Chagrin Falls PTO

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The High School Report was presented by Principal Bill Koons.

• Graduation Seating – We will probably keep the stadium closed until 10:00 a.m. on graduation Sunday to reduce people being shut out of seating due to blankets being placed earlier in the week.
• Cheering Section at Kenston football game
• Leadership Selection-

o   Sophomore Lauren Lang was selected to be the Hugh O’Brian Award outstanding sophomore leader.  Previous recipients were Ted Cogan, Jimmy Boldt and Ms. Anderson.  Lauren will spend a weekend at the University of Mount Union with other Hugh O’Brian leaders from Ohio.

o   Selected for Look Up to Cleveland was junior Olivia Kuenzi.  Olivia will now compete to be one of the fifty-five students from Cuyahoga County for this leadership program for juniors.  Previous recipients were Kathryn Mahoney and Matt Owen.

o   Selected for Leadership Geauga were juniors Katy Klespies and Emily von Wagoner.  Katy and Emily will meet monthly with students from the other schools in Geauga County.  Previous recipients were Brooke Kratche and Dan Driscoll, Bobby Winkelman, Kaitlin Wolfe and Mr. Brownlow’s son.

o   Selected to compete for the Chagrin Valley Chamber of Commerce scholarship were Brooke Kratche, Greg Singer and Sam Hollyer.  These three will compete against other high school students from the Chagrin Valley for a $1,000 prize based on their entrepreneurial and business skills.

• AP Scholars-We recognized our sixteen senior Advanced Placement Scholars with Distinction.  Chagrin Falls High School had 9 national AP scholars, 52 AP Scholars with Distinction, 17 Scholars with Honors and twenty-eight AP Scholars.  The entire list is posted on the guidance office window and outside Mrs. Ennemoser’s desk.
• Suicide Prevention-We are soliciting the freshman class to get their feedback about last week’s Suicide Prevention workshop.
• Tiger Rewards-To celebrate the good start of the school year, a great homecoming parade and bonfire, and winning 150 computers, we will begin a program called Tiger Rewards.  This is to recognize people who go out of their way to do good deeds.  For example Cam Rose and Katy Klespies promoted the suicide prevention walk.  Sarah Glass and Amy Trosin promoted the walk for diabetes.  Abby Dunegan is collecting plastic caps for a free chemotherapy treatment.  Mrs. Warren went digging through the recycling containers to collect plastic caps.  This program begins Monday in the cafeteria.  A handout will explain the program.  At the bottom of the handout will be a ticket for a free ice cream from the cafeteria.  Read the handout and use the ticket to get a free ice cream on Monday ONLY.
• Fall Play and Spring Musical-Casting has begun for Father Knows Best, the fall play.  Beauty and the Beast will be the spring musical.  Both productions will be high school students only and we will not double cast the musical.
• National Merit Semi-finalists-Thomas Donley, Sarah Greenlaw and Alec Kreger were designated as National Merit Semi-finalists based on their PSAT score above 212/240.  Seven students were Commended students based on their score of 201-211/240.
• Student Council Overnight-Held at Punderson each year for student council members and the administration to get to know one another and plan the upcoming school year.
• Pray Around The Pole -About twenty kids came to pray around the flag pole on Wednesday, September 22.
• Student Pictures-Occurred September 23.  Club pictures were October 12, staff development day. Information available through Ripcho Studios.
• Homecoming-Hall of Fame, Bonfire, parade, game, dance all went well.  The next election might be through Naviance.
• Marijuana incidents involving high school students were discussed.
• PSAT-Wednesday, October 13 for sophomores and juniors.  Freshmen had the annual Expect Respect assembly.  Seniors will sleep in and then took their script “11” picture.

The High School PTO report was presented by Franny Ross.

