As I wrote in an earlier blog, to be successful in math, math fluency is imperative.  Therefore, the Norfolk Public Schools has begun a new math initiative.  XtraMath, a web based math product, will be used by all teachers 1-6 beginning this spring.  Some of you may already have children who have been assigned homework using XtraMath.  This will also be used as our summer math program.  XtraMath is strictly math fluency.  The program times children in basic math...

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  I am very pleased to announce that next year, the entire district will change their math program from Everyday Math to GO Math.  With the changes in the Common Core, the spiraling nature of Everyday Math is no longer a good fit.  After extensive research, the math committee (Anne Pizzi, Jen Pfeiffer, Sharon Griffin, Melissa Carnabuci, Ashley Ledger, Robin McFadden, Amy Binette, Debi O'Toole, Sarah Logan, and Carrie McSweeney)decided that Go Math is the best product for our needs. GO...

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Dear Parents/Guardians and Students,              Happy Spring! We are proud of all the students at Freeman-Centennial School for completing the English Language Arts Reading Comprehension MCAS assessment. Everyone did a fabulous job! At the beginning of May, all students will take the Math MCAS assessment and grade 5 students will also take Science/Technology. It’s hard to believe that June is just around the corner. We only...

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After over six decades of wear and tear, Norfolk needs a new public school. So, Norfolk voters decided that one should be built as soon as possible. Next year, after two years of construction, the new school will finally be finished. So say goodbye to Freeman-Centennial and hello to Freeman-Kennedy. Updated and full of high tech gadgets, learning can be quicker, easier and most importantly, much more fun. Children, if all goes well, will be able to use iPads instead of the somewhat outdated...

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During the month of April the 3rd grade art students will celebrate the arrival of spring by creating a flower using a watercolor crayon resist technique.  Third grade will also produce a chalk piece based on Vincent Van Gogh called silky sunflowers & swirling skies. The fourth grade art students will continue to explore camouflage by creating a natural habitat for a fish print. Next, the 4th grade students will paint a southwestern landscape using watercolors based on Paul Klee’s...

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Grade 3 students are busily practicing and preparing for their recorder concert which will be held on May 23rd in MacBride Auditorium at 1:45 pm.  Parents will be invited to attend this afternoon performance. Students should be reviewing and practicing all of their recorder songs at home. Grade 4 students will be learning to play conga drums this month. They will focus on technique, producing various tones, and playing a variety of rhythmic patterns on the instrument. Grade 5 students...

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Bullying & Cyberbullying Basics (Grades 3-4). At this interactive assembly we will introduce the components of bullying which are further explained using age appropriate examples. Students are introduced to the concepts and roles associated with bullying. The differences between conflict and bullying are illustrated to underscore how hurtful and damaging bullying behaviors can be. Several conflict scenarios and bullying scenarios are presented to students to help them identify future conflict...

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In the month of April physical education classes will be participating in the PACER run.  The PACER (progressive aerobic cardiovascular endurance run) is used to measure a student’s aerobic capacity.  Aerobic capacity or cardiovascular endurance is one of the components of health related fitness. The students will also continue working on volleyball skills while playing beach volleyball and volleyball games.   The extra sixth grade classes will take a hiatus from their teambuilding...

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Thursday, April 5th at 6:30 pm 3rd Grade Student Council presents Movie Night featuring "Gnomeo & Juliet" *Bring blankets to sit on and a drink *Popcorn will be served. Friday, April 13th In honor of the Red Sox Home Opener we will be celebrating with Sports Day at FC!! *Wear your favorite team jersey or t-shirt!

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The Advanced Band earned a GOLD MEDAL at the 35th annual Massachusetts Choral and Conductor’s Association (MICCA) Concert Festival on Saturday, March 31st. Over 160 bands and orchestras as well as 60 choruses from across the state participated in this festival. Groups that achieved a score in the highest rating bracket received a Gold Medal; groups in the second bracket received a Silver Medal; groups in the third bracket received a Bronze Medal; groups in the fourth bracket received a Medal...

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Spring cleaning? Got Books? Please use the Got Books? donation bin located behind the school. This eco-friendly fundraiser keeps books out of the trash while helping raise funds for our entire school community by supporting the school library. Got Books? accepts: hardcovers, paperbacks, CDs, DVDs, audio books, records and textbooks. They do not accept VHS tapes, magazines, newspapers, and encyclopedias. Thank you for your support.

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Congratulations to the 97 Freeman Centennial students in grades 4-6 who read 532 books this school year for the Massachusetts Children's Book Award (MCBA) program administered by Mrs. Lavallee in the school library. The activity is voluntary and above and beyond classroom reading assignments. Student voters are welcome to come to an MCBA Breakfast before school to celebrate on Thursday, April 12, at 8:15. The MCBA winner for our school is: Cracker: The Best Dog in Vietnam by Cynthia Kadohata,...

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Grade 3 - Friday, May 4                    Grade 4 - Thursday, April 26                    Grade 5 - Tuesday, April 24 Parents Are Invited ~ Mark Your Calendars Specific grade level times to follow!

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In 2000 the U.S. National Reading Panel released a document entitled “Teaching Children to Read.” The blue-ribbon panel of experts identified several areas of learning that were critical to developing good reading skills. One of these areas that had previously been put on the back burner was fluency, reading with expression and facility, not necessarily being a fast reader, but reading “like talking.” It was found that students who lacked fluency lost comprehension, often...

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In my role as assistant principal, what has surprised me the most?  It is the amount of children who are repeatedly tardy   Obviously, there are times when a child has to be late.  We all know that doctors and and dentists do not have evening appointments.  These are excusable.  But, everyday there are are many children who are late by 5 to 20 minutes.  Routine tardiness is not acceptable.  A child who is late by 5 minutes misses the morning work and probably...

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Math fluency is being able to answer addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts automatically.  Research finds that without math fluency, higher order mathematical skills - those that need the application of basic math facts, will be impaired. In fact, the abilty to retrieve math facts automatically has been shown to be a strong predictor of performance on math tests (such as the MCAS). "If a student constantly has to compute the answers to basic facts, less of that student’s...

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