Pow Wow in Kindergarten

Today the kindergarten children dressed up in their Native American outfits and wore them to the Thanksgiving Feast.

Turkey Addition Fun in Grade 1

First graders have been working on thier addition facts within 20.  Yesterday we played a fun game with partners called the Turkey Trot.  Students worked together to quiz each other on their facts.

Macdonough School Donates to Amazing Grace Food Pantry

Fourth graders at Macdonough School organized a food drive to benefit our friends at the Amazing Grace Food Pantry.

Thanks to Miss Kelli and a group of fourth graders for delivering over 225 pounds of food to the pantry!  That weighs more than Mr. Romeo!!

During this holiday season, we are fortunate to be part of a community that takes care of one another.

“Stuff the Nets” Gift Drive to benefit Macdonough School.

Wesleyan University’s Student Athlete Council is sponsoring a “Stuff the Nets Gift Drive” to benefit Macdonough School. The event is scheduled to take place in the Freeman Athletic Center at Wesleyan. 

 

During that time, there will be two hockey nets set up in the lobbies of the Freeman Athletic Center where people can place their donated gifts. During this time there will be different sporting events going on in the Freeman Athletic Center. Macdonough students and families are welcome to attend the events free of charge!

• Tuesday, December 3rd at 7:00 p.m. - Women's Ice Hockey vs. Salve Regina
• Thursday, December 5th at 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. - Woman's Basketball vs. Worcester State and Men's Basketball vs. Westfield State
• Friday, December 7th - Mens' Hockey vs. Hobart College

 

Come down to Cheer on the Cardinals!

  

Governance Council Update

The Macdonough School Governance Council elected two community members to join our leadership team!

• Seb Giuliano is a long-time mentor at Macdonough School and has served the city as our mayor and currently is a member of the Common Council.
• Bobbye Knoll is the parent of a former Macdonough student and currently serves as the Director of the North End Action Team.

Parental Involvement Recognition Award

Our very own, Marilyn Dunkley was honored today at the State Capitol for receiving the 2013 Parental Involvement Recognition Award. The award was presented by the State Education Resource Center (SERC) and the CT Parent Information and Resource Center (CT PIRC) in collaboration with the Connecticut Commission on Children. Parents who received the award were nominated because they have shown active involvement in the their children's school or community; support of their local school and contributions to high-quality education for all children; evidence of their ability to make a difference in their local school or community; and dedication and advocacy to ensure equity for all parents and their children. Congratulations to Marilyn and thank you for all the work you have done and continue to do for Macdonough and our community!

Junior Achievement Selects Macdonough!

Macdonough School has been selected for a one day program by Junior Achievement.  The program will be held on Friday, May 9th.

Junior Achievement Worldwide is a partnership between the business community, educators and volunteers — all working together to inspire young people to dream big and reach their potential.

JA’s hands-on, experiential programs teach the key concepts of work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy to young people all over the world.

Pancakes with the Principal

Four 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).  The pancakes were made by Steve (a former Macdonough student).

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

Guest Readers

Today Mrs. Lenihan's class had 2 guest readers from 3rd grade. Both Brian and Alexis showed SURFS UP behavior in class and picked to read to kindergarten.

Native Americans

Today the kindergarten children learned about Native Americans. They made headbands and vest to wear to our Thanksgiving Feast.

The Grouchy Ladybug

Check out the Cook and Craft with a Book fun the Kindergarten lunch bunch group had at the Family Resource Center this week. They meet every Tuesday and Cook and Craft with a book. Every week they are reading a different Eric Carle book. This week after reading The Grouchy Ladybug, the children drew pictures of grouchy ladybugs and ate a grouchy ladybug salad. Yumm!

Family Resource Center and Preschool Visits the Firehouse

Today the FRC and Preschool walked to the Firehouse on Main Street. Fun was had by all as parents and kids met the firemen and toured the firehouse and checked out the big trucks.

Gobblefest 2013

On Monday, the Family Resource Center hosted Gobblefest in the gym from 1:30 to 2:30. Families participated in various activities including decorating turkeys with bedazzled jewels, playing turkey tic tac toe, and coloring turkey pictures. Everyone was able to serve them self a symbolic trail mix including candy corn, sunflower seeds and pretzels. The FRC Boutique was also set up for families to choose gently used clothing, shoes and houseware.

Join us on December 16th from 1:30 to 2:30 in the gym for another fun filled family event including activities and the Boutique.

Dress Down Days at Macdonough

Did you ever wonder why every few weeks the teachers at Macdonough School are dressed a bit more casually than normal? The reason is a staff initiative to raise money for local causes.

Staff members donate money for each of the "dress down days" and the donations are allocated throughout the year to help Middletown area organizations.

Organizations supported by the Macdonough teachers include Oddfellows Playhouse, the North End Action Team, Amazing Grace Food Pantry, Relay for Life, and the Ruth Lawrence Fund

Pilgrims

The kindergarten classes learned about pilgrims. They made a chart of items the pilgrims had and what they have now. Each child wore a pilgrim hat home.

Macdonough Unified Sports!

Congratulations to the Macdonough School Unified Sports Team for their participation at Saturday's Unified Sports Day at Jack Jackter School in Colchester.

Special thanks to Coach Jakiela and Coach Currier for their efforts to make the day a special one!

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 three years, 75 projects have been funded for the students of Macdonough School totaling more than $35,000 worth of supplies and materials.

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

Mr. Nat visits Mrs. Walsh's Class

Mr. Nat Holmes from the Community Health Center has started teaching lessons in Mrs. Walsh's first grade class.  He came in last week for the first time and will be coming twice a month to teach us social skills.  We will also learn new games focusing on teamwork!

Tweet! Tweet!

Tweet, Tweet, Tweet... 3rd grade tweets about multiplication story problems!  Make sure to stop by our bulletin board across from the office!

Snack and Chat!

Miss Erasmus' class has been very busy studying characters and how they change. Each week a new visitor joins us for Snack and Chat. We simply snack and chat about the current book and characters being studied. This week Mrs. Zakarian joined us! Thank you for the yummy snacks!

SURFS UP in Kindergarten

Today was our November SURFS Up assembly. The students showed their school spirit by wearing their Macdonough shirts.

Board of Ed Member visits Second Grade for Orange Day

Board of Education member, Sheila Daniels, joined the Second Grade for their Annual Orange Party. Mrs. Daniels helped us complete our Pumpkin K-W-L Chart by answering many questions about pumpkins. Students and guests enjoyed healthy orange snacks, (oranges, peppers, carrots, cheese/crackers, goldfish,) and then completed their Pumpkin Math Books. Each pumpkin was weighed, measured and floated! Thanks, Mrs. Daniels.