1997-Annual Town Report - Laserfiche WebLink

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rated with murals of some best-loved children's sto- again made the school's activities exciting and well- i rounded for our pupils. ries. However, the River School's greatest accomplish- Under the direction of guidance counselor, Lois ] ment is the high caliber education provided its chil- Hirshberg, the sixth grade began a student newspaper. dren. We were very pleased, for example, with the This mentalproject exposed our oldest students tud ntsto the dnda- results of the Grade 3 Reading test. Most of our third journalism. the graders were proficient and advanced readers. Some school's first yearbook which highlighted some of the were basic readers,and very few were pre-reader read- activities and s Coombs scenes m theoom 199Chro9 a ademi- ers. Awards Days m June also attested to many stu- year. The ued to represent the voice of our school in local news dent successes. publications. At the Quashnet Valley School, there were many varied and interdisciplinary programs. December 6, The relationship with the Mashpee Chamber of 1997 saw the fruition of over two years of preparation, Commerce was strengthened by the Coombs School's fund-raising and grant writing as our new playground participation in the Junior Achievement program for was constructed. The students had diligently partici- the fifth graders, as well as hosting a breakfast for the for Playgrounds" program. P Chamber in February. our Pennies yam' ted ' a in Parents and community members were very generous 'I with their time,resources and money. With the help of This year's Career Day and Grandparents' and II the Mashpee Education Foundation, a grant was Special Friends Day went quite smoothly and inaugu- rated received from the Willowbend Foundation. The entire Citizenship Day which provided our children process from fund-raising to construction was planned with a glimpse of the concept of citizenship. j and organized by our P. T. O. The first phase of the Representative Thomas Cahir and Lucinda McKay, a playground is a wonderful addition to our schools. Mashpee teacher, were valuable contributors to this ceremony. The 1996-1997 school year at the Kenneth C. One of our fifth grade classes was a very successful Coombs School again functions as a pre-school through 6th grade organization. The average enroll- participant in the Boston Globe Stock Market Game. 'i ment was approximately 530 students and housed Training in several creative math programs, Jumping three classes in each grade. Levels in Math 24 and Hands On Equations were ini- tiated by staff and ultimately implemented with our ' With the exception of the sixth grade which was students at various grade levels. partially departmentalized, classes were all self-con- The traditional International Fair was a tremendous tained. At least one class on each grade level was part of the special needs inclusion model and one of our hit as was the Cape Cod Presentation. The band and { first grade classes was a Title I group. The class par- chorus,gave several exceptional performances. The ] ticipated in a Won Way program which is a phonics- art department's Craft Fair during December was a wonderful exhibit of our children's creative work and based learning approach. the annual ACES Day, Fall Fitness Walk and Turkey 'i We continue to maintain our connection to the arts Trot emphasized the importance of physical fitness. I with a visit to the Boston Ballet's Nutcracker presen- ? tation and Artist-in-Residency program run by Sara In January, the students in grades 7, 8 and 9 were Jacobson which highlighted storytelling, the writing given access to the cafeteria, gymnasium, auditorium process and a focus on Cape Cod and Massachusetts. and Fine Arts areas of the school. The opening of This program was partially funded by the these areas was later than the rest of the building due l Massachusetts Cultural Council. Additionally, local to the delay in the final phase of construction. artist Jan Bexley worked with our fifth graders to cre- , 1997, the high school was officially `f ate three murals,based on various scenes in American On April 13 history. This work was underwritten by the Mashpee dedicated. At the dedication, the keys of the school Cultural Council and Willowbend Children's were officially passed to the School Committee. Charities. Congressman William Delahunt presented Mr. Williams with a United States flag that had been flown We continued our affiliations with numerous orga- over the Capitol. nizations that support and enrich our instructional pro- grams. The Academy of Performing Arts, Cape Cod During the course of the year many new staff Weth Jazz Society, Hyannis Whale Watch, The Green Briar hired. This included the tenth grade faculty along Nature Center and the Jump Rope for Heart program additional staff to meet the demands of the ever 110