Letter from the Principal - March 24th

 

March 24, 2022

Dear Great Falls Families,

Happy Spring! It is hard to believe that we are heading into the end of March and beginning the last leg of the 2021-2022 school year. I want to start by thanking our parent and guardian community for your continued support. Our students are our number one priority and without the continued encouragement and kindness from our families, this school year would not have been possible. We must all continue to exemplify and reciprocate grace towards one another for it has not been an easy school year.  As a school community, we have remained committed to giving everything we have for our students and their success, and that is something we should all be proud of! To celebrate our students, we have started planning our end-of-year events here at Great Falls. Below are some celebratory end-of-year events to be sure to mark on your calendar.

Week of March 28 - April 1: American Heart Association’s Kids Heart Challenge

The K-5 Elementary Schools are participating in the American Heart Association’s Kids Heart Challenge student exercise event! Throughout the years, our students have made tremendous donations supporting the American Heart Association. The donations can be made in the form of cash or checks made payable to Great Falls. 

Donations are due back by Friday, April 1st.

Week of April 18-22: Spring Vacation

This is the district Spring vacation week. Happy vacation!

Monday, May 2nd: “Step-Up” Presentations

On this day, families will receive a “Step-Up” presentation describing what the next grade for our students will be like. These grade-level presentations will highlight the academic and social aspects of next year. 

Monday, May 9th at 6pm: Parent Connection Meeting 

Following the sharing of the “Step-Up” presentations, a teacher representative from each grade level will be present at our Parent Connection meeting to answer any specific parent questions regarding next year. 

Wednesday, May 11th at 5pm: Great Falls Family Picnic

Join the Great Falls staff and families for a bring your own picnic event on the lawn behind the school!  

May 2nd - May 27th: Spring NWEA Testing

Wednesday, May 25th: Great Falls 10 Year Birthday Celebration 4-7pm

Join the Great Falls staff and students as we celebrate the 10 year "belated" birthday celebration IN PERSON on the Great Falls campus. Although we are still in the planning stages, we hope to include several family events, activities, and food! We hope everyone can join in the fun!

Monday, May 30th

Memorial Day - No School

Great Falls Field Days - May 26 - June 3rd

We are very excited to bring a field day opportunity to our students again this year! We will be hosting the events at the USM Field House. This event will encourage team building and fun as students celebrate the end of the year with their friends and teachers! 

Monday, June 6th - Grade 5 Step-Up Day                                                                                                                                                             On Monday, June 6th at 9:00am, an in-person step-up experience will take place for our current 5th graders with advisors at Gorham Middle School. The middle school will share materials with our students regarding classrooms, teachers, and the middle school experience!

Friday, June 10th - Grade K-4 Student Step-Up Day 

On June 10th, grades K-4 students will also participate in an in-person Step-Up Day. Students will meet their new teacher here at Great Falls and get to know and visit their classroom community for the 2022-2023 school year.

Monday, June 13th - Last Student Day of School

Students will be dismissed at 12:00pm.  Report cards will be emailed home on this day. 

As always, please feel free to reach out to me at any time with questions and feedback. Check out my blog at https://greatfallsprincipal.blogspot.com/ where I recently have highlighted my “Day in the Life” series. I am available through email at becky.fortier@gorhamschools.org and by phone at 222-1050.

Take care and be well,

Becky Fortier

Great Falls Principal

A Day in the Life of a Third Grade Student

 

of a Third Grade Student at Great Falls

I recently embarked on another special day shadowing a student at Great Falls! I enjoyed my time with Sophie and Miss Kein’s entire classroom community. Third graders are gregarious and easy-going. They were cheerful that I was joining them for the day and made me feel like a welcomed part of their classroom. Participation in their morning community circle and start-of-the-day activities reinforced the sunny outlook and excitement about learning these young students possess! 

I was struck by the students’ positive energy! Whether a math lesson or spelling activity, the students were enthusiastic about learning and eager to participate and take turns. Miss Kein did a fantastic job of keeping learning activities quick and engaging, a successful approach for these eager learners. It was important for the third graders to participate in movement breaks throughout the day to boost their concentration and productivity. 

Their excitement carried over to their creative arts session of the day, which was music. Sophie was a tremendous guide as she helped me to select an instrument and modeled how to participate in Ms. Doak’s lesson. The students were thrilled to be given the choice to select an instrument to play for the class period. I was shocked (and impressed!) at how proficient the students were with playing a variety of hand instruments! They were focused and had so much fun. Even when they didn’t play the instruments perfectly, they recovered and tried again. I, however, felt myself exerting lots of effort and realized I am certainly not as proficient as my 8-year-olds friends. 

Returning to the classroom and joining Miss Kein on the rug was such a treat. The students were preparing for their parent/teacher conferences and their excitement and enthusiasm were contagious. Miss Kein adjusted the groupings and work partners throughout the day. This strategy was helpful for these third graders who clearly enjoy a balance of socialization with their peers and work time. 

