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Calvin Coolidge School
P.T.O. Minutes
November 12, 2007
http://www.wyckoffschools.org
The meeting was opened with the flag salute and Marni Scanlon welcomed the membership at 7:05pm.
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Upcoming Events for November |
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Looking Ahead to December |
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12th |
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PTO meeting 7:00 pm |
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5th |
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PTO meeting 9:15 am |
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15th |
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Classroom Visitation Day |
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7th |
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The Holiday Alphabet Concert Grades Pre-K, K & 1st, 9:30am |
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16th |
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Science Fair 7:00 pm |
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12th |
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Our House is a Holiday House Concert |
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20th |
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1st Grade Thanksgiving Play |
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12th |
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Mathletes |
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28th |
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Mathletes |
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20th |
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Choral Concert Grades 4 & 5 9:30am |
PRESIDENT'S REPORT: MARNI SCANLON
Newletter Blasts: In our effort to reduce paper usage, we are now blasting email newsletters. You should have signed on to the mailing list, during your child's teacher conference. 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 spouses' work email address as well. 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 Tuesday of that week. Thank you to Cara Goodrich for all your hard work, getting this accomplished.
KidzArt generous contribution: We would like to thank KidzArt, who has donated all the profit generated at the Harvest Festival to the Coolidge PTO. We have one or two free sessions for those who are in financial need. Please see me. The matter will be handled in a discrete fashion.
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: During the meeting a vote was passed to buy all remaining teacher wish list books, not already purchased by parents at the Book Fair.
FIRST VICE PRESIDENT'S REPORT: MEGAN ALYWARD
Coolidge Directory:
Directories are still available for $3.00 each. Please let me know if there is a correction to be made with your family's entry in the directory. If you have volunteered for an activity and have not received a phone call from the chairperson, please feel free to contact her or him. Also if you are available to volunteer, and have not signed up to do so please call. We can always use the extra help at all our activities.
We still need volunteers for Kid's Night. Please contact me if you are interested.
SECOND VICE PRESIDENT'S REPORT: VALERIE STEINER AND JILL SUSSMAN
Wrapping Paper Sale (Innisbrook): Thank you so much for participating during this event. We gave away 75 cool dudes. 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.
School Spirit Wear: Thank you for purchasing School Spirit Wear. You should be receiving your orders in time for the holidays.
Grocery Gift Cards: This has been a very successful fundraiser so far. Elvira Broekhuizen won the raffle for the gift basket from Abma Farms, which included fresh pies.
Chairs: We still need committee chairs for the following committees.
THIRD PRESIDENT'S REPORT: MICHAEL ANDRULLI
Mr. Adriulli was absent from the meeting.
TREASURER'S REPORT: NANCY ZANKI
Financial Reports from September 1, - September 28, 2007 & September 29, - October 31, 2007 were approved by the PTO. If you would like to view the reports they will be in the PTO box in the school office.
SECRETARY'S REPORT: MARNI HESS
October 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 shop raised $645.00 from the Lord & Taylor coupons. The 1st week of the month is "Markdown Mondays." If you volunteer on that day you can bring your children. The checks for the first part of the year are going to be available around the Thanksgiving Holiday. See our website to learn more about the Economy Shop.
http://www.wyckoffschools.org/coolidge/pto/pto2002/HDIGIexp/eEconShop.html.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Playground Committee:
The first round of pavers should be delivered within the next week. We have solicited quotes from 3 different landscapers for lay the pavers. Be a part of the playground's patio! 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.
WEF: Dan Plotnick
Dr. Razze is compiling wish lists for this year. The Family 5K Walk/Run was well attended. Coolidge had a great turnout at this event.
Book Fair: Marni Hess & Anne O'Reilly
Thank you to all for making this year's Book Fair a success.
Mathletes: Dan Plotnick
60 children have signed up for this activity. We are still in need or parent volunteers for grades 2 & 3. Please contact Dan Plotnick or Ming Chow.
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 Wine Tasting and Cookie Dough Sale. Please don't forget to pick-up your wine.
Fifth Grade Moms: We need baby pictures and pictures of your child for the yearbook. Please contact us if you have any questions.
Kids Night: Anna Manfredi & Jen Manteau
We are in need of parent volunteers for grades 1 and 3. Please contact Anna or Jen if you are interested in participating.
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 or volunteering please contact us.
PRINCIPAL'S REPORT: MR. FAMULARO
Respectfully Submitted,
Marni Hess
Meeting Adjourned 8:21pm
Attendance: 32
TEACHERS REPORTS FROM OCTOBER
The month of October was full of excitement. The Letter people made an appearance; Ms. T with her tall teeth helped us learn about dental hygiene. We had fun making tie dyed t-shirts as we wore our favorite t-shirt on T-Shirt day. Ms. F helped us talk about our feelings and the sound /f/ can be in the beginning and the end of words! We learned so many new Everyday words; and, the, do, see, are and you and the children discovered them in the new books they received from the Letter people.
