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Calvin Coolidge School
P.T.O. Minutes
December 5, 2007
http://www.wyckoffschools.org
The meeting was opened with the flag salute and Marni Scanlon welcomed the
membership at 9:22am.
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Upcoming Events for December |
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Looking Ahead to January |
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5th
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PTO meeting 9:15 am |
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2nd
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PTO meeting 9:15 am |
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7th
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The Holiday Alphabet Concert |
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9th
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Mathletes |
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12th
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Our House is a Holiday House Concert |
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10th
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5th Grade Band Concert |
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12th
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Mathletes |
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16th
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Hockey Game Devils vs. Islanders |
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20th
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Choral Concert |
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17th
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Military Bridge |
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18th
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Kids Night Grades K & 2 |
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23rd
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Mathletes |
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24th
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Military Bridge |
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25th
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Kids Night Grades 1 & 3 |
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29th
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Blood Drive for Books |
PRESIDENT'S REPORT: MARNI SCANLON
Upcoming Events:
December 10th, 8:00pm, Eisenhower, Board of Ed Meeting, regarding the budget,
this item will be first on the agenda.
We have added two new events to the calendar:
January 16th, 2008, 7:00pm Devils vs. Islanders at the Prudential Center, tickets will be $30.00 each. This price includes the ticket and a Devils hat. Tickets are normally $65.00. Please let us know if you would like to attend so we can purchase the tickets in a group. Please contact Jill Sussman, Valerie Steiner or myself. You may also email us at, coolidgePTO@wyckoffschools.org.
January 29th, 2008 Blood Drive for Books, we will receive books for the media center for everyone who donates blood. This activity will be student driven and fulfill their community service requirements. Anyone wishing to donate blood or have their child participate, please contact Marni Hess by emailing coolidgePTO@wyckoffschools.org.
Newsletter:
You should be receiving the newsletter if you have signed up. If you have not
signed up to receive it, you may do so on the Coolidge school website at http://www.wyckoffschools.org/coolidge/index.html.
Please, also sign up your spousesÕ work email address as well. If you have
signed up and have not received it, it may be due to it going to your bulk mail
or spam folder. Please check this out before contacting us. If you need to
contact us, please email Cara Goodrich at coolidgePTO@wyckoffschools.org.
ATTENTION ALL COMMITTEE HEADS:
Once your flyer and information is approved, by Mr. Famularo and myself, please forward it to: coolidgePTO@wyckoffschools.org. In order for it to appear in the newsletter Friday, it must be sent before Wednesday of that week.
PLEASE REGISTER TO VOTE:
It is important that each election is well attended to represent the needs of the citizens of our town. If you are new to the community or still need to register, please go to http://www.nj.gov/oag/elections/voter-registration-application.html to download an application.
Book Donation:
We will be distributing the donated books to the teachers before the holiday break.
Guest Speaker-Sue Moffa from the Wyckoff Ambulance Corp.:
The Wyckoff Ambulance Corp started in 1929, is the
2nd oldest in the state. We presently have 43 members, between the
ages of 18-80 years old. No taxes support the Ambulance Corp. it relies on a
yearly fund drive and other donations. We are asking for more volunteers to
take 1 shift a week, during daytime hours. You do not have to be onsite during
shifts, but in the vicinity. You will be issued a pager for calls. A 120-hour
class is required. This class is free. A new class will be starting in January.
Recertification must take place every three years. Please contact us if you are
interested at,
Wyckoff Volunteer Ambulance Corps Inc., 146 Ridge
Rd., Wyckoff,
NJ 07481-2713, (201) 848-0400.
FIRST VICE PRESIDENT'S REPORT: MEGAN ALYWARD
Coolidge Directory:
Directories are still available for $3.00 each. As mentioned prior any family who did not pay dues was not included in the directory. If you need to know the exact number for any reason, (for example making cup cakes) please check with your child's teacher or ask the school office.
Volunteer Opportunities:
We still need 6 volunteers for Hospitality the responsibilities include, baking or providing refreshments at PTO meetings and other PTO activities. Also, set up and clean.
