armatage montessori school kanga newsarmatage.mpls.k12.mn.us/uploads/2010-10-06.pdf ·...

CALENDAR

Thursday, October 7 Picture Day

Saturday, October 9Armatage Fun Walk8:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. BreakfastWalk starts at 9:00 a.m. - 12-00 p.m.

Thursday, October 14PTA meeting. 6:30 p.m.

Friday, October 15First Student of the Month8:30 a. m.

Spanish ClassesEvery Tuesday and Thursday

Community Ed ClassesEvery Monday and Wednesday Starting October 11

Tuesday, October 19Wendy’s Night 5:00 - 7:00 p.m.

Thursday & Friday, October 21 & 22No school. Teachers’ Convention

K a n g a N e w s

Dear Armatage Families,

This parable was shared at a meeting I attended last week and I could not help but think about our students and how each of them is so unique, so important and s t i l l so young and impressionable. I am thoroughly enjoying the tenderness of the kids and how the world is full of so much possibility for them. Earlier last week, Ms. Anita sent two students to ask me a question. As they approached my desk the second grade young

man looked at me with a precious smile and said, “Mrs. Franks, do you wanna dance?” It

doesn’t get any cuter than that! Of course I was honored but I have to be honest, there were tremors of trepidation and fear because these six and seven year olds were about to witness the

ARMATAGE MONTESSORI SCHOOL

PRINCIPAL: JOAN FRANKS OCTOBER 6, 2010

Principal’sChalkboard

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2501 West 56th Street, Minneapolis • 612-668-3180 • armatage.mpls.k12.mn.us

Submissions guidelines:

Enews: [email protected]: [email protected] News: [email protected]

Armatage Attendance Line612-668-3188

The Pencil Maker took the pencil aside, just before putting him into the box.

"There are 5 things you need to know," he told the pencil, "Before Isend you out into the world. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be."

One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allowyourself to be held in someone’s hand.

Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, butyou'll need it to become a better pencil.

Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make.

Four: The most important part of you will always be what's inside.

Five: On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. Nomatter what the condition, you must continue to write.

The pencil understood and promised to remember, and went into the box with purpose in its heart.

Now replacing the place of the pencil with you. Allow this parable on the pencil to encourage you to know that you are a special personand only you can fulfill the purpose to which you were born toaccomplish.

Never allow yourself to get discouraged and think that your life is insignificant and never get distracted by small mistakes.

Wondering how to contact the PTA. Use the email address [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]








Anita Webster Music [email protected]

Hello from the music room! Things are continuing to run smoothly as we move into October. I can’t believe how quickly time is flying! Our Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergartners have gotten the classroom routines down and are doing a great job finding their assigned spots when they first get to class. Our latest warm-up is “The Hokey Pokey” which allows 3 ‘free dance’ sections… I love watching the dances they create that really reflect their own personal style. One of our new songs is “Bingo” which helps us to learn and clap out rhythms of quarter and eighth notes. We are also singing “Sing a Rainbow” with songs sheets, getting us acquainted with using a song sheet and looking at words. It’s exciting that some students are already recognizing many of the words! Our book is “How Much is That Doggie in

the Window?” which supports our vocabulary word “moral”. We talked about the moral of the story - which is being kind to others, and treating others the way we would like to be treated.

We have completed our notation unit… students truly did an outstanding job. It is pleasing to see that so many understand and can read the notes correctly. I was also very impressed by how neatly the students wrote and how neatly they made their notes. I can’t recall a year where so many papers were this neat. It shows that students are taking pride in their work.

My favorite reflection of the notation unit was watching a student copy the work of another student. I spoke with him and reminded him to do his own work. He proceeded to turn and copy a student on the other side of him. I reminded him again to do his own work. After sitting a moment, he approached me and confessed that he didn’t know how to do it. We went through it together, and I think I actually saw the light bulb click on as he got it! He was so proud of himself. He went back to his spot and his head didn’t come up until he was finished! It was wonderful! Ahh… the joys of teaching!

Have a super week!


Reminder!Thursday, October 7, 2010is Picture Day at Armatage!

Remember to send the order envelope and paymentto school with your child!

