Weekly Blog 12/19

Dear Wines Families,

The December Wines Times was included with today's email so I won't add much information to this email. I do want to make three quick announcements, however.

First, we have a small calendar change for January. Our amazing music teacher Beth McNally will be presenting at a state conference on January 18th. That is the day we have scheduled for our Martin Luther King Holiday activities. Beth has a performance planned that includes every student at Wines. Therefore, we have shifted our celebration to the day after the holiday. We will celebrate the day on Tuesday, January 22nd with our assembly taking place at 1:30.

Second, I want to point your attention to the International Night Flyer that was also attached to today's email. International Night is January 31st.

Finally, I want to thank all of our parents who have been diligent about signing in at the office this week. Our computer sign in station has been repaired and is now operational again. Please make sure you are signing in and have a sticker on when you are in the building--even if it is just for quick visit. Over the next few days, we know there will be many special activities in the building that parents will be attending. At certain times over the next few days--particularly Friday--we will be expecting many parents at the same time. During these busier times, we will not use our computer station but instead will have a table set up outside of the office with sign in sheets and visitor stickers. Please help us as we work to ensure we are aware of every visitor in our building.

We met as district administrators yesterday to discuss potential updates to our building security plans. In the days to come, we will likely make some minor changes to our existing systems at Wines.  I will let you know as soon as plans are formalized. Major changes (i.e. a "buzzer system" to enter the school) are being discussed as well.

Have a wonderful holiday season.

David

Weekly Blog 12/12/12

Dear Wines Families,
I’ll start today with a quick brainteaser. Today is December 12, 2012. So the date is 12/12/12. This is the last repetitive date for quite some time. Assuming for a moment that the Mayans were not correct and the world doesn’t end today, what will the date be on the next repetitive date on the calendar? As with anything, you can Google the answer quite easily. But challenge yourself to do it the old fashioned way!!

Science Olympiad
Science Olympiad registration closes this Friday, December 14th. Register your child online at: http://winespto.org/ScienceOlympiad/scienceRegistration.html or you may print the form in the attachment and return it to your child’s teacher. We still need coaches to make the event a success. If you have an interest in Map Reading, Describe It/Build It, Endangered Animals, Flowers or Paper Airplanes, we need your help! To all second grade families, this is a great event for your child to become involved. The attachment describes the Olympiad and answers many questions or you may contact kellymichaelssoluk@gmail.com or david.creen@benefitfocus.com for more information.

Quick Survey
Our PTO is making short and long term plans to try to make their meetings as accessible to as many parents as possible. Below is a link to a one-question survey about meeting times. If you could please take a moment to fill it out, our PTO would really appreciate it!
PTO Survey

News from the Library
Attached to today's email was the latest newsletter from Sally Evaldson in the Media Center. Please have a look.

Winter Vacation Learning
I want to again remind everyone that if you are looking for opportunities to keep your child’s brain stimulated (and perhaps keep them busy!) during the winter break, we have again teamed up with ThinkStretch. You can download materials at:http://www.thinkstretch.com/brainfreeze/
Enter promo code: Winter12

Holiday Gifts
I want to remind everyone that it is school district policy that staff members cannot accept gifts from families beyond “token value.” I understand that at this time of year, parents and children like to express their appreciation to teachers and other staff. Speaking for the staff, please know that we feel your appreciation every day! A donation to a local charity in our school’s name or a teacher’s name is a great gift to us for the holidays. The Peace Neighborhood Center is a wonderful organization right in our backyard if you need a good idea.

Thanks!

David

Weekly Blog 12/5

Dear Wines Families.

I have a number of important announcements this week.

Giving Season
Wines is currently participating in four different giving opportunities.

Preschool Family Center Giving Tree. Every December the Wines community looks for ways to support those in Ann Arbor who may need a little something extra during the holiday season. This year we have partnered with the Ann Arbor Preschool and Family Center who have many basic classroom needs. We now have a Giving Tree outside of the office filled with mittens labeled with items to donate. If you would like to help the Preschool, please take a mitten and return the purchased gift to the office before December 21st. This is a wonderful project to involve your child in! For more info, check out:  http://www.a2schools.org/preschool.home/about_our_program.

Winter Coat Drive. The Reinhart Company is currently collecting winter coats for those in need. A box is set up in our lobby near the display case. We welcome all coats in good condition. We have dry cleaners donating their services for wool coats that need to be cleaned. If the coat is washable, it would be great to have them washed before they are dropped off. However, we will clean them if that is not possible. Children’s coats are always in high demand!  Please go through your closets and see if anyone has an extra coat to donate to those less fortunate!

Student Council/Food Gatherers Canned Food Drive. Our Canned Food Drive continues until Dec. 19th. Bins are situated around the building.

Peer to Peer Puzzle Donations. Cleaning out old toys to make way for new? Do you have puzzles your children no longer enjoy? Do you have puzzles with missing pieces? Don't throw them out! Donate them to Wines Peer to Peer program. We will be making projects that use puzzle pieces and would love to put them to good use! Donations will be accepted until Dec. 21. A box will be placed right next to the coat drive box in the lobby.

ThinkStretch Winter Learning
We have again teamed up with ThinkStretch to offer learning opportunities when school is not in session during Winter Break. A downloadable packet is available to every Wines student. Each packet contains:
·       A BrainFreez! reading log
·       Math facts quick review
·       Winter writing activity
·       Winter science and art fun

Here's the link: http://www.thinkstretch.com/brainfreeze/
Enter promo code: Winter12

Extra Specials
A reminder that Lunchtime “Extra Specials” begin in January for grades 1-5. We are still in need of volunteers. Attached to today's email was an informational flyer.

Extra Kids Magazines?
If you have any extra kids magazines (Ranger Rick, etc.) lying around, we have a couple of classroom projects that could use them. You can drop them off in the office or directly to Kathy Perry or Janeen Eckel.

Thanks!

David

Weekly Blog 11/28

Dear Wines Families,

Attached to today’s email is the November Wines Times newsletter. As always, there is lots of important information in theTimes, so please have a look. I want to highlight one item in the Wines Times for families of 2nd-5th graders. Our Science Olympiad registration is beginning. In the Wines Times there is information about the various opportunities. In addition, a paper copy of the information and registration is coming home today as well. I’ve also attached this information (in Word and PDF) to today's email. This year, you can register for Science Olympiad online at: http://winespto.org/ScienceOlympiad/scienceRegistration.html.


A couple of other important items did not make the Wines Times. Please see below.

Canned Food Drive
Student Council is working with Food Gatherers on a holiday canned food drive.  We will be collecting all types of non-perishable food donations from Friday, November 30 until Wednesday, December 19. Students can bring in their food donations to their classrooms or put hem directly into the bins provided by Food Gatherers.  These bins will be stationed at 3 locations around the school building. Student Council thanks you for support!

