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