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Print November & December 2008 School Calendar November 2008 From the Principal's Perspective Hope you had a safe and Happy Halloween! Thank you to the PTA for providing your annual “goody bags” for our students. Thanks to each of you for your attendance at and participation in the November Conferences for our students (96% attendance rate!). An educational program as strong as the one at our school is greatly enhanced through the support and input of our parents. We are looking forward to seeing you at American Education Week – November 17, 18, and 19. Monday is designated visitation for all grade levels, and is Grandparents Day. Tuesday’s visitation is for grades K, 2, and 4. Wednesday’s visitation is for grades 1, 3, and 5. Elementary Schools can be visited between the hours of 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. I appreciate that you will observe this schedule as we are not able to provide lunches for adults. The theme for AEW this year is: “Great Public Schools: A Basic Right and Our Responsibility” Please take a moment to give someone in the PTA, or on the Citizens’ Advisory Committee feedback about our approach to “paperless communication” as we strive to become a Green School! As you and your family prepare for a Happy Thanksgiving Please support our Canned Food Drive Next Week Duane Wallace The Harford County Public School System does not discriminate on the basis or race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, or disability in matters affecting employment or in providing access to programs. Inquiries related to the policies of the Board of Education of Harford County should be directed to the Director of Public Information, 410-588-5203.
PTA News
Ernie Preston, October 14, 2008 PTA Meeting Minutes Attendance: Ernie Preston, Patty Preston, Scott Grove, Julie Marindin, Toby Marindin, Kim Tulp, Mitzi Webster, Cathy Gay, Duane Wallace, Michael Hood, Rebecca Rommelman, Diane Murk, Dayna Kilduff, Donna Sigwart, Valerie Hartman, Nicky Giordano, Missie Berrell, Tricia Allen, and Nancy Pappas Opening: 7:00pm Old/New Business: Ms. Sigwart gave a presentation on the Gifted & Talented Program currently being implemented (beginning at the Third Grade level) in Harford County Schools. This program is modeled after the program in Fairfax County, VA’s school system, and has had much success. It seems the best fit for the county’s teachers, services and resources. Ms. Sigwart’s time is split between Norrisville and Abingdon Elementary. She gave an overview of the program which has four (4) levels of Service and an explanation of each level. The program and students have an annual review by a team consisting of Mr. Wallace, Ms. Sigwart and a committee of teachers. A dedicated meeting may be scheduled if there is a desire by the parents for a larger more comprehensive event. Ms. Sigwart offered websites such as mdpublicschools.org – search for “gifted” as well as a search from Harford County Public Schools and or Maryland Department of Education websites. You may contact Ms. Sigwart directly via her email at sigwart@hcps.org for any questions or additional information. Thank you for the very informative presentation. Megan Beck has elected to have the Math-A-thon to benefit St. Jude in the month of November – more information will be forthcoming. Tricia Allen gave an update on the Fall Celebration. The theme will be scarecrow and she did say she used the entire budget and also donated some items herself. We also are thanking the Mill for some donations and Kleins. Tricia also explained our opportunity to earn credit at The Mill by having families register identify the Norrisville PTA and we receive 1% on purchases – more information will be coming home. This program will assist us for Fall Celebration in future and teacher Appreciation, and Gardner’s Grove – every penny helps. Ernie Preston requested that ALL committee chairs please know and stick to your budgets - if you do not know your budget please contact Ernie. Again – please start thinking about Officers for 2009-2010 School year we will have some openings. Julie Marindin our current VP will be running for President and Michael Hood will be running for Vice President. We will be in need of a Treasurer. Please contact Ernie if anyone is interested or wants more information on what is involved. The Harford County meeting regarding school uniforms originally scheduled for November 11th at North Harford High School has been indefinitely postponed. Julie Marindin gave a membership report – we now have 117 members, thank you to the many teachers who purchased memberships! Membership cards will be sent home with students. Toby Marindin gave and update on the Spaghetti Dinner scheduled for Tuesday, October 21, 2008 to again coincide with the Book Fair Week – October 20-24, 2008. You will note on the flyer the cost has increased, but Toby researched and we have not had a price increase on the Spaghetti Dinner in over 5 years, still a good deal. There will also be some additions to the dinner. After his duties are completed with the Spaghetti Dinner Toby will be turning his attention to the Playground Committee and identifying grants so we can get this project completed. If anyone has any experience with grants and/or would like to assist, please contact him. Mitzi Webster submitted our current expenses and income/projections and expenditures vs. actual. Mr. Wallace explained his directives from the county level to cut budgets by 5% on the current school year. This is the trickle down affect from the County, and state levels. A Citizens Advisory meeting is scheduled for Thursday, October 23, 2008 at 6:30 PM at Norrisville Elementary School please attend. The meeting is the first and will cover whatever questions anyone might have regarding the future of the school and its role in