Penngrove Press
September 19, 2018
A Message From Mrs. Fadeji
Wow! What a start to the year it's been. Penngrove is a pretty AMAZING place to be. Your students have been working hard in their classrooms forming new communities, developing friendships, and learning a ton! Our staff has been raising learning expectations and celebrating milestones as students achieve them. The energy so far in the 2018-19 year is outstanding and I want to thank you for the role you play in sending your children to us ready to learn.
Hopefully you'll remember from Back to School Night that our staff is putting an extra emphasis on reading this year. As we implement our new Language Arts program, we also want desperately to instill a love of reading in each child. Our goal is to get more books in the hands of our students and to teach healthy reading habits with joy and excitement. How can you help at home?! I'm so glad you asked!
- Read with your child at least 20 minutes a night
- Go to a local library often and especially over the break
- Visit the "Little Free Library" on campus and take anything you'd like
- Check out books with your child after school in the Penngrove Library
- Read, read, read!
As we head into the fall break, I have a few more asks of you all. As excited as I always am for a chance to re-charge, breaks sometimes make me nervous and left feeling unsettled. I can't help but worry about our students when I'm not with them. Will everyone be safe? Will they be supervised? Will they get enough to eat? Will the be left unattended on devices? Will they be happy?
For some of you, these worries might surprise you. But for others, you may share some of these same concerns for your own children, or for some of your child's classmates. Here are a few suggestions to keep in mind as you make arrangements for the break:
- Encourage outdoor play
- Limit screen time and ALWAYS monitor what your children are doing on devices. According to Common Sense Media, devices should be in a public part of your home and never in a child's room over night. Be nosy. There is no such thing as privacy at this age.
- Schedule some play dates (nothing extravagant, just play time). Perhaps there is a new friend your child has been wanting or asking to connect with.
- Encourage your child to keep a journal, make a photo collage, or draw something special about each day
- Help your child become further independent and kind (be strategic about lessons on organization, cleaning, kindness, responsibility, etc.)
- Cook meals together
- Rack up some RAK (Random Acts of Kindness) points together
Thank you all for a wonderful first part of our school year! We are so lucky to partner with you and to spend our days with your children. I hope you see, feel, and know how much we truly care about each and every one of them.
All the best,
Amy
STEM Update
Friday is our annual school-wide build and play day for our Caine's Arcade projects! Please check in with your children about their design plan and supply list. Gather cardboard, duct tape, paper towel tubes, cups, or anything else that they might need to build their arcade game and bring all supplies in on Friday. If you're able to volunteer on Friday, we'd LOVE TO HAVE YOU! This is a community event and we need all hands on deck! Here is the schedule for Friday:
8:30-10 TK/K build time on the kindergarten playground
10:30-11:30 TK/K play and explore our creations
11-12:30 Grades 1-6 build time on the main playground
1:30-2:15 Grades 1-6 play and explore our creations
We can't wait to see the design plans in action on Friday! Thank you for your support of the STEM program!
What's Happening at Penngrove?
$76,022.47 from our 2018 Jog-A-Thon!
Thank you to our students for working hard to fundraise. Some students held their own cookie or hot dog booths on the weekends just to raise money for our school! Their drive and enthusiasm is unstoppable!
Thank you to all the parents who helped their children raise funds and who helped out to make the Jog-A-Thon event run smoothly!
A very warm thank you to our PTA who put on another organized, efficient, and amazing Jog-A-Thon. So much time goes into this event. We know how many long nights you had getting ready and we appreciate every minute of your time.
Congratulations Penngrove Elementary!
2nd Grade
2nd Grade
2nd Grade
3rd Grade
Ms. Boronkay and her 3rd graders
6th Grade represent!
Message from your PTA
JOG-A-THON: What an incredible event we had this year! We are so thankful to everyone for your participation! This amazing outcome says a great deal about our Penngrove Community. (In case you haven’t heard, check out this video). Thank you to all of the parents who supervised lemonade stands, volunteered your time, & cheered for all the runners! Thank you to the SSU students who brought major spirit! Thank you to all the donors and business sponsors for your generosity! The banners from the event will be hung very soon on the parking lot fence. We welcome your feedback for next year, so please do let us know how you feel: pennparentvoice@gmail.com
The Harvest Festival is coming up on October 27th! This fun event celebrates the season & gives that Halloween costume a little extra time to shine! There will be games, treats, and the famously spooky Haunted 6th Grade! If you’re interested in this event, come to the next committee meeting this Thurs, 9/20, at 5pm in the staff room.
