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Petersham Center School Newsletter December/January 2022-2023

“Learning is not attained by chance; it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.” – Abigail Adams

We have had a busy last couple of months here at PCS. We have gone through our Winter break, our first ugly sweater (more to come on that) contest, 4 snow days, a holiday bazaar, and a whole school read-aloud. It has been a busy time here. We have been able to see students really get back into a normal routine and we are seeing students make a real positive shift. We are just finishing up our mid-year data collection on all of our students so we can see how the year has been going and where we need to take more action. At this point, we are seeing very positive progress in students.

Staffing Changes:

Our special education teacher, Beth Cass, made the tough decision to move on to another district at the end of December. We were incredibly lucky to have had multiple qualified candidates apply and interview. I am pleased to announce that we hired Kelley Targett as our new special education teacher. Kelley is a local to Petersham and has spent most of her career in a neighboring district in a variety of roles from classroom teacher to learning coach. We are very excited to see what her experiences can add to our team here at PCS.

Important Dates:

  • 2/8: 1/2 day -Staff PD
  • 2/20-2/24: February Vacation
  • 3/22: 1/2 day-Staff PD
  • 4/10-4/24: Grade 3-6 ELA MCAS
  • 4/12: 1/2 day-Staff PD
  • 5/9, 5/10- 5th Gr STE MCAS
  • 5/12-5/22- Grade 3-6 Math MCAS

Ugly Sweater Contest

We held our first annual "Ugly Sweater Competition" before winter break. 6th graders were encouraged to design and create their own, and the staff really stepped it up with some truly ugly designs. The whole school got a chance to vote and the winners were given a few prizes to choose from.
“If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.” Andy McIntyre

Pajama Read Aloud

No matter how old you get, it's always enjoyable having a story read to you. This pre-break pajama read-aloud has been going on here at PCS for years. Hopefully, we can keep the tradition going for years into the future.

Holiday Bazaar and Raffle

Our shopping at the holiday bazaar went very well this year thanks to a huge effort by our PTG and all of the volunteers that came to help. During the shopping, students were able to purchase raffle tickets for free toys, above you will find some of our winners. Congrats!!!
“Apply yourself. Get all the education you can, but then, do something. Don’t just stand there, make it happen.” Lee Iacocca

STEAM and OZOBOTS!!!!

Our Friday STEAM class has been going very well this year. Students talk all week looking forward to whatever fun and creative activity Mr. Novak has planned. A few weeks ago we received some awesome new additions to our STEAM materials, Ozobots. Ozobots are coding robots that can help introduce computer coding to students all the way down to kindergarten. I would like to thank the New Salem Academy as it was through their grant that we were able to purchase these tools.

Snow Days

Unfortunately in January, we had 3 snow days in a row that really caused interruptions in some of the normal day-to-day activities of our students. Luckily the last snow day the roads were fairly clear and safe by late morning so I was able to open our gym to all students and families who wanted to come and play for a few hours. If we ever find ourselves in a similar situation (hopefully not) and it is safe to travel, I will be doing the same.
February Lunch Menu
Appreciate