Glenkirk Elementary School
Transcription
Glenkirk Elementary School
Glenkirk Elementary School as VISION: Glenkirk Elementary is the place where everyone wants to be and when you are here you are your best! MISSION: Glenkirk Elementary is collaboratively focused on providing high standards of student achievement in a safe, welcoming community that will inspire lifelong success. http://pwcs.glenkirk.schoolfusion.us/ 8584 Sedge W ren Drive Gainesville, VA 20155 T (703)753-1702 F (703)753-4981 December Newsletter the parents. Keep the communication open. With over 1100 students we will try our best to respond within 24 hours. If you have asked me a question and you don’t hear back from me, give me a call. Principal’s Message By: Ms. Gilkerson Happy Holidays everyone! This is one of my favorite times of the year because it is a time filled with family and friends. Glenkirk is a place where that is important. I want to take a moment and express my gratitude to you the families of Glenkirk. Your support of your children’s learning and of our staff has been exceptional. It means so much to us as we work hard to make sure every child is receiving a world class education. As we look to 2010, please continue to give your child your attention as they read each night. Ask them questions about what they have read. Let them make up questions about what they have read to ask you if they read aloud. Help them practice their math facts to improve their math fluency. Also we have made many improvements here at Glenkirk from suggestions we have had from Kiss and Ride has definitely improved this year and we are hoping to get it even smoother. We are waiting for the numbered hang tags to arrive any day. Each family will receive 2 of the same numbered tag that they will use for their time here at Glenkirk. We hope this will not only add security to our process but also speed up our process. Many of you know I am sponsoring our environmental club called the “Green Team” We have some projects we are working on and I need some items. • large coffee cans with lids (48) • dryer lint (lots) • used dryer sheets (lots) • pine cones (100) • pop can pulls (lots) • plastic six pack holder (50+) Remember to check the radio or website in case of weather related school closings. Also make sure all of your contact information is correct in case of an early dismissal due to weather. Again, I am wishing a wonderful December for you all!! Safety Rules for Students and Parents Please take the time to read the safety rules and instructions listed below. In the interest of all children we are requesting your assistance and support to insure a safe environment for all children who attend schools in Prince William County. It is only through your cooperation that we can insure everyone's safety and particularly those who walk to and from school each day. Rules for STUDENTS 1. ALWAYS WALK, NOT RUN, you may trip and hurt yourself or others. 2. ALWAYS walk in groups or pairs if possible. NEVER walk alone. 3. ALWAYS walk on the sidewalk, NEVER in the street, on the curb or on other's property. 4. ALWAYS cross at designated crosswalks whenever possible. 5. ALWAYS stand back from the curb and ALWAYS look both ways before crossing the street. 6. ALWAYS leave promptly when school is dismissed and go directly home. 7. ALWAYS listen carefully to the Crossing Guard's directions when they tell you to CROSS or WAIT. Also listen to the Safety Patrols very carefully. 8. NEVER walk or play between parked cars. 9. NEVER accept rides, candy or gifts from strangers. 10. NEVER fight, throw rocks, snowballs or play with toys ( especially bouncing balls) on the way to and from school. If you must bring a toy to school carry it in a bag or your backpack. DO NOT bounce or throw balls going to and from school. 11. NEVER pet stray animals or allow your pet to follow you to school. If a stray animal follows you, WALK SLOWLY, DO NOT RUN, to the nearest Crossing Guard or Safety Patrol. 12. NEVER take "short cuts" through wooded or non-populated areas, or trespass on someone else's property. 13. NEVER use bad language toward the Crossing Guards, Safety Patrols of anyone else. 14. BICYCLES & SCOOTERS: When riding your bike or scooter on the sidewalk you MUST get off and walk it through the crosswalk. When riding your bike in the street, you MUST remember to STOP AND OBEY all traffic signs and directions given by Police and Crossing Guards. You have the same responsibilities as motorists to follow the rules of the road. 15. SKATEBOARDS: Must be CARRIED across the intersection. Rules for PARENTS 1. When you drive your child to and from school PLEASE park on the side where the school is located. If you must park on the opposite side, please DO NOT call your child across the street. If your child must cross to get to your car, have them cross at the designated crossing with the assistance of a Crossing Guard. If a Crossing Guard is unavailable, PLEASE get out of your car and walk the child across the street. 