Charlemagne eNews
October 27, 2019
Wrapping up the month!
Dear Charlemagne Families:
Halloween
Halloween celebrations are just around the corner and we're looking forward to a safe and fun parade event at the beginning of the day! Your student will report to class as usual and the parade will commence shortly after the first bell. Families are welcome to view the parade in the open space between the upper K/3 hallway and the lower 1/2 hallway.
For any reason, if you would prefer that your child not participate in the parade, you may bring them to school between 9:00 and 9:15 am. The tardy will be excused. In addition, we will be offering an alternative activity in the gym during the parade if arriving late is not an option.
As Halloween approaches and you are considering costumes for the optional school parade on Wednesday, October 31, please follow the guidelines below:
Halloween Parade Dress Code:
• No weapons or weapon-like props
• No dress as another ethnicity, race, religion or culture that is not your own
• No especially scary or gory costumes-- please think of our kinder students!
• Masks must be taken off after the parade and stay off for the remainder of the day.
If you are not sure about the appropriateness of a costume, please discuss with your teacher or the principal.
Your student should not dress as another person’s race, religion or culture. A costume can be of a character or an individual who is of another race/religion/culture than your child, but not of a generalized race or ethnicity, religion or culture. Costumes should not be caricatures of any group. Students will be asked to change clothes for inappropriate attire.
Please note that students will still have recess and any other activities they regularly have on a Wednesday. Please send them with a coat, proper shoes, etc. so that they can participate fully the rest of the school day.
We're looking forward to a safe, respectful and fun Halloween!
Read-a-Thon
Charlemagne’s annual Read-a-Thon is coming up! It will start on November 1, just before our four day weekend, so a perfect time to get extra reading hours in. All students who participate will receive a small prize and be featured on our Reading Stars wall. We will also recognize students who are reading books in French-- not just English!-- for the Read-a-Thon. Envelopes will be collected November 12-18.
Box Tops
Please submit any clipped box tops this week-- our deadline for box tops are due November 1. We will have more information coming out about the new digital box top system.
School Conferences
School conferences are coming up on Wednesday evening, November 6 and all day Thursday, November 7. On Friday, October 18, teachers sent out invitations to families who have multiple students at Charlemagne to choose times and on Monday, October 21, invitations went out to all families. If you haven't signed up for a conference yet, please look for the Sign-Up Genius link in your teachers’ blog or newsletter.
Charlemagne teachers, particularly in grades 2-5 have larger numbers of students than most other elementary school teachers in 4j. Thanks in advance for your understanding-- our teachers do their best to meet with every family within the time allotted. We respectfully ask that in order for the majority of families to schedule a conference, please choose one time per student when most family members can attend. We cannot easily accommodate multiple conference requests for the same student.
Trivia Night
Save the date! Back by popular demand, Charlemagne’s Trivia Night will be on November 15. This is a great opportunity to help fundraise for the school while enjoying a night out with other Charlemagne parents and impressing them with your command of trivia!
Doors open at 6:00. Trivia starts at 6:30 sharp and should wrap up by about 8:30 but we hear our hosts this year (The Duck Bar and Grill - Thank you, Beaird Family!) run a fun karaoke night so feel free to stay and hang out!
Start planning your team! We will send out the link for team registration next week.
Class Reps
We are looking for parents willing to volunteer as representatives for your child’s class to liaison with the PTO once a month at our monthly meetings. We only need one parent per class though if you’d like to share the responsibility amongst several parents who rotate, that’s fine, too. This will insure the families in each classroom are connected with the PTO. Please email frenchiepto@gmail.com if you’re willing to volunteer. We already have a volunteer for one of the kindergarten classes!
Interns
Just a reminder we are still actively looking for families willing to host one of our amazing French interns. The host commitment is a minimum of 8 weeks-- if you can do more, great! There is a monthly stipend of $150 provided to host families. Please email us at charlemagneinternprogram@gmail.com if you can host one of our interns.
After School Activities
Just a reminder that if you want to know more information about clubs and after school activities, please visit the Charlemagne website for details.
Upcoming Dates:
October 28 Parent Equity Group Meeting @ 6:30 pm
October 31 Halloween Parade
November 1 Deadline for submission of box tops
November 1 Read-a-Thon starts
November 7-8 No School/Parent-Teacher Conferences
November 11 No School Veteran’s Day
November 12 Read-a-Thon envelopes provided
November 14 Picture Retakes
November 15 Trivia Night
November 18 Read-a-Thon envelopes collected
November 19 PTO Meeting
Have a great week!
