Coming up at Arno..
Feb. 1
Parent Survey open (see link below)
Texas Roadhouse Fundraiser Kickoff Grades K-4
Feb. 2
No events
Feb. 3
No events
Feb. 4
PTA Meeting 3:45
Feb. 5
No Events
Feb. 6 (Saturday)
Arno Fun Fair 11:00-2:00
Board Appreciation Month Video
Thank you Board of Education-
Dear APPS Staff and Community Members,
January is School Board Recognition Month – a time to salute the work of our elected School Board Members and to celebrate public education. The theme, “School Boards Lead” reflects our combined commitment to leadership and accountability assuring that ALL children succeed.
As a state, Michigan has faced many challenges, but the key to a brighter future is a strong public education system. Public education is the backbone of American society, and local school boards are deeply rooted in U.S. tradition. It’s the foundation on which our democracy was built. The Allen Park Board of Education continues to do the most important work of the community – that of educating our youth.
School Board Members in Allen Park Public Schools develop policies and make tough decisions that help shape the future of our education system. Their job is to ensure schools are accountable to the community and strongly advocate for continuous improvement in student learning. They bear responsibility for an annual budget of $35.6 million, 3,800 students, 428 employees and six buildings. They are citizens whose decisions affect our children and build our community.
Showing appreciation for the important work of school boards should be a year round process, but too often we neglect to recognize the dedication and hard work of these men and women who represent us. We are asking all members of the community to take a moment and thank a School Board Member.
At the Board of Education Meeting on January 25, Allen Park High School and Allen Park Community School staff and students will play the lead role in honoring the Members of the Board of Education this year. APHS and APCS Art, Industrial Arts and Life Management students are creating a special gift for Board Members and the Allen Park High School Jazz Band will perform a few musical selections.
Thank you to the men and women who dedicate countless personal hours to ensure the needs of our community are met by our public schools. We salute the public servants of APPS whose dedication and civic responsibility make local control of public schools in our community possible. We applaud them for their vision and voice to prepare today’s students to be tomorrow’s leaders.
The men and women serving the Allen Park Public School District are: Mr. Guy DesJardins, Dr. Janine Hall, Mr. Paul Klenczar, Mrs. Margaret Marten, Mr. Gordon Miller, Mr. Rick Moynihan and Mrs. Julie Sheppard.
Sincerely,
John J. Sturock, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
Parent Surveys
It’s that time of year already in our school improvement planning where we need to send out surveys to our Arno stakeholders. You will have the opportunity to take a brief survey from the State of Michigan rating some of your experiences here at Arno. The survey will be available starting on Feb 1, and end on Feb. 12. The link is embedded in this article, and can also be found in the right column under “Parent Survey Link” If you are unable to access via computer, we will also have sets of computers set up in the gym for both parent/teacher conference nights if you wish to take it there. Giving us good feedback helps us plan better to meet the needs of every Cougar stakeholder. In addition, students and staff also take a similar survey during the school day.
All of the feedback you provide is then summarized and becomes part of our school improvement plan for the 2016-17 school year. Thank you and look for that link to be active on Feb. 1.
Parent Survey Link: http://eprovesurveys.advanc-ed.org/surveys/#/action/266/20337
Parent/Teacher Conferences
Winter conferences are coming up quick on February 10 and 11 from 5:00-7:30 each night. This conference is slightly different in that not every family generally attends, but is still open as an option for all who would like a conference with the teacher. Some fast facts:
1. If your classroom teacher is requesting a conference with you, you will receive a notice by Feb. 4.
2. If you did not receive a notice from the teacher, you may still request a conference with the teacher OR decide that you don’t feel a conference is necessary at this time.
3. All classroom links will come from the teacher and be live on the Feb. 5 blog release to sign up for a time on signupgenius for those who need to attend conferences.
Once again, please do not sign up for a slot on signupgenius if a conference is not needed at this point.
Building Fundraisers
There are 2 separate Texas Roadhouse fundraisers coming up from Arno, with 2 different goals.
Fifth grade is currently selling the popular rolls among the fifth grade parents for camp.
