April 30

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Coming soon to Arno…

April 30

Staff Appreciation Week begins

Teacher appreciation PTA breakfast

May 1

No events

May 2

No events

May 3

PTA Staff luncheon

PTA Meeting 6:30

Money Matters Assembly 9:00

May 4

No events

May 7

Kindergarten Roundup

May 8

No events

May 9

5th Grade  Band Concert 6:30

May 10

No events

May 11

No events

 

From the PTA

Happy Friday! The weather is coming around, the days are getting warmer, and the NEW AVENGERS INFINITY MOVIE OPENS TOMORROW! WOO-HOO!

A few reminders from your PTA:

⚾️ Tonight is our Daddy/Daughter Dance at the Prestige from 6-9 pm. Please remember that we DID NOT distribute tickets for this event! We will have a check-in table set up to welcome everyone and give instructions! We hope everyone has a GREAT TIME!

⚾️Our next and LAST PTA Meeting of the year will be THIS Thursday, May 3rd from 630-730 in the Arno Cafeteria! Come help us decide what to do with our surplus! We have some GREAT choices for you to help us decide! We will also be holding our annual Executive Board Elections.  Please remember that in order to vote you MUST a member in good standing! We hope to see many of you there!

⚾️Next week is Staff Appreciation Week for our Arno Staff Members. The PTA LOVES this week because we really enjoy spoiling our staff and showing them how much we appreciate all that they do for our Arno Community. We are still in need of volunteers to help us with the Monday Morning Breakfast and the Thursday Afternoon Luncheon. If you can find a few minutes of your time to help out, it would be greatly appreciated! If you’re looking for ideas to get a special staff member, check out our Sign Up Genius Link Below.

Have a Great Weekend and we look forward to seeing many of you at our meeting and spoiling our Awesome Arno Staff during Staff Appreciation Week April 30th-May 4th!

 

Teacher Appreciation Week Begins Next Week

Please read below if you would like to explore some ways you can thanks your child’s teacher.

Creative Ways to Thank Your Child’s Teacher

With summer near, it’s natural to reflect on all the amazing things your child’s teacher did over the year. So how do you actually show how much that means to you? Check out this list of what teachers reallywant!

“I absolutely love my job as a second grade teacher. My students make each day wonderful in their own little ways,” says Aimee Brenn of Boston. “But when parents show appreciation for my work and dedication, I feel rewarded in ways that my words cannot truly express. It’s those little forms of validation that make teaching such a remarkable profession.”

Beyond a simple, heartfelt “thank you,” these ideas can help your child’s teacher feel the love.

Cards and Letters

The teachers we talked to said personalized letters and cards were by far the most rewarding ways to be thanked. But forget the generic store-bought cards — take time to write something personal. Even better: Get your child involved. You both can write what you liked about the teacher and his or her class.

“A simple note can make me melt!” says Lori Slates Vance, a second grade teacher in Macdonald, Pennsylvania. “My most treasured gift was from a student and her mom. The student wrote me a letter that told me how she liked being in my class. Mom wrote about how her daughter had improved and grown that year.”

“If the cards are personalized, it would be something to hold onto forever,” agrees teacher Katherine Mottola, of Marshfield, Massachusetts. “A child once wrote ‘I love when Mrs. Mottola reads us silly stories.’ Another child wrote ‘I like Mrs. Mottola because she smiles at me.’ So simple but so touching. It’s the little things that make the job so fulfilling.”

Group Gifts

If you want to make a grand gesture, consider going in on something with the rest of the students’ parents — and it doesn’t have to cost a thing.

“One year, my class’s room mother contacted all the other parents and sent out papers for each of my students to complete, telling me about their favorite experiences throughout the year and what it meant to have me as their teacher,” says Brenn. “The papers were then compiled and laminated in a book for me, with each student’s picture and writing. I will always cherish the time and effort that went in to creating that special keepsake.”