2. When driving to and from school please SLOW DOWN and be aware of the children that are walking. Also, EXPECT DELAYS when driving your child to and from school. The majority of schools are not equipped to handle large volumes of traffic therefore there will be delays. 3. When walking your child to and from school, be sure to set a good example yourself by following the proper rules and procedures. This will teach the children to walk safely with or without the presence of an adult. Always use the assistance of a Crossing Guard where available. They are there to assist you and to see to the safety of the children. News You Can Use! Please Check the Lost and Found If your child is missing any coats, gloves, hats, etc., please make sure you check the Lost & Found soon! We will be donating anything that is still left on the rack to the local shelter by Tuesday, December 22nd. Please check for anything you may be missing by Friday, Dec. 18th. Low Cost Groceries at Glenkirk Glenkirk’s student council is going great! We continue to have outstanding attendance with almost everyone on time and ready to go! Spirit Day – Our second spirit day of the year, on November 19th, was “Sports Day.” There were all kinds of teams represented on jerseys, t-shirts, and sweatshirts. Way to go Glenkirk! Stay tuned for our next spirit day coming this month. Out students and school did a great job helping collect food for “Operation Turkey.” SCA was proud to be a part of this great cause. Dates and additional information will soon be given for Decembers coat and mitten drive. Schedule Change! - This month’s SCA meeting has been changed to Friday the 4th. Mrs. Kunstel and Mr. Sanfilippo “With Glenkirk Elementary serving as the host, Grace Church of Gainesville is working with Angel Food Ministries to offer restaurant-grade groceries at greatly reduced cost to residents of the community. Orders are placed throughout the month at www.angelfoodministries.com, and can be picked up once a month here at Glenkirk on a Saturday morning. The first pick up day is Saturday, November 14th from 1011AM. Angel Food offers fresh meat and produce as well as an assortment of other staple food items. For example a Regular Box costs $30 and is about an enough food for a family of four for a week, or a single person for a month. Other specialty boxes are available including convenience meals, fruits and vegetables, allergen-free, etc. For all the information or to place an order visit www.angelfoodministries.com or contact Corey Shepherd at 703-296-4904.” Diversity Committee Bookkeeper Notes The Diversity Committee is pleased to share the cultural bulletin board (located near the music room). Each month a different continent will be featured. Currently, we are focusing on the culture, people, and traditions which stem from North America. Stroll by every month to see cultures reflected from around the world. Our next meeting is planned for January 28, 2009 at 4:00 pm in the library. Please stop by and join us! By: Mrs. Biber We welcome your checks. If your check is returned for insufficient funds, we will electronically present it to your bank for the face value plus a $35 processing fee and any protest or bad check return fee charged by your financial institution. This action will be taken without further notice. All returned checks referred for collection are subject to a $35 processing fee, any protest or bad check return fee charged by your financial institution, and all other charges, interest and attorney’s fee allowed by law. Office Infomation By: Mrs. Cook & Mrs. Watson Parents: Please remember that our first morning bell rings at 8:50 this year and the Tardy bell rings at 9:00; at 9:01 your child is marked with an unexcused tardy. We start to allow children to enter the building at 8:45. We have many children here at Glenkirk Elementary School this year, so please understand if you are using the Kiss-N-Ride line it will take extra time to get through. Once the tardy sign is put out at the curb, you MUST go park your car and walk your child into the office to sign them in at the front desk. Please adjust your schedule accordingly to ensure your child can arrive to school on time. Also remember that when dropping off your