Senkow

Our students at Senkow are working hard to improve their overall academic skills. This is Senkow's sixth year open in the district and each year we keep on growing. This year we have welcomed a new principal into our school. Sue Phillips was a former 5th grade teacher at Stonehurst and has spent many years teaching in the district. We are thrilled to have her here!

We also had several of our staff welcome baby girls to their families! Adina Rauch, Suzanne Woodbridge, and Melissa Reynolds welcomed their newest members at the beginning of the year. Laura McCalla, Nicole Sage, and Erin Bradley are looking forward to their new little bundles during the last half of the school year! Congratulations to them all! Since the retirement of Faith Mattison, we have gained two new staff members. Nicole Sage has taken over as our Art Teacher and Ilana Heilweil as our Library Teacher.

The first graders at Senkow have just celebrated the 100th Day of School. We decided that we have learned at least 100 things so far in First Grade! We have enjoyed trips to Sugartown Strawberries, Lankenau Hospital, and are look forward to going to the Zoo in May. Second grade began the year with two teachers. Each class was packed with 27 students. Senkow was lucky enough to gain Alyse Holbrook in October to make the student to teacher ratio more effective.

Third, fourth and fifth graders are working hard in preparation for the upcoming PSSA tests. To assist in this endeavor, we have subscribed to the National Geographic Young Explorers magazine. We were able to do so through a grant funded by the Cultural Foundation. Thanks to them, our students are gaining more exposure to non-fiction text (and interesting and amazing topics)!

Additionally, Senkow's new portable laptop cart has enabled students the opportunity to work with today's technology. They have been able to use word processing to access the internet. The students have also been introduced to the district's expanding website, as well as helpful interactive websites. The students and teachers are thrilled to have these wonderful computers!!

The fifth graders have started using the laptop cart on almost a daily basis to help "see" what it is they are reading about by researching topics from our stories during block 2. Everyone is enjoying being able to learn more about details from each story and being able to type writing pieces in Word. They have been doing a great job at using the formatting palette and word processing writing pieces throughout each theme. In addition, they are all looking forward to our Wildwood trip coming up in June to extend their learning of Ecosystems from the beginning of the year.

New to the 2010-2011 school year, the Senkow students are given the opportunity to receive a NUT (No Uniform Today) Award each month. Each month the teachers decide what students need to do in order to receive the NUT award. Some incentives have been 100% homework completion for the month, showing respect, using manners, increasing test scores and participating in outside school functions. The students have been working hard throughout the year to improve in all areas of their education. They are growing and changing each and every day. We are thrilled to see the growth in our whole community.