Newsletter
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2-3-12
Hi Parents and Students,
What a special treat Friday turned out to be! A surprise snow day off! Hope you are enjoying your extra long weekend. While you are doing so, I wanted to send your way a few exciting news items.
First, our Valentine's Party is February 14th, just around the corner. You will be able to view and sign-up for items we will need for the party at the link sent to you by e-mail. Thanks for your help!
Also, we now have a new class Facebook page. It is a page for parents, students, and teachers to communicate the class' most current news and events. You will see that even Ms. Fichter has already made a comment to the students there. Please remember, the social media page "Darting Teacher" is there to encourage and update, so please refrain from posting any student pictures or specific names of other students as we want to ensure this site respects the privacy of all our students and families. In order to stay informed, you simply need to visit the site and click the "Like" button at the top of the page. Any new posts from the Darting Teacher page will then show up in your Facebook newsfeed. You can get to it by clicking the "Like" button now on our class Website's home page.
Class News:
-Wear RED Wednesday for this month's Rachel's Challenge spirit day!
-Conferences are February 15th and 16th! Please sign-up if you have not yet done so. There are only a couple slots left!
-Young Ameritowne (YAT) training has began for the students! We will be a short class almost everyday from now until we go March 21st.
-Continue to check dartingteacher.com for news on what we are learning in each subject and when assignments are due.
Other School News:
FROM THE PRINCIPAL
Time keeps moving at a fast pace as we journey into February. This month is filled with a variety of activities but we also wanted to provide a quick recap about some January events:
Blue Heron Spelling Bee: We had 24 participants (4th thru 6th grade) that competed for a spot in our “Top 4” and for a chance to advance to the Dakota Ridge area bee. While only one winner could represent the entire Dakota Ridge area at the state competition, our winners did a great job of representing Blue Heron and learned a great deal from the experience.
International Night Recap: Thanks to everyone who helped make International Night a tremendous success. A special thank you goes to Mrs. Fichter for helping coordinate and arrange the night. It was excellent to see so many families come out and celebrate the food, fashion, family stories, artwork, and fun last Thursday evening. This night is one of the highlights of the year!
Get Active Get Fit Winners!: In case you haven’t heard yet, we were one of the winning schools that participated in the Get Active Get Fit contest which monitored student physical activity rates between October and November. As a winning school, we will receive a special visit from Radio Disney Dance Party on March 23 at 2pm. Our kids are very deserving of this and please continue to promote physical activity both inside and outside the school.
Here is a quick preview of some school February events:
Valentine’s Parties – February 14: The parties will be coordinated at various times during this special day. Please contact your teacher or room parent for additional information.
Parent/Teacher Conferences – February 15 & 16: If you have not yet signed up yet, please do so soon as spaces are filling up rather quickly!
TCAP Testing – February 22 & 23 (and March 5-16): What used to be called CSAP is now called TCAP (Transitional Colorado Assessment Program) as we are in the transition process of measuring student mastery of the revised Colorado state standards. Our third graders take the Reading portion of TCAP on February 22 and 23. Please ensure that your students are ready to show off what they know and please avoid any interruptions or appointments during these two days. Beginning the week of March 5 and through March 16, 3rd through 6th grade students will be taking a variety of tests. A calendar with specific dates, times, and tests is available on our website.
BLUE HERON HAPPENINGS
Father-Daughter Dance, Friday, February 24th 7:00 - 9:00PM: Blue Heron girls can bring any significant adult male to the dance. Dads, can enjoy dessert and dancing with your favorite Blue Heron girl(s). This promises to be a very special evening not to be missed. Cost: $25.00 per father/daughter; $30.00 per father/daughters; $35.00 at the door.
BIRTHDAY BOOK CLUB
Some important changes have been made to our Blue Heron Birthday Book Club!
First, thank you to all those who have participated in the Birthday Book Club this year - thanks to you we have added almost 40 titles to our library!
From now on, in order to make a Birthday Book Club book purchase we are asking for a $10 donation to the library. Your student will then be able to choose a book from a selection in the library or from a list of pre-approved titles the library has on file. Your student will have their special bookplate placed in the book recognizing their gift to the Blue Heron community and be the first to check the book out from our library. Please feel free to contact Kirsten Kreiling with any questions regarding the changes to the Birthday Book Club.
ORIGINAL WORKS
Thank you to all the Blue Heron families who placed orders with Original Works in the fall. The program has been a successful fundraiser for Blue Heron.
Good News! A second order is going be placed with Original Works!
If you missed the deadline from last fall or would like to place another order please contact Irene Keenaghan for further details. Order deadline is Friday, February 10.
MARTIAL ARTS COMES TO THE GYM
The Rock Martial Arts is coming back to Blue Heron Elementary! Your student will learn basic Tae Kwon Do techniques, such as kicking and punching, and come away from this course with a greater sense of confidence. The Rock will expose students to assertiveness and self-protection skills necessary to deal with bullies. All of this combined with some good old- fashioned physical activity is an opportunity you can’t afford to pass up!
100% of the proceeds from this 6 class course will go directly back to Blue Heron’s P.E. department!
