MPA Weekly Update - 09/26/2013

In This Issue Dates to Remember Submit to the Newsletter FYI Walkers Community Service Learning Archaeology Elective Request Magazine Drive Info Kindergarten Juice and Jokes Brag Tags are Back! Bowling Event UNITY/Anti-Bullying Day Box Tops Fall Festival and Pumpkins One Call Now! 21st Annual Young Astronaut Day September 26, 2013 Newsletter  FYI: Dates to Remember   October  10/1 - Tuesday - Mac N Cheese hot lunch 10/2 - Wednesday - Girls' Basketball program info meeting (6pm) 10/3 - Thursday - Sloppy Joe hot lunch 10/6 - Sunday - Boosters' Bowl-A-Rama at Fairview Lanes, 3pm 10/9 - Unity/Anti-bullying day - students should wear orange 10/10 - Thursday - MPA parent book club, 4:30 10/25 - Picture Day; Fall Festival for MPA families November 11/2 - Saturday - NASA Young Astronaut Day 11/14 - Thursday - MPA parent book club, 4:30 Quick Links Menlo Park Academy Website MPA on Facebook Report your volunteer hours School calendar Classroom Websites (click on Classroom Websites tab) Have Something for the Newsletter? Information can be submitted via email to: communications@menloparkacademy.com for review and inclusion in the weekly update. Submissions are subject to Director approval. Walker Door Families - Please Park on Grapeland! Families who are utilizing the walker door should park on Grapeland, far enough down the street to allow bus turns/access.  Parking in the MPA lot creates hazards for walkers and drivers alike.  Please help us maintain and orderly and safe dismissal. NEW Community Service Learning Program Parent Volunteers Needed  Each MPA Middle School Advisory class has chosen a Community Service Learning Project to work on together. They are learning about their program through class instruction, guest speakers, and field trips. To make these projects successful, we need volunteers for the field trips. To sign up to volunteer for one of the filed trips below (You don't have to be a middle school parent to volunteer!!) please contact Jennifer Ingraham 330-441-1465. Help give back to our community! Thursday Oct 10th 9am-1:30pm Cuyahoga Valley National Park: help clear non-native plants from the park (4) Wednesday Oct 16th 10am-12:30pm Adopt-A-Beach: Edgewater clean up (4) Thursday Oct 24th 9:30am-1:00pm Medwish: sort recovered and recycled medical supplies to be shipped for humanitarian aid in developing countries (1)    Friday Oct 25th 9:30am-12:30pm SC4K: Shoes & Clothes 4 Kids unpacking, sorting and packing clothing for distribution at warehouse (1)    Thursday Oct 31st Daytime delivery Lutheran Metro Ministry 2100 Lakeside Men's Shelter: deliver collected items to shelter (1) Brother, can you spare some artifacts? Students in the Archaeology Elective for grades 2/3 are creating a culture and artifacts for a simulated dig.  The following items are needed for donation: cloth samples ribbon beads/gems small wood sections toothpicks straws old greeting cards wrapping paper broken dishes etc.  Items may be labeled as "Archaeology Donations" and dropped in the main office. Magazine Drive orders due Friday! www.gaschoolstore.com   Kindergarten Juice and Jokes with Mrs. BW Beginning September 30th, Mrs. B-W will be meeting with small groups of Kindergarteners from 8:00-8:30.  The Juice & Jokes sessions are an opportunity for students to get to know the director better and promote MPA's Positive Behavior Supports.  Kindergarten parents, watch for more information when it's your child's turn to participate. Brag Tags are Back! After a successful introduction last year, Brag Tags are back!  Students in grades K-4 are encouraged to compliment peers on positive interactions and post brag tags on the hallway bulletin boards.  Brag tags must be teacher approved before posting.  All students receiving brag tags will be recognized on Friday mornings. MPA Bowling Event Get to know the MPA community  Don't miss your chance to mingle with other MPA families at our upcoming Bowl-A-Rama on Sunday, October 6th at Fairview Lanes from 3-5 pm. Space is limited so make sure to send your forms/payments in ASAP. Cost is $5 per person and includes 2 hours of bowling, shoe rental, snacks and beverages.  Please send in your form and payment (cash or check) made payable to MPA Boosters in an envelope labeled MPA Bowling.  Registration deadline is end of the school day on Friday, October 4th. Clickhere for the full flyer and reservation form.   UNITY/Anti-Bullying Day Wednesday, October 9th - show your support and wear orange! As part of our character education program, all MPA students will be celebrating UNITY/Anti-Bullying Day on Wednesday, October 9th.  Students and staff are encouraged to wear orange that day to promote school unity.  There will also be activities focused on anti-bullying throughout the day.   The Boys are Ahead on Box Tops! An update from the Minion Clipping Department  Minions Phil & Carl have been busy counting Box Tops labels. As of Sept 17th it's the BOYS that have taken the lead with a total of 286 Box Tops. The girls have submitted a total of 160. Keep sending in those Box Tops! Next week Minions Jorge & Dave will be tallying Box Tops. Apparently Minion Dave likes to sing "Ba ba ba ba ba Banana" while he counts Box Tops. This should be interesting! Make sure that the Box Tops you send in are not expired and have been trimmed. Last week the Minions had to toss 52 expired Box Tops. Minion Carl also had his hand cramp up for a few minutes while trimming the labels. Please send clipped Box Tops in a Ziploc bag or sealed envelope with your child's name, their teacher's name and grade. It would also help if you wrote "Boy" or "Girl" as some children have gender-neutral names. There is a collection bin on each floor at school. MPA Boosters are also collecting: - Labels For Education, which earns items for MPA - Tyson Project A+ Labels, which gives MPA 24 cents per label - Coke Rewards bottle caps and codes from cases 10/25/2013 - Fall Festival - Save the Date! The 8th grade class will be hosting a Fall Festival on October 25th! A pumpkin carving contest will also be a part of the festivities on October 31.  More information coming soon. Pumpkins The week leading up the to Fall Festival and the week prior to Halloween, 8th graders will be selling pumpkins in school for $5.00 each! Be on the look out for more information. Proceeds will help support the Washington DC field trip.  One Call Now!  Automated Alert System Comes to MPA One Call Now! Menlo Park is going to utilize One Call Now to alert MPA families of late breaking news, school cancellations, and special invitations.  If you would like to update your information, please visit:  MPA Emergency Alert System  You will have the option to opt-in to receive text messages, and also the option to opt-out of all communications, at the end of the message. Please contact Lynn Wilson if you have any questions about the One Call Now emergency alert system. lynn.wilson@menloparkacademy.com  21st Annual Young Astronaut Day at NASA Glenn Saturday, November 2 NASA Glenn is offering a hands-on science and engineering program from 10:00am to 3:00pm on November 2.  Kids will have an opportunity to team with their fellow MPA students to compete in events such as: Wind tunnel Aerodynamic Design Challenge  Shuttle Repair Mission Specialist  Launch Challenge  Robotics  Remote Sensing  There will be 2 divisions for teams to compete: Pilots (grades 1 - 6) Commanders (grades 7-12)   MPA has one team for each division.  Twelve children will be allowed to compete in Pilots and Twelve in Commanders.  We will accept names until Wednesday, October 16th.  On that date, we will draw names to select the groups.   If your child is eager and available to participate or if you have any questions please contact Bobbi Kibbey:  kibbeyb@yahoo.com.  Provide your child's name and grade.