The other Roadhouse rolls fundraiser will be for parents in grades K-4 and those funds earned will go towards technology in the lower elementary grades. The letter below explains the fundraiser for parents of students in grades K-4, which will go out with the selling form the last week of January. The timeline is also included with a kickoff date of February 1. This is a building sponsored fundraiser and is not being run by the PTA.
Dear Parents,
In our 21st century classrooms, integrating technology into the curriculum helps to prepare all of our Arno students for college and career down the road. Currently our building has a chromebook cart for our mid-upper grades, with lower grades(K-2) relying on a mix of chromebooks and a limited number of classroom Kindles to enhance their literacy program. This school year, we are attempting to purchase more Kindles to bring up the ratio of student devices in K-2, opening up the way we can deliver classroom instruction, intervention, and enrichment. The PTA has been Amazing in their help to meet our technology requests, but this request will stretch PTA’s budget. Therefore, we have partnered with Texas Roadhouse to offer you a “Roadhouse Rolls” fundraiser, which will go directly to the purchase of Kindle devices in grades K-2. some highlights of the fundraiser are below:
- The fifth grade is running their own version of this fundraiser for 5th grade camp. This fundraiser included on this sheet is for K-4 families and will go to technology purchase for the building.
- The fundraiser allows you to purchase as many dozen Texas Roadhouse rolls that you would like. Each dozen roll is $6.00, with $3.00 going right back to the school.
- You will actually not pick up any rolls at Arno. The purchase is for a voucher that is good for a dozen frozen rolls (that you can bake when you want), and includes a free appetizer with meal purchase (up to $6.00),
- You will receive one voucher for every dozen rolls purchased
- We request that only 1 family member pick up the entire order of vouchers that your child sold
- Voucher pickup will be during the week of February 29- March 4
- Roll pickup will start the following week at the restaurant. You will have a specific date you can go pick up the rolls and you will have up to 4 months following that date to do so.
The restaurant address is at 14660 Pardee Rd. Taylor, MI
Fundraiser Timeline
February 1- February 12 Fundraiser Sale
February 19 All money due
February 29- March 4 Come to Arno to pick up your voucher
March 7-March 18 Window to pick up rolls at the restaurant. Your voucher will specify the date
Spirit Week
Calling all Arno spirit!!! Please read the flyer below for more information on our upcoming Spirit Week and our ending activity- Pie in the Face
Monday: Spirit wear- Students may wear their Arno or Allen Park spirit wear
Tuesday: Pirates and Princesses- Students may dress as pirates or princesses. No weapons allowed
Wednesday: Inside out- Students may wear their clothes inside out.
Thursday: Rainbow- Each grade level wears a t-shirt of a designated color
K- Red 1- Orange 2- Yellow 3- Green 4- Blue 5- Purple
Friday: Tropical- Students may wear school appropriate, tropical attire.
Our Pie in the Face assembly will take place in the gym on Friday, Feb. 12th K-2 @2:30-3:00, 3-5 @1:30-2:00
Spring (winter) Book Fair
Our spring/winter book fair will be taking place the week of Feb. 8, with a Groovy theme! The book fair will also be open on some special days that week including Feb. 6 (Fun Fair) and Feb. 10 and 11- the nights of parent/teacher conferences. Please stop by and browse all of the great books that Scholastic offers. This is a PTA sponsored event with proceeds going to the Arno PTA.
Arno Fun Fair
Arno’s annual Family Fun Fair is coming up soon! This exciting event will take place on Saturday, February 6th from 11 am-2pm. A note will come home soon with more information and a chance to pre-order tickets (they will also be available at the door). There will be games, raffles, prizes, food, a cake walk and more! This is a great family event so be sure to put it on your calendar today!
Arno Olympics
A big Shout-Out to Ms. Amonette for running another fun Arno Olympics! It was great to see such a large crowd out on a late January night to compete for bragging rights in golf, ring toss, and hockey to name a few. In the end, it seemed that the kids were always coming up the winners! Congratulations to all of our medal winners, and great job to everyone who competed!