Development Information:
Time to make the baskets - auction fundraiser baskets, that is! You should have been contacted by your room parent to solicit donations for your class's themed basket. These baskets will be auctioned off at the From the Heart concert and fundraiser in February, and they are a fun way to show your class's enthusiasm and raise some money for the school. For information on what other themed baskets are going to be available, check out the MPA blog here.
We've had some questions recently about the "everyday support" programs in which MPA participates, including things like Box Tops and Campbells Labels for Education. Check out the blog here for an update on the coordinator of this program at our school. And remember - please, Please, PLEASE don't send in empty juice pouches - we do not participate in that program, since the hassle of dealing with the stickiness and bugs was not worth the return MPA received on the program.
Also, please remember that the Scrip gift card orders are due by January 25th, for delivery during the first week of February.
Finally, check the calendar at the end of this message for the dates of upcoming Development activities like Quiz Night and the Crushers game.
Student Information:
The annual State of the School meeting will be held Thursday, January 12th at 6:30 pm in the church hall. Parking in the church lot is limited, so please park on the streets surrounding the school if you are able. Limited child care will be provided in Mrs. Schroeder's first grade classroom; please use the school door near the gym if you are dropping your kids off there. Following the main meeting we'll be moving to the school gym for refreshments and a chance for families to meet in smaller groups to talk about some of the important topics for the school, including revising the tardy policy, modifying the volunteer commitment for families, and school testing. Please plan to stick around and contribute to one or more of these groups!
Mrs. Wilson tells me that the new system for paying on Wednesdays for dress-down days is going well. She especially appreciates that so many people have chosen to pre-pay for the rest of the year - it makes the bookkeeping so much easier on everyone! If you haven't pre-paid and would like to, the total is $18 for the rest of the year.
Parents, please remember that there is a form that needs to be signed to acknowledge that your family has read and understood the MPA school handbook. This form also acts as a blanket permission slip for field trips - teachers will not be sending home permission slips for individual field trips, just the pertinent information about when and where the field trips will be held. Students who do not have a completed handbook acknowledgement on file will not be allowed to go on field trips until the form is completed. You can find the form online here (it's also attached to this message).
If you've been in to school in recent weeks, you've probably seen that the little sick-room set up in Mrs. Wilson's office has been getting a lot of use. We're looking for donations of a couple of SMALL, WASHABLE afghans or throws to use so that the sick kids who are waiting for parents to pick them up have something a little more comforting than just the plain old cot that's there now. If you have any to donate, send them in to the attention of Mrs. Wilson, or contact her at Lynn.Wilson@menloparkacademy.com.
If your child is planning to attend the FREE movie after school for students in K-4th grade on Friday, January 13th, from 3:30-6pm, you must fill out the form here so we know you're aware your child will be staying after school that day. Students who stay without parents' consent will be sent to Edison Club and parents will be charged for their care. Fill in the form so your child can watch Mr. Popper's Penguins, munch on popcorn and pretzels, and hang out with their friends! We'll be meeting in the gym after school, so feel free to bring along a PillowPet or other comfy item to lounge around on.
Parking information - the MPA science fair will be Jan. 18-19, 2012. We'll be having TWO car lines for drop-off each day. The line closest to the school building will be for students who are bringing in science experiments for the fair, and the line farther from the building will be for students who are not carrying the extra stuff that day. If your student has a particularly delicate/unwieldy/fragile display that you feel you MUST help them carry inside, please do NOT do so during the regular car line times. If you're planning to park and come inside, you must do it BEFORE 8am or AFTER 8:30am. This will minimize the confusion in the parking lot and make the drop-off safer for everyone.
MPA is always looking for experiences the students might enjoy while learning more about other peoples and cultures. Currently, Mrs. Weber is trying to plan a field trip to learn more about Indian and Hindu culture. She was hoping to visit an Indian restaurant and maybe have someone there talk about the menu and how the foods fit into Indian culture. If possible, she'd like to include a visit to a Hindu temple as part of the trip. If any MPA families are familiar with a temple or Indian restaurant that might fit the bill, please contact Jennifer Ingraham at ji@zoominternet.net . Thanks for your suggestions!
