THE
BEAR FACTS
Riverside
Elementary School PTA
September,
2009
School
- Everyday - All Day
Students and Staff United
in Purposeful Engagement at
Be here Excel
A+ attitude Respectful Safe
DATES TO REMEMBER
Sept.
4............................Volunteer Coffee
Sept.
7............................Labor Day Holiday
Sept.
10..........................Interims
Sept.
14..........................Grandparents' Day
Sept.
14..........................PTA/Chorus Program
Sept.
21..........................Citizen of the Month 9:30
Sept.
22..........................Picture Day Wear Uniform
Oct.
2..............................Parish Fair Day
Oct.8...............................End
of 1st Grading Period
Oct.
9.............................Half Day Prof. Day
Half
Day Record Keeping
Oct.
24...........................Pumpkin Patch
Nov. 12..........................2nd
9 Weeks Interim Reports
Nov.
23-27....................Thanksgiving Holidays
Dec.
18...........................End of 2nd Grading Period
Half
Day Record Keeping
End of
1st Semester
Dec. 21-Jan. 1,
2010.....Christmas/Winter Break
Jan.
4..............................School Reopens
Apr.
12-16......................iLEAP/LEAP Testing
FROM THE PRINCIPAL
A big thank you to
everyone who came to Open House and supported the book fair.
We have quite a few activities for the
month of September. Our first McDonald's Night will be held on Tuesday,
September 29th. Come out and have fun
with your friends from
Grandparents' Day is scheduled for
Monday, September 14th. First grade and
second grade will have Grandparents' Day beginning at 9:00am. Third grade, fourth grade, and fifth grade
will have Grandparents' Day beginning at 10:00am. We hope you enjoy visiting your grandchild's
classroom.
Our PTA fund raiser has been scheduled
to begin September 22nd. On this day,
the students will bring the fund raiser packets home. Also, be looking for your child's school
picture order blank. School pictures are
September 22nd. We will be taking
individual and class pictures at this time.
Your child should dress in school uniform for these pictures.
Looking forward to
seeing everyone at our September PTA meeting on the 14th at 7:00 pm.
FROM THE PTA CO-PRESIDENTS
The PTA has been very busy planning for a
great school year. We are excited about
the new year.
Our Fall Fund Raiser will kick off on
Tuesday, September 22nd. The students
will meet for an assembly on Monday, September 21st. We would appreciate everyone's help in
earning money for the various programs PTA sponsors for the students, parents,
and faculty. Some of the programs we
sponsor are Citizen of the Month, Honor Roll Party, Fifth
Grade End of the Year Recognition, Western Day, classroom projects, and many,
many more activities.
We also want to let everyone know that
we will have activity day T-shirts available for purchase through the order
form or on field trip days. The activity
day shirts can be worn every Friday and on field trips.
Don't forget about Grandparents' Day
on Monday, September 14th. PTA will be
taking pictures of the students with their grandparents. Please fill out the picture form attached to
the newsletter in order to purchase your pictures on Grandparents' Day. Hope to see you at
Celia Drury
Kathryn Milton
Co-President
GRANDPARENTS' DAY
We will celebrate Grandparent's Day on
Monday, September 14th. First grade and second grade will
begin classroom activities at 9:00am.
Third grade, fourth grade, and fifth grade
will begin classroom activities at 10:00am. The teachers have planned special activities
to honor our grandparents. We are
looking forward to seeing our grandparents on this very special day, Monday,
September 14th. PTA will be taking
pictures of grandparents with their grandchild.
The cost of the picture is $6 which will include a PTA membership.
CLASSROOM NOTES
T-1
Already we have moved into a new month. August
was a great start for the year. I have a clear understanding of where your
child has been and where he/she is now. All routines have been mastered and
moving smoothly.
Thank you to all who were able to
attend Open House. It was a pleasure to visit and spend time getting to know my
students families. Our doors will open to welcome the grandparents on September
14th. This is always a special occasion in our classroom.
Homework folders are on the move
between school and home. Parents get an A+ for signing and returning them every
day. Look for the homework sheet every Monday. It is your guide and reminder
for the week. Remember to complete and return all worksheets sent home.
Working to be
the Best Super Bears!
First
Grade
We would like to thank all of the parents
who came to Open House. We enjoyed
meeting all of you and are truly looking forward to working with your children
this year. The children have learned and
settled into the routines of the classrooms nicely. Please remember to check your child's
homework folder each night and remove any papers that need to stay home.
Our focus in the first grade is
teaching your child to read. It is very
important to read with your child for 15-20 minutes each night. Also, please study the high frequency words
on the story page that goes home each week.
Your child needs to be able to read these words.
First grade will be selling
concessions in September to earn money for field trips. We are asking parents to donate either a jar
of pickles or a box of fruit roll-ups to your child's classroom to help with
our sales. We will also need parent
volunteers to sell concessions from 12:30-1:40 on Mondays, Thursdays, and
Fridays. Look for a letter from your
child's teacher with the details shortly.
Thank you for all
of your continued support.