PTA Membership Drive ends on October 31st! The class with the highest percentage of PTA members will win a party of their choice! You should have an email from the online membership system, TOTEM, where you can download your membership card. Please email fopptamem@gmail.com with any questions or technical difficulties.
Great turnout at the PTA Association meeting last week! Thanks to all those who were there. There was a lively discussion about Jog-a-thon, what worked, and how we can improve it next year. We approved this year’s budget and released funds for the upcoming Red Ribbon Week and Harvest Festival. The Student PTA meeting was announced for Oct 23rd (more on this soon)! Please mark your calendar -- Our next PTA Association Meeting will be November 5th at 6pm, Room 3.
What’s on your mind?
Please email your questions, comments, ideas, deep thoughts: pennparentvoice@gmail.com
Update from Outdoor Education
Bring an extra $5 for dessert too! We will also be selling homemade chocolate chip cookies, brownies, and rice krispy treats (10 for $5)!
Thank you for your continued support of Outdoor Ed, Class of 2019! Woo Woo!
Outdoor Education Next Fundraiser
Join us for a fundraiser benefiting 6th grade Outdoor Ed for the class of 2019 at The Santa Rosa Pumpkin Patch on Stony Point and Expressway.
Date: Wednesday, October 3rd
Time: 9am-7pm
Free admission (with a wrist band purchase)
Discounted ultimate wristbands for $18 (a $21 value)
35% of every wristband and pumpkin sold will be donated back to Penngrove Outdoor Ed.
General $2 wristband includes the following:
- Challenge eachother in a game of pumpkin checkers or tic-tac-toe
- Corn hole bag toss
- Barnyard Ballzone- test your football, basketball & baseball skills
- 9 hay bale high pyramid -can you make it to the top?
- Corn play box -come jump in!
- Challenge one another to a game of pumpkin tether ball.
- Touch the sky in our country tire swing set.
- Get lost in the giant hay bale maze.
- John Deere pedal trike races – Who will win?
- Walk through our beautiful Sunflower maze – Take some home for $1 each!
- Take a stroll through the 10 acre pumpkin patch with one of our wagons (Pumpkins are sold separately).
Super $9 wristband includes everything in General plus:
- Unlimited jumping on our huge Jumpy Pillow
- 24ft Double Inflatable Slide
- Bounce House for kids 5 and younger
- Petting farm- Come see our farm animals! Bunnies, calves, goats, piggies and more!
Ultimate $21 wristband includes everything in General and Super plus:
- 8 acre Corn Maze (Sonoma County’s Largest with a short & long route).
- Hay ride down to the pumpkin patch OR ride the cow train (new this year).
- 3 shots at our Pumpkin Blasters
Please checkout their Facebook page or website for additional information.
http://santarosapumpkinpatch.com/
Phone: (707) 331-6653
Email: thepatchsantarosa@gmail.com
5157 Stony Point Rd
Santa Rosa, CA 95407
Message from the Penngrove Library
Mrs. Lutz would like to thank the following families for their generous donations to the 2018 Friends of Penngrove School Library Fund Drive…
Ashley Burr
Samantha Butler
Aidric Hamilton
Nicholas Gobbi*
Marcus Raitano
Katie Gobbi*
Jerrick Aguilar
Emiliano Sullivan*
Ruhani Gill
Zoe Fogg**
JJ Walker
Robert Merrick
Mateo Enriquez
Laurel Merrick
Shaan Ghoman
Henry Goulet
Everet Hand
Lacy Treadway
Gianni Enriquez
Connor Harrington
Sophia Porter
An * denotes a subscription purchased for the school year which mean a new book every month for one year. Thank you so much for your contributions to our library!!
Chalk-Off contest gets our school $200 and chance for even more!
Message from Penngrove's Art Enrichment Program
Every class at Penngrove participated by reading the book and discovering different ways to make their mark when given a dot. Each grade level's dots are uniquely themed. Themes included: tie dye, Kandinsky, Mondrian, rainbow loom, Aboriginal, and mandala.
If you haven't already, come on down and check out our dots in the office hallway (photos below). They will be up until October!
Check out photos below of our other art projects that we have been working on this month!
Art Enrichment
Art Enrichment
Art Enrichment
Art Enrichment
Art Enrichment
Art Enrichment
Art Enrichment
Art Enrichment
Art Enrichment
PTA Reflections Art Contest
Does your Panther enjoy art, music, dance, or have an interest in film, photography or writing? Then this might be for them! They can have fun over Fall Break unleashing their inner artist, all levels wanted and welcome!
