Forest Park Flyer
Forest Park, a place to dream, believe and achieve!
April 2020
The character trait for the month of April is Honesty.
From the Principal...
The month of March was unusually hectic here at Forest Park Elementary School!! As you are aware, our time together as a school community was abruptly ended on Friday, March 13th due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 virus. While we prefer to be together as a school community, we are grateful that technology has allowed us to stay in touch and share our lives during our time apart.
Before we began our experience as an on-line learning community, we did not have an opportunity to share how incredible our school community did during the Kid's Heart Challenge this past February. Coach Meacham and the participants in the Kid's Heart Challenge (formally known as Jump Rope for Heart) had another amazing year!! This year, the Forest Park community raised $19,250 for the American Heart Society!! It was our most successful year so far!!! This is Coach Meacham's seventh year organizing the event and teaching our students about their heart health while providing an opportunity to help others and raise money for the American Heart Association. In addition to teaching the kids how to keep their hearts and bodies healthy by staying active, the program also educates students about how to eat healthy and choose water over sugary beverages.
This year's heart hero is Kiera, a 2nd grader in Mrs. Myers class. Kiera raised $2,491.00! One of our 3rd grade students in Mrs. Matthews' class, Channing, raised $1541.66, and a 4th grader in Mrs. Geddes' class, Riley, raised $1126.84! Hailey, Olivia, Caelyn and Hallie each raised more than $400, and Cameron, Elias and Lydia all raised more than $300. In the past seven years, our Forest Park community has raised a total of $76,390 for the American Heart Association. Thank you again to Coach Meacham for making the program possible and to all of the families at Forest Park who have helped us to give back to our community. Great job!!!
Thank you for your continued support of an involvement in our school community while we are learning from home. We are looking forward to having staff, students and families back at school as soon as it is safe for us to do so. As we begin planning for our return, I would ask that you review the article in this month's newsletter from Nurse Criscone and communicate with her via ClassDojo or school email if your child has any health concerns. Thank you for your help in keeping us all safe. Stay healthy!!
-Mrs. Penn
Grade Four to Five Transition Events
Former Forest Park students currently in grade 5 will be visiting Forest Park on June 3rd to present a 30-minute program to our grade 4 classes. Fourth grade students will be allowed to ask questions of the grade 5 students during this visit. If your fourth grader has any questions or concerns about moving up to the middle school, encourage your child to have their questions ready on the 3rd. After the presentation, our fourth graders will be taking a bus to Sand Creek to participate in a brief tour and informational event at the middle school!
Grade 5 Locker Orientation
Grade 4 students and parents will have the opportunity to walk through the fifth grade wing and familiarize themselves with the school prior to the first day of classes on August 27th from 3:30-5:30pm. An opportunity to practice your locker combination practice and drop off your school supplies will also be available on that evening.
Library News from Mrs. Kuno
http://forestparklibrary.weebly.com/
Author Visit: Matthew McElligott
Our author visit with Matthew McElligott has been postponed and will be re-scheduled for June. If you pre-ordered a book for Mr. McElligott to autograph, it will be available on the day of his presentation. More information will be available once a new day for the visit is finalized.
One School, One Book
Thank you to everyone who helped to make our One School, One Book program a great success! We hope you enjoyed reading about Humphrey and Mrs. Brisbane's class, answering the trivia questions, naming our hamster, and guessing the mystery readers. It was great to see all of the pet pictures from students and staff that decorated the hallways of our school throughout the month of March. Humphrey has been a wonderful addition to our school community, and we wish him well in his new home with Lydia R. in Miss Traynor's class. We look forward to updates on how he is doing.
Thank you also to the Forest Park PTA whose funds make this program possible.
Multicultural Festival
Kids' Corner - Mrs. Reilly's Class
The first graders have been very busy at home these last few weeks. We have been sharing notes, pictures, videos and letters with each other and with our family and friends. Take a look at some of the creative ways the first graders are exercising their mental muscles! They have been playing outside, doing puzzles, following recipes to bake yummy treats, playing chess, making giant word walls, drawing pictures for the nursing home, writing letters and reading LOTS of books...just to name a few. Wow! We all miss Forest Park, but we continue to work hard!!
Nutrition Education
- Prepare nutritious foods on a tight schedule and tight budget
- Find time in the daily routine for physical activity
- Help their children choose healthy snacks
- Make exercise fun
- Make nutritious foods attractive to children
If you have any questions about your child’s school breakfast, lunch or snack options or your child’s dietary restrictions please contact the Food Service Department at (518) 869-3576.
Use the three links below to:
- view this month's Nutrition Nuggets
- sign up for My School Bucks
News from Nurse Criscone
Hello Forest Park Families,
In anticipation of our return to school, I am reaching out to ensure our students stay healthy and happy as we come back together as a community. If your child was diagnosed or exposed to close friends and/or family members diagnosed with COVID-19 during the time school was suspended, please contact the health office via Class Dojo or by calling Nurse Criscone at (518) 869-3006. Upon our return to school, extra vigilance will be taken in the monitoring of fever, cough, congested/runny nose, shortness of breath and sore throat. Protocols for the safe return of staff and students to school are still being developed. Your child's safety and the safety of the staff is of the utmost importance to us, and we appreciate your continued support and communication as we navigate this unprecedented health crisis. Please contact the health office with questions or concerns anytime, and remember to wash your hands often!
Class Dojo and Forest Park Webpage
Mrs. Kuno has also done an amazing job keeping us all updated on Humphrey and educating us about hamsters and how they spend their time. She has also updated our library web page and included links you can use to access a variety of on-line learning experiences including virtual field trips to zoos and on-line books!! When you get to our library web page, click on the symbaloo and have fun exploring!!
Breakfast and Lunch
While we are out of school, the district will be providing breakfast and lunch to all students. The meal pick up is held outside of the main entrance at Colonie High School and outside of the auditorium at Lisha Kill Middle School. It is set up grab and go style so you do not even need to leave your car!!! Each bag contains a lunch and a breakfast for the following day. The pick up time is based on the first letter of your child's last name:
A-H: Pick up time starts at 9:00am
I-P: Pick up time starts at 10:00am
Q-Z: Pick up time starts at 11:00am
Everyone is eligible to participate and there is no cost to families!! This is a great way to break up the day and get out of the house as well. I encourage all of our families to stop at the high school or Lisha Kill each day and get breakfast and lunch for your child(ren) on us!!! If you do not have transportation or are unable to get to one of these two locations during the time frames outlined above, please contact chamberlaina@scolonie.org and we will deliver to you at your home!
PTA
About us...
Email: fpattendance@scolonie.org
Website: http://www.southcolonieschools.org/forest-park-elementary-school/
Location: 100 Forest Drive, Albany, NY, USA
Phone: (518) 869-3006
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ForestParkElementarySchool