Friday, December 29, 2017

12.29.17

Dear McKelvie Families ~

My family and I traveled to the midwest for the holidays this year.  While away,  we watched the NH temperatures drop.  Now that we have returned, I’m not sure the numbers on the thermometer prepared us for feeling this cold!  I hope that you (and your pipes) stay warm and dry.  Click HERE for a quick Science lesson on what happens to boiling water on the top of Mount Washington!

Just a reminder that we are back in full swing on Tuesday, January 2nd.  In the meantime, below are a few updates - some of which were pre-holiday news.

New Last day of School
To help families keep up with the last day, we are currently scheduled to end school on Monday, June 18th.  This, of course, will change if there are any more snow days.

Cold Weather Alert
Just a reminder that it is winter in NH.  As such, students should be ready to go outside for recess.  For planning purposes, we use 20 degrees as an approximate guide (wind chill is considered).  Students are encouraged to wear hats, gloves, and boots.

McKelvie Places FIRST in Stock Market Game!
McKelvie students make winning investments!  Congratulations to a team of sixth-graders who have shown the world just how much they know about business, the global economy and investing. Nicholas Boucher, Maggie Roberts, Gabriella  ElChalfoun and Natalie Denon have won first place in the middle school division of the  Stock Market Game.  Given a hypothetical $100,000 their investing strategies earned the greatest return on their portfolio.  They will be honored at Fidelity Investments in Merrimack on May 21st.   Click HERE to see a great pic.

What are those Numbers in the ​Windows at McKelvie?
Parents may have noticed that classrooms across the district now have numbers posted in their exterior windows. Those signs are a part of the Bedford School District Incident Command System (ICS). ICS is the nationwide emergency planning protocol established by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The numbers would allow emergency responders to quickly identify classrooms from outside of the building.

Spelling Bee Winner
Congratulations to Adithya Puninchittaya for being McKelvie’s Spelling Bee Champion!  Adithya will represent our school on February 24th in Concord at the State Spelling bee. Congratulations also go out to those who were in the Bee representing their classes: Brady Visaggio, Jake Harding, Paige Gilroy, Pablo Salazar, Yosif Ali, Elena Doughty, Yash Veerkar, Aidan Sevigny, William Lu, Anna Tenn, Sid Jadav, Mishka Allam, Sunny Kovurri, Colin Johnson, Natalie Denon, Ella Dakos, Anna Johnson, Richie Black, Sarah Ray, Joseph Mendenhall, & Leah Boone

Move-a-thon Police Ride!
Congratulations to Kelseigh O'Neil with her friend Grace Krueger for being MAT winners.  Click HERE for a pic.

Select Chorus Sings at Carlyle
A BIG thank you to the Select Chorus for performing at Carlyle Place last week!  Click HERE to see those signing faces!

Grade 5 Snow Passports
Click HERE to see a sale on snow passports for 4th and 5th grade students.


Pinata for Families In Transition
Jack Hinton, RJ Proulx, Carter Crowley, Theo Burdick, Jenna Riccio, and Ayeza Shah from the CAT team just finished a month long project of making a piñata for the Families in Transition birthday parties. They worked every week and did a great job. Click HERE for a photo of the students with their penguin piñata!

From the PTG
HAPPY HOLIDAYS from BEDFORD PTG. Have a Wonderful Vacation.
PTG NIGHT AT PANERA BREAD – Start the New Year off with a night off from cooking and stop by Panera at Colby Court on Thursday 1/4, between 4-8pm, a percentage of the proceeds will be donated back to the PTG. A hardcopy of their flyer must be turned in and electronic versions not accepted. You can find a copy of the flyer here
COMING IN JANUARY …Marvel Night at the Monarchs Game, Principal Winter Reading Night, Barnes and Noble Days, and Yankee Candle! Stay tuned for more details.

Girls Softball
Winter clinics for softball will begin on Saturday, January 13th and continue weekly through mid-March. The workouts will be held at St. Elizabeth Seton from 11:00AM to 12:30PM. Anyone interested in learning the sport of softball is invited to attend no matter what skill level you have. The clinics include throwing, fielding, pitching, catching and hitting drills. Please make sure to bring a bat, glove, sneakers and plenty of water. There is no charge for the clinics and they are conducted by the Bedford High School Softball team. Donations to the team will be accepted but are not mandatory.  For additional information contact BHS Varsity Softball Coach Jay Brewster @ 603-377-0439 or e-mail jaypbrewster@gmail.com.