Also, we need volunteers to supervise the Simply Gourmet hot lunch. The days are Monday & Friday between the hours of 11:20am Š12:50pm. Please let us know if you can fill in on one or more of these days.
Please contact me if you are interested in volunteering for either of these positions.
SECOND VICE PRESIDENT'S REPORT: VALERIE STEINER AND JILL SUSSMAN
School Spirit Wear:
If there are any errors or problems with School Spirit Wear you purchased please contact us.
Grocery Gift Cards:
Grocery gift card program was due this Friday December 7th. Please check the deadlines on the envelopes. Thank you to all for participating. We are asking for a class parent, from each class to help distribute the cards. Please let us know which parent will be helping.
Innisbrook:
You may still participate in helping our school raise more money throughout the year by purchasing from the Innisbrook website at http://www.innisbrook.com/NewIcom/homepage.cfm our school number is 101301. Our school receives 50% profit. Chairs: We still need committee
chairs for the following committees.
THIRD PRESIDENT'S REPORT: MICHAEL ANDRULLI
Mr. Adriulli Introduced a few first grade students to read a poem that was performed during their Thanksgiving show. He also introduced, the President of the student council. The Student Council is collecting lip balm and art supplies to help the children, of Tomorrow's Children, housed at Hackensack Hospital. They use these supplies after they receive treatments. The students will be collecting these items till December 17th. You may drop them off in the labeled boxes, in the lobby of our school, or send the items in with your children. Please, due to health concerns the lip balm must be sealed and unused.
Please feel free to contact the staff at any time. Happy Holidays.
TREASURERÕS REPORT: NANCY ZANKI
Financial Report from November 1, - November 8, 2007 was approved by the PTO. If you would like to view the reports they will be in the PTO box in the school office.
Reimbursement:
If you apply for reimbursement, your check will be left in the PTO box in the front office.
SECRETARY'S REPORT: MARNI HESS
November minutes were circulated and approved.
When attending a PTO meeting please sign yourself in on the attendance list. The minutes from the previous month will be circulated, please initial any area that might quote you. * From now on the PTO Minutes will only be electronically posted. We will let you know through the newsletter when they are posted. Please also check the PTO WEB site.
CO-TREASURER'S
REPORT: MARY ALLAIN &
BERNADETTE RAGUSEO
The Economy issued itsÕ first check to Coolidge for $1820.00. Please continue to cosign shop and donate. Also please volunteer for one of the shifts. See our website to learn more about the Economy Shop.
http://www.wyckoffschools.org/coolidge/pto/pto2002/HDIGIexp/eEconShop.html.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Playground Committee: Christina Gori & Stephanie Raccioppi
Engraved bricks are still for sale. Forms for this are online at http://www.wyckoffschools.org/coolidge/pto/pto2002/ptohome.html scroll down the bottom of the page where you see the playground and download the pdf file. Please see Christina or Stephanie if you have any questions. We would like to place another brick order this spring. Thank you, to Tom Grayson for getting us great pricing for fillers.
WEF: Barbara Sharer
The annual dinner dance is being held March 8th, at the Tides in North Haledon. The theme this year is "Risky Business". The band "Mary's Basement" is scheduled to perform.
Mathletes: Dan Plotnick
75 children have signed up for this activity. We are still in need or parent volunteers. Please contact Dan or Ming Chow Plotnick.
Theme Day: Melissa Milbank
This years' theme is "World Festival 2008". Each classroom will be transformed into another country or culture. So far we have 19 workshops, but could always use more. Some of the workshops include India, Mexico, Costa Rico, Ireland, Sweden, Korea, Egypt, Mexico and Olympic Games. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact me.
Fifth Grade Reps: Lynn Bruggemann, Jeanine Rossi & Maria Russo
Thank you for supporting the fifth grade by participating in the Cookie Dough Sale. We will be kicking off another fundraiser in January for Yankee Candles. Please support the fifth grade.
We are in need of moms to serve pizza lunch. Please contact us if you are interested.
