Sligo Creek Elementary School

PTA Newsletter
Volume 12, Issue 4 Friday, December 10, 2010

PTA Presidents Corner

Many thanks to the parents who came out and th attended our December 7 PTA meeting to discuss Academy enrollment. After last year's boundary changes, a number of Sligo Creek students moved on to Takoma Park ES, Piney Branch ES, and East Silver Spring ES. Unfortunately, the reduction in students has created a potential enrollment issue for our Academy program; several of the Academy grades are within 510 students of warranting only a single class under MCPS class size requirements. Parents are concerned about what impacts this would have on our school, particularly in terms of differentiated instruction and stability of staffing. To try and address these concerns, the PTA asked MCPS officials to attend our December meeting. Bronda Mills, our community superintendent, and Bruce Crispell, director of MCPS Long-Range Planning, attended our meeting; they heard our concerns and gave us some feedback on enrollment patterns and possible resolutions. But we would like to hear more specifics from MCPS. We plan to meet again with MCPS officials to follow-up on the concerns and possible solutions we discussed at our meeting. If you'd like to be involved in that effort, please let one of us know. Please remember to contribute to our school's canned food drive; donations are being accepted until December 17, 2010. Our students are excited to participate in this effort! We also hope to see many of you at the Winter Concert next week on December 16, 2010. A special thanks to the parents who volunteered their time for the PTA Book Fair, which was a huge success and will enable our school to add much-needed books to its library and classrooom collections. We wish all of you a safe and happy holiday. Diane Kelleher & Stuart Kern PTA co-Presidents

Principals Letter
Dear Parents, As we approach the end of another semester, I wanted to share with you some information related to upcoming changes in the mathematics curriculum. You may have heard about the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics. The purpose of common core standards is to provide alignment in mathematics across the nation. In the spring, every state in the country had the option of implementing the common core standards initiative. Maryland was one of the first schools to endorse common core standards. At that time, The Washington Post published an article related to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in Mathematics. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/a rticle/2010/05/25/AR2010052504424.html) The endorsement of these standards will have an impact on the math curriculum in Montgomery County. For the past 22 months, a mathematics work group task force researched components of our curriculum and made recommendations to Dr. Weast and the Board of Education. Page | 1 The highlights of the recommendations are that we should revise and align our written curriculum and assessments to the Common Core State Standards, have curriculum resources that support equitable access to learning, eliminate large numbers of students skipping grades, continue programs for consistently, exceptionally proficient students and refocus our targets. Overall, the recommended changes would mean that we would cover less material and have more depth into the areas of focus. An article was recently published in the MCPS Bulletin that provides a video and additional information: http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/bulleti n/article.aspx?id=154093 The report from the work group has been submitted to Superintendent of Schools Jerry D. Weast and the Board of Education. Dr. Weast will work with staff and stakeholders to study the impact, scope and cost of implementing the recommendations. (Continued on page 2)

(Principals Letter from page 1) We will keep you updated as MCPS reviews and revises the curriculum. This is a brief explanation of very important changes that are on the horizon and you will have questions in the future. We will be sharing information with you as we move forward in this process. We are excited about the possibilities that curriculum revisions will have on our instructional program and student learning.

Like all years, this year has just slipped away. You children continue to work hard and come to school every day happy and excited to be with us. I wish for you and your family a restful winter vacation. Spend some time making some irreplaceable memories with your children. May you and your family have a happy holiday and a joyous New Year. Sincerely, Diantha Swift

PTA Activities & Volunteer Opportunities

On Your Mark, Get Set, GO!
Get out those running sneakers, dust off those water bottles, and whip out those sweats because the Inaugural Salamander 5K Run/Walk will be held on March 19, 2011. With help from Pacers, a local Silver Spring running store, our committee is planning to have an organized and fun-filled morning and we are hoping to have 100% participation from the SCES community! The Starting and Finishing Lines will be at the track behind the school and the course will loop around Sligo Creek Parkway and Wayne Avenue. Mark your calendars and come sprint, run, jog, or walk with other SCES folks and have a great time. We are currently seeking sponsors and we appreciate any help we can get! More information to come! Be on the lookout for our website announcement, running tips from our own Don Carter, and information regarding SCES student pledges for their running/walking time. Proceeds will support the SCES and the PTA. Please contact jennylage@gmail.com if you are interested in helping out with organizing or sgunther@yahoo.com if you can help us out with sponsors.

