The Cougar Connection
Washington Avenue School News - 10/5/15
Quick Links
Attendance Line: 973-457-2510 option 1
Email: waspto@gmail.com
Website: http://www.chatham-nj.org/was
Location: 102 Washington Avenue, Chatham, NJ
Phone: (973)457-2510
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WashingtonAvenueSchoolPto
WHAT'S COMING UP...
Monday 10/5-Friday 10/9 - Week of Respect
Monday 10/5 - Board of Education meeting on Meyersville Rd - 7:30 pm
Tuesday 10/6-10/16 -MPR Mural Painting
Monday 10/12 - NO SCHOOL – Teacher InService
Friday 10/16-Pizza Day
Sunday 10/18 - SpiritWear sale ends
Monday 10/19 – 10/22 - Book Fair
Monday 10/26 - Picture Day
Friday 10/30- Halloween Parade- 1:00 p.m.
Principal's Update - Mary Quigley
A special thank you to Michelle Lease and Shannon Matter for their new idea for this newsletter. I think the format is very easy to read and for us very easy to create.
As noted below we kick off our Kindness Campaign this week. WHY we are doing this is best explained by Patty O'Grady, PhD, an expert in neuroscience, emotional learning, and positive psychology, specializes in education. She reports:
Kindness changes the brain by the experience of kindness. Children and adolescents do not learn kindness by only thinking about it and talking about it. Kindness is best learned by feeling it so that they can reproduce it.
We hope that they leave school each day feeling good because they experienced someone's kindness and was able to pay it forward.
Have a great week!
WAS PTO President's UPDATE Michelle Lease
We are looking forward to the kick off of our mural painting project this Tuesday. We have had terrific response to our family commemorative apples. You can still submit your form to the office this week if you would like to purchase one. We welcome everyone to help with the painting of the mural. If you haven't signed up yet, feel free to just stop by and grab a brush!
Thanks to everyone who came to our first PTO meeting, we were thrilled with the turnout. We look forward to seeing you at our next meeting November 11th.
Thank you from the PTO
Special thanks to Meghan Manning for providing the great refreshments for BTSN & the PTO meeting. Brenda Colvin has done a fantastic job welcoming new families and hosting the new family coffee. Thank you to Eileen Bogue & Kris Zingone for their work coordinating our Back to school food drive.
KINDNESS CORNER
We are kicking off our 2015-2016 Kindness Campaign today during the "Week of Respect." This year's program will focus on five key themes -- respect, appreciation, acceptance, citizenship and fairness. This week's activities will focus on respect and will include: videos, student skits, a special song, our Kindness Pledge, in-classroom readings from the "Weird" series of books that focuses on preventing bullying in schools, poster making, and a visit from our favorite Cougar! The week will wrap up with the "Bullyproof Your School" assembly on Friday. The students will also be creating a "Kindness Rocks" rock garden that will be showcased in front of the school, serving as a permanent reminder of the WAS commitment to kindness. This amazing program is a joint effort between our teachers and our PTO and is being spearheaded by Kelly Medvin. The students will be given their new kindness t-shirts before the Monday assembly. These shirts should be worn on all Kindness assembly days throughout the year. Looking forward to a great year filled will kindness!
MONSTER BOOK FAIR
JUST IN TIME FOR HALLOWEEN -- THE WAS “MONSTER” BOOK FAIR!
BOOK FAIR SCHEDULE & EVENTS
Mon, Oct 19th – Thurs, Oct 22nd OPEN DAILY, 8:30 am – 3:15 pm
Tues, Oct 20th FAMILY NIGHT, 6 – 7 pm
Thurs, Oct 22nd COFFEE & BOOKS, 7:30 – 8:30 am
BOOK FAIR POSTER ART EXHIBIT
This year, children decide how they want to promote the book fair theme, “Monster Book Fair… Reading is so much fun, you’ll get goosebumps!” Let their creativity fly - as long as their idea reflects the Monster theme and can easily be hung on the walls of the school.
Poster paper and instructions were sent home last week. Completed posters must be submitted by this Thurs, Oct 8th. Every student that submits a poster is automatically entered into the Family Night Raffle!!!
DON’T MISS THESE SPECIAL BOOK FAIR EVENTS
Family Night on Tuesday, Oct 20th from 6 - 7 pm.