ErinMarie Langsdorf and Jenny Jonak, PTO Co-Chairs
A Note from Mme Courtney
Salutations aux familles!
Amazing we are already at the end of October … and looking ahead to conferences in one more week!
We have some exciting staffing changes to announce… and I’m once again struck by the depth of talent and commitment in our community.
I'm thrilled to share that ErinMarie Langsdorf has accepted our open PE position, made vacant by Chrisanne Mehl’s resignation earlier this year. ErinMarie is a long-time guest teacher at Charlemagne; she is also our PTO Co-Chair. Her career previously was as a high school science teacher and as a long-time health and fitness aficionado, she is a fantastic fit for PE this year. Please welcome ErinMarie in her new capacity!
We have also hired parent and volunteer extraordinaire Leslie Cusati as an educational assistant in 2nd and 3rd grades. This is Leslie’s first foray into elementary education but her dedication as a classroom volunteer and a career previously in medicine has well-prepared her to support both students and teachers with small group instruction and classroom organization. We’re excited to have her officially with us on staff.
As we head into November and two short months of school, there's lots to prepare: Read-a-Thon, parent-teacher conferences, a kick-off to our direct drive on December 3, a food and clothing drive and our annual holiday market are all wonderful ways to support community and program. Looking forward to seeing all of you in the busy months ahead.
Merci à tous ... bonne semaine!
Courtney
Easy French Phrases You Can Use!
Whether you are volunteering in a classroom or practicing with your students at home, having a quick reference guide to French can be handy! Thanks to parent Julie Kim, here's a short guide to practical French. There are also fantastic free language apps-- try Duolingo, Memrise, Quizlet, busuu, Beelinguapp, 50 Languages Review and HelloTalk.
Bonjour (bohn zhoor) Hello
Au revoir (oh ruh vwar) Goodbye
À la prochaine (ah la proh shehn) See you next time
Merci (mehr see) Thanks
De rien (duh ree eh(n) You’re welcome
Ça va? (sah vah) How are you?
Bonne journée (buhn zhor nay) Have a good day!
Très bien (treh bee eh(n)) Very good
Parfait (par fay) Perfect
Fantastique (fahn tahs teek) Fantastic
Excellent (ehk suh lahn) Excellent
Bravo (brah voh) Bravo
Bon travail (boh(n) vahyee) Good job
Oui (wee) Yes
Non (noh(n)) No
S’il vous plaît (sil voo pleh) Please (what student would say to you)
S’il te plaît (sil tuh pleh) Please (what you say to kids)
Écoutez (eh koo tay) Listen
Attendez (ah tohn-day) Wait
On y va (ohn nee vah) Let’s go
Arrêtez (ah reh-tay) Stop
Tiens (tee uh(n)) Here
-ton livre (toh(n) lee vruh) Your book
Répète (reh peht) Repeat
Faites attention (feht ah ten see ohn) Pay attention (to group of kids)
Ouvre la porte (oov(r) lah port) Open the door
Ferme la porte (fehrm lah port) Close the door
Retourne à ta place (ruh tourn ah tah plahs) Go back to your seat
Tu as finis? (too ah fee nee) Are you finished?
Oui, j’ai finis. (Wee, zhay fee nee) Yes, I’m finished.
Tu as besoin d’aide? (Too ah beh zwah dehd) Do you need help?
Et tu prêt(e)? (Eh too preh/preht) Are you ready?
Êtes-vous prêts? (Eht voo preh) Are you ready? (to group of kids)
Est-ce que je peux avoir…? Can I have… ?
(Ehs kuh zhuh puh ah vwar...)
Est-ce que je peux aller aux toilettes? May I go to the bathroom?
(Ehs kuh zhuh puh ah lay oh twah leht)
Est-ce que tu veux… ? Do you want… ?
(Ehs kuh tuh vuh...)
Un crayon (uhn cray yoh(n)) A pencil
Est-ce que tu as… ? Do you have… ?
(Ehs kuh too ah...)
Counting 1-10:
1 = un (ah(n))
2 = deux (duh)
3 = trois (twah)
4 = quatre (kat(r))
5 = cinq (sahnk)
6 = six (seehz)
7 = sept (seht)
8 = huit (wheet)
9 = neuf (nuhf)
10 = dix (deece)