Weekly Blog 1/10

Dear Wines Families,

Happy New Year to everyone! I hope you had some time to relax during the break. We have a lot happening here at Wines this month and throughout 2018. Here is the news for the week:

January Wines Times

Below is a link to the January Wines Times newsletter from our PTO. Please have a look!

http://winespto.org/docs/wtJan2018.pdf

Kindergarten Round Up Feb. 6—Young 5’s Included!!

Our annual Kindergarten Round Up takes place on Tuesday, Feb. 6^th at 6:30 PM. In addition to discussing and introducing kids to Kindergarten, we will also be discussing an exciting possibility at Wines next year: the addition of a Young 5’s classroom! If you have a child who will be a candidate for Kindergarten or Young 5’s next year (or if you have friends and neighbors who do), please bring your child to Round Up on Feb. 6^th. To help us be as prepared as possible, please also contact Robin in the office before Round Up so we can have your child on our list.

International Night: Jan 31^st 6:30-8:00

Sign up online to host a country for International Night at:

https://goo.gl/forms/onRamOiO7RzwQ6633

Feel free to choose a country you 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.

Help Wanted: Science Olympiad Coaches!!

Please be an event coach for WESO 2018.  We have 140 preliminarily interested students, the biggest yet!  We need your help to allow participation from every interested student.  Want to hear from past / present Wines coaches and hear exactly, **all** details on what is involved? Then join us on Thursday, January 11th @ 7pm  in the Wines Multi-Purpose Room.

Want to learn about the how’s to coaching a WESO event from WESO?

January 24th @ Forsythe 7pm.

Want specifics on a particular event and competition expectations? 

January 31st @ Pioneer HS at 7 PM and repeat sessions at 8 PM.  

If you coach; you pick the practice times and your child receives first preference for participation.  **First come --> first promised.  

Email Wines WESO <scienceowines@gmail.com> as soon as possible to express interest.  

Auction/Raffle Planning Meeting: Tomorrow

If you are interested in helping in any way with the Wines Auction and Raffle then please come to our planning meeting on Thursday, January 11^th at 3:15pm in the teachers lounge to find out more.

If you can't make the meeting but would still like to help then please email:

traciemcginty@hotmail.com

Friday Floor Hockey is Back!

After a brief hiatus in December, our weekly Friday before school floor hockey sessions are back! With snow on the ground, PLEASE have your child wear boots or a second pair of shoes into the building and change into dry shoes for the gym.

MLK Day

We will host our annual MLK assembly on Friday at 2:00 PM. Parents are more than welcome to attend! As always, please note that parent seating will be extremely limited, but there will certainly be “standing room” for adults. There is no school on Monday in observance of the Dr. Martin Luther King Holiday.

It’s great to be back!!

David

Weekly Blog 12/20

Dear Wines Families, 

With the early snow release last Wednesday and the subsequent Thursday snow day, I didn't really send out a weekly note last week. Here is the last weekly update of 2017. 

Special PTO Meeting Jan. 23

Please join us for a special PTO meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 23rd at 7:00 PM. We will be joined by Child Psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Atkins as well as representatives from Washtenaw County Community Mental Health to discuss issues related to youth anxiety and depression. Come learn about the challenges our kids face as well as the opportunities available to support them. Look for an RSVP to come out in mid January. 

International Night - Wednesday, January 31st

International Night is right around the corner! If you would like to volunteer to help plan or assist during the event, please contact Wendy Langrock at weejees@gmail.com. 

If your family would like to represent a country and/or if your child would like to march in the Parade of Nations, you will be able to sign up using an online form that we will send after winter break. Feel free to host a country that you are from, spent time in, or are simply interested in learning about and sharing with others.

Kindergarten Round Up Feb. 6th

Believe it or not, we are beginning to plan for next year's incoming Kindergarten class! Our annual Kindergarten Round Up will be Tuesday, Feb. 6th at 6:30 PM. If you have a child who will be 5 by Sept. 1, 2018 please come to Round Up. If you have friends or neighbors who have Kindergarten age children, please help get the word out to them.

Have a safe and happy holiday season. 2017 has been another fantastic year at Wines and 2018 will be even better! 

Best, 

David

Weekly Blog 12/6

Dear Wines Families,

Just a couple of announcements today. 

Book Fair Continues

Our Book Fair Family Night was a great success last night and our Book Fair continues this week. Parents, you are welcome to come at lunch tomorrow or Friday to shop with your child.

Lunchtime “Extra Specials” Need You!

We are looking for volunteers to help with our annual “Extra Specials” program! Lunchtime Extra Specials are volunteer lead indoor activities for kids to choose from as an alternative to outdoor recess during January and February. This is one of the Wines students’ favorite activities of the year and we need volunteers to make it happen!  The commitment is just one lunchtime per week, for a total of 6 weeks, starting January 16th and younger siblings are always welcome.

