1.27.19 Principal Notes

Dear McKelvie Families~

This past week was short and sweet at McKelvie!  We are a little more than halfway through the year and report cards are currently available on line.

Congratulations to 6th-grader Maggie Berleth! Maggie's essay titled, "Why I Honor the American Flag" was chosen as the winner for the state of NH. This contest is sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars. We are so proud of Maggie as she will represent McKelvie School and the entire state of NH in Washington DC in March! Please see the photo of Maggie with her winning essay HERE!

Congratulations also to 6th-grader, Yash Veerkar! Yash became McKelvie School's Geography Bee Winner! Yash is a member of Mr. Donahue, Mrs. Ouellette and Mrs. Oliveira's pod. We are very proud of his awesome accomplishment! Please see the photo of Yash HERE with his certificates and medal!

Yearbook Sales:
Sales for the 18/19 McKelvie yearbook have begun and order envelopes went home with students last Friday. Softcover books are available for $25 each and can be ordered in one of two ways. The easiest way to order is online; however, cash or a check payable to "McKelvie Intermediate School" is also accepted. Please click HERE for details.

McKelvie Talent Show:
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 March 6th at 6 pm. Auditions for the talent show will be held...

Tuesday, February 5th from 3:30 to 4:30 - Instruments Only

Wednesday, February 6th from 3:30 to 4:30 - all other acts

Students must fill out this permission slip and return it to Mr. Brown by February 4th. Everyone in your group must turn in a completed permission slip in order to participate in auditions.

Government Shutdown Assistance:
Click HERE for a link for information on assistance, if you have been impacted by the government shutdown.

MIS Kitchen News:
The breakfast program will be featuring a delicious and nutritious Razzle Dazzle Smoothie. It’s loaded with strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and protein packed Greek yogurt. Berries are known for their low sugar, high fiber and nutrient content. They are essential for long lasting energy, ability to focus and concentration during the school day. In addition to breakfast combo meals, the kitchen will be offering a homemade banana streusel muffin. This lovely, healthy treat will keep you feeling satisfied with lots of long lasting energy and a boost of potassium to help with muscle strength and reduce stress and anxiety. Start the school day off with a bang and don't miss out on these healthy, wholesome new breakfast items.

The hot lunch program is featuring authentic ramen noodle bowls on Wednesday, January 30th! It is filled with choices of healthy proteins, assorted vegetables, ramen noodles and our own flavor packed vegetable broth. We have an exciting new meal on Friday, February 1st! The kitchen will be showcasing a fun and yummy super bowl lunch. Show your support by wearing your favorite sports team jersey and come participate in a super fun lunch!

Library News:
Click HERE to see an Adobe Spark from the McKelvie Library of a 5th grade Book Tasting. The library setting was turned into a "restaurant" complete with table numbers, tablecloths, flameless candles, and books on plates. This was a fun event where students had an opportunity to "sample" books at tables with mysteries, fantasies, adventures, historical fiction books, and realistic fiction books. It was great to see students "tasting" various books. These books were older and recent publications. Then they had a chance to check them out from the McKelvie Library!
Have a wonderful weekend. ~Mrs. Cote

PTG News:
HANNAFORD HELPS REUSEABLE BAG PROGRAM: Hannaford on Kilton Road has chosen Bedford PTG to be the beneficiary of the Community Bag program in January. For every green Community reusable bag purchased at Hannaford, on KILTON ROAD, in January, the PTG will receive a $1.00 donation.

COLOR BLAST FUN RUN/WALK COMMUNITY EVENT: Save the date…Sunday, June 2nd as PTG hosts another Color Blast Fun Run/Walk. Registration opens March 15th. Stay tuned for more exciting details.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Jen

1.18.19 Principal Notes

Dear McKelvie Families~

What perfect timing to get the first big snowstorm of the year during a long weekend! Most of the kids are really excited for the storm! Next week, kids will need boots to play in the snow.   Snow pants are optional but recommended.

