Weekly Blog 11/24

Dear Wines Families,

On this short week I have a few important announcements.

Blue Ribbon Video

We had a GREAT Blue Ribbon celebration last week. As part of the celebration, the school district created a video that we played. Below is a link to the video. Also, as I indicated, our celebration was professionally filmed and as soon as the video is completed from that, I will share that link as well.

http://a2schools.org//site/Default.aspx?PageID=9637

Book Fair

Our Book Fair begins on Tuesday, December 1^st and runs through Friday, December 4^th. Our family book night is on Tuesday, December 1^st. We are still in need of a few more volunteers to make the Fair a success. If you can volunteer, please click on the link below.

www.SignUpGenius.com/go/9040E48AAA72BA75-scholastic 

New this year is an expanded online portion of the Book Fair. The online Fair goes live this Friday, Nov. 20^th and stays open until the end of the Fair. All books ordered online will be shipped (free of charge) directly to Wines in time for the holiday break. The web address below can be given out to family members and grandparents and such. Perhaps if you have family over next week for Thanksgiving, you can give them the link for holiday gifts! Below is the link.  

http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/homepage/wineselementaryschool

Below are a few bullet points for Book Fair logistics:

•Preview day for students Tuesday 12/01 during school 

•Family night Tuesday 12/01 6:30-8pm

•Lunch with a family member Wednesday and Thursday 12/02 & 12/03 

(Fair only open during lunch if student has adult with them)

•Last chance sale day, Friday 12/04 9am-12pm. Fair closes Friday at noon.

Wines Times Newsletter Items?

If you have any items that you would like included in the next Wines Times Newsletter, please email that information to newsletter@winespto.org.

That’s all for this week. Happy Thanksgiving. Go Blue and sorry Spartans, I have to say I’m rooting against you this week!

David

Weekly Blog 11/18

Dear Wines Families,

I have a number of important announcements today.

Blue Ribbon Celebration

Our Blue Ribbon celebration is taking place tomorrow, Thursday, at 2:30 PM. As I’ve said before, we have a fairly full house with now 41 confirmed special guests. With that said, we’ve mapped out the logistics and seating and it appears that we will have about the same amount of space as a “normal” assembly. In other words, there will be some limited standing room only space available in the hallway outside of the Media Center for parents. “Limited” is the key word in that sentence! Also, the entire ceremony will be professionally video taped.  Please note, if your child needs to leave school early tomorrow, we ask that you pick them up before the assembly by 2:15.  We will not be able to easily pull students out of the assembly.

Report Cards

Your child’s report card will be coming home next Tuesday. Please look for it! As always, we strive for the report card to to be a formal way of telling you things you already know about your child from your parent/teacher conference and other communications. Please contact your child’s teacher with any questions or concerns about the report card.

Wines “Offsite” Auction Committee
Does the idea of a fun night for parents-only built around the Wines Auction appeal to you?  The PTO is currently discussing the idea and would love your help!  If you are interested in joining a committee to research, discuss, and perhaps even plan an offsite auction, please contact Annemarie Dolan at akilburndolan@comcast.net.

Girls on the Run

Girls on the Run will be starting in March and we are already getting started planning! An informational flyer was attached to today's email with registration information. GOTR is open to all girls at Wines in grades 3-5. 

No School Next Wednesday-Friday

School will be closed for Thanksgiving break next Wednesday through Friday.

That’s all for now!

David

Weekly Blog 11/11

Dear Wines Families,

I’m just back from D.C. after an incredibly memorable experience. I could go on and on about the the National Blue Ribbon Awards and Conference and I’d be thrilled to talk to anyone and everyone about it!! But for now, I want to share one of my biggest takeaways: Being at a conference with the “top” 335 schools in the country, we quickly learned that AAPS and Wines were clear exemplars in the group. School officials from across the country were very interested in the things we are doing and continually sought us out for ideas during the sessions. Not only did we feel like we belonged with the best of the best, we were leaders among them. With that said, we also learned a great deal from other schools and from the Department of Education that will help us grow even more.

A few important announcements today:

Movie Night: Postponed
In a rush before I left for Washington, I thought I had sent this message and, unfortunately, I didn’t. Movie Night, originally scheduled for this Friday, has been postponed. We are having work done in the Multipurpose Room this weekend beginning on Friday night so we will not be able to host a movie. We will decide on a new date very soon! Sorry for the late notice.

