Weekly Update 11/30

 

Dear Wines Families, 

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving and had some time to relax and be with family. We had a very relaxing long weekend highlighted by the Michigan victory on Saturday (though I wouldn’t call that day “relaxing”). We now head into the important four week pre-winter break stretch of school. Here is the news for the week: 

Early Release Today

Dismissal is at 1:18 today. 

Book Fair is Next Week!

The Wines Scholastic Book Fair is going to be December 5th - 9th. Every purchase from the book fair provides fabulous resources for students, teachers, and our school library. It’s also a great way to get some holiday shopping checked off your list! 

We will be having a Family Night on Tuesday December 6th from 6:30-8:00. If you cannot make it to Family Night, you are welcome to come and shop at the fair during school hours Wednesday and Thursday and Friday until 10:30 am.  

Here is a link to the fair's website for information on eWallet, online shopping and more: Wines Scholastic Book Fair Website 

If you are interested in volunteering at the book fair, please sign up below.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0544aaa72ea57-book1

Email Lori Shirilla (Lori.Shirilla@gmail.com) with any questions.

Friday Floor Hockey is Back!

This Friday will be our first floor hockey game of the season. If your child hasn’t played in past years, perhaps this Friday they can come to see if this is something of interest. The game is open to students of all grade levels and skill levels. We will start THIS FRIDAY at 8:10 AM and play every Friday in December. Parents can drop students off but parents are also welcome to play! The only requirement is dry gym shoes. So as the weather turns, please be sure kids have dry shoes to wear. 

No PTO Meeting Tonight

Tonight’s PTO meeting has been canceled, as everything is moving along smoothly in our different committees. If anyone has a question or request, please reach out to Michael Newberry at winesptopresident@gmail.com. 

David

Weekly Update 11/22

 Dear Wines Families, 

As we head into the Thanksgiving recess, I want to express my sincere thank you to everyone in the Wines community. It continues to be an absolute pleasure working in and being part of this incredible school. We have an amazing staff, incredible parents, and outstanding students! Thank you! 

Report Cards

Later today you will receive your child’s report card via email. All but Young 5’s families will also receive an email with your child’s NWEA scores.

Book Fair is Coming Up!

The Wines Scholastic Book Fair is going to be December 5th - 9th. Every purchase from the book fair provides fabulous resources for students, teachers, and our school library. It’s also a great way to get some holiday shopping checked off your list! 

We will be having a Family Night on Tuesday December 6th from 6:30-8:00. If you cannot make it to Family Night, you are welcome to come and shop at the fair during school hours Wednesday and Thursday and Friday until 10:30 am.  

Here is a link to the fair's website for information on eWallet, online shopping and more: Wines Scholastic Book Fair Website 

If you are interested in volunteering at the book fair, please sign up below.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0544aaa72ea57-book1

Email Lori Shirilla (Lori.Shirilla@gmail.com) with any questions.

Giving Tuesday Nov. 29th

At this time of Thanksgiving, if you are thinking about making donations on Giving Tuesday (Tuesday, November 29th), please consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Wines PTO. You can donate on our website at www.ptowines.org.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. 

David

Weekly Update 11/16

 

Dear Wines Families, 

Well, our 70 degree days are certainly in the rearview mirror but it was nice while it lasted! On that note, just a reminder that we will go outside daily as long as the temperature is 0 degrees windchill or above. Please be sure your child comes to school prepared to be outside daily. 

Here is the news for the week: 

Report Cards

Report cards will be sent via email next Tuesday, Nov. 22. Everyone other than Young 5’s will also receive a second email with your child’s fall NWEA scores. 

Picture Re-Takes Next Tuesday

Our Picture Re-Takes will happen next Tuesday, Nov. 22nd. If you ordered pictures the first time and want to re-take the photo, your child must come to school with the original packet of pictures. If your child was absent for picture day, they will have their picture taken. If you need to order pictures for your child, please go to: https://inter-state.com/FlyerEntry/70941N and complete the order online. 