During snow delayed opening days, any IEP or 504 meetings scheduled prior to 11:00am, will be cancelled for that day and rescheduled. Any IEP or 504 meetings scheduled from 11:00am or later on delay days, will still occur unless the parent needs to reschedule.

READ Project:
We are excited to announce that our whole school READ (Reading for Enjoyment and Appreciating Differences) Project will return for the fifth year at McKelvie! The READ Project allows for small groups of students to gather all around the building, listening to an adult read a great novel.

During a three-week period in March, students will spend 30 minutes a day listening to our selected book read by a faculty member. This is a school-wide, community-building project which includes readers - from paraprofessional to principal - leading groups. Each group will consist of around 9-13 students; groups are made up of either all fifth grade students or all sixth grade students.

We will be revealing this year's title the first week of February and the READ project will begin on Monday, March 18th and be completed by the first week of April! We look forward to an exciting author visit of our chosen book on April 11th! Please feel free to contact our Reading Specialist, Nina Fullerton at fullertonn@sau25.net if you have any questions! More information about the book choice and the research behind this great project will be sent home the first week of February!

McKelvie Talent Show:
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 March 6th at 6 pm. Auditions for the talent show will be held...

Tuesday, February 5th from 3:30 to 4:30 - Instruments Only

Wednesday, February 6th from 3:30 to 4:30 - all other acts

Students must fill out this permission slip and return it to Mr. Brown by February 4th. Everyone in your group must turn in a completed permission slip in order to participate in auditions.

Government Shutdown – Bedford Food Pantry Info.
Please click on the links below for information from the Bedford Food Pantry regarding assistance during the Government Shutdown.
Weekend Lunch Info.
General Info.

MIS Kitchen News:
The breakfast program will be featuring a delicious and nutritious tropical orange smoothie. It’s loaded with vitamin C, the powerful antioxidant beta carotene and probiotics. This smoothie will help boost the immune system, provide some healthy gut bacteria, nourish the skin and promote good eye health. In addition to breakfast combo meals, the kitchen will be offering a homemade banana streusel muffin. This lovely, healthy treat will keep you feeling satisfied with lots of long lasting energy and a boost of potassium to help with muscle strength and reduce stress and anxiety. Start the school day off with a bang and don't miss out on these healthy, wholesome new breakfast items.

The hot lunch program is featuring an exciting new meal on Friday, January 25th! The kitchen will be preparing homemade chicken piccata. These chicken cutlets are baked in a lemon caper sauce topped with fresh parsley and served with mashed potatoes, a whole grain dinner roll and a fresh tossed salad with homemade vinaigrette. This tasty meal is too good to pass up. Come down to the cafe and try it out!

Penny Wars!
The Community Action Team is organizing a Penny War! From January 14-January 25, bring in any spare to change, with all proceeds benefitting the Manchester Audubon and the Bedford Animal Shelter. Every homeroom in the school has another homeroom paired up as their competition. Pennies add to the homeroom total, all other coins subtract from the competitor's total. Any questions can be directed to crowellm@sau25.net.

Box Tops:

McKelvie School is collecting box tops!  The homeroom that collects the most box tops until Feb. break will get a hot chocolate party!  The Box Top App has a bonus offer of 50 extra box tops when you buy 5 participating products at Walmart. All our parents and care givers need to do is take a picture of their receipt within the app after selecting McKelvie as their school and it is an instant $5.00 for the school if done by 1/31/19. Click HERE for the Box Top link.

