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