Four Seasons Newsletter

February 2016

Sharon Ferralli, Principal

February: 5

Fri

Report Cards Go Home PTA Skate Zone 5:00-7:00 PM 9 Tue Pre-K Registration Begins 9:00 - 2:00 PM 10 Wed 2 Hour Early Dismissal at 1:15 PM No PM ECI or Pre-K 12 Fri Valentine’s Day Celebration at 2:45 15 Mon Schools Closed, Presidents’ Day 16 Tue Re-Screening Vision & Hearing 19 Fri Scholastic Book Fair Preview 22—26 Book Fair Shopping (Please Note: 26th ends early, 1:00 PM) 22 Mon Schools Closed, Parent/Teacher Conferences Book Fair Open 8:00 AM-3:00 PM 23 Tue Book Fair Morning Hours 7:30 AM-9:00 AM PTA Ledo’s Night 4:00 PM - Close

March: 2

Wed Dr. Seuss’ Birthday PTA Meeting 6:00 PM 7 Mon Relay for Life “Foot” Fundraiser 13 Sun Daylight Savings Time Begins 17 Thu Kangaroo Math Competition 6:00-7:30 PM 21-28 Spring Break–all schools and offices closed. **School re-opens Tuesday 29th 2016** 31 Thu 5th Grade Panoramic Picture

New Chaperone and Volunteer Background Check Procedure

The Office of School Security has put a new process in place regarding field trip chaperones and volunteers for background investigations. Effective immediately, each prospective field trip chaperone or volunteer will submit an on-line request for a background investigation. Requests for a background investigation must be submitted three (3) weeks prior to the school event. This form can be found at:

    

AACPS website: http://www.aacps.org/ Go to “Parent” Select “Forms” Scroll down page to “Miscellaneous” on right side of page. Select first item: Chaperone/Volunteer Background Investigation Form. Complete and submit form on line.

Chaperones and volunteers who have had an approved background investigation within the last two calendar years

(2014/2015 – 2015/2016) are not required to undergo a new investigation.

Principal’s Message... Scientific research tells us that children must develop strong phonological awareness skills to become good readers. As part of our school’s effort to make all children successful readers and writers for life, we are doing mid-year checks on our students to help us provide the best targeted instruction to move them forward. We need your support at home to ensure that children are reading on a daily basis. We hope our Accelerated Program and the upcoming Bowie BaySox Reading Incentive provide extra motivation to help students develop a reason to read outside of school. Make sure you check your child’s progress towards meeting the goal of 25 books when you review the second quarter report card tonight. Many thanks for supporting your child in doing a Passion Project this year. We have seen some amazing results where students incorporated technology, talent, building, and more. The best part has been watching the enthusiasm of your children when they present and the reaction of their peers. It makes our day. Life is good at Four Seasons!

Continued on side 2

INCLEMENT WEATHER & PHONE CALLS:

Please make sure your child knows exactly what to do in the event of an early dismissal due to inclement weather. We ask that all parents make a plan that does not involve phone calls to the school during this busy time. We appreciate your cooperation.

WEAR APPROPRIATE CLOTHES!!! There is a chill in the air! We recommend multiple layers to allow for the temperature variations inside and outside.

Green Club Gains Momentum! The Green Club has recruited new members and our roster is now 16! Our student committees include: Community Involvement/Fundraising; Outdoor Learning/Composting; Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and the Energy Conservation. You may begin to see student teams busily working around the building! Teachers, please let us know if your class could use support of the Green Club as you continue work on your Environmental Literacy Curriculum. Trash Free Tuesdays have reduced our trash by an average 37% each day. That is less land fill used everyday! Be on the look out for our Fundraisers- Four Season’s water bottles, lunch sacks, tree saplings and possible Krispy Kreme! We plan to send our entire club to Youth Summit 2016 to bring new ideas back to Four Seasons!