See you in the New Year!

Michael Fournier
Principal
McKelvie Intermediate School
108 Liberty Hill Road
Bedford, NH 03110
603.472.3951 (W)
603.472.4503 (F)
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Friday, December 15, 2017

12.15.17

Dear McKelvie Families ~

We have one week left before the Winter Break.  I cannot believe how quickly this year is moving!  I hope you are able to catch your breath this weekend and prepare for some family time during the break.  I also want to wish a Happy Hanukkah to those who celebrate.  This is certainly a festive and reflective time of year.  Now, on to this week’s rather short update:

Student Council Spirit Day on 12/22
The Student Council is sponsoring “Holiday Craze Day” on 12/22.  Students are invited to wear their holiday clothing (e.g., ugly sweater, holiday hair, santa hat, etc).  Questions can be directed to your child’s teacher.

Winter Break
A reminder that we will have Winter Break at the end of the day on Friday, December 22nd.  School will resume on Tuesday, January 2nd.

Lost & Found
Please stop by the McKelvie Cafeteria and check out our Lost and Found!  All unclaimed items will be donated to a social service agency during winter break.

Cold Weather Alert
Just a reminder that it is winter in NH.  As such, students should be ready to go outside for recess.  For planning purposes, we use 20 degrees as an approximate guide (wind chill is considered).  Students are encouraged to wear hats, gloves, and boots.

Toys for Tots
A reminder that we are collecting unwrapped toys to share with the Marines on Monday, December 18th.  Also - a BIG thank you to the Bulldogs (Spirit Teams) for contributing to our school’s collection.

McKelvie Winter Concert
If you were not able to attend our Winter Concert or would like to see the video, please click HERE.

Have a great weekend!
Michael Fournier
Principal
McKelvie Intermediate School
108 Liberty Hill Road
Bedford, NH 03110
603.472.3951 (W)
603.472.4503 (F)
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BeBOLD Board Member

Friday, December 8, 2017

12.8.12

Dear McKelvie Families ~

Tonight was the Winter Concert for McKelvie!  It was AMAZING!  A HUGE thank you to everyone who attended.  I’m always in awe at how hard our students work and the positive attitude in which they put forth the effort (most of the time).  Thank you to our entire community for supporting our school.  I am grateful. Below are this week’s notes:

“Ship” Names - This is a new one you should know about (new to us, that is).
There are groups of students (particularly in 6th grade) connecting boys and girls by combining their names.  A good famous example is that Brad Pitt  and Angelina Jolie  = Brangelina.  While innocent seeming at first, there are many students seeking guidance and school administration because they are afraid that this will happen to them.  As you know relationships between adolescents is a challenge at this age.  We are encouraging students to self advocate if this happens to them.  However, keeping you in the loop will also assist us in maintaining sensitivity between our students.

McKelvie & First Lego League
Congratulations to the following students who participated in a competition at Merrimack High School in November: Mishka Allam, Jatin Balasubramani, Sunny Kovvuri, Shruthi Sriram, & Abhinav Vadali! Click HERE for a great pic!

The McKelvie Select Chorus
A HUGE thank you to the McKelvie Select Chorus for singing at the Crèche, Carol and Cookie event at the Church of Latter Day Saints in Manchester.  Click HERE for a photo of the group.

Move-a-thon Police Ride to School
Congratulations to the McKelvie students below who received their police ride to school!  Click on their name to see the photo!

Grade 6 Art Club
A BIG shout out to the following students for painting a winter scene near our library:
Sam McGovern, Andrew Sorvillo, Gianna Tennant, Ashley Medeiros, Annika Saarinen, Adelynne Bunie, Court McCombs, Maddy Campbell, Elif Cakir, Caitlin Fitzgerald, Angelina Czoschke, Maya Park, Autumn Patrick & Ava Vikstrom. Click HERE for a great shot of the students!

From the Library
We have a new 1,000 piece challenge in the McKelvie Library! Click HERE to see some students working collaboratively to piece together the state of New Hampshire!

We recently purchased 11 popular fiction audio titles that can be checked out via Destiny Discover. These titles include: The Crossover, Almost Home, Because of Mr. Terupt, The City of Ember, Flying Lessons & Other Stories, Scar Island, Fish in a Tree, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Rules, Out of My Mind, & A Long Walk to Water.

