Dear Wines Families,
Wednesday, January 29, 2025
Wines Weekly Update 1/29
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
Wines Weekly Update 1/22
Dear Wines Families,
I hope everyone has been staying warm during this extended time away from school. It looks like things are warming up today and so we’ll start a short week together tomorrow. I’m always game for a snow day, but I’m also looking forward to getting back into our routines tomorrow. Here is the news for the week!
Wines Wahoo Feb. 7
The Wines Wahoo is back again this year! Join us Friday, February 7th at Forsythe Middle School from 6-8pm. This is a Wines favorite and we are so excited it's back for another year! Join your friends for music, pizza, open gym, crafts and more. Younger siblings and parents are welcome. Suggested $5 donation per family at the door with pizza, drink, and snack tickets available for purchase. This event will need LOTS of volunteers, so we need your help!
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0C44AEAA22A2F8CE9-54560999-wines
PTO Donation Campaign Update
We are incredibly grateful for your generosity and support during our recent PTO donation campaign. Thanks to the kindness of our community, we’ve raised an amazing $8,000 toward our goal of $10,000!
Your contribution is helping us make a meaningful difference for our students, teachers, and school programs. Every dollar brings us closer to enriching the educational experience and creating opportunities that benefit everyone. We couldn’t do this without you, and we’re so thankful for this community!
Looking for Extra Specials Volunteers
It's that time of year again! Extra Specials are an optional lunch recess program where students can sign up for a weekly indoor enrichment activity. Past Extra Specials have included: Paper Airplane Folding, Magic Tricks, Math Games, Logic Puzzles, Lego, Arts and Crafts, Yoga, and Read Aloud. But we need volunteers to lead these fun programs! Here's what we're looking for:
- Commit to leading an activity during lunch recess, once a week
- You create and prep the activity, or we can provide you with one
- Offer your activity for Session I, Session II, or both Sessions
- Sessions are three weeks long
- Session I runs Jan. 27-Feb. 14
- Session II runs Feb. 24-Mar. 14
Interested? Email Michael Newberry at mnewberry88@gmail.com
Kindergarten/Young 5’s Round Up Feb. 11
Please save the date for our annual Kindergarten/Young 5’s Round Up. We will host families and incoming students on February 11th from 6:30-7:30 PM. If you have a child who will be in Young 5’s or Kindergarten for the 2025-26 school year, please plan on attending with your child. If you have friends and neighbors with students entering our programs next year, please share this information. If you have a child entering Wines next year, it is helpful for us to begin to compile a list even before Round Up. Please contact Robin Moore at moorero@aaps.k12.mi.us and alert her.
Note: Current Wines Young 5’s students and families do not need to attend Round Up.
NAAPID Feb. 10th
With our snow days this week, I’m not sure if we will get our paper invitations out for our annual Parent Involvement Day at Wines. The event takes place on Monday, February 10th. We are looking forward to another great day where we invite all parents and caregivers to spend part or all of your day at Wines with your student(s). Look for the paper invitation as well as an electronic RSVP in the days to come.
Save the Date: Wines Parents Night Out & Auction
Book the sitter for our annual Parents Night Out & Auction. This year’s event will be held April 4th from 6-10PM at Circ in downtown Ann Arbor. This is a fantastic opportunity to connect with parents and teachers outside of school in a low key, casual environment. Interested in helping? Email Jane.Lardo@gmail.com for volunteer opportunities.
TRAILS Newsletter
Below is this month's TRAILS newsletter. TRAILS is our schoolwide Social/Emotional Learning curriculum. Please take a moment to learn more about TRAILS.
David
Wednesday, January 15, 2025
Wines Weekly Update 1/15
Dear Wines Families,
I hope this message finds you well and keeping warm as winter seems to have decided to stick around for a while. As the weather will likely be cold for the foreseeable future, please be sure to send your child prepared to go outside daily. We will go outside as long as the temperature is zero degrees windchill or above. With all of our winter gear, please try to label items as our lost and found is filling up with gloves and hats!