Check Out Our New Amazon.com Shop

The PTA is pleased to announce its very own new Amazon.com shop at www.scespta.org/amazon.html. Arriving just in time for holiday shopping, our exciting shop features many book recommendations from our very own Sligo Creek students. Students shared the names of their favorite books during our annual PTA Book Fair, and their recommendations are now available to you on www.scespta.org/amazon.html. By visiting our PTA shop, you will get lots of popular reading suggestions in English and French AND have access to the wide range of products normally sold on Amazon.com. All purchases made on www.Amazon.com benefit the school whenever you access the site through our shop, or one the many links featured on the PTA Website. The PTA earns a referral fee of 4% to 6% on all your purchases. A warm thanks to the 160 Sligo Creek students who shared the names of their favorite books. All student submissions were entered into a special Book Fair raffle. Congratulations to the lucky winners of $10 gift certificates to Borders: nd Brogan Dietsche, 2 grade, Ms. Hartkes class Chantal Dulc-Jacobs, 3rd grade, Mme Sardarbekians class Mercedes Horn, 5th grade, Mme Dicksons class Make sure you bookmark the shop address, www.scespta.org/amazon.html. Also consider sharing it with your friends and family.

Current and Past Issues of the SCES PTA newsletter are available online at the PTA Website WWW.SCESPTA.ORG

STAFF GIFT FUND DRIVE: Dec. 7-20, 2010 Please see page 8 for information!
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Book Fair: Recap and Thank You

The PTA is pleased to report that this years Book Fair was a huge success. ALL the proceeds from the book fair go directly back to the school the PTA does not make any money from this event. Here is the bottom line: Sold over $16,000 in books Given away over $600 in books to students in need Earned nearly $10,000 in cash, books and instructional materials for the school

We would personally like to thank each and every one of the many volunteers who made the Book Fair run so smoothly. These people included (and we hope we are not leaving anyone out): Alyscia Charlery, Amy Holman, Andrea Savoye, Anna Howle, Annmarie Ewing, Carey Fitzmaurice, Cathy Kusmin, Cori Vanchieri, David Glass, Debbie Spielberg, DeeDee Liestenfeltz, Fei Yu, Harry Appelman, Jen Ganem, Joanne Ratcliff, Judy Ehrenstein, Karen Regis, Kelley Gronda, Laura Allebach Nichols, Laurie Swindull, Marielle Allor, Mary Lou Swain, Nathalie Peter, Nereyda Dunn, Sandra Parsons, Stephanie Hartman, Susannah Figura, Valerie Dulk-Jacobs, Virginia Murray, and Yasmina Mudarres And a special thank you to Ms Elkins for giving up her space for so long and to the SCES office for tolerating all the general disruption. See you next year on November 7-11, 2011!

Special Needs Corner

Join us for our December meeting: This month we are meeting on a weekend to include those parents who are not able to meet during our usual Friday morning slot. Well begin gathering at 2:30pm and meet from 3-4pm on th Sunday, December 19 at La Madeline Restaurant on the corner of Rockville Pike & Montrose Rd. MEL Lecture: Inspiring high school students from the Montgomery County Exceptional Leadership (MEL) program th presented to Sligo Creek 5 graders on November 22. It was the 5th consecutive year that the Special Needs Committee has organized this event together with Ms. Conti and the 5th grade team. Student leaders from Bethesda-Chevy Chase HS who also happen to have learning and social challenges shared their stories and guidance to our rising middle schoolers. They, in turn, asked very thoughtful questions and learned more about th themselves and their peers in the process. Way to go 5 graders! Resources: Check out the PTA bulletin board for upcoming lectures and workshops. Go to the PTA website, www.scespta.org, to find our list of books and links; hardcopies are in the resource rack, outside the school office. Twelve Tips for Helping People with Autism and Their Families Have a Happy Holiday. These are also helpful for younger children and anyone who find disrupted routines stressful! Here is the link to the full article, with a few tips given below: http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer?pagename=holiday_tips 1. Prepare using a calendar and marking the dates of holiday events, or by creating a social story that highlights what will happen at a given event. 2. Involve them in the process of decorating the house. Gradually decorate the house. 3. If a person begins to obsess about a particular gift they want, it may be helpful to be specific and direct about the number of times they can mention the gift. 4. Practice opening gifts, taking turns and waiting for others, and giving gifts. Role play. You might also choose to practice certain religious rituals. 5. If you are having visitors, have a space set aside for the child as his/her safe/calm space. 6. If the person is on special diet, make sure there is food available that he/she can eat. Even if not on a special diet, be cautious of the amount of sugar consumed. Try to maintain a sleep and meal routine. 7. Know how much noise and other sensory input they can take. Know their level of anxiety and the amount of preparation it may take. Know their fears and those things that will make the season more enjoyable for them. Dont stress. Plan in advance. And most of all have a wonderful holiday season! Page | 3