These are single user copies, just as print books are, however the audio is not too robotic and those who have discovered these seem to be enjoying them. These are just the audio (no text) but some have found listening and following along with a print version is helpful. You can download an app via the App Store and the Google Play Store which will allow you to listen to the audio version via a phone, iPad, Kindle, or Nook. Click HERE for further info. Students can check out these titles directly once they are logged into their Chromebooks and their Destiny account. The audiobook loan period is currently 2 weeks just as print books are.

I also want to remind the McKelvie community of Flipster. This is the platfrom we use for our digital periodicals. The link is on the Digtal Resources tab via the McKelvie Library site. These are the 8 digital magazines that we subscribe to. These digital periodicals include: Discover (Science), Sports Illustrated Kids, Boys' Life, Cobblestone (History), Dig into History (History), Discovery Girls, Muse (Science, technology & Arts), & National Geographic Kids. There is a moblie app that can be downloaded for Flipster as well.

From the PTG
We are excited to announce that McKelvie will be offering another Holiday Book Fair this December.  The fair will include a large selection of award winning children's books and young adult books with a wide range of topics such as science, sports, fiction, fun trivia, mystery and science fiction.  Click HERE to see the AWESOME entrance to the fair!!! Thank you to Karen Sorvillo, Janine Muir, & Jen St. Hilaire!
Our hours of operation are:
Tuesday 12/12 : 8am-5pm
Wednesday 12/13: 8am-5pm
Thursday 12/14: 11am-6:30 pm
Students will be able to purchase books, posters, etc. during lunchtime and free periods. We hope to see you at the Holiday Book Fair.  

GIFT CARD FUNDRAISER THANK YOU - The Bedford PTG would like to thank all those who supported our gift card fundraiser.  The second and final round of orders will be delivered next week.
AmazonSmile! Did you know that every time you buy on Amazon, you can support the Bedford PTG?  Simply visit AmazonSmile and select “Bedford NH PTG” as the organization that you’d like to support.  Now, every time you shop at smile.amazon.com, Amazon will donate a percentage to the Bedford PTG.

Softball Winter Clinics - GIRLS ONLY
Winter clinics for softball will begin on Saturday, January 13th and continue weekly through mid-March. The workouts will be held at St. Elizabeth Seton from 11:00AM to 12:30PM. Anyone interested in learning the sport of softball is invited to attend no matter what skill level you have. The clinics include throwing, fielding, pitching, catching and hitting drills. Please make sure to bring a bat, glove, sneakers and plenty of water. There is no charge for the clinics and they are conducted by the Bedford High School Softball team. Donations to the team will be accepted but are not mandatory.  For additional information contact BHS Varsity Softball Coach Jay Brewster @ 603-377-0439 or e-mail jaypbrewster@gmail.com.

Enjoy the snow this weekend,

Michael Fournier
Principal
McKelvie Intermediate School
108 Liberty Hill Road
Bedford, NH 03110
603.472.3951 (W)
603.472.4503 (F)
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BeBOLD Board Member

Friday, December 1, 2017

12.1.17

Dear McKelvie Families ~
I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and adjusted well to the school schedule.  It is December 1st and the mild weather does not feel like the holidays to me.  So - I’m hoping we take advantage of this and continue to hit the books until Winter Break!  There is a lot to learn and this is a perfect time to end the calendar year on a successful note.  Below are this week’s notes:

Toys for Tots
It’s time for the Community Action Team’s annual Toys for Tots drive!  Beginning Monday, November 27th and continuing through mid-December, please bring in any new, unwrapped toys so that they can be donated to less fortunate children in our community.  Collection bins will be located across from the Main Office.  Thank you in advance for your support! Questions can be directed to Michael Crowell at crowellm@sau25.net

McKelvie’s Got Talent (NOTE: Due dates are firm)
Student Council is pleased to announce its annual school-wide talent show!  So shine up your dance shoes, get out your juggling balls, get ready to tickle the piano keys, or warm up your vocal cords.  We want to see your special talents.  This is a chance to show off what you can do.  We know you’ve all got talent, so come and share it on January 24th.  Click HERE for more info.

Hannaford Helps Schools
This program ends on December 2nd.  If you have Hannaford dollars, please turn them into the Jenkins Road location or drop them off at McKelvie.  Thank you!

Limo Ride Home
Congratulations to William Perkins and his friend Lucas Sampo on their limo ride home (Move-a-thon prize).  Click HERE to see them.

Fire Truck Ride to School
Move-A-Thon winners for the Fire Truck ride to school.  Both winners - Caroline Barrett & Toren Harrington -  shared Hot Chocolate & Munchkin treats with the firefighters upon arrival.

