Story Time

Mr. Romeo came into kindergarten today to read a Holiday story to the children.  What a great way to start the vacation. 

Federal Funding Will Allow City's School-Based Health Center to Expand

From the Middletown Patch:

by Cassandra Day

The Community Health Center's Affordable Health Care Act grant will be used to upgrade Middletown's Macdonough Elementary health center, which offer students medical, behavioral health and dental care.

The Community Health Center has been awarded $451,370 in federal funding to upgrade of the school-based health centers including Middletown’s Macdonough Elementary School.

 

Services are now offered in different sections of the school. A new space has been defined that can accommodate all services in one area. CHC will renovate this portion of the building to reflect CHC’s current model of care seen in its main sites.

 Scientist Visits Mr. Ferrero's Third Grade Class!

Students learned that warm liquid like warm air rises.

 On Thursday, December 20, Doug Dischino from Bristol Myers Squibb came into our classroom to teach students about science.  He did several experiments with the class.  Thanks to Doug for showing our class that science is important and more importantly, fun!

Students learned why a 12 ounce regular soda weighs more than a 12 ounce diet soda.

Students learned why ice cubes float by making one sink.

Donors Choose Macdonough School!

Did you know that Macdonough School is a "Donors Choose" school? Many of our teachers have projects posted on the Donors Choose website. 

Supporters of our school donate to the projects and when a project is fully donated, materials are sent to our school. It's a simple way to support the work of the Macdonough School staff.

In the past two years, 50 projects have been funded for the students of Macdonough School totaling more than $20,000 worth of supplies and materials.

Interested in more information? Check out the Donors Choose web site for great Macdonough School projects by clicking here!

Pancakes With My Principal

Three Macdonough School students took a special field trip to the world famous O'Rourke's Diner to have pancakes with the principal.

They were treated to a delicious pancake breakfast. The group also saw important people like Miss Maley (a former Macdonough teacher) and Firefighter Al. They also met Brian O'Rourke (the owner of the diner) and were surprised to see him wearing a Macdonough School t-shirt.  They also listened to a man who was playing music on his guitar and singing Beatles songs.  It was so much fun!

Students were selected for exhibiting SURFS up behavior (Self-responsibility, Understanding, Respect, Fairness, and Safety).

Fourth Grade Field Trip Photos!

Click on the picture below to see some wonderful photos of our fourth graders during their trip to the Nature Center!

Macdonough School Parent Council

Please consider joining us for the January meeting of the Macdonough School Parent Council!

Books Books Books

Mrs Lenihan's class was very lucky to recieve a donation of books from Ms. Kujawski at Middletown High. Each student went home with two books! The students were so excited to share their new books with each other. Thank you Ms. Kujawski!

AETNA FOUNDATION AWARDS $25,000 GRANT TO NORTHERN MIDDLESEX YMCA

AETNA FOUNDATION AWARDS $25,000 GRANT TO NORTHERN MIDDLESEX YMCA

 

-- Funds Support Program to Help Children Get Active --

 

MIDDLETOWN, Conn., Dec. 18, 2012 —The Aetna Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Aetna(NYSE: AET), has awarded a $25,000 grant to the Northern Middlesex YMCA to expand a youth fitness program to seven Middletown elementary schools. 

 

Led by Y staff, the CATCH Recess program teaches noncompetitive games to elementary school students during recess at seven of the city’s eight elementary schools.  Participating schools are Bielefield, Farm Hill, Macdonough, Moody, Snow, Spencer and Wesley.The program engages children in active play for 25 minutes each recess period, leading to improved cardio-health, fitter bodies, stronger social skills and more personal confidence. 

New England Air Museum

Fourth grade teachers Sarah Claffey and Teresa Morello have arranged for their students to visit the New England Air Museum for an exciting field trip.

 

The Museum is situated in three large display buildings consisting of more than 75,000 square feet of exhibit space. The children will have the opportunity to view not only aircraft and engine displays, but many fascinating exhibits on such diverse topics as the Lafayette Escadrille, WWII Combat Gliders, the History of Sikorsky Aircraft, Early French Aviation, a History of Air Mail, the Tuskegee Airmen, Airships, and many others.

