Longfellow Newsletter
Week of: December 14th-20th
First Bell-7:50 am / Tardy Bell-7:55 am
Every Student Counts, Every Moment Matters!
Message From Principal Webb
Hello families-
Can you believe winter break is in one week? There are many opportunities to be involved this week. There will be music shares for Kindergarten, 1st grade and 4th-grade students and parents in the music room, gingerbread house decorating and play performances for 2nd graders, and PTA will be having a McDonald's's Teacher Night on December 17th for all students to enjoy and proceeds go to Longfellow PTA. On Thursday our whole school will have a PBIS PJ Day (students are invited to wear Pajamas).
ISASP scores came home with students in 4th-6th grade on Friday, December 13th. Please check your student's backpack for this information.
Sincerely,
Kelli Webb
Upcoming Events for Longhorns:
The month of December- Hour of coding for all grades during media time
12/17- McTeacher's Night
12/ 18 and 19--2nd grade Gingerbread House Decorating and Play Performances
12/19- PBIS celebration all school PJ day
12/20- 6th grade to City High Choir Concert
1/7- PTA meeting
Longfellow Happenings!
Free Dental Care Available
Parent Teacher Association Information!
The Latest News from the Longfellow Elementary Parent Teacher Association (PTA):
McTEACHER’S NIGHT
Don’t forget about our McTeacher’s Night, which is next Tuesday, December 17, 2019!
We will be participating in a fundraising initiative that allows schools to “take over” a local
McDonald’s restaurant for a set period of time, with a percentage of sales going directly to
support specific school needs. We have booked the Longfellow night at the McDonald’s on
Lower Muscatine Road (near Sycamore Mall) on Tuesday, December 17, 2019, from 5:00 p.m.
to 7:00 p.m., so please plan to attend!
The Longfellow class with the most student attendees will win $100 for its room! Each
participating student will fill out a sheet when he or she comes in, and organizers will tally these
sheets at the end of the two-hour event to determine the classroom winner. In addition, we’ll
need two parent volunteers who can help us out with managing this event—or one parent
volunteer who is willing to staff the event for the full two hours. Please contact PTA President
Lanny Tygrett, at presidentlongfellowpta@gmail.com, to volunteer. We can’t make this
happen without your help!
IN THE BOOKS
Our first Follett book fair was a great success! Our total sales were $3,200, which means that our
librarian, Mrs. Morey, will get to select $1,100 worth of books from Follett for our school
library. Thank you to everyone who came to the fair! (We will have another Follett fair this
spring; date TBD.)
CARNIVAL TIME
Every year, Longfellow holds a schoolwide carnival that also is our biggest fundraiser. This
year’s carnival will be on Saturday, April 18, 2020, so please save the date! The event will
include games, a cake walk, raffles, and a silent auction, as well as food for sale. We will have
more details in the weeks to come, but we hope your whole family can attend. The carnival is a
fantastic event, and the money it raises helps us provide field trips, classroom and media support,
special school experiences, and more!
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
Anyone can join the PTA! We ask for a $10 “goodwill” donation when you join, but this fee is
totally optional. Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, January 7, 2020, at 6:30 p.m. in the
Longfellow library. All are welcome, and we hope to see you there!
Iowa Poetry Opportunity
THE IOWA POETRY ASSOCIATION'S
75th Annual Contest
General Rules For All Divisions
Note: FAILURE TO OBSERVE RULES MAY DISQUALIFY ENTRIES.
- Contests are open to all persons with Iowa residence. (See College exception) No entry fee. No membership or book purchase required.
- Poems must be original and unpublished, including on-line and self publication.
- Poems must be submitted by their author, except for student poems, which may be submitted by teacher or parent.
- Vulgarity or pornography is NOT accepted.
- Up to 5 poems may be submitted by one author.
- All poems except haiku must have titles.
- 20-line limit unless otherwise specified. Line limits do not count title nor spaces between stanzas. Lines should not exceed 60 characters or editor may make arbitrary line breaks and count them as separate lines.
- Send poems after January 1, 2020 to editor for your division. Postmark deadline February 28, 2020.
