Chagrin Falls PTO

Intermediate School

Administrative-Heather Heartz

• Thank you for Teacher Appreciation Lunch.

End of Year Activities

• We will have our annual awards assembly, cookout, talent show and clap out on the last day of school.
• We will have our annual field day and end of year picture movie on the day before the last day of school.
• Thank you in advance to all the parents that help to make these two days memorable.

One Book One School

• It is up and running
• The book we are reading is the Indian in the Cupboard.
• We have many activities planned throughout the month of May.
• Our culminating assembly will be May 26.
• Our opening assembly was a big hit.  We had an outstanding guest speaker who is a Native American.

Early Release Days

• We worked on goal setting for next year.
• The staff generated several ideas for next year after reviewing this year’s goals.
• The grade level chairs will work with Chuck to pare down the ideas.

Concerts

• We had a band concert on May 17, and will have an orchestra and select choir concert tomorrow night.
• Susan Smith will be doing a “Drum with Me concert” throughout the day on May 20. 

Third Grade Parent Orientation

• The Third Grade Parent Orientation is May 24 at 7:00 in the IS auditorium.

Sixth Grade Dance

• We will have our annual sixth grade dance Friday, June 3.
• Silent cake auction before concerts since car washes have been rained out.

Other

• Paws raised $4200 for Harvest for Hunger, Leukema Lymphoma Society, Tsunami Relief
• Art in 4^th grade – making puppets from recycling.
• 5^th grade rockets to launch on Saturday.

PTO- Maggie Kwasny

• In addition to the ongoing volunteers working at the clinic, libary and on the playground thethe art/decorating, 6th grade talent show, hospitality and field day committees have been very busy this past month.  Since our last PTO meeting 193 Intermediate School parents have volunteered a total of 364 hours to the school!

• Since we will not be having a June meeting and these committees will be continuing their efforts through the end of the school year we have estimated that an additional 128 parents will be volunteering 352 hours between now and the end of school.

Gurney Elementary School

Administrative –Vicky Pelsozy

• On behalf of the entire staff at Gurney, thank you all so much for the thoughtful attention you gave us for Staff Appreciation.  The luncheon was AMAZING!
• Thank you to all of the volunteers who helped to make Kindergarten Screening run so smoothly!
• Thank you to all of the volunteers who helped to make the Gurney Art Walk spectacular!
• Finally, thank you in advance to everyone who will be helping us with Tiger Trek, field day and yearbooks coming up very soon!
• Kindergarten:  Although we will probably have a handful of additional kindergarteners register over the summer, our numbers are strong enough now to determine sections for next year.  We will have five sections of full day kindergarten next year, each at approximately 20 students.  We will have one section of half day kindergarten and it will be in the morning with approximately 15 students.  This means that Miss Shanaberger (1/2 day kindergarten teacher this year) will be teaching a full day kindergarten class next year and we will be hiring a half day kindergarten teacher soon.
• Staff Changes:  Mr. Rose, current first grade teacher, will be moving up to teach second grade next year.  We will have a new speech and language therapist at Gurney; she is being recommended for hire by the Board on Monday night and so, assuming all goes well, will be introduced in our June newsletter.  We are also adding another intervention specialist at Gurney – Mrs. Martina Kehoe will be moving in from the Intermediate School.
• Transition to CFIS:  Our 3^rd graders are heading over to CFIS this month to tour the building, meet Mr. Murphy, and learn about 4^th grade.  Don’t forget the parent night at the Intermediate School which is designed to give parents of current third graders an overview of CFIS and 4^th grade.
• Early Release Day:  We were fortunate to be able to have an early release day in May that allowed us to meet in small groups with a teacher representative in each group from grades K-4.  With a discussion guide, we focused on our new language arts program, Literacy by Design, and learning how each component was taking shape in each grade level.  We learned from each other new strategies that were working in different grade levels, how to make smoother transitions for our students from one grade level to the next, how much stronger our comprehension and vocabulary instruction is now that we’ve got very specific, common instructional approaches, and in what areas we are all feeling the need to supplement or receive additional training for next year.  This kind of cross-grade-level dialogue is invaluable for enhancing our program and targeting our professional development activities.
• Field Day:  On the last day of school, third graders will participate in an Olympic-style field day at the high school stadium.  Kindergarten-second graders will participate in field day rotations on the Gurney campus.  All grade levels will gather back at the building for grade level pizza lunches provided by PTO!  After some closing activities in each classroom, we will line the back playground with the parents of third graders and at 12:45 we will clap-out the third graders!  Dismissal is at 1pm for all K-3 students that day.
• Parent Communication:  Report cards will be mailed home to you the week of June 13^th.  We will continue to post information on our website through the summer that may be of help to parents such as school supply lists and calendars.  Class assignment letters for next year will be mailed home the second week of August and will contain information regarding your child’s teacher as well as our walk-through dates and times.

