Weekly Blog 1/25

Dear Wines Families.

I hope this finds you well. I have a number of important announcements today.

International Night Feb. 1

Next week is our annual International Night! We hope to see you on Wednesday, February 1^st from 6:30-8:00. If your child plans to participate in the fashion show, please sign them up at the link below. We have some submissions and want to make sure that everyone is included that wishes to participate. A parade will follow the fashion show and all parents and guests are invited to join in as we wind our way from the multi purpose room to the gym and through the country display area.

Fashion Show Sign Up http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0c49aaa629a5f58-wines

Also, there are still a few volunteer spots we need to fill. If you can help out next week, please go to:  http://signup.com/go/CkH6sN 

Floor Hockey is Back!!

Our annual Friday morning floor hockey game begins this Friday! We will begin at 8:15 each Friday morning for the next six weeks or so. Anyone can join and you can drop your child off. Of course, adults can play as well!! Please make sure kids come with dry shoes to wear. If adults are able to stick around to help facilitate the game, that is always helpful.

Cooley Parking Lot Reminders

Recently there have been a couple of incidents in the Cooley parking lot (Kindergarten lot) where, quite frankly, our adults were not modeling safe and appropriate behavior. While I am working through those specific incidents, it is important that everyone is reminded about the purpose of that lot. The Cooley lot is for families with Kindergarten students only (and siblings). If you do not have a kindergarten child YOU SHOULD NOT USE THE COOLEY LOT. It is nearly impossible for us to enforce this policy so I ask for the safety of our kids, that you do not use that lot if you do not have a kindergarten child.

Speaking of the Parking Lot…

Since I’m on the topic of the parking lot, I also want to again remind everyone that the best way to have safe and efficient pick up and drop off procedures is to have as few cars as possible in the lot. If you live within walking distance or if your child is assigned to a bus, please utilize the bus or walk. Riverwood/Newport Creek residents: many of you worked very hard to reestablish bus service in your neighborhoods last year. MANY of you are consistently not having your child take the bus. Certainly there are many reasons why parents need to pick up or drop off. However, I’m hopeful we can keep unnecessary cars out of our parking lots. Thank you!

Pioneer Fun Night

In today's email, I included a flyer for a Fun Night for kids at Pioneer on Friday, February 3^rd. This is a supervised, drop off event for kids.

If you are planning on having your child attend, Pioneer is asking that you RSVP at this link: https://goo.gl/forms/wWLpGEqTeTSOFRCm2

Thanks,

David

Weekly Blog 1/18

Dear Wines Families,

It seems like Monday today, but it is Wednesday! I actually think the kids were all excited to get back to school today after the long weekend and unexpected ice day yesterday. I have a couple of important notes today:

International Night

Thanks to everyone who has sent in a form indicating that your family will be participating in International Night. Forms are due this Friday if you are still interested in sharing your family culture or a culture that interests you. I sent the form out again with today's email. 

In addition to participants, we are also looking for volunteers to help during the event. There are many different roles to help out. Below is a link to a volunteer Sign Up.

http://signup.com/go/CkH6sN

PTO Meeting Jan. 24: Guest Speaker: Online Safety

At our PTO meeting next Tuesday evening, a representative from the Washtenaw Area Council for Children will be presenting on topics related to online safety. Due to the expansive and ever-changing nature of social media and the Internet, it is crucial that youth and their families understand how to use the Internet safely and responsibly. This session is aimed at parents and will address bullying/cyberbullying, online predators, digital reputations, and other relevant issues. Please join us at 7:00 PM. As always, free childcare will be available.

Science Olympiad Coaches Meeting Tomorrow Night 6:30 PM

All interested and committed coaches for 2017 WESO please plan on meeting tomorrow evening in the multi-purpose room at 6:30 PM.  If you're interested in coaching, but have questions, please come and meet with past and this year committed coaches to see if it's a good fit for you.   

Thanks!

David

Weekly Blog 1/11

Dear Wines Families,

I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and you are ready for 2017! Everyone here at school seems to be back in the swing of things and great teaching and learning is happening daily. If your house is like mine, the bedtime and morning routines are still a work in progress after two weeks away, but we are getting there! Here is the news for the week:

MLK Assembly Friday

Our annual Martin Luther King assembly takes place this Friday at 2:00 PM. You are more than welcome to join us. As always during daytime assemblies, we have very little room for adults—though there is always “standing room” for parents. In honor of the MLK holiday, there is no school on Monday.

