The John Wood Parent Newsletter

October 2011
Inside this Issue
1
2
3
4
5
From the Desk of …
Mrs. Hoffman
Grolier Online
Attendance Update
Attendance Chart
BEST Percentages
Good Citizens – September
Book Rental
Spell Bowl
Student Council
A Message from the Nurse
Recycle 4 Cash
Upcoming Events
PTO News
Upcoming Events-continued
Happy Moments Daycare
Summer Reading Bingo Winners
Coming in our next issue…
Grolier Online
Merrillville Community Schools has
subscribed to Grolier Online – the
extraordinary online resource designed
to make research easier and more
productive. Grolier Online delivers
proven educational content and value
through a controlled environment that’s
safe and easy to use.
Your children can access Grolier
Online from home to help with homework
and extend learning beyond school
hours. Grolier Online includes:
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Encyclopedia articles
Prescreened, academically relevant
web links – ALL LINKS ARE SAFE!
Homework Help
Research Starters
Science Projects
Current events and news sources
Biographies and timelines
Magazine and newspaper articles,
all directly accessible from
encyclopedia articles
Rich multimedia
To reach our school’s Grolier Online
subscription, go to the John Wood
website below and click on the Media
Center button. If you are asked, the user
name is Pirates and the password is
Pride.
John Wood Elementary School
6100 E. 73rd Ave.
Merrillville, Indiana 46410
(219) 650-5305
merrillville.schoolwires.net/wood
The John Wood
Parent Newsletter
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
From the Desk of…
Mrs. Hoffman
PBIS Update
The boys and girls have been doing a
great job keeping our school safe and
orderly so that everyone can learn. They
have a chance to earn tickets for their
good behavior and can “purchase” items
with their tickets from the Treasure Cart
on Thursdays. We are using a schedule
to ensure that all classes get a turn to
“shop”. The students can also use their
tickets to earn privileges such as eating
in the cafeteria booths, first in line,
morning announcement assistant, ice
cream party, etc. Classes can earn class
tickets, too, which give them the chance
for a small prize and/or a day to eat in the
cafeteria booths. Ask your child about
his/her tickets and let them know how
proud you are that he/she is displaying
good behavior at school.
School Attendance Rate
Each year we monitor attendance rates
for our school as part of our School
Improvement Plan. For the past two
years our attendance rate was 95.65%.
The state target rate is 95%.That means
we are barely above the state average.
This can affect meeting our goals for
Adequate Yearly Progress for the No
Child Left Behind Law as well as meeting
the state goals for Public Law 221!!
This year we want to exceed the
state average even more and we need
your help to reach our goal. Children
should be in school every day unless
they are ill. Please try to arrange for
doctor appointments after school, if
possible, or arrange to bring your child to
school right after the appointment. We
need your help in this matter. Children
who attend school regularly do better
than those who are often absent. Let’s
work together to reach our goal this year!
Tardiness
This year our front doors open at 7:35
a.m. for car riders; a staff member is on
duty at this time. Then all students go to
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the classrooms at 7:45 a.m. At 7:55 a.m.
the tardy bell rings, and it is our goal to
have all students in their class ready to
begin the day at that time.
Please do not drop off the students too
close to the 7:55 a.m. time. This may
result in them being late for class. When
children are late to school, even if it’s
only a few minutes, they miss valuable
time. The children then feel that they are
always trying to catch up to whatever the
class is doing. We encourage the
children to take the bus so that they will
not be marked tardy and be able to start
the day with their peers. Most of the time
the children tell me that they got to bed
too late the night before. Please try to
set times for bed and for wake-up on
school days. I know that there are some
days when it just doesn’t work and things
happen, but I thank you for working out a
plan with your children to ensure a good
start for them for each school day.
Anti-Bullying Month
The theme this year for our AntiBullying Month is “What Would You
do?” There will be emphasis stressing
how bullying affects everyone, not just
the victim. We will be stressing the
importance of respect for all and caring
for one another. We will show the
students how to take responsibility and
stand up for what is right. During the
week of October 31st we will kick off our
efforts to make our school a permanent
“Bully-Free Zone.” Activities, videos,
posters, and books will help the teachers
get across this important message.
