Schools Scene

Sickles School’s Olympic Family Math Week

Sickles School second-grader William Kuskin, second grade teacher Kate Gagliano, second-grader Piper Duffy, and Piper’s mother Megan Duffy explore new math learning tools at Family Math Night
Photo/Fair Haven School District
With a collective “Let the games begin!” Family Math Week 2018 at Fair Haven’s Viola L. Sickles School paid homage to and culminated in a nod to the Winter Olympics.

The early February (5 to 9) week full of competitions ended with the school’s Math Olympics, an event for which the Sickles “mathletes” — students in Kindergarten through third grade  — trained like true Olympians.
“I am thrilled with the family, student, and staff turnout for Family Math Week!” Sickles School Principal Cheryl Cudihy said. “All the events were well-received, and this certainly mirrors our stakeholders’ enthusiasm for new initiatives! My staff did a fantastic job engaging both students and families with the Family Math Nights and Tech Tutorials. Our culminating event of Math Olympics on Friday was a hit! We are especially thankful for visits by USA Olympic Swimmer Tom Wilkens, and USA Lacrosse Team Member Megan Douty.”

Here are some highlights of the week:

Family Math Nights

Students and parents joined Sickles teachers and Principal Cheryl Cuddihy for evenings of mathematical games and excitement. Over the course of four evenings (one for each grade level), students and their families participated in math-based learning challenges. Each participating student received a math-based paperback book as a takeaway prize.

Tech Tutorials
With the adoption of the Investigations and enVision2.0 math programs at Sickles School, many new tech tools have been introduced into the classrooms. These tools incorporate games as opportunities to strengthen the home-school connection. Sickles School parents were invited into classrooms from Feb. 6 to 8 to explore these tools, with the assistance of their children’s teachers.
K-3 Math Program Overview
Overviews of the enVision2.0 and Investigations math programs were presented to parents of Sickles students by Principal Cheryl Cudihy from Feb. 5 to 7.
Sickles Math Olympics
Finally, to cap off an amazing week, the Sickles Math Olympics took place on Feb. 9. Immediately after the the Opening Ceremony, students competed across grade levels throughout the morning.
“Principal Cuddihy and the Sickles teachers are doing a great job of introducing the new math curriculum to the school, and it’s great to see so many parents here,” said parent Holly Ouellette, who attended Family Math Night for second grade with her son, Bryce. “I think the Tech Tutorials for parents are a great idea, and I plan on attending those as well.”
 — Edited press release from the Fair Haven School District