Important: The photographer will collect order forms and payment when your child’s picture is taken. No late payments are accepted and photo packages can not be printed without an order form. All students will be photographed to be included in their class picture and yearbook.Questions? Contact Joan Browne [email protected]

Study examines schools’ trash

Nearly 80 percent of all the total waste generated at some area schools could be recycled or composted, according to a Hennepin County study of the waste produced at six schools from Minneapolis and several suburban locations. The study, “Digging Deep Through School Trash,” also found 60 percent of what is discarded as trash at these schools could instead be recycled or composted, and that recyclable paper and food waste were the two most likely recyclable materials to end up in the trash. A collaboration between the county, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and school district in Minneapolis, Hopkins and Minnetonka, the study was made available online at http://www.pca.state.mn.us (where in late September it was still listed under “Featured Items” on the main webpage).Participating Minneapolis schools included Burroughs Community School in Lynnhurst, one of the locations to pilot the district’s lunchroom organics recycling program.The waste from all six school sites — about three tons in total — was collected April 26 and 27 of last school year, sorted into 19 categories and weighed. Each participating school received a county grant to improve its recycling programs. Hopkins West Junior High was one of the first schools to establish an organics program and exhibited the highest level of recycling and composting of the six schools studied. The school has an overall recycling/composting rate of 59 percent, capturing nearly 80 percent of its recyclable materials and 58 percent of the compost-able materials. One way Hopkins West Junior High is able to reduce its waste is by using reusable trays, plates and utensils in its lunchroom.

Courtesy ofDylan Thomas, Southwest Journal





http://www.pca.state.mn.us




meaning of two left feet. Clearly, I am not a strong candidate for the Dancing Through the Years

enrichment class.Last week, we began the MAP testing of all 2nd – 5th grade students. MAP stands for Measures of Academic Progress Test. This test is used to measure a student’s growth in reading and math levels from the spring of last year to the fall of this year and to make academic plans to help students succeed. We will give the MAP test three times during the year. Each class takes the test in the computer lab. Their classroom teacher is with them and can assist them with technology questions but cannot provide any assistance in relation to the testing content. We will test the students three times during the year so that we can assess their growth and make modifications to the instructional strategies a teacher uses. One of the great benefits of the computerized MAP test is that we get results back immediately and can use this information to inform instruction. The MAP testing will take about three weeks to complete, so you can expect your child’s teacher/s to share information at conferences on November 4th & 5th.Last Wednesday, the majority of Armatage students were impacted by the changes in bus routes, bus times, bus drivers, bus stops and even bus numbers. It was certainly a challenging day for everyone as we worked to ensure that all Armatage bus riders got to and from school in a safe manner. Certainly the amount of time we received to prepare families for the change was minimal and created some strife for a few parents. The school was notified Monday afternoon of the impending changes and I must credit Pam Durand, school secretary for going above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that the 300+ bus tags were ready to go Tuesday afternoon. I appreciate everyone’s patience and willingness to pitch in and help us make this transition as smooth as possible for everyone. If any issues or concerns should arise related to the changes please contact the school or transportation and we will help in any way possible. It is also note worthy that we have changed the location of buses in the afternoon due to the reduction from nine to six. The children are now escorted out the front of the building where the buses pick them up on 56th street. For many reasons, it is actually a benefit to have the buses on 56th street and I believe makes getting the students on the buses a much more organized process. We will continue to evaluate this new location (especially when the snow flies) and determine if this is the best location. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is that if you are picking your children/ren up from school, we need you to use the crosswalks either on 56th and Sheridan or 56th and Queen. We are working very hard to train

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ATTENDANCE

Please contact the Health Office (612-668-3188) if your child is ill or absent. If a phone call or note is not received, the student will be marked unexcused. Excused absences include the following: doctor/dentist appointment (note required by doctor); illness (after 3 consecutive or 4 cumulative days in a semester a doctor’s note will need to be provided); school bus problems; religious/cultural observances; funeral; family emergency.

A student may be gone up to 5 days from school for a pre-approved family activity. To get pre-approval from the school, you must complete the Family Activity Form (available in the office and on the school webpage) at least 10 days prior to the activity.

