GREAT NEWS FROM A GREAT YEAR It`s Time to Register for

June 2012
Belding News
IMPORTANT
DATES IN
JUNE 2012
Tuesday, June 5 Belding’s Got Talent
Show 6 pm
June 7,
Thursday
Music Assembly 10
am: chorus, Grades
4-5, Recorder Club
June 12,
Tuesday
8th grade banquet at
LaVilla
1st—7th Grades
AWARDS
ASSEMBLIES:


June 13,
Wednesday
9:15 am for
gr 5-7
1:00 for
1st—4th
Graduation—
9:45 a.m.
Last Full Day of
School
June 14,
Thursday
No School—
records day
Kindergarten orientation at 11:30 am
June 15, Friday
Final Day of School
One hour 9-10 a.m.
Each month this newsletter will
include a monthly calendar on
page 2. This is designed to be a
handy reference to hang on the
fridge! ALSO… sign up to receive
this newsletter by e-mail. Visit the
Belding web site to join the mailing
list: beldingelementary.com
G R E AT N E W S
F RO M A
G R E AT Y E A R
We’re wrapping up a great year at Belding School. The month of June will fly by and
summer vacation is soon to begin. There are many special things planned for these
final three weeks of school. Be sure to review the calendar on page 2 of this newsletter.
L O N G ER S C H O O L D AY
We’re back to school on September 4, 2012. Next year Chicago students will have a
longer school day. Belding School hours will be 8:45 a.m.—3:45 p.m.
We hope that next year we will again be able to offer extensive after school programming, and programs will likely run three days a week from 3:45—4:45 p.m.
After school classes at Belding include art, music, fitness, sports, enrichment and
remedial programs. Our after school classes have been
funded the past few years through a grant and through PTA
sponsorship. Funding details have not been finalized for
next year’s after school programs.
This summer the Board of Education and the Teacher’s Union are negotiating a new contract and there are a number
of “hot topics” still not resolved including teacher salaries.
In order to stay up-to-date this summer, please ensure that
CPS and Belding have your most current contact information in the school office, on
the CPS parent portal, and with the Belding Googlegroup. We will use these to communicate if there are changes that affect you and your children. You can read updates about the collective bargaining process at this CPS web site: www.cps.edu/
Pages/collectivebargaininginformation.aspx or at the CTU web site: www.ctunet.com.
We’ve planned a new, improved Back –to-Belding night for Thursday, August 30th.
Read more about the event on page four of this newsletter. Our teachers will be
here that evening to greet students and their families and to give you important information for launching the new school year well. Have a
great summer!
It’s Time to Register for Kindergarten
Kindergarten orientation will be held on June 14. Families with children who will
be 5 years old on or before September 1 should register for kindergarten now in the
school office. Please contact the school office to ensure that your bring all needed
documents when you come for registration.
18
25
24


9:15
26am for gr 5-7
1:00 for 1st—4th
27
Awards Assemblies on June 12:
19
20
8th grade
Graduation—
9:45 am
8th grade banquet at
LaVilla
Last Day for PreK
AWARDS
ASSEMBLIES
8th grade field trip to
DePaul
Fun Fair for PreK-3rd
17
13
12
11
6
Wed
10
9:30 tour for
prospective parents
6pm –Belding’s
Got Talent Show
5
Tue
4
8th Grade
Explore Testing
Mon
3
Sun
8
1
Fri
28
21
Kg orientation for new
students—11:30 a.m.
NO SCHOOL
14
29
22
Final Day of
School 9-10 a.m.
15
Music Assembly Our of Uniform
at 10 am: chorus,
Day
Grades 4-5 and
Recorder Club
7
Thu
June 2012
30
23
16
9
2
June 8—Belding's final
Out-of-Uniform Day!
The final opportunity to
raise funds for a good
cause and to be out-ofuniform is Friday, June
8th. Students can pay
$1 during their library
class from May 30thJune 5th, or after school
in the library on Tuesday, June 5th. All money raised will go to one
of the following organizations: Stand Up
(bullying prevention),
Feed My Starving Children (childhood hunger
or
assistance),
Stand (genocide intervention). The 8th graders have researched and
presentarecorded
tions about these organizations. The 5th-7th
graders will watch the
presentations on June
1st and vote for the
cause that will be the
recipient of Belding's
final Out-of-Uniform
Day. Thank you for
your support!
Sat
Page 3
Belding News
SUMMER READING
Few Belding students are required to attend summer school, but we
do encourage kids to read and keep learning during their vacation!
Most students in grades K-4 at Belding have access to a RAZ kids
account, and we encourage your child to log on at least once a
week all summer to continue reading books at their independent
level.
The Chicago Public Library has a summer reading program with
great books to recommend and incentives to motivate kids. For
more information visit your local branch library.
The Beldingelementary.com web site offers resources for student
learning. By grade level bands, students can access reading, vocabulary and math learning activities.
About.com has created a links to lists of great books for summer reading. If you or your child need book
ideas check: http://childrensbooks.about.com/od/forparents/tp/summer_reading.htm
Parents and students are also encouraged to have a conference with your homeroom teacher to ask for
specific ideas for growing and learning during the summer. We want Belding students to run, play, rest,
and have fun in the summer, but we also want kids to keep growing their brains!
B E G IN N IN G A B A N D AT B E L D IN G
Belding’s music teacher, Susan Kirschbaum has a dream to start a Band at Belding. We’re looking for
parents to help make this happen. If you have band instruments to donate to the school, we’re trying to
collect 15-20 instruments to begin a band. A band program is something that would take some time to
build. Ultimately, Ms. Kirschbaum would like to have TWO bands... a "beginning band" and an
"intermediate/advanced band."
To begin the process of building our program from scratch, we would start with just one beginning band
and would like to include 4th-8th grade students. Ms. Kirschbaum would like to include flute, clarinet,
trumpet, trombone, and a couple of percussion instruments in our program. There would be at least
two performances each school year -- the Winter Assembly and the Spring
Assembly, with the chance to perform more often at additional assemblies
and travel to other schools to perform with other students that are part of
band programs. Students would learn the values of taking care of their instrument, what comes with hard work and practice, and pride in being
part of something that grows together. The value of having a band program for elementary and middle school students is something they will
have for the rest of their lives and could help get them into specific high
schools and even universities.
Contact Ms. Kirschbaum if you have instruments to donate!
Belding Elementary School
FRIENDS
Page 4
OF
B ELDING
Art & Flowers on the Parkway
Have you noticed the gradual transformation of the seven parkway containers lining Tripp and Cullom avenues? Friends of Belding is pleased to
fund the supplies for Belding art teacher, Ken Klopack, and the Art Club in
their pursuit to transform these large containers into vibrant works of art
that will be enjoyed for years to come. The planter artwork greets our
students, staff and parents daily and provides a cheery “Welcome!” to
Belding visitors. Also, thank you to the volunteers who joined us for our
2nd annual “Spring Tune Up” on Saturday May 12th. We planted red and
white begonias to accompany the perennial grasses and boxwood shrubs.
Belding Families Cheer on
The Chicago Fire
One of FOB’s missions is to cultivate meaningful relationships with organizations in the position to enhance Belding’s facilities, programs, and curriculum. One such organization we have approached, the Chicago Fire,
recently donated 50 free tickets to the Chicago Fire game on May 9,
2012. Belding Soccer Coach, Mr. Peter Rutkowski accompanied 50 Belding students and family members to cheer on the Fire on their home turf
at Toyota Park in Bridgeview. We thank The Fire for their generosity and
hope this is the beginning of an ongoing partnership. For more information on the Fire, check out www.chicago-fire.com
Annual Friends of Belding Elections
We are looking for three additional parents to join our board of directors. Each position is a two-year term. If you
are interested in knowing more, please e-mail us [email protected]. Also, please join us for our
annual meeting (which will take place during the monthly parent meeting on June 14th beginning at 6pm in the
lunchroom), where we will discuss our year-in-review, seek feedback on our priorities for the coming school year,
and hold elections for the three open board positions.
B AC K
TO
B E L D IN G O P E N H O U S E
AUGUST 3 0, 2 01 2
5 -7 P.M.
Students will be on vacation from June 16—September 3. We will begin the next school
year on Tuesday, September 4, 2012 (the day after Labor Day).
This fall we will hold our Back to School open house night on Thursday, August 30.
This is an important opportunity to meet your children’s teachers, to deliver student
supplies, pick up important papers from the school, and to volunteer to help the school
and classroom. It is so important to us that parents attend the Back To Belding Night
that we are offering a financial incentive. Any parent who attends the BACK TO BELDING night will receive a $5 discount (for each child) on the school fee! (Cash or
money order only. Belding cannot accept personal checks or credit cards.)
Supply Lists for the coming school year will be distributed on the final day of school. You
can also find the supply list on the Belding web site.
Save the Date—
BACK TO
BELDING NIGHT
August 30
5-7 p.m.
Belding Elementary School
A F T E R S C HO O L P RO G R A M S
Page 5
AT
B E LD I N G
The After School Program at Belding is over. Close to 400 students participated in 42 different classes. We would like to express our gratitude to teachers and staff for their outstanding work with Belding students. Thank you for providing highly engaging and popular classes. Big thanks to our partners:
Belding PTA and the Girl Scouts troops leaders.
Here are the names of teachers, parents and staff who made this year’s program such a great success:
 Refija Murtic- Program Coordinator
 Zulema Razo- Program Schedule, Supervision, Parent Liaison
 Susan Johnson, Laurie Marlow, Maureen Lontoc- Registration
 Stacy Hale, Peter Rutkowski, Jennifer Barker, Genie Albina, Sarah Riccardino, Jaina Fisher,
Shelly Magnus and Katie Sladkey- Sports and Fitness
 Laura Broberg, Catherine Stillwell, Genie Albina, Jean Caldwell, Shelly Magnus, Eavon Solis,
Laura Moyer, Vanessa Kim, Sojung Park-Kim, Gloria Dominguez, Michael Westfall, Jomana
Blan- Academic Support
 Susan Kirschbaum, Lisa Owens, Janine Nelson, Peter Rutkowski, Susie Lee, Heather Swenson,
Sarah Riccardino, Zulema Razo, Vanessa Kim, Pam Navrocki, Peter Rutkowski - Enrichment
 Susie Lee, Jaina Fisher, Peter Rutkowski, Stacy Hale, Michael Westfall, Anna Olson- Community Service, Leadership, College Readiness
 Wes Makin, Irene Escobar and Tania Sanchinel- Girl Scouts
 Carol Brown, Gladys Carrasquillo, Juliette Tompkins, Katie Kozisek and Anthony GobetzSnacks