November 13, 2017
Dear Parents and Friends,
Our NEW WEBSITE IS UP AND RUNNING! HTTP://WWW.MASTERYSCHOOL.US. If you visited our website before, you must take the (S) off the http. The easiest way to get to the new website is to visit our Facebook page and use that link. ? PayPal isn’t ready yet, but we are getting closer to having it up and running. A HUGE thank you to Christopher Hastings (Alaena and Landon’s Stepdad) for working so hard to help us with this upgrade. We can’t thank you enough
Wow! What a beautiful day we had for our Harvest Festival. Thank you to all families that helped out and participated in the event. We can’t make events like this work without your help and thanks to the collective efforts of all that were involved we made over $1800 for our school
We had an excellent turn out at our Bounce fundraiser as well. We don’t have the total yet, but a lot of families participated and we were able to get some families from the community to support us as well. Thank you for all that were able to come out and support the music program.
Upcoming Events:
The next PTO meeting will be held on Tuesday November 14th at 5:15. We will be discussing upcoming events and creating committees for some future fundraisers.
On Friday, November 17th the school will be going to Sturbridge Village as a way to wrap up our Pilgrim unit. Permission slips have gone home with details. Please return them by Tuesday, November 14th.
Monday November 20th we will have music lessons for all regular music students. This day will be a makeup day from last Wednesday when Zack couldn’t be with us. Please make sure that all music accounts are up to date!
NO SCHOOL – November 22nd, 23rd, and 24th for a professional day and Thanksgiving break.
Painting Morning and Parade will be Saturday, December 2nd starting at 9:30am. Families can enjoy shopping or just a leisure December morning if you want to drop off your kiddos with us. Participation in painting costs $25, but for $30, students will be fed a lunch, then we will walk over and participate in the parade. All students and families are invited to don their Mastery School shirts and sweats (over other warm attire of course) for participation in our fifth parade. If you can only attend the parade we will be meet at Kennedy Park at 12pm to march in the parade. Those that are under our care for the day will walk back to Mastery School with us for pickup between 3-4pm. If you are interested, see one of us and we can give more details. Families that have joined us in the past have had a great time.
Holiday Party Potluck Sunday, December 3rd Show put on by Mastery School students at the Tiverton Knights of Columbus on Fish Road in Tiverton. All families are invited to a 12pm show by your children and to enjoy a meal. Each family is asked to bring one dish to share and then relax and socialize with the Mastery School family. Please Look forward to a notice and make sure to fill it in regarding how many of your family members will be attending so we can ensure that we have the appropriate amount of space and food for everyone.
Last week students worked on the letter Hh. The Early Years students heard Mrs. McNosh Hangs Up Her Wash. This is a silly story about a woman who is hanging up her laundry on a clothes line to dry. Well, at least it starts as clothes. She hangs up dresses, shirts, and underwear, but then goes into stockings, shoes, paper, and then news. Then she hangs up the dog, his dish, his bone, and when a wrong number calls, hangs up the phone. As you see, this is a rhyming story which ends with her hanging up her apron, letting down her hair then hanging herself up in a comfortable chair.
The Primary A students listened to Amelia Bedelia. This story goes from dressing the chicken to drawing the drapes. Amelia Bedelia does exactly what Mr. and Mrs. Rogers tell her to do. If things get a bit mixed up, well, that’s okay. When Amelia Bedelia is involved, everything always turns out perfectly in the end!
Science and Social Studies groups have been put on hold until after Thanksgiving so we could concentrate all our attention on our cooperative Pilgrim groups and projects.
We have started a whole school module on the Pilgrims. Each level has been learning about different aspects of Pilgrim life. The Early Years have focused on clothing, Primary on food, Intermediate on shelter, and Middle level students focused on a famous Pilgrim. Students are in mixed-age and leveled groups of 9-10 students to work on a cooperative projects including all 4 aspects. Last week students worked for an hour and a half each day to research and make visuals. They are also responsible for a written report. Students have been working on posters, written reports, models, structures, puppets, and skits. Students are also graded on how they work in their group. These groups are working hard and cooperatively and we are very impressed so far.
Reading groups:
Little Bear
Ready Freddy
Runaway Ralph
Roald Dahl- Fantastic Mr. Fox
Courage at Indian Deep: in project
Multicultural Unit- Conch Bearer; Listen Slowly; She Wore Red Trainers; Dreamer
Holocaust Unit- Night: in project
As you can see, some groups have changed. If your child doesn’t share which group he or she is in, or if you have questions about the groups, please feel free to ask.
Important Information:
If you skipped to this section, please refer to the beginning of the letter for several important dates.
Homework: This year we are asking each child to practice their 
reading at least 5 times a week and would love to see them practice 7 days a week. Each reading log must be filled in with the title of the book, how many pages they read, how long they read for and who read the story. We will help guide you to what you can do to help your children with their reading. At times during the school year some children that need specific practice on a skill may bring home other worksheets that will need to be completed. Each of these worksheets will be clearly marked. If your child leaves at 3:00 p.m. and they have not completed all expected work during the day, they will be sent home with that work and the reading log to be completed at home. If your child stays they will complete their homework and work they didn’t finish in hopes they won’t need to bring anything home.
Students ages 4-5 should read a minimum of 15 minutes, ages 6-7 should read a minimum of 20 minutes, ages 8-9 should read 30 minutes, and students 10 and up should read a minimum of 45 minutes. Please remember that if students leave early or are out sick they will need to make up that reading at home.
Please remember that we will be available to speak about your child after 5:00pm. We are more than happy to make an appointment with you.
Please also remember that we are very busy teaching your child(ren) during the day so please leave a message on our answering machine and we will be happy to return your call after 5:00 pm. Thank you!
Mary Harding and Renee Avilla