At the Creek...
February 12, 2020
Coming soon:
2/14-No school for students
2/17-President's. Day holiday
2/18 and 2/25-Visitor's in our Schools continue-9:30 school tours throughout ASD
2/25-Visitors in our Schools Tour 6:30pm
2/28-Pajama Day-sponsored by Student Council
3/5-End of 3rd Quarter
3/6-No school-Grading day
3/7-3/15-Spring Break
3/17-PTA meeting 3:45 in Library
3/27-Future Career Day-sponsored by Student Council
Hello Families,
This time of year brings wildlife into the Rabbit Creek area, with moose frequenting the parks and trails around our school. We've had multiple reports this week of moose in the area and our staff works to get to the trails to help students stay safe. If you are a parent who walks to the school to meet your child(ren) and are willing keep a look out on your way to and from school, it would be greatly appreciated. When possible, we have had staff head out to the trails to guide students past a moose. Often times we're not aware of them before dismissal and are trying to quickly gather staff to help. It's a good time to talk to your students about moose safety as well.
The family Climate and Connectedness survey, mentioned in prior newsletters, is still open for families. The code is Rabbitcreekfamily and your feedback is valuable.
As we look ahead to the remainder of the school year, our team continues to use data to make decisions to support student learning. We used the winter assessments to guide our new WIN groups and will make sure these groups are needs based and flexible as growth happens. Our PEAKS statewide assessments will take place staring on March 30th, with our goal to finish in a week. One criteria evaluated by the state is participation, with our school needing 95% of students to be tested. Exact dates for the testing in grades 3-6 will come out in early March and we hope you will ensure your students are here to test. We finish the school year with our spring Benchmark assessments April 20-May 8th. This is an exciting assessment for us as we are able to see student growth from Fall to Spring. We can't wait to see how our students have progressed!!!
Parking Lot concerns
There are continuing concerns about the parking lot to include where folks are parking, dropping students off at the wrong locations to include the bus loop and the crosswalk at the end of the intermediate hallway and more. I wish I could be in all locations to support the parking lot-and that we had staffing to be everywhere as well. It really is important that everyone in the Rabbit Creek community is joining forces to keep our arrival and dismissal running smoothly. The staff Foundations team worked to create the current process that uses the staff available to provide supports in key areas. Now it's up to all of us to make sure things are safe and smooth. Please do your part and help all of us team up for Rabbit Creek. Thank you! Ms Peterson
"Youth as the Agents of Change"
Sincerely,
Ms. Rinehart’s Awesome Class.
Dear Rabbit Creek,
February may be a short month, but there is a lot going on! On Friday, February 7th, Rabbit Creek students and families enjoyed our second-annual Winter Fun Day, “Flurries ‘N Fun”outside on the school playground and fields. The weather couldn’t have been better for outdoor fun and games and there were plenty of smiles to go around. A big thanks to our Community VP, Tina Baldridge, for organizing the event and to all of our parent and staff volunteers who helped make it a great afternoon for all. A special thanks to PE Teachers, Dan Pemble and Joe Libal for helping set up the courses and letting us use all their ski and snowshoe equipment and Amy Habberstad, South High Peer Mentor Coordinator, and her students who volunteered to help with running events and clean up. This year, we had hot dogs grilled up by fire-fighter and RC parent, Todd Loy, and Kaladi Bros donated lots of hot chocolate. A good time was had by all and we hope to make this an annual community event each February!
Our “Spring” Book Fair began on February 5th and continues through February 14th, so be sure to stop by the library to find a few good reads and fun items that are perfect Valentine’s Day gifts! You can also order online to support the Book Fair. Contact Ms. Kean at kean_anya@asdk12.orgto find out how. Thank you to Lori Hanna, Candace Cartwright and Anya Kean for organizing!
Lastly, a BIG thank you to all the parents that brought in food and drink items on Parent/Teacher Conference days to help support and nourish our teachers during a busy week meeting with families. Our March PTA meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 17th at 3:45 pmin the RC Library, the week after Spring Break. Hope to see you there! If you want to get more involved in PTA, we are starting to recruit for next year’s board and have a variety of positions available at all levels. Contact Heather Birch at president@rabbitcreekpta.orgfor more information!
