Cedar School News and Updates 2/10/23

Share our Story

This section of the message is intended to share our story at Cedar School. We invite parents, guardians, and caregivers to share their stories too, by communicating with us and one another. 

There has been a great deal of excitement at Cedar School over the past few weeks. Students were able to reach their goal of filling the “Super Friend Jar” with pom-poms outside of the main office. The students were surprised with a memorable dance party in the gymnasium, where staff and students had a chance to display their favorite moves! Students earn a pom-pom each time that they bring in a “Super Friend” certificate from home. These certificates can be completed by an adult when a child is being safe, being kind, or following the plan. The certificate has been attached with some additional links toward the bottom of this email. 

During the most recent half-day, Cedar staff had the extraordinary experience of listening and engaging with Dr. Charley Haynes from the MGH Institute of Health Professions, Written Expressive Language and Literacy Collaborative (WELL). Dr. Haynes is well respected and recognized in the field of education, specifically in language and literacy, earning many honors and accolades over the years. The professional development time was centered around structured writing and how to incorporate strategies into the new evidence-based literacy program, Wonders. Staff were also presented with the unique opportunity to listen and learn from Dr. Cintia Salgado, who is an associate professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte in Brazil. Staff were able to listen to ways in which early predictors and interventions for language and literacy skills were being used in her home country. 

The Lexia Llama Challenge has already been a tremendous success! LexiaCore5 Reading is an adaptive computer-based program that accelerates the development of literacy skills. During the first week of the challenge, each Kindergarten and First-Grade classroom reached their weekly goal of 40 tickets. This week, we have increased the goal to 50 tickets! When a student completes 3 units, they will earn a ticket that will go toward their overall classroom total. We recommend that Lexia usage at home not exceed more than 15 minutes a day in order to help limit overall screen time. The challenge will run until February 17^th. Keep working hard Cedar students!

Important Cedar Information

Preschool and Kindergarten registration continues to remain open for any parent/guardian interested in enrolling their child. Please know that the deadline for preschool registration will be on Monday, February 13^th. If a lottery is required, it will be conducted on Wednesday, February 15^th, so that the parent/guardian can be notified of their child’s enrollment status before the winter vacation. As a reminder, the link for registration can be found on the right side of the Cedar School website under Student Registration.

We encourage reading every day, however, we are certainly emphasizing this idea during our annual "Cedar Snowball Slam." During the weeks of February 27^th - March 17^th, kindergarten and first-grade students will be asked to read and record in a log each book that they read at home. The log will be provided for the student. Any book that is read to a child will also count. Students will read books or chapters, and they will earn a paper snowball from their classroom teacher which they will attach to their classroom door. Classrooms will compete to see which door can accumulate the most snowballs by the end of the event. We are looking forward to continuing this fun reading incentive and culminating this event with a big surprise for our students!

Important Links

• Student Registration
• HPTA Donation Letter 2023
• Cedar Super Friend Ticket Form

The attached flier shares information about the upcoming Dance Event at Cedar, hosted by Mr. Langton! A registration link will be shared with all families next week:

• Cedar Family Dance Event

General Reminders

• Valentine's Day is right around the corner. Children should not bring in any candy/food for classmates.
• Please help us to remind students that eating, drinking, and chewing gum are prohibited while riding the school bus. 

Shout Outs

We want to take a moment to recognize Mrs. Frank, who is one of two reading specialists at Cedar. Mrs. Frank has been invited to speak at the Silver Conference with Dr. Charley Haynes and Dr. Susan Lambert Smith. The three will be presenting on the topic of Increasing Structured Writing in public schools. This is a remarkable opportunity for Mrs. Frank and a testament to her expertise and commitment to early literacy development. Congratulations, Mrs. Frank!

Upcoming Dates/Events at Cedar