Thank you for recognizing that daily attendance is critical to academic achievement. For more information about the MPS attendance policy, the website is:

www.mpls.k12.mn.us/Attendance.html.

Wrap-N-Mats

for Sale

at the Fun Walk!

Wrap-n-Mats are environmentally friendly

reusable wraps for food that also serve as

a placemat. Wrap-N-Mats replace saran

wrap or plastic baggies in your child's

lunch, and can be used for sandwiches,

apple slices, pizza and more! These "Made

in the USA" mats are washable and come

in a wide variety of patterns. Look for

them at the Fun Walk and Fun Walk

Breakfast for only $8 (retail price is $9-

$12)

http://www.mpls.k12.mn.us/Attendance.html

http://www.mpls.k12.mn.us/Attendance.html

Do you love art?

Volunteers are needed for each classroom to be a presenter (s) for our annual art adventures program.

This is a wonderful program that is done in partnership with the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

Volunteers present a grouping of art works and help children create art projects based off of these pieces. Very thorough training is provided at the MIA in October.

The classroom presentations take place during 4 sessions of your choosing during art classes in January and February. The finale is a classroom tours of the MIA in April. This is a great opportunity to interact in your child's classroom. No experience is necessary-

bring your creativity and we'll

brainstorm together!

Contact:

[email protected]

cell- 612-741-5154


Armatage Goes Green!

Beginning in mid-October, Armatage Montessori School will begin an organics recycling program. Students will be taught to SORT in the cafeteria and classroom:

Share –students who are not able to eat all of the items from their school lunch may place them on a sharing table (unopened food only). Students who are especially hungry on that day may ask to have extra food from the sharing table.

Organics (GREEN bin) – leftover food, milk and juice cartons, napkins, lunch trays, paper lunch bags

Recycle (BLUE bin) – plastic bottles with a neck (lids OK), aluminum cans, paper of all colors, aluminum foil (no food contamination)

Trash (GRAY or RED bin) – plastic silverware, straws, yogurt containers/lids, plastic bags, foil lined juice containers (e.g. Capri Sun), condiment packets

The goal is reduce the amount of trash that we produce, and increase the amount of organic material that will be picked up by an organics recycling truck and turned into high quality compost. The compost will then be used to grow flowers and plants.

Armatage Montessori School is committed to helping our students become environmental stewards, and the Green Team will try to facilitate making our school and campus as healthy and environmentally friendly as possible.

Parents can support this effort by choosing lunch packaging options with the least amount of waste: reusable sandwich wraps and containers (look for them on sale at the Fun Walk and the Fun Walk Breakfast), waxed paper bags, thrift store silverware, etc. Make it a game to see how little they need to put in the trash bin at the end of lunch!

We realize this method may be different than the recycling efforts in many parts of Minneapolis and what children have learned to do at home, but hopefully all neighborhoods in Minneapolis will be implementing organics recycling in the next few years, and our students will be ready to go!

For more information or to volunteer with the Green Team, please contact Julie Railsback, School Social Worker, at 612-668-3185, or [email protected].





the children to never walk between buses. In advance, thank you for your assistance in this matter.