child, you must do so via the Kiss-N-Ride line and pull up to the front of the school. Thank you so much for your understanding. *Please do not park in the administrative parking spaces provided in the parking lot. These spots are necessary for the staff to be able to come and go during school hours. We thank you for your cooperation! PTO Family Events November was another fun filled month for families at Glenkirk! We had our first movie night and Monsters vs. Aliens was a big hit! There were a lot of our families at this movie night and we hope to see even more at the next one in January! What better way to spend a cold January night than watching a movie with your family and hanging out with your friends. We were also very happy to welcome The Harlem Wizards for the very first Harlem Wizards vs. Glenkirk Golden Knights in a rousing game of basketball. The Wizards were a huge hit and we hope to have them back again next year. The PTO would like to say a heartfelt THANK YOU to all the staff who played, cheered, sang, trumpeted, and showed up to support as well as a huge THANK YOU to our students and parents who came out to watch this event! This event was wonderful because you all pitched in and showed your awesome school spirit. The Wizards were very impressed with our turn out considering it was the first time Glenkirk has hosted this event. One last shout out to our incredible Golden Knights Basketball team: * Lisa "Slam Dunk" Gilkerson * "Magic" Liz Bumbrey * Rusty "Where'd the ball go?" Wild * "Big Daddy" Ryan Sanfilippo * Diane "Quick Slam" Fernandez * Amy "I'm Number One" Hildreth * Adam "Fancy Feet" Dove * "Mighty" Dawn Pell * Brooke "I know the Ref" LeVecchi * "Killer" Kelly Blake * "Nothing but Net" Carla Shaw * "Shhh!" Beth Vigil (I said "Shhh!") * Nicki "the Bride" Jones * Christine "I was Jones first" Jones * Pamela "Rollin'" Rollins * Kjiersten "Mad Dog" Hodum * Tiffany "Dr. T" West * "Big K" Simmon Kim * Mary "Long Shot" Baker * Sherri "Rocker" Yaeger * Sandra "The Artist" Oliver * "Kamakaze" Flo Richards * Jennifer "Fast Hands" Robinson * "Alley Oop" Louise Vincent Our fabulous coach: Bouncin' Bonnie Bjorkman Our fearless (and fair) ref: Mr. Bjorkman Our incredibly talented, hard working, cheerleading squad: * Stacey Burroughs * Jodi Biber * Amber Melvin * Beth Kunstel * Annece Flood * Sisi Hayes * Heather Watson * Jennifer Tracy * Amy Hildreth * Gina Townsend * Melissa Cook * Jennifer Burke And last, but not least, our singer Mrs. Johnson and trumpeter, Mrs. Nancy Anderson. Upcoming Events: 12/2 Box Tops due Spirit Night 12/3 Market Day Pick Up 12/4 Family Bingo Night 12/8 PTO Meeting 12/10 Dominos Dough Raiser Night 12/19 5 Below fundraiser weekend For a full calendar of December events, please visit the PTO webpage http://www.glenkirkpto.org Other Reminders Please remember to keep sending in your Box Tops! We are well on track to hitting our goal for the year, but must keep bringing them in to get there. Check out our progress by visiting the Box Tops board in the school cafeteria. The class that brings in the most Box Tops each month will win a special prize. Mrs. Silvis’s class was the October winner. Each student in the class won a free ticket to the Harlem Wizards game. November’s winning class (still to be announced) will win free bingo cards, snack and a drink for Family Bingo Night in December. The new contest out from Box Tops is 30 Days of Thanks…go to the PTO Website, http://www.glenkirkpto.org for the link to this program. And don’t forget to check us out on School Fusion! You can get to the PTO School Fusion page by going to http://www.glenkirkpto.org. Join the page with your School Fusion account to receive reminders of upcoming events. You can also find all event flyers, order forms, meeting minutes, and PTO forms here at any time. This is a great resource for staying in touch and supporting your children at Glenkirk Elementary School. The PTO is always looking for additional volunteers to help with planning, coordination, and support activities around the school. You can help as little or as much as you like. To learn more about opportunities and get added to our mailing list, please contact Tami Harlan at [email protected]. Tami will send out volunteer notices when help is needed – you can simply sign up when you’re available. There is no pressure to sign up for anything, but this is the best way for you to know when opportunities arise. Thanks to all parents who purchased items from Square 1 Art. A percentage of each purchase helps to support our art program here at Glenkirk. Bad Hair Day Students identified and used a variety of lines in their works of art. What’s new in PE? We are finishing up our soccer unit and will move on to DDR and a new activity involving GEO Fitness. Mats will be used to teach individual movement. Important dates! 