Evelyn Schirmer Burchick, OTR

Time to Order Four Seasons Yearbook! Flyers have gone home with instructions to order your Four Seasons Yearbook. To purchase a yearbook you must place an order online during the dates stated below. Link:

http://classic.theyearbookshop.com/fourseasons

Start Date: End Date: Cost:

February 1st March 31st $20.00

Please note: The yearbook committee will not be ordering extra yearbooks to have on hand for sale. If you miss the deadline for orders, additional orders will be $30.00 a book and will be sent directly to your home over the summer. A minimum of 10 yearbooks are required to place late orders. It is not too late to send us photos for the yearbook (especially field trip pictures). Pictures must be ones taken while at the school or during a school function.

FOUR SEASONS ELEMENTARY

OUR MISSION

Fostering a life long love of learning in a Safe and orderly environment with Excellent teachers facilitating Students' active learning.

Principal’s Message Continued... NEWS TO SHARE:

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Teachers are arranging conferences with selected parents for February 22nd.  The building will be open on the 22nd for any parents who want to come in and work on Accelerated Reader with their children.  Exxon/Mobil donated $500 to support our STEM and Science education programs.  We’re using some of our Box Top money to fund the start of a Steel Drum Band!  Work continues to help fund a new sound system in our auditorium. We’ve applied for a competitive grant to support Arts in Education. Fingers crossed everyone!  Most elementary schools, including Four Seasons, will change their hours to 7:50 AM to 2:15 PM in 2017-2018 if the school start time proposal is adopted. Please go to the AACPS.org website if you have questions or need more information.  Our PARCC testing schedule is as follows: Grade 5 Week of April 19th Test AM (reading) & PM (math) Grade 4 Week of April 25th Test AM (reading) & PM (math) Grade 3 Weeks of May 2nd & May 9th Test AM only (reading then math)

Four Seasons Survey February 15th—March 18th Last year only 5.3% of Four Seasons Elementary School parents told us how they felt. This year, we want to hear from everyone. Please go to this link to take the survey and let your voice be heard: http://survey.pagequest.net Enter the password: AAFourSElemP2 Survey runs from February 15th– March 18th. To see the full newsletter including a flyer on the parent survey and “Parent Link” published by the Office of School and Family Partnership please got to Four Seasons Website.

Parent Link

Conectándolo a Ud. y a su Hijo a la Información en Nuestro Camino a la Grandeza La evidencia es consistente, positiva y convincente: las familias tienen una gran influencia en el rendimiento de sus hijos. Cuando las escuelas, las familias y los grupos de la comunidad trabajan juntos para apoyar el aprendizaje, los niños tienden a mejorar en la escuela, permanecer en la escuela por más tiempo y les gusta más la escuela.” Anne T. Henderson, Karen L. Mapp

¡AACPS Campamento de Diversión y Enriquecimiento Verano 2016! ¡Inscriba a su hijo ahora! ¡Campamento de Música del Condado De Anne Arundel 2016 @ NorthBay! Estudiantes de banda y coro en grados 6-12; 24–28 de julio de 2016 Aplicaciones de Campo debido a: 29 de febrero; Audiciones: 29 de febrero Para información y solicitud: Music Camps Link o llame al 410-222-5637.

Verano Dance intensivo 2016 11-14 de Julio y 18-21 de Julio; El complejo de Old Mill Fecha límite de inscripción - 1 º de junio; antes del 1 de marzo para descuento de matriculación temprana Para información y solicitud: Dance Camp Link o llame al 410-222-5460