Lunchtime is a fun experience for students at Great Falls, as it is a special time to be social. During this particular lunch block, the students shared some kid slang with me such as the shortened word “sus” for suspicious. They are adorable and super funny. I was able to see that third graders enjoy being a part of larger friendship groups as the entire table was interacting and talkative throughout the lunch block. 

Once lunch concluded, we headed outside for recess. We participated in an old-fashioned game of “follow the leader” through the Great Falls playground. The students took me through twists and turns as we climbed, swung, ran, and balanced our way throughout the playground. The students love to be creative and adventurous. I certainly got a workout during this recess block! 

My greatest takeaways throughout the day were that third graders enjoy cooperation over competition. They like to be together and work collaboratively with peers. They reminded me that it is always important to balance fun with academic expectations. Keeping activities short and engaging creates the best opportunity for focus and learning. Offering lots of opportunities to move while incorporating times for read-aloud, energizers, and fun games is also important. Even though our third-grade friends are on the 2nd floor, they are still younger elementary students who need lots of guidance, love, and support from their teachers. What an amazing and fun grade! 

Special thank you to my lovely friend, Sophie! 

Much appreciation to Miss Kein and Mrs. Doak for sharing your classroom with me! 

Kids Heart Challenge!

 

Dear Parents,

The K-5 Elementary Schools will, once again, participate in the American Heart Association’s Kids Heart Challenge student exercise event! Throughout the years, our students have made tremendous donations supporting the American Heart Association. 

 

Our school is proud to help the American Heart Association as they are supporting our community in many

ways during this pandemic.  In a normal year, heart disease is the leading cause of death in America, but now

people who have had a stroke or live with heart disease make up more than 40% of those hospitalized for

COVID-19.  The AHA has already funded $2.5 Million in fast-response grants to study COVID-19’s effects on

heart disease patients, launched a COVID-19 Data Registry within the Get with the Guidelines registry that is

used by hundreds of hospitals nationwide.  This has made it possible to learn from COVID patients quickly

and improve treatments more rapidly.  The more that is discovered, the more research is needed.  

We understand that every family may not be able to donate, but all students will enjoy (and learn from) the

weekly missions and have the opportunity to share about heart disease in families and our community.

Before our students ask for donations for the American Heart Association, they will learn (or review) the components of heart health, which are diet and exercise. Diet and exercise are critical elements of both the Physical Education Standards and the Health Standards. This donation drive gives the K-5 Elementary Schools an opportunity to connect these concepts in a thoughtful way.  The students will also learn how the American Heart Association uses donations to help save lives through their education efforts and research.

In addition to providing money for the American Heart Association, this student exercise event provides funds that allow us to enhance learning beyond the classroom.  It is our goal to provide K-5 children with a fun and engaging field day in June where students participate in wellness experiences outside of their regular physical education classes.

  

March 7th -  March 11th  - American Heart Association information and collection envelopes will go home with the students.

March 7th- April 1st - Students will collect donations for the American Heart Association. The donations can be made in the form of cash or checks made payable to your child’s elementary school: Great Falls, Village, or Narragansett.

March 21st - 25th - Students will participate in the exercise challenge during physical education class.

Donations are due back by Friday, April 1st.

We recognize that each family’s ability to contribute at this time may be impacted and strained by a number of factors, notably those associated with the current pandemic we are experiencing.  Please know that a financial contribution of any amount is greatly appreciated, but not expected.  Thank you for supporting this amazing cause! 

Frank Defrancesco Michael Fortier Gary Speed

Great Falls PE Teacher Narragansett PE Teacher Village PE Teacher

February Letter from the Principal

 

February 2022

Dear Great Falls Families,

I hope you all enjoyed the February break with your children. The winter vacation is always a nice time to re-energize for the next stretch of our school year. There are a lot of things happening in the next few weeks that I will detail below for your planning purposes.

February 28th - March 4th is Read Across America Week: This week we will celebrate Read Across America Week with some fun spirit days and school events. 

• Check out the Read Across America website which hosts many links to activities for the entire year.

• Explore our Diverse Books Read Aloud Classroom! We created this last year. It's been updated with a few new titles.

• Join us for book-themed spirit days!  

• Monday, February 28th - Bad Case of Stripes Day, wear stripes!  

• Wednesday, March 2nd - I Want My Hat Back Day, wear your favorite hat!  

• Friday, March 4th - Book Character Day, dress as a book character!

Incoming Kindergarten Registration Night: On Tuesday, March 1st at 5:30 pm, the Great Falls administration and staff will be hosting our annual incoming Kindergarten registration night. Please pass the word about this event on to any families with students entering Kindergarten in the fall! If you have a child that will be entering Kindergarten in the Fall of 2022 at Great Falls, please complete this Kindergarten Survey if you have not already: https://forms.gle/tynZ877fgWAhFjDQ6

Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences: Virtual conferences will be held on March 16th and 18th. The general purpose of our virtual conferences is to connect with your child’s teacher, as well as obtain an update on academic progress and “skills for life.” These progress checks may include students sharing their work products, goal reflection, and the presentation of other assessments and work by the student and/or teacher. As your child will be present, it is understood that issues that are private and confidential require a different forum for communication. It is expected that issues that are of serious concern would have been discussed prior to and outside of these conferences. IEP meetings, even in close proximity to conference dates, do not take the place of student-led conferences. 