Science and Builders Fair Thanks!

Last week’s Science and Builders Fair was a fabulous event. After a two-year hiatus, it was so nice to have this Wines tradition return. The kids’ projects were wonderful and there was great energy in the building that night. BIG thank you to Jennifer and Bradley Hinesman for organizing the event and for the small army of volunteers who helped make the evening so special for our young scientists and builders!

Updated Library Policies 

Please check the revised library page on the Wines website for updated policies and information about student book selection in the library. Please reach out to Rachel Goldberg with any questions (goldbergr@aaps.k12.mi.us). 

Therapy Dog: Family Meeting and Feedback

As I indicated last week, we’ve met a major milestone with our Therapy Dog, Gracie, as she has moved into Lexi Fata’s home. Gracie is getting used to a new home and new “owner”. We hope to begin slowly introducing her to our school—first during times when the school is empty—over the next few weeks. 

Next Monday evening at 6:00 PM, Ms. Fata and I will host a virtual meeting with Wines families to discuss Gracie and answer any questions you may have. I will send out a reminder and Zoom link at the end of this week. In the meantime, we’d like to get some feedback from families regarding any significant concerns that we need to know about in terms of Gracie’s interaction with your child. If there is information we need to know about your child’s ability to interact with a dog at school, please fill out THIS FORM. 

Thanksgiving Food Drive

It's time for the annual Wines Thanksgiving Food Drive!  Please support Washtenaw County and Food Gatherers by bringing in non-perishable items through Tuesday, November 22nd. Boxes are at the front entrance of the school building. The most needed items include food such as soups, canned meats, pasta, rice, kid-friendly snacks, and baby food / formula.  There is also a need for personal care items such as diapers, soap, shampoo, toothpaste and toothbrushes. 

Great Ideas Grants: Deadline Extended until Friday

Do you have a great idea to support Wines Elementary?  

The Great Idea Grants 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 grant approval committee will meet only one time this year to approve grants that can be used anytime during the remainder of the school year. Submissions are now being accepted using the Google Form linked here:

Great Idea Grants

Parking Lot Reminders

If you’ve read this far, thank you!! Hopefully you can read just a little more. As we finish up the first 1/3 of the school year, I would like to just send a couple of parking lot reminders. I first want to thank everyone for doing a great job overall this year managing our busy lot and participating in our system. But with winter here, we expect more cars and likely new drivers in our lot, so please take a moment to familiarize or re-familiarize yourself with these procedures. 

• If your child is on a bus route or within walking distance, please bus/walk to and from school. This reduces the number of cars and is the single best way to make our parking lot safe.

• Y5, Kindergarten and 5th grade should be using the Cooley lot. 

• 1st-4th grade should be using the main lot off of Newport. 

• If you have multiple students, please use the lot of the youngest sibling. 

• Please pull as far ahead as possible. 

• Now that we are 1/3 into the year, we expect that even our youngest students are able to independently enter/exit the car. Parents should not need to get out of your car. Please continue to practice this with your child if necessary. 

• Parking is limited. If you want to park, the best place to park is the Forsythe overflow lot off of Newport (regardless of which lot you are using). No parking at any time along any curb. 

• Students are not permitted to cross the cross walk in front of school unattended. They must be accompanied by an adult or they need to walk around on the sidewalk towards the gate. 

•The first bell is at 8:42 and we expect students in class by 8:45. Please arrive in time to have your child at school on time. A few minutes may not sound like a big deal, but the beginning of the day is a critical time and helps students get a great start to their day. 

• At the end of the day, if you are using the main lot, please exit towards Forsythe to the corner of Sunset and Newport instead of going directly back out to Newport. So take a right after the stop sign as you leave the circle. This allows busses to pass the line as they arrive after our line up begins. In addition, this gives access to the Forsythe overflow lot for those who choose to use that to park. Also, if you are parked in the Forsythe overflow lot, when you exit, please turn left and continue to the exit towards Sunset/Newport. 