Library News:
Click HERE to see an Adobe Spark from the McKelvie Library.
Have a great long weekend. Stay safe during the snowy days ahead!
~Mrs. Cote


Save the Date:
Join us on Wednesday, March 13th at 6:30pm at McKelvie Intermediate School for a 90-minute Q&A with Dr. Dawn Huebner, nationally recognized Psychologist, Parent Coach and author of award-winning mental health books for kids. Dr. Huebner is best known for her What to Do Guides - including What to Do When You Worry Too Much and Outsmarting Worry - which have sold over 1 million copies. Rather than giving a one-size-fits-all talk, Dr. Huebner will be answering audience questions about how to recognize anxiety in kids, how to respond to it, and how to build skills to better manage it. Questions can be submitted in advance, written on a note card that evening (to maintain anonymity) or asked live. This is not a group therapy session but instead an informative Q&A that will leave you with a clearer understanding of anxiety, what parents do that inadvertently feeds it, and how to help your child get on the path to defeating it.
Check out Dr. Huebner in advance at her TEDx Talk on "Rethinking Anxiety: Learning to face fear" HERE.

PTG News:
PRINCIPAL WINTER READING NIGHT - REGISTER BY JANUARY 18TH: Dress in your PJ’s, bring a blanket and come listen to all the Bedford Principal’s read you a story. This fun filled family event will be held on Thursday, January 24TH (Snow Date January 31st) at the McKelvie Intermediate School cafeteria. Choose between two session times 4:30pm or 6:30pm, click HERE for more details. If you plan to attend, be sure to REGISTER for this event by January 18th, by filling out this REGISTRATION FORM

BARNES AND NOBLE EVENT: Join PTG January 25th – 26th at the Barnes and Noble Manchester for a great family event. See amazing student art projects from all Bedford Schools, enjoy a performance by the McKelvie Music Department and listen to stories read by Bedford’s elementary teachers and MORE. A portion of all sales that weekend will benefit Bedford schools, so be sure to mention PTG at check out. For more information click HERE. Event schedule coming soon.

HANNAFORD HELPS REUSEABLE BAG PROGRAM: Hannaford on Kilton Road has chosen Bedford PTG to be the beneficiary of the Community Bag program in January. For every green Community reusable bag purchased at Hannaford, on KILTON ROAD, in January, the PTG will receive a $1.00 donation.

Have a terrific weekend!

Jen Asdot

1.11.19 Principal Notes

Dear McKelvie Families~

Brrr it's cold! Kids had indoor recess today because it was so freezing, but will be outside next week when it's back up to a balmy 25 degrees. Please encourage your kids to dress for the weather!

There are a lot of important notes this week including Intramural sign ups!

Topic of Conversation: Vaping
Vaping is a topic covered at McKelvie School through Health Class. While student vaping has not been an issue at McKelvie this year, it's important to proactively have conversations with kids about what vaping is, and the health risks vaping can cause. Vapes can contain anything from marijuana to flavored oils and nicotine. Studies have shown that kids who vape are more likely to smoke tobacco products. When vaping materials are found at school, they are considered drug paraphernalia which can bring stiff consequences. For parents, knowing what a vape looks like is key. A vape can look like anything from a cigarette to a mini flash drive. Juul's (pictured below) are a particular favorite among teens, as they are hard to detect and available to purchase through the mail. One of the best ways to keep kids from vaping, is for parents to have conversations on a regular basis about the negative impacts vaping can have. HERE is an article about Juuling, to help in the conversation with kids.
(JUUL PRODUCTS)

Intramural Sign Ups!!

Intramural descriptions for Quarter 3 are posted on the McKelvie website under Intramurals > Q3 Intramural Offerings or by clicking the link HERE. Signups begin on Monday, January 14th at 5pm and will remain open until filled or Friday, January 18th at 3pm, whichever comes first.

Important: All intramurals will start the week of January 21st and run until the week of March 22nd. If you have submitted a form and do not receive an email stating your child is on a waiting list, then you can be assured your child is on the intramural roster. Thank you!

Penny Wars!
The Community Action Team is organizing a Penny War! From January 14-January 25, bring in any spare to change, with all proceeds benefitting the Manchester Audubon and the Bedford Animal Shelter. Every homeroom in the school has another homeroom paired up as their competition. Pennies add to the homeroom total, all other coins subtract from the competitor's total. Any questions can be directed to crowellm@sau25.net.