PTA Reflections: This year's theme is "Heroes Around Me" and can be interpreted through any one of the six categories mentioned above.
Who is a Hero?
What made them a Hero?
Can kids be Heroes too?
Encourage the kids to think about and explore the theme and lets see what they all come up with!
Submission guidelines/details and entry forms will be sent home this week in your Panthers homework folders. Extra ones can be picked up from the school office starting Monday, Sep 10th.
For inspiration, visit Reflections virtual art gallery and learn more about prizes at PTA.org/Reflections
Judging: Penngrove Elementary will have a judge for each category, six in total (non parent / non PTA members) who will choose a winner from each category (deadline for entries is Nov 1st, 3:30pm, all entries dropped off at the School Office) who then advance to the 14th District PTA level. National winners are announced in May 2019
For more information or questions email fopptapar@gmail.com
Good luck and have fun!!
Message from the Garden & Environmental Education Program
The last days of summer are busy days in the garden and around the campus.
Penngrove School exhibited produce, seed packets, genius hour projects, student watercolors and more at the Heirloom Exposition in Santa Rosa. We are grateful to the Baker Creek Seed company for underwriting a bus to take the second graders to that amazing event.
All students tasted Bartlett pears and our first crop of Bosc pears. Kinders sorted beans and corn and sunflower seeds - so many colors and patterns! First graders started seeds and planted fairy gardens. Second graders planted beans. Third graders continue to study pollinators. Fourth graders found their worm farm population is exploding since they’ve been tending them for a month. Fifth graders planted “the banks” of the rock river in front of the multi use room and sixth graders prepared a delicious Summer Chopped Salad and made mandalas of assorted succulent leaves.
All fourth, fifth and sixth graders were introduced to the field sketching watercolor equipment which was funded by a Rotary Club grant two years ago. The water is in the brush!
Questions? Contact Marianne Barrell
See photos on the G.E.E Twitter account
Silver Graphics Art Fundraiser
- Coffee mugs
- T-shirts
- Pillowcases
- Magnets
- Keychains
- Greeting cards
- Stickers
- Much More
Order forms will come out in October and orders will be received in December, just in time for the Holidays!
Proceeds go back into our Art Enrichment program at Penngrove! Thank you for your support of art for your children.
Message from our Happy Healthy Club
The Happy Healthy Club is back! The Happy Healthy Club is a student-driven club that provides a place for kids to learn about healthy choices, collaborate with each other about what that means for themselves and their school and feel empowered to make small changes in their school community that will have a big impact on improving health and well-being for everyone.
Last Spring, more than 20 students came together every other week to share ideas about ways to make Penngrove Elementary a happier, healthier place for all. They hosted a school-wide tasting of fresh vegetables from a local Petaluma farm; they shifted the focus of Valentine’s Day celebrations from candy and treats to a celebration of the heart and heart health; they shared the health benefits of kindness with their whole school community at assembly; they designed a logo and, as importantly, they laughed and had a ton of fun sharing ideas and working with each other.
This school year, HHC has big plans starting with planning Red Ribbon Week in October. Aside from that, the club will promote gratitude on campus as an essential aspect of health (and happiness), taste a wide variety of new foods and recipes, play games to increase physical activity and plan a number of fun activities for the whole school aimed at helping students feel empowered to make healthier choices for themselves. It’s all up to the kids and what they decide will make their school happier and healthier.
HHC is not just a nutrition club. This club is about health and happiness and all of the different ways each person defines those things. Ms. Fadeji and Ms. Benedetti join HHC meetings to help the kids’ fantastic ideas come to fruition. Students of all ages, teachers, staff members and parents are all welcome to the Happy Healthy Club. A meeting calendar will be included in future issues of the Penngrove Press after fall break. Please feel free to come and join the conversation and fun.
Questions? Contact Brian Dufour at bdufour1@gmail.com
Save the Date for the Harvest Festival!
Saturday, October 27th 11am - 2pm
This is always a fan favorite with our families! Don't miss out! The Harvest Festival is free to all families who have a PTA membership. If you're not a member yet, don't worry, you can pay at the door for entrance or a membership. More details will be coming soon! Each class with be hosting a booth/game and will be responsible for staffing the booth during the event.
From our 2nd Grade classes ..
Lifeskills awarded August 22, 2018
Lifeskills awarded August 29, 2018
Penngrove Elementary School
Email: penngrove@petk12.org
Website: www.penngroveelementary.com
Location: 365 Adobe Road, Penngrove, CA, United States
Phone: 707 778 4755
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Penngrove-Elementary-School-323595021067904/
Twitter: @pennpanthers