Screenings begin for talented and gifted program
- Student screening for talented and gifted services will begin this month. All third-graders will be screened on Tues., Feb. 23, with the Otis Lennon School Ability Test. Parents will receive a copy of the test results as soon as they are available.
- Students in fourth through sixth grade who are not already participating in the talented and gifted program can be nominated for screening by parents and/or teachers. These students will be tested in March with the OLSAT, the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test and other measurements.
- According to Pine Grove School Principal Christine Kneeland, programming for students in this program may include pre- and post-testing, independent projects, creative problem solving, learning centers, flexible grouping, compacting, differentiated pace, cluster grouping, expansion, alternate assignments, in-depth critical investigations and/or thematic units, and acceleration. Classroom teachers, who will coordinate with other specialist teachers as needed, will be the providers of these projects, because the position of talented and gifted coordinator was eliminated due to budget cuts.
- Students are participating in a student planner cover contest this month. All third- through fifth-graders have been asked to create an artwork/design using one or two colors for the cover of the planner, which is given out to fourth- through sixth-graders in September. Artwork is to be submitted by Feb. 23.
- Members of the Rowley Public Education Fund are sponsoring a fun night out on Sat., March 6, for a show of Flanagan's Wake. The special event, which will take place at The Governor's Academy in Byfield, is the humorous interactive Irish wake that has been running in Chicago for 16 years. Attendees will join the villagers of the fictional village of Grapplin, County Sligo, Ireland, as they tell tales, sing songs and mourn the passing of one of their own — Flanagan. Tickets are $25 a person. Contact Kate Scalley at 978-948-2930 for more information or to get tickets.
- Got an old cell phone or toner cartridge? Donate them to the school, and they will be submitted by the PTO to the Funding Factory to earn money for educational programs at the school. Another "no-cost-to-you" fundraiser to benefit the Pine Grove School is through Stop & Shop Bonus Bucks program. Just register your Stop & Shop card online at www.stopandshop.com/aplus using the school ID number of 07571. Every time you shop at Stop & Shop using your card, points are earned toward giving money to the school at the end of the program, which ends on March 25.
- The next meeting of the parent and student book club will take place on Wednesday, Feb. 24. The book to be read, which is suggested for those in fourth- through sixth-grade — and their parents— is "The Great Gilly Hopkins" by Katherine Paterson.
Michelle Pelletier Marshall reports on the Rowley and Merrimac elementary schools for The Daily News. She can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