• Finally, while we have memorized many of your Driveline numbers, please be sure you always have your number handy as we sometimes have different people running the end of day pick up. 

Thanks for reading! 

David

Weekly Update 11/9

 Dear Wines Families, 

I hope everyone is having a great week. Here is the news for the week. 

Science and Builders Fair: Tomorrow!

Last call for registration for tomorrow night’s Science and Builders Fair (7:00 PM). Registrations must be in by 5:00 PM tonight. Please visit the website below for more information and registration. 

https://winesscienceandbuilders.weebly.com/about.html

Therapy Dog Update and Feedback

I’m thrilled to announce that we have reached a major milestone as we approach our Therapy Dog, Gracie, joining our school. Gracie has officially completed the first part of her training with our trainer and she moved in to Ms. Fata’s home this past Monday! Lexi is currently working with Gracie on commands, etc. (and helping her get used to her new home). We will begin to have Gracie come to school during off hours to become more comfortable at Wines and sometime near the end of the month we will begin to have her be part of our school day. 

Lexi and I are working on a date for a virtual family meeting to talk about Gracie and answer questions. Please look for an announcement soon for the date and time. In the meantime, we’d like to get some feedback from families regarding any significant concerns that we need to know about in terms of Gracie’s interaction with your child. If there are things we need to know about your child’s ability to interact with a dog at school, please fill out THIS FORM. 

Thanksgiving Food Drive

It's time for the annual Wines Thanksgiving Food Drive!  Please support Washtenaw County and Food Gatherers by bringing in non-perishable items beginning today through Tuesday, November 22nd.  Boxes are in the entrance of the school building.  The most needed items include food such as soups, canned meats, pasta, rice, kid-friendly snacks, and baby food / formula.   There is also a need for personal care items such as diapers, soap, shampoo, toothpaste and toothbrushes. 

Great Ideas Grants

Do you have a great idea to support Wines Elementary?  

The Great Idea Grants 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 grant approval committee will meet only one time this year to approve grants that can be used anytime during the remainder of the school year. Submissions are now being accepted using the Google Form linked here:

Great Idea Grants

Grant limits are: $200 for students, and $750 for adults. It's the same application whether you are submitting an idea as a student, teacher, or parent. You will see that you will have the option to select who you are in the form. The deadline for the first round of applications is November 11th. Don’t let a great idea go to waste! Submit now for your chance to make Wines GREATER than it already is. We look forward to hearing from you.

For questions or more information contact: Anu Huntley at anu.agrawal.huntley@gmail.com

Thanks for reading! 

David

Weekly Update 11/2

 Dear Wines Families, 

Welcome to November! Halloween was a great way to end a busy month that also included Walktober, Run-a-Thon, and lots of learning! It has been a great fall to be sure. I have just a couple of new pieces of information today, but I’ve also again included information on the Science and Builders Fair and our Great Ideas Grant opportunities. So far, we have not had many folks sign up for Science and Builders or submit grants. We are hopeful that both of these Wines traditions will be successful!  

No School Tuesday, Nov 8

Just a reminder there is no school next Tuesday for Election Day. 

Dia de los Muertos Cultural Event 11/4

Below is a flyer with information on a great cultural event taking place Friday evening. A Wines parent is involved in organizing this Dia de los Muertos event in Ypsilanti. 

Science and Builders Fair: November 10

Our annual Science and Builders Fair is back!! This event is designed to foster a love of learning and provide an exciting environment for the kids to proudly display their work. The Science and Builders Fair is meant to inspire young minds to learn and innovate! Nothing is too simple! It is not a "judged" event -- all participants receive a certificate. You do not need a project or title to register. There are project suggestions on the Wines Science + Builders site.

Please visit the website below for more information and registration. 

https://winesscienceandbuilders.weebly.com/about.html

Great Ideas Grants

Do you have a great idea to support Wines Elementary?  

