Forest Park Flyer
Forest Park, a place to dream, believe and achieve!
February 2023
The character trait for the month of February is Optimism.
From the Principal...
We have finally made it through the month of January!! I remain hopeful that our rainbow is on the horizon as we continue to navigate what many health experts feared would once again be the most challenging time due to holiday gatherings along with the flu and the continued spread of the COVID-19 virus. As always, we appreciate your support and continued communication. Our school could not remain open and learning in person without everyone's shared commitment to following the guidelines from our school district.
As we enter the month of February, I am excited to share that we will be holding our first Winter Dance in two years!! On Friday, February 10th, the Forest Park PTA will be sponsoring our Winter Dance. The event is open to all Forest Park families and will be held in the cafeteria from 6:00-7:30pm. Students cannot be dropped off at the event; they must be accompanied by a parent or guardian in order to attend. At the dance, we will have a selfie station so students and families can capture the fun they had at our the Winter Dance. The PTA will also be selling Candy Grams that evening. If you are new to Forest Park (or if you joined us during the pandemic), you may not know what a Candy Gram is!! Candy Grams are nut-free lollipops that can be sent with a special message. You can send one to your child or they can send one to a friend or surprise a staff member. The cost for the Candy Grams is $1.00 and all proceeds will go to support our PTA. If you are unable to join us at the dance but would like to send your child a Candy Gram, please visit the link below.
I am also excited to share that our PTA will be hosting our first movie night in March so be sure to keep your eyes open for more messages on Parent Square about upcoming events here at our school. As always, please keep your cameras ready and take photos of your kids and their friends having fun at school events and in the community so we can include them in our yearbook. If you have photos you would like to share, please send them to FPYearbookPhotos@gmail.com. Thank you for your help in making our yearbook special!!
I look forward to seeing you back in person at Forest Park this spring!!
-Mrs. Penn
Delays, Cancellations and Closures
If you have not received any messages to date (we have had two cancellations of the school day and two days on which after school activities were cancelled), please send a message to the IT Help Desk to ensure your account is working properly. The link to the IT Help Desk can be found on the district webpage.
Student Groupings
While we do our best to ensure the needs of each student are met, we also invite you as parents to share your insight into your child to assist us in this important process. If you would like to provide input about the placement of your child, please click on the red button "Placement Letter" below which outlines the steps you can take to do so. Please do not hesitate to contact Mrs. Penn if you have any questions. Thank you!
4th Grade Families
As I look at our current group of 4th grade students, I am truly caught off guard when I realize this will be their last year at Forest Park!! I can still see them entering the building as kindergarteners and am finding it difficult to believe that they will not be here with us in the fall. With that being said, we want to make the transition to middle school as easy as possible for our families and our students, so I wanted to share some important dates to ensure you can get them on your calendar.
Sand Creek Middle School is the building that your child will attend in the fall. Mr. Marohn, building principal, and Mr. Vardaro, assistant principal, are already hard at work planning activities and presentations to help you and your child learn more about your new school. On Monday, March 27th, an informational evening for parents and guardians will be held in the Sand Creek Forum at 6:15pm. This presentation is for parents and guardians (so please leave your 4th grader at home). It will provide an overview of what life is like at the middle school.
We will also provide the 4th graders with an opportunity to learn more about Sand Creek. On Friday, June 9th, Mr. Marohn, Mr. Vardaro and former Forest Park Falcons will join us at Forest Park to share with our students what they can expect next year. During the presentation, 4th graders will have an opportunity to ask questions of the presenters and will take the bus over to Sand Creek that afternoon to visit the building. More information about the program on June 9th will be sent home this spring.
Finally, on August 24th, 5th graders and their families will be invited to go to Sand Creek to walk around the building, find their classrooms and try out their lockers. Please be sure to mark these dates on your calendar so you don't miss these important opportunities.
Before our Falcons fly off to middle school, however, we will need your help to make their last year here special. In June, all of our 4th graders enjoy a fun filled day when they are able to spend time together celebrating all that they have accomplished. As part of that day, we share their baby photos so they can try and guess who everyone is. These pictures will also be used to create a special section in our yearbook dedicated to our 4th graders. All families are asked to send a baby picture of their 4th grader to FPyearbookphotos@gmail.com no later than March 31st so your child can be included.
As always, please do not hesitate to contact your child's teacher or a member of our staff in the main office if you have any questions. Thank you!!
News from the Nurse's Office
Valentine's Day
As you begin shopping for cards, you may notice that many prepackaged valentines include a lollipop, temporary tattoos, or another form of treat or gift. These items will be able to be exchanged at school this year. Please do not send your child with gift bags or bags of candy however. While we will allow valentines that have something attached, we will not be holding parties here at school.
If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact your child's teacher. Thank you!
Yearbook Photos
Our Forest Park PTA is hard at work compiling the yearbook to commemorate our 2022-2023 school year. Since the pandemic, we have added a new feature to our yearbook, photos from outside of school! These photos have helped to make our yearbook so special, and we want to continue to include them this year.
If you have any pictures of your child from the school year (at the bus stop, on school spirit days, during the fun run, at the book fair, at a school event, playing sports in the community or playing with friends outside of school), please send them to FPyearbookphotos@gmail.com so we can include them in the yearbook.