- Winners and others to be published in Lyrical Iowa 2019 will be notified as soon as all judging is completed (mid-summer). No one will receive more than one award. No more than one poem will be printed per author. IPA has first publication rights; all other rights automatically revert to each author AFTER our publication in late fall.
- Poems may not be withdrawn after submission. No simultaneous submissions.
NEW RULES FOR ADULT SUBMISSIONS!
New PREFERRED method of submission:
Email AFTER JAN. 1, 2020 all poems together (up to 5) in ONE EMAIL typed or copied into the body of the email. NO ATTACHMENTS. At the beginning include your name, address, phone number, county, email and if first-time entrant in contest. Indicate category at top of each poem. Send to contest@iowapoetry.com by midnight Feb. 28th.
If you DO NOT have email, each poem must be on a separate 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of paper, typed or computer printed in plain font. Indicate category at top of each poem sheet. In UPPER RIGHT CORNER of each sheet, print author's name, address, phone number and county. Postmark deadline: Feb. 28, 2020. Include a self-addressed #10 business envelope with sufficient postage. Mail all together in business #10 envelope. DO NOT send registered mail. Send only ADULT entries to: Marilyn Baszczynski, Editor, 16096 320th Way, Earlham, IA 50072
Read carefully for form and line limits.
Honorable mentions are awarded as merited.
GENERAL: Any subject in good taste, any form, 20 line limit. $100.00, $60.00, $40.00.
SONNETS: Shakespearean (English), Petrarchan (Italian), or other traditional 14 line sonnet forms. $40.00, $25.00, $15.00.
HAIKU: A configuration of 5/7/5 syllables does NOT make it haiku without other haiku characteristics. $40.00, $25.00, $15.00.
NATIONAL/WORLD EVENTS: Should focus on an event, not a general situation. Any form, 20 line limit. $25.00, $15.00, $10.00.
POEMS FOR CHILDREN: Poems written by adults in style and content appropriate for reading by or to children. Any form, 20 line limit. $25.00, $15.00, $10.00.
HUMOROUS VERSE: Subject humor, form rhymed and metered, 8 line limit. $25.00, $15.00, $10.00.
FIRST-TIME ENTRANT AWARD: is presented to the highest-ranking first-time entrant who does not win a higher-ranking monetary award in the regular categories. $25.00.
SPECIAL 75TH ANNIVERSARY CONTEST: Subject about anniversaries. Any form, 20-line limit. $75.00
ALL SCHOOL DIVISIONS
All General Rules apply (#1-10 at top). Winners will be notified in May-June.
COLLEGE DIVISION (Undergraduate)
Students whose homes are in Iowa but are studying outside the state are eligible to enter, as well as out-of-state students attending Iowa schools. (Graduate students should enter the adult division.)
Prizes: $25.00, $15.00, $10.00. Honorable mentions as merited.
All poems: 20-line limit, no more than 60 characters per line. Any form or subject. Email all poems together (up to 5) in ONE EMAIL typed or copied into the body of the email. NO ATTACHMENTS. Include name and location of your school, your name, home address and an email address that is valid year round since results may not be determined until June. Send to rlarson@mum.edu with IPA COLLEGE POETRY CONTEST as subject line.
If you do not have email, each poem must be on a separate 8 1/2 x 11" sheet of paper, typed or computer printed in plain font. On each poem sheet IN UPPER RIGHT corner, print all contact info listed above and mail COLLEGE ENTRIES only to:
Rustin Larson
105 North D
Fairfield, IA 52556
Include SASE for contest results.
NFSPS College/University Level $500 Awards
To access VERY specific rules and application form for this national contest, go to http://www.nfsps.com/scholarship.htm or send SASE to Marilyn J Baszczynski (address under Adult Division) with request for the "national college" rules.