Please expect to receive an email from your child’s teacher on Wednesday, March 2nd with directions on how to register for the conference.

Monday, March 14 is our Parent Connection Meeting with the School Committee: Join the Great Falls admin and School Committee members during our next in-person Parent Connection meeting on Monday, March 14th at 6pm in the Great Falls Library.

Wednesday, March 16th is the In-Person Book Fair:  It’s time for the Great Falls Book Fair! This time it will be online and in-person! Even though conferences will be virtual, families can come to the Great Falls library and shop in-person on Wednesday, March 16th from 1:00 - 6:00 pm. Revenue from the book fair helps support our library collection as well as our One School One Book school-wide project.

March Early Release Days: Students will be dismissed at 12 pm on Wednesday, March 9th, 16th, and 23rd.

As always, please feel free to reach out to me at any time with questions and feedback. I am available through email at becky.fortier@gorhamschools.org and by phone at 222-1050.

Take care and be well,

Becky Fortier, Great Falls Principal

"A Day in the Life of a Kindergartener" at Great Falls

 

of a Kindergarten Student at Great Falls

A “Day in the Life of a Student” series happily continues at Great Falls. My most recent experience took me to kindergarten where I was the lucky principal that enjoyed the entire day with sweet Hazel. Mrs. Lyons made sure that I played the part by purchasing matching rainbow t-shirts with flashy sequin embellishment. Coolest shirt EVER!

Starting the day with a morning meeting is a powerful and important component of a kindergarten classroom. Hazel and classmates greatly benefited from taking the time to ease into the school day through a very thoughtful and comprehensive greeting, sharing, activity, and morning message. It was the perfect way to meet the social and emotional needs of kindergarten students while incorporating academic standards. It also reminded me why kindergarten needs a later creative arts block and how important an uninterrupted morning session is to start their day. 

Once the students were ready to learn, Mrs.Lyons transitioned into a literacy lesson followed up by centers. Kindergarten is the start to building a most solid reading foundation! Hazel and her classmates worked on understanding the relationship between sounds and words, reading fluency, understanding what they read, expanding their vocabulary, and building knowledge. They love learning together in a playful environment and benefited from the quick and engaging tasks found at each center. A favorite activity was definitely the rhyming memory match game. Wordplay helps kindergarteners understand how words are broken into individual syllables and how words with similar endings rhyme. Exposing young readers to how letters, sounds, and words work together really builds up their beginning reading skills. 

Lunch and recess came quick but the students (and me too) were hungry and ready to play. I was very curious as to what kindergarteners choose to do at recess and this experience did not disappoint! Recess is a time for kindergarteners to increase their level of physical activity and enjoy games with their friends. Recess encourages creative play and is one of the hallmarks of development for early elementary students. It is clearly one of their favorite times of the day! During this particular recess, Hazel and friends ran and I followed along as we ran to various continents, countries, and states! It was hilarious and at the same time - SO MUCH FUN! I got in a great workout and felt re-energized for the rest of the day! 

If I needed any more evidence for the positive results of cross-age experiences in an elementary school, witnessing reading buddies between fifth graders and kindergarteners would do it! The experience enhances personal and interpersonal skills while improving connectedness to school. The benefits of this amazing relationship increase empathy and relationships and was a joy to watch. Hazel clearly has established a great connection with her two buddies and looked forward to their time together. 

Kindergarteners learn by doing. They enjoy observing, asking questions, touching, and experimenting. Mrs. Lyons incorporated a science experiment about blubber by presenting the question “how do penguins stay warm”? The students were given special glasses that turned them into scientists. The students had the chance to make discoveries on their own. Hazel and classmates enjoyed the activity as they worked on reasoning and problem-solving skills in a safe and encouraging environment. They had a blast learning about how blubber works to keep penguins warm! When activities are engaging and fun, kindergarteners are more willing to participate and take risks. Having fun while learning also helps students retain information better as the process is enjoyable and memorable. 

The afternoon in kindergarten consisted of snack time, math, and social skills. It was wonderful to see a similar math warm-up activity used in fifth grade that was adapted to meet the needs of kindergarteners. Hazel and classmates engaged in several math activities that helped them to recognize numbers, count, and compute.  

From my experience in kindergarten, I would describe our youngest learners at Great Falls as fearless, energetic, considerate, daring, and kind. I am thankful for this opportunity! Special thank you to Mrs. Lyons and Mrs. Sawyer for allowing me to join your learning environments. A great big cheer to Hazel for being the best kindergarten buddy for the day! 

Next up in the “Day in the Life of a Student” series will be grade 3! Stay tuned for more adventures as I continue to stay connected to our students and gain a first-hand perspective of their days at school. 

 

***Special bonus!! During my day in kindergarten, Mrs. Lyons got the text message that she was going to be a grandmother for the 3rd time… this time to her first granddaughter! Congratulations, Mrs. Lyons! 🙌  💖  🐥