International Night Feb 1^st

International Night will take place on Wednesday, February 1st from 6:30 until 8:00 pm.  It will be a night filled with the cultures and traditions of our Wines community!  We hope you and your child(ren) will join us in participating in this special night by sharing your family background, culture or heritage.  Students are also encouraged to create a project representing a culture or country simply because it interests them.  In today’s Wednesday Folder, you will find a sign up sheet. If you have any questions or would like to volunteer for the event, please contact Jini Jain at jinijain13@gmail.com.

Kindergarten Round Up Feb. 7

Believe it or not, our annual Kindergarten Round Up is right around the corner. This year’s event will take place on Tuesday, February 7^th at 6:30 PM. If you have a child coming to Kindergarten next year, please plan on joining us. If you have friends or neighbors who are interested in coming to Wines for Kindergarten, please share this date with them. If you know you have a child coming next year, please contact our office and give us his/her name so we can begin our initial list of students. Encourage your friends and neighbors to do the same! 

That’s all for this week!

David

Weekly Blog 12/14

Dear Wines Families,

Well, winter is certainly here! With winter here to stay for a few months, please remember that students need to come to school prepared to go outside daily. We will go outside when the wind chill is zero degrees or above. Families cannot request that your child stay inside for recess unless we have a note from a doctor. There are a number of important announcements this week.

Science Olympiad Call for Coaches

On-line Coach Sign-Up:  https://goo.gl/forms/dOCRqDhYoCjaSkOu2
No experience necessary.  The number of students that Wines can send to WESO competition on June 3, 2017 is unlimited and we would like to send a record breaking team.  Team assignments will begin right after break, but please realize that unless parents volunteer to coach, teams will not be formed.  Coaches' children will receive priority event placement. Event Descriptions can be found here: https://sites.google.com/a/aaps.k12.mi.us/weso-wizards/events-2017. For questions about Science Olympiad or the registration process email scienceowines@gmail.com.

Lunchtime Extra Specials Begin Jan. 17

As I indicated above, students will go outside daily. However, beginning Jan. 17 we will begin our annual “Extra Specials” program at lunch where we will have indoor activities for kids to choose from. This is one of the Wines students’ favorite activities of the year and we need volunteers to make it happen!  The commitment is only one lunchtime per week, for a total of 6 weeks, starting January 17th. Please contact Kathy Werns (ktwerns@gmail.com) and sign up to lead or assist in an area that interests you.  We are currently in need of one or two more ideas for topics - if you have an idea for an activity that you’d like to lead, please email and let us know.  Younger siblings are always welcome!

Here are some of the activities we are considering:

• Free Dance

• Yoga

• Knitting
• Paper Airplanes
• Legos
• Rainbow Loom

• Sewing and Crafts
• Bal-A-Vis-X
• Board Games

Items needed

For our knitting extra specials, we are in need of a few items. If you have single mittens, single socks, or buttons please send them to the office. Thank you.

Lost and found

Speaking of single mittens, etc., our Lost and Found is again filling up. We will be donating all remaining items before we leave for break next week so please remind your children to look for missing items or come by and have a look!

Staff Gifts

As we approach the holiday season, this is often a time when families seek to find the right gift for their teacher or faculty member. I want to remind families that is it AAPS district policy that school staff can only accept gifts of “token value” and our staff certainly appreciates thoughtful items and cards made by students and families. If you are seeking to make a larger gift that will support our school, you can make a direct donation to our PTO. These tax-deductible donations go directly to support our kids. Our PTO uses funds to purchase technology, improve our playground, send 5^th graders to camp, provide field trips, school assemblies, and much more. Donations can be made at https://squareup.com/market/wines-elementary-school-pto.

Food Drive and Unwrapped Present Drive

Just a reminder that we are currently running a Food Drive in conjunction with Food Gatherers and an unwrapped gift drive with our Girl Scouts and the SOS Center. Bins for both can be found at our school entrances. Thank you!

Reminder: School starts at 8:47

Last Wednesday I sent a reminder about school starting at 8:47 with our first bell at 8:44. On Thursday and Friday, I was so pleased to see great improvement and I thank you! I’m hoping today was just an aberration as I stopped counting at 31 cars that did not even enter the driveway until after the second bell had rung.  Thanks for helping make sure your child starts school on time each day!

That’s all for this week.

David