December 2013Calling All Book Worms!
Our book fair is open for business Monday, 8:15am through Friday, 12:00pm Dec. 2-6. If you are able to help students create their wish lists on Monday and Tuesday or to work the register on Wednesday through Friday, please consider helping us out. You may sign up to help on the following link: http://tinyurl.com/VenableBookfair2013 or you may contact Ms. Schrank at 245-2880. Thank you to those who have already contributed to our Book Fairies fund, which aims to make sure that all children can receive a book from the book fair. Session 1 Clubs Ending this Week
December 6 is the last day of session 1 clubs. The next round of clubs will begin on January 27. Sign-ups will be coming home after winter break. If you are interested and able to run a club for our students, please contact Mrs. Martin. We'd love to have you! Coffee and Conversation December 13, 12pm
Join Mrs. Kershner in the art room for informal conversation about what's going on at Venable. PTO Meeting, Dec. 17, 5:30-6:20pm followed by Winter Concert, 6:30pm in auditorium
Please join us in the school library. Childcare and pizza for children will be provided in the cafeteria. Walking Wednesdays Coming Up
We will hold Walking Wednesdays twice more in 2013: Dec. 4 and Dec. 18. Buses will drop off at Gordon Ave. library and students will walk to school with staff supervision. Car riders are encouraged to join us for the walk. Inclement weather cancels the Walking Wednesday. Thank You, Electives Teachers!For eight Fridays this fall, several Venable parents have been leading an elective for our fourth graders (pictures are scrolling above). In its second year, this program has brought excitement and energy to our fourth grade learning. Thank you to the following parents who made this year's electives such a huge success:
Ms. Frances is Retiring
At the end of December, Frances Smith, our crossing guard, will be retiring. We will honor her at our last Student of the Week assembly, where each class will present her with a card and the school will give her a token of appreciation. We will also convey special gratitude on our last Walking Wednesday, December 18. |
Congratulations, Mr. Salvatierra!
Mr. Salvatierra is newly certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). In addition to completing his master's degree this past summer, Mr. Salvatierra completed the year-long process of compiling a portfolio for this additional certification. He was awarded this honor after submitting a portfolio of lesson plans, sample teaching videos, and reflections on his teaching to the National Board. For more information on NBPTS, visit their website at http://www.nbpts.org/. Clothing Needed
Thank you to everyone who brought clothes for our emergency clothing closet. We have quickly depleted our emergency clothes and are putting out another call, especially for pants. If your child has been the recipient of clothes from the Venable clothes closet, please return the clean clothes so that we may use them again. A Reminder about Attendance
At the beginning of the school year, information was sent home to all families about attendance and what qualifies for excused and unexcused absences. Family trips in general do not qualify as an excused absence, unless the trip is primarily of educational purpose. Please make sure that you communicate with Mrs. Kershner in advance of a trip so that you can know whether the trip will be excused or not. You may still plan to take the trip with the understanding that it will not be excused. Families whose children have more than 5 unexcused absences in a year will likely receive communication from our attendance officer, Angela Terrell. Additional unexcused absences may lead to truancy proceedings. Quarter 2 Progress Reports
We are now halfway through the second quarter of the school year! In order to keep you updated on how your child is progressing in new skills, we are sending home progress reports with each child this Thursday. Note that these reports do not cover all skills from the quarter and are not cumulative from the year, in many cases. They target specific skills the students have been working on so far this quarter. International Education Week Celebrated Venable's Diversity
We enjoyed having many Venable families visit classrooms the week of November 18, International Education Week, to share a bit about countries and cultures from around the world. We listened to music from other countries during the morning arrival time, created flags during art, and paraded those flags during our Friday assembly. In addition, we created a "Good Morning, Venable!" video highlighting students and families saying hello in another language. We did not capture all the languages spoken by Venable families. If you speak another language and would be willing to be filmed or have your child filmed and included in this video, please contact our technology teacher, Ms. Amasia by email ([email protected]) or by calling the school. Take a look at the video. Golden Apple Award Nominations Are Open
It is time to nominate a Venable teacher for the Golden Apple Award! Each year, one teacher is selected from each school in the city and county to be honored as the Golden Apple Award Winner. Please see the attached flyer for more information about the program and how you can submit a nomination to Mrs. Kershner. Nominations are due by February 12, 2014. Golden Apple nominees should exhibit the following characteristics:
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