Pineapples at Macdonough

Thanks to our Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Grant, many of the classrooms had a pineapple treat this week. The students learned a few things about pineapples and got to taste the delicous fruit.

Each week at Macdonough School, new fruits and vegetables are delivered for the enjoyment of our students and staff.

Football Star Visits Macdonough

As the city gears up for the annual football game between Middletown High and Xavier, Macdonough School welcomed a football star to its classrooms.

University of Iowa's Amari Spievey, a resident of Middletown, was back home for the Thanksgiving holiday and made some time to visit his nieces at Macdonough.

Macdonough Basketball Team

Basketball season has started! This year's team is being coached by third grade teacher Teresa Morello. The team will face each of the other city elementary schools during the next few months and conclude the season with a game against the teachers in late February.

The first game of the season is scheduled for December 9th when the team will travel to Farm Hill School.

Macdonough In The News...

The Hartford Courant published a story on the North End Children's Laptop Project entitled "School's Computer Club A 'New Way' To Learn" Click on the links to learn more!

Firefigher Al Visits Third Grade

Third grade students at Macdonough School welcome a member of the Middletown Fire Department into their classrooms each year.

For the past few years it has been Firefighter Al. He visits the third graders once a month for about an hour to discuss fire safety and prevention.

In the spring, the third graders will be walking to the fire station on Main Street to get a tour of the house and trucks.

Winter Session After School Program: Computer Club

Miss Claffey has begun work with a motivated group of fourth grade students in the winter session of the Computer Club. Students meet once each week to work in the computer lab and to learn about the new XO laptop computers.

The Computer Club is funded in part through Macdonough's 21st Century School Program grant.

SURFS Up Celebration

It was a "November to remember" in terms of this month's SURFS Up Celebration!

More than 100 parents and friends joined us to honor members of our learning community at the November SURFS Up Celebration. Staff from the Family Resource Center along with members of the Macdonough PTA coordinated a VIP reception prior to the assembly.

Students being recognized included members of the Scholars Academy, the Running Club, the Computer Club, and winners of the city wide Park and Recreation Art Contest.

Miss Sarah Claffey was also honored for completing the BEST Mentor Program, a three day program organized by the Connecticut State Department of Education. Miss Claffey is now certified to mentor new teachers and work with student-teachers from local universities. We are very proud of her accomplishment!

One child from each class was also recognized as the SURFS Up recipient. These are children who demonstrated Self-Responsibility, Understanding, Respect, Fairness, and Safety throughout the month. The families of these SURFS Up winners were also honored.

The next SURFS Up Celebration is just around the corner and will be held on December 5th!

SURFS Up Food Drive

Each month at Macdonough , the entire school comes together to honor the good things happening in our learning community at the SURFS Up Celebration.

Last month a new addition was incorporated into the SURFS Up Celebration - a food drive. Students and teachers were each asked to bring in one non-perishable food item. The thought was that if each person did a little, together we could do a lot. And we did! Over three hundred items were collected.

This month the cans are already rolling in as we prepare for the November SURFS Up Celebration. Thanks to all for your generosity!

Nurse Parmelee Conducts Vision / Hearing Screenings

Most people know that Nurse Parmelee takes care of children when they are not feeling well. She is wonderful at that part of her job!

What some don't know is how much more she does for the children of Macdonough School. One example is the vision and hearing screenings. Nurse Parmelee does both vision and hearing screenings for every child at Macdonough School!

Macdonough School Read-a-thon

Students at Macdonough School participated in a Read-a-thon on Thursday, November 13th.

Each of the students had the chance to invite a special guest to participate. Many parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles were on hand to join in the fun.

Mrs. Maturo from the Family Resource Center began the festivities by reading the students a poem by Shel Silverstein. Miss Beideman and Miss Loiseau helped all of the students select "gently used" books to read with friends. More than two hundred books were donated for the read-a-thon!

The Macdonough School Read-a-thon is one of several activities included in the School - Family - Community Partnership Plan to increase children's access to literature for take home reading.

The Literary Club

Members of The Literary Club, presented Macdonough School with a generous donation to promote literacy programs in the school. The donation will be used to purchase children's literature for students.

