This Week at College Park: September 16

Fifth grade students are helping to promote the Step Up to Better Health Walk/Run.

Good Afternoon College Park Families,

We hope you find some time to relax as a family this weekend after our first full week of school. Your children have settled in to a great routine of learning. Thanks to all of our families for making the transition back to school so smooth. We know there are days it isn’t easy to make it here on time, and ready to learn. We appreciate your commitment to making sure your child is prepared and here each day.

This week we have a large amount of information to share with you regarding our theme of “We’re Investing In Our Future.” Please make sure to read the notes to help your child invest in his or her future through reading, practicing math skills at home, making healthy choices and creating a respectful community. We will have updates throughout the year.

Morning Arrival
Please plan your child’s arrival to school to be close to 8:35 a.m. We do not have adult coverage prior to that time and children should not be at school unattended. This is for your child’s safety. Students are allowed into the building at 8:35 a.m. on days there is rain or extreme cold. Parents are welcome to wait with their children on the playground prior to that time.

“There’s a Pink Pig on Our Building!”
Our pink “piggy bank” is being attached to our building to remind us that we should all be investing in our futures!

We unveiled our Parent Action Team goals today during an all school assembly. Each child received a T-shirt, compliments of our Partners for Community Action and PTO. The shirt states, “Ask me how I’m investing in my future!” Be sure to talk to your child about his/her goals for investing in the future. Students should wear their shirts on selected Fridays of each month to celebrate our progress toward our goal.

In reading we are asking each student to complete 100 minutes of reading outside of school each week. Teachers will be working with you on how to report achievement of the goal on a weekly basis. The most important strategy to become a good reader is to read! Children may read independently, read to you, or listen to you read aloud. Our piggy bank total will increase by 100 College Park Dollars for every 100 minutes read!

Each Monday students should return one of the attached slips to their classroom teacher! Click here to download.

Students’ math skills will be invested in by using math in everyday situations, with an emphasis on playing games to increase math skills. Students may access our EveryDay Math on-line site to play a number of math games. The school and teacher websites also have links to other educational math games. Don’t forget the mathematical power of many games children love to play. Board games, such as Sorry and Trouble, help students learn counting skills and the ability to recognize patterns in movement. Checkers, Chess, Backgammon and Mancala teach students to use strategies and problem solve. We are hoping each family can play at least one game together each month. We will be looking for pictures of families playing together (hand drawn or photographs) to share on our bulletin board at the end of each trimester.

Our bank account will increase by 100 College Park Dollars for every game families play and report to us!
Please use the attached slips to document your games. Students may write the name of the game played, draw a picture of their family playing, or attach a photograph. We will post the ideas on a bulletin board! We are hoping for one game each month. Click here to download.

Making Healthy Choices will help students invest in a healthy future. Each trimester we will offer opportunities for families to take part in healthy activities. We will begin with our picnic on Friday, district wide walk/run in October and the Disney Get Fit - Get Active contest in November! The school account will go up by 100 College Park Dollars for every participant in the events.

Creating a welcoming and respectful environment will help us build a healthy community! Students will continue to focus on what it means to be a caring community through our focus on attitude, respect and empathy. This year we will also take time to celebrate the many cultures represented in Greendale.

Look for our “Piggy Bank” outside of school to remind us of our goals. We will also showcase our growth inside school as we work toward 1,000,000 College Park Dollars for the year. We will celebrate our goal achievement with an all school picnic in June!

Early Release Days
In the past, Greendale School District has had a number of days on the school calendar designated as Late Starts that always fell on Mondays. This year we have switched these days to Early Releases on Fridays in an effort to create a more family friendly calendar. The students will be dismissed at 11:30 a.m. on these days, which means there will be no school lunch. Our first Early Release day is Friday, September 23rd.

District Annual Meeting - September 19
The Board of Education will hold the Greendale School District Annual Meeting on Monday, September 19, 2011 in the Greendale High School Auditorium. The Budget Hearing will begin at 7:00 p.m. followed by the Annual Meeting at 7:30 p.m. We hope you will join us to hear an update on the Greendale School District's achievements and plans for the future.

Annual Report Now Available
Greendale Schools released the 2010-11 Annual Report that highlights student achievement and financial information. For the report, please visit www.greendale.k12.wi.us/annualreport.

Don’t Forget: College Park Family Picnic
Our family picnic is next Friday, September 23rd from 6-8 pm. Bring lawn chairs, a blanket and a picnic dinner to our playground. We’ll supply the games! We hope to see many of you there for a relaxing fall evening with family and friends.

Step Up to Better Health Fun Run and Walk
Greendale's Step Up to Better Health Committee, in collaboration with the Greendale Schools, will hold the annual Fun Run & Walk on Sunday, October 16 at 10:30 a.m. Join us for this healthy community event that benefits Greendale Schools! T-shirts guaranteed for those that register by September 23. For more information and to register, please click here.

A Note From Mr. Madecky
Hello and welcome back from the Physical Education department. I hope you had a wonderful summer and are as happy to see your children off to school as I am having them here! The start to the school year has been a fast and excellent one. We have had fabulous weather and I love getting the kids excited about P.E. As always safety is a huge priority in Physical Education Class and I’m writing this note as a reminder to make sure your child has gym shoes on gym days. Kicking soccer balls and footballs can hurt on the bare toes! Please check the teacher websites for the physical education schedule.

Greendale High School Football Games
All members of our community are encouraged to attend the Greendale High School football games and cheer on the Panthers. We ask that elementary children be supervised by their parents at the games. Due to supervision and space constraints, elementary students are not allowed to sit in the area designated for middle school students. Thanks for helping us keep all our children safe during the football games.

Upcoming Dates
September
19 Greendale Schools Annual Meeting 7:30 p.m. at Greendale High School, (Budget meeting will be held at 7:00 pm)
23 9:30 Fire Fighter Assembly Grades K-3
Early Release - students dismissed at 11:30 a.m., Welcome Back Picnic 6-8 p.m.
29 Picture Retake Day
30 Grade 1 and 2 Walking Field Trips, Grade 5 to Trimborn Farms, All School Walk
October
10 Grade 1 and 2 Field Trip to Old World WI
12 All District PTO Meeting at GMS 6:30 pm
18 Grade 4 to Halquist Stone, Family Math and Science Night, 6:00-7:30 pm
21 Grade 3 Field Trip to Milwaukee Public Museum
27 & 28 No School - Fall Break