Lunchtime Extra Specials are starting January 15th!
This is one of the Wines students’ favorite activities of the year and we need volunteers to make it happen! Please contact Annemarie Dolan (akilburndolan@comcast.net) or Shireen Syed (shisy786@yahoo.com) and sign up to lead or assist in an area that interests you. If you have an idea for a different activity that you’d like to lead, please email us as well. Younger siblings are always welcome! Here are some of the activities we have so far:

• Knitting
• Paper Airplanes
• Legos
• Yoga
• Sewing and Crafts
• Beads, Beads, Beads
• Bal-A-Vis-X
• Great Ideas
• Yearbook
• Board Games- including Speed Stacking

We look forward to seeing you at lunch in January!


David

Weekly Blog 11/14

Dear Wines Families,

I have a number of important announcements this week. Sorry for the long email!!

Movie Night
Our first Movie Night is this Friday beginning at 7:00. The movie is Space Chimps. As a reminder, Movie Night is not a drop off event. All students need to be accompanied by an adult.

Lost and Found
Our Lost and Found is full. We will be donating items during the Thanksgiving weekend. Please come and look through items before we leave for break. We will be “displaying” the items on tables beginning Friday. If you are coming to Movie Night, take a moment and look through the tables.

Book Fair
Our annual Book Fair takes place right after Thanksgiving. The Fair begins on Tuesday, November 27th and runs through Friday, November 30th. Our Book Fair Family Night is Tuesday the 27th. Attached to today’s email is an informational flyer. Have a look!

Thank You!!
I’m pleased to announce that Wines received the most tokens during the PTO Thrift Shop “Show Your Support” event. As a result, we earned $365 to help support Lunches with Love. Thank you Wines!! We will again participate from Dec. 30th-Jan. 5th. The PTO Thrift Shop continues to make many generous contributions to Wines and all AAPS schools. They also have lots of great stuff!! So please check them out.

Girls on the Run 5k event at Wines: We need your help!
Our Wines "Girls on the Run" team is holding a practice 5k event after school on Tuesday, November 27 and would like to invite you to run with us, cheer for us, or quench our thirst! We will be starting at the front of school at 4pm. Our route takes us through the Creak Park neighborhood. It would be awesome if some families in the neighborhood could set up water tables for our runners or be in your front yards to cheer us as we run by. Or, come to school at 4pm and run with us! We are practicing for the end of the season run with all the Girls on the Run teams in southeastern Michigan which will take place on Dec. 9th at Eastern Michigan University. We'd love to see you there. For more information about the event or how to sign up to run with your daughter or support your Wines team, go to http://girlsontherunsemi.org/events/GOTR-events.php. If you would like to help with our practice 5k or for more information, contact coach Nasreen Islam at nrislam@comcast.net.

Vada Murray Fund for Cancer Research “Tailgate”
Attached to today’s email is an informational flyer about an upcoming event at Michigan Theater to support the Vada Murray Fund for Cancer Research. You can watch the Michigan/Ohio State game on the big screen at the theater and help raise money and awareness. This sounds like a great event!

Music Room News
Attached to today’s email is the most recent newsletter from Ms. McNally from the music room.

That’s all!

David

Dear Wines Families.

As usual, there are a lot of exciting things to share with you today!

Final Walk To School Day Friday
On Friday we will hold our final Walk to School Day as part of our Walktober celebration. Friday will have an added element of fun. We will be competing with Evening Street Elementary School in Columbus, Ohio to see which school has the highest percentage of walkers on Friday. The “losing” school’s principal will be forced to wear the opposing university colors. So if we win, principal Mary Rykowski from Evening Street will wear the Michigan Maize and Blue, and if Evening Street wins, I will be forced to wear the Scarlet and Gray of Ohio State. On Friday we will have a special spirit day here at Wines. Students are encouraged to wear the colors of their favorite team or their Wines colors. So Wolverine fans can wear Maize and Blue. I know we have a lot of Detroit Tigers fans these days so Tigers gear is also encouraged. Even our friends who like Ohio State can wear their colors! And everyone is a fan of Wines, so Wines spirit is always a great way to show your spirit!

Science and Builders Fair
We have had an outstanding response to this year’s Science and Builder’s Fair. Over 100 students will be showing their science or building skills tomorrow evening (Thursday) at 7:00. The event takes place in the cafeteria and the gym. Even if your child is not participating, this is a great informal event for families. We are in need of about four more volunteers to be "judges" for the event—this will take about 20 minutes of your time. The volunteers will be asked to visit 6-8 projects and discuss the project with the student. They then write a brief positive comment on the certificate and present it to the participant.  That's it! It is a non-competitive event and all participants receive the same certificate and ribbon. We need about 4 more judges to make that happen. Volunteers can email at debbietirico@me.com.

Show Your Support!
Again this year we are participating in the PTO Thrift Shop "Show Your Support" fundraiser. By shopping at the Ann Arbor PTO Thrift Shop next week, you can help earn money for the Wines "Lunches with Love" program. When you shop at the PTO Thrift Shop between 10/28-11/3, every $5 you spend earns a token for the Wines bucket. Three other schools will also be participating next week and we receive a percentage of $1000 donated by the Thrift Shop based on how many tokens we receive. The Thrift Shop is located at 2280 South Industrial Highway.

Music Room News
Ms. McNally’s Music Room Newsletter was attached to today's email. Beth has successfully scheduled all of this year’s grade level performances. The dates are included in her newsletter so please have a look.

Spirit Wear
Our Spirit Wear orders have arrived! If your child ordered Wines Spirit Wear, it will be delivered to him/her on Friday.

Thanks!

David

Dear Wines Families,

I have a few important announcements this week.

Run-a-Thon Pledges

As of today we are about half way to meeting our Run-a-Thon pledge donation amount from last year. That is really great! Friday is the last day for pledge collections to be turned in. The classroom with the highest lap average and 100% participation in pledge collection—regardless of the amount—will earn a pizza party. So let’s bring in those pledges! Online donations can be made at http://www.winespto.org/runathon.php.

Picture Day

Picture Day is next Wednesday, October 23^rd. A picture order package is coming home today in the Wednesday Folder. There are scholarship packages available. Please contact me if you would like to discuss a scholarship picture package.

Walk to School

Again on Friday we will be walking to school. We’ve had great participation thus far. On Oct. 26^th we will be competing with Evening Street Elementary School in Columbus, Ohio to see which school has the most students walking to school.