The staff has begun their PLC (Professional Learning Communities) work. Most recently, each grade level met with the Literacy Coach, Angie Burroughs / or me to select an area of focus and begin their own professional growth. There continues to be great interest in digging deeper into the instructional techniques of Reader’s and Writers’ workshop. The staff is truly committed to increasing their skills and taking advantage of the knowledge and expertise of our literacy coach. As the work continues, I will provide you with updates in future newsletters.Last week we had our third fire drill of the year. The fire department came and pulled the alarm to see how quickly and safely we could evacuate the building. The students did a great job of exiting the building and waiting outside for the bell to signal it was clear to return. One of the critical factors we are instilling in the children is how important it is to leave and return quietly so that the adults can communicate important information if necessary. I continue to be so impressed with the students and how they take the drills seriously and work cooperatively with the staff. We have added a feature to our drills that I believe in a great way, for those of us remaining in the building, to know for sure that all staff and students have evacuated the premises. Sweepers (adults checking the building for any stragglers) also are assigned a visual check-in with the teachers to see if they have all their kids. They hold up a green card to indicate everyone is accounted for and a red card should someone be missing or they need assistance. It took us 2 minutes and 26 seconds to know that everyone was safe and accounted for and that the building was secure. I feel very confident that these drills and evaluation of our systems is helping make Armatage a safe school for everyone.If you choose to send a snack or birthday treat with your child/ren to share at school, a reminder that it must be store purchased. The Department of Health does not allow homemade food to be shared/ or sold at school. With so many children having food allergies, we encourage you to not send items that have or are made with any type of peanut substance. IF you are not sure if the treat you have selected contains peanuts or peanut oil, please check with your grocer before sending the item to school. This Saturday is the annual Family Fun Walk. This is an opportunity for families to come together and not only raise money for the school but demonstrate and support the focus on good nutrition and healthy living. I have been watching the weather forecast and it appears that we will have another spectacular day for this event. For families new to Armatage, come dressed for the weather as literally hundreds of staff, parents, students and community members will be walking around the block following a scrumptious breakfast in the big gym. The PTA has set a goal of raising $20,000 to support programs and opportunities for the children. At the school wide rally two weeks ago, the children were very excited by Foster and the prospect of this great event. Please clear your calendar and join us at the Park Board side of the building for this fantastic Armatage tradition!Have a wonderful end to the week and I look forward to seeing you on Saturday morning.

Sincerely,

Joan Franks, Principal


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Armatage Attendance Line

612-668-3188Be sure to call as soon as possible in the morning if your child will be absent

Armatage Montessori

Family Fun Walk and Breakfast

Saturday, October 9th, 2010

The Family Fun Walk is THIS Saturday!

NOW you can turn your envelope with all the pledge money collected inside of it. Write down any on-line donations on the pledge tracker, too!

Get your pledge tickets in – there is still one more raffle for a fabulous prize!

You thought it was enough to get to raise money for your school in such a fun, healthy way…but here are even more incentives…

The top fundraiser receives a $50 Target gift card!The first 150 students who turn in over $50 in pledges get an Armatage cinch bag. The highest fundraising class gets an extra gym time with their choice of activity.The top 3 fundraisers in each grade will get their names listed in the Kanga News and in the front entrywayAll students who complete 6 laps or more before 12 noon will get a chance at a different raffle prize and will be listed in the Kanga News and in the front entryway.

The Family Fun Walk will be fun! The breakfast starts at 8 am and the Walk will start at 9 am. Please wait until 9 a.m. to walk. There will be games and music and chances to learn about your health along the way, as you walk with friends and family.

Bring $ in your pocket that day. There will be spirit wear for sale, Armatage Adventure opportunities for parents to sign up for, and juice for sale after the breakfast. There will also be a chance to vote on the staff person you would like to see as Foster for the whole day in school! Each $1 ticket is a vote.

Remember checks are made payable to the Armatage PTA, and they should be returned inside the envelope with “Foster” on it.

For the on-line option (don’t forget your relatives may donate!), go to our Armatage Montessori website - armatage.mpls.k12.mn.us - or go to razoo.com, and search for Armatage school (listed as PTA Minnesota Congress Armatage). Or the direct link is here: http://www.razoo.com/story/Family-Fun-Walk-1 After you donate, you will get two confirmations. One will confirm you that the site received your donation. The next will be a thank you from the PTA. Please respond to the PTA with the name(s) of the child(ren) and grade(s) you sponsored, so it corresponds with their pledge trackers.

Watch Foster move down the road to the $20,000 goal! We are at $8,000, which is great progress, but we need everyone’s efforts to earn the rest this week. With all of your help, Foster will stop sitting and start running! Encourage your classmates! We can do it!


http://www.razoo.com/story/Family-Fun-Walk-1

http://www.razoo.com/story/Family-Fun-Walk-1

Fostering Volunteers

Volunteer Opportunities:

Chair Opportunities Available! If you are interested in any of the following positions or want more information, please contact Shari Anderson [email protected] or 612-929-5620.