PTO –Gigi Kuper-Lewis

• Hospitality: Teachers were honored at a Teacher Appreciation Luncheon on Friday, May 6^th.    Thank you to Tina Nepouni and Joan Newell for coordinating this luncheon.  In addition, teachers, staff members and district bus drivers were given potted flowers.
• Box Tops: The spring Box Top Blitz concluded last month.  We are still awaiting the results of the amount collected.
• Kindergarten Screening: Kindergarten screening was held on Thursday May 5^th and Friday May 6^th.  Thank you to Chrissy Barr and Vicki Orazen for all of their work both coordinating volunteers to assist with the screening process as well as volunteering at all of the shifts of screening.
• Tiger Trek: Tiger Trek will be held on Thursday, May 26^th.  T-shirt sales were very good.  There were a lot of donations for additional t-shirts to be purchased – allowing at least all third graders to receive a t-shirt.  Orange chagrin Frisbees were ordered to be given as a prize to the class that raises the most money in sponsorship.  Thank you to Debbie Darden and Libby Young who are coordinating this event.
• Student Book Production Center: There will no longer be a Student Book Production Center next year.   Many teachers are now using alternate forms of publishing students’ work- such as blogs or podcasts.  PTO has offered to assist teachers that still would like to produce a book – by using comb-back binding.  The sewing machines and leftover materials were given to Joann Mynchenberg to be used to supplement her art curriculum.  Thank you to Maggie Kwasny and Lori Newbauer for their years of service to the SBPC.

Gurney Elementary School

Administrative –Nancy Lodge

• Thank you in advance for the wonderful dinners you always provide for us during conference nights!  Our conferences are next week   on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.
• Thank you to all of the parent volunteers who helped so much with One School One Book!  And thank you for the financial support to make it all happen!  If you’d like to see an 8-minute movie that captures our memories from all of the activities, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKlrSqfQ-rc or go to the Chagrin Falls Website to Tiger TV…or the Gurney webpage!  You’ll get to see all kinds of photos and video from the month-long program and hear some of the music that was discussed in the novel.
• Kindergarten:  We have received the official word from Columbus and we are for sure going to be offering full day kindergarten, tuition-based, for next year.  Tuition will remain $2500 as in past years and a $200 deposit will be due to our Treasurer’s Office by May 5^th (which is kindergarten screening).  We will post this information on our website and announce it at Kindergarten Kick-Off on April 7^th.
• Early Release Day:  Our March early release day was spent in grade level teams working continuing to work through our new language arts program, Literacy By Design.  Each grade level is now implementing all components of the program.  We are really happy with the building-wide vocabulary and reading comprehension strategies.  The program is very flexible so we have been able to keep some of our current, effective instructional practices and add to them.  This program as our base has definitely made our language arts instruction more uniform across the building.
• Summer Programs:  Our last newsletter contained information about two summer programs we offer at Gurney.  First, our summer reading and math camp, Tiger Up!, is for students entering 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd grade next year.  It provides a jump-start to the school year in reading, math and school routines.  It is scheduled for the last 2 weeks before school starts in August.  Second was our science camp, Camp Invention.  This is a week-long, hands-on camp in June that our students have traditionally enjoyed.  The information will be repeated in upcoming newsletters as well as be made available during conferences.
• Bouncy Balls:  Please read the article I have posted on the Gurney webpage about our new bouncy balls in many Gurney classrooms.  This was a wonderful donation from Mr. Edmond Leopold and we are both enjoying them and seeing the benefits.  The article gives an overview of the research behind their use and there is a video on TigerTV of one of our classes using them.
• Staff vs. Students Volleyball:  We will wrap up for spring break with our traditional Staff vs. the 3^rd Grade Students volleyball game on Friday, March 25^th!  Students take on the 3^rd Grade Staff and Dr. Jones in groups using a very large beach ball.  It’s not as easy as you’d think!

PTO – Meredith Goodwin

• One School/One book: This month has been the One School/One Book program at Gurney.  The children read “The Cricket in Time Square.”  Each child received a copy of the book (books were donated by PTO).  Children read an assigned chapter every night at home with their parents.  Special activities included: working with high school students to create an issue of a gurney school newspaper, an assembly by an opera singer, the opportunity for some 3^rd graders to skype with Chinese students, fortune cookies and other special foods in the cafeteria (foods related to the book) and many other activities.   This book study has been the ultimate partnership between parents and teachers.  Rachel Jones suggested we add a One School One Book committee for PTO volunteers next year.
• Conference Dinners: Planning is under way for conference dinners.  Conference dinners will be held next week, March 22^nd and 24^th.
• Zero Waste Challenge: Gurney will be participating in the “Zero Waste Challenge” for lunches again this year.  Kathryn Garvey coordinates these efforts.  More information will be forthcoming.
• Box Tops: A spring Box Top Blitz will be held the week of April 11^th

Intermediate School

The Administrative Report was presented by

Sixth Grade Fundraiser

• The fifth grade movie day was a big success.
• The sixth grade movie day will be on April 12.
• The ticket sales will go on in the cafeteria with a prize basket that will be raffled off to drum up interest the week before the day.

