THE PRINCIPAL’S NEWSLETTER

OSTMANN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL “Exploring the Spirit of Learning” PHONE: (636) 281-3382 FAX: (636) 281-3372

Fort Zumwalt School District Web Site: www.fz.k12.mo.us

Dr. Bernard J. DuBray, Superintendent Dr. Gregg S. Sartorius, Principal

Mr. Dave Brown, Asst. Principal

JANUARY 2016

Dear Parents, Students and Community Members,

Curriculum, assessments, homework, technology, buses, schedules and a hundred other issues make up a school—but what determines the success or failure of a school community? It’s the people. I’ve been reminded during the holiday season that our students, faculty and families are what makes Ostmann a special place. In November we put out an emergency e-mail for our canned food drive, which resulted in more than 4,000 canned goods being donated to needy families. Even Dr. Sartorius got into the act as he rewarded the students with a “special” performance of “Uptown Funk.” (Ask your kids about that!) This set the tone as our Salvation Army Toy drive was a huge success with 500 items donated to the Salvation Army; we’ve also had students visiting Delmar Gardens, and our fifth-graders rang bells at Shop-n-Save. Pancakes with Santa was a wonderful event—thanks to all those who organized and helped with this fun day. Ostmann families gave tremendous support to all these

activities and made each one a success.

I want to thank our Ostmann students and families, the PTO, and our faculty and staff for all their

hard work and I look forward to working together as we all “Explore the Spirit of Learning” in 2016.

Dave Brown

WINTER REMINDERS Jan. 4 No School for Students, Records Day

Jan. 5 Classes Resume

Jan. 12 PTO Meeting, 4:15p.m.

Jan. 13 Papa John’s Pizza Night

Jan 14 Early Release Day, 1:30 p.m. District Spelling Bee, 7 p.m., WHS

Jan. 18 No School, MLK Day

Feb. 1 5th Grade Transition Night at WMS,

6:30 p.m.

Feb 10 Papa John’s Pizza Night

Feb. 11 Early Release Day, 1:30 p.m.

Feb. 12 Dress for Respect Day

Kdg. Valentine’s Day Parties, 2:45 p.m.

Feb. 15 No School, Presidents’ Day

Feb. 22 Fort Zumwalt Activity-Free Night

Feb. 23 PTO Skate Night @ Great Skate

Feb. 29-Mar. 4 Reading Week, Scholastic Book Fair

and Science Fair Week

March 1 Breakfast with Books 8-8:30 a.m.

March 2 Principal’s Day

March 3 Kindergarten Registration

7:30 a.m. - 7p.m.

March 4 Reading Week Assembly 2:30-3:15 p.m.

March 8 PTO Meeting, Library, 4:15 p.m.

March 9 Papa John’s Night

March 10 Early Release Day, 1:30 p.m.

March 11 PTO Pasta Dinner, Art Show, Bake Sale; MPR, Small Gym and Lobby

March 16 Spring Picture Day (LifeTouch Studios)

March 17 Spring Parties, Gr. 1 & 2, 2:45 p.m.

March 18 Spring Parties, Gr. 3-5, 2:45 p.m.

Mar. 21-28 No School, Spring Break

March 29 Classes Resume

Salvation Army Toy Drive The Salvation Army Toy Drive was a huge success! We collected the following Toys - 406, Cold Weather Items - 70, Bikes - 2, Scooters - 6! There are many children signed up to receive toys from the Salvation Army in St. Charles County. Our donations will go to families living in the western portion of St. Charles County. We should all be proud that the Ostmann Elementary School community has made it possible for each child to receive a gift this holi-day season. Thank you for your support!

Student Council

&

Mrs. Howe

Principal’s Newsletter Page 2

Kindergarten Registration March 3, 2016

Registration for the 2016-17 school year will be Thursday, March 3th from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Ost-mann. Please encourage your neighbors, friends, and rela-tives with Kindergarteners living in our attendance area to register with us early as this helps us plan our staffing long before the start of the year.

January 18th, 2016

No School

Principal’s Newsletter Page 3

Ostmann Explorer Respect Pledge I pledge to take care of my school and everything in it. I will be a responsible learner, respect myself and others and maintain the Explorer Spirit of Learn-ing. I shall always do my best in everything I do.

ART NEWS Reminder: Continue to send your children to art with clothes that are appropriate. Art gets messy with materials like clay and glazes.

ART CLUB Art Club 2 will have their first meeting Tuesday, January 12th at 8:00 a.m. in room 5. Please bring your t-shirt money ($15 made payable to Ostmann Elementary) to our first meeting.

Next month, we will be exhibiting artwork at the Lilliam Yahn Gallery in Winghaven for their annual Black History Month exhibition. Select students will be notified of their acceptance into this show. The exhibit is open to the public.

See Mrs. Schaub for details.

Mrs. Schaub

SCIENCE FAIR

COMING TO OSTMANN The fair will be held February 29th – March 4th. If your child is participating, please review the following infor-mation. Please note that the dates are later than in years past.

∙ Science Fair projects must be dropped off before noon on Monday, February 29th.

∙ Monday, March 7th, winners will be announced and pro-jects sent home.

∙ Projects must be picked up and taken home on Monday, March 7th.

Good luck to all those who participate in this year’s fair!

SECOND GRADE UPDATE The boys and girls from Second Grade have been working very hard and doing some amazing things inside and outside the classroom. They just wrapped up their Second Grade Musical at West High School and did a wonderful job. Now the children will start their Literacy Unit on Holidays Around the World. Together we will “travel” to several different countries including Mexico, Russia, Germany, and Sweden. We will dive into several books and articles to learn about their culture. We will learn how the children from those countries celebrate holidays and how they are different from our own holiday traditions. Later on in the year, the children will start to get ready for our Annual Dad’s Night. Please look for more infor-mation to save that date! Lots of fun in Second Grade!

