Weekly Blog 4/27

Dear Wines Families,

I have a few important items today and I’ve also included some of the Auction reminders that I sent out earlier this week.

Parent Input for Class Placement

It’s that time of year again. We will soon begin the important process of making class placement decisions for the 2016-2017 school year. Below is a link to a parent input form for parents to fill out if they would like to share information to help us in this process. As always, we appreciate your understanding that we cannot accept requests for specific teachers or specific requests to not have your child with a specific teacher. If you would like to provide us any input, please fill out the form below.

Class Placement Parent Input

Special Education Millage Election May 3

Voters in Washtenaw County will be asked to vote May 3rd on a 1.5 mill property tax increase to fund special education services. Please make sure you know where your polling place is and vote on May 3rd! Below is a link to some Frequently Asked Questions about the Millage. I encourage you to read through these FAQ’s about this important election. As a reminder, there is no school next Tuesday.

Special Education Millage FAQ's

We Need Help Selling DVDs Before the Kindergarten Music Show

The PTO hires a videographer to film each grade level music performance and create DVDs and Blu-Rays for parents to purchase. We need one or two volunteers to take down orders for DVDs and collect payments before the Kindergarten show next week! The process is very simple and you are only needed from 6:30 to 7:00 pm. If you are able to volunteer, please contact Annemarie Dolan at akilburndolan@comcast.net.

Auction Reminders:

The first “off site” Wines Auction takes place this Saturday at Null Taphouse in Dexter.  If you are planning on attending the Auction (and I certainly hope you do!), please purchase your tickets in advance. You can purchase tickets at the link below:

https://squareup.com/store/wines-elementary-school-pto/item/silent-auction-ticket

Volunteers

We are still in need of a few volunteers for Saturday. Please see the link below for volunteer opportunities.

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0c4da9af2ba64-thewines

David

Weekly Blog 4/20

Dear Wines Families,

As I indicated earlier this week, we are in full Wines Auction “mode” here and I’m so excited about this new event! With the Auction coming up in just over a week, I want to repeat my messages from earlier this week. In addition, please look for an email from me later today with a picture of your child’s class auction project (they are quite stunning!).  The class auction items will be auctioned off as part of a live auction hosted by Duncan Riley. 

Wines Auction Information

The event takes place on Saturday, April 30th at Null Taphouse in Dexter beginning at 6:00 PM. This will be a great event and we hope to see you there!! If you haven't purchased your tickets yet, please go to the link below to purchase online. 

Wines Auction Tickets

We will also need volunteers for the evening to help make it a success (you can volunteer and also have the opportunity to enjoy the evening!) Below is a link for volunteers:

Wines Auction Volunteer Sign Up

Art Night

In other news, our annual Art Night takes place on Thursday, May 5^th from 6:30-8:00. Mr. Wyse is planning an amazing event and we hope you can join us.

Parking Lot Reminders…again

The end of the day pick up at the front of the building is getting a bit hectic and so I want to remind you of how you can help make this more efficient and safe. As always, you cannot park along the curb and the line up can start up towards the Newport entrance. Remain in your car and continue to pull up until you are at the front of the school. DO NOT encourage your children to begin walking up the sidewalk to greet you. This may make your pick up faster, but it slows down the entire process for everyone else. We will remind the students as well, but we need your assistance. I appreciate your help. If you have babysitters or others who are not regular pick up participants, please share this information.

That’s it for this week!

David

Weekly Blog 4/13

Dear Wines Families,

Below is a link to the April Wines Times Newsletter and there is lots of important information there, so I’ll be brief.

Wines Times Newsletter

I do want to highlight the information in the Wines Times about the upcoming Wines Auction. Note that the name is no longer “Silent” Auction because part of the evening will be a live auction. Specifically, the classroom projects will be auctioned live. Duncan Riley will be our guest auctioneer!! Speaking of the classroom projects, they are OUTSTANDING. I will soon be sending each classroom a picture of the item from the class that will be up for auction. 