The Great Idea Grants 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 grant approval committee will meet only one time this year to approve grants that can be used anytime during the remainder of the school year. Submissions are now being accepted using the Google Form linked here:

Great Idea Grants

Grant limits are: $200 for students, and $750 for adults. It's the same application whether you are submitting an idea as a student, teacher, or parent. You will see that you will have the option to select who you are in the form. The deadline for the first round of applications is November 11th. Don’t let a great idea go to waste! Submit now for your chance to make Wines GREATER than it already is. We look forward to hearing from you.

For questions or more information contact: Anu Huntley at anu.agrawal.huntley@gmail.com

Thanks for reading! 

David

Weekly Update 10/26

Dear Wines Families, 

I hope this finds you well as we approach the end of October! That is certainly hard to believe. Time flies when you are having fun! 

PTO Meeting Tonight

Reminder that there is a PTO meeting tonight in the Wines Library. We’d love to see some new parents join us to learn more about the PTO! If you are unable to attend in person, there will be a Zoom set up. Zoom information was sent in today's email. 

UM/MSU Spirit Day Friday

In honor of the big game Saturday, we are encouraging all of our Michigan and MSU fans to wear their team’s colors on Friday. If you are not a fan of either school, might I suggest wearing maize and blue??!! 

Halloween

We are happy to be able to celebrate Halloween again next Monday here at school. Like many things this year, we are returning to our pre-pandemic approach to the day. Students who wish to wear costumes can bring their costumes to school in a bag. Students should not come to school in costume. Our celebrations will take place in the afternoon. We will hold our annual parade through the neighborhood beginning at 2:00 PM. The best place for parents to stand to view the parade is along the sidewalk connecting Wines to Hillridge Street. This sidewalk extends from the Forsythe fields to our front entrance and is the final leg of our parade route. The parade route has us exiting at Cooley, going left on Saunders Crescent, left on Hillridge, and then entering the Forsythe property on the path from Hillridge back to the front of school. 

Each classroom will have celebrations during the afternoon. Please refer to communications from your child’s teacher regarding specifics. 

We ask that if students choose to wear costumes that the costumes be friendly. This means no fake blood and no fake weapons. No exceptions. My general rule of thumb is that if you are wondering if part of your costume is appropriate for school or not, it probably isn’t…

If you would prefer your child not participate in Halloween related activities, please contact me directly and we will have an alternate activity for them. 

Science and Builders Fair: November 10

Our annual Science and Builders Fair is back!! This event is designed to foster a love of learning and provide an exciting environment for the kids to proudly display their work. The Science and Builders Fair is meant to inspire young minds to learn and innovate! Nothing is too simple! It is not a "judged" event -- all participants receive a certificate. Please visit the website below for more information and registration. 

https://winesscienceandbuilders.weebly.com/about.html

Great Ideas Grants

Do you have a great idea to support Wines Elementary?  

The Great Idea Grants 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 grant approval committee will meet only one time this year to approve grants that can be used anytime during the remainder of the school year. Submissions are now being accepted using the Google Form linked here:

Great Idea Grants

Grant limits are: $200 for students, and $750 for adults. It's the same application whether you are submitting an idea as a student, teacher, or parent. You will see that you will have the option to select who you are in the form. The deadline for the first round of applications is November 11th. Don’t let a great idea go to waste! Submit now for your chance to make Wines GREATER than it already is. We look forward to hearing from you.

For questions or more information contact: Anu Huntley at anu.agrawal.huntley@gmail.com

Wines Volunteers

It has been so wonderful to see so many volunteers in our classrooms and other spaces lately. Thank you!! Just a reminder, if you are planning on volunteering in any way this year, please fill out the brief form below. This is a critical safety measure. Thank you to everyone who has filled out the form already as we have over 100 volunteers registered!

https://forms.gle/rLKQ9qYJLW3vcjUu6

Run-a-Thon Update

We did it!! Thanks to our incredible community, we have surpassed our school fundraising goal which means first and foremost that our PTO will be able to continue to support our school in myriad ways! Second, it means I’ll be spending a night on the roof—likely in the spring…

In addition, I’m pleased to announce that 10 of our 19 classrooms have met the 100% participation goal meaning very soon I’ll have at least 10 pies thrown in my face! We still have a large number of pledges that are going to be processed tonight so hopefully that number of pies will grow! Thank you Wines community, and thank you to Andrea Burkhart for all your efforts to make this event a fun and successful event for everyone!

