“Aim for success, not perfection. Never give up your right to be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to learn new things and move forward with your life. Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism.” David M. Burns
We have made it to our Holiday Break! It has been a long road to get to this point but we are here and for the most part, we have been able to stay healthy and remain together. Here at PCS, we are aware of how inconvenient it can be when a student or class must stay home, but it has gone a long way into keeping the majority of students here and learning the safest way possible. Please remember that all of our protocols are in place for the sole purpose of keeping as many students in the building as often and safely as possible.
We have had a very busy few weeks since the last newsletter was sent out before Thanksgiving. We had a police chief retire, some new students start, great professional development, Peace Posters, Gingerbread Houses, and many other things. Not to mention the incredible work that all of our teachers put in on a daily basis to make our school what it is. The students are beginning to find their own way back to a "normal" routine, It has taken some work to shake off the cobwebs of the last few tumultuous years, but with hard work, they are getting there.
We are currently looking to fill a few positions here at PCS. First is a part-time lunch and recess monitor. The position is for 3 hrs per day 5 days per week. Please contact the school if you are interested. The second position comes with the loss of another. Mrs. Haynes, our music and band teacher, has decided she would like to step away from being a specialist teacher and focus on instrumental lessons leaving us with a vacant Friday special block. I am looking to take this opportunity to try and bring a new interdisciplinary position back here to PCS. I am hoping that with the right candidate we can create a hybrid STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) and music position, focusing on aspects of both. Please let me know if you or someone you know may be interested in this unique position.
"Once children learn how to learn, nothing is going to narrow their minds. The essence of teaching is to make learning contagious, to have one idea spark another." Marva Collins:
Kindergarten
Grade 1
Grade 2
In second grade we have been learning about habitats and finishing our projects to share with the class. We are learning about place value and how to write numbers in expanded and word form. We are learning about maps and landforms in social studies. We are reading lots of great stories, learning new vocabulary and heart words.
Grade 3
The 3rd-grade students have been practicing sentence structure and story writing and now they are putting those skills to good use! This holiday season 3rd graders have created their own Gingerbread characters! Each student is in the process of writing a creative story about their character and the adventures they have! Our goal is to display our stories with our characters!
Grade 4
Grade 5
Grade 5
The 5th grade just finished their unit on the solar system and the moon in science class and are now starting to learn about the Phases of Matter. In Math class they are learning a lot of fun geometry stuff. Ask them some of the fun names of polygons that they learned! We ended our week before vacation with a fun movie.
Grade 6
The 6th grade finished their unit on Plate Tectonics in science and have now started to learn about the phases of the moon and eclipses. In math class they have been working very hard to learn about ratios, unit rates and percentages. We managed to fit in some fun game time right before winter vacation, which included a group of students challenging Mrs.Downing to a Jenga showdown. We were not able to complete it, but I will say that Mrs. Downing was not losing when it was time to end. :)
Happy Holidays Everyone!