Defer Dragon's Burning News
March 29, 2019
From the Principal
Dear Parents,
We hope you enjoyed reading Frindle with your family! It is helpful to continue to keep strong reading routines at home by reading each day. Reading at home helps build reading skills, vocabulary, and a love of reading. Thank you for all that you do at home with your children to help to support their work at school.
Have a great spring break, we will see you back at school on Monday, April 8!
Dr. Rheaume
Defer Upcoming Events
April 1 - Spring Break
April 8 - Return from Spring Break, Late Start Monday
April 9 - PTO meeting @ 7 pm
April 16 - 5th Grade ELA M-Step
April 18 - 5th Grade Social Studies M-Step
April 19 - No School for Staff or Students
Volunteer and Field Trip Chaperone Forms for Parents and Guests
KINDERGARTEN AND YOUNG FIVES PROGRAM
Have a Kindergarten or Young Five student next fall - establish/verify residency now
It is critical that families establish or verify residency if they have a student entering GPPSS next fall, particularly for kindergarten (May 1) and Young Fives (April 18). Click here to see the pre-enrollment process (step one) and the residency documents (step two) required by board policy. Call 313-432-3083 if you have questions or need an appointment outside the enrollment office hours 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Thursday, and 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Friday.
Library News
A new Library rotation began for grades 3-5 this week. We have lots of new books from the Book Fair, thanks to our wonderful PTO parents! And, we want to congratulate all the winners of our March 2019 Library Bookmark Contest for their winning designs. You can see them on the Defer website along with their picture!
Mrs. Quinlan
Librarian
Leader in Me Parent Survey
Defer Elementary is a Leader in Me School, we teach 21st century leadership and life skills to students to create a culture of student empowerment based on the idea that every child can be a leader. To learn more about our areas of strength and growth in our school we use a Leader in Me survey to collect data from families.
We need your help! We are asking for adults from every household to complete the survey to share feedback about our school. The survey takes about 10 minutes to complete.
Thanks for your feedback about Leader in Me!
Defer Elementary Staff
Learn to Lead. Lead to Inspire!
Blue Ribbon Facilities Committee Information
Student Leadership Team Happenings
Student Leadership Team thanks you for all your support! We will let you know when the t-shirts arrive.
PTO News
Open PTO Board Positions for 2019/20 School Year
There are two Defer PTO board positions currently open for next school year. The incoming PTO President Dani Raether is currently looking for a parent to fulfill the following positions:
1--Volunteer Coordinator. This position gathers all of the information about who wants to volunteer for what event, creates SignUp Geniuses for events and follows up with event chairs to ensure volunteers are sought out and at events. This is a position the current board member says is very easy to deal with as a working parent and does not require attendance at events. All of the work is behind the scenes from your home.
2--Hospitality Coordinator. This position is in charge of heading up all of the Hospitality events throughout the school year including Welcome Back coffee for parents, back to school picnic, Donuts with your dragon, etc. There is a binder with a lot of information about each event, previous vendors used and the current board member is still a Defer parent taking on a different role, so she'll be available for questions.
Interested in one or the other, please email Dani Raether at: raetherd@gmail.com
Tuesday Teacher Treats!
We love to spoil all of the teachers and staff at Defer! We are looking for more volunteers to sign up for bringing in treats/snacks for the teachers on Tuesdays this spring. Check out available dates here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0e4dabae2ea4f58-tuesday
Defer Diversity Parent Group
District Diversity Meetings (GPPUD)Upcoming Meetings: GPPUD
Share Your Culture! We want to hear more about your family’s cultural background and traditions. New in 2019 we will be creating a bulletin board that will be changed monthly. We are looking for families to decorate the board to help us learn more about diverse cultures and families. Bulletin boards could include family photos, traditional customs, recipes, suggested reading and any additional information you would like to share. Please email Sarah skswanson@gmail.com or Heather hbendure@gmail.com for more information and to let us know you are interested in participating!
Please contact Dr. Rheaume or one of our parent organizers Susan Sutorka at susansuto@yahoo.com or Janice Fox at jcfcreative@gmail.com for more information about our Diversity Parent Group.
Cold and Flu Season
For more information on the importance of hand washing with non-antibacterial soap, please see the links below:
- Arlington Public Schools Hand Washing Policy: https://apsshab.weebly.com/hand-washing-policy.html
- CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/index.html
LEADER IN ME - Defer Family Learning Team
Dear Defer Families,
We are happy to announce the we have a parent lending library with books that align with The Leader in Me habits. The bookshelf is in the main hallway near the main office. Please feel free to sign out a book relating to the habits and enjoy with your family. Once you’ve read the book, please return it to school for others to borrow. Thank you for supporting The Leader in Me and growing our parent lending library through Fun Run fundraising.
Habit 7- Sharpen the Saw
Welcome to the April edition of our Leader in Me newsletter!
Published by the Defer Family Learning Team
The 7 Habits are reviewed, practiced and integrated daily at Defer. We will review the 7 Habits with you monthly. Thank you for your partnership in reinforcing your child’s leadership skills.
Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw.
We are learning about Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw. Once there was a man who was sawing down a tree and not making much progress. When asked why he didn’t stop sawing to sharpen his saw, he answered that he was too busy sawing.
Habit 7 reminds us that we are more productive when we are in balance; body, brain, heart, and soul. If one area is being ignored or overused, the remaining three areas will feel the results. A good analogy for children is: a car needs all four tires and as leaders of themselves, they need to take care of all four parts.
Books that reinforce Habit 7:
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen, The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late by Mo Willems, Henry Hikes to Fitchburg by D. B. Johnson, Me I Am! by Jack Prelutsky, Uncle Willie and Soup Kitchen by DyAnne DiSalvo Ryan
Sharpen the Saw at home: Expect your child to use words and phrases like Sharpen the Saw, 4 parts of myself; body, mind, heart, and soul, “it’s like 4 tires of a car”, taking care of myself, and balance. You can encourage your child by using some of these words at home. Take time to talk about and practice sharpening the saw at home.
7 Habits of Happy Kids
Grosse Pointe Public Schools
Our Vision: One GP → where everyone learns, every day
Our Mission: Promote Innovation → Maximize Potential → Embrace Community
Email: rheauml@gpschools.org
Website: https://mi01000971.schoolwires.net/Domain/1099
Location: 15425 Kercheval Avenue, Grosse Pointe Park, MI, USA
Phone: 313-432-4000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GPDefer/
Twitter: @GPDefer