Book Fair
The Book Fair is right around the corner. The dates of the Fair are Tuesday December 1st through Friday December 4th, with set up scheduled for mid-day on Monday November 30th. We will also host a Family event the evening of Tuesday December 1st from 6:30-8:30 PM. As always, we need volunteers for our Fair. Please click on the link below if you can volunteer.

www.SignUpGenius.com/go/9040E48AAA72BA75-scholastic 

Science and Builders Fair Wrap Up
The Science and Builders Fair was another smashing success! Big thanks to Bryan and Ruthie Kowalk for organizing this great Wines tradition. Below are some wrap up messages from Bryan and Ruthie:

The 2015 Science and Builders Fair was a fantastic success!  Thank you to the 70+ exhibitors and their families for the effort invested into their presentations.  We also greatly appreciate all of the non-exhibitor families who turned out to support our scientists and builders – your interest is extremely motivating.  Finally, the event could not have been run without all of the great parent volunteers. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.

Many photos from the evening are now posted to the S&B Website:  http://winesscienceandbuilders.weebly.com/gallery.html 

Everyday life is so heavily rooted in science, design, and building – PLEASE keep imagining, asking why, following your curiosities, and expressing yourselves!  We are already excited to see what you will have to share with us next year!!

The S and B Team.

That’s all for this week!

David

Weekly Blog 11/4

Dear Wines Families,

Below is a link to the November Wines Times Newsletter, so there really isn't anything much more to add this week.

http://winespto.org/docs/wtNov15.pdf

I will be out of the building next Monday-Wednesday to be in Washington D.C. to accept the National Blue Ribbon Award. If you don't follow me on Twitter (@winesprincipal) you should as I'll be tweeting our experiences during the trip!! I'll also be sending along a link to a live stream of the ceremonies.

Tomorrow night is the annual Science and Builders Fair. We have reached a school record for the number of entries this year! Even if your child is not participating, please come out to see all of the wonderful work from our kids!

David

Weekly Blog 10/28

Dear Wines Families,

I hope this message finds you well on this rainy day. Interestingly, today was our first indoor lunch recess of the year. That speaks to the wonderful weather we’ve had this fall. I have just a few announcements today:

Halloween

Our Halloween parade will begin at 2:30 on Friday. We will exit the building and head out Cooley. We will go left on Saunders Crescent and then left on Hillridge. We will then enter the Forsythe property near their soccer fields from the entranc on Hillridge. Parents, you are more than welcome to walk with us! You can also station yourself along the sidewalk from Forsythe to see the entire parade.

Classrooms will be celebrating either before or immediately after the parade. Please refer to communications from your child’s teacher regarding celebration plans. Please keep costumes fun and positive. Absolutely no fake weapons or fake blood will be allowed. Students should bring their costumes in a bag, as they will not change until the afternoon. If you would prefer not to have your child participate in Halloween activities, please let me know and we will have an alternative activity available.

Science and Builders Fair

 All students at Wines are welcome to participate in the “Science and Builders Fair” on November 5^th from 7pm to 8 pm.  Registration only requires Name, Grade and a commitment to Science or Builders Fair- you do not have to have your idea finalized!  Registration closes on November 3rd- but it's certainly not too late to come up with an idea and make it happen! Remember, students have no school on Monday and Tuesday of next week providing the perfect opportunity to start and finish projects! There are lots of resources on the website to help inspire!  We are looking for more adults to help! If you have a love for Science or Building please sign up on the volunteer page to be an evaluator. (As a friendly reminder, it works from most mobile phones but access is blocked at any umich computer.) 

http://winesscienceandbuilders.weebly.com

Do You Have Old Wines T-Shirts?

We are working on a project for our Blue Ribbon Ceremony and we are looking for old Wines T-shirts or sweatshirts. If you have older children who have come through Wines or perhaps if you are a former Wines student with “classic” shirts sitting around, we can use them! Please note that if you donate your shirt, you will not get it back. However, it will become part of something very special!

Walk to School

Friday is our final Walk to School Day as Walktober comes to a close. Big thanks to Anita Fontana and our PTO for another fantastic month!

No School Next Monday and Tuesday

There is no school Monday, Nov. 2 and Tuesday, Nov. 3. Teachers will be working on report cards on Monday and engaged in professional development on Tuesday.

That’s all for this week!

David

Weekly Blog 10/21

Dear Wines Families,

I begin this week’s message with some sad news. On Monday evening, Susan Seely’s father, John Joseph Vandenberg, passed away after a brief illness. Please join our staff in sending your thoughts and prayers to Susan and her family at this time. Funeral services will be at Wasik Funeral Home in Shelby Township on Friday at 10:00 AM.