• Thirty high school parents signed up to be PTO volunteers.  They will assist with a variety of duties including, hospitality, fundraising, welcoming, special projects, office and clinic help.  These volunteers will be providing food for the November parent-teacher conferences and we thank them!
• PTO volunteers on the welcome committee greeted 14 new high school families with phone calls earlier this month.  The PTO welcome mentors will follow up with the new families throughout the year to see how they and their children are adjusting and to answer any questions.
• The PTO presented three new high school teachers with a “new teacher stipend” of $50 to assist them in setting up their classrooms.  The three new teachers are Jody Guerini, Jeffrey Womack, and David Arundel.
• This year’s high school fundraiser is the annual Bingo Night scheduled for Friday, January 21 from 6-9 pm in the middle school gym.  Kelley Clegg is the chairperson and her committee will meet soon to begin planning the event.  All the money raised at Bingo Night goes directly to the” high school building fund” to be used for PTO-approved grant requests.  The money finds its way back into the classroom in the form of equipment, supplies and materials to improve student learning.

Chagrin Falls Middle School joins our other three schools this year as a National Blue Ribbon School! Congratulations staff and students.

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The Middle School staff report was presented by Johna Graziani.

• Congratulations to all the parents, students, and staff at the middle school.  We had a great start to the year.  It is hard to believe that we are already into the fourth week of school.  We would also like to give our fall sports teams a great big shout out.  They have had a terrific start to the season.  We always receive compliments from other schools when we are traveling.  Our students show sportsmanlike conduct and always represent the middle school well at all away events.
• We held our first student development day on September 14.  Our focus was on movement, good nutrition, and physical well-being.  The kids engaged in fitness and relaxation workshops while learning about good food choices.  Thank you to all the parents who donated items.  We would like to extend huge appreciation to Katie Wetherbee who worked so hard to make sure the day was a success!
• Our Open House will be held on September 15 from 7:00-8:30.  This will be an opportunity for the parents to learn about some of the activities we have planned for the year as well as a time to meet all their child’s teachers.  Thank you to our PTO reps for supplying refreshments during our lunch periods.
• We held our Welcome Back dance last Friday, September 10.  The students had a great time.  Thank you to all the parents who helped to sell refreshments.  All the money from this dance will go to our Principal’s account to pay for activities for our students.
• Congratulations to Amy Fenton, our middle school art teacher.  She has been awarded the2010 Scholastic Art and Writing Award by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers.    This is representation of the great fine arts programming that we have at the middle school.
• Congratulations to Cindy Dean and her first period science classes.  Through global collaboration, the class has been in contact with a classroom in Slovenia.  The students are able to see and talk with one another.  Chagrin Falls is in the forefront of interactive technology through its Bridge to the World project.  Mrs. Dean will be working many teachers in the district to promote global collaboration in other classrooms.
• We continue to award students through our PAW Pack program.  This awards program was started by last year’s PTO representatives.  Thank you to this year’s reps for continuing the tradition.  Students earn the award through hard work, being kind to others, and contributing in a positive way to the middle school community.  They receive a card that gets them discounts to community businesses as well as privileges at school.  The PTO supports a special luncheon for these students at the end of every month.
• As many of you know, the middle school was recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School last Thursday.    This is quite an honor for our students, parents, and staff.  The partnership we have is one of the big reasons the middle school earned this recognition.  Rebecca Holthaus and Cindy Dean will be traveling to Washington, DC on November 14 and 15 to accept the award.  We are planning a big celebration when the award is returned to the middle school on November 16.

The Middle School PTO  report was presented by Ingrid Porter.

• The Chagrin Falls Middle School has been named a Blue Ribbon School! A PTO parent will be working closely with Mrs. Holthaus to plan a well-deserved celebration.
• Planning and preparations for the middle school fundraiser, the Sloppy Joe Dinner, are well under way.  The date is Friday, October 1, the night of the homecoming football game, from 5pm-7pm.  Mark it on your calendars – we’re hoping for record-breaking attendance!
• We had our first grant request at the Middle School.  It was from Mrs. Dennison and Mrs. Mrofchak who planned the first Student Development Day which was held today and focused on wellness.  The request was for the purchase of foods for a program called “Eat this, not that” which showed the kids many varieties of healthy food alternatives.  The PTO was able to get the majority of the requested items donated by parents, and approved the remainder of the grant.
• Middle School Open House will be held tomorrow night, Wednesday September 15.  Parents will start in the PAC at 7:00 for an address by Mrs. Holthaus then be dismissed to their child’s homeroom to follow their child’s schedule.  Open House is scheduled to end at 8:30 pm.