Thanks for reading! 

David

 

Weekly Update 10/19

 Dear Wines Families, 

I hope everyone is having a great week. It does appear that traditional wet and cold October weather has arrived. Please be sure your child comes to school daily prepared to go outside for recess. We do go outside in light/moderate rain. There are a lot of important messages this week. Thanks in advance for taking a few minutes to read through today’s message. 

Early Release Thursday

Our next Early Release Day is tomorrow, Oct. 20. School will dismiss at 1:18. 

Robin is Back!!

I’m thrilled to announce that Robin Moore has returned to her post in our office this week! Robin is still building up her strength and stamina and she still has many medical appointments so for the time being, she is here for half days in the morning. J’Ne has taken a new full time substitute office position at another school so Kathy Kyle, a retired long serving AAPS Office Professional is here in the afternoons. 

Directory

In today's email you received a link to the Wines Student Directory. We use each family’s enrollment information and wishes regarding Directory inclusion to put the document together. If you need information added/deleted, please contact Robin Moore at moorero@aaps.k12.mi.us. The document is live and will be updated in real time. 

PTO Meeting

Our next PTO meeting will take place next Wednesday, Oct. 26th at 7:00 PM in the Wines Library. We’d love to see some new parents join us to learn more about the PTO! If you are unable to attend in person, there will be a Zoom set up. Zoom information was sent in today's email. 

Science and Builders Fair: November 10

Our annual Science and Builders Fair is back!! This event is designed to foster a love of learning and provide an exciting environment for the kids to proudly display their work. The Science and Builders Fair is meant to inspire young minds to learn and innovate! Nothing is too simple! It is not a "judged" event -- all participants receive a certificate. Please visit the website below for more information and registration. 

https://winesscienceandbuilders.weebly.com/about.html

Great Ideas Grants

Do you have a great idea to support Wines Elementary?  

The Great Idea Grants 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 grant approval committee will meet only one time this year to approve grants that can be used anytime during the remainder of the school year. Submissions are now being accepted using the Google Form linked here:

Great Idea Grants

Grant limits are: $200 for students, and $750 for adults. It's the same application whether you are submitting an idea as a student, teacher, or parent. You will see that you will have the option to select who you are in the form. The deadline for the first round of applications is November 11th. Don’t let a great idea go to waste! Submit now for your chance to make Wines GREATER than it already is. We look forward to hearing from you.

For questions or more information contact: Anu Huntley at anu.agrawal.huntley@gmail.com

Library and Computer Use Update

For the past few weeks, we’ve been settling into library routines with book checkouts and computer use (for grades 1-5 so far). Students have been taught how to properly care for our library books as well as the rules for using our school technology, following the AAPS Acceptable Use Policy. The following slides are used to teach the acceptable use policy to Young 5s-2nd grade and 3rd-5th grade, emphasizing that our devices are not personal devices, but school devices that are being loaned out (much like a library book) for school work and to learn. Just like we would not put stickers, add pictures, or alter library books in any way, we should not be doing those things to our school devices. This includes using devices to access websites that are not school sanctioned in Clever, Schoology, or otherwise provided by a teacher for additional learning. Thank you for your support in helping our students follow these same rules and procedures at home. 

Run-a-Thon Pledges

We are getting VERY close to meeting our Run-a-Thon pledge goal (and subsequently, me sleeping on the roof!). While that is wonderful, we currently do not have any classrooms with 100% participation (and subsequently, the opportunity to throw a pie at my face!). Every little amount helps and I can honestly say that I really want all 19 classrooms to hit me with a pie! We are still accepting pledges through this week.  Online pledges can be made at: https://www.ptowines.org/wines-runathon.

Thanks for reading! 

David