In Our School
Fifth Grade Poetry Residency
During the month of December, all 5 graders will participate in a poetry residency with noted poet Carol Peck, an Artist-in-Education for the Maryland State Arts Council. The PTA Cultural Arts Committee applied for and received a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council for partial funding of this program; the outstanding funds are being provided by the PTA. Over the course of six workshop sessions students will practice using similes, metaphors, imagery and imagination in their writing, and will have the opportunity to include their poems in an anthology which will be published at the end of the residency. The residency will culminate with a poetry reading in January.
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National Geographic Bee

Yes, its that time of the year again, time for the SCES 4 and 5 graders to take part in the National Geographic Bee, a nationwide contest sponsored by the National Geographic Society for grades 4 to 8 as one of their educational outreach programs. Class competitions are held in December and in the beginning of January. Each student is asked a total of seven questions from each of 7 categories (economic geography, state capitals, physical geography, etc.) to determine a class champion, and then these class winners compete against each other to select a school winner. The school winner then takes a written test which is sent into the National Geographic Society. State finalists are chosen from these submissions. Questions cover many topics and vary in their degree of difficulty. If students would like to prepare for this event, they can listen to world and national news, read the newspaper, books about geography, current events and then look up where these events are taking place in an atlas. They can also have fun learning state capitals and nicknames. Hopefully, all SCES Salamanders will learn a little more about geography through this activity!
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The Eleventh Annual Winter Chorus, Dance and Orff Ensemble Concert is Coming Up Soon!
On Thursday, December 16, 2010, the Sligo Creek Elementary Fourth and Fifth Grade Chorus, the Sun Catchers Dance Team, the All-Star Orff Ensemble and the Solar Flares Dance Team will perform their Eleventh Annual Winter Concert at 2:00 p.m., (school assembly) and 7:00 p.m., (evening performance) in the Sligo Creek Elementary School Gymnasium. This concert will feature 200 Fourth and Fifth Grade Students in the chorus, 20 students in the All-Star Orff Percussion Ensemble and over 50 students within the two dance teams! We will be performing multi-cultural childrens choral literature that celebrates the winter season, in different harmonic combinations. In order to ensure that our concerts will be successful, we request that all Fourth and Fifth Grade Chorus Students: wear the following concert attire for all performances: Boys Girls White dress shirt White blouse or White Polo shirt Or White Polo shirt dark skirt or Dark dress pants dark dress pants Dark dress shoes dark dress shoes (low heels, please) (No sneakers, if possible) If your child is a member of the Sun Catchers or Solar Flares Dance Teams, he/she will need to wear an all black outfit. (i.e.: Black leotards, black turtleneck or black T-shirt, black leggings or black sweatpants and black modern jazz dancing shoes or dark sneakers). At the evening performance, we will be selling individual roses for $3.00 each, near the Sligo Creek ES Grand Staircase. We will also be accepting donations to support our Arts Department. Thank you in advance for your ongoing support! See you at the concerts! We are so excited to perform for you! Page | 4

Save the Date: Literacy Night!

We are happy to announce that the 2011 Sligo Creek Literacy Night is coming! On January 27, 2011, we are inviting parents and students to come in to participate in activities that will help students with their language arts skills. Then, parents can take home the ideas for these activities, and use them at home with their children. The evening will be divided into two sessions, much like we did Back-to-School Night. Primary families (grades K,1 and 2) will come from 7:00 to 8:00 P.M., and upper grade families (grades 3,4 and 5) will come from 8:00 to 9:00 P.M.. There will be rotations of sessions, so that parents will get to experience activities for different literacy skills. There will be more information coming in January, but mark your calendars now and reserve that date!