Concert Season

• The concert season got off to a great start last night with our general music concert.
• Susan Smith and her students did a wonderful job.
• Our next concert is the fourth grade strings concerts on March 23 at 9:30.
• We will also have two more concerts in May; more information to follow.

Early Release Days

• We worked on creating another benchmark assessment in all grade levels and all subject areas.
• Mr. Murphy demonstrated the software program Testing Werks, which is where all of the data on students is stored including the results from the last benchmark assessment.
• Mrs. Patrizi demonstrated Brain Breaks, which is a program we are piloting at the Intermediate School.  It is a software program that teachers can show in their classrooms that will allow students to do a physical activity for five minutes.  Research shows that this activates the brain and therefore increases student achievement. 

Ohio Achievement Assessments

• The dates have been changed to May 3-5.

Thank You For:

• All the volunteers for COSI
• All the volunteers for the Book Fair
• All the recess volunteers
• All the clinic volunteers
• The wonderful dinners at conferences
• All you do

PTO- Christy Wynveen

• Miss Riley’s (Art Teacher) grant request for the TV and VCR/DVD player was approved and will be purchased through the Giant Eagle points that the school has earned through the community this year.
• The Fundraiser for the CFIS – the 5^th grade movie afternoon on March 8^th (Early Release Day) was a success with 107 students attending and generating a profit of $1280.
• In addition to the above mentioned items and during the period of February 17-March 16, the following recaps the number of volunteers and volunteer hours that have been given to the CFIS (through the PTO committees).   # of Volunteers – 252  # of Volunteer Hours – 535

MIDDLE SCHOOL

Administration Report-  Lori Guerrini

• The building just finished their work with The Fat Boy Chronicles. On Monday, the students watched the movie and asked questions of the authors. Several students spent two days in writing mini-sessions with the authors. We will have an evening showing of the movie for the parents after spring break.

• Our Skype session with the Gurney students was a great experience. We are looking forward to another Skype session very soon.

• We are excited about ordering new language arts series for next year. The series is called A Readers Journey.

• We will be hosting the CVC Art Forum tomorrow. 13 schools from our conference are participating.

• Our P/T conferences will be held next Wednesday, March 23 from 3:00-7:00PM

• The 7-12 choir concert will be held on March 21

PTO- Jen Ganger

-                Fat Boy Chronicles – All Middle School students read The Fat Boy Chronicles this month.  The book was written in the form of a freshman boy’s journal.  It dealt with several serious issues.  The kids finished the book by last Friday and this week had several activities including viewing the movie and meeting with the book’s authors.  The book has sparked lots of interesting conversation regarding bullying, and Mrs. Holthaus plans to keep the momentum going with continued discussion and activities.  Mrs. Holthaus also lead a parents’ book group which met three times and got lots of good feedback.

-                Teacher Conference Dinners – Teacher conferences are scheduled for Wednesday March 23.  Jill Andrews is busy getting volunteers to supply teacher dinners.

-                Smoothies – The Middle School Café is now offering Smoothies on Wednesdays.  The PTO is looking for two volunteers per week to help make smoothies during the lunch periods.  We have contacted our volunteers and emailed all Middle School PTO members, and Mrs. Holthaus has also put a request in her Week-at-a-Glance looking for volunteers.

-                Washington DC – The Middle School is now collecting money for the eighth grade trip to Washington DC.  The fee is due by March 25 and the trip is May 11^th – 13^th.  There is a parent meeting on April 20 in the MS cafeteria.

-                Middle School Dance – The combo Dance/3 on 3 Basketball tournament was cancelled last Friday due to the weather.  It will be rescheduled in April.

High School

Administrative-Bill Koons

• Grading practices – handout was distributed regarding NCA commendations and required actions as well as discussion items regarding grading practices.  These grading practices any any possible changes are being thoughtfully considered and will be presented to Board of Ed for vote in May.
• Drug Dogs – a letter will go out to all high school parents explaining procedure and protocol

PTO_Donna Ludwig

• Parent/Teacher conferences were held last week at the high school.  PTO section reps provided “grab and Go’ snack bags for the teachers.  Thanks to Section Rep Gwen McCuaig for coordinating.
• High School Section Reps will work with Middle School Section Reps to set a date for Teacher Appreciation Day.  We will look at the first week of May.
• PTO Section reps will provide manpower for spring events including Your Life/Your Choice at Parkside Church on April 26 from 10-2:30, and Senior Project Showcase, June 1 from 10-1.