G R O S S E P O I N T E P U B L I C S C H O O L S Y S T E M ● S o n j a F r a n c h e t t , P r i n c i p a l

OneGP ‐ where everyone learns, every day   

79 Years of Excellence ● 1936-2016

March 23, 2016

Dear Maire Families,

March is drawing to a close, and our upcoming Spring Break begins this coming Friday. Our month at school has been focused on Reading and more Reading! To kick off the month, students were entertained listening to author Gail Howe present her story about BIG DREAMS, and then created their own DREAM BIG poster. Students have been recording their reading minutes each day on their independent reading calendar. They were able to wear hats to raise money for March of Dimes, and they enjoyed dressing up as their favorite book characters for our school Dress Up Day. Students also enjoyed hearing the dreams and stories shared by our Maire parents reading aloud in our classrooms for “Mix it up for Reading Day.”

Reading every day makes a BIG (positive) difference in students’ reading fluency and comprehension. During one of our March assemblies, Basketball Jones came to share his amazing skills and talents with students by demonstrating his skills with a basketball. He then related his hours, months and years of practice to the art of reading. Did you know that a student who reads 20 minutes per day will have the opportunity to read 3,600 minutes in just one school year? By the end of 6th grade that equals reading for the equivalent of 60 whole school days. Think of the amazing vocabulary that these students can acquire in sixty school days! Students who read daily have an advantage for their entire school career, just as practice for a sport, music or the arts will also lead to a high level of performance. Be sure to continue encouraging your child to read every day.

Maire School students recite the “Maire Bear Pledge” at school. In it, they promise to be responsible, respectful and safe. Responsibility in completing homework, as well as classroom and lunchroom jobs is part of our students’ daily routine. Being safe on the playground and in the classroom is another area of focus for students. In addition, students practice finding examples of respectful behavior in the world around them, and model their

behavior after the examples they find, both in real-life situations, and in books. Together as a school, students have created a bulletin board to show a “Rainbow of Respect.” Ask your child to share some examples of respectful behavior. Help them be mindful of demonstrating real-life respect for themselves and for other people.

Have a wonderful Spring Break! We look forward to the coming warm weather.

Sonja Franchett

IMPORTANT MARCH DATES...

Wednesday, March 23rd Which Which Fundraiser Nite

Thursday, March 24th

Report cards go home today

Friday, March 25th thru Friday, April 1st SPRING BREAK - NO SCHOOL

Classes Resume Monday, April 4th @ 9:05 AM

In Michigan, according to Public Act 198 of 2012, children must be FIVE YEARS OF AGE ON OR BEFORE SEPTEMBER 1, 2016, TO REGISTER FOR THE 2016-17 SCHOOL YEAR. Parents of children who turn five years of age after September 1, but on or before December 1, may still register their child for kindergarten next year if they notify the district in writing using the kindergarten entry age waiver form available in the kindergarten registration packet.

KINDERGARTEN 2016/2017

IMPORTANT APRIL DATES...

Tuesday, April 8th Invasive Species Assembly 9:00 a.m.

Sunday, April 10th Mother-Son Bowling

@ Lakeshore Lanes 11:00AM-2PM

Monday, April 11th GPPS Board Meeting - 7:00P.M. - Brownell

Wednesday, April 13th EVENING Conferences

Thursday, April 14th

NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS AM/PM/EVENING Conferences

Monday, April 18th

Hungry Howie’s Fundraiser Night

Tuesday, April 19th Grade 4 Arbor Day Posters Due

Wednesday, April 20th

Maire PTO Meeting—7:00 PM

Thursday, April 21st Gr. 4 Disability Workshop @ Maire

Saturday, April 23rd

Daddy-Daughter Dance @ Pierce Gym -7:00-9:00PM

Monday, April 25th

GPPS Board Meeting - 7:00P.M. - Brownell

Wednesday, April 27th Which Wich Fundraiser Night - 4 p.m.

