PAL Beginners News

We celebrated the great year with students presenting about their lives in Brasil. We also had some good-byes.
Congratulations, students on an awesome year.
Good luck in MS. Enjoy your vacation.
For the ones who are leaving, good luck at your new school.
We'll miss you!
 

Final Lower School Update for the 2016-17 School Year

Thank You for a Great School Year!

As our school year winds down, we would like to say thank you for your partnership. We have so many parents that support us throughout the year. We know that our parent community makes us stronger, we value the time you have spent with us. We hope your family has a wonderful break. We wish all the best to our families who are leaving Graded, and look forward to seeing the rest of our families when we return in August!

News From the Library

Vacation check-out is well underway. Students and parents have been stopping by to return items and check out new ones for the break. Stop by on Mondays, between 9am and 3pm, to trade for new books throughout June and July.

If you'll be traveling or moving to a new home, don't forget you have access to thousands of great books online through TumbleBooks Library (username: graded / password: books) and TumbleBooks Cloud (user name: graded2 / password: login). This works on any device.

Most importantly, have a wonderful time together and make time for reading to your child every day! Even if it's only 15 minutes per day, this has a significant impact on vocabulary and literacy development - and it's FUN!   

Last Day of School Dismissal Time

Just a reminder that dismissal time on Wednesday is 11:30. School buses will leave at 11:45.

Upcoming Important Dates

June 13	Trimester 3 report card online for parents 4:00pm
June 13	5th Grade Moving Up Ceremony 5:00pm (Auditorium)
June 14	Last day of school 11:30am dismissal for all students
July 31	Welcome letters sent by teachers for the 2017-18 school year
Aug 2	New Student Orientation
Aug 3	First day of school 8:05am start time

Around the Lower School Last Week

Lower School Update - June 5, 2017

Volunteer Recognition Breakfast

This Friday, June 9th from 8:15-9:30 we will celebrate our amazing volunteers! If you have volunteered in the Lower School in any way (in class, for a special event, or anything other activity to support Graded) please join us to be recognized. The event will take place in our new Student Center including a special presentation by our LS Choir!

News From the Library

Thank you for your help in getting items back to the library. The majority of library resources were due June 2, but we still have almost 1000 items checked out. Please help your children to look for missing items. We will begin the process this week of marking books lost and sending out fine notices, but we would always prefer to have the materials back. Books are carefully selected based on students’ interests and needs, and getting replacement copies here to Brazil is a lengthy process. Fees for materials not returned or paid for will be added to your son or daughter's tuition fees.

Checking Out Books During the Vacation

Returning students who have everything turned in will have the option of checking out books for the vacation (up to 10 books total per family) on their last library class of the year. Please let us know if you would prefer your child not take books home over the vacation. Special update! If you will be in Sao Paulo over the vacation, both the Upper School and Lower School libraries will be open for checkout from 9-3 every MONDAY during the break. Your child can bring in their vacation checkouts to trade for new books.

If you are looking for suggestions to read together over the break, Dr. Purcell has created a list of books organized by category and approximate interest levels. Click HERE. Happy Reading!

Upcoming Transitions and Supporting Your Child

With the end of the school year quickly approaching, students will be facing a transition whether it be to the next grade, to a new school, or to a new country. These changes can be the cause of much excitement, but also some anxiety. Here is an article from Edutopia that offers some tips on how you can support your child with changing grade levels. And if your family will be leaving Graded, take some time to browse through the resources offered from expatchild.com, and The Spruce. Books can also be a great tool to use to help begin a conversation about feelings your child may have regarding the move. Please click HERE for a list of books that might be helpful.  

Last Day of School Dismissal Time

Just a reminder that dismissal time on Wednesday, June 14th is 11:30. School buses will leave at 11:45.

Upcoming Important Dates

June 7	K5 students visit first grade
June 7	Third Grade Biography Shows
June 8	Learning Community D Assembly 8:15am (Auditorium)
June 8 & 9	Second Grade Poetry Cafe
June 9	Volunteer Recognition Breakfast 8:15-9:30am (Student Center)
June 9	Pre-primary Picnic 10:00-11:00am
June 12	Lower School Talent Show 8:15am (Auditorium)
June 13	5th Grade Moving Up Ceremony 5:00pm (Auditorium)
June 14	Last day of school 11:30am dismissal for all students

Around the Lower School Last Week

Next Year's 5th Grade

Lower School Update - May 29, 2017

Busy Times in the Lower School

In the next two and a half weeks we will have a number of events taking place on campus. More specific details are posted below, along with a summary on the Upcoming Important Dates section of this update. We encourage all families to join us to celebrate some of the great learning that has taken place this last trimester!

News From the Library

We are very proud of the many books that have been read by our students this year! We are working to get the library ready for the end of the school year and would greatly appreciate your help in getting all materials returned. (We currently have 1,317 items checked out of the library, with 390 overdue.) All library resources are due June 2. Please help your children to look for missing items. We will consider items not returned by June 2 lost and will send out fine notices. Fees for materials not returned or paid for will be added to your son or daughter's tuition fees.

Students who have everything turned in will have the option of checking out books for the vacation (up to 10 books total per family) on their last library class of the year. If you are looking for suggestions to read together over the break, Dr. Purcell has created a list of books organized by category and approximate interest levels. Click HERE. Happy Reading!

Volunteer Recognition Breakfast

Next Friday, June 9th from 8:15-9:30 we will celebrate our amazing volunteers! If you have volunteered in the Lower School in any way (in class, for a special event, or anything other activity to support Graded) please join us to be recognized. The event will take place in our new Student Center.

