Principal Notes for !pril 21, 2006

Dear Community - Don't forget to TURN OFF YOUR T.V. NEXT WEEK! I attached a flyer in hard copy to the Principal Notes that went home, but couldn't get it electronically as yet.

Here is today's "Principal Notes" :

JOHN MCCUTCHEON IN CONCERT - Storyteller and musician John McCutcheon will perform on Sunday, April 30, at 3pm at the Hollywood Theatre. This family-friendly concert is a benefit for the First Octave Fund of the Portland Schools Foundation. Tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for children over 2 and are available at the Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Boulevard, (503) 493-1128 or www.hollywoodtheatre.org <http://www.hollywoodtheatre.org/> . For more information call Ellen Regal Productions: (503) 288-5042.

DIRECT SCRIP SALES START THIS MONDAY, APRIL 24 – Now you can buy your SCRIP cards and certificates right here at school! Starting next week, the Maplewood SCRIP Committee will be selling a limited selection every Monday morning (7:45-8:15) inside the building, and every Thursday afternoon (2:00-2:30) at an outside table (the full selection of SCRIP businesses is still available for weekly pre-orders). Every time you use a SCRIP card, a small percentage goes to our account with the Portland Schools Foundation to support staff positions here at Maplewood. The SCRIP Committee will also be surveying parents on what other vendors to offer on a regular basis, so stop by the table and give them your input!

AFTER SCHOOL PLANS FOR YOUR KIDS – At this busy time of year, we know that many familes have many activities scheduled for the end of the day. But I am worried that there have been so many last minute, or daily, phone calls to the office from you, asking to have messages given to your kids about after school plans. The reason that I am worried is that the office can be a very busy place, and I would hate to mis-communicate to your children. So please make sure the plans for the end of the day are set and communicated to your kids before the end of the day (notes written, etc.). We certainly understand last minute changes (we’re talking about busy families and kids here, right?), and we’re happy to help; but please help us keep kids safe by keeping the message calls to a minimum when possible!

BUDGETS AND RECONFIGURATIONS AND EFFECTS ON MAPLEWOOD – As I mentioned at the last PTA meeting, I am going on record as being in support of the Superintendent’s proposal, mainly because of the provisions for time to take more specific community input between now and October 1^st. I was relieved to see that the proposal would also include the preliminary allotment of .31 more FTE (equal to a third of a certified staff member) next fall than what we received this year! (First time in 6 years we had an increase!). This was in addition to the district plan to maintain current teaching staff and to keep a full school year. I will need to make a plan within the next two weeks (or change a plan if the school board changes things on their May 1 vote); if you have ideas you’d like to share with me, the best way to do that with me is to email or write me a note about it. If you would like to express your opinion about Board Decisions, see the item below about it, or email the Board at schoolboard@pps.k12.or.us and it will be seen by every Board member.

MAPLEWOOD CAMPAIGN - I want to remind people that our Annual Campaign, held last fall, is still a vital part of keeping our staffing as full as it is. I have been recently informed, however, that making staffing requests with the Foundation money is now a little “tighter” than in the past (we need to “Show Them the Money” in a sense). This means that I will be reminding them to account for the people who made monthly pledges, and that if there are people out there who were waiting to make a direct pledge to the Campaign, now would be the time to do so! This would help me greatly in being able to continue to staff Maplewood with the highest quality people!

K-8 QUESTIONS AND DISTRICT DECISIONS - I have received some information this morning from the Superintendent’s Office, that gives a few glimpses into the possible looks for K-8 schools. I will post them on my blogsite in case you’d like to see more http://maplewoodprincipal.blogspot.com/.

I attended the Community Meeting last Weds. at Rieke and saw several Maplewood parents there as well. That meeting’s purpose was to answer questions for the communities involved (by the way, you can’t change one school in a system without having some effects on all schools or children). The district has set other dates for “Hearings”, which means people can offer input, usually without any responses from them. Two possible times when you can give input include:

• School Board Meeting & Budget Hearing (Citizen Budget Review Committee Report), Monday, April 24, 6:30 p.m.

• SCHOOL BOARD COMMUNITY PUBLIC MEETINGS Members of the School Board will hold hearings in Southeast, Northeast, North and West Portland to hear testimony on the proposals in each of those areas. The West Side meeting is at Wilson High School, 1151 SW Vermont, Wednesday, April 26 at 6:30 pm

The School Board will vote at their Monday, May 1^st meeting.

Upcoming Events:

Apr 25 - Run for the Arts (RE-SCHEDULED TO THIS DAY)

Apr 28 - End of Run for the Arts Collection Period

Apr 28 - Bookbaggers!

May 1-5 - Teacher Appreciation Week!!