We are officially a Michigan Evergreen School for the 2015-16 school year.

The long list of accomplishments earning us this honor include:

Recycling in the building and outside of it

4th graders participating in DTE’s Think Energy program

Girl Scouts maintaining the Butterfly Garden

Nick the Nature Nut assemblies including one on Invasive Species

3rd graders investigating an electric car

Updates to outdoor LED lighting

Brownies working on reducing waste in the lunchroom

Students learning about alternative energy

Thank you to the teachers, staff members, troop leaders, parents, and students who all have to work together to make this a reality for our great school!

GREEN TEAM NEWS

Is your e-mail current with the school district? Like our secondary schools, the elementary schools have moved to a mandatory online pre-registration for all Grosse Pointe Public School students. Your “access key” for the online pre-registration will be coming to you this summer via your current e-mail that is on file with the school district. If you need to update your e-mail with the school district, log in to ParentPortal and click on “My Information” in the upper right corner.

You can also e-mail ParentConnect@gpschools.org from your email we have on file, or call 313-432-3131 from the phone number in our records so we can verify who you are, and provide: your name child's name present school name and your old and new e-mail address as soon as

possible. We are asking families to do this by May 1 to ensure you receive registration communications in a timely manner. However, we always seek to have your most current contact information on file in case of emergency. If you do not have an email address or access to a computer, please know that our school computer labs will be open and stations are available at the administration building, 389 St. Clair Avenue, to complete the online registration process. Thank you for helping with this.

REQUIRED ON-LINE REGISTRATION

This month’s classroom winner is Ms. Moir’s 4th grade with 139 Box Tops! Way to go Ms. Moir’s class!

Who will be the top collecting classroom in April?

Our year goal is 10,000 Box Tops with 7,928 already collected! Keep clipping and send in those Box Tops in April!

BOX TOPS CAMPAIGN

WOW! Our Maire students raised $6,387.00 for the American Heart Association during our Jump Rope for Heart events. This was a record for Maire Elementary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulation to all of our

fundraising students and thank you to our Maire families for their donations.

Our top fundraisers this year

Jameson Rorschnieder - $356 Sarah Johnson - $335 Kyle Spondike - $325

Elizabeth Peberdy - $310 Brady Bond $275

Jude O’Meara - $ 262 Emma Truza - $191

Meghan Ecclestone - $175 Abby Macey - $165

Nate Yeamans - $160 Charlie McPartlin - $155

Lucas Valice - $150 Nate Evans - $125

Gianna Rimanelli - $117 Rose Seniuk - $105

Tommy White - $100 Charlie Marks- $100 Henrik Moore - $100 Tess Hodges - $100

Luna Agosta - $100 Alexander Tranchida - $100 Harry Wessels - $100 Hudson Burkett - $100

JUMP ROPE FOR HEART

March 4th - HAT DAY / MARCH OF DIMES KICK-OFF FUNDRAISER

March 7th - BASKETBALL JONES ASSEMBLY

Be Positive - Be Literate

There will be a raffle to win an autographed basketball for all students who read everyday in March!

March 15th - DREAM BIG : MIX IT UP FOR READING MONTH EVENT

We thank all parents who came in as Guest Readers: Darby Collins, Ken Bresser, Amy Oclander, Michelle Kado, Kate Barnwell, Joe Parent, Francesca Luca, Shirley A. Konate, Angie Willson, Annie Del Mar, Jennifer Hodges, Kathryn Kaspzyk, Hil-lary Schmitt, Anne Tranchida, Kirsten Carlson, Sara Meier, Lindsey Seniuk, Karen Tu-ason, Sarah Teachy, Jessica Stephan, Elizabeth Tague, and Terry Park Linnell.

March 18th - SPIRIT DAY

Children enjoyed dressing up as their favorite book characters!