Art by Julia Englehart, Grade 8. Presented at the 2010 Art Show.

The Middle School report was read by Gwenn Klose.

• Art Show Winners – Congratulations to the high school and middle school art departments for organizing the art show at Hamlet.  Our students had amazing pieces in that show.  Congratulations to Dana Savakis, our middle school purchase award winner, and Devon Riegel, our honorable mention.

• Power of the Pen– Congratulations to Devon Riegel and Samantha Spear who will be representing Chagrin Falls Middle School in state Power of the Pen competition.  Larry Richmond has served as their coach this year and the students have done a great job.

• Achievement testing – Middle school students participated in statewide testing during the last week of April.  All our students worked very hard.  Thank you to the PTO and the board of education for providing ice cream sundaes as a reward for the students’ hard work.  The middle school also sponsored a skating party as a celebration for completing the week of testing.

• Class trips – Our eighth graders traveled to Washington, DC on May 10-12.  The trip was a great experience for all the students and the behavior was exceptional.  Seventh grade students traveled to Cleveland on May 13 for an extended day trip.  We visited the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, science museum, took a tour on Lolley the Trolley, and spent the evening at the playhouse watching “Grease”.

• Rolling Thunder – A group of Vietnam Veterans visited our eighth grade classes on May 14 to discuss the war in Vietnam and their experiences as soldiers and veterans.  This was a follow up activity of our trip to DC.

• New Staff Members – Welcome to Mr. Curtis Howell who will be moving from Gurney to the middle school next year.  He will be teaching science and math.  We are currently interviewing for a new Algebra I teacher who will be splitting their time between the high school and the middle school.  We are so excited about the new additions to our already great staff!!

• Literacy Day – We are looking forward to our Literacy Day on May 25.  We have two visiting authors presenting that day.  The students are currently working on books to present to Gurney book buddies.  Gurney 2^nd and 3^rd graders will be traveling to the middle school in the morning.  Each of our students will read their book to the elementary students and the elementary students will read their favorite book to our middle school students.

• Congratulations to Mr. Todd Thombs who has been given the Outstanding Mathematics Professional Award by the Greater Cleveland Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

• A big thank you to the PTO for the great luncheon during Teacher Appreciation Week.

• A huge thank you to Mary Donley, Laura Fricke, and Becky Borden for being the middle school PTO reps this year.  They have done an outstanding job and we have all benefited from their work!!

The Middle School report was presented by Laura Fricke.

• We held an after- OAT Sundae Celebration this month.
  • Held on Wed., April 28^th
  • Thanks to our guest scoopers Board of Education members Mary Kay O’Toole, Anne Thomas, Karen Wise &  Liz O’ Neil

• Teacher Appreciation
  • MS Hospitality provided a Fiesta lunch on Friday, May 7^th
  • Many thanks to our AWESOME Hospitality co-chairs Karen Ostanek & Jill Andrews and their committee members for a great year!

• Internet Safety Presentation/Discussion
  • Thursday May 20^th, 7:00pm in the MS library
  • Encore presentation to the parents of what their MS student recently learned
  • Open to all Chagrin parents

• MS Literacy Day
  • Tuesday May 25, 2010
    • 8:20-10:50 am
    • Gurney 2^nd & 3^rd graders will visit the MS and share a book & snack with a 7^th/8^th grader
  • Organized by the MS Library Staff, Lori & Amy
  • Volunteer support provided by PTO

• 8^th Grade Promotion
  • Ice Cream Social, DVD and Dance Committees are hard at work
  • Large photos featuring 8^th grade students will be for sale by silent auction at promotion. You can preview these photos here on the PTO website.

Sheri Halagan had interesting news about iPod Touch applications in the classroom. Gurney recently received a grant from an independent foundation for a classroom set. They will start using them soon.

The Gurney School report was presented by Sherrie Halagan.

Thank you for the lovely luncheon and plants on Staff Appreciation Day!