Great Ideas Grants

The first Great Ideas Grant deadline is coming up. Get your applications in by November 1st!  This is a wonderful opportunity for kids and parents to turn an idea into something tangible for our school.  We really want to hear from our students this year – what would you like to see our school do or acquire?  No idea is too small!  Hard copy applications will come home in your child's Wednesday folder today.  Additional applications are attached to today's email or can be picked up in the office.

Science and Builders Fair

Last call for submission for the Science and Builders Fair. The Science and Builders Fair is next Thursday, Oct. 25^th at 7:00 PM. If you have any questions, please contact Debbie Tirico at debbietirico@me.com.

MEAP

Today marks the final day of MEAP testing. Thank you families for sending your children to school rested and prepared for the test. The kids have done great. Special thanks to our incredible Office Professional, Robin Moore, who is in charge of all the organization of the testing—believe me, this is no small task. Thanks to Robin, everything has been smooth.

Thanks,

David

Weekly Blog 10/10

Dear Wines Families,

Run-a-Thon:
It has been a great Spirit Week so far. The number of students who have participated has been outstanding! Spirit Week culminates with the Run-a-Thon on Friday morning. Attached to today's email is the final Run-a-Thon flyer with the times when all of our grade levels are participating. The weather for Friday is looking like good running weather—cool and dry!

Every student received a Run-a-Thon packet last week with information about how to collect pledges. Again this year, pledges can be made online. Visit the Run-a-Thon page on the PTO website for more information. You can find the page at http://www.winespto.org/runathon.php. The online pledge is great for friends and family not in the Ann Arbor area. I recently met with a representative from playground equipment company and we are looking at some great ideas to upgrade our playground with proceeds from the Run-a-Thon. We are also working with the company on replacing our gymnasium basketball hoops with more kid-friendly adjustable rims. In addition, 10% of Run-a-Thon proceeds will go to Ele’s Place. The students voted for Ele’s place as the recipient of the donation last week.

Walk to School:
Friday is also a Walk to School Day at Wines. As a reminder, we will walk to school every Friday this month. We will have a culminating celebration and competition with Evening Street Elementary School in Columbus, Ohio on Friday, Oct. 26th.

A few reminders from the office:
• I want to remind parents that we love it when you visit Wines! However, it is very important that everyone who visits our school signs in so that we know you are here. Please make your first stop in the office when you arrive.
• Unfortunately, it seems that cold and flu season is already here. To help prevent the spread of illness at school, please follow the 24 hour fever rule. Kids need to be fever free for 24 hours (without medication) before they can return to school.
• The end of the day is a VERY busy time at school. Often we have students who do not know their end of day plans and we need to hustle to make last minute phone calls before our busses leave. While we understand that plans do change at the last minute and kids can become confused, we ask that you please try to make sure that your child knows the after school plans before he or she arrives to school in the morning. In addition, if changes are made to plans, please inform the office as soon as possible so we can have time to get the message to teachers and students.
• Finally, just a reminder our school day ends at 3:42. If you are picking your child up from school, please be here either outside waiting or waiting in the pick up line in your car at that time. Thank you!!

Newport Road Meeting
Tomorrow (Thursday) evening, there is a community meeting at Wines with Mayor John Hiefje and Ann Arbor City Council Woman Sabra Briere to discuss improving pedestrian access on Newport Road. I know this is an important issue in our community. Please attend if you can! The meeting begins at 7:00 PM in the cafeteria.

Thanks!
David

Weekly Blog 10/2

Dear Wines Families,
I sent out my weekly email a day early this week because we have a lot of important things happening on Wednesday. First, tomorrow is International Walk to School Day. Again this year, Wines will participate in this day as a kickoff to our Walktober celebration. Students are encouraged to walk or ride to school tomorrow. We will also be walking on Friday and every Friday this month. Students who ride the bus will be dropped off at the south parking lot of Forsythe and I will meet them there along with parent volunteers. So everyone can have a chance to walk!

Wednesday is also Count Day for schools in Michigan. A large percentage of our state funding comes from the count of students tomorrow. We want everyone who is healthy to please be in school on Wednesday. If your child is ill, we do not want him or her to be at school. We will be able to count absent children when they return. However, the fewer unnecessary absences we have, the less headache Robin has in the office as she is in charge of compiling the lengthy state report for count day.

This Friday we will kick off our Run-a-Thon with a pep rally at 3:00 PM. The Run-a-Thon is next Friday, October 12th. Every student at Wines will participate in the run and receive a t-shirt. We hope every child will also participate in the fundraising part of the Run-a-Thon as well. We again hope to raise enough money to continue to upgrade our playground structures.

To lead up to next Friday, we will have a special Spirit Week next week. The days are as follows:

Monday: Pajama Day
Tuesday: Inside-out/Backwards Day
Wednesday: Crazy Hair Day
Thursday: Wines Colors Day (red, white and black)
Friday: Run-a-Thon Team Spirit Day. Students are encouraged to collaborate with their class to figure out the best way to display class spirit during Run-a-Thon. They can come up with a team cheer, wear the same color/outfit for Run-a-thon, wear same hairstyle, etc.

In addition to raising money for our school, 10% of proceeds from Run-a-Thon will go to a local charity. Staring tomorrow, students will vote at lunch for the charity of choice. This year, the three deserving charities students will vote on are Ele’s Place, Peace Neighborhood Center, or 826Michigan.

Attached to today’s email is a Run-a-Thon informational flyer as well as the schedule for when different grades are running.

Finally, I want to let everyone know that on Oct. 11th at 7:00 PM, there is a neighborhood meeting to discuss making Newport Road more pedestrian friendly for students and families. City Council Woman Sandra Briere will be in attendance. The meeting will take place in the Wines cafeteria.

That’s all for now!

David

Weekly Blog 9/26

Dear Wines Families,

Please check your email today for two emails from me. The first contains the latest edition of the Wines Times. There is A LOT coming up in October at Wines so please take some time to read through the Wines Times. The Wines Times file was a bit too large to include a few items. Therefore, I sent a second email with three flyers attached.

Other announcements:

• Our office is in need of extra pants for kids in the case of accidents. If you have any extra size 5 or 6 pants with elastic waist, we will take them!

• In the Wines Times, an incorrect email address for our Walktober Chairperson, Anita Fontana, was included. If you would like to help or need more information about Walktober, Anita can be contacted at akdfontana@gmail.com.

• Thank you to everyone for watching your speeds on Newport! For those of you who live in or utilize the "Crescents" to come to Wines, neighbors in those neighborhoods are asking that you watch your speed as well. That area is a heavy walk to school area for our students. Thank you!

That's it for now. Please read the attached Wines Times.

