Aug. 30,31 Teachers’ Professional Development Days
Sept. 1 Teachers’ Professional Development Day
Sept. 2 First Day of School
Sept. 6 No School: Labor Day
Sept. 13--17 Tentative Dates for Terra Nova Testing gr. 5 & 6
Sept. 14 Half Day: State Primary and Half Day Prof. Devel. Day
Oct. 11 No School: Columbus Day
Oct. 28, 29 Half-Days: Parent / Teacher Conferences
Nov. 2 No School: Elections and Prof. Devel. Day

Ms. Ahearn and Mrs. McDermott appreciate the thoughtful responses of their students who completed the Title I Student Surveys this spring. Your input helps us become more aware of your concerns so that we can improve the Title I program at our school.
We also wish to thank the families who took the time to complete our S.E.S. surveys and return them to us. Your ideas will help us improve the S.E.S. tutoring program at W.B.M.S. We’d also like to thank Mrs. Bishko, Mr. Piaggi, Mrs.Youmell, Mrs. Bricker, Mrs. Denis, and all the other staff members whose contributions showcase all the great things happening right here at W.B.M.S.

White Brook will be a completely different place this fall because four very well-known and well-loved members of our faculty and staff will be retiring at the end of this school year.
Mrs. Virginia Duryee, our school’s one and only speech and language pathologist, has worked at this school and at E.H.S. since White Brook first opened in 1975.
Mrs. Mary Szalankiewicz has also enjoyed a long career at White Brook where she began as a special education teacher and then transferred into the classroom as a 7th and 8th grade ELA and social studies teacher.
Mrs. Pamel Estock has taught special education, language arts and social studies at our school for many years. She also worked at Parsons School as a member of the Learning Network and was a member of the R.E.B.A. teacher training group.
Mrs. Judith Denis will be retiring after many years as administrative assistant to the principal. Some people might not realize this, but over the years, she has been the driving force behind the Awards Assembly and the Continuation Ceremony , always making sure that they are stunningly beautiful and inspiring celebrations that show proper respect for the accomplishments of our students.

In June there is a special ceremony for the presentation of the year’s top awards. The following is an alphabetical listing of the awards and the names of this year’s recipients:

Easthampton is full of possibilities for things to do. Sometimes, doing an activity that seems boring and familiar can be fun if it becomes a party or a family event. Here are some ideas:
1. Take a friend or relative fishing at Nashawannuk Pond. (Maybe you can get an ice cream at Mt. Tom’s.)

2. Take Gram and Grampa--and maybe Uncle Harry-- to one of the Arts in the Park concerts at the rotary.

3. Pretend it’s a holiday and go on a special picnic to Nonotuck Park. You can
turn this into a Potluck Picnic if each person volunteers to bring something different: sandwiches, salad, fruit, dessert, and a cooler with juice and water.

4. Learn cool stuff about Nature at Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary. DON’T forget the bug spray!

5. Take a walk along the Manhan Bike Path. How far do you have to go before you’ve counted 12 different kinds of trees?

6. Take a bike ride along the bike path. Try not to run over people who are walking and counting trees.

7. Save up your allowance or lawn mowing money and take your mom or dad to breakfast or lunch at a local restaurant.

8. Train your pet to do a new trick. It can take a long time, and you have to work at it every day, but it’s fun.

9. Start writing a fantastic story in a special notebook. When you get stuck, give it to a friend to work on for a while, and keep passing it around until somebody decides to finish it.

10. Try out a new hobby or . The people at Valley Art Supplies can help you, There are lots of places in the Valley where people teach crafts and hobbies. If you go to the Eric Carle Museum in Amherst, there’s a whole room where you can do art projects.

11. Show your younger brother and sister how to bake cookies, set the table, or tie their own shoes. They’re not that hard to get along with provided they stay away from your stuff.

12. Get together with family members and friends to do something nice for someone else. Maybe you have a neighbor who could use some help weeding the garden or doing chores.

13. Build a tent--indoors if it’s raining--provided your parents say it’s O.K.

14. Invite your best friend over on the hottest day of the summer so you can keep cool together. Even an old video or D.V.D. can be more fun when you watch it with a good friend. Turn off the sound and make up your own lines for the characters to say. This can get really silly.
15. Pick blueberries at Birdhaven Blueberry Farm in Southampton.

16. Tell your parents--or your whole family--a funny joke or story. They work
very hard and they need a good laugh.

17. Take a family field trip to see that cool Lego Blocks exhibit at the Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts in Springfield. Artist Nathan J. Sawaya has made some extraordinaryl sculptures with Legos---yes! The same ones you’ve been playing with since you were two years old. You can see more examples of Mr. Sawaya’s work at www.brickartist.com.
For more information about this special art show, visit www.springfieldmuseums.org

18. Enjoy your summer reading. Since the reading/ P.E. block was added to our school’s master schedule last year, students at White Brook have been actively involved in the process of choosing books and keeping reading response journals. We encourage you to continue with this over the summer months so that you can share summer reading experiences when you return to school in September. By now, you should have the summer reading packet your teacher gave you. If you are new to our school, you are welcome to visit our main office to pick up a packet. The Emily Williston Library also has copies of the packets for each of the four grade levels at W.B.M.S.