100 Days of School!

On Feb. 17th, we made it 100 days of school! To honor the milestone, our JK and Kindergarten students created collections of 100 things, and counted anything they could find. They used a great variety of materials! Great counting Kindergarten students!

Music Corner by Shelley Irvin

Haggerty's new Musician of the Month is Prateek Kuhad, singer/ songwriter from New Delhi, India. Kuhad writes songs in Hindi and English. Born in 1990, he became well-known when former President Barack Obama included his song Cold/Mess on his "Favorite Music of 2019" list. You can see a live performance of Kuhad performing "Cold/Mess" here. Kuhad performs Kho Gaye HumKahaan live in this performance, which featured in a film of the same name about three friends living in Mumbai.

Also - the music room is out of kleenex. If you have an extra box lying around, we'd appreciate it. Thank you!

As always, be in touch with any questions or ideas!
Shelley / Mx. Irvin

Understanding Islam

March 23 | 7-8:30PM | Zoom
North Cambridge Courageous Conversations with True to Life Conversations will be holding a a community workshop on Understanding Islam. We are excited to welcome guest speaker, Dr. Khalil Abdur-Rashid, who is the Muslim Chaplain at Harvard University. We will have small group discussions and an opportunity for Q&A. All members of the Cambridge school community are welcomed to attend. Register for the Zoom link. Register here >>

North Cambridge Courageous Conversations and True to Life Conversations are volunteer groups led by caregivers of the RAUC, Baldwin, and Peabody schools and caregivers and staff of the VLUS, Tobin, Haggerty, and Graham & Parks schools, respectively.

Questions? Email NoCACC or visit nocacc.org

ELA Corner by Suzanne Russell

4th Graders are reading up a Storm! Check out these recommendations and reviews!
David W. highly recommends - The Lifters by Dave Eggers
Ajwad highly recommends - When Stars are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed

Lucky Broken Girl
Book Review by Lindalee
I read Lucky Broken Girl and I loved it so much. Ruth is ten years old and lives in New York in the year 1966. Shei is new to her school and in what she calls “the stupid class.” One day her dad comes home with a car, so they decide to go on a road trip to see their good friends. On their way back home they get into a big car crash caused by a couple of teens messing around. Ruth’s family was fine but Ruth got a cast from her waist down leaving a little crack for her to go to the bathroom. She was mentally and emotionally affected by the car crash. Lucky Broke Girl is one of the best books I’ve ever read.

The Tale of Despereaux
Book Review by Tara
The Tale of Despereaux is about a mouse, Despereaux, with other character’s points of view. Despereaux is a very unusual mouse that loves a princess, books (instead of eating them he reads them), and light. There is a mouse council, in which there is a rule of not to speak to humans, but Despereaux broke that rule by talking to the Princess. When he broke the rule, he got sent to the dungeon, full of rats. Down in the dungeon, there is a jailor, and a rat who loves light (and has never seen light before). The jailor’s story had a lot of stuff in it, and one part is where he leaves his daughter and his daughter lived a very terrible life, until one day. The rat’s story is also kinda long, but one main part is where the rat ventures up the stairs and into the light, to see the light and kill a human. If you want to find out what happens to the rat, jailor, the jailor’s daughter and more, read The Tale of Despereaux. The Tale of Despereaux is an adventure book, so if you like adventures, this is your type of book. 

Just Grace
Book Review by Taylor
After reading Just Grace, by Charise Merichle Harper, I just had to read the rest of the series. Just Grace is a book about a girl named Grace and about her life and everything around her. Grace also has different problems that get solved in or throughout the book or the rest of the series. If you are looking for a good fictional book, I would recommend Just Grace for various reasons. After reading the series, Just Grace turned out to be one of my favorite books. If you read it, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 

The Vanderbeekers
Book Review by Joanna
The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street is an amazing book about 5 kids that learn they have to move because their grumpy landlord will not renew their lease. All the kids have a meeting about how they can convince their landlord to let them stay. This fun, page-turning book has 4 more books after it. They are one of favorite books and I hope you read them. The end.
P.s. if you read them, tell me if you like them

VLUS Triad White Caregivers Working Toward Anti-Racism

Next Meeting: How can we build lasting partnerships with co-conspirators?
Thursday April 7, 2022 | 6:45-8PM | Zoom
Read Becoming Trustworthy White Allies. Read here >>
Register in advance for this meeting. Register here >>
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Math Corner

Hello Haggerty Families!

Did you know that your children do Mental Math in school? Often, teachers ask students to solve problems just by thinking about them and then to share their strategies. (Sometimes we call this a “Math Talk.”) Children learn from each other and become flexible problem solvers. Here are a few examples of strategies I’ve heard Haggerty students use when they are solving addition problems.

You can try this at home! Ask your child to figure out a problem and listen to their thinking. You will be amazed at how they think about numbers!
Yours in math,
Nili, AKA Ms. Pearlmutter
Haggerty Math Coach

DHSP (Haggerty Strawberry Hill & Russell Youth Center)
Registration opens March 14.
More details >>

Daybreak Camp (Ages 5-11 + CITs 12-13) 
Registration open.
Register here >>
Visit website >>

Cambridge Adventure Day Camp (Ages 5-11 + CITs 12-13) 
Registration open.
Register here >>
Visit website >>

Summer Ink Simmons 2022 (Rising 5th & 6th grade)
Registration open. More details >>

Empow STEM Summer Program (Ages 7-15)
Registration open. 
More details >>
Register here >>

Youth Soccer Camp for Girls (Crimson Soccer @ Harvard) (Ages 6-13)
Registration open. More details >>

PBHA Cambridge Youth Enrichment Program (Ages 6-13)
Registration open.
More details >>
Register here >>

KIDS 4 CODING Summer STEM Programs (Ages 7-16)
Registration open. More details >>

Outback Summer Program (Rising JK-6th grade)
Registration open. 
More details >>
Register here >>

Cowemoki Summer Enrichment Program (Ages 5-12)
Registration open. 
More details >>
Register here >>

New COVID Testing Plans

The district sent out communication about the new testing plans before the break. Here are the key points:

• Weekly pool testing will happen on Mondays and Tuesdays for all students with consent.
  
• Schools are not doing contact tracing anymore.
  • This means that we will not send close contact letters anymore.
    
• Your student has to quarantine for 5 days if they’re a close contact outside of school and…
  • They’re not fully vaccinated OR
    
  • Their 2nd shot was more than 5 months ago and they have not gotten a booster
    
  • There is no test and stay option.
    

IF you have opted- in for your student to receive free at-home tests, your student will…

• Receive a test kit with two tests every two weeks starting this week.
  
• Test at home on Friday mornings before coming to school.
  

As always, notify the school if your student tests positive. Please keep your student home if they are experiencing any covid symptoms–or are sick in any way!

Executive Functioning Workshop with Sarah Ward

Thursday, March 17 | 7-9PM | Zoom
If your younger child has trouble following a sequence of instructions, or if your older child has trouble starting, completing and turning in assignments on time, they are struggling with executive functioning skills. In this talk, caregivers will learn executive functioning skills by Sarah Ward.

Read presentation summary >>
Register here >>
View flyer >>

How and When to Talk About War and Conflict with Kids, According to Experts

Thinking about how to talk to you children about war and conflict? 

Here are the highlights, please read the article for descriptors of each:
1. Make time and listen when your child wants to talk
2. Tailor the conversation to the child
3. Validate their feelings
4. Reassure them that adults all over the world are working hard to resolve this.
5. Give them a practical way to help

Read article >>

Haggerty Events & Reminders

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