Mustang Minute
October 25, 2019
Topics
- Veteran's Day at Millburn Elementary (RSVP By Nov. 1)
- EPIC Halloween Celebrations- Next Week
- Evacuation Drill (NEW)
- Lockdown Drill (NEW)
- Double Lunches (NEW)
- Parent/Teacher Conferences
- Student Council Candy Collection (NEW)
- 3rd-5th Grade Literacy Grades
- Millburn Webstore
- MBAC Parking
- Bully Prevention Month
- Reading Logs
MBAC
Communication
Upcoming Events (Updated)
EPIC News (Updated)
Virtual Backpack
Veteran’s Day at Millburn Elementary- RSVP By Nov. 1
Millburn Elementary School invites all veterans to join us in celebrating Veteran's Day on Monday, November 11th.
In order to enrich our Veteran's Day curriculum, MES is looking for relatives and friends of our students and staff to be honored at our all-school assembly, and to speak with classes about their experiences and military life on Monday, November 11th from 1:00-2:15 pm. The Millburn staff also invites all who have served to a special luncheon from 12:00-1:00 pm to thank them for their service.
Invitations went home with all students this week. Please RSVP by returning the bottom portion of the form to your child's homeroom teacher by November 1st. Also, be sure to complete the attached form for the Student Council's Wall of Heroes display. Please include a copy of a picture of your veteran on the form. (We will try to return all pictures, but it cannot be guaranteed.) It is our hope to recognize our veterans and educate our students as our school celebrates the 100th anniversary of this federal holiday. If you have any questions, please contact Jen Fritsch at jfritsch@millburn24.net or Renee Marasco at rmarasco@millburn24.net.
Halloween Celebrations- Thursday, October 31
Halloween celebrations will occur on Thursday, October 31 from 1:00-2:00PM. All students are allowed to wear costumes during the celebrations. Costumes should not have weapons associated with them and we would appreciate no makeup because we don’t want students wearing it all day long. Students must bring their costumes in and not wear them to school. They will change into them before the parties. Costumes need to be easily put on and not require a lot of help from an adult.
****Students are not_to_bring_in_“goodie”_bags_or_food_items_for_their_class. Our celebrations are food free due to the many allergies we have in the building. We need to be considerate of those health issues. Although goodie bags can br non-edible, our PTO provides all of our materials for students for our celebrations. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
Evacuation Drill
I reminded students this week during announcements to review their home evacuation procedures, in the event of an emergency at home. Please take a few moments to sit down with everyone at home and discuss a plan should you need to evacuate the house.
Lockdown Drill
On Monday, November 4, the Lake County Sherriff's Dept will be here to assist us with conducting our lockdown drill.
Double Lunches
We recently were notified that Arbor Management, our food service provider, has been allowing students to take two entrees for their lunch. When this occurs, students are charged double since they are taking double lunch. The cost quickly goesup and some families have now depleted their lunch account in a rapid time frame.
We have directed Arbor to no longer allow students to take double lunch. We firmly believe parents control what their child should eat and how much they should eat.
Yet, we do not want to stand in the way if parents are allowing their child to take double lunch. If you are allowing your child(ren) to take double lunches, we are asking that you complete a form using the link below. This will then be shared with Arbor Management so students are identified, allowing them to take double lunch.
Link: Parent Permission for Double Lunches
We encourage all families to access PushCoin to review any balances you may have.
Parent/Teacher Conferences
Conferences are coming up on November 25th and 26th from 12-7PM. This is an opportunity for you to discuss your child's progress in school and ask any question to better understand their learning.
We will, again, be using Sign-Up Genius for you to sign up to meet with your child’s homeroom teacher. You will be sent information from the homeroom teacher on how to pick a time. These will be 20 min conferences. The last conference time to sign up for will be at 6:40 on Monday the 25th and Tuesday the 26th. You can expect to see information from your child's homeroom teacher on Friday, November 1st to sign up.
Student Council Candy Collection
Do you have too much leftover Halloween candy? Student council will be collecting extra candy to donate to Operation Gratitude and Soldier's Angels. We will begin collecting on Friday, November 1st. We will collect the candy until Wednesday, November 8th. By donating your candy, deployed troops, veterans, and first responders are able to receive these sweet treats in goodie bags. Thank you!
Literacy Grades 3rd-5th
Millburn WebStore
The Millburn Webstore is available! Parents can now pay for activity fees, sports fees, and more! Simply go to store.millburn24.net to access the Millburn WebStore.
In the Millburn Webstore, you will have the option to make payments with a credit card, bank account, or for some items your child’s PushCoin Wallet. To add funds to your child’s PushCoin Wallet, go to www.pushcoin.com.
If you'd like to use the webstore or PushCoin, there are two ways to fund payments.
- The eCheck funding option is always free for parents and the school district.
- For credit or debit card payments there is an additional fee of 2.9% + $0.25 per transaction. The fee is charged by the card processor (not PushCoin). Millburn School District does not make any profit on this fee. The fee will be in addition to the original transaction amount. You will be able to see the total cost before submitting the transaction.
MBAC Parking
Bully Prevention Month
- Class Rules and Expectations
- Recognizing, Reporting, Refusing
- Bystander Power
- Bystander Responsibility
For specifics on our lessons, please follow the link below to see an overview of our 2nd Step lessons, which includes our Bully Prevention Unit.
Reading Logs
This year, your child’s classroom will participate in 100 Book Challenge. Your child will be doing
lots of reading in school and at home. The reason for this program is simple: Research shows that students who read for one hour every day, from books that they can read and want to read, have a much better chance for success in school and beyond. The more time your child spends reading at his or her independent level, the better reader he or she will become.