In addition to the donation, the school was presented with a copy of The Trumpet of the Swan, written by E.B. White, to add to Macdonough's read aloud collection.

Veterans Day Visitor

Students in Mrs. Lenihan's kindergarten class were treated to a special visitor in honor of Veterans Day! A sergeant from the United States Air Force came to talk with the class.

Children learned about how members of the armed forces keep our country safe. They also learned about the reason that our country honors soldiers and sailors each year on Veterans Day.

Macdonough School Running Club

Members of the Macdonough School Running Club attended the Freedom Run in Hartford on Saturday, November 8th. The young runners had a choice of competing in the 1/4 mile or 1/2 mile children's race which were run adjacent to the State Capitol and through Bushnell Park.

The race was run in honor of the men and women serving our country. Members of the Governor's Foot Guard began the day with a wonderful flag presentation.

The Macdonough School runners fared well winning first place in both the 1/4 mile race and the 1/2 mile race!

In addition to patriotic race t-shirts each child was awarded a race medal as he or she crossed the finish line.

Macdonough School's participation in the race was sponsored by the Hartford Marathon Foundation and 21st Century Schools Program.

The Macdonough School Running Club will be taking a winter break and resume racing on Saint Patrick's Weekend in March with the The O’Hartford 5K and Wee Mile Race.

Nurturing Pathways at the Macdonough FRC

There is great new program that Laura Maturo is offering at the Macdonough School Family Resource Center.

For the past 5 weeks, Laura has been offering Nurturing Pathways for babies ( birth to pre-walking) and caregivers. The classes combine developmental activities, music, movement and bonding activities. It really is a cutting edge program and the parents/caregivers coming just love it. You can tell the children also respond positively and are very engaged because everyone is ready for a nap afterward. They give it their all! Hopefully, the Family Resource Center will be able to offer classes again for "waddlers" and preschoolers.

The Family Resource Center is a "must visit" for families with little ones. For more information, feel free to contact Laura Maturo at Macdonough (347-8553).

Bring a Special Friend to Lunch Day

The first Friday of each month, special friends are invited to Macdonough School to have lunch with our students. While many of guests are moms and dads, there are a fair share of grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and neighbors.

More than 75 "special friends" came to Macdonough on November 7th to enjoy lunch making this one of the best attended programs to date.

"Bring a Special Friend to Lunch Day" is part of Macdonough's School - Family - Community Partnership plan. The goal of the plan is to provide additional opportunities to involve families in the education of their children.

Bread Day at Macdonough

Occasionally the Connecticut Food Bank drops off a couple of hundred loaves of bread for Macdonough families. This is not your average peanut butter and jelly sandwich bread, it's the really good stuff! Roasted Garlic Ciabbatta Stix, Seven Grain Batard, and Cranberry Harvest Rolls to name a few.

Parents who come to pick up their children from school are treated to a couple of complimentary loaves. Just the thing to add to the evening's dinner menu.

Bread Day is coordinated by the staff of the school's Family Resource Center. It's another one of the great things about Macdonough School!

Macdonough School PTA

Members of the Macdonough School PTA conducted their November meeting on Thursday, November 6th at 3:30 p.m. in the school library. The group discussed the success of the Halloween party and made plans for another family event in late November.

If you'd like to get involved in the PTA, but can't attend a meeting, consider volunteering for a couple of hours at the PTA Book Fair during the week of December 1st through December 5th. Information will be sent home soon!

Rotary Club Provides Dictionaries for 3rd Grade!

Special thanks to the Middletown Rotary Club for providing each child in third grade with a brand new dictionary.

The gift was made possible through the Dr. Wilfredo Nieves Dictionary Project.

Mock Presidential Election at Macdonough

Students at Macdonough School participated in a Mock Presidential Election on Monday. Mrs. Brick coordinated voter registration for each third, fourth, and fifth grade student and conducted the actual election.

The results? Barack Obama won in a landslide!

We'll be looking forward to Election Day to see if the Macdonough student results matched the rest of the country!

Macdonough School in the News

The Middletown Press published a story on the North End Children's Laptop Project entitled "NEAT Provides Children with Free Laptops." Click on the links to learn more!