We kicked off our week on Monday with an all school read aloud of the book We are the Builders by Deepa Iyer. The book focuses on the many roles we can have in our community to make it a better place. Every student at Wines has subsequently chosen a role (Builder, Caregiver, Frontline Responder, Disrupter, Experimenter, Visionary, Weaver, Healer, Storyteller) and written or drawn something to represent their role. These will be displayed in school starting this week and will be the anchor for our celebration of MLK Day on Friday. We will have an all school assembly Friday that will include students sharing their roles and Ms. Sinta will lead an all school song of Happy Birthday by Stevie Wonder. Stevie wrote the song in order to raise awareness of the need to have a national holiday honoring Dr. King. Deepa Iyer will be joining our school virtually next week as well to discuss the book we shared.
Below is the news for the week.
No School Monday
In honor of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday, there is no school on Monday next week.
PTO Meeting Tonight!
The PTO Meeting will take place in the Wines Library or via Zoom (zoom info was sent in today's email)
Please find the agenda here
International Night NEXT WEEK, Wednesday, January 22 from 6:30-8:00 PM
NEXT WEDNESDAY is our annual International Night. In order to have a successful evening, we need volunteers! If you can help out, please go to https://bit.ly/internationalnightsignupgenius. If you are interested in signing your child(ren) up to table or parade for a country, there is still time! We ask that you complete this form by the end of this week to ensure that we have the appropriate number of tables set up in the gym - https://bit.ly/winesinternationalnight2025. We look forward to an eventful evening!
Looking for Extra Specials Volunteers
It's that time of year again! Extra Specials are an optional lunch recess program where students can sign up for a weekly indoor enrichment activity. Past Extra Specials have included: Paper Airplane Folding, Magic Tricks, Math Games, Logic Puzzles, Lego, Arts and Crafts, Yoga, and Read Aloud. But we need volunteers to lead these fun programs! Here's what we're looking for:
- Commit to leading an activity during lunch recess, once a week
- You create and prep the activity, or we can provide you with one
- Offer your activity for Session I, Session II, or both Sessions
- Sessions are three weeks long
- Session I runs Jan. 27-Feb. 14
- Session II runs Feb. 24-Mar. 14
Interested? Email Michael Newberry at mnewberry88@gmail.com
Kindergarten/Young 5’s Round Up Feb. 11
Please save the date for our annual Kindergarten/Young 5’s Round Up. We will host families and incoming students on February 11th from 6:30-7:30 PM. If you have a child who will be in Young 5’s or Kindergarten for the 2025-26 school year, please plan on attending with your child. If you have friends and neighbors with students entering our programs next year, please share this information. If you have a child entering Wines next year, it is helpful for us to begin to compile a list even before Round Up. Please contact Robin Moore at moorero@aaps.k12.mi.us and alert her.
Note: Current Wines Young 5’s students and families do not need to attend Round Up.
Congratulations Ms. Goldberg and the Wines Library!
Ms. Goldberg recently applied for our library to be receive the 21st Century Library Certification. Over the past few years Ms. Goldberg has worked diligently to cull and update our library collection as well as implement best practices in her library instruction. This certification is a product of her hard work as well as the profound support we receive from our community for our library!
Save the Date: Wines Parents Night Out & Auction
Book the sitter for our annual Parents Night Out & Auction. This year’s event will be held April 4th from 6-10PM at Circ in downtown Ann Arbor. This is a fantastic opportunity to connect with parents and teachers outside of school in a low key, casual environment. Interested in helping? Email Jane.Lardo@gmail.com for volunteer opportunities.
Friends of the AAPS Libraries Update
Please join us for the next "Friends of the AAPS Libraries" meeting! We will meet in person at the Huron High School library on Wednesday, January 22 from 6pm to 7pm. In our meeting, we will:
• Learn more about our current library programs and the challenges they face
• Focus on filling open volunteer opportunities
• Celebrate the $15,000 Sora grant recently awarded by the James A. & Faith Knight Foundation!
There is no need to RSVP. Please join us if you are able. There is no Zoom option. We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday, January 22! Please follow us on social media and spread the word!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61569276384877
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/friendsoftheaapslibraries/
David
Wednesday, January 8, 2025
Wines Weekly Update 1/8
Dear Wines Families,
I hope everyone had a nice winter break. For our family, we had friends from Spain in town and we first hosted them here in Ann Arbor and then in Northport (with about 10 other people). While that sounds “busy,” we actually spent most of the time just relaxing together, eating too much, and enjoying some much needed downtime. It was great to be back at school this week and while many of our kids and staff were a bit groggy on Monday following two weeks away from school and a late Lions game Sunday night, by Tuesday we were back to normal!
