February Newsletter
Important Dates:
2024-2025 School Calendar
Click HERE for our February Lunch Calendar!
Connect With Us:
Marci Rasmussen - Principal
Caissie Putnam- Assistant Principal
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A Word From Mrs. Rasmussen- Principal and Mrs. Putnam- Assistant Principal:
MCAS Update
The ballot vote in November eliminated MCAS as a graduation requirement in Massachusetts. School districts across the state are now required to certify high school students’ competency through the completion of coursework in English Language Arts, Math, and Science. The Narragansett Regional School District’s School Committee voted to adopt a Graduation Requirements Policy IFK on January 16, 2025, outlining local graduation requirements and competency determination for the class of 2025 and beyond.
Please be aware that districts are still required to administer MCAS tests to all students in grades 3-8 and grade 10. Results of MCAS assessments will continue to be shared with students and families, analyzed by teachers, and used by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for school accountability purposes. Additionally, student MCAS scores are still applied to a variety of recognitions, scholarships, and college applications.
TES MCAS Testing Dates:
April 2nd and 3rd- Grade 3 ELA
April 8th and 10th- Grade 4 ELA
May 5th and 8th- Grade 3 Math
May 13th and 15th- Grade 4 Math
We look forward to helping our students perform their best on their upcoming assessments.
Templeton Elementary School PTO
Next Meeting: TES cafeteria on Tuesday, February 4th at 5pm
CLICK HERE for information about the Templeton Elementary PTO.
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100th Day of School
The 100th day of school will be on February 6th barring any snow days! Each grade level has fun things in store for students!
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4th Grade Scripps National Spelling Bee
Congratulations to Olivia, our 1st place Spelling Bee Winner! She will represent our school in the Regional Spelling Bee! Great job to everyone that participated!
February 2025
Monday | Tuesday | Wed | Thursday | Friday |
3 Full Day | 4 Full Day | 5 Full Day | 6 Full Day | 7 Half Day |
10 Full Day | 11 Full Day | 12 Full Day | 13 Full Day | 14 Full Day |
17 NO SCHOOL | 18 NO SCHOOL | 19 NO SCHOOL | 20 NO SCHOOL | 21 NO SCHOOL |
24 Full Day | 25 Full Day | 26 Full Day | 27 Full Day | 28 Full Day |
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In observance of Valentine’s Day this year, we welcome students bringing in Valentine’s cards to hand out to friends in the classroom on Friday, February 14th. Classroom teachers will have a designated time at the end of the day for exchanging and opening Valentine’s. Guidance from our Wellness Policy does not support traditional parties that include food and snacks. As a reminder, the characteristic trait we focus on during the month of February is FRIENDSHIP. Although we don’t expect everyone to be friends, we do expect that everyone will be kind to one another.
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TES Weekly High Five
Each week we send out an email with 5 important announcements, reminders, etc. These updates are emailed each Friday and posted on our School Website and Facebook. We do this in an effort to keep families informed but not overwhelmed. If you are not receiving these updates please reach out and let us know!
"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation." ~ Plato
On February 5th, our school will be participating in Global School Play Day 2025 (GSPD.) GSPD has been promoted by Psychology Today and is being celebrated at schools around the world. You can learn more about the benefits of unstructured play by visiting the official GSPD website: www.globalschoolplayday.com . Here are some key benefits:
Unstructured play helps children learn how to work collaboratively, to share, to negotiate, to resolve conflicts, and learn self-advocacy skills;
When play is child-driven, children practice decision-making skills, move at their own pace, discover areas of interest on their own, and ultimately engage fully in the passions they wish to pursue;
When play is controlled by adults - such as in organized sports - children have to follow adult rules and concerns (like winning) and lose some of the benefits play offers them, particularly in developing creativity, leadership and group skills.
Play offers adults a wonderful opportunity to engage fully with their children;
Play and unscheduled time that allows for peer interactions is an important component of social-emotional learning; and
Free, child-driven, creative play protects against the effects of pressure and stress.
We are inviting all of our students to bring in things to play with on this very special day. They are limited to no more than 2 toys. Here are some examples of things your child may bring in (be sure your child’s name is clearly marked on all items):
Non-Violent Toys (no weapons)
Legos, blocks
Board Games
Dress-Up
Puppets
Stuffed Animals
Puzzles
Sports equipment
No Electronic Devices will be allowed
Though our play day will be unstructured, it will still be supervised by teachers and staff. It is my hope that this one day of play will inspire families to plan for more unstructured play time during non-school hours.
TES Health Office News
February 2025
Fourth-grade families
4th graders are required by Massachusetts State Law to have documentation of a recent physical exam. Please make sure to send in a copy of your 4th-grade student’s physical exam as they have them throughout the school year.
Classroom Parties
ONLY NON-FOOD items, such as pencils, stickers, small trinkets will be allowed for celebrations in the classrooms. This will allow ALL students to equally participate in the celebration. TES Food Guidelines
Flu Season is here
Please review the flu informational sheet attached HERE. Hand Washing is so important! Please help teach your children how to wash their hands and cough into their elbows. Talk to your child’s physician about getting an annual flu shot.
Cold Weather
The weather is cold; please remember to provide your children with the appropriate outerwear. This includes hats, mittens, scarves, winter jackets, snow pants, and snow boots. It may also be helpful if you label your child’s items. Please also put some spare socks in your child’s backpacks, if possible.
Month of February Health Awareness Topics
American Heart Month
AMD/Low Vision Awareness
National Children’s Dental Health
National “Wear Red” Day (First Friday of February to support Heart Disease Awareness)
Katherine May, BSN, RN, NCSN Meghan LaFreniere, BSN, RN
School Nurse (Grades PK-1) School Nurse (Grades 2-4)
kmay@nrsd.org mlafreniere2@nrsd.org
(Phone) 978-939-1210. (Phone) 978-939-1210
(Fax) 978-939-4438 (Fax) 978-939-4438
Support for Families
Reading Aloud to Build Comprehension
Children learn when they make connections between what they read and what they know. One method parents can use to help make these connections during shared reading time is called a think aloud. In other words, you talk through your thoughts as you read to them. Here are three ways to use think alouds, with examples from some of our favorite kids’ books:
Think Alouds
1. Connect the book to your child’s own life experience.
Example: A River Dream by Allen Say
“This book reminds me of the time my father took me fishing. Do you remember the time we went fishing?”
2. Connect the book to other books your child has read.
Example: Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe
“This story reminds me of Cinderella. Both stories are about sisters. Do you know any other stories about sisters? Let's keep reading to find out other ways the stories are similar.”
3. Connect the book to big ideas/lessons.
Example: Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
“This story helps me understand that we are all the same in many ways, but it's our differences that make us special.”
In these examples, you are “thinking aloud” many of the connections that good readers make naturally as they read. Modeling these types of connections will help young readers know how to do it when they read alone.
Adapted from Reading Aloud to Build Comprehension by Judith Gold and Akimi Gibson (2001).
Check out Reading Rockets’ Books and Authors section for great read-aloud books: www.ReadingRockets.org/books
Visit our sister sites, ColorinColorado.org and LDOnLine.org, for more information about learning.