22 Dec 09 23 Dec 09 24 Dec – 1 Jan 09 4 Jan 09 Interims go home Early Dismissal – 1:30 PM Winter Break! Back to School! Specialists’ Speak By: Ms. Oliver By: Mrs. Biendl Highlights from the Math/Science Lab... It’s fun, fun, fun in the Math/Science Lab! Please continue to check the Math/Science page on the Glenkirk website to see what is happening in the lab. If you stop by the school, check out the bulletin board outside of the lab to see pictures of our latest lessons. Music Notes Music and movement promote whole brain learning, sequencing skills, and a myriad of further developmental processes that are helpful for leading a fulfilling adult life and foundational for learning in reading, math, science, and geography. At Glenkirk we provide two 45-minute music classes each month for all students. We also offer an optional, additional music contact time each week (4 times per month) for 3rd–5th graders. The 3rd grade Golden Pages Chorus meets at 8AM every Thursday morning. The 4th-5th grade Singing Knights Chorus meets at 8AM every Tuesday. In chorus, we learn healthy singing habits through developmentally appropriate music, which often includes playing instruments and movement. We present several concerts each year and have much fun along the way. If you would like your child join chorus, NOW is the time. For more information please e-mail me at [email protected] or call at 703-754-1702 and leave a message for Mrs. Nancy Anderson, Music. Our choruses gave a delightful concert on Tuesday, November 17. We sang in November this year to say thank you to our Veterans and Armed Service helpers. Our next full concert at school will be in April. Some fifth graders will be participating in PWC 5th grade All-County Chorus in February and others will be singing in the Virginia All-State Elementary Chorus in March. All Singing Knights will have the opportunity to sing at the PWC Arts Festival on Saturday, April 24 and both choruses will be invited to sing at the Potomac Nationals Ball Game in May. The Talent Show Committee will have a meeting in early December to review last year’s work and to set in motion the new work for our Spring 2010 Show. If you are interested in being a parent member of that committee, please contact me immediately because your input is important. On Saturday, December 19, 2009, about 20 of our 4th graders will be playing a Mozart piece in a recorder ensemble with the NOVA Manassas Symphony Orchestra. Thank you, Mr. Villani, for making this opportunity available to us each year. You may visit the orchestra’s website at www.manassassymphony.org for details. Coming in January: 1) a schedule for your child’s Music Show and Tell Day and 2) School Fusion music classroom videos of drumming, guitar playing, folk dancing, and Orff instrument playing with movement.. If you need a list of private music teachers in the area OR if you would like to be added to that list, please e-mail me. Mrs. Nancy Anderson, Music [email protected] Drama Class In drama class we have been working very hard. Kindergarten has continued to work very hard on their alphabet sounds and creation of a huge ABC book. 1st grade has been learning about the Thanksgiving holiday and economics. We have created some great masks and puppets that we used to share our poems and plays. 2nd grade has been reading monologues about famous Americans, Thanksgiving poems, and acting out various parts of habitats. 3rd and 4th grade have been working hard on Thanksgiving songs and reading plays. 5th grade created movies about a great book called Twas' the Night before Thanksgiving and have been working on reading plays. All of the plays, songs, and poems from the classes are available on the Drama website. As the year continues the plays and dramatic interpretations are going to continue to get more challenging and require even more effort! As hard as all the students have been working, I know they will make great actors and actresses!! Counselors’ Corner by: Beth Anderson and Annece Flood Glenkirk Elementary School Counselors As part of “Glenkirk Gives Back”, Glenkirk Elementary School students recently participated in “Operation Turkey”. Glenkirk students collected a grand total of 2,452 food items in just one week! All of the food collected was donated to SERVE which will organize and distribute the food to over 1,400 individuals and families in our area. The class bringing in