Important Dates

March 28-30 - NYSELA Grades 3 & 4

April 4 - Evening Parent/Teacher Conferences, 5-8 pm

April 6 - 1st Grade Concert, Parent Performance, 8:45 am

April 10-17 - Spring Recess,  School Closed

April 20 - Harlem Wizards vs PVC Pouncers, Croton-Harmon H.S., 7 pm

*****

CET Newsletter March 24, 2017

http://www.chufsd.org/schools/carrie_e_tompkins_es

Message from the Principal, Mrs. Kelly Maloney

Dear CET Families,

Happy Spring! To quote a first grader, “I like spring because the days get longer. The weather gets warmer.” I agree. However, as I write this newsletter, it is sleeting outside!  Mrs. Liss used the changing of the seasons as a way to have her first grade students practice their keyboarding skills. Showing off their abilities to change the size, shape, and color of the font, students wrote 2-3 sentences on why they like spring and they created an illustration using Pixie, a software program that allows students to use text, original artwork, voice narration, and images to communicate. Their work is hanging in the first grade hallway.

Congratulations to the fine job our kindergarten students did in their performance,  “ABC Circus”!  We were very impressed with their plate spinning and tightrope walking skills!  I shared some pictures and videos of their show on Twitter. You can follow us at #CETelementary.

Sarah Pennypacker, author of 23 children’s books, visited yesterday. She met with students in grades 1-4 and talked about some of her books including the Clementine series and her newest book, Pax . She shared with students the importance of writing about things you are passionate about.  Ms. Pennypacker also mentioned that third, fourth, and fifth grade students account for the largest amount of readers in a given age group. Thank you to our PARP coordinator, Heather Illiardi who arranged for our author visit.

In addition to our author visit, students were also treated to a special lunchroom visit by Rocket, a member of the Harlem Wizards basketball team! Rocket was here to promote the basketball game between the PVC Pouncers and the Harlem Wizards. Although CET faculty members are not participating in this event, it is a great evening out for families! Please consider attending and supporting the PVC PTA as well as SEPTA.

We had a nice parent turnout for the Drumming for Fitness evening event that our music and PE teachers hosted earlier this week. I tweeted a video!  It was definitely a good workout and a fun time was had by all!  The Drumming for Fitness program was well-received by our second, third, and fourth grade students! It went so well that our PE teachers are going to have kindergarten and first grade students do some Drumming for Fitness when we return from Spring Break.

I hope that you find our CET newsletter informative, and that it allows you to get a better understanding of all that goes on at CET.

Best,

Kelly

News from the Assistant Principal, Mrs. Kerri Bianchi  

A focus of the CET Building Planning Council this year has been exploring options to revitalize and add on to the existing CET playgrounds.   The members of the BPC have researched what equipment would be most well received and beneficial to our students.  Through student surveys, various playground visits and individual research, the BPC has created a “wish list” for the CET playground and we are ready to begin fundraising to turn our vision into a reality.  Over the next few years, CET will be holding a number of fundraisers with the direct intention of using this money towards the playground.  We are not looking to remove any of the existing equipment but instead add on and enhance what we have available to our students.  Some of the suggestions include the possibility of adding a Monkey Bar Dome, Rock Climbing Wall, Spinning Cozy Cocoons and an underground Babble-on system.  Our plan is to make these improvements in phases so that students can benefit from the improvements sooner.  Our first fundraiser is planned for the week of April 3-7 ^th (the week leading up to spring break).  We will be participating in a “Working our Way up to Change Spirit Week”.  Students and staff will be encouraged to participate by joining in on various spirit days and bringing in their extra change from home.  A separate K12 alert will be sent with details about our upcoming fundraiser.  We encourage families to begin talking about the proposed playground changes at home and help students get excited about being part of the fundraising for their school.  

News From Lauren Fitzgerald, School Psychologist

Helping Children Overcome Test Anxiety

Test anxiety is the uneasiness or apprehension that a student feels before, during or after a test because of worry or fear of failure. Everyone experiences anxiety from time to time; in fact, low levels of anxiety can motivate students to study and perform well. However, when anxiety interferes with test-taking and learning it can cause students to blank out or have trouble paying attention, limiting their ability to think clearly and do their best work. The good news is that parents can help their children manage test anxiety.  

Some Practical Steps:  

• Make sure your child has enough sleep, eats a healthy breakfast, and gets to school on time.
• Make sure your child has the needed school supplies for the test.
• Doing well on the test is usually easier if the child has been completing the academic assignments that lead up to the test. 

Some Other Advice:  

• Motivate your child to want to take the test by praising them for good efforts on their homework and studying.
• Help your child to reduce fear and anxiety. This can be accomplished by helping your child to replace their negative thoughts (e.g., “I am not good at math so I will never do well on this test.”) with positive thoughts (e.g., “I have studied and completed my work, so I feel confident that I will do well on this test.”).
• Teach your child ways to relax if they are feeling tense in the testing situation such as, taking deep belly breaths, thinking positive thoughts as discussed above, and counting to 10 in order to give their bodies time to calm down. 

Things to Avoid:  

• Avoid giving too much reassurance (e.g., “I know you’ll do great!”). This can actually make a child more anxious because they may begin to feel as if you are putting too many expectations upon them.
• Don’t allow your child to avoid the situation by allowing them to stay home because they are feeling anxious about the test. This only reinforces their anxiety by sending the message that these feelings will allow them to stay at home.
• Try not to be impatient with your child about their anxiety (e.g.” Just take the test and get it over already!). Even though you may be trying to convey a message that the test is not something they should worry about, it may actually send the message that you do not care about how they are feeling. Acknowledging their feelings/anxieties about the test is much more beneficial for the child and for you. 

Please take these considerations into account when helping your children to prepare for tests and when helping them overcome any anxiety. Staying calm and helping your child to feel prepared are the best ways to ensure low levels of anxiety and a happy test-taker!

CET PTA

Hello PTA Families,

Lots of exciting things happening this spring! 
Planning is getting underway for our annual Dance Party. We are asking kindergarten parents to join our committee to be part of this event. Please email Karen at kmstapleton1122@gmail.com if you would like to be involved. 

We are also planning CET Has Talent, scheduled for June 8th at Croton Harmon High School. More details to follow. 

Also, tickets are currently on sale for The Harlem Wizards vs PVC Pouncers game on Thursday April 20. You can purchase tickets at www.harlemwizards.com.  Proceeds benefit PVC PTA and SEPTA 

Lastly, we'd like to invite you to join us at our next PTA meeting on Wednesday, April 5 at 7:30 pm. Please try to join us. 

  POSTER CONTEST (Grade 3 - 8)

All entries must have the theme, "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!" written on the poster and the illustration must show at least one thing we as a community can do daily to help protect our Earth. All written words and sentences must be grammatically correct.

All entries must be submitted on white 14" x 11" poster board (half of a sheet of standard size poster board) and can be held either horizontally or vertically. You may use your own poster board or you can pick-up a piece from either Cortlandt Town Hall, Recreation Department or the Youth & Recreation Center.

All entries are due no later than, Friday, March 31, 2017 and must have the  registration form taped to the back of the poster to be entered into the contest. Entries can be dropped off at either location:

Cortlandt Town Hall         OR       Cortlandt Youth & Recreation Ctr
Recreation Dept                              3 Memorial Drive, Croton, NY      
1 Heady Street                                M-Th 2:30 - 8:30 pm
Cortlandt Manor, NY                      F-Sat 1:00 - 11:00 pm
M-F 8:30 am - 4:00 pm                  Sun 1:00 - 5:00 pm