Important Dates

April 26 - CET Parent/Teacher Conferences, early dismissal, 10:45 am & evening, 5:00-8:00 pm

April 28 - Earth Day, Vassallo Park, 10 am - 3 pm 

May 1 & 2 - NYS Math Testing, Grade 3 & 4

May 3 - Experience Science Fair, 5:30-7:30 pm

May 4 - PTA Dance Party, 6:00 pm

May 10 - 4th Grade "Broadway Kids" Parent Performance, 7:00 pm

May 14-16 - CET Incoming Kindergarten Screening by appointment only

May 18 - Around the World w/CET Cultural Night, 6:30 pm

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CET Newsletter April 20, 2018

https://www.chufsd.org/Domain/10 

Message from the Principal, Mrs. Kelly Maloney

Dear CET Families,

At our PTA Principal’s Coffee this week, Paul Gibbons, the director of facilities, shared the upcoming capital projects that will take place this summer at CET.  The majority of this summer’s work will occur in the 3rd and 4th grade wing as the HVAC will be upgraded. This upgrade will include removing the current univents and installing ceiling mounted univents that will deliver heat and air conditioning. The ventilation systems in the health office and gym will also be upgraded. (Please note that the gym will not be air conditioned.)  In addition, the back gravel upper parking lot will be paved and our dumpsters will be relocated. If you have visited CET recently you might have noticed a trailer located between CET and the District Office. This is the construction manager’s trailer.  We are very excited about these upcoming capital improvement projects.

With Earth Day approaching, it is a good time to remember to take steps to help reduce our “eco-footprint”. Students in Mrs. Vlad’s kindergarten class have been focusing on ways to reduce the amount of garbage generated at snack time. The first day that they examined their trash, they identified 47 pieces of garbage that would wind up in a landfill. Three days later, they examined their trash and came up with only 11 pieces of garbage!  WOW! How did they do that? Using cloth napkins and food containers instead of paper napkins and plastic bags helped them to decrease their garbage! Our Green Team, a group of 3rd graders, have been working on educating students on the purpose of the blue and red recycling bins while our Stop Food Waste Task Force have been reminding students not to throw away uneaten food. I encourage you as a family to identify some other things you can do to make less of an impact on our environment.  

I am excited about the upcoming Experience Science Fair on May 3. We have over 50 CET students who will be presenting their project or experiment!  One of the projects addresses traffic congestion and air pollution caused by parents driving their children to school! I am most interested in seeing this 3D simulation model.  Having your child ride the bus is another way to reduce our carbon footprint!

Congratulations to our first grade students who performed “Around the World with CET: Europe” this week. They did a fabulous job highlighting songs and dances from Ireland, Belgium, England, Wales, France, Scotland, Serbia, Romania, and Germany!  Thank you to Ms. Peters for the “Around the World” theme this year for grade level performances. It has been a great way for students to learn about other cultures.  We hope that you will be able to attend our Cultural Night on May 18.

Best,

Kelly

News from the Assistant Principal, Mrs. Kerri Bianchi

A Close look at the NYS Math Exam

This year the 3 ^rd and 4 ^th grade NYS Math test will be administered on Tuesday, May 1 ^st and Wednesday, May 2 ^nd .  The tests will take place each morning over the 2 days and the tests are once again untimed.  The breakdown of the 3 ^rd and 4 ^th grade tests are as follows:

2018 GRADE 3 COMMON CORE MATHEMATICS TEST

Day 1, Book 1- 25 Multiple choice Questions

Day 2, Book 2- 8 Multiple choice Questions, 6 Short Response Questions, 1 Extended Response Question

Total Questions- 40

2018 GRADE 4 COMMON CORE MATHEMATICS TEST

Day 1, Book 1- 30 Multiple choice Questions

Day 2, Book 2- 8 Multiple choice Questions, 6 Short Response Questions, 1 Extended Response Question

Total Questions- 45

Teacher’s help students prepare for these rigorous tests by reviewing and applying math strategies to be used when answering the questions.  They also help by building stamina and providing students with strategies for pacing.  Students are taught to understand the math vocabulary of the tests so that they know what to expect. 