As we enter the new year, we have lots of things coming up so this note is a bit long this week. But I’m hopeful everyone takes a few minutes to read through this week’s news.
Wines PTO News
Friday Floor Hockey is Back!
Beginning this Friday, we will start our weekly Friday floor hockey game before school. Any student is welcome to join us. We start at 8:00 AM in the gym. The only requirement is dry shoes. Parents are welcome to join and play or you can drop your child off.
Looking for Extra Specials Volunteers
It's that time of year again! Extra Specials are an optional lunch recess program where students can sign up for a weekly indoor enrichment activity. Past Extra Specials have included: Paper Airplane Folding, Magic Tricks, Math Games, Logic Puzzles, Lego, Arts and Crafts, Yoga, and Read Aloud. But we need volunteers to lead these fun programs! Here's what we're looking for:
- Commit to leading an activity during lunch recess, once a week
- You create and prep the activity, or we can provide you with one
- Offer your activity for Session I, Session II, or both Sessions
- Sessions are three weeks long
- Session I runs Jan. 27-Feb. 14
- Session II runs Feb. 24-Mar. 14
Interested? Email Michael Newberry at mnewberry88@gmail.com
Time to Sign Up for Science Olympiad! (Grades 2-5)
Next Washtenaw Elementary Science Olympiad (WESO) will take place on May 10th, 2025 at Pioneer High School. This tournament provides an opportunity for students in grades 2-5 to meet and interact with peers and adults of similar interests and talents. Events are interactive, hands-on, and are mainly fun!! Please click the link to sign up and for more information:
We are still looking for parent volunteers for coaching. Teams will not be formed without coaches. Please contact head coach via scienceowines@gmail.com
International Night on Wednesday, January 22 at 6:30 PM:
Sign up online to host a country for International Night at:
https://bit.ly/winesinternationalnight2025
Feel free to choose a country you and your child are from, have spent time in, or are simply interested in learning about and sharing with others. Teach others about the country with food, information, an activity, game, craft, or anything else that's representative. Students are also invited to march in the Parade of Nations wearing a traditional outfit from their chosen country, whether or not your family is hosting a table.
Please also help us ensure the night is a success by volunteering your time! We need folks to help at the registration table, put temporary tattoos on kids, corral kids for the parade, and of course help us set up and tear down! Sign up here.
Kindergarten/Young 5’s Round Up Feb. 11
Please save the date for our annual Kindergarten/Young 5’s Round Up. We will host families and incoming students on February 11th from 6:30-7:30 PM. If you have a child who will be in Young 5’s or Kindergarten for the 2025-26 school year, please plan on attending with your child. If you have friends and neighbors with students entering our programs next year, please share this information. If you have a child entering Wines next year, it is helpful for us to begin to compile a list even before Round Up. Please contact Robin Moore at moorero@aaps.k12.mi.us and alert her.
Note: Current Wines Young 5’s students and families do not need to attend Round Up.
Save the Date: Wines Parents Night Out & Auction
Book the sitter for our annual Parents Night Out & Auction. This year’s event will be held April 4th from 6-10PM at Circ in downtown Ann Arbor. This is a fantastic opportunity to connect with parents and teachers outside of school in a low key, casual environment. Interested in helping? Email Jane.Lardo@gmail.com for volunteer opportunities.
David
Wednesday, December 18, 2024
Wines Weekly Update 12/18
Dear Wines Families,
We know it takes a village and we have such an unwavering, supportive, and invested village here at Wines. Please make your donation today so we can continue to offer unforgettable experiences and opportunities for our children.
Wednesday, December 11, 2024
Weekly Update 12/11
Dear Wines Families,
It is hard to believe that we are nearing mid-December and our winter break. Time is really flying by this school year and things continue to be humming along quite well here at Wines. The annual excitement about the Book Fair is quite palpable this week!
Book Fair Ends Friday
Speaking of Book Fair, the Book Fair will run until noon on Friday. Each classroom will have time to purchase books starting today. If parents would like to come to school to browse the selections, you are more than welcome. Please stop in the front office upon entry to school.
Welcome to Wines Rachael Varga!
I’m pleased to announce that Rachael Varga will be joining us after winter break as our new second grade teacher. Rachael takes over for Ms. Kingkiner who recently retired from AAPS. Rachael comes to us from Mitchell Elementary School where she has been a Kindergarten teacher since 2019. Prior to Mitchell, Rachael taught for eight years at South Canton Scholars in Canton, and spent a year as an intervention teacher in Flint. Clearly Rachael comes to Wines with a wealth of experience both in AAPS and beyond. I could not be more thrilled that Rachael will be joining our team!