the top amount of food was Mrs. Nourse’s fifth grade class who brought in 412 items! The two students that collected the most food were Nahtalie Bowdre in Mrs. Nourse’s class with 94 items and Kaylee Thomas in Mrs. Nourse’s class with 97 items. Both girls set a good example of how important it is to give back to their community. Ms. Flood has been hard at work organizing this years “Safe at Home/Safe Alone” program in conjunction with 4-H. This program is offered to all 4th grade students and teaches self-care skills for staying at home alone. Although it is each family’s decision as to when you allow your child to stay home alone, this program equips each student with information on what to do when the time comes. On Tuesday, November 24th, Ms. Flood and 11 parent volunteers spent the day with the 4th grade students teaching this valuable information. Please see below for the Prince William County, Department of Social Services guidelines for allowing children to stay home alone, as well as baby-sit: AGES 0-8 9-11 12-15 16-17 Guidelines for Staying Home Alone May not be left unsupervised No more than 1.5 hours alone—days only May be left alone all day May be left alone all night or over the weekend AGES 12-13 14-15 Babysitting Guidelines May baby-sit children up to 4 hours May baby-sit over 4 hours—not overnight or weekend. May baby-sit children overnight or over the weekend. 16-17 During the month of November and December Glenkirk Elementary School students will be focusing on the character trait “respect”. Please take the time to talk with your students about respect and why it is so important. The definition of respect is as follows: Treat others with respect; follow the Golden Rule • Be tolerant of differences • Use good manners, not bad language • Be considerate of the feelings of others • Don’t threaten, hit or hurt anyone • Deal peacefully with anger, insults and disagreements Please don’t hesitate to contact us at any time with questions or concerns. The fastest way to contact us is via email at [email protected] for Beth Anderson and [email protected] for Annece Flood. You can also contact us by phone at 703-753-1702. SanDisk all have a good history and usually last the students several years of usage. I need an announcement on the GKES webpage, what do I do? If you would like to have a school wide announcement email to the Glenkirk community or to be posted on the school webpage, here are the steps you need to take… Technology Update By: Brooke LeVecchi GKES Website Administrator [email protected] I am happy to report that we have grown to 550 registered parent users. A big thank you to the classroom teachers for promoting user registration during parent conferences in November. If you are still an unregistered user, please call the school, or email me so I can help you set up your account. Flash drives needed for grades 3, 4, and 5 It is very important that students have a flash drive to save their projects on in computer lab. At least 1 Gig is recommended, remember when buying flash drives or jump drives, you get what you pay for. Some of the cute drives are cheaply made and don’t hold up. Brands like Sony, Sansa, and Email your request to Ms. Gilkerson, in the subject line please type: School Wide Announcement request. After she approves the message, email the website administrator [email protected] and specify where you would like the message to be sent or displayed (email, front page of website, etc). Students and Teachers are preparing for online SOL Tests Students in grades 3, 4, and 5 are starting to prepare for online testing in the spring. Students and teachers are learning about the online testing tools and what a VA online SOL test looks like and how to prepare for it. Glenkirk students will take all spring SOL tests on the computers. Students can prepare at home by practicing with similar test sites on the computer. Another helpful computer tool would be to use the computer based calculator. You can find the calculator on windows based computers in All Programs Accessories -Calculator. We have also purchased Study Island which is very similar to Virginia's online SOL tests. www.studyisland.com. You can find student usernames and passwords in their agendas. November Photo Gallery Author Jonathan Rand Visits and speaks to 3rd, 4th and 5th Graders Remember to keep sending school related photographs to [email protected] THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR GREAT PHOTOS PARENTS & TEACHERS! 1st Quarter STAR Incentive Operation Turkey th Jamestown Field Trip for 4 Grade
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