We need your help! Every night your child will bring home books and a logsheet. Each logsheet line equals one 15-minute Step. For KDG families, the log sheet is coloring in a number box. Your child should read for at least 30 minutes per night. When she or he does, she or he will fill in two Steps, and you should sign for both. Use this time to sit with your child as the Home Reading Coach. The reading should be easy and fun for your child. It should not be a struggle.
We are requesting parents to be Home Coaches. The job involves only 5 things:
Home Coach Responsibilities:
- Turn off TV, computers, phone, and games.
- Observe your child reading for 30 minutes.
- Think and talk about the books afterward.
- Sign 100 Book Challenge logsheets.
- Student packs up books for safe return to school.
Books are a window to the world! Thank you for being a partner with us in your child’s education.
Millburn Before and After Care (MBAC)
Communication
Upcoming Events
10/31- EPIC Halloween Celebrations
11/1- Parent/Teacher Conference Sign Up (Sign Up Genius)
11/1- EPIC Family Fun Night
EPIC News
Amazon Smile: Do you use Amazon? Consider making your orders through Amazon Smile –Millburn EPIC will get a percentage of every order done in our name. See the virtual backpack for the easy instructions.
Activity Night: The first Middle School Activity Night for 2019-20 is on Friday, Oct 25th. The theme for the night is MONSTER MASH.
***We need Adult Volunteers please see www.millburnEPIC.com
Students may choose to dress for the theme by wearing their most creative interpretation of the theme. This is a chance for them to be creative, however, please adhere to the dress code regarding short/skirt length, no masks, and no showing of any undergarments. Failure to abide by these rules will result in the student being asked to return home to change.
There will be a DJ & NITRO BALL!!!!
THE DROP OFF/PICK UP PROCEDURE IS VERY IMPORTANT!
DROP OFF
6th grade-6pm, MAIN entrance
7th/8th grade-6:30 pm, MAIN entrance
PICK UP
6th grade-8:30pm, MAIN entrance
7th/8th grade-9:00pm ACTIVITY entrance
For PICK UP, please pull in and find a parking spot. You can meet your child at the canopy area. You can also use the pick up late, but if everyone does this, the line of traffic will stretch out to Route 45! No students will be allowed to walk or ride a bike home.
Admission to the event is $2.00. Drinks, candy and pizza will be available for purchase.
All students attending MUST have a current student ID to show at the door. NO EXCEPTIONS WILL BE MADE. Students CANNOT go to their lockers to retrieve forgotten ID’s, as the hallway doors are locked. Also, all students must have a permission slip to attend Activity Night on file.
If you need to leave before the Activity Night is over, YOUR parent must come inside the building and sign you out!
The rules are NOT negotiable!
MMS EPIC Activity Night Volunteers Needed!
We are looking for volunteers to help us, so please join us, Friday, Oct 25th. We can use all the help we can get: serving up food & drinks to the masses, coordinating Bingo and just watching all the rooms of activity. Please sign up at millburnEPIC.com. For more information, reach out to Rimi Singh and Becky Varga at activitynight@millburnepic.com
Family Fun Night: Join us at Sleep Under (Movie and Popcorn) our first Elementary Family Fun Night on Friday, November 1st from 5:30-7:45pm. It’s not a SLEEP OVER – It’s a SLEEP UNDER where you can come and watch a movie with your family and friends. Preorder a pizza and bring a blanket – get comfy and settle in for our movie. Students will be voting on the movie in class. See the flyer that was sent home or visit the virtual backpack for more information and pizza order form.
Donuts with Dad – Mark your calendar for Donuts with Dad on Monday, November 25th and Tuesday, November 26th. Check our News next week for more information.
MES BookFair – We will be holding our BookFair (sponsored by Follett Books) on Monday, November 25th and Tuesday, November 26th during Donuts for Dad, School and Conferences. Check our News next week for more information, including Volunteer Opportunities.
MMS BookFair – We will be holding our BookFair (sponsored by Scholastic Books) on Monday, November 25th and Tuesday, November 26th during School and Conferences. Check our News next week for more information, including Volunteer Opportunities.
2019-2020 Millburn EPIC Sponsorship: Consider becoming an EPIC sponsor this year at the Gold, Silver or Bronze levels or participate in the $24 for 24. The support that is received from our sponsors directly provides the ability to enhance instruction and provide educational opportunities for our students to enrich their learning experience.
For more information visit our website at www.millburnEPIC.com
Box Tops: Please start using the new Box Tops for Education App- it is so simple, download the app, scan your grocery receipt and if there are qualifying products that were purchased – you will instantly receive E-Box Tops!
Any questions about Box Tops? Email: boxtoplabels@millburnepic.com
Student Directory: We currently have 449 students in our school directory. It does not automatically update with student information every year. We need you! :) So that we have accurate records for each student, please be sure to sign into the website and update your student(s) information. You do not have to add any personal information unless you desire. We respect your privacy!
Registration is FREE! See below for details, please.
Click here to update your registration with your student's information:
https://millburnpto.ptboard.com/formvw?store=1365&form=2
Millburn Kids Resale: Thank you to everyone who volunteered and shopped the sale. It was a HUGE success! Sellers - We are in the process of tallying all the tags. We will let you know about your payments soon.
Mark your calendar, our spring sale is March 6th and 7th.
Upcoming dates:
October 25 MMS Activity Night
November 1 MES Family Fun Night
November 25/26 Donuts for Dad (MES)
November 25/26 BookFair (MES)
November 25/26 BookFair (MMS)
Questions or concerns contact us at millburnepic@gmail.com