• THANK YOU TO ALL OF THE VOLUNTEERS WHO MADE KINDERGARTEN SCREENING RUN SO SMOOTHLY!
• THANK YOU TO ALL OF THE VOLUNTEERS WHO HELPED WITH LUNCH TIME ON ELECTION DAY!
• THANK YOU TO ALL OF THE VOLUNTEERS WHO HELPED US SO MUCH TO MAKE THIS SUCH A SUCCESSFUL YEAR!

• Rotary Teacher of the Year nominee:  Congratulations to Jillian Langer, 2^nd grade teacher, who has been nominated as the Rotary Teacher of the Year!  Good luck to her as she heads in for her interview!

• Kindergarten Screening:  It went incredibly smoothly!  We have 115  Kindergarten students registered for next year and it looks like we will have 4 full day kindergarten classes, 1 morning class and 1 afternoon class in 2010-2011.

• Open Houses:   When the calendars come out for next year, you will notice no Open House for kindergarten.  This is because Kindergarten Kick-Off Night is considered their Open House and they have an Orientation Day.  After all of that, there isn’t much left to tell the parents.  Also, by contract, we can only ask the teachers to do one Open House per year and Kindergarten Kick Off Night is more valuable than Open House in the fall after an Orientation.

• Field Day/Clap-Out:  June 8^th is Field Day and we have a lot going on!  Third Graders will have their Field Day activities at the High School stadium!  Second and First Graders will rotate around our own campus for fun activities and Kindergarten Classes each have their own schedule planned for the short day.  Thanks to PTO we will all enjoy a pizza lunch!  And finally, at 12:45pm, we will clap-out our 3^rd graders.  The day ends with early dismissal at 1pm.

• Report Cards:  Report Cards will be mailed home by June 16^th.

• iPod Touch Project:  Mrs. Halagan presented our new iPod Touches, applications we are starting to use with them, and the foundation that graciously granted us the money for them.

Gurney PTO Report

The Gurney School PTO report was presented by Karen Ostanek.

• Recent Events and Updates from Gurney:
  • Teacher Appreciation Day went well. Hospitality chose to purchase the food form Costco.  The menu consisted of shrimp, sandwiches, salad, fruit and cake.  It was very much appreciated as were the gift plants received by both the teachers and the bus drivers.
  • All Room Parents provided cards for their teacher, a staff member and a bus driver.
  • Kindergarten Screening went well.  About 105 children were screened with the help of 30 PTO volunteers over a two day period.
  • The May election went smoothly as well.  It is suggested that at least one parent per room (two would be ideal) to help the children who are buying their lunch and manage the classroom for the lunch period.
  • 3rd grade testing was fine.  Room Parents provided snack and water for the testing days.

• Thank You To:
  • The Hospitality Committee for providing lunch for Teacher Appreciation Day
  • The Kindergarten Screening Committee
  • Kathy LaMonica and the room parents for providing the lovely cards for their teachers, staff members and bus drivers
  • The last minute helpers for Election Day
  • The yearbook committee for all of their diligent work that began with Picture Day in October and will end with the distribution of the beautiful Yearbooks

• Upcoming PTO Related Events
  • Tiger Trek – May 27 – t-shirts are ordered, Sponsorship sheets due Friday May 21.  Each class is responsible for their own water bottles and PTO will supply the popsicles.
  • Field Day – June 8^th – providing 3 half sheets of pizza per room.  Lunch will begin at 11am or 11:30 and should end by 12:30.  Clap-out is scheduled for 12:45.

• Approved Grant Requests from Gurney Building Fund
  • Approved a $313 request by Pam Fox for playground balls, jump ropes and hula hoops.

• Miscellaneous
  • 2010-2011 Committee Chair forms and First of the Year help forms are distributed to teachers for take-home folders this week and will appear in the May newsletter (or download   and send in with your child)
  • Kindergarten for next year will consist of 4 full days and 1 morning and 1 afternoon class
  • Jason Wise will move to First Grade
  • Michelle Edwards will stay in  2^nd grade for Mrs. Greene who is taking next year off.
  • Walk-through for August is scheduled for the afternoon of the 19^th for 1st grade  and for the morning of the 20^th for 2nd/3rd grade.