The Eagle Express
University Park Elementary
September 7, 2011
Principal’s
Corner: It has been a very eventful first two weeks of school! Who knew we would experience an
earthquake and a hurricane within a week of each other! I am very proud of our students and
staff who, with all of the changes in schedules, had an excellent start to the
school year. Thank you for your
support and patience – we are all settling into a nice routine! Engineers have checked out our building
and we are good to go. Many thanks
to Lily Baker for helping us to make 600 sandwiches when we came back from the
hurricane and we had no oven/refrigerator power – she even ran out to buy us
bread because the new shipment hadn’t arrived yet!
We
are looking forward to seeing you on our Back To School Nights! They will both begin at 7 p.m. There have been CHANGES, though – the presentation for Grades PreK – 3 and Grade 6 will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 14th,
starting in the gym. Back to
School Night for Grades 4-5 will
take place on Thursday, Sept. 15th, starting in the cafeteria. We hope you will be able to join us!
Muchas
gracias to the PTA for purchasing many books for our classroom libraries!! The students love having such a great
selection to read during their free time!
We are asking that, if you have any books at home that your children are
no longer reading, please bring them to
Back to School Night! We would
love to add them to the classroom libraries! Also, if you would like to donate an educational game for
indoor recess, that would be spectacular!
Speaking
of the PTA, they will be holding their first meeting tonight, September 7th,
at 7 p.m. I cannot say enough
wonderful things about the PTA!
Just in the last month, they have held play dates and an ice cream
social for new and young students; a welcome back lunch for the staff with
Staples gift cards for the teachers; a welcome back coffee for parents on their
first day; and bagels on Friday for the staff! They do a tremendous amount for our students and staff, and
are a huge reason why UPES is so phenomenal! I hope that you will join the PTA and consider coming to the
meetings to get involved! Our PTA
officers are:
President: Gayatri Varma
Executive
Vice President: Suzanne Whelton
Vice
President: Sarah Treado
Secretary: Dana Campbell
Treasurer: Kristin McCue
Many
thanks to all of you for your tremendous support of our chocolate bar
fundraiser! The boxes are
flying off the shelves! All of the
money raised will go towards new computers (to replace the ones stolen this
summer), as well as student and teacher materials. Once you have sold a box, you can request another box to
sell! All money collected is due
on Monday, Sept. 19th.
Hooray
for our students and Mr. Fominaya for singing the National Anthem at the
Bowie Baysox game last Friday night!
You made us proud!!
CBS
visited our school yesterday to interview and film Barbara Duffy and her first
grade class. They spoke about
the impact 9/11 has had on the community, and how Ms. Duffy teaches about this
very emotional event. I will let
you know when the segment airs. To
commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11, I am asking everyone to
wear red, white and blue on Friday.
We will have a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m.
Many
thanks to United Health Care for donating 80 backpacks to our school! If your child needs one, please let our
counselor, Marlene Bennett, know.
Ms. Bennett is also looking for donations of 3 ring binders and spiral
notebooks for our students.
Many
thanks to John Brunner, the previous mayor of UP, for painting our outside
benches! Thanks, also, to Nancy Pretto for volunteering to translate items
into Spanish!
Parents,
please be sure to turn in your students’ emergency forms, it is imperative we
have them for every child!
Phone numbers in SchoolMax are not always up to date, so this is our way
of double checking to make sure we can contact you if something happens. Thank you!
Our
UPES t-shirts are now for sale!
They are only $10.00 and are very stylish! We will have our first school t-shirt and jeans day on Sept.
16th!
Parents,
Prince George’s County Public Schools does have a dress code for our
students. Shirts
should be continuous from neckline to waist, and the entire mid-section should
be covered. Skirts, dresses, and shorts should be no shorter than
fingertip level. Pants should cover undergarments. Thank you!
Two special requests: If you would like to send
in a treat for your child’s birthday, it is best if you send in items that are
easy to pass out (not cakes that need a knife.) The teacher will find a
time during the day when taking five minutes to celebrate the birthday will fit
in between lessons. Please remember that some children have nut
allergies. Also, we ask that you please not bring your dog on school
grounds during drop-off and pick-up times. This is to protect the safety
of our students and staff. Thank you!
Please
register your Giant cart to earn points for our school! Our ID code is 00594, and the password
is IFET. If you have a Target VISA card, you can register to help our school,
also. Target will donate 1% of
your purchases to UPES! We are also registered with “My Coke Rewards
for Schools.” Look at your favorite Coca-Cola
beverages to get codes, and then enter them online to get points and donate
them to University Park Elementary. Thanks for your support!
Upcoming Dates:
Sept. 7th
– PTA Meeting, 7 p.m.
Sept. 9th
– Wear Red, White & Blue for
9/11
Sept. 14th
– Back to School Night for Grades PreK-3 &
6, in the gym at 7
p.m. Bring books to donate!
Sept. 15th
– Back to School Night for Grades 4-5, in the
Cafeteria at 7 p.m. Bring
books to donate!
Sept. 16th
– UPES T-Shirt and Jeans Day
Sept. 19th
– Last Day for Chocolate Bar Sale – Money
Due
Sept. 21st
– Wednesday Envelope Sent Home
Sept. 29th
– No School – Rosh Hashanah
Sept. 30th
– No School – Professional Dev. Day