French Immersion News

French Immersion Open Houses
French Immersion Open Houses are for parents interested in enrolling their children in the French Immersion program at Sligo Creek E.S. for the 2011-2012 school year. The dates are January 26, 2011, February 24, 2011 and March 29, 2011. Sessions begin at 9:30 a.m. with visits to the classrooms. At 10:15 there will be a question and answer period with the principal and the French immersion coordinator. We encourage everyone who is even considering the possibility of enrolling in French Immersion to attend an Open House and become familiar with the program and its philosophy.

Application Process for the Elementary Immersion Program

The immersion lottery process application dates will be February 1 to April 8, 2011. Parents may participate in the lottery process using the Elementary immersion Interest Form, which will be available February 1, 2011, with directions and information on the MCPS website at www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/specialprograms/admissions/immersion Even if you already have a child in the program, you must follow the immersion lottery process.

Applying to Middle School Immersion at SSIMS

If you are interested in your 5 grader continuing in the partial immersion program at SSIMS, you need to fill out a Change of School Assignment form during the regular transfer season, Feb 1 to April 1. These forms need to go to your home middle school. There is no lottery; your child will be accepted, but you must fill out the COSA (Change of School Assignment Form) and give it to your home middle school by the April 1 date.. Please call Mme Gouin or email if you have any questions: 301-562-2722 Donna_M_Gouin@mcpsmd.org
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PTA and School Calendar 2010-2011

Thursday, December 16 Friday, December 24- 31 Tuesday, January 4 Monday, January 17 Monday, January 24 Wednesday, January 27 Winter Concert Winter Holidays PTA Meeting MLK Birthday Professional Day Literacy Night 2-3 pm (assembly); 7-8pm (evening performance): Gym No School 7 pm No School No School 7-8 pm (grades K-2); 8-9 pm (grades 3-5)
Diane Kelleher,co- President Stuart Kern, co-President Andrew Schulman, Treasurer Suzanne Chartol, Secretary Jennifer Calvert, Vice President for Events & Fundraising Andrea Savoye, Vice President for Communication & Operations Laura Foradori, co-Vice President for Academic Support Alice Vorosmarti, co-Vice President for Academic Support

SLIGO CREEK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PTA Sligo Creek Elementary School 500 Schuyler Rd Silver Spring MD 20910 PTA Web site: http://www.scespta.org/ Alice Vorosmarti, Newsletter Editor vorosmarti@verizon.net

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STAFF GIFT FUND DRIVE: Dec. 7-20, 2010

Wondering what to get your childs teacher this year? The PTA has the perfect idea: collect money for a general gift fund and let the staff spend it! A few benefits of this fund: Staff Gift Fund buys gifts that individuals (or even entire classrooms) could not afford. Last year, we collected $3450, which paid for a copier maintenance contract; water filtration for the staff lounge; a new refrigerator for the 2nd floor; softball team t-shirts; $25 gift cards for ALL SCES teachers, leadership and support staff; and an end-of-the-year party for all SCES staff at McGinty's Public House! Staff Gift Fund shares the wealth across the entire school. With this Fund, we can be sure that all classroom teachers are rewarded equally, regardless of the ability of students in each class to afford gifts. Staff Gift Fund also allows staff other than classroom teachers to be recognized. Administrators, specials instructors, school nurses, and para-educators also do a lot for our children. This is one way to show how much we appreciate their contributions. Staff Gift Fund buys gifts that are meaningful. We poll the staff to determine what they want, and we buy the things that benefit the most people.

How does the Staff Gift Fund work? Give us your monetary gift in any amount, and tell us what staff members you want to recognize. On Dec. 22, well give a holiday letter to each staff person, listing the families who gave in their honor. There are two ways to contribute: Preferred method: Mail this form and your check, payable to SCES PTA, to: PTA Staff Gift Fund, c/o Gina McNeal, 822 Larch Ave., Takoma Park, MD 20912. Pay online. Go to http://www.scespta.org/staff-gift-fund.html. Note: PayPal deducts a fee of 2.9%. CONTRIBUTIONS WILL NOT BE COLLECTED AT SCHOOL! Questions? Contact Gina McNeal (301) 270-2839 or ginamcneal@earthlink.net. Total Amount of Gift: ______________________________ Family's Last Name(s): _____________________________________________________ Email address:_____________________________________

First Child's Full Name: ____________________________________________________ Teachers/Staff (you MUST specify by name):___________________________________ Second Child's Full Name: _________________________________________________ Teachers/Staff (you MUST specify by name): __________________________________ Third Child's Full Name: ____________________________________________________ Teachers/Staff (you MUST specify by name):___________________________________

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