Volunteer Information:
We have an immediate need for volunteers to help with the Edison Club after school program on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The volunteer(s) will control the door buzzer to let parents in for pick-ups, answer the phone, etc. If you are able to help with this, please contact Connie.Lindemann@menloparkacademy.com as soon as possible.
We're looking for photos of our parent/family volunteers to use on the "Caught Volunteering" bulletin board in the hallway downstairs at school. If you have any shots you'd like to share from the Browns concession stand, the summer picnic, or any other volunteer activities, please send them to Lynn.Wilson@menloparkacademy.com. Thanks, and check out the board next time you're at the school!
Are you doing double the work necessary to report your volunteer hours? If you sign in on the volunteer sheet at school, you don't need to also log those hours online - we have a volunteer who types that information in for us. If you accidentally log the same hours both places, it messes up our system and it takes time to straighten out. So log your hours on paper at the school office, or online here, but not both for the same volunteer work, please!
We're looking for a few good people to help out with the science fair. On Wednesday, Jan 18th, from 8am-9am we need volunteers to get project boards and materials from students (3rd and 4th graders) at the car line and the buses, take the things to the gym and set on the table with coordinating name. After students are in classrooms, these volunteers will set the boards up. We'll need maybe six volunteers, three for the car line and three at the buses. From 2:45-3:15 we need volunteers help students get their project materials (not boards or reports) to take home, then take boards and reports upstairs and put in Mrs. Fredmonsky’s and Mr. O’Donnell’s room. We'll need maybe three or four volunteers to help with this. Then, on Thursday Jan 19th we need the same number of volunteers to help the students in 5th-8th grades. We will also need extra volunteers for lunchtime both days, to help supervise the students as they eat lunch in their classrooms (and we don't know whether we'll have inside or outside recess that day). If you can volunteer during any of these times, please sign up here.
MPA's K-4 Math Night will be on Pi Day, Wednesday, March 14, 2012, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Activities will include math-related puzzles and games, creative ways to calculate pi, and of course eating pie. Math Monkey will sponsor three activity stations. We are looking for volunteers to help out that evening, including setting up beforehand, managing activity stations during the event, and cleaning up afterward. We are also looking for parents who can donate PIES (get it?!) or T-SHIRTS for K-4 Math Night, or provide them to MPA at cost. If you can help or need more info, please contact Latha at LMS54321@gmail.com. Thank you!
Calendar Highlights:
- Jan. 12 (Thursday) - State of the School meeting at MPA, 6:30pm
- Jan. 13 (Friday) - Lower School after-school movie, 3:30-6pm
- Jan. 16 (Monday) - Holiday - school closed
- Jan. 18 (Wednesday) - MPA lower school science fair (open for viewing 10am-1pm)
- Jan. 19 (Thursday) - MPA middle school science fair (open for viewing 12-2:30pm)
- Jan. 25 (Wednesday) - Scrip gift card orders due
- Feb. 20 (Monday) - Holiday - school closed
- Feb. 23 (Thursday) - End of second trimester; "From the Heart" school concert and fundraising auction
- Feb. 24 (Friday) - No school for students
- Feb. 27 (Monday) - No school for students - Parent conferences scheduled
- Feb. 28 (Tuesday) - No school for students; Parent conferences scheduled
- Feb. 27 - March 2 - MPA Scholastic Book Fair
- March 14 (Wednesday) - Math Night from 6:30-8pm
- March or April (TBD) - Walk-A-Thon fundraiser
- March 31 (Saturday) - Quiz Night fundraiser (more info in future newsletter)
- June 3 (Sunday) - Crushers baseball game (more info in future newsletter)
- Sept. (TBD) - Golf scramble fundraiser (more info in future newsletter)
Remember, we're still looking for Annual Fund donations of any amount, and you don't have to send in money at this point, just the pledge form. If you would like to send in money now, remember that MPA can accept checks, or donations can be made via PayPal. Just click here to make a pledge.
--Menlo Park Academy
14440 Triskett Road
Cleveland, OH 44111
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