Mrs. Frownfelter

Mrs. Meyer Mrs. Nill

P.E. NEWS At the end of the month we will begin our Jump Rope for Heart fundraiser that we participate in each year. Last year our school raised $11,553, making us the 16th ranked school in Missouri for money raised during Jump Rope for Heart! Our school goal this year is break $12,000! We will need your support again this year to have another successful year. Information regarding the event will come home with your child during the first week of Febru-ary.

As a reminder, please make sure your child is wearing tennis shoes on P.E. days . Students who aren’t wear-ing the correct shoes will not be able to participate in P.E. for the day.

Thanks!

Mr. Hadfield & Mrs. Alagna

Principal’s Newsletter

EXPLORERS BOOK CLUB A huge thank you to all the Ostmann families who joined the Explorers Book Club in December and donated a book to the library! The following students had a book do-nated in their honor:

Nathan Krankel Brooke Tufts

Elijah German Ben Phillips

William Larson Mac Rohloff

Noel Nunn-Faron Andy Roth

Kara Mohrmann Emma Lindquist

Sarah White Cameron Rohrbach

Lexi Rigsby Cole Harris

Mason Schumacher Lucas Rottmann

Tristan Vaughan Clay Bowman

Mason Noel

You will receive a letter from the library the month be-fore your child’s birthday which will provide you with in-formation to join the Explorers Book Club. If you would like to learn more about the Explorers Book Club, please send a note with your child to the library or write to our librarian, Mrs. Birke, at jbirke@fz.k12.mo.us.

SPELLING BEE Congratulations to the winners of the

Ostmann Spelling Bee:

1st place Maddie Towers

2nd place Andrew Koviak

3rd place Jack Kidnie

Maddie Towers and Andrew Koviak will proceed to the District Spelling Bee. Congratulations to all of the fol-lowing students who participated in the 2015 Ostmann Spelling Bee.

4th Grade

Mahler Jones

Hayley Tanna Hiya Tanna

Evelyn Wall Jayda Hamdan

Box Moorman

Abby Snead Andrew Koviak

Jade Williams Jack Kidnie

5th Grade

Fedder Weiss

Addison Wright Aidan Copeland

Peyton Kraus Adam Webster

Pflughaupt Wray

Claire Neske Maddie Towers

Emily Goewert Carson Clark

OUTDOOR RECESS We will continue to go outside for recess during the winter months. Please

check before your child leaves in the morn-ing that he/she is dressed appropriately.

Please make sure that your child’s coat, hat, and gloves are clearly labeled with their name. Remember to send hats and gloves as the weather turns colder. Please check the Lost and Found area located by the recess doors for any lost articles. We donate unclaimed items at various times throughout the school year, such as winter break, spring break and the end of the year.

INCLEMENT WEATHER Please refer to the following information in prepara-tion for the winter months. Should it become necessary to close school due to inclement weather, Fort Zumwalt will initiate the School Messenger system. School Mes-senger is a messaging service that will assist us in com-municating important information regarding emergen-cies, weather closings, cancelations and more. Please make sure your contact information is up to date in our office. You may also tune into the following radio/TV stations for the latest updates.

TV STATIONS:

Channels 2, 4, 5 or 30

RADIO STATIONS:

KMOX -1120 AM

INTERNET:

www.fz.k12.mo.us

Like FZSchools on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @FZSchools.

In the event of early dismissal, please make certain your child understands the arrangements which have been made for them. When inclement weather forces the dis-trict to dismiss school earlier than the normal time, the following schedule for transportation will be followed.

DISMISSAL TIME is 2:00 p.m.

YMCA Y-Club will be cancelled when schools are closed. If school is cancelled during the day, there will be no afternoon child care on site. For delays in the begin-ning of the school day, care will be provided until school begins.

Principal’s Newsletter Page 5

MID-YEAR REMINDERS Students that do not ride the bus should arrive at school between 8:45 and 9:00. Please do not drop off students before 8:45, as there will be no super-vision for them.

During school hours, you must use the inter-com outside, identify yourself, and state your purpose. Once you enter the building you must report directly to the office. Identification will be required when you check in at the office.

All toys, music, and video equipment should stay at home.

If a student is late (anytime after the 9:00 bell), an adult must sign them in at the office

PLEASE KEEP OUR STUDENTS SAFE!

Follow the directions of the teacher directing traffic..

Use the lane closest to the front of the building near the sidewalk for dropping off or picking up. Use CAUTION when pulling away from the curb and when approaching safety patrol students.

There is only one lane of traffic for dropping off and picking up students. Parents must wait in their cars and slowly move up to pick-up and drop off students. Please do not get out of your car while waiting in line. A teacher will assist students to the cars in a safe and timely manner.

If a parent needs to enter the building for any reason, please park your car in the parking lot. Please avoid double parking in front of the building or blocking our handicapped parking area.

Finally, students may not cross the crosswalk alone. Please wait in the carpool line or park your car in the parking lot and then come get your child.

Thank you for keeping Ostmann students safe!

CLINIC NEWS Here are some tips from the clinic on when you should keep your child home from school:

Diarrhea

Fever greater than 100.0 in the past 24 hours

Repeated vomiting

Discharge from eyes

Wheezing/difficulty breathing

Uncontrolled/severe coughing

Unusual fatigue

Unexplained skin rashes

****If your child may need to take Tylenol and/or Ibuprofen at school and you have not sent in their own personal supply, please do so. Make sure to label the container with all family members using the medicine at school.

Please contact our school office if you child has a communi-cable illness.