Weekly Blog 10/17

Dear Wines Families,

As usual, a lot to report today!

Early Release Wednesday Oct. 24

Next Wednesday we have an Early Release Day with dismissal at 1:29. There is no PM childcare. Future Early Release dates are Jan. 30^th, Feb. 27^th, and May 22^nd.

Run-a-Thon Pledges

One final reminder that we are collecting Run-a-Thon pledges. Checks can be made out to Wines PTO or you can pledge online at https://squareup.com/market/wines-elementary-school-pto/item/run-a-thon-sponsor-a-child-please-enter-the-child-s-name-in-the-notes-section-at-checkout.

More Run-a-Thon Thanks!

I want to add a couple of big Thank You’s for the Run-a-Thon. I want to thank Angie Wolney for being our resident photographer. I will share class photos soon. I also want to thank Caleb Collier who again this year took video with his super cool drone! We’ll put together a video from the drone soon!

Lost and Found: Emptying Friday

We will begin a monthly purge of our Lost and Found this Friday. If your child is missing something, have them check out the Lost and Found. Our next purge will take place the Friday before Thanksgiving.

Great Ideas Grants

Do you have a great idea? The Great ideas Grant program is an opportunity for Wines students, parents, and staff to turn a great idea into a funded program to benefit the Wines community! The grant approval committee meets twice a year to vote on applications. Submissions are now accepted online only.  The first deadline is November 1st. The links for the Adult and Child application can be found on the Wines PTO website: www.winespto.org 

Don’t let a great idea go to waste! Submit now! Submit several! 

Contact: Sumi Sood – sumi.sood1@gmail.com

Science and Builders Fair

Registration is open for the 2018 Science and Builders Fair! The fair will take place at school at 7 PM on Thursday November 8th and the entire school is welcome to participate or visit or BOTH! To register, learn more, sign up to volunteer, or get ideas please head to the website: https://winesscienceandbuilders.weebly.com/

End of Day Early Pick Ups

I just want to again send out my message from last week regarding end of day early pick-ups. Our office is extremely busy at the end of the day and we simply cannot accommodate early pick-ups without a call in advance. Early pick-ups are very disruptive to student learning and we ask that you only pick up early for the rare appointment, and not for convenience. If you are picking up early, please give us advance notice so we can make arrangements.

Girl Scouts Buddy Bench Celebration

As many of you remember, our Girl Scout troop collected plastic bottle caps and other lids last year with the goal of using the recycled material to produce a “Buddy Bench”. The collection was a HUGE success and we now have not one, but two benches on our playground. We have one on the lower el and one on the upper el side. Next Thursday, Oct. 25^th, we will have a brief celebration at lunch. We will host the upper el celebration at 12:00 and the lower el celebration at 12:30. Feel free to join us!

Sprout Love Celebration

As you know, many of our families are impacted by cancer. I’m pleased to support Sprout Love, a non-profit begun by a Wines family. Sprout Love has partnered with

The Cancer Support Community in Greater Ann Arbor. Sprout Love was initiated in her honor to help families going through cancer treatment.  They raise money and award grants to families right here in our community going through financial crisis during treatment.  Sprout is hosting a fundraiser on Nov. 10^th. I sent out a flyer with today's email. 

Thanks!

David

Weekly Blog 10/10

Dear Wine Families,

Spirit week is in full swing and we are excited about the Run-a-Thon on Friday. Below is all the information for the week!

Run-a-Thon: Pledging and Schedule

Last week your child brought home a packet of information about the Run-a-Thon including information on how to make pledges. This is one of our largest fundraisers of the year and we hope everyone can make some commitment to collecting pledges—any amount helps. Last year’s proceeds went directly to new technology including the purchase of 40 additional iPads and a cart of 32 Chromebooks. This year, we are looking to continue our playground improvements and, perhaps, continue our ongoing need for technology. In addition, 100% of 5^th grade proceeds go to our annual trip to Camp Tanuga. Finally, a percentage of our collection will go to support Camp Tall Tree, a camp for students with Autism.

Beginning Friday, pledges can be brought to school in the provided envelopes. Pledges can be made online at https://squareup.com/market/wines-elementary-school-pto/item/run-a-thon-sponsor-a-child-please-enter-the-child-s-name-in-the-notes-section-at-checkout.

If you would like to cheer the kids on Friday morning, please come! The schedule was sent in today's email. 

 Science and Builders Fair Nov. 8. Registration Open!

Registration is open for the 2018 Science and Builders Fair! The fair will take place at school at 7 PM on Thursday November 8th and the entire school is welcome to participate or visit or BOTH!

To register, learn more, sign up to volunteer, or get ideas please head to the website: https://winesscienceandbuilders.weebly.com/

Early Pick Ups

Over the past few weeks, we have seen a significant increase in families coming into the office near the end of the day to pick up children early. Without advanced notice, it is very difficult for us to retrieve students at the end of the day. If you know you are going to need to pick up early, please call school in the morning so we can make arrangements. As a reminder, early pick ups should be for scheduled appointments only and not done out of convenience. In addition to the educational challenges presented by taking your child out of school early, please remember that we have 456 students and normally only one person running the office and the end of day is extremely busy. Thank you.

