FMA Fourth Graders Visit Otis House
The fourth graders visited the Otis House, one of the last mansions still standing in Boston’s West End neighborhoods. They learned all about the life of Harrison Otis, a lawyer who was a Boston Mayor and served on Congress. Otis was instrumental and developing Beacon Hill. The students experienced what it was like to be a plasterer's apprentice and created medallions out of gypsum, water, and a gelatin mold. They toured the mansion, learning all about the lifestyle of the Otis Family, as well as what it was like for other Bostonians during the time period. Students went on a walking tour around Beacon Hill and learned of some famous landmarks, like the African Meeting House. We ended our tour by quietly traveling down narrow pathways that were part of the underground railroad!



A Note from the School Nurse
As winter approaches, we begin to see more colds and flu. Here are a few helpful ways to keep our school community healthy.

• Do not send your child to school when he/she has a high temperature 100.4F/38C or over or if your child has a lower temp and clearly is not feeling well.
• Keep your child home for 24 hours after the fever has gone and they no longer needs fever medicine (example, Tylenol or Advil) to keep the temperature down.
• Call your pediatrician if your child has a sore throat that lasts more than 2 days or has vomiting/diarrhea that lasts more than 24 hours.
• A younger child who cannot blow his/her nose or remember to cover his/her mouth should stay home when cold symptoms are severe
• Students who need antibiotics for contagious illnesses (example – strep throat or conjunctivitis) must take them for 24 hours before returning to school.
• Please inform the school nurse and teacher if your child has had a recent illness like strep throat or eye infection.

A sick child cannot learn well or take part in classes fully. Keeping a sick child home helps stop the spread of illness in our school community and lets a sick child rest and get better.

Please stop at the health office if you have any questions.

Here’s to a healthy school year,

Mary-Margaret Segraves, RN, Ph. D.

Please Remember

• Encourage all family members to cough and sneeze in a tissue or elbow instead of hands
• The best way to stop the spread of illness is to WASH HANDS with soap and water.
• Be sure to get a good night’s sleep to help your body fight illness.

FMA Winter Concert: Friday December 22 
All are invited to the FMA Winter Concert, Friday, December 22 at 8:30AM in the FMA gym. Performers are students in grades Pre-K through 5. 

The musician of the month in December is Tchaikovsky. Students are listening, doing creative movement, singing, and applying and extending their reading skills to works including the "Nutcracker", Symphony Number 4, which features the folk song "The Birch Tree", and "Swan Lake". 

Students in grade five auditioned for the Boston Symphony Orchestra's Childrens' Choir for the January performance of Mahler's Symphony Number 3. The students who took part in this extremely rigorous audition were: Josh Rodriquez, Daniel Awgchew, and Eden Cherisme. Around 25 will be chosen out of at least 150 from the Boston area. I look forward to more opportunities to have students represent FMA and join some future endeavors there. Note: Children must be in fifth through ninth grade to apply.

Investigating Weather Phenomena
This fall, third graders embarked on an in-depth study of weather and weather phenomenon. As part of this unit, they learned about weather tools and practiced gathering and analyzing data. One of their favorite tools to create and test was the anemometer which measures wind speed. They used everyday items like cups, cardboard, and string to create the anemometer which spun when held by a string. Luckily, we had several very windy days in November which made for excellent testing and experimentation! The top wind speed we observed was 14 circulations per minute which we were able to confirm matched the top wind gust speed of the day. Stay tuned next month to see how the students design solutions to protect homes from extreme weather damage!



Technology @ FMA
It's a big week in the world of educational technology as we celebrate Computer Science Education Week! At the Fletcher Maynard Academy, we have the luxury of observing an entire "Month of Coding," as we focus on activities that promote computational thinking, computer programming and coding during tech classes (grades 1-5) throughout the month of December. Read more >>

Turkey Trot 2017
Here are a few photos of students and staff at this year's Turkey Trot.



FMA Dinner of Thanks
This year's Dinner of Thanks was a great success. Thank you for all who participated in this special event.

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