Volunteering

Grand gestures during holidays and special dates are fine, but the teachers we spoke with emphasized that they like to feel appreciated year-round — and one of the biggest ways is by getting involved with class activities.

“Take a day off work and devote your time,” suggests Brenn. “Be a mystery reader; help with a craft or science project; be a chaperone on a field trip.”

Classroom Supplies

Can’t take time off work? Donate some supplies to the classroom; many teachers end up purchasing some of these out of their own pockets, so helping them stock up on tissues and crayons — or a bigger ticket item, like the electric pencil sharpener that Brenn was gifted one year by some class parents — can be a huge relief.

Helping with supplies helps teachers save some of their own money, of course, but it also makes them feel appreciated, knowing parents and students have really listened and paid attention to their needs and wants.

A Little Pampering

Michelle Holmes, a preschool and pre-kindergarten teacher in Plano, Texas, and her colleagues once each received chair massages as gifts — and she loved hers. Before Brenn’s wedding, her class’s parents threw her a surprise bridal shower. Teachers work hard, and to show them you know that, consider something that makes them feel special or pampered.

Sounds pricey? It doesn’t have to be. For many teachers, a hot lunch might be all it takes to feel like they’re indulging. “Our lunch block is never long enough to leave to go get food, and it’s usually filled with tasks like making copies, using the restroom, and returning emails,” says Karen Mensing, a first and second grade teacher in Phoenix. “Contact the teacher in advance to check for allergies and preferences, and swoop in at lunchtime with a burger, salad, or slice of pizza and beverage. It’s a treat every teacher I know would relish!”

Gift Cards

If you want to buy your child’s teacher a token of appreciation but you don’t know what to get, you really can’t go wrong with a gift card.

“If they feel the need to buy me something, I like gift cards to some place I can use,” says Leon Scott Baxer, a third grade teacher in Santa Barbara, California. “One year, parents pooled their finances got me a $100 gift card to a teaching supplies store. I was stunned and so very appreciative.”

Gifts

As for gifts themselves, the teachers all downplayed their importance — they were much more enthusiastic about the previously mentioned ideas (and, trust us, they’ve got enough candles, lotions, and “#1 Teacher” coffee mugs already).

You’re better off buying or making something more meaningful. “I have incredible pictures that my students spent hours on decorating my walls,” says Baxter. “We love creative projects that make us remember our kids even 20 years later and that we can tell were made from love.”

At Holmes’s school, during Teacher Appreciation Week one year, each teacher was given a vase, and each student brought a flower to put in it — they formed a beautiful arrangement. Another idea: Have each child bring the teacher a piece of fruit to fill a basket. Or have each kid bring a plant for the school garden.

However you choose to show your appreciation, remember this: “It’s not about the amount of money,” says Baxter. “For many of us, if there’s heart behind the gift or if it’s something that we can truly use, we will talk about it for years.”

 

Safety Town Program

Who: 2018-19 Kindergarten and 1st Graders

When: June 18 thru June 28 – AM & PM Classes Available

Where: Lindemann Elementary, 9201 Carter, Allen Park

Safety Town is an interactive safety awareness program for children from 5-6 years of age.  Each day the children will be introduced to various safety issues in a fun and safe environment.  The program is taught by a Police Officer and a retired Allen Park teacher, with hands-on topics led by community guest speakers as well as visits from the AP Police & Fire Departments.  Please see attached for more information and sign your child up today!

Safety Town Program – June 2018-1pxtjoz

 

TEACHER REQUEST PROCEDURE

As we close one school year and begin to plan for the next, student placement is one of our primary considerations.  Our school team of teachers, administrator and social worker spend many hours working together to form classrooms for next year.  We strive to balance classrooms with a blend of students based on academic strengths and needs, social and emotional supports, and the unique personalities of each child.