That's all for this week. Looking forward to Friday's Run-a-Thon.

David

Weekly Blog 10/3

Dear Wines Families,

Once again, lots to report today. Please have a read below:

Wines Times

The first edition of the monthly PTO newsletter, the Wines Times, can be found at the link below. Enjoy!

http://winespto.org/docs/wtOct18.pdf

Run-a-Thon

In your child’s Wednesday Folder, please find the pledge sheet and information about next week’s Run-a-Thon. We will kick off the Run-a-Thon with our annual Pep Rally later today. We encourage all students to collect pledges and they can start now. A very easy way to have friends and family support your child and our school is to have them pledge online. The link below will take them to the site. Please share your child’s teacher’s name with those who you send the link.

https://squareup.com/market/wines-elementary-school-pto

Spirit Week Next week

Next week’s build up to Run-a-Thon includes our annual Spirit Week. Below are each day’s theme.

Monday: Pajama Day

Tuesday: Crazy Hair Day

Wednesday: Silly Sock and Shoe

Thursday: Favorite Team

Friday: Run-a-Thon

Walktober starts Friday!

Our annual celebration of “Walktober” begins on Friday and we encourage all students to walk to school. Bus students will be dropped off at Forsythe where I will meet them along with students from morning care, so everyone can participate! There are meeting points at Riverwood/Newport and Argyle Crescent/Creal Park.

That’s all for now!

David

Weekly Blog 9/26

Dear Wines Families,

There is a lot of information this week, sorry for the long message!

Reminder: Early Release Today

We dismiss at 1:29 this afternoon. There is no PM childcare.

Run-a-Thon Oct. 12

Our annual Run-a-Thon takes place on Friday, Oct. 12^th. All students participate in this great community building day and we also encourage all families to participate in the fundraising part of the event. We also need volunteers. If you are interested in volunteering, please click on the link below. This is a VERY easy event to volunteer at, as long as you are available the morning of Oct. 12^th.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050b4caaae2c7-2018

Great News!

Speaking of fundraising, proceeds from last year’s Run-a-Thon are being put to good use. On Monday we received a cart of 40 additional iPads and a cart with 32 more Chromebooks. Thank you to our PTO for supporting our school and to our families for participating in our fundraising efforts!

Picture Day Oct. 2^nd

Picture Day is next week on Tuesday, October 2^nd. All students will their picture taken whether you order a picture package or not and all Wines students receive a yearbook whether you receive a package or not. We also have a number of scholarships available for picture packages. Please contact me directly if you are interested in a scholarship package.

Order Pictures Online

Picture packets have been sent home. You can also order you pictures online. Go to www.inter-state.com/order and our unique code is 32186SF.

Walktober

October is also known as WALKTOBER! This is when we encourage every child to walk to school come rain or shine.  Even those on the bus get to take part!!  However, to make this work I am looking for a few volunteers to help at the stations that are on the way to school.  Volunteers simply stamp a child’s hand or give them a sticker. The 3 locations are: 

•Creal Park/Argyle Crescent,

•Newport Rd/Riverwood

•Newport Rd/Sunset 

Times – 8:35 – 9:00 AM

Further information will be sent to volunteers.

Many Thanks,

Tracie Clarke

Below is a link to sign up to volunteer.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0e49a8a722aa8-walktober

Warm the Children

We are now accepting applications for Warm the Children.  Warm the Children is a program sponsored by Kiwanis Club and the Ann Arbor Foundation.   This program provides assistance to children in need in Washtenaw County annually. The program buys warm winter clothing for school aged children (up to age 16) in need ($90.00 per child). A volunteer shopper is assigned to the family to help shop, and handle paperwork.  The family must provide their own transportation to the store where shopping will take place. If you are interested, please email Heather Herrick, Wines School Social Worker at herrick@aaps.k12.mi.us . Families are served on a first come basis so please get your application in ASAP as funds are limited. If you were served from this program last year, unfortunately, you will not be eligible to apply this year.

Magic of Christmas

We are now accepting applications for the Magic of Christmas program. The Magic of Christmas program provides gifts (wants & needs) to children who otherwise would not experience a Christmas (or other winter holiday) because of family difficulties. The program was started in 1996 by former University of Michigan All-American track athlete and former LPGA Tour Player Debbie Williams-Hoak. Growing up, Debbie experienced some difficult holiday seasons and had a lifelong dream to help children avoid similar experiences at Christmas. Debbie originally partnered with the Ann Arbor Police Department, which has expanded to include the police from Chelsea, Saline, Washtenaw County Sheriff and U of M. The hope is to help change the perception of the police in the eyes of the children and what better way than to have the police officers become Santa! If you are interested, please email Heather Herrick, Wines School Social Worker at herrick@aaps.k12.mi.us . Families are served on a first come basis so please get your application in ASAP as funds are limited and specific eligibility guidelines need to be met.

David