Box Top Competition:
We are once again having a box top competition to see which homeroom can collect the most unexpired box tops to win a hot chocolate party! All box tops are due Feb. 19th, and the winning homeroom gets a hot chocolate party before February Vacation. Click HERE for the official flyer!

McKelvie Kitchen News:
The breakfast program will be featuring a delicious and nutritious strawberry banana smoothie. Loaded with fresh fruit and yogurt this smoothie will provide lots of energy and protein to start the school day off with a bang. In addition to breakfast combo meals, the kitchen will be offering a homemade chocolate zucchini muffin. This lovely, healthy treat will keep you feeling satisfied with its rich and delicious flavor. It's filled with real cocoa and a great way to get some vegetables in for breakfast. They are just so tasty! Don't miss out on these healthy, wholesome new breakfast items.

Save the Date:
Join us on Wednesday, March 13th at 6:30pm at McKelvie Intermediate School for a 90-minute Q&A with Dr. Dawn Huebner, nationally recognized Psychologist, Parent Coach and author of award-winning mental health books for kids. Dr. Huebner is best known for her What to Do Guides - including What to Do When You Worry Too Much and Outsmarting Worry - which have sold over 1 million copies. Rather than giving a one-size-fits-all talk, Dr. Huebner will be answering audience questions about how to recognize anxiety in kids, how to respond to it, and how to build skills to better manage it. Questions can be submitted in advance, written on a note card that evening (to maintain anonymity) or asked live. This is not a group therapy session but instead an informative Q&A that will leave you with a clearer understanding of anxiety, what parents do that inadvertently feeds it, and how to help your child get on the path to defeating it.

Check out Dr. Huebner in advance at her TEDx Talk on "Rethinking Anxiety: Learning to face fear" HERE.

Bedford Community Food Pantry Food Drive: 

McKelvie is collecting food for the Bedford Food Pantry during the month of January. Please consider participating by donating Canned Pasta (with meat). Thanks for your support!

Have a fantastic weekend!

Jen Asdot

1.5.19 Principal Notes

Dear McKelvie Families~

Happy New Year! Hopefully everyone's 2019 has gotten off to a fantastic start! It was nice having a short week for kids to transition back to school. With any luck, we won't have any snow days between now Martin Luther King Jr. Day on January 21st.

Important Dates:

1/18/19 Quarter 2 Ends 

1/25/19 Report Cards Available Online

1/21/19 No School in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Below are this week's notes:

Throughout the school year, teachers work with kids on various social skills/topics, in addition to the academic curriculum. Some of the topics are broad in nature such as learning to be empathetic, and others are more specific such as the dangers of drug use and how to say no. Social skills/topics need to be reinforced throughout the year, in order to have a genuine impact on kids. Once and done conversations are not always enough. From time to time, Principal Notes will include a suggested topic of conversation to have with kids at home, to help reinforce expected behavior and to give kids the strategies they need to make good decisions. You know your child best. To what degree, if any, you talk with your child about suggested conversations is completely up to you as a parent.  The first topic is off limit words.

Off Limit Words:
Kids at this age know they are not allowed to swear or say bad words. Appropriate language is reinforced by parents at a really early age. We don't always have conversations with our kids about phrases such as "Go kill yourself, "I'm going to shoot/kill you" or "I hope you die", unless they are said by or to our children, because of course kids know they can't say such things! The reality is, kids at this age are impulsive. Every now and again when kids get really mad or when they are joking, they will throw out an off limit phrase. Talk to your child about the weight of his/her words, and reiterate that you can't say things like go kill yourself,  I'm going to kill you, or I hope you die, when you're really angry or as a joke.  These phrases are by no means rampant at McKelvie, but they do occur from time to time. 