Kids' Corner - Ms. Sitterly's Class
Kindergarteners are super readers! They have been learning how to read with all of their powers and are extremely proud. Mrs. Kuno has been a great model of what good readers do. All the classes joined together to listen to books about the Lunar New Year. Having all that reading power in one room was a tremendous treat!!
"There are many little ways to enlarge your world. Love of books is the best of all. "
- Jacqueline Kennedy
Kindergarten Registration
If your child is eligible to attend kindergarten in the fall, and you have not yet received a call from the staff in the main office to verify that your child is on our census list, please be sure to call the building at (518) 869-3006. Also, please be sure to share this information with any new families in your neighborhood who also have kindergarten age children.
A Look Ahead
February
7th - PTA Meeting at 6:30pm via Zoom
10th - Winter Dance 6:00-7:30pm
16th - School Spirit Day
20th-24th - Mid Winter Recess (No School)
March
7th - PTA Meeting at 6:30pm via Zoom or in person at the Forest Park library
10th - Movie Night
12th - Daylight Savings time (spring ahead!!)
16th - Yearbook order deadline
17th - No School for Students (Staff Only)
22nd - Spring photos
31st - School Spirit Day
31st - Report Cards Sent Home
Yearbook Orders
Yearbook Love Lines
Each year, the Forest Park Elementary School yearbook includes what we call "Love Lines". Love Lines can be purchased by parents, grandparents, guardians, or friends and are dedicated to someone special at Forest Park. Let your child, grandchild, friend or teacher know how much they mean to you.
To submit your message, click on the Google Form below and fill out the information on line. Once you have submitted your message, be sure to send in your payment. Each message submitted is $5.00.
Payment Information:
Love Lines will not be printed in the yearbook without payment. You can pay using Venmo @Matthew-Angier-1. You can also send a check or cash to school with your child in a sealed envelope marked: Yearbook Committee, Attn: Love Lines. Checks should be made payable to Forest Park PTA. BE SURE TO WRITE YOUR CHILD'S NAME AND TEACHER ON THE ENVELOPE AS WELL.
Orders are due by April 1st.
If you have any questions please contact Michelle Chiappone at michellechiappone@gmail.com.
PTA News and Notes
Below are some dates of our upcoming events at which we hope you will join us. You can also find updates about our PTA events on Parent Square and on our Facebook page.
● February 7: February PTA Meeting - Zoom only
● March 7: March PTA Meeting (hybrid; in person and on Zoom)
● April 4: April PTA Meeting (hybrid; in person and on Zoom)
On Friday, February 10, we will be holding our Winter Dance. This event is open
to Forest Park families. Students must be accompanied by a parent or guardian to attend the dance; they may not attend alone or with an older sibling. Join us for a fun evening of dancing and socializing. More information about the event is included in the newsletter and will also be shared on Parent Square as the event approaches.
Candy grams, our annual February fundraiser, are also on sale and will be sold at the Winter Dance as well. Included with the newsletter is more information about candy grams and how you can send one to your child, a staff member or a friend. All proceeds will go back to the PTA!
We also have a new date for our movie night. Join us on Friday, March 10 for our family movie night. The doors will open at 5:45pm and the movie will begin at 6:00 pm. This year's movie is Monster's University. Admission and popcorn are free. We will also have refreshments available for a small fee so please be sure to bring cash if you would like to purchase refreshments. Students should wear their PJs and bring a small towel or blanket to sit on for this event.
We are so excited the playground finally arrived and was able to be installed before the snow began falling! Thank you to all of the parents who volunteered to help with the build. Due to the quick turn around time, the company wound up installing the playground for us so we did not hold the community build as we had intended. We plan to hold a ribbon cutting this spring and will share details with our families as the plans for that event are finalized.
Membership is $8 and every person in the family is welcome to join! Please follow us on our new Facebook page for updates throughout the year: https://www.facebook.com/colonieforestparkpta
Recycle Your Bottles and Cans
The Forest Park PTA is partnering with Colonie Beverage on a year-long bottle and can recycling event. Label your bags of bottles and cans "Matt A - Forest Park PTA" and just drop them off at the Colonie Star Beverage Center (1823 Central Avenue). All of the proceeds will go to the PTA! It's that easy!!
School Bucks
When you shop at Colonie Center, you can submit your receipt(s) and fill out the form at the
Security desk (downstairs between Moe’s and Five Guys) for Forest Park. For every dollar spent, the school gets a point and the top ten schools get prizes at the end of the year!
Box Tops for Education
(www.boxtops4education.com): Download the app and scan your receipt! Any
products that have BoxTops will be credited to the school- no more clipping and saving.
PTA Meeting
WHEN
Tuesday, February 7, 6:30pm
WHERE
Join meeting by Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5187275168
Join by phone: 1-929-436-2866; Meeting ID: 518-727-5168
PTA Meeting
Meeting Agenda
Welcome!
Principal Report (Jill Penn)
Yearbooks
Yearbooks can be ordered online at ybpay.lifetouch.com with ID code:
Love Lines for the yearbook can be sent in through the Love Line Google Form (Deadline April 1st)
4th Grade Parents: please send in one baby picture of your graduating 4th grader to forestparkptacolonie@gmail.com by March 31st.
Please continue to send us any photos you have of your children throughout the year for the yearbook fpYearbookPhotos@gmail.com
Tuesday, Feb 7, 2023, 06:30 PM
Zoom
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