If you have any special concerns about your child’s placement for next school year, please submit a written explanation of the concern.  For example, “my son is very active and needs to be placed in a classroom where he will have opportunities to move around” or “my daughter struggles with reading and needs a teacher with a strong background in reading”.

We do not/cannot accept any requests for a specific teacher.  Letters requesting a specific teacher will be not be considered.  The one exception is a request for your child to not be placed in a specific classroom based on previous first-hand experience you’ve had with a teacher.  And, that parent concern / issue should be documented in the office.  All such letters are due to the office no later than Friday, May 18, 2018.

This is the same procedure that has been used in previous years and is the same procedure used at Lindemann and Bennie.  If you have any questions or concerns about this process, please feel free to contact my office.

Steve Zielinski, Principal

 

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NWEA TESTING

Our Final round of NWEA Spring testing will begin in May in Reading and math.  Our staff uses this assessment to measure the growth that students have achieved in Reading and Math over this school year.  Students will be taking the NWEA assessment on Chromebooks in their classrooms in grades K-5.

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APHS puts on show for Arno

Mrs. Solak recently partnered with Mrs. West from APHS to put on a production of “Winter According to Humphrey”, which was the book that we did in March for our One Book, One School program.  The student were fantastic and all of our kids really enjoyed the performance!  The high school students had a big job- know the book, interview students, write a script, build a set, and of course, star in the play.  Thank you to all who were involved!

 

4th Grade Stream Table Experience

ALICE Wrap Up

Our ALICE drill went very well last week and it was amazing to see over 500 students in a church quietly sitting and awaiting directions.  This drill is a great reflection of our readiness in any type of emergency.

 

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M-STEP UPDATE

Our 5th graders have gotten us off to a great start with their focus and determination on MSTEP testing they have now completed all testing and we have 3rd and 4th grade on deck.    Upcoming MSTEP schedules are listed below:

May 1 — Grade 4 ELA

May 2 — Grade 3 ELA

May 8 — Grade 4 MATH

May 9 — Grade 3 MATH

Thank you for encouraging your child to do his or her best on the test by getting a good sleep, eating a healthy breakfast, being on time for school, and using stamina and perseverance during the test!  We are proud of our Cougars and want to spread the word that they are learning lots at our wonderful school!

 

 

M-STEP Encouragement from all of our “Miracles” from Mr. Peace

 

Earth Day Celebration at Arno

 

SCHOOLS OF CHOICE INFO

APPS Limited Schools of Choice Program Approved for 2018-19

The Allen Park Public Schools Board of Education approved the continuation of a limited Schools of Choice option for the 2018-19 school year for grades Kindergarten through 8th Grade.  Application forms will be available starting Monday, April 9 through Friday, April 27, at the Riley Education Center between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.  For your convenience, applications will also be available on our website – www.allenparkschools.com

Completed applications may be presented in person at the Riley Education Center or emailed to schoolofchoice@appublicschools.com from April 9 through April 27 at 4:00 p.m.  No late applications can be accepted.

A random draw selection will be held on May 1, 2018 at 9:00 a.m. at the Riley Education Center if you wish to attend.  The draw will determine numerical selection for acceptance of candidates.

We ask that you help us by sharing this information with friends and/or family members who may be interested in having their children become a part of the Allen Park Public Schools Family.

For more information about the Schools of Choice Program, please see the attached FAQ’s, visit our website at www.allenparkschools.com or call (313) 827-2105

KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION

If you have a child who will be entering Kindergarten this fall, please be sure to register him or her at Riley Center as soon as possible!  This helps us to accurately predict enrollment and class sizes for the coming year.  Please read below for info on Kindergarten Registration, Roundup, and the new Young 5s Expansion with a class opening at Bennie this fall!

 

 

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MARK YOUR CALENDAR – KINDERGARTEN ROUND UP

MONDAY, MAY 7, 2018 – 6:30 p.m.

at Arno, Bennie and Lindemann Elementary

 

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