Save the Date:

Join us on Wednesday, March 13th at 6:30pm at McKelvie Intermediate School for a 90-minute Q&A with Dr. Dawn Huebner, nationally recognized Psychologist, Parent Coach and author of award-winning mental health books for kids. Dr. Huebner is best known for her What to Do Guides - including What to Do When You Worry Too Much and Outsmarting Worry - which have sold over 1 million copies. Rather than giving a one-size-fits-all talk, Dr. Huebner will be answering audience questions about how to recognize anxiety in kids, how to respond to it, and how to build skills to better manage it. Questions can be submitted in advance, written on a note card that evening (to maintain anonymity) or asked live. This is not a group therapy session but instead an informative Q&A that will leave you with a clearer understanding of anxiety, what parents do that inadvertently feeds it, and how to help your child get on the path to defeating it.
Check out Dr. Huebner in advance at her TEDx Talk on "Rethinking Anxiety: Learning to face fear" HERE.

Bedford Community Food Pantry Food Drive:
McKelvie is collecting food for the Bedford Food Pantry during the month of January. Please consider participating by donating Canned Pasta (with meat). Thanks for your support!

NH Teen Institute:
The NH Teen Institute has a workshop series Staying Connected with Your Teen in Manchester starting on January 9th. This universal prevention program is an interactive and skill based workshop for the parents of preteens and teens* focusing on

improving communication skills
increasing/maintaining bonding
decreasing conflict
creating and monitoring clear standards around health and safety issues.

*ages 11 - 17.

Staying Connected with Your Teen

5 session workshop for parents/caregivers of teens

Wednesday: January 9, 16, 23, 30 and February 6

6:00 - 8:00 pm

Hope for NH - 293 Wilson St., Manchester, NH 

REGISTER HERE

contact Julie Yerkes, NH Teen Institute, for details about the program

jyerkes.ti@gmail.com 978-226-3322

Library News:
Happy 2019 McKelvie! On Friday before vacation, the 4th "Search Slip" raffle was held for the month of December! The "Search Slips" are filled out with the title of the book, the author's last name, and the call number. This is done when students are looking for a book using the online catalog. The student then has an opportunity to write his/her name on the back of the "Search Slip" and enter a monthly raffle! December's raffle winner was from Mrs. Lovering's homeroom. Ella received a $5.00 gift certificate for a sweet treat. Click HERE to see Ella.

Is is too early to think about spring and baseball? McKelvie was registered to participate in the 2018-2019 Fisher Cats Reading Challenge presented by Velcro companies!

Look for the bookmark/form coming home with your child and promote reading for enjoyment! On the perforated bookmark, there is a spot for your child to write 5 reading level appropriate book titles. Follow the instructions on the form. After mailing the form in the 2 FREE tickets will be mailed to the address you list! There is a $3.00 processing fee ONLY if additional tickets are PURCHASED. You can select 1 of the 6 games that your child would like to attend on this form!

If you have any questions,I can be reached at cotej@sau25.net. If your child needs a form, please have them come to the Mckelvie Library. Reading and baseball make a great team! ~Mrs. Cote

PTG News:
COFFEE AND CONVERSATION with Interim Superintendent Mike Fournier: Hosted by the PTG, Interim Superintendent Mike Fournier invites you to “Coffee and Conversation”, Tuesday, January 8th, 6:30PM at Bedford Town Library (Richmond Meeting Room)…LIMITED SEATING-RSVP REQUIRED.

This will be a small, informal gathering to discuss Bedford School District happenings.

In order to be more interactive and personal, seating is limited so you must RSVP here… Coffee&ConversationSignUp if you wish to attend.

This will be a discussion based gathering, so questions and comments will be encouraged.

Additional get-togethers with Mr. Fournier will take place throughout the school year if you are unable to attend or seats are no longer available.

HANNAFORD HELPS REUSEABLE BAG PROGRAM: Hannaford on Jenkins Road has chosen Bedford PTG to be the beneficiary of the Community Bag program in December. For every green Community reusable bag purchased at Hannaford, on JENKINS ROAD, in December, the PTG will receive a $1.00 donation.

FAMILY EVENTS IN JANUARY: Principal Winter Reading Night Thursday, January 24th. Barnes and Noble Days January 25th - 27th. Stay tuned for more details!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Jen Asdot