At the moment we have ONE moving pick-up line, alongside the playground,  in operation. Cutler staff members load four cars, and then, once filled, release them to load the next four cars. We would be most grateful if you would plan your pick up in good time so that we can avoid parents and caregivers parking on Asbury Street or the parking lot parallel to Asbury Street and walking over to collect their children, as well as cars pulling out and around stationary cars that we are still loading.

Updated District Website

As we continue to improve communication, we will be launching our updated website on Monday, May 9th. The new website has a fresh, clean look with updated information, pictures, calendars, etc. It also has a translation option to translate the site into different languages. We are still completing some of the work so images and layouts may change as we move forward, but be on the lookout for the change.

 Staff Appreciation Week:

It's staff appreciation week at Cutler! Our theme this year is "Number One In Our Book." Here is the schedule of events for the week:

Monday, May 2nd: Chalk Messages and Wear Your Teacher’s Favorite Color

Chalk Messages Before School--Help decorate the walkway leading up to the main entrance with chalk messages. Sidewalk chalk will be provided. (Beginning at 7:30am)

Tuesday, May 3rd: Classroom Bouquets

Bring a single flower to contribute to your teacher's bouquet.

 

Wednesday, May 4th: Staff Luncheon

Cutler Staff will be treated to a luncheon.

 

Thursday, May 5th: Notes of Appreciation and Coloring Page

Bring cards, notes of appreciation, and/or the themed coloring page for teachers and staff. The coloring page is attached to this email as a pdf. It can also be accessed using this link. Additionally, there will be a supply of printed copies in the Little Lending Library in front of the main Cutler entrance.

 

Friday, May 6th: Snack Cart

Staff will be treated to a traveling snack cart. A sign-up link will be available soon for those who would like to donate snacks or treats!

 

All Week Long: Prize Drawing and Book Fair Opportunity

Prizes will be drawn and announced each day during Staff Appreciation Week and are donated by Cutler families—typically gift cards, but other ideas are welcome too! Prizes should be delivered to the Cutler office and must be valued at $49 or less. If you would like to donate, please sign up here.

 

Consider purchasing a book for your classroom at the Book Fair! Each teacher will have their own bin with hand-picked selections to choose from.

Scholastic Book Fair:

We are excited to welcome the Scholastic Book Fair back to Cutler! The fair will take place from May 2nd to May 6th. Each class will have the opportunity to visit during the school day with their teacher, and we will also have some before and after school hours for the sale.  Here is the link to our Book Fair's site - there is information on here about signing up for e-Wallet if you'd like to do so.

https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/.../cptoo.../homepage.do...

The schedule for the week is as follows:

Monday, May 2nd

Grade 3:

8:45 - 9:15 - 3G

9:15 - 9:45 - 3H

Grade 4:

9:50 - 10:20 - 4A

10:20 - 10:50 - 4D

10:50 - 11:20 - 4V

Grade 2:

1:05 - 1:30 - 2B

1:30 - 2:00 - 2K

Grade 5

2:00 - 2:25 - 5G

2:25 - 2:50 - 5P

Tuesday, May 3rd

Kindergarten

9:00 - 9:30 - KD

9:30 - 10:00 - KG

Grade 1

1:30 - 2:00 - 1G

2:00 - 2:30 - 1S

Wednesday, May 4th

8:15 - 8:30 - Open

12:45 - 1:15 - Open

Thursday and Friday, May 5th and 6th

8:15 - 8:30 - Open

3:00 - 3:30 - Open

There will also be evening hours on Thursday 5/5 from 4:30-6:30. Please see the Sign-up Genius to volunteer to help! 

If you have any questions, please contact Elena Moreira (ekoumari@gmail.com) or Leslie Potter (leslie_donlon@yahoo.com).

A Multicutural Festival

Friday, June 3

4:30 - 7:00

The Friends of Cutler is pleased to announce that the community

tradition of Family Fun Night returns this year - with a twist!

Join friends and neighbors to celebrate cultural diversity with new 

international games, entertainment, food, and activities!

Note: If you would like to volunteer, or if your family would like to honor

and celebrate your own cultural heritage at the event, please contact

Matti Acworth: marthareiss@yahoo.com or Laura Studley: laurastudley@gmail.com