Principal's Message

Dear Thacher Families,

A big THANK YOU to all the people who volunteered at our Book Fair. We saw LOTS of smiling faces as classes were walking out of the auditorium.

We look forward to seeing you all again for Welcome Back Night on Thursday. Below is the outline for the evening. If you're struggling with the APS App or Rooms, make sure you swing by the pavilion as we'll have a table and staff available to help.

See you soon!

Frank Rich, Principal

Welcome Back Night

Our open house format to one where we invite you to bring your child(ren) and have them be your tour guides for the evening. This is an opportunity for students to show off their classrooms and their work. We ask that you keep them with you and not allow them to wander the building on their own.

In consideration of crowd size and our limited parking, we ask that families adhere to the following schedule based on their family's last name:

Last Name A - M: 5:30-6:15 PM

Last Name N - Z: 6:30-7:15 PM

We recognize that many families are busy with work, and activities, and/or have children in multiple grades. We will allow families who can't make it to their assigned time to attend the time that works best for their schedule.

Here is a break-down of the evening's schedule:

Student Last Name A - M

5:30-6:15: Students will guide their family to the areas of the building they spend their day in (classroom, specialists, etc.). Don't stay in one place too long to make sure you get to see everything...45 minutes goes faster than you think!

6:15-6:30: First session ends. We ask that you exit the building to allow the next group of parents to park and get into the building.

Student Last Name N - Z

6:30-7:15: Students will guide their family to the areas of the building they spend their day in (classroom, specialists, etc.). Don't stay in one place too long to make sure you get to see everything...45 minutes goes faster than you think!

7:15-7:30: Second session ends. We ask that families leave to allow teachers to reset their rooms to be ready to welcome your children in the morning.

We understand that you are excited to meet your child’s teacher and are eager to talk to them about your child but we ask that you refrain from using this as an opportunity for an early parent/teacher conference.

This Month in Health & Wellness 🍎

Hello Thacher Families,

I hope you all had an amazing summer! Our students have handled the transition back to school very well and we’ve hit the ground running in our classes.

As is custom at the beginning of the year, all classes have had a review of classroom rules, routines, and expectations. Students have been encouraged to show the four following characteristics: safety, responsibility, respect, and kindness. They’ve done a phenomenal job so far and I’d like to give a special shout-out to our Kindergarten classes that have had an AWESOME first few weeks of school.

Our first Health and Wellness unit for the year is General Health, with a focus on four dimensions of health: physical health, emotional health, social health, and intellectual health. We are learning how to make healthy choices at home, school, and in the community, along with ways the media can be misleading in marketing not-so-healthy products. Students have also been reflecting on factors that may influence their health choices, such as their culture, surroundings, emotions, and friends or family.

Looking forward to our next unit, we will be reviewing the 4 Zones of Regulation, emotional regulation strategies, and social skills.

Wishing you all health and happiness in this new school year! Please feel free to reach out anytime you’d like, and I look forward to seeing many of you at Back To School Night on Thursday!

Ms. Ashley Hanson

ahanson@attleborops.net

The Lion's Club will be here on Monday and Tuesday to conduct annual vision screenings for Pre-school and Kindergarten students in accordance with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) regulation 105 CMR 200.400.

The vision screening is done using a SPOT Vision Screener. SPOT is a handheld screener that quickly detects a variety of vision problems including nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism. It can also detect unequal vision power (anisometropia), eye misalignment (amblyopia), unequal pupil size (anisocoria), and eye structure problems.

If your child's vision refers, you will be sent home a copy of the screening and a referral letter for a follow up comprehensive vision test.