Pizza Bingo will be held on Friday, January 27, 2017, 6-8 PM, in the Maple Point Middle School Cafeteria.

The February PTO meeting will be held on Thursday, February 9th, beginning at 7:00 PM. The next 4th grade parent meeting will also be held on February 9th at 7:00 PM.

Science Fair (3rd and 4th grade) - Thursday, February 23rd, 2017, 6:30-7:30 PM at Buck.

PTO Book Fair Family Night will also occur on February 23rd, 6-8 PM.

Students in Kindergarten through 4th Grade have been participating in a Fitness Unit during Physical Education. They have learned about Cardio-Respiratory Endurance (Cardio), Muscle Endurance, Muscle Strength and Flexibility. They have been doing an amazing job participating in a twelve station, thirty-minute workout. Next week they will learn about Nutrition. Visit Mrs. Wright’s website for the link to MyPlate.gov to help your family make healthy food choices together.

During weeks two and three, the following students were able to exhibit their Muscle Strength by climbing to the top of the rope and become members of the 2017 “Climbing Wall of Fame”.

1st Grade: Julia Bonko, Kelly Burns, Aria Patel, Brooklyn Reeves, Sarah Streeter & Micah Weiman

2nd Grade: Kole Balent, Joseph Bonko, Stephen Buczek, Connor Choi, James Della Bella, Shane Garranbrant, Colson Hill, Kaydence Jennings, Eli Kirsh, Patrick Kaiser, Sarah Louella, Elias Miles, Grace Nesbitt, Mason Ponist and Leo Richmond

3rd Grade: Cole Blizard, Averie Cannon, Eric Craighead, Jimmy Curran, Jacob Eppinger, Myah Gilardi, Layla Goodwin, James, Grasmeder, Luke Hipple, Emma Hunter, Ryan Johnson, Gabe Lebofsky, Marcus Myers, Carter Nagel, Ben Pysakhov, Christopher Reed, Shannon Skeels, Alex Stein, Madison Streeter and Brianna Turner

4th Grade: Lilly Anderson, Liam Boffa, Serenity Boffa, Shawn Conrad, Joseph DeFinis, Ryan DeMatteo, Bridget Dykty, Arden Galvelis, Jason Gilardi, Ryan Kaiser, Ava Klauder, Julia Klauder, Anthony Kurley, Christian Lewis, Joe Martindell, Kylie Maxwell, Colin McIntyre, Lachlan McLeod, James Merril, Emma Murphy, Declan Perry, Chris Pirolli, Dan Raivitch, Dylan Reheil, Jake Schutsky, Milo Soper, Bailey Stewart, Bizzy Toto and Sydney White

Dr. Nate Magee from The College of New Jersey brought part of his rock collection to share with our third-grade students who are currently studying Earth Materials in Science class. Dr. Magee started out by presenting different minerals that looked alike. He demonstrated how to tell the difference between the minerals. The third grade scientists will mimic one of Dr. Magee's experiments when they use vinegar to determine if calcite is present in a rock during “The Calcite Quest” lab.

The amazing Dr. Magee even had the ability to make a rock float! He did give away his secret -- the rock is volcanic tuff which is made from volcanic ash. He continued to dazzle his audience with more igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. Dr. Magee closed out his set with a piece of franklinite. The lights in the classroom were turned off and an ultra-violet light was turned on. The result was a beautiful spectacle of color. He recommended a visit to The Franklin Mineral Museum for further exploration of this amazing science.

The third graders were excited to have the opportunity to touch and explore fossils – a dinosaur bone, shark’s tooth, sea animals, and last, and certainly the favorite for third graders, coprolite... also known as dinosaur poop!

If your child will be participating in the Science Fair, below are some questions you may want to ask of your young scientist. We will be looking for up to 6 projects to be presented at the STEAM Expo on Thursday, April 20th, at Neshaminy High School. Having great answers to the questions below will help us recommend which projects will be presented at the expo. Parents, it's okay to help develop ideas and assist with the experiment, but be sure your young scientist takes ownership of the final product. This should be a fun, learning experience for everyone!

Where did you get the idea for this project?

Listen for how the presenter determined their project idea would make a good science project. Did they have a question about how something worked? Curiosity about how something would react to certain actions? There's no 'right' answer, but clarity is critical.
What would you do differently next time?

Listen for the presenter to recognize that all projects have limitations and they could always have done better if they had more time, more resources, better equipment, etc.
What would you do next?

Listen for the presenter to propose an example of the next logical experiment.
What was the hardest part?

Listen for the presenter to acknowledge which parts they thought were hard and how they solved the problems that arose.
What research did you do?

Describe any reading (or searching) that was completed before the presenter wrote his or her hypothesis. A variation of this question is: Why did you think that would happen? (Referring to the hypothesis).
What was your control?

Listen for the presenter to identify the need for a control, and identify the independent variable.

Why did you do the experiment more than once?

Listen for the presenter to demonstrate an understanding of the concept of variability and that the more an experiment is repeated, the more confidence we have in the accuracy of the results.
Why are your findings important?

Listen for the presenter to link his or her results to the “bigger picture” including who might be interested in the findings. ("Y'know, you may save a lot of money buying off-brand paper towels because my results showed....")

Who helped you?

This sounds like a trick question because you were supposed to do your own project – right? But no scientist works in isolation (and if they did we wouldn’t know about them because they wouldn’t have communicated their results!). Acknowledge your teachers, parents, friends, and anyone else that gave you an idea, advice, equipment, or assistance.

Please remember to bring I.D. with you when picking up your child. If someone else routinely picks-up your child, please make sure to list them as an emergency contact AND remind them to have proper I.D. when they arrive.

Please be sure to write your child's teacher a note regarding ANY changes to your child's afternoon routines. For last-minute changes, please call the school office at 215-809-6300 and speak with one of our secretaries.

Our lost and found is growing. It is full of coats, fleece jackets, hats, scarves, etc. Please have your child check for lost personal items. Parents may also visit the lost and found. Please check-in at the office first.