April 2023

Dear Friends,

I am working on my April Newsletter this Saturday morning and feeling a little nostalgic. This year has flown. Teachers and support staff are preparing for the prom, honor society inductions, end-of-year celebrations, and graduation.   

I am definitely experiencing spring fever. I'm itching to plant the seeds I picked up at the Flower Barn and Gift Shop yesterday. I replaced my sugar bowl with a perfect find I discovered at the Red Barn, And I picked up a spring-scented soy candle from the Adirondack Store.

Easter Egg Hunt: Enjoy pictures from this year's Easter Egg event. Two thousand candy-filled eggs were placed in the preschool playground and in front of the school. It took only a few minutes for the children to put them in their baskets and bags!

Portrait of a Graduate: We've completed our Portrait of a Graduate outreach and identified five overarching attributes that we'd like our students to master and exhibit during their years at Northville CSD, as members of the Northville community, and beyond. Over the next few months, staff will consider how these attributes can be supported and developed across the grades. You can see our working document which includes detailed descriptions of each attribute here.

Footloose: Congratulations to all who brought the play Footloose to the Northville CSD stage. Ms. Boyle directed students and staff in this phenomenal production. My husband and I enjoyed balcony seating the second night and had a great view of our musicians. Having a pit orchestra was terrific. So many of the attributes identified in our Portrait of a Graduate come together when students and staff collaborate to bring such a complex production to life.

My Favorite Part of Me: You can learn so much about what is happening in our classrooms by enjoying the bulletin boards. In the video below, enjoy some 2nd-grade student work shared by Ms. Pratt, Ms. Sweet, and Ms. Flickinger. 

Guatemala: Over spring break, I had an opportunity to meet with Mr. Long to add audio narration to the beautiful pictures from his trip to Guatemala. Thank you, Mr. Long, for working with me to share your experience in this video!

Hydroponics Lab & Classroom: This is one of my favorite new spaces in our school. It is our hydroponics lab and classroom. Our facilities staff turned an old office into this beautiful learning space. I especially love the hand stenciling around the room. The tables can be adjusted to accommodate our pre-K through grade 12 students. The plants grown in this space will be transplanted into our outdoor learning center area created last summer. Our next step is to install an 18 x 36 greenhouse to support the community garden area. We will be using our vegetables to supplement our new salad bar. Second and eighth-grade students are already working on a collaborative project that ties together science and social studies -- Victory Gardens -- learn more about that project below.

Victory Garden: Our 2nd and 8th graders are collaborating on a Victory Garden project. The 8th graders will learn about Victory Gardens in a social studies unit. During World War II, victory gardens were crucial in supporting the war effort. These gardens were planted by ordinary citizens in their backyards, on rooftops, and in vacant lots to supplement the food supply that was being diverted to the troops. The 2nd graders are helping to plant a victory garden for our Outdoor Learning Center. See some pics in the video below.

Weather Station: Mr. Hoffman worked with our students to build a Weather Station for our Outdoor Learning Center. The station is in the shape of a rocket, as shown below. On each side of the station is a weather tracking tool - a thermometer, rain gauge, anemometer, and barometer.

Shaking Up Earth Science With Open Street Mapping: Jamie Dickinson, Jill Harris, Abby Armstrong, Danielle Flickinger, Ellen Flickinger, and Hailey Monroe will present at the ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) Conference in Philadelphia on June 27, 2023. Participants will see how earth science students used satellite imagery and OSM (open-street mapping) to determine areas missing from the map and at risk for earthquakes. Students were tasked with creating a 2-5 minute pitch to win a mock micro-grant. Students then added the missing information to the map to improve disaster responses. Students will present their video pitch, how to use Open Street Mapping, and what they learned. They will share their portfolio and pictures of the Mapathon at the end of the project. They will show participants how to use open street mapping and how simple the process is. They will also show their process of how they decided on which area to map. Participants will brainstorm ideas to use Open Street Mapping in subjects other than Geography. Teachers can see firsthand how students can answer and investigate questions like the one posed with hands-on mapping projects in their local and global communities. This project is aligned with both NGSS standards as well as ISTE standards. This project was recognized by Teach OSM as a way to engage teachers other than Geography in Open Street Mapping. Students only need a Chromebook and an account to access Open Street Mapping. Teachers have complete control over student edits, and best of all, it is free!

Cafeteria Kitchen Floor: Over the spring break, the facilities staff were hard at work in our cafeteria kitchen. All of the appliances were removed to prepare for the installation of our new floor. The walls were painted, the appliances were polished, and everything was ready for our Monday reopening!

If you would like to meet with me in person or virtually, just email or call to schedule a time during the school day or after your work day. 

Be sure to visit our website to keep up with district news https://www.northvillecsd.org/. 

Coming Up in the May Newsletter - Community Greenhouse, Scholar Athletes, Northville Education Foundation, and Prom Highlights.

Dr. Sarah A. Chauncey, DPS-IM
Superintendent of Schools
schauncey@northvillecsd.org
Work: 518-863-7000 x4120
Cell: 845-304-8791