the community. Please note that NO PTA fundraising will be discussed. Diane Murk announced that Market Day has been canceled, and there is a possibility that the Fall Apparel Sale (a non- fundraiser) may be postponed until after January 1 due to a vacation of our vendor. Diane is also working on a Winter Raffle since the NASCAR was successful – she already has some popular locations, more to follow. She is also asking for anyone who may want to donate Ravens Tickets for a raffle please contact her. Rebecca Rommelman gave a review of our First Movie Night, and we did not make the revenue goal but we did make a small profit, there are some things we will do differently for future. The group decided to move forward with purchasing a license (required) for a year (good through September 12, 2009). Some changes will be a more current movie selection, possibly adding popcorn top concession stand, and having an intermission. There was some issue with the talking and children running in and out during the movie. We also reminded all that this is to be a FAMILY movie night so families can watch a movie together. Mr. Wallace assured us that our children behave wonderfully during school assemblies. Patty Preston updated The Fish-in Barrel – who offered their location for a fundraiser. This event will be held in Mid-May and will also include other fun activities. More information will be forthcoming. Patty also reminded everyone – PLEASE sign up for the GIANT A+ Rewards and Target Take Charge Education Program also offers a wonderful program you can obtain a Target Credit or register your checking account and we can earn significant money for the PTA. Again neither of these programs cost the participants any money – the organizations give the school money based on your regular shopping. Parents Night out is not something we can offer due to PTA regulations and liabilities. Patty has scheduled Chick-Fil-A Spirit Night on November 6th please mark your calendars. More information is forthcoming. We will also be having a night at Enotria in Forest Hill but they will only offer a Monday-Tuesday or Wednesday this is to be scheduled in January or February. Please have any items for the newsletter to Patty Preston no later than October 29, 2008. Valerie Hartman gave an update she is ready for Book Sale and is busy lining up her volunteers. The books will arrive next week and she will set up in lobby – Valerie will get with Tricia and Mr. Wallace so the Fall Decorations are not hidden by the Book Sale Shelves. The decision has been made to opt for a check from Scholastic rather than books. Michael Hood updated our progress on becoming a “Green School”, he has the recycle cans on order and more information will be coming home as this project moves along. Mr. Grove distributed a Media Data Bases list for students to access at home it contains websites, usernames and passwords. Please note these usernames and passwords cannot be listed on the Norrisville website but students have been given the paper with the list of sites and how to access. Adjourned: 9:05pm Respectfully submitted,
PTA MEMBERSHIP- It Matters!
November PTA Meeting Click here to download and print PTA Membership Form Click here to download and print PTA Donation Form
Upcoming Events, Updates and Help Wanted
Book Fair: The Fall Book Fair was a big success. Almost $4000 in
sales were processed and the proceeds from the book fair put $1000 into the
PTA's general account. Big thanks go out to all of the families that supported
the book fair and the spaghetti dinner. Campbell’s Labels & Box Tops: Please remember to save the labels and box tops for NES. It is such an easy way to help our school. Not sure what labels to collect? All the info is at http://norrisville.org/fundraisers.asp. If you would like to help, please call Nancy Pappas 410-692-2536. Chick-fil-A Spirit Night: Thank you for coming out to support NES on 11/6! Chick-fil-A is offering the homeroom class with the highest sales, a special keepsake classroom prize. In addition, each student in the winning homeroom will win a prize too! Stay tuned to hear the winner...All prizes will be awarded during the December 1st Good News Assembly. December Family Movie Night: Hey all you movie goers!! Mark the date now for the second installment of "FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT". We will be showing another fine feature on Friday, December 5th with the doors opening at 6:30! Plan to bring comfy seating arrangements for you and your family to enjoy another cinematic experience. Be sure and save the date and we will have more information to follow! Any questions?? Call Rebecca Rommelman 410-836–1588. GIANT A+ School Rewards/Bonus Bucks: Patty Preston 410-692-2172. NES will earn school rewards from October - April, when you register your Giant Bonus Card. You must re-register your bonus card every school year. Please note there are two separate programs for Giant stores located in MD and PA. We are eligible for both programs so be sure to register both of your bonus cards either on-line or at the Giant Customer Service Desk. This is an easy fundraising program that does not require anything but your regular shopping at the grocery store. We received $547.00 from Giant last year! An email reminder and flyer were sent out the last week of September. Extra forms are located in the office or on-line http://norrisville.org/fundraisers.asp. Enroll before November 30th and our school gets credit for all of your November purchases! Halloween/Fall Celebration: Halloween/Fall Committee would like to thank the following: The Mill of Black Horse who donated several mums and pumpkins for our Fall Lobby Display. We would also like to thank Kleins Grocery Store for donating a $25 gift certificate which we used for additional candy. A special thank you to Erin Ettenhofer, Melissa Dick, Barbara Merrin, Melissa