David

Weekly Blog 9/19

Dear Wines Families,

Now that school is really up and running, we have lots of great things going on in the weeks ahead. As a result, there are lots of announcements this week!

Spirit Wear
Spirit Wear orders are due this Friday (Sept. 21st) or online through the Wines PTO website (winespto.org) by Sunday night, Sept. 23rd.

Directory Information
In the paper Wednesday Folder coming home today, you will find a form requesting information from your family for the Wines Directory. We are anxious to print the directory, so please check out the form and send it back to school as soon as possible.

Science and Builders Fair
October is just around the corner and that means it is time for the 16th annual Wines Science and Builders Fair on Thursday, October 25 from 7-8pm.  This is a non-competitive, fun, family-friendly event for ALL grade levels.  There will be awards for all participants.   Kids are invited to build, create, invent, explore, and experiment –with friends or on their own—and then proudly display their project.  No project or collection is too small—we love to see them all.  All families, whether you have a participant or not, are encouraged to attend the event to support our young scientists and builders.  We hope that your child will choose to participate!  Last year we had over 75 participants!  To sign up, please print the form attached to this week's email and return to your child's teacher.

Can't decide where to start?  Next week you can check out the Wines PTO website with photos from prior years as well as links to popular online sites with some ideas.  No idea is too small!  You'll see a whole range of projects, from Lego villages and clay creations to science projects exploring solar energy or nutritional value of soda!  You'll also be provided with some additional guidelines for the event (important info like no chemicals, weapons, etc).  If you have questions, please contact Debbie Tirico at debbietirico@me.com or 604-5014.

Hope to see you at this awesome event!

Run-a-Thon Sponsors
Our Run-a-Thon is coming up on October 12th. We are looking for business sponsors for the event. If you are interested, please contact Frances Carlson at fslcarlson@me.com. Business sponsorship is $500 and the business logo will appear on the t-shirts that all students receive and all printed material that goes out about the event.

Science Olympiad
The date for this year’s Science Olympiad is confirmed. This year’s event will be held at Pioneer High School on Saturday, April 20th, 2013. Much more information about Olympiad will be coming in the weeks and months ahead!

Watch Your Speed!
To everyone who drives on Newport Rd (and that is nearly everyone in our community!). Residents along Newport have noticed that speeds in the 25mph zones have been quite fast lately. I live off of Newport and I know how hard it can be to stick to the 25mph speed limit. However, the speed limit is in effect for the safety of the nearly 1000 children who attend Wines and Forsythe. Please watch your speed. Thank you!

PTO
We had a great PTO meeting and new family meeting last evening. One of the issues that we discussed at length is the fact that Wines is such a great place because we have SO MANY wonderful opportunities for students and their families. However, with so many events, we need lots of parent volunteers to help. With that said, the more parents we have volunteering to plan or work events, the less work it is for everyone.

Speaking of the PTO, our PTO has an outstanding website. Please visit www.winespto.org for information on upcoming events, volunteer opportunities, and much more!

David

Weekly Blog 9/12

Dear Wines Families,

It was such a pleasure seeing everyone at Curriculum Night last evening. As a parent, I understand how challenging it can be to arrange for childcare--especially on an evening when every elementary school in Ann Arbor hosts Curriculum Night! So I thank you for your efforts to attend last evening. Most events at Wines are either for kids or we have childcare available. Unfortunately, it is nearly impossible for us to provide the space or staffing for childcare during and event like Curriculum Night. If you were not able to attend last evening, please contact your child's teacher so you can sign up for a parent/teacher conference.

There are three attachments to the email I sent out today. Janice Hendrick has included a volunteer sign up form to help in the Art Room, and Sally Evaldson has included a similar sign up for help in the Media Center. These are wonderful opportunities for volunteers and are places where volunteers are needed the most. New families, if you are looking for a great way to spend some time at Wines, here is a perfect opportunity!

In addition, we have attached a form for anyone who is interested in a purchasing advertising space in the upcoming Wines Directory. If you are interested in advertising, please see the form. We hope to have our Directory printed by the end of the month.

Interested in Cub Scouts? Wines has a strong scouting tradition and has opportunities for kids from 1st-5th grades. If you are interested in your child participating, there will be an informational meeting held at Wines next Thursday evening at 7:00 PM. If you have questions, please contact Greg Miller at (734) 369-8684 or millerg@umich.edu. Look for an informational flyer in next week's Wednesday Email.

Finally, just a quick note about pick up and drop off at Wines. With the addition of full day kindergarten and the simple fact that Wines is at capacity, our parking lot has been quite busy. It has settled down a bit this week, but it seems as if we will continue to have a busy lot this year. Please remember that we are asking that the Cooley lot only to be used by families with Kindergarten students and siblings. The lot is small and we have 60 Kindergarten students arriving and leaving each day. In both the Cooley lot and the front parking lot, the areas in front of the entrances marked with a red curb are for active pick up and drop off. Please stay in your car and continue to pull as far forward as you can before dropping off or picking up your child. Please do not let your child walk between cars unattended in either lot. As I've said many times, our parking lot was not designed for as many cars as we have each day. However, if everyone uses good judgement, drives slowly and safely, and follows our established patterns, we will continue to have a reasonably efficient system. Thank you all!

Best,

David

Weekly Blog 9/5

Dear Wines Families,

What a great start to the school year! While we are still going through a few normal “growing pains” with the addition of full day kindergarten, everything is going very well. The students are getting used to new routines and I’m really pleased with the start of the school year. Attached to this week’s email you will find the back to school edition of our monthly Wines Times Newsletter, so I will limit my announcements this week.

Just a reminder that we are looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow evening from 6:00-7:30 PM for our annual back to school picnic. Our PTO is looking for set up and clean up help tomorrow evening as well as some volunteers to help serve pizza. If you are able to volunteer, please contact Becky Maley at rhmaley@aol.com

We are ready to begin putting our school directory together. Please make sure your information is up to date in Powerschool. We will send home information soon asking what information you want/do not want included in the directory.

Curriculum Night is next Tuesday, Sept. 11th from 6:30-8:00. This is an event for adults, there will not be childcare available. 

Finally, just a quick request to make sure that items such as lunch boxes, coats, etc. are labeled with your child’s name. This will help us locate the owner without needing to use the Lost and Found.

Enjoy the Wines Times!

David

Wines 2012-2013!!

Dear Wines Families,

Believe it or not, the new school year is right around the corner. Robin and I are back and the office is open. It's a bit too quiet around here, but soon we will have more than 400 kids here to keep us busy! In the coming days and weeks you will receive much more information, so today I just want to send out some important dates for your calendars.