A special assembly titled “Pickle
rd
Chiffon Pie” will be held on November 3
at 9:30 a.m. for all students. The theater
troupe from the Towle Theater in
Hammond will be performing this
play/musical. There's a beautiful
princess, a King and Queen, several
handsome princes and of course, plenty
of Pickle Chiffon Pie. However, this isn't
your typical fairytale...there's no villains,
no fighting and no bloodshed! Through
this fun, interactive musical, students
grow to understand the importance of
kindness and love and consideration for
others. Thank you to the John Wood
PTO for sponsoring this play for the
children.
Attendance Update
As part of our PL 221 School Improvement Plan, each month we recognize the
classrooms with the best attendance. These classes receive a traveling trophy
to place in their room to recognize their accomplishment. Best attendance for
the month of September was:
Grade K – Mrs. Steele
Grade 1 – Mrs. Frink
Grade 2 – Miss Grattan
(96.67%) Grade 3 – Mrs. Walsh
(98.18%) Grade 4 – Mrs. McCormick
(98.62%)
(97.49%)
(98.30%)
Monthly attendance for John Wood School is shown in the graph below. Thank
you and let’s stay healthy!
Good Citizens
September 2011
Kindergarten
Leila Castro – Mrs. Anderson
Monika Spaseska – Mrs. Jones
Jovanco Mizimak – Mrs. Steele
1st Grade
Jacob Smith – Mrs. Bashore
Kayla Kraus – Mrs. Frink
Riley Herzog – Mrs. Mahy
Jersie Wright – Mrs. Mahy
nd
2 Grade
Kalyn Schilling – Miss Grattan
Molly Novak – Mr. Grogloth
Aidan McLaughlin – Mrs. Radivan
Zachary Krause – Miss Roszkowski
97 .4
2
4th Grade
Kristopher Serrato – Mrs. McCormick
Lex Mercer-Mrs. Thanos/Miss Farver
Olivia Razo-Mrs. Thanos/Miss Farver
Book Rental
Month
All book rental in now due. If a full
payment is not possible, payments are
acceptable until the obligation is met.
Please contact our office to make
arrangements for a payment plan.
Checks must be made out to “John
Wood School” and must have your
driver’s license number on the check.
Our BEST Behavior!
Grade
Kdg
1
2
3
4
3rd Grade
Miriam Velasco– Mrs. Hickman
Zachary Nelson – Miss Pettineo
Bailey Smith – Mrs. Walsh
Ja
n.
Fe
b.
M
ar
.
Ap
r.
M
ay
ec
.
D
N
ov
.
Reminder
It is the parent/guardian’s
responsibility to call and let the
school office know why a child
is not in school. Make sure you
call 650-5305 then press 2
before 9 AM if your child will not
be in school.
ct
.
O
100
99
98
97
96
95
94
93
92
91
90
Au
g/
Se
pt
Attendance Rate
Attendance - 2011-2012
% of students not receiving a misbehavior slip
outside of the classroom
Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr
98%
95%
97%
95%
96%
May
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ECD - $75
Kindergarten - $132
1st Grade - $158
2nd Grade - $138
3rd Grade - $127
4th Grade - $120
Thank you to all of the parents who
have already paid their child’s book
rental.
Spell Bowl
John Wood School has a Spell
Bowl team! They have been
practicing hard during lunch and after
st
school. On Tuesday, November 1
th
and Thursday, November 17 , they
will be competing against other
elementary schools. Good luck to
these students!
Team
Gabriela Aponte, Brook Burbridge,
Sebastian Carrillo, Kaiya Cole,
Anthony Figueroa, Maria Guardiola,
Alenah Guererro, Najee JonesVasilopoulos, Austin LeMar,
Christopher Morris, Kiersten Pena,
Jorge Perez, Jaskiran Sandhu
Sponsor
Mrs. Fairbairn
Student Council
A new Student Council has been
selected for the 2011-2012 school
year. The Student Council has many
responsibilities throughout the school
year. Students are involved in a
variety of service activities. In past
years they have served as greeters
at Grandparents Day, organized
collections for Riley Hospital,
Hurricane/Earthquake Relief, and
Holiday Food Drives, and assisted
with Red Ribbon Week and Spirit
Days.
This year’s Student Council
members are:
Upcoming Events
A
Message
from the
Nurse
October 18
PTO Meeting
6:00 PM, Cafeteria
Come help plan events for our
students. This is a great way to get
involved with your child’s school. All
are welcome.
The cold and flu season is with us.
