Friday, June 16, 2017

The Month of June



The Month of June 

Dear Lincoln Families,

As we wind down to the last few weeks of school, I'd like to provide you with some important information and updates.  

We have much to be proud of in terms of our academic successes but equally important, which I would like to shine a light on is our shared vision throughout Winchester and Lincoln School, of being an inclusive community that embraces and celebrates differences.  We strive to teach and model both kindness and empathy towards one another.  The Ruler Program helps students and staff identify not only our own feelings but also the feeling of others, and how to more effectively problem solve social situations.








Grades K - 5 applied for and received grants for a grand total of $10,000.00, through WFEE, for Kinesthetic learning tools for classrooms. We greatly appreciate this generous gift fromWFEE as it will enable us to more effectively differentiate learning opportunities for all of our students on each grade level.

This year our staff also provided flexible math groups in grades 1 - 5 across each grade level in order to target specific skills and provide greater remediation and enrichment for all students.  We will continue with this model next year.






We have also been learning about innovation/maker spaces that provide additional experiential learning opportunities in all subject areas, to problem-solve, build, create, and explore both within their classrooms and other spaces within the school.  WFEE has generously provided each elementary school with a $2,000.00 grant to create these spaces.  Several of our staff members have visited innovation labs within the district and in other communities to learn about the structures and varying options for creating these spaces.  Our goal is to begin setting up our innovation lab over the summer months, and have it up and running this fall.  We hope to have parent volunteers participate in this as well.  We will have more information to share with families as this space and initiative comes to fruition.





Also, Ms. Hart, Administrative Assistant in our front office, has decided to retire this June.  Please join me in congratulating and thanking her for all she has done and meant to Lincoln School over the years in her role as the administrative assistant.  Ms. Hart has devoted thirty-seven years of service to Winchester Public Schools and to Lincoln School in particular.  She will be greatly missed by the entire Lincoln community. We wish her the very best as she enters this new phase of her life.

Members of the interview committee and I have been in the process of interviewing candidates for the administrative assistant position.  As soon as the interview process has been completed and I have made a recommendation for hire, I will inform the Lincoln staff and parent community.  






Classroom teacher assignments for next school year are as follows:

Kindergarten:
Ms. Cirame
Ms. Shanklin
Ms. Zermani

First Grade:
Mr. DeBenedictis
Ms. Duval
Ms. Nagle
Ms. Zingarelli- Adams

Second Grade:
Ms. Bowman
Ms. Flaherty
Ms. Golovato

Third Grade:
Ms. Fitch
Ms. McEleney
Ms. Revelle
Ms. Thomashow

Fourth Grade:
Ms. Bradford
Ms. McElaney
Ms. McBride
ms. O'Neill

Fifth Grade:
Ms. Blankenship
Ms. Hunt
Ms. Wallace

Students will receive a letter in the mail the second week of August from me indicating who their classroom teacher will be.  Students will also receive a letter shortly after from their individual classroom teacher welcoming him/her to their new classroom.

Last, I want to thank the students, staff, and Lincoln families for another wonderful school year!  I wish you all a relaxing, healthy, and happy summer!

Sincerely,

Ms. Kelly Clough