Wednesday, August 29th 3:00-4:00PM: Welcome Back Popsicle Party. At this party students and parents will receive their welcome back letter and information including the name of their teacher. Our teachers will be on the playground ready to meet their students and kids will have a chance to spend some time with their classmates and friends. If you are unable to attend the party, we will mail home your packet.

Tuesday, Sept. 4th: First Day of School (Full Day). As always, our PTO will host a welcome back coffee at 9:00 after the kids are in their classrooms.

Thursday, Sept. 6th 6:30 PM. Welcome Back Family Picnic. This annual event is an informal opportunity for families to come to school and reconnect or connect for the first time. Bring your family and a dish to pass. An informational flyer will be in the welcome back packet.

Tuesday, September 11th 6:30-8:00 PM: Curriculum Night. From 6:30-7:00 teachers will be presenting in their classrooms about the upcoming school year. From 7:00-7:30 I will make a brief presentation for all parents. From 7:30-8:00 teachers will again present in their classrooms so families with multiple children can see the other teacher (for those of you with 3 or more kids at Wines, you are already used to being in three places at once so hopefully you can figure it out!! ).

Tuesday, September 18th: First PTO meeting. From 6:00-7:00, our PTO will hold a meeting designed for new families so you can learn about who our PTO leaders are and what our PTO does (and they do a lot!!). From 7:00-8:00 we will hold our general meeting for everyone. As always, childcare will be available.

I look forward to seeing everyone soon!

David

Weekly Blog 5/23

Dear Wines Families,

With the many end of the year activities fast approaching, there is a lot of information to share today. I hope you find a few minutes to read through this week’s post.

Community Survey

As we come to the end of this school year, we’d like to know from our community how we are doing. Below is a link to a fairly short survey that we would really like you to fill out. We will use this information to help identify and celebrate what we are doing well at Wines, and also to inform us as to how we can improve on the service we provide to your children and our parent community. The survey is open until June 5^th. I encourage all of our families to fill it out before the 5^th. Below is the link.

Wines Community Survey

Country Fair Volunteers!
Country Fair - Friday, June 1^st. Everyone is invited...Everyone is needed !!

Over 150 volunteer opportunities are available and need to be filled to make the Wines Country Fair a success. We hope that every attending family helps in some fashion. Tomorrow, Thursday, May 24th, everyone will be receiving an email that includes a link to sign-up electronically via Volunteer spot (Deadline for sign-up is Tuesday, May 29th!)
All questions can be directed to Erin Telemaco 5telemaco@comcast.net
or call/text at 734-368-5826.

Speaking of Volunteers…Volunteer Recognition

We would like to recognize all of our parents who have volunteered your time at Wines this year. If you have volunteered our classrooms, our lunchroom, at PTO events, concerts, after school activities, in our special area classrooms, or anywhere else! You are invited to a Volunteer Coffee and Donuts recognition on Friday, June 1^st from 8:15-9:00 AM in the Media Center.

Volunteers for Next Year

In today’s Wednesday Folder you will find a form for volunteers at events for the 2012-2013 school year. Please look for it.

More Country Fair

In today’s “paper” Wednesday Folder, your child will be coming home with a final Country Fair informational flyer. If you would like to take advantage of our online pre-order opportunity for Country Fair wristbands, food, and cakewalk tickets, the final day to order online is Sunday, May 25th. Please visit www.winespto.org/raffle/tickets.php. There will also be a table at the front entrance of school during pick up and drop off next week. As a reminder, please contact me directly if you would like a Country Fair Family Scholarship packet.

Student Council Update

The Wines Elementary Student Council is planning a fundraiser for the Vada Murray Fund for Cancer Research at this year’s Country Fair.  We will be selling two different types of t-shirts, bumper stickers, and static decals. The t-shirts will be sold for $20.00.  The bumper stickers, in the shape of a policeman’s badge, will be sold for $5.00. The static decals will be given to anyone who makes a donation under $5.00.  The fundraiser will run from 6:00-8:00. We will also be accepting donations without obligation to purchase.   Please consider helping this worthy cause!

PTO Meeting

Our final PTO meeting of the year is next Wednesday, May 30^th at 7:00 PM. We will be finishing up with this year’s items and looking ahead to next year. As always, childcare is provided.

Art and Music News

Attached to the weekly email sent home today were newsletters from Mrs. Hendrick and Ms. McNally.

Thanks!

David 

Weekly Blog 5/16

Dear Wines Families,

Believe it or not, I don’t have multiple messages today. But since I have your attention, I will take this opportunity to tell everyone that our Lost and Found is full AGAIN. We will be donating items to charity at the end of next week so if your child is missing something, please come have a look.

Below is an important message about ticket sales for the Country Fair and Raffle. I’m pleased to announce that you can order online this year! I also want to remind families that I have family scholarship packets for any family who would like some assistance for the Country Fair. You can contact me directly if you would like a packet. There was an informational flyer attached to today's email about the Country Fair. If this is your first year at Wines, this flyer has lots of good info for you.

David

 The Wines Country Fair and Raffle/Auction is June 1st!!

6:00-8:30pm

 This year we are offering families the opportunity to buy food tickets, wristbands, and raffle tickets three ways:

*Online with your credit card from May 16th - May 25th and pick them up at the Will Call Table during advanced ticket sales or the night of the fair. 

Please note, tickets will NOT be shipped. (Unfortunately, Google check-out is not compatible with iPads or smartphones.)  

                          **buy online tickets at winespto.org/raffle/tickets.php 

*Advanced Ticket Sales the week of the fair (May 29th - June 1st). A table will be located outside the main doors before and after school. 

(Cash or check only.) 

* Ticket Sales Tables will be set up the night of the fair outside of school. 

(Cash or check only.)

Tickets are NOT available at the school office 

Questions about ticket sales? Contact Nicole Brittis at nicolebrittis@hotmail.com. 

Please contact Dr. DeYoung directly if you are interested in a family scholarship packet for the Country Fair and Raffle.

Weekly Blog 5/9

Dear Wines Families, 
Attached to today's email was the May Wines Times. There is plenty of good information to read there, so I'll keep this posting brief. I do want to thank those of you who voted in yesterday's Technology Bond election. I'm pleased to say that the initiative passed and we will begin to see the impact of the new technology next fall. In the weeks to come I will write about what we can expect at Wines in the year(s) to come as it relates to technology. 


I also want to thank everyone who rode their bike to school today. It was quite a showing!! 
Thanks,
David

Weekly Blog 5/2

Dear Wines Families,

As seems customary at this time of year, I have a number of important announcements in today’s posting.

 

Tech Bond

By now I hope everyone knows that next Tuesday, May 8^th there is a Technology Bond election in Ann Arbor. I want to encourage everyone to participate in this important vote. If you would like more information about the bond, please visit http://www.a2schools.org/aaps/tech_bond. Please be sure to vote next Tuesday!

