The Eagle Express
University
Park Elementary
October 19,
2011
Principal’s
Corner: Family Gym Night was a
blast! Thanks to everyone for coming – we had
over 450 people attend! Even with
the tornado warning, everyone had a great time trying different fitness and fun
stations. Mark your calendars for
Family Reading Night on Wednesday, November 9th!
Many
thanks to the PTA for running the Scholastic Book Fair this week! The students absolutely loved buying
books; what a wonderful way to encourage reading! Many thanks to Kate Murray and Kathy Hotakainen for
organizing the book fair, and to these wonderful parent volunteers who helped
this week: Michelle Hermanson, Alana Joyce, Amy Weaver, Andrea Zukowski, Ann
Barrett, Becky Widman, Carrie Davis Murphy, Claudia Chudacoff, Dana Campbell,
Jacqueline Bradley-Chacon, Jillian Burns, Joan Leonard, Karin Carlson, Karoline
Mortensen, Katherine Motsuk, Kathrin Herberholz, Lis Maring, Marcia Mapp, Mary
Durkin, Melanie Fiore, Michelle Brane, Nancy Neher, Rajani Bhatia, Rosana
Martinelli, and Sarah Starrett!
Our
students participated in the Jumping Jack World Challenge on Wednesday, Oct. 12th! We joined with National Geographic and
Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move Campaign” to break the Guinness World Record! Many thanks to the official judges who
helped us out – Mari Hoefler, Brandi Stupica, Kimberly Fisher, Randy Davis, and
Karoline Mortensen! The students
loved it!!
Our PreK, kindergarten,
and first grade students will be enjoying Fall Fest tomorrow! Many thanks to Kris
Moss and Katherine Motsuk for organizing all of the events, and to the parent
volunteers for all of their help!
Our 3rd – 6th
graders have been taking the FAST test this week in reading, and for 5th
grade, science.
This is a county test that helps teachers determine how well the students have
learned the objectives taught so far, and which need extra review. Next week the students will be taking
the Math FAST.
Friday,
October 21st is now scheduled to be a half day, in order to make up
for some of the weather days at the beginning of the year. There will be no a.m. or p.m.
Pre-K. Lunch will be served, and
school will be dismissed at 10:55 a.m.
Our Halloween parade and Sing-a-long will take place
on Friday, October 28th! The parade will start at 12 noon and we will
walk around the building. I hope you’ll be able to come to school to check us
out! The Sing-a-long for grades PreK, 2, 4, and 6 will start at 12:30 in the
gym, and at 1:00 for grades K, 1, 3, and 5. When the students are not at the
Sing-a-long, they will be having a Halloween party in their classrooms. I know
the teachers would love parent help in getting the kids ready for the parade,
and for the parties. Please let them know if you are available! For
the Halloween celebration, please have your child bring his/her costume in a
bag for the afternoon – we will be having a regular academic morning. In
fact, that morning we are recognizing “Red Ribbon Day,” where everyone wears
red to signify that we say no to drugs. For the afternoon, please make sure that your child’s
costume is appropriate and not too scary or violent. Props that are weapons are not allowed. If you do not want your child to
participate in the Halloween festivities, please write a note to your child’s
teacher and he/she will participate in alternate activities that afternoon.
Science
Fair Parent Information Night will be held Thursday, November 3rd
from 6:15 – 7:15 p.m. Ms. Rowland will describe exactly how
to do a science fair project – this is a fantastic opportunity for first
timers!rtf
PTA Citrus Sale: Buy juicy
oranges and grapefruits from Florida Indian River Groves as part of the
healthiest fundraiser ever organized by the UPES PTA to help support classroom
enrichment programs. You can order on-line at: https://sites.google.com/site/ptaupes/home/citrus-sale. When ordering, select “Local Distribution” so
that your fruit will be sent to UPES. You can also submit a paper order using
the PTA Citrus Sale box in the school’s main office. Any Questions?
Contact Annarita Mariotti at annarita.mariotti@gmail.com.
If your child has music and/or instrumental music in the temp, please be sure to have them bring an umbrella or hooded jacket on
rainy days! Thank you!
Many thanks to Nancy Pretto for translating the parent bulletin!
Destination ImagiNation is an educational
program for students to learn and experience creativity, teamwork, and problem
solving. University Park ES, again, has the opportunity to start teams to
enter this fun competition. It is intended for teams of up to 7 children. They
meet after school to work on the challenges. We are pleased to announce that
Maryland Creative Problem Solvers, Inc. will be conducting a team manager (TM)
training geared especially for new TMs or people who think they would like to
be a TM, who have never been involved with the program before.
This training will be
for half a day on October 22 at Eleanor Roosevelt HS in Greenbelt, MD. Please visit:http://www.marylanddi.org
for more information. The new TM training online registration is now closed.
But any one who e-mails Patti at TM Training@marylanddi.org that they want to
attend, can do so and pay $10 at the door. There’s also all day trainings on
November 12 and 19 if you are unable to make the training on the 22nd.If you
have been involved with the program and know a bit about it because your child
has been involved before, then the all day training later in November is the
training you want, not this one.
Information for those training dates and locations are also available on
the above website.
If you are
interested in creating a team, please contact Ms. Moore at kmoore@pgcps.org or
at her school extension x252. The challenges are out!
Upcoming Events:
Oct. 19th-
School Store Open
5th Grade FAST Science Testing
Wednesday Envelope Goes Home
Oct. 20th–
Fall Fest for Gr. PreK – 1st
Grades
Oct. 21st–
Half Day for Students
Oct. 24th
- FluMist Clinic
Oct. 24th&
25th- FAST Testing in Math,
Gr. 3-6
Oct. 28th–
End of First Quarter
Red Ribbon Day in the Morning
Halloween Parade, Sing-a-long,
Parties, at 12 pm
Oct. 31st–
No School – Teacher Grading &
Planning Day
Nov. 2nd
- Wednesday Envelope Goes Home
PTA Meeting, 7 p.m.
Nov. 3rd
– Honor Roll Assemblies
Science Fair Parent Information
Night, 6:15 – 7:15 p.m.
Nov. 4th
– PTA Open House for Prospective
Families, 8:30 – 10:00 a.m.
Nov. 9th
- Family Reading Night, 6:00 –
7:30 p.m.
Nov. 10th
– Report Cards Go Home
Nov. 11th
– Parent Conference Day – No
School for Stu