From the Principal's Desk
Happy New Year! We have lots to share in this newsletter! Please read on! 👀
Personal Technology Devices: In schools, the New Year seems to invite students to bring with them their new gadgets and technology devices. A friendly reminder that personal technology devices that are not being used for educational/medical purposes must remain turned off and stored in backpacks during the school day. Smart watches may be worn as long as they are not used as communication or gaming devices. Many teachers have shifted to asking students to put their smart watches in “airplane mode” to resist the temptation. Please do not plan to contact your child or encourage him/her to contact you during the school day using personal devices. We appreciate your partnership!
Remote Learning Days:
The 2025-2026 school calendar allows for 2 traditional snow days, which we have now used. Going forward, if schools are required to be closed due to adverse weather conditions, the district will implement Remote Learning Days.
What You Need to Know:
- Remote Learning Days for grades PK-5 will follow a regular early release schedule - 8:50 AM-12:35 PM. Students are considered to be ‘in attendance’ when they have joined scheduled remote sessions and completed assigned learning activities.
- In anticipation of a possible Remote Learning Day, technology devices and other work materials will be sent home with students. School-issued devices are intended for schoolwork only. Chargers will not be sent home, as the device battery power should be sufficient for their assigned schoolwork or they can be charged with a universal USB-C cord.
- Non-perishable meals can be provided in advance of a Remote Learning Day, upon request.
- If your student is unable to participate in remote learning, this is considered an absence from school. Student absences can be reported by emailing [email protected], leaving a voicemail at 829-4815 or submitting through the Attendance Monitor in Powerschool.
- Scheduled parent meetings will be held virtually unless circumstances prohibit key team members from participating. Staff will be available throughout the afternoon via email.
How You Can Help Your Student:
- Review your child’s daily schedule, provided by their teacher.
- Support your child to create an at-home learning space with all their needed materials
- Prompt your child, as needed, to log onto remote sessions on time
- Remind students that devices are intended for schoolwork only
- Refer to the Tech Department’s website for technology troubleshooting tips or assistance.
Progress Reports: On Friday, January 30th, you will receive an email that your child’s Semester 1 digital progress report is available for viewing in the Parent Portal of Powerschool (K-5). Paper copies will only be sent home upon request. If you have yet to log in or need to update your contact information, follow this link for instructions on how to do so. Our teachers spend a considerable amount of time gathering and analyzing information to ensure accurate reporting about your child’s progress to date. If you have questions about your child’s progress after reviewing this report, please contact your child’s teacher directly. In March, teachers will be offering another opportunity to formally meet about your child’s performance.
Monday, 1/19 - No School, MLK Jr Day
Wednesday, 1/21 - Full Day
Sincerely, Carol MacArthur
Principal, Grade 4-5
Office Reminders
- Student arrival begins at 8:20 AM.
- School begins at 8:50 AM. If your child arrives after that time, they are tardy and need to check-in at the office before going to the classroom.
- You can report absences, communicate transportation plans or make general inquiries by calling the main office at 829-4815 or emailing [email protected]
We greatly appreciate your attention to these procedures, as they help to ensure that our routines run smoothly and efficiently.
Lost & Found
If you are missing something, encourage your child to take a look at the racks & bins just outside the cafeteria.
Community Corner
Katie Campbell, School Social Worker
Ali Waterhouse, School Counselor
Amy Vincent-Cross, School Social Worker
A Look Into Literacy
Happy New Year! As we transition back into the school routine, our fourth and fifth grade students are engaging in their poetry units. Here is what is happening at each grade level!
Fourth grade students are:
- Exploring poetic devices such as tone and alliteration.
- Reciting selected poems.
- Writing memory and narrative poems.
- Crafting poems using detailed descriptions based on the five senses.
- Creating an original ars poetica, using an extended metaphor.
- Enhancing vocabulary during word work sessions and learning to use appositives for precise communication.
Fifth grade students are:
- Investigating the impact of figurative language on a poem’s meaning.
- Creating similes and metaphors to describe animal movements.
- Defining and identifying implied metaphors, along with using personification and extended similes.
- Writing advice poems using metaphors, composing list poems, and crafting an original ars poetica.