Fifth Grade Moving On Ceremony

On Tuesday, June 13th we will recognize our fifth grade students as they complete their final year in the Lower School. The ceremony will begin at 5:00 in the auditorium, with a social in the Student Center at 6:00, followed by a movie under the stars on the field at 7:00 where students will sit with their families (we will move to the Black Box Theatre in case of inclement weather). Families are asked to bring blankets and warm clothes. We look forward to celebrating this important event with all our fifth grade students and families!

Last Day of School Dismissal Time

It is hard to believe we are already thinking about the last day of school for the 2016-17 school year, but it is just around the corner! You may have noticed last week that the dismissal time on Wednesday, June 14th is 11:30. School buses will leave at 11:45 on that day.

Upcoming Important Dates

May 30 & June 2	First Grade Math Mall
June 1	Learning Community C Assembly 8:15am (Auditorium)
May 29-June 2	Last week of after school activities (except for sports teams)
June 2	Fourth Grade Maracuja Presentations 9:00-10:00am
June 7	K5 students visit first grade
June 7	Third Grade Biography Shows
June 8	Learning Community D Assembly 8:15am (Auditorium)
June 8 & 9	Second Grade Poetry Cafe
June 9	Volunteer Recognition Breakfast 8:15-9:30am (Student Center)
June 9	Pre-primary Picnic 10:00-11:00am
June 12	Lower School Talent Show 8:15am (Auditorium)
June 13	5th Grade Moving Up Ceremony 5:00pm (Auditorium)
June 14	Last day of school 11:30am dismissal for all students

Around the Lower School Last Week

Semana 28/maio a 02/junho

Nesta semana, os alunos do 5o ano se prepararão para a apresentação dos resultados da Avaliação Interna de Escrita em Português. Segue convite aos pais.

Prezados pais de alunos do 5º ano,  

Convidamos a todos para a aula de Língua Portuguesa do 5º ano, em 30 de maio próximo (3a-feira). Nesse dia, seu filho/sua filha irá mostrar-lhe seus textos e as planilhas de correção de nossa Avaliação Interna de Produção Textual 2016-2017, para que os senhores vejam, de perto, o trabalho de expressão escrita desenvolvido por nossos alunos e mediado pelos nossos professores.

Por favor, verifiquem o horário de aula de seu filho/sua filha:

30/maio - 3a-feira

10h10 às 11h10

5C (Turma da Ms. Patrick) - sala E9C

5D (Turma da Ms. Kitto ) - sala E9

12h10 às 13h10

5A (Turma da Ms. Sanchez) - sala E9

5B (Turma da Ms. Murphy) - sala E9C

Um abraço,

Prof.as Rosana Ramos e Sandra Lima

Lower School Update - May 22, 2017

Mother’s Day Celebration and LS Choir Presentation

Last Friday we celebrated our mothers with some special activities after school. Thank you to those of you that were able to join us! The children make some beautiful flower arrangements, created special treats, and even participated in a mother-child yoga activity! Thank you to our LS PTA team for planning such a special event!

Friday evening our newly formed Lower School Choir presented in the auditorium along with the MS/HS Orchestra and MS/HS Choir. We were all delighted with their amazing voices and positive energy. A special thank you to Ms. Mussete for her dedication to our students!

Parent Toolkit

While searching for resources for parents I came across a website called Parent Toolkit. The amount of articles related to not only academics, but also social/emotional development, is impressive. A brief write up from the website defines it as, “...a one-stop resource developed with parents in mind. It’s produced by NBC News Education Nation and supported by Pearson and includes information about almost every aspect of your child’s development, because they're all connected.” The articles are informative and you can select information specific to your child’s grade level. Please check it out!

Technology Use and Children

During our 4th to 5th grade parent coffee several questions came up about technology use and students. This is a topic that we are thinking critically about, and also encourage parents to also be actively involved in monitoring their child’s use of technology. In particular, we encourage all parents to look carefully at the suggested age recommendations for social networking sites and communication applications (generally starting at the age of 13 is deemed appropriate for use). This focus is not just here at Graded, but around the world. When students do begin using these sites and apps, it is imperative that parents understand the potential effects of them, and how to support your children. Here are three recent articles that might be of interest to you and some other resources to assist you:

• Facebook and Twitter 'harm young people's mental health'
• Instagram 'worst for young mental health'
• Parents' mobile use harms family life, say secondary pupils

On a positive note, there are also students using digital media for good! Check out this site:

• Kids creating ripples of good

Also, for some guidelines of technology use (along with ratings and parent suggestions for tv shows, movies, books, and games) Common Sense Media is the leading independent nonprofit organization dedicated to helping kids thrive in a world of media and technology. It is a great resource for parents!

• Common Sense Media

Upcoming Important Dates

May 23	3rd Grade Field Trip: Fazenda de Café
May 25	Learning Community B Assembly 8:15am (Auditorium)
May 26	Fifth grade students visit sixth grade
May 30	First Grade Math Mall
June 1	Learning Community C Assembly 8:15am (Auditorium)
May 29-June 2	Last week of after school activities (except for sports teams)
May 30 & June 2	First Grade Math Mall
June 2	Fourth Grade Maracuja Presentations
June 7	K5 students visit first grade
June 7	Third Grade Biography Shows
June 8	Learning Community D Assembly 8:15am (Auditorium)
June 8 & 9	Second Grade Poetry Cafe
June 12	Lower School Talent Show 8:15am (Auditorium)
June 13	5th Grade Moving Up Ceremony 5:00pm (Auditorium)
June 14	Last day of school 11:30am dismissal for all students

Around the Lower School Last Week