Weekly Blog 10/2

Dear Wines Families,

Here is the news for another busy week here at Wines. Lots of great things coming up at our school!

Run-a-Thon

Our annual Run-a-Thon is on Friday, October 18^th in the morning. All students will participate and receive a t-shirt. This is a great event to take part in and an easy opportunity to volunteer. To volunteer, please go to: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050B4CAAAE2C7-2019

We are still looking for corporate sponsors for the event. Your company’s logo will be on the t-shirts that all students receive and on all of the materials. If you have a business or know someone who might be interested, please contact Katie Fife at katiebfife@hotmail.com.

Science and Builders Fair

Mark your calendar for this all school event! It’s the annual Wines Science And Builders Fair! All students at Wines Elementary are invited to participate! The fair is student led and parent supported. It will take place at Wines on Thursday November 7th from 6:45 (set up) 7-8 display. This event is not judged- it’s simply a great chance to let natural curiosity blossom and for students to share what they’ve learned with the Wines Community. Registration will open next week and the registration website is chock full of project ideas and pictures of past fairs. When registering you do NOT have to know what you are going to do - only if you wish to have space reserved for you to display in the Science Fair area OR the Builders area. 

Hope you will join us in igniting the sparks of curiosity and letting them fly!!! 

Great Ideas Grants

Do you have a great idea? The Great Ideas Grant 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 meets twice a year to vote on applications. Submissions are now accepted online only.  The next deadline is November 1, 2019. The links for the Adult and Child application can be found on the Wines PTO website: www.winespto.org 

Don’t let a great idea go to waste! Submit now! Submit several! We look forward to hearing from you.

Contact: Sumi Sood – sumi.sood1@gmail.com

As always, don’t hesitate contact me with any questions or concerns.

David

Weekly Blog 9/25

Dear Wines Families,
Another busy week here at Wines! Here is all the news for the week.

Early Release Today
Reminder, we dismiss at 1:29 this afternoon. There is no afternoon childcare.

Picture Day Tuesday, Oct. 1
Picture Day is next week. All students will get their picture taken even if you are not ordering prints. In addition, all students receive a yearbook at Wines even if you don’t order prints. If you are ordering prints, you can have your child bring their paper order form and payment on Wednesday. You can also order directly online. Go to: https://inter-state.com/FlyerEntry/43846B. If you need financial assistance with pictures, please contact me and we will provide that for your family.

Wines Directory
Thanks to Robin Moore, the world’s greatest school Office Professional, the Wines Directory is ready. I sent a link to the directory in today's email.

“Walktober” Begins Next Week
Our annual celebration of Walktober begins next week. During the month of October, we encourage students to walk to school. We celebrate on Wednesday, Oct 2^nd as we participate in International Walk to School Day. We also walk each Friday during the month. If your student rides a bus to school, our busses drop off in the south Forsythe parking lot where I meet them to walk to school. I also pick up the morning childcare students and walk them to Forsythe with me to pick up the bus riders. So everyone can participate! We have created a sign-up for parent volunteers at 3 locations on the way to school. Thank you to those who already signed up to help! We mostly need volunteers at Sunset and Newport. Below is a link to the sign up.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0a4fa8af2da1ff2-walktober

Run-a-Thon Oct. 18^th
Mark your calendars for Friday, October 18^th for our annual Run-a-Thon that takes place all morning that day. Every Wines student participates in this annual event that encourages health, school spirit, philanthropy, and community. Run-a-Thon is also one of our most important fundraisers. Look for much more information over the coming weeks. This year's event features a new wrinkle for our parent participants and volunteers: a coffee truck from Bearclaw! If you are interested in helping out, please go to the link below. For new families, please look for more information as we approach the event. However, if you have time that morning, this is one of the most fun and one of the easiest volunteer opportunities at our school!
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050b4caaae2c7-2019

That’s it for this week.
David

Weekly Blog 9/11

Dear Wines Families,

It’s always amazing to me how quickly it feels like we’ve been in school for months! As I type this on day seven of our school year, I am tremendously pleased with how the year has started. The kids and staff are well into their routines and we are getting down to the business of teaching and learning—and having fun! It’s a busy time of year, so this note is longer than normal. Please take a moment to read the news for the week.

