February 4, 2019
Greetings Fairmeadow Community,
Our 3rd through 5th graders have been rehearsing diligently after school the last few weeks preparing for “The Reluctant Dragon” school play. Thank you to Palo Alto Children’s Theatre and Fairmeadow PTA for partnering together for this exciting performance. The first showing for parents, friends, and relatives is this Thursday, February 7th at 4:30pm, followed by a showing on Friday, February 8th at 7:00pm, and the final performance on Saturday, February 9th at 2:00pm. More information on ticket sales can be found through eNews/PTA. We hope to see you there!
To the parents/guardians of 5th graders who attended Outdoor Science School at Koinonia Conference Grounds last week, I’m sure this weekend was filled with conversations about nature hikes, team building, responsibilities, and persevering through challenges. I had the opportunity to visit our 5th grade firebirds and teachers on Wednesday, and I wish I could have stayed all day to enjoy the beautiful redwood trees and all the activities staff had in store for our students.
This Wednesday, February 6th, our four kindergarten classes will have a Lunar New Year Dragon parade before dismissal around the perimeter of the black top. This event is a quick little “right of passage” as our kindergartners get to shine in front of their “bigger” Firebird schoolmates.
Over the last month, our Asset Building Champion parent readers presented the book Trouble Talk, to all of our classrooms. The book is about the power of words and how they can be destructive. The main characters experience hurtful words within the guise of friendship and learn how to turn trouble talk into healthy talk. Healthy talk provides ways to use words in a helpful, constructive manner to build friendships. In today’s high tech world, gossip and rumors can be spread anonymously and cause wider irreparable damage. We must choose our words carefully and remember to be mindful, digital citizens as well. Students learned how to be a friendship role model, repair relationships with a genuine apology, and how to have an open heart in order to give second chances. Following a discussion of the book, our younger students did a “Healthy Words Heart” activity, while our 4th and 5th grade classes did a “Crumpled Heart” activity in their classes. We also reminded our students to “THINK”: T-is it True?, H-is it Helpful?, I- is it Inspiring?, N-is it Necessary?, K- is it Kind? Teachers and school staff regularly revisit themes explored during our ABC Reader Program in classrooms and on the playground. You can help reinforce concepts too by talking with your child about recognizing and responding to emotions and utilizing common ABC vocabulary and themes from the books read. Most importantly, we all must model the behavior we expect to see from our children!
Please take note of the long weekend coming up in February with three non-school days, first on February 14th for our Staff Development Day, followed by February 15th,and February 18th for Presidents’ Day.
Sincerely,
Iris Wong
Principal