Lunchroom Co-Coordinator: is This is a great chance to get your feet wet. Work with an experienced coordinator in helping to schedule and coordinate the lunchroom volunteers. The co-coordinator will communicate with Mary (lunchroom manager) regarding the volunteer schedule and help find substitutes when the need arises.

Student Council Parent Advisor: Support an Armatage teacher in providing guidance to Armatage 4th & 5th grade student leaders at a bi-monthly meetings Jan – May, 2:00-3:30pm. Two- three parents preferred.

School Dance (April 1st): Be the host with the most while the gym rocks during the annual school dance. Students attend with their families and enjoy music, refreshments, and of course time with friends. You will coordinate volunteers, decorations, concessions (food, and miscellaneous trinkets) and entertainment.

Armatage Montessori Schoolarmatage.mpls.k12.mn.us

Pa rent Teacher Association

Agenda for the General MeetingThursday, October 14, 2010, 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.

Media CenterChildcare/Movie Provided

6:30 Welcome & Call to Order - Su Ann DeGeorgeo, President Approval of September meeting minutes with change Approval October meeting agenda

6:35 Principal’s Update - Joan Franks

6:45 Membership Update - Kristen Milner

6:47 Volunteer Update - Shari Anderson and Jamie Henriksen

6:55 Treasurer’s Update - Kathy Tuzinski & Jamie Henriksen Monthly budget update 2009-10 PTA disbursement report Process brief for reimbursement requests

7:05 Budget Request for Book Fair Vouchers – Jill DeSanto Request for PTA to provide $2 voucher for each child at book fair / VOTE NEEDED 7:15 Committee Reports for Events Upcoming Book Fair (11/17-21)- Jill DeSanto Teacher Conference Dinner (11/4) - Andi Bockley 7:30 Recap/Highlights for Events Past/Ongoing Family Fun Walk – Mary McKelvey Spiritwear Update - Tammy Anderson 7:40 Consolidated Calendar - Jean Brandl

7:45 New Business

7:55 Announcements

8:00 Adjourn




Calling all Armatage photographers. As you take pictures during the year please keep these tips in mind to ensure that the pictures can be included in the yearbook. · Select your cameras least compression and highest resolution settings.

· Take a mixture of group and individual shots.

· Zoom in on the subject. Photos are cropped and then reduced to fit a layout. If the subject is too small, it is hard to identify the person. For large groups, try to position subjects on different levels, rather than all subjects in one line.

Watch for more information on how to submit pictures for the yearbook.


Kids On BroadwayIt’s time to sign up for Kids on Broadway.

A wonderful 10 year tradition at Armatage. For those who have not seen our Broadway Production this is an exciting opportunity for kids to perform on stage and be a part of a huge and absolutely impressive production.

This year some of the fabulous scenes we have planned come from; Wicked, Beauty and the Beast, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat, and Oliver.

Auditions will be October 11 with make-ups on October 13.

Opening night is December 9th with 3 shows following on December 10th.

All 4th and 5th grade students are welcome to join. There are 90 speaking/singing parts and great stage-hand opportunities to participate.Spots fill fast so get your registration in. If the 90 person limit is not met by the deadline, 3rd graders will be allowed to fill the remainder of the 90 spots on a first come first serve basis.

This is almost entirely run by parent volunteers so please consider volunteering as a scene parent and director, costume manager or scenery creator. The more parents we have the more spectacular the 11th Productionof Kids on Broadway will be. Registration will be coming home this week. Hurry and get your registration in.

Contact Julie Flaskamp with questions [email protected]



Armatage Lego Robotics Update

The junior arm of Lego robotics filled within the first six hours and soon 21 young engineers will begin exploring the world of gears, patterns, and programming! Our five Armatage Junior Coaches are excited to delve into the world of Biomedics with these young learners. They will keep you all informed of the trials and tribulations of their teams through the pages of this newsletter.

The Lego Robotics program for the older students (those 9 years old, on or before 9/30/10) still has room for additional kids as of the time of writing this newsletter. Also exploring the world of Biomedics, the older kids perform both a timed set of challenges with their own design of a Lego robot, as well as present a group research report. The final tournament will be held on January 15 and the four Armatage Teams will compete against 32 other Minneapolis Public School teams.