In mathematics the students have continued to count the days of the week, month and how many days we have been in school. We are learning that place value is important when we count numbers and patterns are everywhere!
The weather and season change was very much part
of our science lessons on Trees. The children had fun making bark rubbings
with paper and crayons.
We have worked on our theme of Manners Matter, and the students are quite aware of how important good manners are in school. Of course the Halloween parties and the parade was a great way to end the month.
October was a "spook"tacular month in our classroom. We read many great books through our Balance Literacy program. This program uses literature to teach reading skills, phonics, spelling, grammar and writing skills. We have also been learning and practicing what good readers do and how good readers think while they are reading. During our readers' workshops we have been making predictions and connections with our stories. We have been practicing our skills and strategies reading our "just right" books and using sticky notes to keep track of our thinking while reading. We have had many opportunities to "turn and talk" with partners to share our reading as well. In our writers' workshop we continued to write about special events, places, and people.
In Math, we began working with numbers and finding ways to make numbers using a tens chart and colored chips. We have also been learning about joining two groups together to make addition sentences. We used dominoes to practice adding horizontally and vertically. We've been using our problem solving skills to read and solve story problems.
In Social Studies we read the story, Stellaluna, and discussed discovering and accepting each other's differences. After reading, we created a venn diagram comparing bats and birds. We also completed an activity that compared each child with a partner to find things they had in common and things that were different. For Columbus Day we celebrated by reading books and poems about Christopher Columbus' journey to the new world. October was fire safety month. We read many great books about fire safety and appreciated having the Wyckoff fire fighters come to speak to us. We learned many fire safety rules. Thank you fire fighters! Have a safe and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Second Grade News
Second Graders had their first standardized test experience in October. The students were able to take the Terra Nova test. They accepted the challenge and worked very hard to do their best!
Thanks to the P.T.O. for once again sponsoring the recent Book Fair. Everyone enjoyed looking at the many books which were displayed. We also appreciated the classroom book donations which were made by our families. We will make good use of these gifts!
On another book note, each second grade class is supporting the Scholastic Classroom Cares Program as they enjoy reading some great books. Scholastic Books invites classes to read 100 books. When this is accomplished,100 books are donated to worthwhile children's organizations on our behalf. We are enjoying some wonderful books and the good feeling that comes from helping others.
During our Readers' Workshop Time, we have been thinking about ways to describe the characters in our books. Our readers are practicing how to retell a story and they have been able to make many text-to-text connections with books we have shared.
Interest in mail delivery to Coolidge School is at an all time high as replies to our Flat Stanley letters have begun to arrive. This part of the project is especially exciting. Some of our "flattened" travelers have returned with photos, postcards, letters and even artifacts from their travel destinations. We look forward to hearing about many more intriguing locales!
Now that we have completed our first Social Studies Unit, we have been focusing on our first Science Module which involves the study of solids and liquids. The boys and girlshave enjoyed exploring new concepts and they are learning some scientific vocabulary. Everyone is excited to investigate this very popular subject!
Our Math work has included the use of a variety of subtraction strategies. The boys and girls have learned to make fact families using the addition and subtraction facts. Our Every Day Counts program also gives students the opportunity to practice time, money, pattern recognition and place value skills.
During Unit 1 of our Health curriculum, we focused on safety topics. The boys and girls are currently studying about the brain and how we think. We have decided that our brain is an amazing thing! We are also learning about ways to keep it healthy!
We wish to thank everyone who helped make our Halloween celebration a success! Thanks to the parents who helped with costumes and those who provided refreshments for our party.
Third Grade News
Third graders were in a festive mood as October came to an end. Everyone looked great as they happily paraded around the field in their spectacular Halloween costumes. All had an enjoyable time. Halloween safety rules were carefully reviewed in class.
Students are working hard to master our recent math lessons. They counted money and made change. Practice at home is encouraged. Rounding and estimating sums and differences are being worked on now. Adding multi-digit numbers with regrouping is also being learned. Problem solving and writing in math continue to be a priority.
In Science, students finished separating the ingredients in their mock rocks right down to watching salt crystals form in evaporating dishes. Next, they compared their mock rocks with real rocks. They concluded that mock rocks and real rocks are similar because they both are made of different ingredients. Minerals are the ingredients of real rocks. More experimenting is being conducted to test the hardness of minerals.
Come see and read the children's paragraphs about their favorite rocks that are displayed in our hallway. Soon third graders will complete descriptive paragraphs about the famous Russian witch, Baba Yaga. Writing will continue to be emphasized throughout the year.
Recorders have arrived, and third graders are already practicing for the holiday concert. You'll be amazed at the progress made in a short amount of time.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
October was a month filled with hard work and fun for the fourth graders.
