Matthew Paterson Elementary School

Latest MPES Headlines

• Recognizing Musical Talent

  At its May 7 meeting, the Carmel Board of Education recognized music students throughout the district who were selected for the All County and Honors ensembles. The Carmel Central School District Music Department has so much to be proud of each year. 

  “This year, we had over 50 students perform in Area All State,” said Music Department Chair Meghan Cabral. “We also had students perform with New York State School Music Association's All State festival and the New York State Band Directors' Association honor bands. Our George Fischer Middle School students stood out at the Putnam County Music Educators' Association all county festivals, too. This year we had over 70 students accepted! Each year we also have students earn Excellent and Outstanding ratings at the NYSSMA solo festival.”   
   
  Carmel Schools have been recognized as one of the best communities for music education by the National Association of Music Merchants’ (NaMM) for seven years running.   

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• Read All About It: Earth Day News

  Earth Day may be celebrated just one day a year but the fourth graders in Janine Avitabile’s reading class at Matthew Paterson Elementary School find ways to reduce, reuse and recycle all year long.  

  For Earth Day they made magazine covers – on a digital platform, not wasteful paper -- to show how small acts can have a big impact on the planet.  

  Layla made a magazine cover called “Saving the Earth” which featured a story about her magic cup.   

  “Whenever we are going to water the plants, we grab the magic cup,” she said. “We use the same cup every time, so we don’t have to throw it out or wash it.” 

  Alessia, who is known for creating projects for her room, said her mission was making art out of plastic bottles.  

  Addison made a special “Stop the Littering” issue of her magazine. The magazine noted that Addison’s mission is picking up litter at a local park.  

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  Matthew Paterson Elementary School News

• An Art Lesson That's Catnip for Students

  Art Teacher Alex Lombardo’s project for Matthew Paterson Elementary School fourth graders was catnip to the students.   

  The assignment called for students to create portraits of cats posing as humans and dressed up in fancy clothes. It was in the style of digital artist Galina Bugaevskaya, who reimagines traditional portraits, but with cats dressed up as royalty.  

  “I guide the students in how to draw the cats in human pose,” Lombardo said. “They are welcome to change their clothes and accessorize the cat.” 

  The students in Katherine Allen’s fourth grade class could not have been more excited to add to the artist’s Cat Universe. 

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  Matthew Paterson Elementary School News

• Reading the Words Around Us

  The second grade teachers at Matthew Paterson Elementary School decided that one way to teach reading would be to work with the words all around us. What could be more fun than to have students read the words and phrases that decorate each other's T-shirts?  

  On T-shirt Day the lesson in Catherine DeGloria’s class was on phonemes – the sounds of speech. While there are only 26 letters in the alphabet, there are 44 phonemes, which include the sounds made by “ph,” “oo,” “qu” and many other pairings.  

  “We are learning phonemes and we’re going to be reading words by pieces – or phonemes,” DeGloria said. “We are going to take a look at the words on our shirts.”

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  Matthew Paterson Elementary School News

• See Student Art Throughout the Community

  Art created by Carmel Central School District students will be on display at multiple locations around the community during Youth Art Month in March. The Annual Youth Art Month Student Exhibit is sponsored by the Carmel/Kent Chamber of Commerce. 

  “We have about 120 students represented this year,” said Christine Wisniewski, the district’s Art Department chair. “They have created work in ceramics, graphics, drawing, painting and mixed media.”  

  The student work is on display at Kent Town Hall, Patterson Town Hall, Carmel Town Hall, Putnam Hospital, Meadowlands of Carmel, Kent Public Library, Patterson Library and more. The Chamber of Commerce will judge the show and announce awards in April.  

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• See Video of Carmel Schools' New Reading Program, CKLA

  The Carmel Central School District implemented a new reading program districtwide in the 2023-2024 school year. Watch this video to hear what students and teachers have to say about the Core Knowledge Language Arts, or CKLA, reading program. 

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  District News

• Matthew Paterson is More Than a Building

  Each school day, Matthew Paterson Elementary School Principal Jennifer Darling stands near the front door and greets the students as they come to school.  

  “Good morning,” she says. “Welcome to school. Have a great day.”  

  Some children stop to chat, some smile in reply, and others simply rush on to their friends and teachers. 

  To Principal Darling, the important thing is that the children sense that school is a supportive, nurturing community where they are cared for and safe.  

  So, she set out to read the book “School Is More Than a Building,” by Kelley Donner, to every class in every grade at Matthew Paterson Elementary. The picture book, written by the popular children’s book author when her children returned to school after being at home during the pandemic, shows the importance of social connection.   

  Darling started reading the picture book to the fourth grade and is working her way down through the other grades. On a recent morning, she visited Michele Love’s third grade class.  

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  Matthew Paterson Elementary School News

• One Word Project

  As an English teacher, Mallory Gray knows the importance of choosing the right word.  

   A member of the district’s Equity Committee, Gray helped her seventh-grade students think about the impact of words as part of the school district’s One Word Project. Then she guided the students as they turned their words into works of art.  

  The same process played out in each of Carmel Central School District’s five schools, where impactful words line the hallways.   

  "We did it during homeroom," said Gray, who teaches English at both George Fischer Middle School and Carmel High School. "The students thought it was cool. Our hope is that their one word is what they will turn to and keep in mind when they face hard times."  

  The Carmel Central School District Equity Committee’s goals for the 2023-24 school year included creating an affirming environment for our students, said committee member Michele Love, who teaches third grade at Matthew Paterson Elementary School. 

  The committee decided on the One Word Project, in which students choose one word to serve as inspiration for the year ahead. Students turned their One Word into a piece of art. Now the artwork is displayed in the hallways at every school and the words inspire students in every grade. 

   

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• Mixing it Up with Kindness at Matthew Paterson Elementary

  Sariah picked a question from a pack of conversation starter cards and could not believe her good luck. It was about sports, her favorite subject.  

  “Who is your favorite sports player?” Sariah, a third grader in Michele Love’s class, asked the children at her lunch table.  

  “Mine is Brianna Stewart of the New York Liberty,” she said, starting off the conversation with a group of children she did not usually sit with at lunch. “She is a superstar. I love basketball.”   

  The activity was part of Mix It Up Day at Matthew Paterson Elementary School, one of the events in the school’s Kindness Week.  

  “Our PBIS study group developed and implemented a Kindness Week, starting with World Kindness Day and culminating in a Schoolwide Kindness Bingo, said Karen Wrobel, the school psychologist and chair for PBIS, or positive behavioral interventions and support.

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  Matthew Paterson Elementary School News

• A Veteran's Day Visit

  To learn about what it means to be a Veteran, Catherine DeToma’s third grade class at Matthew Paterson Elementary had a visit from a Vietnam Veteran. John Claudet,  who happened to be Lucas's grandfather, told the class about life in the military.  The students had many questions and Mr. Claudet was happy to answer them. Mr. Claudet, who joined the Army when he was 20 years old and served in Vietnam, talked about basic training and exercise. He even told the class how helpful it was to exchange letters with his then girlfriend, now wife, AnnCarol Claudet.  

   

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  Matthew Paterson Elementary School News