- Identifying allusions and discussing their effects on poems.
- Learning about and composing villanelle poems.
- Creating parallel structure poems.
Check out what is going on at Prince Memorial Library:
Janet Giguere, Literacy Specialist
Math Matters!
Of the different types of numbers elementary school students need to understand, fractions can be the most challenging. To succeed with fractions, students must build on their understanding of whole numbers and grasp how fractions differ from whole numbers. Both fourth and fifth grades are currently deep in their fraction units. Here is a look at what they are discovering in the classroom:
4th Grade: Building the Foundation
In fourth grade, students are exploring fraction equivalence and learn to compare and order fractions using various representations. They then expand their understanding of fractions to include decimals up to the hundredths.
5th Grade: Expanding Fraction Concepts
Fifth graders build on earlier fraction concepts to understand them as division, using visual models to represent problems. They are learning to add and subtract fractions and mixed numbers with unlike denominators. They are also learning to solve “fraction-of” problems, which involve finding a fractional part of a whole. This unit introduces students to finding unit fractions of whole numbers, laying a conceptual foundation for fraction multiplication, which is a focus of Unit 5.
Helping with Math At Home
Try some of these activities to help your child work on fraction concepts:
- Help your child find fractions in the everyday world. For example, fractions are often found in advertisements, measuring tools, recipes, sports reports, etc.
- Encourage your child to incorporate terms such as whole, halves, thirds, and fourths into their everyday vocabulary.
- Make up simple problems for your child to solve about sharing things equally. For example, if four people share three oranges, how much does each person get?
Shannon Peterson, Math Specialist
Library News
The 4th graders enjoyed another Chickadee Award Nominee this week. After hearing all 10, they will vote for their favorite title in Library class at the end of March. After hearing the story of Mavis, students were invited to create something like an emoji or a poem to illustrate a 'spark of bravery,' which are displayed in the library windows.
Both 4th & 5th graders will also be invited to vote for the MSBA of their choice, too, at the same time, if they have read at least 3 nominees from this year's list. We recommend looking at this list every time a student (or teacher) is looking for a new book to read!
PML also offers a book bag subscription program for students in 4th & 5th grades called Book Bounty. It's a great way to get new titles based on survey responses, along with a treat or two!
Dorothy Hall-Riddle, 4-8 Librarian
Check This Out!
Behind the Scenes: The 5th Grade "Balloons Over Greely" Parade
I am so proud to share the results of our 5th-grade "Balloons Over Greely" interdisciplinary project! Inspired by the story of Tony Sarg in Balloons Over Broadway, our students became historians, artists, musicians, and engineers to bring their own parade to life.
From drafting 2-point perspective cityscapes in Art to recording ukulele tracks in Music and building float prototypes in STEM, the students poured immense effort into every detail.
You can view the 2025 Parade here.
In the spirit of real-world engineering, we faced a few "technical glitches" during filming. Currently, a few video files are inaccessible, meaning some students’ hard work isn’t appearing in this version of the parade. Please accept my deepest apologies; I am working closely with tech support to recover these files and hope to share a "Director’s Cut" featuring the remaining students soon.
Thank you for supporting these creative engineers!
The Late Bus
In addition to regular, daily dismissal, a late bus is also available on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday for students who stay for co-curricular activities or after-school academic support. Buses pick up students from GMS at 4:15pm and transport them home. Please be aware that depending on the number of students riding the late bus on a given day, your child's arrival time at home may vary. If you have specific questions about the late bus, please feel free to call the Transportation Garage at 829-4820.
Co-Curricular Activities
Monday:
5th grade Band Mr. Barry Saunders [email protected]
Tuesday:
Chorus - Mrs. Jennifer Caton [email protected]
Thursday:
Newspaper Club - Ms. Melissa Fiess [email protected]
5th grade Ukulele Club - Mr. Barry Saunders [email protected]
5th grade Math Team - Mrs. Laurie Poissonnier [email protected]
During the School Day:
Green Team - Mrs. Monica Moore [email protected]
Civil Rights Team - Mrs. Katie Cassessee [email protected], Mrs. Jane Kilbride-Dupuis [email protected], Ms. Molly Russell [email protected]
Stay Connected