Curriculum Night

Our annual Curriculum Night is next Tuesday, September 17^th from 6:30-8:00. Teachers will present in their classrooms from 6:30-7:00. I will meet with our community from 7:00-7:30 and then at 7:30, teachers will repeat their presentations for any family that did not attend the 6:30 session. The evening is designed for parents only. Unfortunately, we cannot provide childcare.

School Bond Information Session

Please join us on September 24^th from 5:30-6:30 for an informational session on the 2019 AAPS Bond. This is a chance for our school community to learn more about the history of AAPS schools, the impacts of our school buildings on student performance, how the bond was developed, the financial impact of the bond to the community, the goals of the bond, and how we are renewing and re-envisioning our schools. Members of the district staff will be here to share this information. Please join us to learn more about the 2019 AAPS Bond.

PTO New Family Orientation

Immediately following the School Bond presentation, our PTO will host their annual New Family Orientation. This is a great opportunity to learn more about our PTO, the various events our school puts on, meet our boar members, and have your questions answered. There is free childcare available for this meeting and all PTO meetings.

Lunchtime Volunteer Opportunity

If you are interested in a fun outdoor volunteer opportunity, we always love folks to participate during lunchtime. There is a volunteer sign up below. In addition, we do have paid positions to work in the program if you or someone you know would be interested in being paid! You can contact me directly if you are interested in the paid position. Below is the volunteer link.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f084cadaa2daafc1-lunch1

Wines Directory

We are just about ready to publish (electronically) our Wines Directory. The directory information includes, your child’s name, parent/guardian name(s) parent/guardian email(s), parent/guardian phone number(s). We take this information from your online enrollment. If you do not wish to have this information included in the directory, please email Robin Moore at moorero@aaps.k12.mi.us. We are not able to edit which information is or is not included. You can simply opt out, however.

Volunteer Opportunities in the Library!

The library is a great place to volunteer. If you are interested, please see the note from Ms. Evaldson that I included in today's email.

Warm the Children

We are now accepting applications for Warm the Children.  Warm the Children is a program sponsored by Kiwanis Club and the Ann Arbor Foundation.   This program provides assistance to children in need in Washtenaw County annually. The program buys warm winter clothing for school aged children (up to age 16) in need ($90.00 per child). A volunteer shopper is assigned to the family to help shop, and handle paperwork.  The family must provide their own transportation to the store where shopping will take place. If you are interested, please email Heather Herrick, Wines School Social Worker at herrick@aaps.k12.mi.us . Families are served on a first come basis so please get your application in ASAP as funds are limited. If you were served from this program last year, unfortunately, you will not be eligible to apply this year.

Fall into After-School! 

AAPS Rec & Ed is excited to offer several after-school classes focused on fun, learning, movement, and discovery. Registration is now open, and spots are filling fast! Please see class options below, and visit Rec & Ed after school classes for details. For scholarship information, click here.

Wines
The Power of Drawing - Early Fall
The Power of Drawing - Late Fall
G-Powers Little Hoopers
After School Chess
    Chess: Beginning/Intermediate - Early Fall
    Chess: Beginning/Intermediate - Late Fall
Spanish
Into The Wild

Thanks,

David

Weekly Blog 9/4

Dear Wines Families,

Yesterday was a fantastic day at Wines! I want to extend a warm welcome to our new families and to everyone in our community. I was a “new parent” yesterday as well as I sent my twin boys off to Forsythe Middle School for their first day of 6^th grade. It was a little strange not having them here at Wines with me, but they came home smiling and happy, so I’m a happy parent!

Welcome to my first “Wednesday Email” of the year.  You will receive a weekly email from me each Wednesday all year. I try to be as brief as possible so that folks will take the time to read the message. This email is the best way to receive information about what is going on at Wines and I ask that you read it weekly. I also post the weekly message on a blog at www.winesprincipal.blogspot.com as well as on the Wines Facebook page at www.facebook.com/wineselementary and on our Twitter feed at @wineselementary. So there is no shortage of ways to keep up!

Back to School Picnic

Please join us for our annual back to school picnic tomorrow evening on the back playground. This is a great informal event to give everyone a chance to connect and reconnect. The picnic begins at 6:30. 

Curriculum Night

Curriculum Night is Tuesday, September 17^th. Teachers will present in their classrooms beginning at 6:30 PM until 7:00PM. I will present in the auditorium from 7:00-7:30. Teachers will repeat their presentations from 7:30-8:00 for those who were not able to attend the 6:30 presentation. Please note that Curriculum Night is an evening for parents, not students. Unfortunately, we are not able to provide childcare that evening.