Second
Grade
The second grade teachers enjoyed meeting
all of you who were able to come to our Open House. We are delighted to be
working with your children. Your children are settling into their routines
nicely. We are getting our AR program underway for this year. Please encourage
your child to read AR books at home. Feel free to check the schools web site to
see if a book is an AR book.
Parents, please help your children
nightly with homework. Take the time to check your child's homework. Your support of the homework
program will help build your children's study habits for the future. You and
your child should study vocabulary words and definitions. Your child should be
able to read the words and definitions independently by Friday. Study spelling
words, any other definitions or math facts that are on the weekly homework
sheet.
Remember if you have any questions or concerns, please contact your child's teacher.
Third Grade
Third grade had an awesome Open House! Thank you to all the parents who
attended. Third grade will be selling
concessions in the month of October to raise money to help reduce the cost of
our annual field trips. Be looking for a note with details about the 3rd grade
concession sale.
Grandparents' Day will be on Monday,
September 14th at 10:00 for third grade students. A short activity and snack will be provided
for our honored guests.
Interim reports will be sent home on
Thursday, September 10th. Please sign
and return these as soon as possible.
AR recess will be Friday, September
25th. Read at least 20 minutes per night
and retell with a family member.
Our teacher webpages
are up and ready for viewing at riversideelementary.stpsb.org.
Fourth Grade
Fourth grade had a wonderful Open
House! Thank you to all the parents who
came out to meet your child's teacher.
Please set up a conference with your child's teacher if you were unable
to attend Open House. We would really like to meet you!
Thank you to everyone who donated and everyone
who sold items for the fourth grade concession sale. This was a big success! Fourth grade will use the money towards a
grade level project and/or to defray the cost of field trips.
Grandparents' Day will be on Monday,
September 14th at 10:00 for fourth grade students. A short activity and snack will be provided
for our honored guests.
Interim reports will be sent home on
Thursday, September 10th. Unlike the
previous years, every child in fourth grade will receive an interim. Please sign and return these as soon as
possible.
Remember to practice multiplication
facts every night. Mastering these facts
early is important for the success of future math skills.
AR recess will be Friday, September
25th. Continue to work on reaching your
goal to earn a special recess day!
Remember to continue to work on
modeling Respectful Behavior. You may be the first citizen of the month on
September 21st!
Feel free to contact the fourth grade
teachers with any questions or concerns you may have. You can always visit their webpage by going
to riversideelementary.stpsb.org.
Fifth Grade
Hello Parents. This school year has gotten off to a great
start. Many of the students have begun
the AR reading competition and are working on their trip to Sonic at the end of
the year. Work is progressing well in
the classes.
Interim reports will be sent home
Thursday, September 10th. Your child
will have an interim report for you to see and/or sign.
The schools science fair date is
February 2, 2010 and the regional science fair is March 18, 2010. As soon as the materials come in from graphic
arts department in the school board, your child will have a science fair packet
to bring home. It will contain ideas for
the projects and due dates for each part of the project. Each 5th grader is required to complete a
project for several grades. We highly
encourage each student to enter the schools science fair. No one can go onto to regional if they don't
try at the school level.
Each class has had several opportunities to
use the new science lab. They are
enjoying this activity. We want everyone
to thank Mrs. Hester and Mrs. Milton for getting the lab ready for classes to
use.
Later in the year, the 5th grade will
be selling concessions to help raise money for the
Even though the 5th grade students are
getting older, they still need a lot of parent involvement. At this stage of their lives, parents coming
to school and doing volunteer work means a lot to them. They still enjoy having their parents
involved in all parts of their lives. The
teachers really do need help as much as the kids do.
SPOTLIGHT ON PARENTING
This article is taken from
www.parenting.org. One of the most important parenting strategies is modeling
the character traits that we want our children to demonstrate. This article is
the first of 2 parts giving us tips on how to be that role model for the
character traits of trustworthiness, respect, fairness, caring and citizenship.
Be a Character Role Model
One of the most
powerful teaching tools parents have is modeling the behavior they want
children to learn. In character education, that means "walking the
talk," or being the person of high integrity you're helping children to
become.
You may be a good role model now, but
remember, you don't have to be sick to get better. Everything you do, and don't
do, sends a message to children about your values. Be sure your messages are
about doing the right thing, even when it is hard to do. When you slip (and all
of us do), act the way you want your children to behave when they make a
mistake - be accountable, apologize sincerely and work to do better.
The following "Parents'
Pledges" were developed by the CHARACTER COUNTS! Coalition to help parents
focus on specific behaviors they can model as part of their teaching. Perhaps
they will be a source of inspiration for you.
A
Parent's Pledge: Trustworthiness
I will be as
honest as I want my children to be.
I won't lie to
my children or in front of them.
I will not treat
honesty as a rule of convenience by excusing acts of dishonesty or deception as
exceptions.
I will avoid
hypocrisy like preaching against smoking, drinking or drugs while doing those
activities.
I will
demonstrate consistently the strength of my moral convictions by paying
whatever price necessary to do what I think is right, risking loss of money,
approval and even employment.
I will treat my
word as my bond in all cases.
I will avoid
legalistic escape hatches in dealing with my children, honoring the spirit as
well as the letter of my promises.