We started the month with the Terra Nova testing, which was a huge success. Reading Workshop is in full effect in our classrooms. Each day we start with our exciting read - a- loud before moving into our strategy lessons. Students have been busy thinking while they read by asking questions and recording them in their readers notebooks. Many of our students have completed their AR goal for marking period 1 and are continuing to read towards their goal for 25 books for the year. For writing this month, we worked on paragraph structure, sentences and grammar and incorporated these skills into descriptive writing pieces about our favorite places.
For social studies we enjoyed learning about the daily lives of New Jersey's first settlers, the Lenape. Science has been filled with many investigations and hands-on experiments about force and magnetism. Our mathematicians reviewed addition and subtraction along with an introduction to algebra. They had fun solving these equations and finding values for variables.
The band and chorus programs are in full swing and our students are enjoying their time at rehearsals.
The month ended with our Harvest Festival and Halloween Parade, which were a blast!
Thanks to everyone who helped make both events so special.
Fifth Grade News
The fifth grade has been extremely busy through the first part of November. We have completed Maniac Magee, and wrapped up the strategy of questioning. The students will begin focusing on making meaningful connections during reading workshop.
Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry, will be our next read aloud. During Writers Workshop they are completing personal narratives, and tracking changes using flash drives.
The fifth graders are moving into the Age of Exploration in Social Studies. They will be working on an Explorer Magazine at home, and connecting various resources to exploration.
Our unit on multiplication and decimals is coming to an end in Math, and the students will begin diving into division.
When you get a chance, please take a look at the wonderful changes in the courtyard, courtesy of last year's fifth graders, and the generous donation from the PTO.
The holiday season is upon us! Actually, we've been rehearsing for a few weeks now. I am very excited about our upcoming performances at Coolidge. I know you will enjoy having the opportunity to hear our talented students perform in the next few weeks.
Our First grade students kick off the holiday season with their Thanksgiving Play and Feast on November 20th at 11:30. We have added a new song to our list this year and I know you will enjoy it as well as our other traditional favorites.
The Pre school, Kindergarten and First Grade students will perform
"The Holiday Alphabet" on Friday, December 7th at 9:30. Ms. DiTursi and I have already sent out a letter to all parents of first grade students regarding this performance. If you did not receive a letter, please see one of us right away!
The Second and Third grade students will perform "Our House is a Holiday House" on Wednesday, December 12th at 9:30. This is a new program which I am sure everyone will enjoy.
The fifth grade students from the chorus will be performing in Paramus Park on Tuesday, December 11th at 4:00. We will be singing at the indoor entrance to Sears. This is a wonderful opportunity for our students to perform in a very unique setting. Please stop by if you can and enjoy some wonderful holiday music.
The Coolidge Chorus will be performing their Holiday Choral Concert on Thursday, December 20th at 9:30. The chorus has been meeting before school twice a week to prepare for this concert. I am impressed with their dedication toward rehearsing and being on time for rehearsals.
All students who have not joined the chorus will be invited to sing a song with the chorus at this concert.
I look forward to seeing you at these concerts.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Mrs. Allen
Physical Education-Dan Pochini
The students are continuing to work on movement concepts in the physical education classroom. They are being introduced to new ways to travel through space, and using those movements in a variety of activities. The fourth and fifth grade intramural season is off and running. Parents are invited to come watch your children play. The stage is available to come and watch the action.
October was a very busy month in Computers for all grade levels. A constant goal of infusing Computers into many lessons so that this Special is relevant and integrated with whatever our students are doing in their classrooms, is always a priority. Making a content area curriculum connection to a technology benchmark is vital in both the engagement of our students and their ability to see the connections. In Computers, 1st and 2nd grades have been using the program KidPix to better understand the math concept that "how many more" means "subtraction". The upper grades have been using the program Kidspiration to enhance their understanding of a Venn Diagram. 3rd graders, compared and contrasted the differences between rocks and minerals while the older grades used their respective class novels as a part of their assignments. November will be the beginning of many interesting and fun projects at all grade levels.
A presentation for parents of kindergarten students was held on October 22nd to provide information regarding the development of 5-6 year olds, as well as strategies to address behavior problems typical of this age. Feedback from those in attendance was positive and parents enjoyed the opportunity to share concerns and parenting tips.
Guidance lessons were conducted in second, fourth, and fifth grade classrooms to develop and reinforce interpersonal problem solving skills. Second graders learned about the use of "I Messages" and practiced using this technique as a means of communicating feelings and solving disagreements. Fourth graders discussed differences between conflicts and bullying. Students identified steps to resolving conflicts and reviewed anti-bullying strategies and resources. Decision making skills will be further developed in a lesson later this month. Strategies for dealing with conflicts and bullying were reinforced in the fifth grades. Students shared examples of conflicts they had experienced and brainstormed ways to find "Win-Win" solutions. Resources available in school, at home, and in the community were also identified.
Once again, please do not hesitate to call or stop by my office if you have any questions or concerns regarding your child's well being. I have materials for loan on many topics (discipline, grief, divorce, homework, special needs') that may be of use as you face the many challenges of parenting.