 

NWEA Testing

Our final round of NWEA testing begins next week. Over the next two weeks, every student at Wines will take the MAP assessment in Reading and Math. This is one of many indicators of student success we use in our school. This final round of testing is important because the NWEA assessment is a growth model and with this final round of testing, we can now measure every student’s growth over the course of the year. We will be stressing to students not to become stressed about the test, but at the same time, we want our students to do their best. We hope you can do your part by making sure your child comes to school each day ready to learn! We also hope you can reiterate to your child to do his or her best on the assessment.

 

Girls on the Run

Please mark for your calendars for Tuesday, May 8th! Girls on the Run will be hosting a 5K running event at WINES immediately after school (3:45-5:15).  Please consider supporting the girls by coming out to CHEER THEM ON!! - friends, students, siblings, parents, teachers, ...  We need a crowd to line our route in support as we encourage their efforts to conquer a 5K.  It will be a fun time for all with music, snacks and smiling runners!!  If you can volunteer your support to help set-up prior (3-3:30) and/or host a water table, please emailholly.a.murphy@gmail.com.  Our route is through the Creal Park neighborhood - so if your home lies in the neighborhood please let us know if you can host a water table!  We appreciate your support.

 

Bike to School

On May 9^th, we are encouraging students to participate in National Bike to School Day. Wines has been selected to host an expert from Mott Hospital who will professionally fit your child’s bike helmet. There will also be stickers for students. In addition, we will be raffling off 4 new bike helmets donated by Mott. If you would like to help organize the event (not much work needs to be done and you get a t-shirt!), please email me directly.

 

Raffle/Auction Information

Please look for another email from me on Friday with important information about the upcoming Raffle and Silent Auction taking place during the Country Fair. Our group of volunteers is busy putting this information together and so I will send that out on Friday.

 

David

Weekly Blog 4/25

Dear Wines Families,
I have a number of important announcements this week. Please take a few minutes to read through this (long) blog posting.

Art Night

One final reminder that our K-5 Art Night is Friday evening beginning at 6:30. While everything is nearly ready for the evening, we could always use a few more volunteers. Here are links to sign up to bring food: www.signupgenius.com/go/60B084BAAAE283-artnight and/or volunteer to supervise a fun craft like Paper Hats, Face Painting, Beading with Wire, Fish Printing or Puppets:www.signupgenius.com/go/60B084BAAAE283-artnight1.

Wear it Blue for Autism Awareness!

In honor of April being Autism Awareness Month, Wines will be participating in our first annual Wines Wear it Blue Day on Monday, April 30th. All students and staff will be encouraged to wear blue that day. In addition, we will be hosting a breakfast to recognize our teachers and staff who work in the Communications classrooms. If you would like to make a food or refreshment donation for the breakfast, please sign up online at the link below or contact: kellyvansingel@yahoo.com
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0E49A8A628A57-breakfast.

Final “Great Ideas” Grants

Our final Great Ideas grant deadline of the school year is quickly approaching. We are accepting applications until May 1st.  There are adult and student grant forms available on the Wines website (www.wines.a2schools.org) and hard copies are available in the office.  Don’t let a great idea go to waste!!

Science Olympiad

Last Saturday our Science Olympiad team competed against 24 other schools in Washtenaw County. The kids had fun, learned a lot, and did a great job! There were officially 1621 student participants representing 25 schools. They competed in 20 different events in what is the largest Elementary Science Olympiad in the country. Every school earned at least one medal. Both our 2nd/3rd teams and our 4th/5th grade teams finished 3rd overall and earned a trophy. While there was so much more to Olympiad than winning, it is nice to see the fruits of all of our fine work!

I’d like to thank all of our volunteers who helped make Science Olympiad such a success at Wines. A special thank you to Kelly Michaels Soluk who coordinated the entire event and coached a team. I’d also like to thank Erin Telemaco for serving as volunteer coordinator. Finally, a thank you to our coaches and assistant coaches: Thank you to Chris Patel, Shireen Syed, Phil Rodgers, Marcie Austerberry, Maha Ali, Amy Cohn, Anke Eichstaedt, Nasreen Islam, Robin Hescheles, Nicole Brittis, Sue Smith, Michael Smith, Debbie Tirico, Patty Kersch, Michael Austerberry, Ann Scott, Sam Patel, Michael Dempsey, Michael Gaies, Joanne Keeling, Marc Bradshaw, Rick Witten, John Whitney, Donna Whitney, Mori Richner, Jaspreet Sawney, Carol Davis, Marc Bradshaw     Kelly Michaels Soluk, John Younger, Carol Lively, and Russ Derry.

Classroom Basket Collections for the Country Fair & Raffle!

The classroom baskets based on themes for each grade are a huge addition to the Wines Country Fair & Raffle each year.  Kids enjoy having an active role in selecting and bringing in a donation.  They see the end result when their donation is part of a nice collection of items in that category – with a basket full of tickets in front of it!

Baskets will be available in your child’s classroom for any donations between
May 3 – May 18.

Please donate what you can!
This year’s themes are:
Kindergarten: Arts & Crafts
1st Grade: Legos
2nd Grade: Legos
3rd Grade: Camping & Outdoor Adventures
4th Grade: Sports & Backyard Fun
5th Grade: It’s a High Tech World
Any questions? Contact Margaret Compton at bagladycompton@yahoo.com
Or Sheila Nicholas at Sheila_nicholas@yahoo.com

Landscape Coordinator Needed

Our current landscape coordinator is stepping down, and we need a volunteer to help take care of the Wines grounds over the summer. The coordinator will organize an 'adopt-a-garden' program and make sure the volunteer families weed and water their gardens over the summer. Please contact Carol Lively (carol.lively@sbcglobal.net), Elissa Gaies (egaies@umich.edu), or Becky Maley (rhmaley@aol.com) if you are interested.

Bike to School Day

Looking ahead, Wines will be participating in National Bike to School Day on Wednesday, May 9th. More information to come, but it might be time to get the bikes out and grease the chains, check the brakes, etc.!!

Sorry for the long posting, but it is a busy time of year!!

David

Weekly Blog 4/18

Dear Wines Families,

I have just a few announcements today. First, I want to remind all of our Science Olympiad participants that this Saturday is the annual competition at Pioneer. Wines will bring another outstanding team of 100 students to Pioneer. We will be competing against nearly 1600 students from across Washtenaw County. Kelly Michaels Soluk, who coordinates Science Olympiad at Wines (no small task!!!) recently shared with me that more students in Ann Arbor participate in Science Olympiad than do Rec & Ed soccer!!