Classes will run from 3:30 to 4:15 on February 7, 9, 14, 21 and 23 and are open to students in grades 1 – 6. The cost is $25.00. Please make checks payable to Blue Heron and return your registration to Mr. Schilling right away! Please see the attached flier to this messenger for more info.
BLUE HERON RHAPSODY SINGERS (CHOIR)
The Blue Heron Rhapsody Singers are open to all 4th, 5th and 6th graders.
We meet every Thursday, starting February 2nd from 3:30-4:30 in the music room. If your child is interested, please see Miss Diefendorf or you can get a permission slip in the front office.
HELP NEEDED
The Blue Heron Rhapsody Singers are in need of a piano player for a few rehearsals and their spring concert in May. If you know of a musician that can volunteer their time, please let Miss Diefendorf know.
WELLNESS COMMITTEE
The Wellness Committee will be meeting at 9:00 am in the Main Conference Room at Blue Heron on February 10, March 9, April 13 and May 11.
FROM THE AVIATOR CAFE
The Aviator Cafe will be offering ala carte healthy snack items as follows:
Hard Boiled Eggs........................... .25 cents
String Cheese.............................. .25 cents
Goldfish Pretzels........................... .25 cents
Rold Gold Pretzels........................ .50 cents
Scooby-Do Graham crackers....... .50 cents
SunHarvest Baked Chips............. .50 cents
Nutra-Grain Bars.......................... .75 cents
Yogurt............................................ 1.00 dollar
Items may be purchased thru students account or cash. If you would like to have your child opt out of buying these ala carte items, please call Linda DuChene.
THE BLUE HERON WALK-A-THON IS COMING THIS SPRING!
Parents, mark your calendars for Friday, April 27th. The Walk-a-Thon will begin after lunch, around 1:15, and wrap up before the end of the school day. We will be looking for a couple of volunteers from each classroom to walk with the kids. With the budget cuts looming, our goal is to raise money for additional classroom and instructional support, namely Para-professional funding. If we can keep our Paras in the classroom, we can lessen the effect of over-crowded classrooms and ease the burden on our Blue Heron teachers. The Walk -a-Thon fits in nicely with the Wellness theme we are promoting at Blue Heron. It is sure to be an enjoyable afternoon.
Please watch for more information in the coming weeks. If you are interested in being a corporate sponsor for this event, or if your company participates in a gift-matching program, please contact Sheri Trevenna or Christy Parisi.
PTA THANK YOU
Thanks to all who came out and supported Blue Heron in the Texas Hold Em Tournament on Saturday! We raised $1220.00 for Blue Heron!! Thanks so much to the following businesses for their donations and support of Blue Heron Elementary: Polidori Sausage, Encore Catering, Foothills Golf, Ivy at The Glenn Restaurant, LePeep, No Name Grill, Anthony's Pizza & Buffalo Wild Wings! Please think about these businesses the next time you are in need of their services! Almost all these businesses are owned by parents of students at Blue Heron.
Also, $404.83 was raised at the most recent Noodles Restaurant Night fundraiser – thanks to everyone who came out to show their support!
WALL OF FAME
A new group of faces decorates the Wall of Fame, located in the main hallway across from the music room. The Wall of Fame features photos of students whose teachers have chosen them for outstanding achievement, attitude or improvement. Come and see who is the “Best in the West”!
WATCH D.O.G.S.®
We would like to thank our DOGS (Dads of great students) who have been assisting us in January: Mark Flower, Greg Vernon, Dave Louks and Jeremy Carr. We still have the following dates available for February. February 1st, 2nd, 8th, 9th, 10th, 13th, 14th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 27th and 29th. Please call the main office and schedule with Angie Beasley. We will also have a sign-up sheet available at Parent/Teacher Conferences.
COACHES CORNER – KRISTINA HARRIS
Thank you so much for welcoming me to the Blue Heron community. This section of the newsletter will include some information about the incredible work our teachers are doing in the classroom. For our January Early Release we spent the afternoon working through two sessions of Regie Routman. Regie Routman is a professional development resource that our staff began using last year. It provides us with the opportunity to reflect and modify practices around writing. We have met throughout the year in grade level teams as well as mixed grade teams to talk about current writing practices. The staff has been great about sharing ideas and trying new strategies in their classrooms. We appreciate the time to have those collaborative conversations.
CAPRI SUN FUNDRAISER
Junior Girl Scout Troop 2801 is going start a school wide fundraiser with Capri Sun. By simply saving your Capri Sun Pouches, empty please and without the straws, you can help earn money directly for Blue Heron. Capri Sun will pay us 2 cents per pouch, that means that each box you purchase will earn 20 cents for the school! There will be boxes in the cafeteria to put the empty pouches in. It is that easy. Please help the girls of Troop 2801 earn money for Blue Heron.
SOFTBALL
South Jeffco free softball clinic ages 5 to 10. Providing girls an opportunity to learn about and play softball. Sunday, February 12th. Register by going to www.southjeffsoftball.org.
Have a great rest of your weekend! See you Monday.
Vallory Darting
5th Grade Teacher
Blue Heron Elementary School