Here are a few reminders to help all
of us stay healthy.
Hand washing is one of
the most important things
you can do to keep you
and your family healthy.
Spend some time with your child and
go over this important skill. Remind
them to wash frequently, especially
after using the restroom and before
eating.
Remind them to keep their hands,
fingers and other objects out
of their nose, eyes and mouth. These
areas are entry points for
germs. Finally, remind them to cough
or sneeze into their upper
sleeve or arm and not into their
hands.
Do not send your child to school
with a temperature greater than 100º.
This will help eliminate the spread of
disease. Students should be free
from fever, diarrhea and vomiting for
24 hours before returning to school
after being ill. Being without a fever
for 24 hours means that your child
has not required fever-reducing
medication in those 24 hours. We
need your help to keep our students
and teachers healthy!
Mrs. McCormick
Brook Burbridge, Maria Guardiola,
Austin LeMar, Ahmari Petty,
Kristopher Serrato
Mrs. Thanos/Miss Farver
Citlali Gomez, Ryan McLaughlin,
Lex Mercer, Kiersten Pena,
Olivia Razo
Sponsor
Mrs. Gates
October 19
Read to Succeed Required Reading
Today is the last day to test on your
required reading for the first grading
period.
October 19
End of the First Grading Period
Report cards will be sent home on
Friday, October 28th.
October 20-21
No School – Fall Break
No school for all students.
October 24-28
Red Ribbon Week
Several activities are planned at John
Wood and around the community to
create awareness of drug abuse.
October 26
Fundraiser Pick-up
2:30-3:30 PM
Parents will need to pick up orders from
the Fall Fundraiser after school.
October 26
Market Day Pick-up
2:30-3:30 PM, Cafeteria
All parents are welcome to come help sort
and distribute the orders. Volunteers are
asked to be at the school at 1:30 PM. For
more information, call Mrs. Mercer at 9473170.
October 27
Early Dismissal – 1:25 PM
Please plan for your child to be
home approximately one hour earlier
on that day.
October 28
PTO Pumpkin Decorating Contest
More information will be coming home
soon about this fun annual event.
Help our school earn cash for used
ink cartridges and cell phones.
Boxes are located throughout the
school to turn in ink cartridges,
toners and cell phones. Please save
these for us and help us earn extra
cash. All money will be spent on
student projects.
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October 28
Report Cards
Students will bring home report cards
today.
Continued on page 4
PTO News
We are off to a great start. We have
lots of ideas for things we’d like to do for
our students, but we need your help!
Come to the PTO meeting on Tuesday,
th
October 18 at 6:00 PM in our school
cafeteria and give us your input. Also, if
you have not yet sent in your PTO dues,
please make sure to send that in to the
school office. We only ask $5 from each
family. The dues, along with the money
from the fundraisers and Market Day,
help to supply a lot of extras for our
students. Some of these extras include
field trips, assemblies, and educational
materials for the classrooms.
Fundraiser Update
We recently finished our Fall
Fundraiser. We are happy to announce
that there were 102 orders turned in with
the PTO receiving a profit of about
$5000! The top three sellers in each
grade level won a gift card for Toys R Us.
Congratulations to the following students:
Kindergarten – Kylee Baker, Shaun
Clemons, Nikola Ivanovski
st
1 – Ahsettah Habhab, Karrington Davis,
Lori Salinas
nd
2 – Cody Russell, Caleb Dulla,
Molly Novak
rd
3 – Abigale Donovan, Tristan Davis,
David Brnicky
th
4 – Pharis Whitcomb, Maria Guardiola,
Chasity Irizarry
Students who participated also had their
names placed into a drawing for a variety
of prizes that were supplied by Market
Day. These drawing winners were:
Lori Salinas, Evan Paolone, Ryan Taylor,
Caleb Dulla, Anthony Figueroa,
Lia Coria, Monica Valladares,
Jayden Houart, Brook Burbridge,
Victor Loza-Del Toro, Bailey Smith,
Evelyn Ulloa, Ilce Mizimak,
Ember Wolstenholme, Kayla Kraus,
Claire Gould, Kate Mahone,
Daco Proimos, Jovanco Mizimak,
Grace Hansen, Xavier Herzog,
Cole Viking, Molly Novak,
Aurelio Castro
Market Day
Thank you to everyone who ordered
and/or helped with our last pick up. We
earned $120.01 last month, bringing our
total so far this year to $234.14. Our next
th
pick up date is October 26 and the
deadline to turn in the order forms is
th
Wednesday, October 19 .