 

In addition, the students will participate in a hands on science activity that is aligned with the fourth grade science curriculum.

The field trip, scheduled for May 10th, is being offered to Macdonough School students free of charge!

First graders enjoy a feast festival!

This week, first graders celebrated the end of their social studies unit on Kenya, Australia and Italy by enjoying food from each country. Students enjoyed pasta (representing Italy) corn (representing Kenya), and green beans (representing Australia). Students also listened to Italian, Australian, and Kenyan music while chowing down at their feast festival.

Whoo's here ready to learn?

 

Students at Macdonough have been working on an attendance goal of being On Time, All Day, Every Day! Each day that an entire class is on time to school, they earn an owl for their classroom door. Once the class is on time for 5 days, they earn the "golden owl!" Mrs. Walsh's class is very excited that they earned their golden owl today!!

    

 

Middnight on Main 2013

Middnight on Main is just in its second year, but it's already a new tradition in Middletown.

On New Year's Eve, downtown is filled with people of all ages enjoying Middnight on Main, especially the free 6 pm rooftop fireworks show and the ringing of the New Year's bells as 2013 begins. From 3 pm to 12 midnight, more than 100 events are packed into four blocks of our historic downtown, including music, dance, games, art, film and entertainment of all kinds.

To join in, all you need is a Middnight on Main button, available online and at participating button vendors. Bring your family and friends and celebrate the brand new year at Middnight on Main 2013!

We've received a few family four-packs of buttons for the Middnight on Main Celebration.  If you are interested in joining the fun, just email Mr. Romeo by Wednesday, December 19th to be entered into a drawing for free passes to all Middnight on Main 2013 events!

Holiday Concert

Thanks to Miss DeAngelis, Mrs. Chrzanowski, and Mr. D'Amato for putting together a wonderful holiday concert!

Third Grade Goes to The Bushnell

On Wednesday December 12 the Macdonough third grade went to the Bushnell to see the play Frindle.  This play is based on the book by Andrew Clements, which we read before the play. It is about a boy in fifth grade that decides to invent a new word.  Other students like his word and soon everyone is using it and the word takes on a life of its own.  As a result Nick becomes a bit of a celebrity, but the new word also creates problems at school for Nick.

Thanks to the LEARN program we were able to see this fantastic play.  Students were engaged and excited to see the story that they read acted out on stage. 

Reindeer in Kindergarten

Today the children made reindeer food for Santa's reindeer on Christmas eve and reindeer hats.  The glitter sparkling in the moonlight and the smell of the oats will guide Rudolph and other reindeer to your house. 

Ronald McDonald

Ronald McDonald came to Macdonough School today.  He taught us about bullies and what to do when you see a bully.  Ronald got many of the students and teachers involved.

Ms. Luka Teaches Us Spanish!

Hola! Last week Miss Erasmus' class had a surprise guest read to them! Ms. Luka read a story in Spanish! We loved learning Spanish from Ms. Luka!

Books for Miss Erasmus' Class!

Miss Erasmus' class was very lucky to recieve a donation of books from Ms. Kujawski at Middletown High. Each student went home with two books! The students were so excited to share their new books with each other. Thank you Ms. Kujawski!

 

First Graders Learn About Italy!

First graders "traveled" to Italy today! Students learned about the people, food, and celebrations in Italy. After learning about the country, they got to enjoy a fruit harvested there....grapes!

Elf on the Shelf

The Elf on the Shelf has been visiting Kindergarten everyday! He stays and watches for good little boys and girls. He even sometimes brings goodies for the children! Keep an eye out, you might see him too!

Dear Santa..........

Today kindergarten wrote letters to Santa. Each student was able to personally mail their letter. The mail box is right outside the office if you'd like to mail one too! Ho, Ho, Ho!

Kwanza in Kindergarten

Today in Kindergarten we learned about Kwanza. We read a story about how people celebrate Kwanza and had a picnic with some of the delicious fruits that people eat during Kwanza!