If your child is nine or older and you think he or she might be interested in participating on a Lego Robotic Team, call parent Sarah Linnes-Robinson at 612.791.7081 to verify there are still spaces open. Also plan on attending the first meeting on October 11, 6:30 PM in the Armatage Science room with your child. This first session will include an overview of the program and this year’s challenge, plus a time for parents to ask questions and understand the goals and demands of the program while the kids have some time building the Lego table-sets which are used in the challenge.


Families For Armatage Montessori E-Notices

“Families For Armatage” is an unsanctioned occasional, need-based e-notice managed by Armatage parents with

information on parent and family gatherings outside of school including parties, park activities, and other things

parents might be interested in the nearby community. Families For Armatage Montessori will also assist in-

between biweekly issues of the printed Kanga News and the Monday Armatage Montessori E-News to spread the

word on urgent school needs or upcoming happenings. To submit items for inclusion in the Families For

Armatage e-notice, or to get on the list to receive the emailed information, just contact:

[email protected].

Wendy’s Night

Thank you to all that attended September’s Wendy's night. The support for our school was tremendous! The winners of the drawing contest were Ellie Burns in room 104 and Bobby Rollins in room 118. Please join us for the October’s Wendy’s night on Tuesday October 19th from 5-7PM at the Wendy's location on York and Hazelton. The class that has the largest attendance will win a pizza party.



The Division of Epidemiology and Community Health (EpiCH) at the University of Minnesota is conducting a research study investigating the relationship between distance to school and active commuting (walking or bicycling) to school. As you are probably aware, the Minneapolis school district changed its school choice policy after last semester. Before this policy went into effect, we collected baseline data concerning commuting habits throughout the district. This semester we will be conducting the same observations to determine if the number of active commuters has changed since the policy has gone into effect. The information obtained from this study will help identify a potential policy intervention that could support both active transportation to school and some level of school choice. Active commuting has been implicated as an important factor in decreasing rates of childhood obesity.

We will not collect any information directly from you or your child. We will use the school district’s database to obtain distance to school and we will perform random observations at your child’s school on two mornings and two afternoons. Names and other identifiable information will NOT be collected. The school district’s address database will only be kept on the EpiCH secure server and only study personnel will have access to the data.

We have secured University and school district approvals to conduct this study in all K-5 and K-8 schools in the Minneapolis school district. The principal of your school has also agreed to allow us to conduct our observations.

If you have any questions about this study or would not like your child’s address to be used, please contact John Sirard (Principal Investigator) at 434-243-5189 or [email protected] or the Project Coordinators, Patrick or Whitney at 612-626-8576

Sincerely,

John Sirard, PhDAssistant ProfessorDivision of Epidemiology and Community HealthUniversity of Minnesota School of Public Health

School Safety Patrol

The purpose of the school patrol is to assist children from their school in crossing the street safely. Each spring and fall the school safety patrols are trained in proper patrol procedure. Once their training is completed, the children are ready to go out and do their part to keep their classmates safe. Throughout each school year the Police Department receives several violation reports from the school patrols at the four schools. The purpose of this article is to provide drivers with information that will help them understand school patrol procedure, and to remind all drivers that any time we are approaching an intersection near a school, or where crossing guards are present, we should slow down and be watching for children crossing. Drivers should also be alert for, and abide by, the reduced speed limit signs that may be posted on roadways adjacent to the schools.

When you see the crossing guards standing at ATTENTION, on the curb with the flagpole resting on their foot or the ground, the patrols are holding the children back and waiting for the right time to cross them. Be prepared by covering your brake in case a child does not obey the patrol, or in case the guard raises their flag to the ALERT position.

The ALERT position is when the patrol holds the flag straight up in the air. This is the equivalent to a yellow light for traffic. You as the driver must slow down, and prepare to stop and yield. Unfortunately, as red light running is a serious problem in our society, many drivers take the ALERT to mean they should quickly hurry through the intersection so as not to be delayed by the crossing children. Whether these drivers are confused about what to do, or are in a hurry, will not matter if their vehicle hits a child.




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