Fifth Grade Moms: We need baby pictures, pictures of your child and group photos from this year for the yearbook. Please contact us if you have any questions.
Kids Night: Anna Manfredi & Jen Manteau
We are in need of Hawaiian (hula) shirts. Please contact Anna or Jen.
Military Bridge: Stephanie Racioppi & Daniella Rubinetti
This event will be taking place January 17th, 2008 at the Eisenhower School. Please come and have a fun night out. There will be baskets to win and desserts to eat. You do not need to know how to play. Anybody wishing to donate a basket, bake a dessert or volunteer please contact us.
Cookbook: Diane Clarke & Stacey Frenkel
We have close to 80 sold so far. Please purchase these books. There are over 320 recipes. Most of the recipes are unusual and very simple to make. These books will make great gifts. Please contact us with any questions. You can access the order form on our website at http://www.wyckoffschools.org/coolidge/pto/pto2002/forms/cuisine.htm
Specialty Fundraising: Christina Gori
We are still accepting box tops, ink cartridges and cell phones. These programs not only raise money, they also help the environment. There will be an upcoming contest to see which classroom can collect the most.
PRINCIPAL'S REPORT: MR. FAMULARO
Terra Nova score reports were mailed home this week for students in grades 2 - 5. This assessment data is used to identify individual student strengths and weaknesses and is used to help guide instruction in the classroom. As you review your child's results keep in mind that test scores are only one source of information about your child's ability. Test scores should always be evaluated in light of other observations, assessments and your child's ongoing performance in school. Should you have any questions about these score reports, please do not hesitate to contact us.
If you have not signed up yet to receive email communication from the PTO and from Mr. Famularo please visit the Coolidge Web Site for login information or contact the main office. If you have signed up but have not received an email yet please contact the main office.
The Holiday Season is here! At Coolidge School, we are particularly fortunate to have the opportunity to share what we have with those who need our help. This year, the Student Council will be donating supplies to the Tomorrow's Children's Institute at Hackensack University Medical Center. The supplies that are donated will be given to and enjoyed by chronically ill children who spend a great deal of time in the hospital and at the clinic.
As you know, the Coolidge School theme this year is Manners Matter. Each month a different point of emphasis is stressed by the staff to reinforce this theme. A school wide assembly was held recently to celebrate our work towards improving manners and to reinforce the lessons taught each month. During our assembly two skits were performed by both students and teachers demonstrating good and bad manners. Audience members actively participated by holding up either "smiley faces" or "sad faces" to demonstrate whether good or bad manners were displayed in the skit. Mrs. Perry and Ms. Berg are to be thanked for their leadership role in this endeavor. The assembly concluded with the singing of our "Cougar Pride" song to the tune of "This Land is Our Land". During the month of December students are focusing on how to show manners while speaking to others. Teachers continue to develop lessons and activities that are integrated into the regular curriculum to support our theme. We hope you can reinforce these lessons at home!
On the evening of November 29th, 20 fourth grade students and their parents joined Mr. Famularo for a discussion of Frindle by Andrew Clements. Students enjoyed being part of a book club and made excellent contributions to the group. The notion of "reading as a social event" was emphasized throughout the evening. Thank you to Ms. Levine and Ms. Cocco for joining the group. A book club for second grade students is being planned for January. A flyer will be distributed shortly and all are encouraged to attend!
The second Coffee with the Principal took place on November 28th. The focus of this meeting was "Homework Without Tears". Approximately twenty parents were in attendance for a presentation that included suggestions for study skills, developing responsibility in your child, time management and the development of a homework plan. Parents were provided with an opportunity to ask questions and discuss these topics informally as well. Please let me know what topics are of interest to you for upcoming Coffee discussions.
Students in grades 4-5 will be taking part in a spelling bee after the holiday break. Ultimately, a school champion will be crowned and will advance to semi-final rounds against students from other schools. Details to follow shortly.
The cold weather is upon us. Parents are reminded to dress children appropriately as we are outside for line up and midday fitness.