Homework Club
Mark your calendars.  NO HWC on December 21st.

Holiday Book Fair
We are excited to announce that McKelvie will be offering another Holiday Book Fair this December.  The fair will include a large selection of award winning children's books and young adult books with a wide range of topics such as science, sports, fiction, fun trivia, mystery and science fiction.  Our hours of operation are:
Tuesday 12/12 : 8am-5pm
Wednesday 12/13: 8am-5pm
Thursday 12/14: 11am-6:30 pm
Students will be able to purchase books, posters, etc. during lunchtime and free periods. We hope to see you at the Holiday Book Fair.

From the Library
It was wonderful to see so many staff, students, and parents/special friends at the McKelvie Meets @ the Movies event Monday, Nov. 20th. Thank you to all who were able to come to this great event! When the movie was over, it was exciting to hear all of the reactions and comparisons to the book Wonder by R.J. Palacio. Most would agree that this is a must read book and a must see movie.

Click HERE and HERE and to see students using the McKelvie Virtual Reality Goggles. We went on two separate tours, America Expands West and The Gold Rush! These tours are great visuals to support the Lens of History Unit.

Congratulations to our 3rd search slip winner of the year! Click HERE to see Julia and her sweet treat prize. Great job filling out a "Search Slip" when looking for a book @ the McKelvie Library!

ScreenAgers - Growing up in the Digital Age Screening
“I’ve Got Your Back” (IGYB) would like to invite you to join us for a special screening of ScreenAgers - Growing Up in the Digital Age on Wednesday, December 6, 2017 from 6pm-8pm at Ross A. Lurgio Middle School.  Click here to view the flyer.

Bedford High School Key Club: Gingerbread House Extravaganza Fundraiser
Come celebrate the holiday season at BHS Key Club’s town-wide Gingerbread House Extravaganza fundraiser! Design, create, and decorate your very own gingerbread house. Amidst the fun, you can help out families in need after the devastation of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico by dropping off a much-appreciated monetary donation as the entrance fee. Help us spread happiness and come enjoy the holidays with your family and friends on the evening of Friday, December 15th. For more info, check out our flyer!"

Meet at the Movies
It was wonderful to see so many staff, students, and parents/special friends at the McKelvie Meets @ the Movies event. Thank you to all who were able to come to Monday night's event! When the movie was over, it was exciting to hear all of the reactions and comparisons to the book Wonder by R.J. Palacio.  

Click HERE and HERE and to see students using the McKelvie Virtual Reality Goggles. We went on two separate tours, The American West and The Gold Rush! These tours are great visuals to support the Lens of History Unit.



From the PTG
SKI AND SKATE THANK YOU - The Bedford PTG would like to thank all those who came out in support of the PTG and the Bedford School District at our annual Ski and Skate Sale. Thank you all who dropped off merchandise to sell (consignor checks should be delivered by mid-December for sold items), to those who came to shop, and to all those who volunteered their time to help!
SCREENAGERS: Growing up in the Digital Age Documentary -  Join us for a special screening on Wednesday, December 6th 6-8pm at Lurgio. Following the movie there will be a panel of staff and guidance for a discussion and Q&A session.
Are you watching kids scroll through life, with their rapid-fire thumbs and a six-second attention span? The film SCREENAGERS…explores struggles over social media, video games, academics and internet addiction. Through poignant, and unexpectedly funny stories, along with surprising insights from authors, psychologists, and brain scientists, SCREENAGERS reveals how tech time impacts kids’ development and offers solutions on how adults can empower kids to best navigate the digital world and find balance. Visit ScreenagersMovie for more information.
PTG NIGHT AT PANERA BREAD – Take the night off from cooking and stop by Panera at Colby Court on Thursday 12/7, between 4-8pm, a percentage of the proceeds will be donated back to the PTG. A hardcopy of their flyer must be turned in and electronic versions not accepted. You can find a copy of the flyer here: Panera December Flyer
AmazonSmile! Did you know that every time you buy on Amazon, you can support the Bedford PTG?  Simply visitAmazonSmile and select “Bedford NH PTG” as the organization that you’d like to support.  Now, every time you shop at smile.amazon.com, Amazon will donate a percentage to the Bedford PTG.

Michael Fournier
Principal
McKelvie Intermediate School
108 Liberty Hill Road
Bedford, NH 03110
603.472.3951 (W)
603.472.4503 (F)
"Like" us on Facebook!
BeBOLD Board Member