Prairie Point Panther Press
Newsletter for Prairie Point Elementary School
Friday January 8, 2016
Welcome to the Prairie Point Panther Press!
January Principal's Letter
Dear Prairie Point Families:
Happy New Year! I hope you have had a wonderful and relaxing holiday season, filled with love and laughter with your families.
December 18th marked the end of first semester. I can’t believe the year is half over! Second quarter report cards for grades 1-5 will be available online through Home Access. If you need a hard copy of the report card, please contact the main office. Report cards will be available for viewing online on January 14th after 4:00 p.m.
Please continue to look at the Prairie Point website for news, information, and coming events at http://www.SD308.org/prairiepoint. You may also “like” Prairie Point Elementary Home and School on Facebook as another source for school-related information.
Please feel free to contact Mrs. Kern or myself directly if you have questions or feedback for us about our school.
Sincerely,
Dr. Heidi Podjasek, Principal
Home & School President's Letter
Dear Prairie Point parents,
I would like to start the monthly letter a little differently. I want to appeal to all Prairie Point parents to consider volunteering for one of our upcoming events. I understand that we are all busy, life seems to demand more and more from us. But if we don't have volunteers, we cannot continue to hold big events for our students and families. For example, the committee chairs would love to have 70+ volunteers for the Fun Fair, coming up in February. If we had enough volunteers, we could easily put people in shorter shifts, giving each volunteer plenty of time to spend time with their families before or after their shift. Because we all want time to enjoy these events with our kids. Volunteers can be grandparents, high school siblings, aunts and uncles. If we don't have enough volunteers for the Fun Fair, then we have to ask parents to work longer shifts or we may not be able to run as many activities.
We are so proud of all that we have to offer, but we can only do it with your help. Please, please consider volunteering your time.
I would like to thank the Candy Cane Lane Committee for all of their hard work putting together our winter wonderland/holiday shop event in December. This was a wonderful night, great shopping for the kids and for the adults who were able to do a bit of shopping in the craft fair. The decorations were fun and pictures with Frosty were a hit. Thank you so much to the volunteers who helped the committee with the event.
We have a fun January planned. Next Monday and Tuesday (the 11th & 12th) we have a special “Tuesday Night Dinner” with Papa John’s. They will accept orders both days for the school. The 21st is our annual Bouncetown Night. Come to Bouncetown anytime between 4-8 and $3 of every wristband purchased helps fund our School Skate Night in the spring. The next morning, the 22nd is Donuts with Dad and we finish the month with Culver’s on the 26th. Kindergarten and First grade teachers are serving. You can find more information about all of these events in the Panther Press weekly newsletter, coming out every Friday.
Have a wonderful January! Stay warm and we hope to see you soon!
Lisa Eloe
Home & School President
Upcoming Home & School Events
January
11/12 TND – Papa John’s
15 - Lunch Ticket
21 - Bouncetown 4-8pm
22 - Donuts with Dad
26 - TND – Culver’s – 1st& K
28 - Variety Show Preview Appointments
February
3 - Health& Wellness Gym Night – 4th& 5th
4 - Home& School Meeting 7pm
9 - TND – Chili’s
12 - Valentine’s Parties
19 - Fun Fair
23 - TND – Culver’s
26 - Lunch Ticket
Prairie Point Parent-Staff Book Club
Prairie Point would like to start a parent-staff book club during 2nd semester this school year!
The goal of this book club will be for parents and school staff to come together and discuss books related to child development, education, and parenting.
The first book chosen for this year is How Children Succeed by Paul Tough. Those who join the book club will be provided a copy of the book to read. A 1 hour discussion group meeting will take place related to key topics in the book.
If you are interested in participating, please email Dr. Heidi Podjasek at hpodjasek@sd308.org by Friday, January 22nd. Please include in your message your preferred day(s) of week and time(s) (morning, afternoon, or evening) for the meeting. This will help determine a meeting time that works best for the majority of those interested.
Specific details will follow in a couple of weeks.
How Children Succeed introduces us to a new generation of researchers and educators, who, for the first time, are using the tools of science to peel back the mysteries of character. Through their stories—and the stories of the children they are trying to help—Tough reveals how this new knowledge can transform young people’s lives. He uncovers the surprising ways in which parents do—and do not—prepare their children for adulthood. This provocative and profoundly hopeful book will not only inspire and engage readers, it will also change our understanding of childhood itself.
“Illuminates the extremes of American childhood: for rich kids, a safety net drawn so tight it’s a harness; for poor kids, almost nothing to break their fall.”—New York Times
“I learned so much reading this book and I came away full of hope about how we can make life better for all kinds of kids.”—Slate
Winter Baseball Camp - ages 5-14 at OHS
P.E. Reminder
Dear Parents,
The P.E. Department would like to remind you to provide your child with a pair of gym shoes to be left at school. Now that winter is upon us, many students have missed P.E. due to having boots. It's also helpful if all students are able to tie their shoes. THANK YOU!
Papa John's Fundraiser - Promo Code: PRAIRIEPOINT
Donuts with Dad!
Bouncetown Night
Thursday, January 21st, 2016 from 4pm - 8pm
$3.00 per wristband purchased comes back to Prairie Point
Health and Wellness 4th & 5th grades - Save The Date
Aramark Positions Available
For details visit
http://www.sd308.org/Page/8234 or call Kate Kloet at 630-636-4611.