May 1, 2016


Greetings Quashnet School Community,            

Happy May Day!  May is measurement month at Quashnet School with PARCC testing beginning next week. Students will be logging onto their Chromebooks to show all they know! Students in grades 3-6 will each be participating in four sessions of ELA assessments.  Each session will last 90-110 minutes.  The complete testing schedule is below:

•  ELA PARCC testing Grade 3-6:   Tuesday, May 10th - Friday, May 13th
•  Grade 5 Science MCAS:   Wednesday, May 18 and Thursday, May 19th
•  Math PARCC testing - Grade 3-5: Tuesday, May 24 - Friday, May 27
•  Math PARCC testing, Grade 6:  Tuesday, May 24 - Thursday, May 26

A few reminders for parents and students to be ready for testing:

• get to bed early on testing nights
• students should have a quality breakfast before school 
• be to school ON TIME - Please!  Testing begins at 8:30 AM 
• never leave a question blank 
• try your best and use learned strategies to be successful
• practice mindfulness and be confident 

Student PARCC and MCAS scores will not be released until the fall.  As a district and school, we use the school results to evaluate our curriculum and instruction.  The individual student results allow us to identify student strengths and areas of focus.  Quashnet School students have had an opportunity to take a practice test online.  The following link will take you to a PARCC practice site for you to see the types of questions your child(ren) will be answering. PARCC Practice Tests


Did you hear about the Spelling Bee?  Well...last Thursday night Quashnet School was open until 9:00 PM to determine the winner of the Bee. It took over 40 rounds. Congratulations to sixth grader, Sklya Rimple, our first place contestant and to fifth grader, Daisy O'Reilly, who was runner up. All contestants need to be commended for their effort.  Thank you for participating - you are all truly winners to me! Additional pictures are on the picture tab above.

Sixth grade students were treated to a delicious lunch this week from the 
Olive Garden. 

Miss Forsberg's class earned the lunch based on their class contribution to
Pennies for Patients 
sponsored by the Quashnet K-Kids.  

This was one excited group of sixth graders! Nice job helping others! 

Thank you Cori Johnson, Deb Flaherty and PTO for all your work in bringing the book fair back to Quashnet School this week. The set up, working the book fair hours, and packing it up takes so much time and effort.  I can't thank you enough on behalf of our students, families, and teachers.  With the Scholastic dollars earned, PTO is able to support teacher requests for classroom materials to benefit students directly.  Sixth grade has received numerous classroom books and a fourth grade class has a new set of headphones for every students as an example. Read on Quashnet School!   

This Thursday, May 5 is another opportunity to participate in a fabulous PTO event.  Buy tickets at the Quashnet office to a QS/KCC "fun-raiser" at the The Lanes Bowl and Bistro.  $30 for bowlers, $20 for spectators.  Food and entertainment will be provided. Pre-registering for bowling is required.  PTO support = student support.  

To the AMAZING TEACHERS AND STAFF at Quashnet School 

Thank you for ALL you do EVERYDAY for students.  

Tuesday, May 3, is National Teacher Appreciation Day.  

YOU ARE APPRECIATED!    

Friday, May 6th, is National School Nurse Day.  

Thank you Mrs. Moses for the ice packs, bandaids and care you provide everyday!

A couple updates:  

Quashnet School earned $8066 with the Stop and Shop A+ Program this year - a new record!  These funds offset the cost of field trips and add to the school store. Your participation is valued in this program. 

After a full week of composting in the cafeteria, we produced 1/4 of our previous trash totals.  We went from approximately 60 bags per week to 15 bags.  Amazing! Mr. Gus Stickley was instrumental in this process and help from Catherine Laurent, Mashpee DPW Director, was so appreciated. Our compost goes to Mary Ryther of CompostWithMe in Falmouth, MA.   



PowerSchool will be updated this Tuesday, May 3 for student progress reports.   Please be sure to log on to see your child's progress, reports are no longer printed.  If you need your powerschool password, please call the Quashnet Office.  Log in directions are on the Progress Report/Report Card tab above. 

Looking ahead, there is a family paint night coming up on Friday, May 20 from 6-8 PM. A link will be out next weekend to sign up to create the summery sunflower painting pictured here - space is limited so be sure to check the blog early to sign up! 

Have a wonderful and productive week ahead.  
Respectfully, 
Mrs. O'Brien