January 28, 2018 



Dear Quashnet School Community, 

New WIN groups will begin on Monday. Session 2 after school clubs start this Tuesday. February is in a few days. Only three weeks until February vacation. Yikes! I wish there was a way to slow things down! Believe it or not, I am beginning the preliminary placements for the 2018-19 school year over February vacation. Although the practice is not to request a specific classroom teacher for your child, if you would like to share any thoughts about placement with me for next year, please send me an email at mobrien@mpspk12.org. The placement process is a challenging one as every student's learning style, instructional level, and social situations are considered. Placement is not done in isolation, classroom teachers, special subject teachers, and counselors all have input in this process to help ensure a productive and balanced learning environment. 

Front Office Super Bowl Day 2017

This Friday is Groundhog Day - are you ready to do it all over again?  Yes, that is SUPER BOWL DAY at Quashnet School! Get out that Patriots' gear and have the kids wear it proudly. We are, again this year, encouraging a friendly classroom competition between classrooms.  Who can do their job the best by celebrating our New England Patriots. I know this is hard to believe, but the New England Patriots are not the favored team by all staff or students, but we will all respectfully disagree and have a fun Super Bowl day of learning! The math and statistics that go into sports analysis is phenomenal and can engage students in real-life application. 




CONSTRUCTION UPDATE:  As most of you know, Quashnet School was originally built as Mashpee Middle School and housed students up to 8th grade. That is why we have a full size gym and behind the gym there are two very large locker rooms - one for girls and one for boys. The locker rooms now are primarily used as a storage area for gym equipment, QS and KCC furniture, the Town voting booths and signs, and Mashpee Recreation supplies. Last week and this week, the DPW will be cleaning out the Boys' locker room of all old material and relocating others.  The boys' locker room only is going to be the temporary on-site office for our general contractor.  Access to this space will be locked and there will be no access into the school. The contractor will enter from a door in the back of the building specifically into this space. This will not interfere in anyway with the operations of the school, and students do not have access currently to this space. The benefit to this is that we will not need to place an office construction trailer on school grounds.  Just a reminder - all contractors and workers approved to work on this project will have a criminal record check (CORI) completed and they will be issued a badge to show that.  The first sign of real work will be done over February break, as the contractors replace some floor tiles to prep for greater demo work over the summer.  Unfortunately, the summer is not long enough to complete the entire project so this prep work will make a huge difference.   

Thank you K-Kids for reminding us all last week about the importance of being KIND! The K-Kids sponsored food drive is going well and the Student Council book collection keeps getting bigger. Can you believe the top three classes in book donations are Mrs. Stroshine, Mr. Williams, and Ms. Keohane with each class collecting over 200 books?  


In the front hall you might have seen a clothes line with scarves, hats, and mittens set up. Our students were the recipient of kind grandparents who knitted scarves and hats along with a community member who came to school with two full bags of fleece scarves for our kids. It is so GREAT to see the smiles and excitement on the faces of so many students as they were the recipients of this display of KINDNESS!  Be sure to check out the photos from the week.  

Mrs. Hough & Mrs. Whiddon

If you didn't hear about the Energy Carnival at school on Friday, it is a great conversation to have with your child. In partnership with Cape Light Compact, MMHS teacher, Mrs. Hough, and Mashpee High School students Quashnet students enjoyed an array of interactive energy stations. They worked with circuits, static electricity,  forms of energy, robotics, and beyond! We so appreciate this opportunity for our students. 


In case you missed last week's blog -

Mrs. McCue and Deputy Cahill

Coming soon to Quashnet School, the MPS Nurse Coordinator, Nurse Stacey, along with Mrs. McCue, QS guidance counselor, and Deputy Shaun Cahill of the Barnstable County Sheriff's Department will be facilitating the Botvin LifeSkills Training for Parents, Grandparents, and Caregivers. The focus is on substance use prevention with a series of three classes. We will be hosting both a day and evening session for your convenience, one at 8:15 AM and again at 5:30 PM.  Registration will be forthcoming.  The dates are March 12, 19, and 26th.  Refreshments/dinner will be served and babysitting will be available in the evening.  

Quashnet vs KCC PTO basketball game is coming soon.  Clear your calendar for Friday, February 9th at 6:00 PM.  It is right here in the QS gym.  Come cheer on our parents and teachers as they work to bring the Falcon Trophy home to Quashnet.  This is a great night and the half time show is sure to be entertaining.  Wear that Falcon BLUE and let's go Quash!


A note from PTO:

Friday April 27^th at Color Me Mine in Mashpee Commons, Quashnet PTO is hosting a board making night. This is an adult only event, 6:30 pm to 9:30. Space is limited to just 28 people. Reservations are required by April19th. All the information can be found on the Color Me Mine Facebook page under “Quashnet PTO Mixed Bag Night” or by following the link from the Quashnet PTO Information Facebook page. This will be fun adult night out, and a great opportunity to make a customized decorative sign, while supporting the Quashnet PTO. All funds raised will go back to the teachers and students. So, grab a friend and sign up! This event will sell out fast. Hope to see you there!


  

 

Have a SUPER week everyone! 

Respectfully, 
Mrs. O'Brien