Remember to stay ‘in the loop’ by checking out the reader board as you drop off & pick up your students; visit our website: www.rabbitcreekpta.org, or join our closed Facebook group: Rabbit Creek School PTA.
See you soon at Rabbit Creek,
Heather Birch
President, Rabbit Creek PTA
president@rabbitcreek.org
907-317-0015
Geo and Spelling Bees!
The Rabbit Creek Geography Bee was held on Monday, February 3rd. Several students showcased their geography knowledge in front of a crowd of parents and students in the MPR.
Emily Barnard(5th Grade), is our 2020 Rabbit Creek Geography Bee Champion and will testing soon to qualify for the State Bee! Runners up were Khloe St. Aubin(4th grade), and Nathan Bailly (6th Grade). Congratulations to all participants and also to our organizers, Katrina Rhodesand Rachael Selby!
The Spelling Bee was held on Friday, February 7th in the MPR and many RC students participated.Tucker Libal(6th Grade) is our 2020 Rabbit Creek Spelling Bee Champion and will be representing Rabbit Creek in the State Spelling bee! Congratulationsto 6th grader, Enzo Sampang,on his second place finish and to 3rd grader, Kenley Hamlin, on her third place finish. All the participants did an amazing job and their hard work was evident. Also a BIG thank you to 2nd grade teacher, Gabriella Bookman, for organizing this year’s Spelling Bee competition.
Winter Fun Night ReCap
Thank you to all of those that joined us on Friday for our 2nd Annual Winter Fun Day "Flurries N' Fun"! The weather held out for us and we had tons of fun celebrating winter with our Rabbit Creek families! We hope to make this an annual event we can bring back for years to come! Thank you to the following parents and volunteers that donated their time before, during and after the event to make it all happen: Svea Lunoe, Sammie Curley, Juleen Rogness, Joanne Allan, Mara Cramer, Jill Boyd, Jill Kolberg, Nicole Marshall, Jennifer Wagner, Heather Birch, Angela Fredrickson, Ted and Melissa McMillan, Tara Gardeline, Klara Higashi, Tim and Melissa Frey, Sara Krokos, Tricia Allwardt and the South High School Peer Mentorship students. THANK YOU!
Special thanks to Todd Loy for securing a grill from the Anchorage Fire Department and grilling hot dogs all evening for us. By the end of the night, we had served almost 400 hot dogs so thank you for keeping our bellies full so we could play all evening!
Kaladi Brothers gave a generous donation of six carafes filled with delicious hot chocolate and we will be paying them a personal thank you on your behalf!
In addition to all the wonderful volunteers that donated their time to make this event happen, I’d like to extend a further thank you to Dan Pemble and Joe Libal for helping to coordinate the winter equipment for the event. Mr. Pemble was a huge help in getting all the equipment set up including our new speakers PTA purchased in the last two years! Our school is fortunate to have an array of equipment to offer for winter sports and activities and we are grateful for the opportunity to offer an event of this kind to our Rabbit Creek Family.
On behalf of the Rabbit Creek Elementary PTA, thank you for your continued support.
~Tina Baldridge, Community VP
Memory Book Deadline, March 20th, is Fast Approaching!
Have you ordered your copy? Not sure? Let me know and I will check for you.
Go online to ybpay.lifetouch.com enter code 13268820
Or pick up a paper form by the office. The cost is $18 or $20 for a copy personalized with your student’s name and picture on the cover.
I could always use more pictures! If you have some to share you can email, text, or place on a thumb drive. I have two in the Memory Book chair mailbox in the Teacher’s lounge or I can return one you pass to me.
Jennifer Wagner
memorybook@rabbitcreekpta.org
713-502-6114
Reflections Art Contest - “Look Within”
Hello parents and artists! Entries were turned in to the PTA office couple weeks ago after going through the first local judging process, I’m hoping to hear back from them this week to see if any of our talented Rabbit Creek Art work will go to the next Regional level. I’ll keep you posted as soon as I hear back from them.
Carol Vidal
RC Reflections PTA Chair