Mrs. Mercer is always looking for
volunteers to help sort the order once it
has been unloaded off the truck. This
only takes about one hour. If you have
any questions or would like to help at our
next pick up, please call Mrs. Mercer at
947-3170.
Box Tops/Campbell’s Label
The Boxtopoly game was a HUGE
success, resulting in 5,799 labels
collected! A great big HOORAY to Mrs.
Radivan’s class! They won the traveling
trophy with 1,319 labels collected! Watch
for our next contest – The Big Top!
How can John Wood earn additional
box tops and labels? It’s easy!
Box Tops
Shop online! Did you know that over
100 popular retailers give eBoxTops to
our school? Just start your online
shopping trip by first logging on at
www.boxtops4education.com/marketplace.
Then click on your favorite retailer and
continue shopping as usual. eBoxTops
will be donated directly to our school with
your qualifying purchase. We can earn
up to 15 eBoxTops per $10 you spend.
Don’t miss out on this easy way to earn
even more for our school!
Don’t forget to register for an account
with Box Tops! They list all sorts of
promotions in which we can win extra
Box Tops. They will also keep you
informed when new products are added!
Just go to www.boxtops4education.com
to register. Remember – register for
John Wood (zip code 46410).
Campbell’s
Learn more about bonus offers, receive
coupons and recipes and keep informed
about the progress or our collection
efforts by registering at
www.labelsforeducation.com. Shop the
Campbell’s cookbook section at
http://lfecookbooks.com and earn 125
points per cookbook purchased.
Just a reminder, make sure to watch for
expirations on Box Tops and bonus
labels. Also, please make sure you
submit the UPC on the Campbell’s
labels. It’s no longer just the front
picture!
As always, if you have any questions,
please feel free to contact me at
[email protected] or 947-0510
Keep collecting – their trash, our
treasure!
Spirit Wear
Don’t forget that the PTO is currently
selling a variety of spirit wear items.
Order forms must be turned in to the
school office no later than Friday,
th
October 28 . Extra order forms are
available in the school office.
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Upcoming Events
Continued from page 3
November
Anti-Bullying Awareness Month
Students will have several activities
throughout the month to help them
identify what bullying is and how to
stop it.
November 3
Pickle Chiffon Pie Assembly
As part of our Anti-Bullying Awareness
Month, all students will attend this
assembly. This is a musical adaptation
of the Roger Bradfield book. Through
this fun interactive musical, students
grow to understand the importance of
kindness and love and consideration for
others, which is THE MOST
WONDERFUL THING OF ALL!
November 3
Early Dismissal – 1:25 PM
Please plan for your child to be
home approximately one hour earlier
on that day.
November 6
Daylight Savings Time ends
Don’t forget to set your clocks back one
hour!
November 10
Early Dismissal – 1:25 PM
Please plan for your child to be
home approximately one hour earlier
on that day.
November 11
Veterans Day
Make sure you remember to thank a vet
today!
November 17
Early Dismissal – 1:25 PM
Please plan for your child to be
home approximately one hour earlier
on that day.
November 24 – 25
No School, Thanksgiving Break
Enjoy time with family and friends and
remember all the things you have to be
thankful for this year. School will
resume on Monday, November 28th.
Summer Reading
Bingo Winners
Last June a challenge was sent
home with students in grades K-3.
Students who returned the “Summer
Reading Bingo” sheets at the
beginning of the school year were
eligible for prizes.
At a recent school-wide morning
meeting we recognized the students
who returned their Bingo sheets and
they were awarded prizes for their
achievements:
For completing ALL squares on
their Bingo sheet, these students
received a $10 gift card from Target
and 12 PBIS treasure tickets.
2nd Grade
Jonas Langer
Aidan McLaughlin
3rd Grade
Madeline Langer
Johanna Steele
4th Grade
Ryan McLaughlin
For completing part of the Bingo
sheet, this student received 5 PBIS
treasure tickets and a new book.
2nd Grade
Josh Krause
Congratulations to these students for
accepting the challenge to keep
reading during the summer months.
Coming in next month’s issue:
3rd and 4th Grade Honor Roll
Perfect Attendance for the 1st Grading Period
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