Here are some of the activities we have done in the past:

• Free Dance

• Yoga

• Knitting

• Paper Airplanes

• Legos

• Rainbow Loom

• Sewing and Crafts

• Bal-A-Vis-X

• Board Games

Please contact Stacy Guldal (stacyguldal@gmail.com) to sign up to lead or assist in any area that interests you.  We will be holding a planning meeting on December 12th at 9am in the conference room (in the office) for any parents who are interested in volunteering or learning more about Extra Specials. If you have an idea for an activity that you’d like to lead but you cannot attend the meeting on 12/12, please email and let us know. 

New Playground is Ready!!!

As I type this, wood chips are being thrown below our new playground structure. Tomorrow morning, the structure will be open for the kids!!

David

Weekly Blog 11/29

Dear Wines Families,

I hope you all had an enjoyable Thanksgiving. The building was a little lethargic on Monday but we were back to business as we work to finish 2017 strong here at Wines. Here is the news of the week—including the Nov./Dec. Wines Times newsletter.

Wines Times

Below is a link to the Nov./Dec. Wines Times newsletter. Please take some time to read through all the important information.
http://winespto.org/docs/WTDec2017.pdf

Floor Hockey on Hiatus until January

Our highly popular Friday morning floor hockey sessions are on hiatus until we return from winter break. Ms. Wahl has begun her annual gymnastics unit meaning she has lots of equipment to set up each morning. We will return on Friday, January 12. I want to take a quick moment to thank Jeff Sander and Katie Page Sander who run our weekly games for their dedication to providing this unique opportunity to any Wines student who is interested.

Book Fair Next Week!

Our annual Book Fair is begins next Tuesday. The Book Fair Family Night is Tuesday evening from 6:30-8:00. Volunteers are still needed for some shifts – please sign up on the link below if you can help out!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0E49A8A722A64-wines.

The online book fair is open now. The online fair will remain open until the in person fair closes and books will ship to the school in time for the holidays.  All purchases benefit Wines!  http://www.scholastic.com/bf/wineselementaryschool

If you have any questions about Book Fair, please email Stacey Noel at sknmd17@gmail.com.

All 4 Books
Related to the Book Fair, coming home in this week's Wednesday Folder you'll find All 4 Books donation bags for your spare change.  Any donations will be used to buy books for our library.  Students can sign their names and (if desired) color the boot attachment.  Thanks!

Buddy Bench Collections Continue

The Wines Girl Scouts are collecting plastic caps and lids to recycle into a Buddy Bench to place on Wines grounds! There is a box near the front office for collection of Caps: drink bottle, flip-top/spout, medicine bottle, milk, detergent, hair spray, toothpaste, deodorant & any cap with 2, 4 or 5; as well as Lids: yogurt, PB, butter, mayo, coffee, cottage cheese, Cool whip & Rx. We need 200 lbs. (approx. 5-50 gal waste bags) to make a 4' bench so EVERY BIT helps! Bring them from home, save them from your lunch, collect them from your neighbors or coworkers.

Contact Michelle Chien at mknezek@hotmail.com or 248-250-2512 with any questions. 

That’s all for this week.

David

Weekly Blog 11/21

Dear Wines Families,

As we enter the Thanksgiving recess, I want to express my own thanks to everyone in this community for your support of our school and our children. It continues to be my sincere honor to lead this school and I am so thankful for your kids, our staff, and for our parents and larger community. I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving. On to the news this week:

Report Cards

Your child’s report card comes home today. Please take some time to review it. For those of you who have been part of Wines or other AAPS schools, you will notice that our report cards have been completely redesigned this year. We hope this standards-based reporting system is more clear and concise. I also want to point your attention to your child’s Personalized Learning Plan, which has even more detail as to your child’s progress and our mutual goals. Please return the report card envelope to school so we can use them again in March.

Online Book Fair

Our Scholastic Book Fair is just around the corner!  We have an online fair as well, perfect for far away family members shopping for holiday gifts for your Wildcats!  The online fair will remain open until the in person fair closes and books will ship to the school in time for the holidays.  All purchases benefit Wines!  Happy shopping!  http://www.scholastic.com/bf/wineselementaryschool

Interested in Advertising in Next Year’s Take Home Folder??

You may have noticed that some local businesses are featured on our take home folders. If you are a business owner, or work for a business that would like to show support for the school while gaining visibility to our students and parents, please contact our folder company directly at bob.nationalschoolfolders@gmail.com for more information. Ad sales are presently underway for the 2018-19 school folders.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

David