Respectfully Submitted,
Marni Hess
Meeting Adjourned 10:21am
Attendance: 37
TEACHERS REPORTS FROM NOVEMBER
November was an exciting month in Kindergarten! Mr. N introduced us to the word November with his Noisy Nose; he was followed by Mr. H and his Happy Hair! The most exciting part was when the students were introduced to the first vowel, Ms. A. They also refer to her as a Letter light since she lights the way to make words. The students learned her sound could be in the beginning of a word, but when the sound is in the middle, they can make words like, hat, cat, mat, and fat. They realized those words all rhyme, too! The new Everyday words are; my, made, do, see, the, there, is and me. There was plenty of work with numbers, the students even made Noodle Numbers in honor of Mr. N and they hang in our classrooms!
The social studies lessons were around the holiday of Thanksgiving and the voyage of the Pilgrims to our country. The children enjoyed learning about how the Native Americans helped the new settlers fish, plant and build homes. We celebrated by dressing up and having a mini feast in our own in our classrooms. This was all possibly due to the donations from our parents, so thank you very much!
We also appreciate receiving books, which were purchased for our classrooms at the Book Fair.
November was an interesting and exciting month. We continue working on short vowel sounds in reading/language arts. During Reading workshop we're using our schema to make connections with the characters and stories we are reading. During Writer's Workshop we wrote and published stories from our hearts and invited parents to our 1st Authors' Celebration. We also completed a unit on label books.
In math we are working on readiness/understanding of addition and subtraction facts and strategies. Remember to practice math facts!
In health we began our unit on Nutrition. Our activities included sorting foods according to food groups, and identifying healthy and less healthy foods. Stories included The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Junk Food.
In Social studies our stories included The Wall, The Tuskegee Airmen Story and My Teacher for President. We discussed Veterans Day, American Heroes and the election process. Our activities included a mock election, sandpaper rubbing and a sentence about our own personal hero.
We were happy to see everyone on Parent Visitation Day and hope you enjoyed your visit to our classrooms.
The highlight of the month: The First Thanksgiving Day presented by our first graders. All of your hard work preparing our Thanksgiving Feast was greatly appreciated. We have so much to be thankful for!
Second Graders have been busy during our short month of November! Science work has expanded to include the properties of liquids. The boys and girls enjoyed challenging their classmates to guess their "Mystery Liquids" which were brought from home. Many of our students also enjoyed presenting their independent science work at the Coolidge School Science Fair.
Place value work has been the focus of our Math lessons and now we are learning about money. This is always an exciting topic for second graders!
We have been taking a close look at our U.S. coins. The boys and girls have also been bringing in examples of money from other countries and it has been interesting to compare that currency with our own.
As we entered the holiday season, the children began to think about the thankful feelings that they have. Each class composed an "I Am Thankful" booklet, which was written and illustrated by the children. The booklet was taken home as a Thanksgiving Day gift for their family.
Reading Workshop activities have included many opportunities for the children to visualize what they are reading. We have discussed what they pictured as they have read or listened to a story. Several times they also sketched their pictures. These visualizing experiences help our students have a better understanding of the stories or poems we are sharing. This practice also helps with comprehension when independent reading is done.
We wish to thank our Art Docent volunteers for sharing the life and work of Vincent Van Gogh with our classes. Our students were very interested to learn about this famous artist and they especially enjoyed creating their own version of Starry Night!
Everyone enjoyed our recent Manners Matter assembly. During the month of December we will be thinking about ways to show manners when we are talking with others. In keeping with the idea of showing consideration for others, each of our second grade classrooms now has a special Good Deed Tree. Each day we try to focus on the good deed of the day. We are also encouraging everyone to remember to do good deeds when they are away from school as well.
As the holidays approach, we wish you all peace and happiness and we look
Forward to a new year filled with continued excitement about learning!
Third Grade News
We can't believe that the month of November has gone by so quickly. We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends. Despite the short month we've been busy.
Math-- We've been working on strengthening skills in addition and subtraction of larger numbers, rounding, and estimating. Students are greatly anticipating learning the operations of multiplication and division. We will be teaching them as a family of facts beginning soon.