I also want to remind everyone that next Friday evening, April 27^th is Art Night. Mrs. Hendrick is busy preparing a show that will feature art from ALL Wines students!! The evening begins at 6:30 PM. We are still looking for volunteers for the event to help hang art, help with art activities that evening, set up and clean up, and my personal favorite, help at the dessert table!! Please contact Patricia Beals at pferrer@umich.edu if you can volunteer.

That’s all for now!! 

David

Weekly Blog 4/11

Dear Wines Families,

Please check your email today as the April Wines Times was attached. Thus, I will keep this week's blog posting brief. 

 

I do want to remind everyone that tomorrow night, Thursday, there is an important PTO meeting beginning at 7:00 PM in the Media Center. At the meeting, Robert Allen and Elaine Brown from the Superintendent’s cabinet will be in attendance to talk about the upcoming Technology Bond. In addition, the PTO will be holding elections for executive board members for next year. We are still in need of a nominee for Secretary. If you are interested, please contact Elissa Gaies at egaies@umich.edu. Our 5^th grade choir will also be performing at the PTO meeting. If you haven’t attended a meeting this year, Thursday would be a great opportunity!! As always, childcare will be provided. 

 

Don’t forget to take some time to read the attached Wines Times.

David

Weekly Blog 3/28

Dear Wines Families,

As I hope everyone knows, we are not in school next week for Spring Break. When we return, we will begin the race to the end of the year! It will be an exciting time and one of continued hard work.

As we look ahead to next year, we will begin our class placement decision-making process during the months of April and May. If you would like to provide information about your child that will help us make placement decisions, please click on the link below and take our survey. Surveys are due by Friday, April 13th. As always, we will not consider any requests for specific teachers.

CLASS PLACEMENT PARENT INFORMATION

When we return from break, I want to remind everyone that at our April 12th PTO meeting, representatives from the Superintendent’s cabinet will be in attendance to discuss the upcoming Technology Bond. I encourage everyone to become informed about the bond. A public meeting about the bond is scheduled for Monday, April 16th at 6:30 PM at Pioneer High School.

Have a nice week away from Wines.

David

Weekly Blog 3/21

Dear Wines Families, 

What a beautiful couple of days of weather we are having. Everyone here at school seems to have an early case of "spring fever," but the kids and staff are still working hard. I have just a few items this week: 

First, please tune in to the School Board meeting tonight as our 5th grade choir lead by Ms. McNally will open the meeting. The meeting begins at 7:00 and will be broadcast on your local CTN channel. 

Our next Wines Times will be delayed a week due to Spring Break. The April edition will come out on April 11th (Spring Break is the week of April 2nd). 

Friday is our annual Wines Wahoo held at Forsythe Middle School. The Wahoo begins at 6:30. At the end of this message is one final announcement about the event. 

Last call for Lost and Found items. We will make another donation to charity over Spring Break. If your child is missing anything, it is likely in our ever expanding Lost and Found collection! 

Attached to today's email is a flyer with the latest after school offerings for after school activities through Rec and Ed. 

A reminder that there are two upcoming opportunities to learn about the May 8th Tech Bond. On Thursday, April 12th, members of the Superintendent's cabinet will be at our PTO meeting to discuss the Bond. In addition, there will be a public meeting on April 16th at 6:30 PM at Pioneer High School. I hope everyone can attend one or both of these opportunities. 

Finally, just a reminder that school ends at 3:42. We have had a number of children being picked up well after 4:00 recently--well after our pick up line traffic has cleared. We do not have after school supervision for students unless you have signed up for childcare (which is a wonderful option!). This is a safety issue. Please plan accordingly. 

Below is the Wines Wahoo info and request for more volunteers. 

David

Don't forget...  Wines Wahoo this Friday (3/23) from 6:30 - 8:30 @ Forsythe Middle School

Is all this warm weather putting you in the mood for limbo, dancing, playing and fun?  Then come to the Wahoo this Friday night!!  

The Wines Wahoo is a luau-themed, fun, family event for all Wines students, their parents and younger siblings. The Wahoo includes music provided by a kid friendly DJ, fun activities in the gym, face painting, and tattoos. There will be pizza, snacks and beverages for sale.  A parent or other adult over the age of 18 must accompany each Wines student. Children over 5th grade will not be admitted to the event. Younger siblings are, however, invited to participate.

There is a suggested donation of $5 per family that helps to cover the cost of the DJ and decorations. There is also a nominal fee for the food.

 

We still need a few more volunteers.  Please sign-up at the Volunteer Spot site.  It's easy -- Just enter your contact information and then select an activity.

 

Questions? Contact Bobbi Coluni (bobbi.coluni@gmail.com) 734-604-0807

Weekly Blog 3/14

Dear Wines Families,

After a spring-like winter, I guess we should have expected for summer to arrive this week! Hope you are enjoying the beautiful weather. With the weather changing, please make sure kids still come to school prepared for anything. Boots are still important at this time of year because we will have mud around for quite a while. In addition, the weather changes so quickly that warm morning weather can wind up being hats and gloves weather by lunch recess. I’d rather kids have too many clothes than not enough.

With that said, when kids get warm, they tend to take things off and leave them on the playground. As a result, our Lost and Found is again bursting at the seams. We will make another charity donation from our Lost and Found during Spring Break, so please come have a look before then.

Your child’s report card will be sent home in his/her backpack on Monday, March 19^th.

I know many parents have asked me about the Technology Bond vote that is taking place on May 8^th. If you would like more information about the Bond, there are many opportunities. In our office right next to Robin, there is an informational binder and there are also pamphlets in our office. In addition, on Thursday April 12^th, members of the Superintendent’s cabinet will be speaking at our PTO meeting about the Bond. The meeting starts at 7:00. There is also a public meeting taking place at Pioneer High School on Monday, April 16^th at 6:30 PM. I encourage everyone to learn as much as you can about this bond.

Attached to today’s email is the most recent Art Room Newsletter from Mrs. Hendrick. Please also see below the information about the Wines Wahoo that is taking place next Friday!

David

Wines Wahoo - Friday, March 23rd, 2012 from 6:30 - 8:30 @ Forsythe Middle School

Are you enjoying this balmy weather?  Just a reminder about the upcoming Wines Wahoo and a plea for additional volunteers to make the event a success.  

The Wines Wahoo is a luau-themed, fun, family event for all Wines students, their parents and younger siblings. The Wahoo includes music provided by a kid friendly DJ, fun activities in the gym, face painting, and tattoos. There will be pizza, snacks and beverages for sale.  A parent or other adult over the age of 18 must accompany each Wines student. Children over 5th grade will not be admitted to the event. Younger siblings are, however, invited to participate.  There is a suggested donation of $5 per family that helps to cover the cost of the DJ and decorations. There is also a nominal fee for the food. 