Campamento de Verano Arlington Echo El Centro de Educación al Aire Libre de AACPS, Millersville, MD Personal: maestros certificados y diversos profesionales en educación ambiental y al aire libre, arte y lenguas clásicas. Fechas y tarifas varían, según el programa. Algún transporte y ayuda financiera limitada está disponible. Mas Información y solicitud: www.arlingtonecho.org o llame 410-222-3822 Campamentos de Arlington Echo en Breve: Campamento “Early Bird”: un campamento de día para estudiantes que empezarán K – 2 que explorarán, investigarán y experimentarán el mundo natural a través de actividades diseñadas para niños pequeños e incluyen ciencias, música, arte y natación. Campamento Amistad (Friendship): campamento con pernoctación de 4 días y 3 noches para niños que empezarán los grados 2 al 4. Las actividades incluyen arte, manualidades, música, representaciones teatrales cortas, juegos, entretenimiento, seguridad en la navegación, pesca y pesca de cangrejos. Campamento Planeta Tierra (Planet Earth): campamento con pernoctación de 4 días y 3 noches para estudiantes que empezarán los grados 4 al 6; actividades al aire libre y manualidades prácticas para investigar el ambiente natural y aprender estrategias de conservación de cada día; clases de natación, pesca, pesca de cangrejos, seguridad en la navegación, juegos y manualidades. Campamento Eco-aventura (Eco-Adventure): campamento residencial de 5 días y 4 noches para estudiantes que empezarán los grados 6 al 8; emocionantes retos por equipos al aire libre mientras aprenden acerca de los ecosistemas de la bahía de Chesapeake. Las actividades programadas incluyen una acampada en tienda fuera del recinto, caminatas, canoa, actividades de campo, clases de seguridad acuática, canoa, pesca, pesca de cangrejo, tiro al arco y manualidades. Programa Aprender a Nadar (Learn to Swim): un campamento de 2 semanas para niños de 3 a 11 años; siete diferentes niveles de natación. Programa “Art Trek”: Crear arte desde la naturaleza: campamento de día para estudiantes que empezaran los grados 3-6; al aire libre dirigido por maestros de arte de AACPS; los estudiantes experimentaran y creerán a través de la pintura, dibujo, escultura y otros medios artísticos visuales. También se incluye natación y canoa. Campamento de español: un campamento de 4 días para los estudiantes en los grados 1 al 5; una experiencia completa solamente en "Español" para conocer la cultura hispana y el lenguaje a través de juegos de palabras, parodias, música, arte, actividades al aire libre y actividades culturales. Para los no hablantes en español y aquellos que quieren mejorar sus habilidades lingüísticas.

Febrero 2016 Degustar el arco iris

En la cafetería de su escuela ¡El primer viernesinformation. de cada mes! Watch for further Porque los niños que están sanos y bien alimentados se desempeñan mejor en la escuela, AACPS continúa ofrecer y promover alimentos saludables en sus programas de desayuno y almuerzo escolar. Una de las muchas iniciativas de alimentos saludables de AACPS es el Degustar el Arco Iris. El primer viernes de cada mes, los estudiantes que tienen un almuerzo de la escuela se le dan una muestra de diferente fruta o verdura como parte del programa escolar de comidas. Recientemente los alimentos destacados incluyen espárrago, calabaza, jícama, berenjena y repollo. (Para un "gusto", ver el video: Enero2016 Degustar el arco iris AACPS)

Para más información sobre Degustar el Arco Iris Jardines Escolares Finca a la Escuela y otras iniciativas de comidas saludable, vea la red de los Servicios de Comida y Nutrición de AACPS red: www.aacps.org/nutrition.

Voluntario del Mes Enero 2016

Aaron Moon Escuela Primaria Nantucket Por ser un voluntario y mentor excepcional a los estudiantes de la Escuela Primaria Nantucket. Para nominar voluntarios excepcionales al Premio Voluntario de Mes de AACPS escriba a [email protected] Oficina de Asociaciones entre la Escuela y la Familia

Programas en AACPS TV: Comcast y Broadstripe Channel 96, y Verizon Channel 36 Parent Connection, Parents’ Corner, World View, Nuestra Comunidad (Our Community), y ¡Charlemos Juntos! (Let’s Chat)

Publicado por: La Oficina de Asociaciones entre la Escuela la Familia 410-222-5414; [email protected]