Kurgan, Theresa Wild, Julie Moreland, Tricia Weir and Diane Murk. These talented volunteers helped decorate our school and prepared all the Harvest Party treat bags for our children to enjoy this season. Local Business Holiday Shopping: In the spirit of the Holiday (shopping) season, several local businesses have offered to give back to our PTA by donating a portion of Norrisville sales back to the PTA. Our first local shop is Belle Patri Furniture in Jarrettsville, located at 3725 Federal Hill Rd. They will be having an open house on Nov. 8th and 9th. Great opportunity to check out an awesome local shop, and give back to the school. Please hand in your receipts, or a copy of to Sandy Cook, so we can get credit for your purchase. You can send them through school to Ms. Mundle C/O Julia Cook. We are also working with Outdoor Expressions in White Hall on Holiday wreath orders. More details to come, so check back on the PTA website for updates. Also, if anyone knows local businesses who would like to be a partner in this, please contact Sandy Cook at (443) 386-1730. Patriot Program: The 2008-2009 Program is well under way, with all grades now testing for their grade level. If you are interested in your child participating, it is not too late to sign up. A signed permission form must be completed for each student to participate. Once the signed form is received, you will receive a study packet for your child's grade level. Please remember that this is a PTA sponsored Program and is completely voluntary. All studying is to be done at home with only testing taking place at school. Our parent volunteers are to only test the students, they may not help them study. It is also a K-5 Program, with 5th graders who have successfully completed each grade receiving special recognition. If your child has missed a year, or did not participate in Kindergarten, they may make up that grade level. If you would like permission form and have any questions about the Program or making up past year's Programs, please call Mitzi Webster at 410.692.0435. Read To Succeed: For students in grades 3,4 and 5, Read to Succeed will begin in December when volunteers will be explaining the program to the students and handing out the first book selections. The students will have their first discussions in January with the dates listed on the permission slips. This year we will be requiring the students to return their books in order to participate in the discussions, and no student will be given the next book until the previous book has been returned. We will have snacks and prizes at each discussion, and every student who attends at least five discussions will receive a gift certificate to the school store and is eligible to win a gift certificate to the spring book fair. We're looking forward to fun and interesting discussions! School Store: The school store is up and running! I am still in need of parent volunteers willing to give half an hour a month on a Friday from about 8:30-9:00. Please contact Tracey Grumbach using the phone number listed in the student directory. Skate Night: Skate Night has been tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, December 30, 2008. Roll R' Way in York will be the venue again this year. The time will be from 6-8:30 pm. Each skater will cost $4.00, skate rentals are a separate charge and will be paid at the skating rink that night. If you have your own skates or in-line skates, please bring them! You can purchase refreshments at the snack bar for an additional cost. Advanced tickets will be sold to allow for door prizes again. Tickets will also be available at the door. Please encourage friends, family, and alumni to attend. The more, the merrier! Look for flyers to start coming home on December 1st!
Spaghetti Dinner: The Spaghetti Dinner was a big success, for the third
year running we served over three hundred dinners, and the NES school community
showed its true colors by strongly supporting this family function. It is truly
appreciated. The key of course is the fantastic volunteers who were so giving
of their time. The Mill Donation Program:
Attention Friends in our community. Please join us in our newest program to
help our school earn free money! Please fill out the attached form so our school
can start earning 1% of your total purchases made at The Mill of Bel Air, The
Mill of Whiteford and the Mill of Black Horse stores. This is another free and easy way to help our school earn money. Please fill out the form and send it back in to school with your child. Forms are due in before the Thanksgiving break on Thursday, Nov 26th. Still have questions or need more information about the program, feel free to call Lauren Rider at The Mill at 410-836-6111 or Tricia Allen at 410-557-7024. NES Attn: Tricia Allen/Breiner The Mill’s Donations Program Member Registration Club Name: Norrisville Elementary School PTA Club ID#51 Name:_____________________________________________________ Street______________________________________________________ Town:___________________________ State:_________ZIP_________ Phone:__________________________ Fax:_______________________ Email:_____________________________________________________ Please send form back in to school with your child. If you prefer you may fax to 410-357-8877 or email to: lrider@themillofbelair.com Download the form: Join The Mill Donation Program
NES News and Info
From the School Library: Congratulations to all those classes who have gotten Jake
to celebrate with them their PERFECT book returns! I am hoping that Jake will
continue to make his way around the school and be able to visit each and every
class before the Winter Holiday break, lets see if we can do it! Other Community News
Christmas Bazaar at St. Paul United Methodist Church
Jarrettsville Volunteer Fire Company
Auxiliary Craft Show
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