Some examples of strategies being taught are:

• Read the question and think about what the answer would be before reading the choices
• Read through all the choices before picking the best one
• Pay attention to bold-faced words
• Underline numbers in the problem that you are working with and key words
• Eliminate choices that are definitely wrong
• Use the CUBES strategy- circle numbers, underline key words, box out the question, write an equation and solve the problem/write a statement

Parents can help their child succeed by making sure they are well rested, have a healthy breakfast and arrive at school on time on testing days.

Actual sample questions from last year’s test can be found on www.EngageNY.org  

Message 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!

Message from Christine Martins, School Nurse

Hello Parents,

Spring is finally upon us!  Breezy sunny days, green grass, budding flowers, muddy pants, grass-stained knees…  I know the kids are taking full advantage of the nice weather because they are coming in to me with wet, dirty clothes from playing during outside recess!  They come in mud-splattered from having taken a spill during soccer, or running through a mud puddle, or slipping on dewy grass.  We, of course, gladly provide the kids with fresh clothes, however, our stock is running low!  We would greatly appreciate donations of gently-used bottoms for boys and girls (elastic waistband preferred), underwear for boys and girls, socks, and packages of white undershirts (Hanes, Fruit-of-the-Loom…).  We’d prefer new packages of underwear, socks, and white undershirts (for sanitary reasons).  All sized clothes for all grades are needed!

Thank you and Happy Spring!

Christine Martins

AROUND THE WORLD WITH CET: 

CULTURAL NIGHT!

We will be hosting our first Cultural Night at CET on Friday, May 18 from 6:30-8:00PM.  

Parents have volunteered to create booths featuring the countries listed below (25 countries!!).  Each booth will consist of visuals of the country, an activity/craft, dance, and food tastings.  We will have passports for all the kids and each country will have a spot to stamp their passports.  

Families will visit booths from 6:30-7:30PM, then we will have a fashion show from 7:30-8:00PM.  We will set up on the CET field but if it rains we will have it inside the school.  

We invite you to bring the whole family and travel the world with us.  

Greece, India, Czech Republic, Bangladesh, United States, Cajun-South Louisiana, Pakistan, Philippines, Caribbean Island of Grenada, Ireland, Columbia, Portugal, Italian American, Guyana, England, Ukraine/Russia, China, France, Mexico, Chile, Israel, Gambia, Sweden, Honduras, and Ecuador.

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CET PTA

Would you like to get more involved in your child's education? We particularly need to fill a couple of roles on the executive committee, which is a great opportunity to be closely involved with a collaborative group of PTA members who help guide all our activities and advocate for all of our students.

Please contact us at cetpta@gmail.com if you have any questions or if you would like to offer your help!

We would also like to remind everyone to come to the lunch forum on Monday, April 23rd and our PTA run Star Wars themed Dance Party on May 4th. We will have a Gift Basket Fundraiser at the event as well.

KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION

Students who reside in Croton and will be 5 years old before December 1, 2018 are eligible to attend kindergarten, If you are in need of a kindergarten registration packet and/or an appointment, please contact:

Gail Anzovino, Secretary to the Principal

914-271-5184 ext.3212

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UPDATING YOU AND YOUR CHILD'S INFORMATION IN THE K-12 SYSTEM

Change your phone number recently? Have a new emergency contact?

To be sure we have the most up-to-date information for you and your child, you may access K-12 Alerts by either logging on to the CET Homepage where you will find "Parent Portal/K-12 Alerts" or by accessing the Croton-Harmon School District's Homepage and clicking on "Parent and Resident Portal/K-12 Alerts". Once you log in to the K-12 Alert System, you will be able to make any necessary changes to your or your child's information.

If you have any questions, please contact Denise Cuomo, 914-271-4793, ext. 4200.

EARTH DAY - 4/28/2018

Celebrate our planet Earth with your neighbors, local & regional experts, live music, hands-on activities and much more on "Earth Day" at Vassallo Park on Saturday, April 28th from 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM