Park Elementary - Hutchinson Public Schools

ISD 423 Core Values
Relationships
High Expectations
All students learn
CHallenging and
meaningful
curriculum
Park Elementary
75 Years and Still Learning
Celebrating lifelong learning and building a school community
that encourages learning, respect and communication.
Park’s Reading Celebration Culminated in Hooray for
Diffendoofer Day
Volume 8
April 8, 2014
Dan Olberg,
Principal
Email
Lori VanderHeiden,
Assistant Principal
Email
Remember to check the
school website for upcoming
events, lunch menus and
general school information:
www.hutch.k12.mn.us
Read through the remainder of the newsletter to view images from the week’s
celebration of reading and Dr. Seuss!
In need of contacting the bus
company?
Vision Bus Transportation can
be reached at:
(320) 234-0888.
MCA Assessments Begin This Month
Please see page 2 for specific details in regards to the tests.
Due to school closures that were caused by inclement weather,
student make-up days will be June 5th and 6th.
PTO: Be in the Know
Thank you to all the parent volunteers and students who helped in putting on another
fantastic Arts & Academics Showcase this past Friday. All the students did a wonderful
job displaying their talents!
The PTO Dance has been rescheduled for this Thursday night at Park Elementary! The
dance will take place from 6:30-8 p.m. Students must be accompanied by an adult in
order to attend.
The final PTO Spirit Wear order is due this Friday, April 11th. Extra order forms are
available in the office, or stop by the Hutch Sports Shop to see the apparel available.
Looking forward to its next event, the annual PTO Carnival will be held Friday, May 16th
at the Hutchinson Rec Center. Many volunteers are needed to help make this event a
success for students and their families! Please consider donating some of your time.
Email Emily Whitington, PTO President, if able to help.
Click here to check out the PTO Facebook page for more information about this and
other upcoming events!
Looking Ahead
April 9—Two Hour Late
Start
April 10—Babysitting
Clinic starts at 3:45 &
ends at 5:15
April 10—PTO Dance at
Park, starting at 6:30
April 18—No School –
Good Friday
April 22—MCA TestingReading
April 25—Reading Celebration Day (Wear your
Neon READ T-Shirt)
April 29—MCA Testing–
Math
May 5—PTO Meeting at
6:30 at Park
May 6—MCA Testing—
Science
Park Elementary
Page 2, April 8, 2014
April MCA Testing
The third, fourth and fifth grade students will be participating in the Minnesota statewide testing program for reading
and math in April. These assessments are called the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments III, and they measure
how well students know the information in the MN Academic Standards for reading and math. All students in Minnesota that are in grades 3-5 will be assessed. In addition, the state of Minnesota tests fifth graders in science. Although we have sent these dates home in the past newsletter articles, please take a minute to check your schedule to
avoid any vacation overlaps, doctor or dentist appointments, or any other conflicts.
We are required to have a very high attendance rate during our testing dates. While the assessments are given over
a four-day period, the students will be tested only part of each day. The students and staff will be ready for the challenge and together we can make this a positive experience for your child!
Following are the testing dates along with the subjects that will be assessed:
April 22-23—Reading (3rd, 4th, and 5th grades)
April 29-30—Math (3rd, 4th and 5th grades)
May 6-7—Science (5th grade only)
Optional Testing Preparations
The Math MCA and Reading MCA will be completed on paper this year. We encourage you to go to the state
website that allows students to practice the math portion ahead of time. (Some versions of Internet Explorer do
not work with this site. We are sorry for the inconvenience. Try Mozilla Firefox if you are using a PC).
If you and your child would like to familiarize yourself with the testing format and practice questions, follow these
steps:
 Go to https://mnpt.tds.airast.org/student/ OR go to the school website at www.hutch.k12.mn.us and choose
“Park Elementary”. Under “For Students”, click on the option that says, “MCA On-line Practice Test”.
 Click on the “Sign In” button. Your child will be signing in as a guest.
 The next screen will display a prompt reading, “Is this You?”. Before choosing “yes”, make sure to choose the
appropriate grade level.
 Click on the subject, math or reading, that you would like to practice. Click, “Start Item Sampler.”
 The next screen will give you options to change settings. This is not necessary, just click “Select”.
 On the next screen, click, “Yes, Start the Item Sampler”.
 Good luck!
Sincerely,
Dan Olberg
Park Elementary School Principal
Page 3, April 8, 2014
Park Elementary
From Around the Building
Counselors’ Corner
During the month of March, the counselors went into the fourth grade
classrooms to talk about assertiveness and how to solve conflicts. Along
with this conversation, we also talked about conflict managers and how
they help walk us through the conflict resolution process when we are
having a problem. Each classroom voted on three students to become
conflict managers this year (pictured right). The conflict managers have
completed mediation training and are helping out on the playground during fourth grade recess. Their presence and positive attitudes make a
difference whether they are mediating a large conflict or just being available to talk with students.
The 2013-2014 4th Grade Conflict
Managers
Sincerely,
Mrs. Bridge and Mrs. Huepenbecker
Spotlight: Gifted/Talented Program
During the Creative Writing class, many talented Park students worked hard on creating poems and
stories to be entered into the SW/WC-SMSU Creative Writing contest. We had five lucky winnersHannah Ladwig, Ella Alseben, Conner Krumrie, Sam Kallhoff, and Claire Schweim. They are invited to
an awards ceremony on April 27 at Marshall, MN where they will hear guest author Christine StweartNumez speak. Each winner will receive a medal and a copy of the anthology for place finishers,
which includes their work. Congratulations!
These five students will be honored
for penning winning poems/stories
for the SW/SC-SMSU Creative
Writing Contest.
Science Matters
Park Elementary Scientists have been learning all about the six simple machines in the Science Lab. Students
have been using levers, pulleys, wheels & axles, screws, wedges, and inclined planes in a variety of experiments to find out how simple machines make work easier. Rube Goldberg, a cartoonist, became famous for drawing comic strips with a variety of simple machines. What
made his cartoons so funny was how he would take a simple task and make it much
more complicated than it needed to be. His cartoons always involved a chain reaction. Take a look at a Rube Goldberg machine that a student created at home to feed
his pet.
Currently, students are learning about Industrial Engineering. Last week students in 4 th
and 5th grade were given an engineering challenge to build a tower out of notebook
cards and 2 feet of tape. Each tower had to be at approximately 12 inches tall and
hold a stuffed animal on top for at least 10 seconds.
We will continue learning about Industrial Engineering with a focus on the benefits of
assembly lines.
Page 4, April 8, 2014
Park Elementary
Reading Celebration Dress-Up Days
Students were invited to partake in the week’s festivities by dressing up to a changing
daily theme. A photo booth was set-up in the cafeteria for students to pose with friends.
Monday: Mis-Matched Day
Tuesday: Twin Day
Wednesday: Grade Color Day
Thursday: Red Carpet Day
Friday: Neon/Reading Shirt/Hat Day
Page 5, April 8, 2014
Hooray for Diffendoofer Day Cast
Thank you to all the students and staff who helped put on a terrific show in honor of Park’s
Reading Celebration Week!
The casting of fifth grade students is listed below.
Diffendoofer Students
Room 216:
Room 218:
Leah Pollmann
Brianna Cherrington
Kyla Moore
Devean Donnay
Jordan Westphal
Alia Muellerleile
Branna Ewing
Libby Carlo
Sarah Bassler
Justin Hoff
Austin Lang
Room 116:
Room 217:
Grace Petersen
Hadley Achman
Aidan Young
Alyssa Johnson
Ameera Abdel Aziz
Cassidy Caya
Courtney Huiras
Hannah Ladwig
Deacon Carter
Students waiting prior to the show.
Frogs/student actors
pose for the camera.
Room 202 -- Pigs
Audrey Roen
Tim Volkov
Marlee Harlander
Karlee Wolff
Jordan Hawkins
Room 219 -- Frogs
Ethan Carter
Maggie Eckhart
Michael Farrell
Isaac Nass
The Duck: Jace Butcher
Flobbertown
Room 102:
Room 114
Jace Drape
Matthew Olberg
Myranda Uecker
TJ Tydlacka
AJ Olson
Ellie Campbell
Landon Butler
Macy Ellis
Lilly Kasper
The cooks/second grade teachers dancing!
Room 115:
Michael Tankersley—dog
Jack Ludowese
Anna Fabel
Allie Eischens—dog
Paige Telecky
Park’s staff who were part of the action!
Park Elementary’s 2014 A-Cat-emy Book Awards
2nd/3rd grade
n
o
cti
nfi
No ts
or
Sp
c
fi
n
o
N
n
o
ti
Park Elementary’s 2014 A-Cat-emy Book Awards
4th/5th grade