Crosswalk

Thank you to everyone for a fairly seamless drop off and pick up yesterday and this morning. One thing I want to remind parents of is that students are never allowed to cross the crosswalk at the front of the building without an adult. It is simply too busy in that area. If you are walking  your child into the building or out to your car at the end of the day, please escort them across the crosswalk. In addition, if you are crossing, please utilize the crosswalk only. Walking across in other areas is not only a safety concern, but also disrupts the flow of traffic. Thank you! 

Cub Scouts - Fun for Everyone!

Cub Scouts is now open to children Kindergarten through 5th grade, both boys and girls. Pack 78 meets at Wines and welcomes everyone K-5 to visit and see what Cub Scouting is about. For more information, look for our table at the Wines Back to School Picnic (September 5) or come to our informational night (for interested youth and caregivers) September 11, 7-8pm, at Wines.   Our first monthly Pack Meeting will be September 25, 7-8pm, at Wines.  Join us and learn more about Scouting and all of the fun changes in the program. For more information, you can contact Cubmaster Seth Guikema at seth.guikema@gmail.com.

Girl Scout Discovery Night!

Come learn about Girl Scouts and get started in a troop!

Wednesday, September 18th - 6:30pm - in the cafeteria
Questions? Contact: Michelle Chein - mknezek@hotmail.com or Janice Amin Jamin@gshom.org.

That’s all for now. Hope to see you tomorrow evening.

David

Welcome to Wines 2019-2020!!

Dear Wines Families,

I hope this message finds you well and ready for the 2019-20 school year! I’ve had an extremely relaxing summer. We spent most of the summer up north with my dad. As many of you know, we lost my mom last February so we decided to simply “move in” with my dad and fill the house with friends and family this summer. Of course, being on Lake Michigan is a pretty easy place to spend a summer! Trish was able to get away for a lot of time as well and while she had to work remotely quite a bit, working remotely from Northport is not a bad option! Our boys are still up there with Grandpa and we’ll have to drag them back to reality eventually. Simply put, it was a great summer for my dad and our entire family.

Staff Changes

This will be an exciting year for many reasons. Not least of which is the fact that we have lots of new faces on our staff.

Lexi Fata joins our Kindergarten team this fall. Many of us know Lexi well as she student taught in Kindergarten last year with Samantha Shanteau and took over during Samantha’s maternity leave. We are so thrilled that she is with us!

We welcome Jennifer Puente who is joining our 4^th grade team. Jennifer is an Ann Arbor “lifer” and has spent 20 years in AAPS at Bryant Elementary mainly in 2^nd grade. I’ve known Jennifer for many years having first crossed paths in 1995 while I was student teaching at Northside Elementary and she was beginning her career as a Teaching Assistant there.

We welcome Paige Wittman to our growing Kindergarten team. Paige has spent the last four years at Bryant teaching Kindergarten. From the small world department, Lexi spent some of her pre-student teaching time in Paige’s room.

We welcome Alicia Maans who is taking over our K-2 self-contained special education classroom. Alicia previously taught in a similar classroom in our district. Her classroom was closed at the end of last year and with Beth Hospadaruk’s retirement, we were able to find a perfect fit to replace her!

We also welcome Kate Leite to our school half time joining Ms. Brock as special education teacher. Some of our students currently on Ms. Brock’s caseload will transition to having Kate as their case manager. We will be working together in the days to come to make these changes and we will contact families as soon as we have it set up. Kate has served as a Title I teacher in our district for the past few years.

I’m also excited that our strong partnership with U of M continues as we welcome seven student teaching interns. Please welcome Torie Harmon with Samantha Shanteau, Jackie Segel with Derek Toohey, Jennifer Pruss with Shanna Middleton, Carina Huang with Paige Wittman, Lily DiLorenzo with Marcia Gibbs, Lexy Verhil with Anna Milanowski, Gabrielle Amato with Nick Mosher, and Anabell Waterford with Janet Heaton. 

Meet the Teacher Events!

Mark your calendars for our annual Popsicles and Meet the Teacher Events.

• 1^st-5^th Grades: Tuesday, August 27^th at 4:30 PM.

• Kindergarten/Young 5’s: Wednesday, August 28^th at 6:30 PM.