MARCH IS READING MONTH

March is Reading Month

Bookmark Contest Winners Congratulations to this year’s “March is Reading Month” bookmark contest in the library! The winning students are: Kindergarten: Zachary Markijohn 1st Grade: Nate Yeamans 2nd Grade: Alya Augspurger 3rd Grade: Matt Lee 4th Grade: Katie VandeWyngearde

and Elizabeth Peberdy

5th Grade: Sophie Schuetze and Ethan Fox

MORE LIBRARY NEWS

Just a few days left in the month of March to read a lot of MINUTES for the March of Dimes Reading Champions Program. Record all of your minutes read during the month of March ( March 1-31 ). Reach out to family and friends to raise DONATIONS to support the March of Dimes’ mission of improving the health of babies by preventing birth defects and infant mortality. All reading calendars (or other tally of minutes) and donations must be turned in to the school office no later than Wednesday, April 13th to be considered for awards. Remember to put your student’s name and class on the calendar. Who will be the top earner and top reader for each grade? Winners earn a pizza party and other fun prizes! Awards will be announced at our April PBS Read-In and MOD Awards Assembly on Friday, April 29th! Questions? Contact Julie Schuetze jmschuetze@sbcglobal.net or Kari Adams kari.a@sbcglobal.net

LOST & FOUND Please be sure to check our Lost & Found. There are many unclaimed coats, hats, gloves, sweatshirts and water bottles.

Items left after Spring Break will be donated .

“REPORTERS” IN ACTION!

MARCH OF DIMES

Did you know…? Our Maire website is frequently updated with photos of students during great fun & educational times at our school. Check back often to see what is hap-pening here at Maire! Also, you are able to watch our announcements on our website. You can see them by simply clicking on the link “Daily Video Announcements” on our homepage, http://gpschools.schoolwires.net/gpmaire They are listed in date order. Watch our 5th grade “reporters” in action!

Everybody

loves a good

book!

The monthly incentive party for this month is “Choice Parties!” Students will be choosing parties to attend, such as Karaoke, Legos, Games, Movie, etc.!

The goal of the monthly PBS (Positive Behavior Support) Party is to recognize positive behavior around the school.

Research shows that students achieve at a higher level when they know the expectations and feel safe. Positive Behavior Support helps us improve on both these areas.

We want students to feel good about themselves and come to school happy and ready to learn!

The Simple “Bear” Necessities: Respect Responsibility Safety

PBS CELEBRATION - MARCH MICHIGAN WEATHER

Students need to dress appropriately for the cold-warm/snowy-rainy days ahead, (ie; heavy/spring coats, hats, scarves, gloves/mittens, rain/snow boots and pants.) Our Michigan weather can fluctuate substantially in a day. Students remain inside only when it is raining or the wind chill is below 0 °.

Pierce PTO is looking for intelligent & energetic parents like YOU to be members of the 2015-16 PTO Board.

If you are looking to be more involved with what’s happening at the best middle school in GP, we would love to have you join us!

Many PTO Board or Committee positions are easy and fun to do.

Interested ? Please contact Michelle Kramer at mekmlk@att.net or 313-268-4033

PIERCE PTO - Interested?

Caption describing pic-ture or graphic.

“To catch the reader's attention, place an interesting sentence or

quote from the story here.”

Caption describing pic-ture or graphic.

Maire Mission Statement The mission of Maire School is to provide a quality educational program which prepares students to be productive citizens and life-long learners.

District Mission Statement Promote Innovation → Maximize Potential → Embrace Community

Maire Elementary School 740 Cadieux Grosse Pointe, MI 48230

On the web at http://gpschools.schoolwires.net/gpmaire/site/default.asp

Phone: 313-432-4300 Fax: 313-432-4302 webmaster: michelle.kramer@gpschools.org

G R O S S E P O I N T E P U B L I C S C H O O L S Y S T E M

Service Service

Maggie G., Aidan B. Drew R., Megan E., Luke W., Luke D., Owen D.

Safety

Blake J.

Cecile W.

Recess Buddies

Katie V.