Chatterton School hosted a successful Community Read Aloud on Jan. 27, where local business leaders, community members and other school family members were invited to read to classes.

As part of the school’s PARP (Pick a Reading Partner) program, guests gathered for a welcome breakfast ahead of their personal reading experience.

Organized jointly by the Chatterton PTA and school librarian Ellen Widawsky, the event went along with the PARP theme of “Reading is a Latte Fun,” where students were gifted reusable coffee cups for their water all week.

“This event celebrates literacy and aims to ignite the students’ love of books,” explained Principal Dana Bermas. “The kids are happy to have these face-to-face interactions and hear firsthand from community members all of the possibilities that can come from reading.”

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Date Added: 1/27/2023

On Jan. 17, the fifth grade at Chatterton School gathered to enjoy each other's independent writing projects.

Students have been working on their pieces in writing class for the past few weeks under the direction of teachers Melissa Edelman and Derrick Horodyski and literary coach Peter Gangi.

Students had the opportunity to pursue writing any genre of choice and learn about the genre from mentor texts. They enjoyed reading each other's writing from poetry to plays, Top 10 Books to All-About Books and A-Z Books to short stories.

The entire grade spent time sharing their work with each other and left inspired to think about their next "passion piece."

“All of these published pieces are real ‘keepers’ and there is no doubt, that the Chatterton fifth grade is filled with writing talent,” said Edelman.

Date Added: 1/24/2023

Chatterton students had a class reunion with their last year teacher and classmates. Students loved catching up with their teachers and previous classmates. Each teacher read a book by the author, Josh Funk who will be visiting the school next week.

Date Added: 1/20/2023

Third grade students at Chatterton recently engaged in a social emotional learning lesson with School Counselor Karen Alaimo. 

“Students learned that out thoughts lead to feelings and actions and that they have the power to flip those negative thoughts,” Alaimo explained. “They took turns flipping their negative thought pancakes into positive thoughts.” 

Date Added: 1/18/2023

Students from Kelly Gonzalez's third grade class at Chatterton used green screen technology to put themselves in their dream vacation spots.

Date Added: 1/17/2023

For the New Year, Jodi Scavelli’s third grade class at Chatterton and student teacher Robby Kenae did a creative activity, that helped them think about the goals they have for 2023.

“The students discussed their thoughts, wrote them down in their notebooks and then rewrote them on balloons that will be displayed in the classroom,” explained Scavelli.

The students then wrote about goals they wanted to work on for this year, something that they want to stop doing, ways they could be a good friend and adjectives that described them as a person.

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Date Added: 1/13/2023

Girl Scout Troop 2545, comprised mostly of fifth graders from Chatterton School wanted to find a way to contribute to the school’s atmosphere of kindness and inclusivity.

Two years in the making due to a COVID disruptions, they created and installed a rock garden in the school’s front courtyard in December. On Jan. 6, the school held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to make it official.

“The girls have been working hard on this project for quite some time and are excited to share it with the school community,” explained Morgan Simone, a troop co-leader along with Jen Casano. “They thought a kindness rock garden would help to make kindness contagious throughout our school and community. The garden provides a way for all of Chatterton’s students to participate in spreading positivity, inclusiveness, and kindness.”

Chatterton fifth graders involve in this project include Abby Sylvia, Ashley Healy, Cali Sorok, Carly Richardson, Charlotte Simone, Courtney Lopez Budetti, Elisa Maltese, Evelyn Sherer, Jenna Cohen, Johannah Burker, Laela Panica, Madeline Charles, Madison Mittler, Ruby Casano and Stella Alonso. Troop member Savanna Owens attends Martin Avenue School in North Bellmore.

Principal Dana Bermas thanked the students for “coming up with a fantastic idea to beautify the school.”

“I am also so proud of the perseverance you have demonstrated over these last two years to overcome challenges in making this come to fruition,” she added.

At the rock garden, students can join in spreading kindness by taking a rock if one has a special meaning to them, sharing a rock with a friend in need of a little inspiration and/or adding a rock to the pile.

“We hope Chatterton’s new kindness rock garden inspires you to decorate a rock with an inspirational message or picture and add it to the pile,” Casano added.

Date Added: 1/9/2023

Date Added: 1/3/2023

Date Added: 12/23/2022

Date Added: 12/21/2022

Fifth graders in Melissa Edelman's class enjoyed a walking trip from Chatterton to the Merrick Library, where they learned about the programs and services the library offers. Students were able to check out books and DVDs.  

Thanks to Ellen Widawsky, the school librarian, who arranged the trip and arranged for students who didn't already have library cards to apply for them. 

Date Added: 12/16/2022

Fifth graders at Chatterton School attended a Writer’s Celebration for their personal narratives recently.

Students, teachers and the literacy coach, Peter Gangi all came together to share their personal narratives they have been working on in class.

Date Added: 12/5/2022