Reading-- For the month of December students will read just one book for Readers' Circle. This is a choice book. We've been learning how to write a "reading impression" as a glimpse into our "just right " books. This reading impression plan is the format to be followed for this Readers' Circle writing.
Science-- Students have continued to be amateur geologists in our Earth Materials unit. We've tested samples and made observations about how to find certain minerals in a variety of rocks.
Health-- Everyone has enjoyed the study of Digestion through the reading of the book What Happens to a Hamburger? As a culminating activity students made a model diagram of the system in class. We also enjoyed a visit from Dr. Rivera-Penera, one of our third grade parents who presented a first hand picture of the digestive system. We are also becoming more aware of what constitutes "nutrient rich foods."
Social Studies-- Through the study of communities we're learning so much about each other's heritage and ancestors. This study has led us to integrate our written language together with social studies. We're in the process of doing writing about the traditions celebrated at this time of year in all of our families. The students made continent cards for their study of the landforms of the Earth. Review of the configuration of each continent should be ongoing.
We'd like to thank the P.T.O. and the parents for the gifts of books from our "wish list" at the Book Fair. We are making such good use of them.
We wish everyone Happy Holidays during the coming season.
Fourth graders were very thankful throughout the month of November!
Our readers made excellent connections while reading. They were able to make text-self, text-text, and text-world connections to gain deeper meaning from a variety of texts.
In math we reviewed multiplication and division concepts. Fourth graders were also introduced to algebra by learning how to evaluate and write expressions.
Our scientists learned how to make a motor run by creating a closed circuit in our electricity unit. Then we used a switch to investigate open and closed circuits.
We reviewed lots of grammar in the month of November, such as nouns and pronouns, writing compound and complex sentences, and as always adding more description to our stories.
We completed our interesting unit on the role that NJ played in the American Revolution, and how important it was to our nation's history.
We hope that everyone has a happy and healthy holiday season!
Fifth Grade News
As we move closer to the holidays, many interesting learning experiences are occurring in the Fifth Grade. The spirit of the season will be used as the inspiration for their essay about "The Perfect Gift". They will be using the writing process and many of the crafts they have been learning to construct a five-paragraph essay. This spirit will be carried into our Health curriculum as the students learn to appreciate the differences between groups and families.
In Social Studies, the students are challenged to use their imagination along with facts from a variety of resources to construct an Explorer Magazine. The project will be school-based, but some of the workload will be carried over into the home.
The classes are immersed in the genre of historical-fiction through their reading of Number the Stars. With the Holocaust as a backdrop, they have actively been using the strategies of predicting, connecting, and questioning. Eventually, they will be analyzing characters as well as their decisions based on the text.
The Fifth Grade teachers would like to wish you a happy holiday, and a very healthy new year!
Vocal Music-Mrs. Allen
December is a very exciting month at Coolidge. We have 3 performances scheduled at Coolidge in addition to our performance in Paramus Park.
Our first performance is on Friday, December 7th at 9:30. Our Pre school, Kindergarten and First Grade students will present The Holiday Alphabet.
I found the original version of this show last year and have modified it so that all December holidays are featured.
On December 11th the Fifth grade chorus students will be performing in Paramus Park Mall near the interior entrance to Sears. Our concert will begin at 4:00.
Each year the students who are performing in Paramus Park have the opportunity to sing additional songs. The students are directed to select their favorite holiday song. These songs are approved by me. I add additional songs so that we are honoring Chanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa.
Our second performance at Coolidge school is on Wednesday, December 12th at 9:30. The Second and Third grade students will be presenting Our House is a Holiday House, featuring a recorder prelude by our talented third graders.
Our final performance at Coolidge is on Thursday, December 20th at 9:30 when the chorus performs their Holiday Concert. I am very proud of these students for the time and effort that have put in to make this concert a success. They have some very challenging pieces to present to you this year. I know you will be thrilled when you hear the students sing in many languages!
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Famularo and the staff of Coolidge school for their support and assistance with these performances. Many people are involved with every performance at Coolidge and I couldn't do it without their help.
Happy Holidays!
Mrs. Allen