Dear Parents and Guardians,

March seems to have flown away from us and spring break is right around the corner! The kids are
getting excited for springtime and I think we’re all glad for some warmer weather.

During the month of March, I taught the students in grades K-2 about one simple way they can solve
small problems on the playground—by choosing to “go to another game”. Sometimes students feel
obligated to play with certain kids in their class or to continue playing a game, even if other students
aren’t playing by the right rules or playing kindly but it’s okay for students to choose to leave that
activity and go find something else to do. This doesn’t mean that the student is being a quitter; it just
means they are smart and what to have fun at recess.

Our students in grades 3-5 learned about four nonverbal strategies for solving minor (small) problems
in the classroom and on the playground. These are:
1. Walk away
2. Go to another game
3. Ignore it
4. Wait and cool off
These strategies are simple and can help students solve problems in a positive way, rather than reacting
and making the problem bigger.

Our sixth grade students are right around the corner from middle school! To help them start preparing
for middle school next year, we learned about how to open locks and gave the students an opportunity
to practice opening locks. This can be a big stressor as kids head into middle school, but many of our
students have been practicing and becoming pros! Hopefully this can help alleviate some of that stress!

As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns.
-Allison Durazzani
School Counselor