Each event will take place on the back playground. Kindergarten/Young 5’s students will also spend time in their classrooms. The 1^st-5^th grade event is outdoors only. If you are not able to attend the gathering, we will be emailing class assignments on those same days. You can also call school beginning on Thursday, August 29^th to inquire about placement.

Bell Schedule

First Bell: 8:53

Second Bell 8:56 (classroom instruction begins)

End of day: 3:59

School Bus Schedules

Please monitor the AAPS website (www.a2schools.org) as bus schedules will be posted likely the week of August 27^th. At the conclusion of this letter, I have some annual reminders about traffic. One of the best ways to help with traffic—and thus keep our kids safe—is for students who are assigned to a bus to utilize the bus as often as possible. The first few days on the bus often find delays and schedule snafus. We ask that you are patient as things get sorted out and continue to use the bus.

Snack Policy

The Wines snack policy is that only fruits and vegetables can be brought to school as a snack. This policy aligns our school with state guidelines for healthy foods and also addresses many allergy concerns in our classrooms. So again this year we ask that your child’s snack be only fruit or vegetables. This policy is consistent with numerous other AAPS elementary schools.

Kindergarten/Young 5’s families, please look for communication from your child’s teacher regarding the “Community Snack” that takes place in those classrooms. There may be some minor variations in the policy due to the unique snack system in Kindergarten/Young 5’s.

We realize that some students have special dietary considerations and we will certainly allow for flexibility with this policy to ensure the health and safety for each student. Please note that this policy does not apply to student lunches.

Other Important Dates

In the first day packet, you will receive a calendar with our various events for the school year. However, I do want to point out a few early in the year events so you can have them on your calendars.

• New Family Orientation: Thursday, August 29^th (6:00 PM)

• First Day of School: Tuesday, Sept. 3^rd. Full Day.

• Opening Day PTO Coffee: Tuesday, Sept. 3^rd (9:15 AM)

• Back to School Family Picnic: Thursday, Sept. 5^th (6:30 PM)

• Curriculum Night: Tuesday, Sept. 17^th (6:30-8:00 PM)

Keep Up To Date with Wines!

We strive to always keep everyone in the loop about what is happening at our school. There are multiple ways to keep up! I will continue to send my weekly “Wednesday Email” and the same information from my emails can be found on my blog at www.winesprincipal.blogspot.com. I will also continue to use Twitter. Twitter users, please follow me @wineselementary (please note @winesprincipal is no longer our Twitter address). Please also follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/wineselementary.

Annual Traffic Reminder

I want to repeat my yearly reminder about our parking lot. These reminders are more important than ever as our school reaches capacity with students and cars! The area along the main entrance of the building from the beginning of the sidewalk until the gate is an active drop-off/pick up zone. Please pull as far ahead as possible and stay in your car. Do not park in front of the gate. In the Cooley lot, the area from the end of the gate to the end of the modular building is a similar pick up/drop off zone. There are signs marking these areas. We ask that the Cooley lot continue to be used by Kindergarten/Young 5’s families (and siblings) only. 5^th grade parents, although our 5^th grade classrooms are in the modular building, your students will still enter school from the front door so please do not use the Cooley lot for pick up and drop off.

At the end of the day, our pick up line often extends along our entry driveway all the way to the soccer fields. Please note that you may not park your car along this driveway for any reason. Please stay in your car and continue to pull ahead (it seems like a long line but if everyone follows the system, it moves pretty fast!).

As a reminder, our school was never designed to accommodate lots of car traffic so please utilize the bus if your child is on a bus route and we always encourage a healthy walk or bike ride to school too! If you are driving to school and wish to park and come in, please make sure you are parked in a designated area. As always, a great option for parking is the Forsythe overflow lot near our Newport entrance where there are always open spots.

We’re Hiring!

Finally, due to the growth of our school, we have expanded our lunch times this year in order to have fewer students on the playground and lunchroom at the same time. As a result, there are more lunch supervisor employment opportunities. The job is flexible (applicants can work one day a week or every day) and we can guarantee two and a half hours or more in some cases. It is a great job for anyone who loves kids, has energy, and has time between approximately 11AM and 1PM. If you are interested or know anyone who might be, please contact me directly. I know many of you have connections with UM students. This is a great job for college students (I worked lunch at Angell Elementary as an undergrad at Michigan). Lunch is also a great volunteer opportunity and I’ll share information on volunteering at lunch as we get closer to school.

Enjoy the final days of summer and we’ll see you soon!

Sincerely,

David DeYoung

Principal