Attention 2nd-5th Grade Families: Science Olympiad: Coaches Needed!
Only 14 out of 46 events are filled.
As you may already know, Washtenaw Elementary Science Olympiad (WESO) 2025 will take place on May 10th next year, at Pioneer High School. This tournament provides an opportunity for students and other participants to meet and interact with peers and adults of similar interests and talents. Last year 35 schools participated in different events. As usual there will be open events with hands-on activities for all attendees. More information on WESO can be found here: https://wesoscience.org/
We need your support in becoming a coach so that more Wines kids have the chance to participate. No experience is necessary. More information on events can be found at: https://wesoscience.org/events/
Events description and available slots are in the link below:
Contact us scienceowines@gmail.com or text/call @ 832-640-0547.
Shop at Literati and Donate to AAPS Libraries
When you do your holiday shopping at Literati (a Wines family-owned business!) this season, you'll have a chance to purchase books selected for AAPS school libraries. See the attached flyer for more details, and thank you for your support.
Easy Ways to Support Wines
Did you know you, friends, and family members can earn money to support Wines with everyday purchases?
Grocery Store Rewards Programs
The Wines PTO has signed up with Busch’s, Kroger, and Ann Arbor Farms for community rewards. Once you, or any family member/ friend, link their account you will be giving back to Wines students every time you shop!! Just log into your rewards programs and add Wines PTO. Links and instructions here.
Boxtops
No more tops to clip, Boxtop educational savings is now digital! Download the IOS or Android app and sign up to support Wines Elementary. All you have to do is scan your receipt, savings are automatically sent to the PTO!
Creating holiday cards? Want to get a personalized gift for your family? Use Wines’ special code of ‘FUNDRAISEWINES’ at minted.com and enjoy 20% off at checkout ALL YEAR and Wines PTO will receive 15% of all purchases! Feel free to share the code with friends and family.
Corporate Matches
If your company supports corporate matches to non-profits you can double your runathon or direct donations to Wines PTO! Not seeing Wines in any of the eligible matches? Reach out to winesptotreasurer@gmail.com and we will set up an account with them!
Curious what the PTO spends money on? Check out our ‘About us’ page at ptowines.org or drop by for our next PTO meeting!
That’s all for this week!
David
PTO Thrift JPEG HERE
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
Weekly Update 12/4
Dear Wines Families,
I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving break. We were able to spend time with both Trish’s and my family and we had 17 people sleeping at my brother in law’s house for two nights! It was crowded but a lot of fun. Believe it or not, after today we only have 12 days of school before our winter break. We’ll be busy inside and out of the classroom during those 12 days!
Early Release Today
Just a reminder that today is an Early Release Day. Dismissal is at 1:00.
Book Fair Next Week!
The Wines Scholastic Book Fair is going to be December 10th - 13th. 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 host our annual Family Night on Tuesday, December 10th 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.
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.
AAPS Winter Giving
Thanks to this amazing and generous Wines community, the Wines PTO is able to provide resources to those in our school community in need this holiday season. If you have the means, please consider making a donation to other schools within Ann Arbor who are working to provide additional resources to their students. This is an opportunity to share and make a positive difference for families and schools who could use a little extra support this season.
All schools wish lists can be found here or donate gift cards through this form. Donations to any school are appreciated, and the Wines PTO encourages you to assist our neighbors at Forsythe (with 55 students in need) and Haisley (with 20 students in need).
Science Olympiad: Coaches Needed!
Reminder: Crosswalk
Over the past couple days, I have seen a few students crossing the crosswalk at the front of our school. Please, for the safety of our students, students are not allowed to use that crosswalk unless they are accompanied by an adult. This is a critical safety procedure at Wines. Please share this information with anyone who picks up or drops off your child at school.
Teachers and Staff Out Front on Friday
I wanted to alert families that many of our teachers and staff members will be gathering out at the front flagpole Friday morning before school. This is similar to the “Support Ann Arbor Teachers” gatherings that took place weekly last spring. Our staff members are not “protesting” but are being visible and simply sharing information about issues facing teachers with parents who are interested. If you have a moment to say hello, please do.
That’s all for this week!
David