Volunteers Needed!!  We still need about 25 more volunteers to help with set-up, admissions, refreshments, pictures, gym monitoring and clean-up.  

Sign up here!   It's easy -- Just enter your contact information and then select an activity.

Questions? Contact Bobbi Coluni (bobbi.coluni@gmail.com) 734-604-0807

Weekly Blog 2/29

Dear Wines Families, 

First off, I want to send out a quick leap year intellectual exercise. Please notice that the title of this week's blog is "Weekly Blog 2/29." The exercise question is, when will be the next time I will ever be able to post something with that subject line? 

Now on to more important things. I hope everyone had a nice week away from Wines last week. Now that we are back, we are hard at work and as I visit classrooms, the kids look like they were never away. I don't have a lot of news this week. However, next week our 4th graders will be taking part in our annual Disability Awareness Day Workshop. I want to thank Kelly Van Singel for organizing this outstanding experience and for the many volunteers we have lined up. We could still use a few more volunteers. Still needed are folks willing to bring in some fruit, bottled water, granola bars, etc. for our parent volunteers and our participants from the Center for Independent Living. Workshop volunteers and food donation contacts can be made on the volunteerspot link from winespto.org or by via email: kellyvansingel@yahoo.com or click directly on http://www.volunteerspot.com/login/entry/1162345645418412084. Attached to this email is a flyer about the day. 

 

That's all for now. 

 

David

Weekly Blog 2/7/11

Dear Wines Families,

I’m posting today's blog a day early because there is some time dependent information for this week. I want to first thank our community for again coming through for our school and our community. Last weekend we participated in the Ann Arbor PTO Thrift Shop “Show Your Support” effort. I’m pleased to announce that Wines had the highest participation of any school. We earned 714 tokens, which accounted for 32% of all tokens and we raised $320 dollars that will go directly to support our Lunches with Love program at Wines. Thank you to everyone who visited the PTO Thrift Shop! Thanks to Holly Derry for organizing our effort.

Attached to today's email is a flyer announcing our annual Disability Awareness Day for 4th graders. The date of this wonderful event is March 8th from 9:00 AM until noon. If you are interested in volunteering on this day (no experience necessary and you don’t need to have a 4th grader at Wines), please click on the volunteer sign up link below.
http://www.volunteerspot.com/login/entry/1162345645418412084

We have had a tremendous amount of RSVP’s for Parent Involvement Day coming up on Monday, February 13th. If you are planning on coming to school to visit on Monday, please click on the RSVP link so we can have a good idea of how many folks to expect. Most importantly, if you are staying for lunch that day, please RSVP so we can be sure to have enough food for everyone (lunch is provided for adults only).
NAAPID RSVP

Tomorrow evening, (Wednesday February 8th) there is a PTO meeting in the Media Center. The meeting begins at 7:00 and will last one hour. This is an informational meeting, so if you’ve not been to a PTO meeting before, this would be a great opportunity! I attached the agenda to today's email. As always, childcare will be available.

Attached to today's email is a flyer outlining our Student Council’s efforts to provide gift cards to veterans at our local VA Hospital. Please check out the flyer to learn about this great community service opportunity.

David

Weekly Blog 2/1/12

Dear Wines Families,

 

Attached to today’s email you will find the Wines Times. Please spend a few minutes reading through it. In addition, I have just a couple of announcements.

 

First, your child will be coming home today with a paper invitation to our NAAPID celebration on February 13^th. I hope to see all Wines families, spend at least part of your day at school on the 13^th. I will be sending out an electronic RSVP within the next few days. Like last year, we will be serving lunch to parents. We want to make sure we order enough food, so if you are staying for lunch, please make sure you respond to the RSVP.

 

Kindergarten Round Up is tonight at 6:30.

 

Show Your Support for Lunches with Love. Shop at the PTO Thrift Shop through THIS SATURDAY (February 4) to help Wines earn money for Lunches with Love. Spend $5 and earn a token to put in the Wines jar.

 

Girls on the Run Update:

We have had a great showing for Girls on the Run at Wines this year so far!  We filled a first, and opened a second team.  This is a reminder that this is the last week for routine registration, though there will be "late" registration through Feb 11.  Please note:  due to the participation of Ann Arbor Rec and Ed there was a duplicate registration process this year - meaning each participant is required to register through both Ann Arbor Rec and Ed AND Girls on the Run of Southeastern Michigan.  Please make sure if you registered only through AA Rec and Ed to also register with Girls on the Run - as this is the official roster.   Registration is at www.girlsontherunsemi.org  If there are questions, please email Holly at holly.a.murphy@gmail.com or call Girls on the Run at 734 712 1049.

 

 

David

Weekly Blog 1/25

Dear Wines Families,

This is certainly a busy time of year and so I have lots of announcements today! Pardon the long email.

• Reminder: There is no school on Tuesday, January 31^st. All Ann Arbor Public Schools staff will be participating in staff development that day.

• Kindergarten Round Up is next Wednesday, February 1^st at 6:30 PM. If you have a child who will be 5 years old by Dec. 1, 2011 and is ready for kindergarten, please join us that evening with your child. Please help spread the word to your friends and neighbors.

• Our Great Ideas grant deadline is quickly approaching. We are accepting applications until February 1^st. Don’t let a great idea go to waste!! There are adult and student grant forms available on the Wines website (www.wines.a2schools.org) and hard copies are available in the office.

• Girls on the Run: Registration is now open for Girls on the Run.  In order to register, go to http://www.girlsontherunsemi.org/. For any questions, please email Holly Murphy at holly.a.murphy@gmail.com.

• Our next PTO meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, February 8^th at 7:00 PM.

• Science Olympiad registrations are due TODAY. Teams will not be formed until after Friday so we will accept late applications until Friday.

• Wines is participating in a fundraiser with the PTO Thrift Shop, called Show Your Support. Please help us spread the word so people shop at the Thrift Shop between Sunday, January 29 - Saturday, February 4.

How it works:

For every $5 people spend at the Thrift Shop, they get a token. They can choose to put their tokens in any of 4 schools' buckets in the lobby. The four schools split $1,000 based on their proportion of collected tokens. 

Our cause for this fundraiser:

Lunches with Love - students make lunches for needy families. Proceeds will help buy food and supplies.

For more information about the PTO Thrift Shop, visit www.a2ptothriftshop.org.

• Finally, attached to today's emails you will find a flyer from our Student Council. Our Student Council is collecting gift cards for veterans at our local VA Hospital. The flyer has all the information you need to support this great cause.

Sincerely,

David