Kittredge Elementary School

Dear Kittredge families,

This is the final week I will be presenting information about bullying in the Newslink. I hope the information has been helpful to you and your students. Remember, please contact the school if you think your child is a victim of bullying.

Sincerely,
Nancy Jukins

Don't join in. Don't be mean to other children by calling them names or picking on them.

Walk away. Help the child who is being bullied by leading them away from the bully, without looking at the bully. Did you know that bullying usually stops within 10 seconds after someone who is watching (a bystander) gets involved? Get help from an adult or yell for help if you need to.

Do not try to fight the bully. You should never make fun of a bully or say mean things to a bully. It'll just make things worse for you and everyone else.

Believe the child being bullied. Listen to what they have to say.

Don't make the bully feel important by paying attention to them. When you ignore bullies, you take away their power.

Make sure the child who's being bullied tells an adult. Offer to go with them if it will help. If he or she doesn't want to talk to anybody, offer to talk to someone they trust for them. Involve as many people as possible, including other friends or classmates, parents, teachers, school counselors and the principal.

Stand up, don't stand by. Kids can stand up for each other by telling a bully to stop teasing or hurting someone else. If you aren't part of the solution, you are part of the problem.

Treat others the way you want to be treated. Stand up for someone when he or she needs it, and when you need it, someone will stand up for you. Everyone has the right to be respected and the responsibility to respect others!

The Chess Club won't be meeting on Friday, February 17th. We'll be back the week following.

Contact Casey Quirk for location & directions: caseyquirk@hotmail.com or cell +1 508 265 4648.

North Andover Middle School Auditorium, Thursday, March 16 at 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm. More information to follow.

Students will bring home math blast packets today. The fundraiser is voluntary and aimed at helping to re-mulch the playground this spring. We hope everyone has fun with it! Any questions, call Heidi Chaff at +1 978 794 2595.

You are invited to attend a parent-only presentation at the Atkinson School cafeteria on Wednesday, February 15th from 7:00 to 8:30 PM. At that time, you will have the opportunity to view the videos addressing puberty and communicable disease. Following the presentation, the school nurses will be available to answer any questions you may have regarding these two health units. Again, the meeting is for parents and guardians only. Snow date: March 1st

NAPAC will be hosting a workshop Thursday March 2nd at 7:00 pm at the North Andover High School library. Donna Shea, from the Peter Pan Center located in Harvard, MA will present "Shades of Gray: Building Social Competency Skills." She'll cover topics such as why children struggle socially as well as provide concrete ideas and strategies to children them overcome social "bumps." Everyone is welcome. Hope to see you there!

Dr. Harutunian, Superintendent of North Andover Public Schools, will be attending to discuss the possible cuts for next year and to address any questions you may have. Please mark your calendars!!!

Memory Books are $19.00 and recognition ads are $5.00. If you would like to send your Kittredge Student a message in the memory book, you have until February 17th. Please remember we only order the amount of Memory Books ordered. If you have any questions, please contact Karen Keough at mackeough@netzero.com.

2006 Spring Season: Registration for the North Andover Soccer Association (NASA) Spring '06 season is open using the popular on-line registration system found on our web site, www.nasoccer.com. NASA will be accepting late registrations (with late fee for returning families) until team rosters are filled and prior to March 17th. Please do not wait until the last minute to register, as NASA has needed to turn away last minute interested players.

2006 Summer Camp: Registration for NASA's Summer Camp program is open as of February 15th using the same on-line registration process. Reserve your child's spot early!!! Contact registrar@nasoccer.com for questions.

2006 Fall Season: Plan ahead!!!! Mark your calendars to go to www.nasoccer.com on May 1st to register on-line for the Fall '06 soccer season.

At the 2/7 School Committee meeting, Dr. Harutunian discussed the Town Manager's FY07 budget and how it will affect the Schools. The Town Manager recommended a 0.69% increase for the School Department - $217, 809. He also transferred the crossing guards from the Police Department to the School Department (transferring $34,400 from the PD budget to the School Department budget - if you include these numbers it is a 0.80% increase - $252,209).

The Superintendent has made it very clear that he needs a $2.9M increase to continue at the levels we are at. At the February 28th School Committee meeting he will be presenting $2.75M worth of cuts in the School Department. All schools will be affected and all will be upset. All areas will be touched - Sr. Admin, teachers, ed assistants, secretaries, janitors, nurses, etc.

The Kittredge School will be hosting its "Fourth Annual Family Skate Night" on March 14th, 2006. This is a fun social evening for Kittredge families to enjoy some rollerblading/skating, music and games. The event will be at Skateland in Bradford, MA from 6pm-8pm. A flyer with more details and ticket info will be sent home soon.

Spring 2006 Registration is available on-line (for new and returning players) until February 28th at: www.eteamz.active.com/NorthAndover. Any questions, please contact Steve Chaff at schaff5451@aol.com or +1 978 807 5161. Player evaluations will once again be held at DB's Instructional Baseball located in the Lucent complex. March 4th: All 9 and 10 year olds, as well as any 8 year olds wishing to play in the 9/10 Divisions. March 5th: All 11 and 12 year olds. A makeup date will be available the following weekend. Exact reporting times will be posted soon, please check the website prior to evaluation dates.

Visit our Kittredge website at http://www.northandover.k12.ma.us/Kittredge/.

Please send via email to kathy.eastwood@comcast.net (please put Newslink in the subject line) or call Kathy Eastwood at +1 978 794 3025 by Friday at noon.

The Atkinson PTO is pleased to present this year's Mother/Son Jammin' Fun. We will offer two nights of dancing, food, fun and raffles. For boys in grades K-2 (and their moms), the date is Friday April 7th and then on Saturday April 8th, we will host boys in grades 3-5, along with their favorite ladies. Both events will be held at the North Andover High School. Watch your child's backpack for more information on ticket sales.

A big thank you to all who contributed to the 5th Grade Community Service Project. Due to your generosity we were able to deliver 100 bags of toiletries to the People's Pantry. Thank You!

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