Children are encouraged to wear their pajamas! While parents shop, children
will enjoy story time, entertainment from John Arthur, from the Library of
the Chathams. The evening will conclude with the poster raffle when we’ll
pick 3 lucky winners per grade!
Coffee & Books on Thursday, Oct 22nd from 7:30 – 8:30 am.
Grab a cup of coffee while finishing up your book fair shopping!
INTERESTED IN VOLUNTEERING? If your schedule allows, please consider
joining your child during their visit period, as well as volunteering before or
after child’s scheduled visit (class visit schedule posted on Volunteer Spot).
Additionally, we are in *great need* of Family Night volunteers.
To Volunteer, please visit our Volunteer Spot links:
SCHOOL HOURS Opportunities: http://vols.pt/Mucpuc
Cashier, Floaters, Set Up, Breakdown
FAMILY NIGHT Opportunities: http://vols.pt/KKx9pB
Cashiers, Floaters, Readers
Questions? Please contact Sarah Apgar/sarahapgar@hotmail.com, Megan Furst/megfurst@gmail.com or Mandy Pyper/ mandypyper@gmail.com
WAS SPIRITWEAR
The WAS Spirit Wear Sale continues online through October 18th. Don't miss your chance to support our school and show school spirit! Purchases will be delivered directly to your child's classroom in mid-November. Samples are outside the main office for you to check out sizes. Please visit the website to place your order: http://kixnstix.com/spirit/washington_avenue_school_2015/
Earn money for WAS while you shop!
Click here to register your Stop N Shop card
Click here to register your Target card
Click here to register your Shoprite card
We love BOXTOPS! We are kicking off our Fall drive. Below is a collection sheet or feel free to just send box tops in an envelope or a bag by October 23rd. The class that collects the most boxtops in each grade will get a popsicle party! Just think if every student brought in 25 box tops...WAS would earn over $1000!
COMMUNITY HAPPENINGS
Please visit our PTO Community Corner for more information on these and other community and programs. CLICK HERE TO VISIT COMMUNITY CORNER.
CALLING ALL GIRL SCOUTS! Chatham Girl Scouts: Girl Scout Information Night
This Monday, October 5th at 7:00 PM in the Chatham High School Cafeteria. Please plan on attending if you have a girl who is interested in joining Girl Scouts. For more information contact Pam Mancino, the WAS School Girl Scout Troop Coordinator at joenpam@optonline.net. There are also Chatham Girl Scout forms in the WAS office which need to be completed and turned in by Monday, Oct 12 as new troops will be formed in mid Oct.
Community Shred: Dispose of unwanted financial or medical documents and other paper at a Community Shred to benefit Senior Services of the Chathams on Saturday, Oct. 17 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the parking lot of the Lafayette School, 221 Lafayette Avenue, Chatham. The cost is $5 per brown paper grocery bag or $10 for a small/medium box. In addition to documents, newspapers and paperback books will be accepted. This event is rain or shine and is open to the public.
Chatham House Tour - The "Let's Celebrate" theme will be highlighted in 9 lovely homes throughout town featuring design, renovation, and celebratory inspiration! The Chatham House Tour, which is CMS's biannual and largest fundraiser, will be held October 22, 2015, from 10 AM - 2 PM. Tickets are $40 in advance and $45 the day of the event. You may print and mail the attached order form or purchase tickets online via Community Pass. Please visit www.Chathamhousetour.com for more information.
7th Annual Lafayette School Rummage Sale: Start cleaning out your closets, garage and basement and save your gently used items to donate to the annual Lafayette School “Kids Stuff” Rummage Sale! The sale offers anything and everything for children from birth through teenage years, as well as adult clothing and shoes. After you’ve donated, join us and find some great bargains. Sale date is Saturday, November 14, 9am-2pm. We are offering an Early Bird Entry option at 8AM for $5 per adult! Please send any questions to LAFRUMMAGE@GMAIL.COM.The detailed flyer for the sale can be found at this link.
CEF Trivia Night: Save the Date for Chatham Education Foundation’s 3rd Annual Trivia Night-Saturday, November 14, 2015. A wicked fun evening to benefit Chatham's public schools! Registration Opens October 15th!