HIGH SCHOOL DIVISION (Grades 9 through 12)
All poems: 20-line limit. Each poem must be on a separate 8 1/2 x 11" sheet of paper, typed or computer printed in plain font. On each poem sheet, in upper right corner, please include:
- your name and home address
- grade in school
- name of teacher
- name and mailing address of school; county of school
- parent and/or teacher's email address
Poems may be submitted by student, teacher or parent. No school poems are returned. NO EMAIL SUBMISSIONS
Prizes: $20.00, $12.00, $8.00, plus honorable mentions.
Send HIGH SCHOOL poems to:
Joy Lyle
17844 330th Street
Keota, IA 52248
GRADE SCHOOL DIVISION
All poems: 20-line limit. One poem per page - no illustrations, please. Each poem must be on a separate 8 1/2 x 11" sheet of paper, typed or computer printed in plain font. On each poem sheet, in upper right corner, please include:
- your name and home address
- grade in school
- name of teacher
- name and mailing address of school; county of school
- parent and/or teacher's email address
Poems may be submitted by student, teacher or parent. No school poems are returned. NO EMAIL SUBMISSIONS
Grades K-4 and 5-8 are judged separately. Prizes are $15.00, $8.00 and $5.00, plus honorable mentions in each section.
Send only GRADE SCHOOL entries to:
Della Weems
32944 K Ave.,
Adel, IA 50003
ADDITIONAL STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES
Some high-ranking 2019 student entries from grades 9-12 and 6-8 will be selected to represent Iowa in the Manningham Award. If one of your poems is chosen for this honor, you will be notified and asked to certify the originality of your poem.
- - - - -Students may enter contests for the Student Award (grades 9-12) or the Poetry in the Classroom Award (grades 3-8) of the National Federation of State Poetry Societies' annual contest. These rules differ from IPA rules and must be followed carefully.
Any subject. Any form. 32 line limit. Prizes: $50, $30, $20, seven $5 honorable mentions. No entry fee. Jan 1 - March 15, 2020 only. Find complete rules online at: www.nfsps.com/poetry_contests.htm or request brochure from:
Contest Chair Carla Jordan,
P.O. Box 2863, Evergreen, CO 80437-2863
ContestChair.nfsps@gmail.com
Information on ISASP
Dear Parents/Guardians,
As you are aware, Iowa students in grades three through eleven completed a new assessment last spring, called The Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress (ISASP). Because this was a newly created assessment and needed to undergo a rigorous standards-setting process, results were delayed until just recently. In future years, we anticipate receiving results in a much more timely manner.
These results are now available to be sent home. Elementary students will be bringing these home in their backpacks on Friday, December 13th and secondary students will be receiving them through the mail.
Please read through the attached information regarding the assessment and interpretation guidelines. Please keep this email so that you are able to refer to these documents once you receive your child’s results. As you will notice from the sample report, ISASP does not provide a National Percentile Rank since this assessment was only given statewide. They have calculated Iowa Percentile Ranks, but those will not be printed on your child's individual report. If you are interested in comparing your child's performance with other students across the state, you will be able to use the attached document to find the Iowa Percentile Rank associated with your child's scaled score.
It is important to remember that since this is a new, more challenging assessment, comparisons should not be made to previous Iowa Assessments. It will, however, establish a baseline for future growth and progress.
ICCSD will take these assessments again this spring during the month of April. Results from the 2020 assessments should be available by the end of the school year.
If you have any questions, please reach out to your child’s teacher or principal.
Thank you,
Dr. Diane Schumacher
Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment
Iowa City Community School District
follow us on Twitter- @LongfellowScho1
Longfellow Elementary School
Every student counts. Every moment matters.
ADDRESS: 1130 Seymour Ave., Iowa City, IA 52240
PHONE: 319-688-1135
FAX: 319-688-1136
Kelli Webb, Principal
Amanda Mosley, SFA
Stacia Nkumu, Principal Secretary
Non-Discrimination Policy:
It is the policy of the Iowa City Community School District not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, religion, creed, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity and socioeconomic status in its educational programs, activities, or employment practices. There is a grievance procedure for processing complaints of discrimination. If you have questions or a grievance related to this policy, please contact the Director of Equity, 1725 N. Dodge St., Iowa City, IA 52245, (319) 688-1000.