May 11 - PTA Meeting

May 18 - Kindergarten Open House 3:00 – 4:00 pm

May 23 - 5^th Grade vs Faculty Basketball Game

May 25 - Spring Celebration Sing

May 29 - Memorial Day – NO SCHOOL

May 31 - A Musical Tour of the America’s Assembly at 9:30 am

Maplewood Principal Notes April 7

TARDINESS HAS BECOME A PROBLEM – I am writing to ask for your help in keeping down our disruptions to the classes that seems to be happening a great deal this year. When students are not “Ready at 8”, then not only are they missing some valuable instructions for the day, but it is also a disruption to the other students (and to the staff who are working hard to make every minute of instruction count). Please help your child be Responsible and Organized (two Life skills we are teaching here to help them be successful) by having them to school in time to get themselves ready to learn when the bell rings at 8:00. Most of you are very prompt, which is highly appreciated.

APRIL 17 IS A SCHOOL DAY FOR MAPLEWOOD, but not for other cluster schools - This is one of the days this year when our Trimester Calendar means that we are in session, but the quarterly schools have a planning day.

MAPLEWOOD SPELLERS REPRESENTING US APRIL 26^TH - We are proud to announce that the following students will represent our 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th graders in a city-wide Spelldown. Our 3^rd graders are Zoe Crain and Zoe LaDu, 4^th graders are Keenan Murray and William Nourse, and 5^th graders are Vince Campbell and Joe Weissig. Congratulations and good luck to our representatives.

APRIL LIFESKILL - Remember the saying, “Patience is a virtue”? Patience is waiting calmly without complaint; steadfast; faithful; dependable – all excellent character traits in a family member, friend, and an employee. The next LIFESKILL topic for our school is:

PATIENCE

As family members, you understand how demanding one child or a few children can be. In the classroom, where we have many more students, the LIFESKILL of Patience is an extremely important skill for both the teacher and the students to use. Some of the ways we will develop a deeper understanding of the LIFESKILL of Patience include:

· Brainstorming constructive activities that can be done while waiting in a line

· Listing many situations in which we might need to be patient

· Role playing situations that show impatience and then patience

At home, you can further continue our study of patience by:

· Insisting that children take turns

· Reading chapter books – one chapter per night

· Encouraging your child to set some long-term goals, such as saving for a pair of roller blades, a bike, or a movie ticket

Family members are their children’s best role models. Help your child to become a better learner by modeling a sense of perseverance, patience, and inner strength.

April Character Education Program Update from Jenny Pitts,

Character Ed Specialist

Student Council: Now that Project Second Wind, the food drive, is complete – the Student Council is in the process of deciding on another project to start on or complete by the end of the year. Lots of great ideas have come from council members and their classmates. I’ll keep you posted on further developments!

Lifeskills: To date we have focused on seven Lifeskills: Friendship, Cooperation, Responsibility, Caring, Integrity, Effort, and Organization. This month we are talking about the Lifeskill PATIENCE.

Parent Resource Library: Thank you for all of your book suggestions! The books have arrived! The Parent Resource Library bookshelf is located against the wall by room 102. Some book suggestions came in after we placed the order. I have kept track of these and plan on including them the next time we order books for the library. Amanda Smith is still developing a checkout system, so stay tuned!

Second Step Workshop for Kindergarten Parents: I am in the process of planning an informational workshop about the Second Step program that Kindergarten students are receiving in their classroom. Second Step is a school-based program that teaches children to think of others’ feelings, solve problems cooperatively, and manage their anger in a positive way. This workshop will occur in May. When I know the exact date, I will send notes home and information about how parents can sign up.

Steps to Respect: This week, I started the Steps to Respect program in both 5^th grade classes. It is a bullying prevention program. The primary goal of this program is to help create a safe, caring, respectful learning environment. As part of Steps to Respect, 5^th grade students will learn new skills to help them build friendships and deal with bullying. They will learn to make friends, manage conflicts, and recognize, refuse, and report bullying – whether it happens to them or someone else. These are great skills to have, for our learning environment now, and in the future! If you have any questions, please contact me at (503) 916-6308.

PROJECT SECOND WIND: We reached our Project Second Wind goal…and then some! In one week we collected 520 pounds of food and $278.54 (which is enough to buy 1,671 pounds of food). This brings our total “pounds” collected to 2,196!!! Thank you to our Student Council for helping with the annual food drive, and a big thank you to our generous students, families, and staff. The food and money collected will go a long way in helping fight hunger in our state! Jenny Pitts, Character Education Specialist.

Upcoming Events:

Apr 13 - PTA Meeting 6:15 to 7:30

Apr 13 - End of Run for the Arts Pledge Period

Apr 14 - Robert Gray Middle School Visit at 9:45 a.m.

Apr. 17 - Yes, we do have school at Maplewood that day

Apr 18 - Run for the Arts

Apr 20 - Rockin’ Water Show for 4^th/5^th Grade at 10:30 am

Apr 25 - Run for the Arts Rain Date

Apr 28 - End of Run for the Arts Collection Period

Apr 28 - Bookbaggers!

May 1-5 - Teacher Appreciation Week!!