March 15, 2019
Dear Moose,
Wow, what an exciting week we have had! Lots and lots of experiences in the arts for our students in one week! On Tuesday, the Pioneer Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra came and performed a wonderful concert for our whole school! Thank you to one of our parents, Elizabeth Pangburn, for organizing this! The concert was specifically designed to teach students some facts about instruments!
On Wednesday the 6th graders performed in their "Living History Museum". The students had read and researched a hero they were interested in. They then took notes, wrote a report, designed an electronic presentation, wrote a script, found a costume and "became" their hero. Some classes and families were invited to tour their museum where they would 'come alive' and tell you about their lives.
Also, on Wednesday, the 5th graders performed the play they have been working very hard on about Sojourner Truth. They performed on the stage for some classes and families in the daytime and then a fancy performance at night. Students had great costumes and had memorized lots of lines and songs to teach their audience about the amazing life and work of Sojourner Truth. On Thursday, the class was able to travel to Florence to take the walking tour of Sojourner Truth's house and work while she lived in Northampton in the 1840's. What a fabulous experience!
Please enjoy several pictures of these events in this RTN!
Today, the Duffy School of Dance delighted us with some Irish Step dancing in the morning. We have some student and parent performers with this group! We are so thankful for the lively, and fun tradition of their performance near St. Patrick's Day.
This year, we have chosen to work with local artist and former SES art teacher BZ Reilly as our Artist-in-Residence. Together with our art teacher Beth, BZ will lead the students through painting a new exciting mural in the 5/6/Pre-K hallway. All students will have time working with BZ and painting. We will have a special showcase to present the work in the spring. BZ will begin her work with students at the end of March. We are thrilled for this partnership and for the continuation of our Artist-in-Residence tradition at SES.
I have attached the MCAS letter to this RTN. This is the same letter that was emailed to families of 3rd-6th graders earlier this week.
There's lots of field trips and events coming up, so please reference our website and the dates to remember!
We're mid-way through March!
Jackie