Dicken Family Newsletter
4.8.22
Principal's Corner
Upcoming Dates
- Monday, April 11 - Mobile Dentist Visit
- Monday, April 11 - 6:30 Dicken-Lawton Equity Challenge
- Friday, April 15 - No School
- Wednesday, April 20 - Early Release Day - 1:18 Dismissal
Tuesday, May 3 - No school - Election Day
Spring Testing
M-Step testing is coming up for our 3rd - 5th graders. Please see the State Superintendent's Letter for more information. M-Step testing dates run between April 18 - May 13. Classroom teachers will communicate specific testing dates for each class. NWEA testing for grades K-5 will take place from May 23 - June 1.
District Title 1 Engagement Event
All are welcome to join us for a virtual Family Engagement Night with Rodney Page on Tuesday, April 12 at 6:30. Please see the flier for more details.
Fifth Grade Transition Day
All fifth graders will be visiting Slauson on Thursday, May 5th from 12:45 - 2:45. If your fifth grader will not be attending Slauson this fall, they are still welcome to join us on the trip or you are welcome to pick them up early that day if it works with your schedule.
Ramadan Reminder
If your student will be celebrating Ramadan (whether that is through fasting, participating in family activities, or any other method of celebration), please let your classroom teacher or Ms. Kelly-Sell (kellyselle@aaps.k12.mi.us) know, so that we can help support your student in whatever way possible. Ms. Kelly-Sell's room is available for students who might need a break during lunch, snack, or any other time. Ms. Kelly-Sell is in room 118, next to music class. If you have suggestions for another method to support your student, please reach out to Ms. Kelly-Sell directly. Thank you!
Mobile Dentist Reminder
Michigan Dental Outreach's Mobile Dentist is coming to Dicken Elementary on April 11th, 2022!
Please remember to fill out return the "Dentist-to-School" forms that were sent home a few weeks ago. If you misplaced your form, please feel free to fill out electronically and email back to us at dicken@a2schools.org, or print, complete, and send in. Thank you!
....
Heather
Message from the PTO President
Happy spring everyone! I’m looking forward to seeing all of you who registered for the Racial Equity Challenge this coming Monday.
The PTO Board is still looking for 3-4 people to join our board for the upcoming school year. I know it seems early to be planning for September, but we like to have our board finalized in the spring so we can hit the ground running at the beginning of the school year.
Please remember, we can’t make our awesome fundraising and school/community events happen without board members to oversee them. But you don’t have to do all the work! We love having committees to share the workload for larger events to make it easier on everyone who is pitching in.
Please email me or any other board member (or talk to us at school pickup or drop off) if you’re even a tiny bit interested.
—Jenifer Miller, Dicken PTO President
Dicken Elementary parents’ Facebook group
Upcoming Event Dates:
Racial Equity Challenge - April 11; 6:30 - 8:30 pm
Dicken PTO Board Meeting - April 21
Dicken PTO Board Meeting - May 19
PTO Silent Auction - May 22
All PTO meetings are currently scheduled to take place over Zoom. All are welcome to attend!
Dicken Running Club is Back!
Spring has sprung…. And the Dicken Running Club is back in session! We will kick off the spring season on Monday, April 11th right after school, running ¼ mile laps on the sidewalks on the north end of school. Running Club is a great way to get outside after-school and build stamina and strength! We run (and walk) at a variety of paces, so no one is too fast, or too slow.
We run rain or shine from 4:00 - 5 pm on Mondays and Wednesdays and you can register to run either or both days by completing this form. Open to all students! K and Y5 students can run if their parent attends all sessions where the student is running.
It all leads up to two big Spring Events - The Running Club Global Running Day 4k on June 1st and the Ele’s Place 5k on June 25th. Both are awesome events, but completely optional!
Running club will take place entirely outside. There will be no building access during Running Club. In accordance with AAPS sports policies, Masks are encouraged while outdoors, and teams (students) will socially distance when possible.
Email dickenrunningclub@gmail.com with questions.
Parents who are interested in volunteering can sign up here
March is Reading Month Recap:
Congrats Dicken Dolphins on such a great March is Reading Month! We kicked off the month with each student getting a new book and bookmark from the PTO and hit some incredible milestones over the course of the month that will help us enhance Dicken's library and books for the school and make a donation to the Peace Neighborhood Center. Thank you so much to all the students, teachers and families who participated in the read-a-thon, logged their minutes and contributed to the fundraiser.
216,221 Minutes Read by Dicken Students and Teachers
$10,600 Raised in our Fundraiser on the 99Pledges Platform
$561.66 Raised in our Fundraiser at Nicola's Books
All 15 Classes had 100% participation and earned their PIZZA parties! Be on the lookout for more details about these pizza celebrations (including planning for students with dietary considerations) in the coming weeks. The pizza parties will take place in May.
Dicken Auction is Coming Soon - RSVP today!
The Dicken Auction will be held Sunday, May 22nd at 5:30pm at Bill's Beer Garden in downtown Ann Arbor. We look forward to celebrating a parent's night out and coming together as a community to support our wonderful school! Our auction committee is working hard to secure some great donations from local businesses for the auction and already have contributions from The Graduate Hotel, the Detroit Tigers, Dominos, Goldfish Swim School, Kerrytown Market and Shops and numerous other local restaurants and businesses.
- help us get an idea of numbers for the event
- let us know if you would be willing to help volunteer at the event
- tell us if you have a local business (or have a connection to one) that you think would be a good fit for the auction with a donation or sponsorship opportunity