The Wines Auction is April 30^th beginning at 6:00 at Null Taphouse in Dexter. Tickets to the Auction can be purchased at: https://squareup.com/store/wines-elementary-school-pto/item/silent-auction-ticket

Brownie Troop Water Drive

Wines Brownie Girl Scout Troop 40551 is working on their Wonders of Water Journey.  This involves a service project related to water and our troop voted to help the residents of Flint with a bottled water drive.  A box will be available at the entrance of Wines to collect your bottled water donation now until Wednesday, April 27th.  Thank you so much for your help!

David

Weekly Blog 3/30

Dear Wines Families,

I have a number of important announcements this last week before spring break.

M-STEP

The 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th grade students will be taking the state assessment beginning after spring break. Our 5^th graders start right after the break. Your child’s teacher should have already shared the dates of testing for their class. While there is some flexibility to account for student illness, please have (healthy) students in school during assessment days.

Silent Auction Tickets Now On Sale

Our Silent Auction will take place on Friday, April 30^th at Null Taphouse in Dexter. Please see today's email with more informatino. Tickets can be purchased online at https://squareup.com/market/wines-elementary-school-pto/silent-auction-ticket?square_lead=item_embed

5th Grade Chorus performs tonight at Board of Education meeting

The 5th grade chorus will sing tonight for the opening of the Board of Ed meeting. They perform at 7:00 pm at the Forsythe auditorium, but need to arrive at 6:30. If possible, please have students wear Wines chorus t-shirts (black with red logo) and any pants/skirt. Parents should plan to attend the performance. Please, no drop-offs. Our portion lasts 7-8 minutes, so we’ll be done by around 7:15 pm. 

Tell your friends and family that this Board of Education meeting - including the opening Wines Chorus performance - can be watched live on CTN's Educational Channel 18!  Or they can watch it live streamed by going to the BOE page at http://a2schools.org/domain/275.  

Wines Art Night | Thursday, May 5th, 6:30-8

Please mark your calendars for Art Night on May 5th from 6:30-8. While the main attraction is your students’ work, we will keep with the Art Night tradition of asking each family to bring a dozen cookies to share. We’ll also have a special performance from the 5th Grade Choir, and a few other surprises in store for the evening. See you then!

That’s all for this week. No school next week for Spring Break. Safe travels for anyone getting away.

David

Weekly Blog 3/23

Dear Wines Families,

I hope this message finds you well. In addition to the items below, please remember that there is no school this Friday.

Parent Survey

On Monday, each family received an email from Dr. Swift with a link to our annual parent survey. Please take a few minutes to complete this survey as it gives us excellent information on the areas we are meeting parent expectations and those areas where we have growth potential. I appreciate your participation!!

M-STEP Assessment Dates

Our annual state assessment for 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th grades begins after spring break. Each grade level has a three-week window to complete the assessments. Third grade has three sessions during their window, 4^th grade has five, and 5^th grade has six sessions. While we certainly have some flexibility to accommodate student illness, etc. we do want to make sure students are in school (if healthy) during their assessment dates. Your child’s teacher will be sending home the dates of his/her classroom testing dates this week. Please let your child’s teacher know right away if you know that your child will not be in school on any of those assessment dates. Our 5^th grade students begin their assessment window the week we return from spring break.

ColorCyle Marker Recycling

Our Student Council is participating in a recycling program called ColorCycle by Crayola. Students, staff, and families can collect any brand of plastic markers when they don't work anymore (including dry erase, sharpies and highlighters). Each classroom has a collection jar and when there are at least 100 or up to 40 pounds, we will send the markers to Crayola (they pay for the shipping). The markers are then “downcycled” into fuel by a company called JBI. If you want more details feel free to email Cristina Rojas ( cristina_rojas@yahoo.com) and  you can learn more about the program at the Crayola website.

Save the Date: Wines Silent Auction

Please save Friday, April 30^th for our first ever “off site” Silent Auction. The event will take place at Null in Dexter from 6:00-10:00 PM (auction ends at 8:40). Proceeds from the event will go towards purchasing of new iPads, curriculum enhancements, and playground enhancements.

If you would like to donate to the auction some ideas are: Restaurant and other Gift Cards, Wine priced at $25+ for the wine pull, sport tickets and memorabilia. Please contact Tracie Clarke (traciemcginty@hotmail.com). Please contact Amy Holland at 313-790-9667 if you have any food or desserts to donate for the event.

That’s all for this week!

David