Below are the rest of the messages for the week:

Run-a-Thon Pledges

Pledges have been coming in daily after our fantastic Run-a-Thon last Friday. Our goal is for every student to participate in some way. Our school wide pledge goal equals an average of $50 raised per student—but any amount helps! 100% of 5^th grade pledges go to Camp Tanuga and the other pledges will support our PTO who will in turn use the money to support our students and our school. We are collecting pledges through Friday. A great way to have friends and family make a pledge is via the Wines PTO website (www.winespto.org). There is a link right on the main page. Click on your child’s teacher and in the notes section, please type your child’s name (this helps with our record keeping). We are asking that students turn in a pledge form even if all donations are online. Just indicate on the form that there are online donations—you do not need to know the amount.

Halloween

We will hold our annual Halloween parade next Friday, October 30^th beginning at 2:30. We will again parade out the Cooley entrance to Saunders Crescent. We will go left on Hillridge and then enter through the Forsythe path off of Hillridge. Parents are welcome to join us for the parade or to watch us as we walk by. A great place to watch is along the path near the Forsythe soccer/baseball fields as we head back into the building. Each classroom will celebrate the day in their own way, so please refer to communication coming from your child’s teacher regarding plans.

Students may bring costumes to school in a bag. Costumes are not to be put on until the afternoon. We ask that costumes be friendly. No fake blood or fake weapons of any kind.  If you would prefer that your child not participate in Halloween activities, please contact me. We will have an alternative activity.

Science and Builders Fair

All students at Wines are welcome to participate in the “Science and Builders Fair” on November 5^th from 7pm to 8 pm.  Registration on the website only requires Name, Grade and a commitment to Science or Builders Fair. No project title or idea is required in advance of the fair. Need some inspiration? Use the navigation menu to browse the site for project ideas and other fun stuff. We are also seeking more adult volunteers to provide feedback to participants at the fair. If you have a love for Science or Building please sign up to be an "Evaluator" on the volunteer page. (As a friendly reminder, it works from most mobile phones but access is blocked at any umich computer.) 

http://winesscienceandbuilders.weebly.com

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 deadline is November 1st. The links for the Adult and Child applications 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: Sarah Ball - sjcball@yahoo.com

Attention Parents of First Grade Boys:

Cub Scout Pack 78 is kicking off a new year with a new Tiger Den for first grade boys. There will be a fun, informational hot dog roast/outdoor gathering this Saturday 4-6pm at 4826 Hidden Brook Lane for interested boys and their families. Come and check out what Cub Scouts has to offer for you and your son. For details email the Tiger Den Leader, Seth Guikema, at seth.guikema@gmail.com or call him at (734)369-2469.

That’s all for this week. Friday is another Walk to School Day.

David

Weekly Blog 10/14

Dear Wines Families,

Spirit Week is in full gear this week and the kids are having a great time! As you know, our Spirit Week is designed to help get kids enthused about our Run-a-Thon that takes place this Friday. Below are some Run-a-Thon updates as well as information about the Science and Builders Fair.

Run-a-Thon Update

On Monday, your child should have come home with a Run-a-Thon packet with all the information regarding how to collect pledges, and information about the event. If you need me to send you an electronic copy of the information, please let me know. The easiest way to collect pledges is to have friends and families pay online. On the front page of our PTO website (www.winespto.org) there is a link to the Run-a-Thon pledge forms. Those who make pledges will need to know your child’s teacher so please pass that information on to your friends and family. We are also asking that kids turn in a pledge envelope even if all of their pledges are done online (you do not need to know exactly who or how much $ was raised online just a note that there are online pledges—this helps with our record keeping). To reach our school wide pledge goal, the total average pledge amount raised will be $50 per student. However, ANY amount raised will help our school and any student who brings in a pledge will receive a great gift.

We are still looking for volunteers for Friday’s event. Please click on the link below to sign up. If when you go to the link and you see an email address for someone else, simply erase that address and add your own.

Run-a-Thon Volunteer Sign Up

Science and Builders Fair

All students at Wines are welcome to participate in the “Science and Builders Fair” on November 5^th from 7pm to 8 pm.  Registration is required but you need not have your project idea finalized in order to register. Need some inspiration? Use the navigation menu to browse the site for project ideas and other cool stuff.The website is getting lots of hits and registrations are rolling in.  (As a friendly reminder, it works from most mobile phones but access is blocked at any umich computer.) 

http://winesscienceandbuilders.weebly.com

I hope to see you out cheering the kids Friday morning. Friday is also a Walk to School Day.

David