Dare Elementary
PTA
Every child. One voice
Issue 3, May 2013
2012-2013 PTA Board Members
President
Michelle Ross
Vice President
Treasurer
Amanda Stonier
Jennifer Gates
m_ssor@yahoo.com
mandiestonier@yahoo.com
Important Dates
757-926-5528
May 2013
3 Field day at DES
6 2PM- Young Audiences, “Discovering
jennifer.r.gates@bankofamerica.com
Virginia” K-5
Brandi Davis
757-886-0841 7 Gr 5 Field Trip to Washington, DC
Secretary
brandi.davis74@verizon.net
10 8AM- Title I Parent Activity, Library
www.edline.net/pages/DES/Parents/DES-PTA
Early Dismissal, 1 PM
13 Gr 3 Reading SOL Test (Part 1)
14 Gr 3 Reading SOL Test (Part 2)
Principal’s Pen
15 Gr 4 Reading SOL Test
Spring is here. At least the calendar says it’s here! We’ve had some cool
16 Gr 3 Science SOL Test
weather mixed in with the warm, but, as it always does in Tidewater, the
17 Gr 5 Reading SOL Test
weather will warm up and we’ll be in summer before we know it. Spring in
20 Gr 3 Math SOL Test (Part 1)
schools is a very busy time. We prepare for our spring testing, look to the
21 Gr 3 Math SOL Test (Part 2)
Board of Supervisors and School Board for funding, and we work with
22 Gr 4 Math SOL Test (Part 1)
teacher assignments for next year.
23 Gr 4 Math SOL Test (Part 2)
27 MEMORIAL DAY, ALL YCSD CLOSED
This year, for the first time, our Standards of Learning tests will all be
administered online. The teachers have prepared the students for this, and
28 Gr 5 Science SOL Test
our fifth grade students have already completed their writing tests online.
7PM: PTA Board Meeting
Please look at the calendar carefully and make plans to have all third through
29 Gr 5 Math SOL Test (Part 1)
fifth grade students at school on time on their testing days. It is always
30 Gr 5 Math SOL Test (Part 2)
best for children to test with their classmates whenever possible.
31 Gr 3 History SOL Test
757-243-2485
757-898-5499
We already know of a few teacher changes for next year. Mrs. Shearin is
retiring from kindergarten after 40 years at Dare! The entire Dare
community has benefited from Mrs. Shearin’s expertise at teaching and her
dedication to your children. Mrs. Kerr, currently a second grade teacher,
will go back to teaching kindergarten as she did for many years. Mrs.
Katherine Meade, a current fourth grade teacher, will take Mrs. Kerr’s place
in second grade. Mrs. Cheryl Holt, a fifth grade teacher will teach at a
different YCSD school in the fall. Mrs. Shearin and Mrs. Holt will certainly
be missed next year. They both added so much to our staff!
As you know, I will also leave Dare this summer. I am retiring after 30 years
in the Newport News Public Schools and the York County School Division. I
am looking forward to having more time for my family and friends, time to
travel, and the freedom to take a day and do nothing! I have truly enjoyed
my two years at Dare. Last year was non-stop problem solving and creative
thinking, and it went by very quickly. This year has been so pleasant being
back in our building and having all of the children and teachers on one
campus. Thank you, parents, for your support and kindnesses during my time
at Dare.
June 2013
3 Gr 4 History SOL Test
4 Elementary Make-up Day for SOL tests
5 2PM Ties and Tiaras Celebration, Cafeteria
11-13 Early Dismissal (1PM)
11 6:30PM Gr 5 Celebration at Grafton
Complex Auditorium
13 LAST STUDENT DAY
CHANGES FOR THE
UPCOMING SCHOOL YEAR
Accelerated Reader in YCSD for 2013-2014
fjglka
The York County School Division regularly evaluates programs to determine their
effectiveness in achieving the Strategic Plan goals set forth by the School
Board. A Literacy Leadership team has been established to review our current
reading and writing models along with the various programs and resources
implemented in our elementary schools. The goal is to develop a new K-5
Literacy Model that will provide a balanced, integrated approach to reading and
language arts instruction.
YCSD system upgrades, which will be in place for the 2013-2014 school year, will
no longer support Accelerated Reader and STAR programs currently in elementary
schools. The Literacy Leadership Team will identify alternate reading assessment
tools for use while the new K-5 Literacy Model is finalized and will consider the
programs that will be included in the new model. Please be assured that our
teachers will continue to encourage students to explore and read a variety of
appropriate books, and they will use multiple measures to monitor and assess
students’ reading progress.
The success of our students has been possible because teachers, parents, and
community members work together to ensure all students reach their fullest
potential. YCSD will continue building on the foundation of excellence and hope
you will continue to partner with us to ensure continued student success.
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Hello Dare Families,
Wow! It’s been a great year, and summer is quickly approaching! Just as our kiddos move up and on,
so do some of our volunteers. Please take a moment to look at all the current positions opened for
the 2013-2014 school year. We have openings for the PTA board along with committee chair/cochair positions. Please know you can job share together with friends to be on a committee. It
always makes it easier to fit in extra time when there is more than one set of hands in the pot!!
Without the support of our families, mom, dad, grandparents, etc., some of our extra activities may
have to be cut next year. Hopefully, we can prevent this from happening! Dare is a wonderful
school to be a part of and I do believe it is because of the community in which we live.
Here are some volunteer opportunities:
Cut and paste (Chair)
Hands on Science (chair and co-chair)
Movie Night (chair and co- chair)
Yearbook (at least 2 or 3 people to share responsibilities)
Passive Fundraiser (Chair)
PTA website (co-chair)
Spell-A-Thon (co -chair)
International Night (co-chair)
**Remember you can take on a volunteer position as a TEAM! It doesn't have to be just one
person. There's nothing stronger than the heart of a volunteer!
Michelle Ross
Dare PTA President
**Thank you to all the families and staff members that made it a
priority to join the Dare Elementary School PTA for the 2012-2013
school year. Membership dues for the 2013-2014 school year will be
collected starting at the Open House held just before school starts in
September.
Samantha Cowan
Dare Elementary School PTA
Membership Chairperson
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Kindergarten
Kindergarten will be closing out this exciting
year of learning with “Spring” and all the new
things that spring brings. We will take a field
trip to the Children’s Museum of Virginia in
Portsmouth on May 16th. As we continue to
get ready for first grade, we will visit first
grade and find out about what it will be like
next year. We will have our Kindergarten End
of the Year Musical Concert on Tuesday, June
4th at 2:00p.m. in the cafeteria.
First
We have been studying Natural Resources.
This helped to kick off our Dare to go Green
projects.
Before the end of the year our
students
will
have
made
Weebly books,
brochures, public service announcements, or
power points to help make others aware of
ways to help the environment. Students are
taking saving our Earth very seriously! Please
help our environment by recycling, reducing,
or reusing. In math, we are studying money.
Please give your child opportunities to handle
and count money.
The summer is almost here!! Please make sure
to keep your child reading over the summer.
Remember our children love for us to read to
them too! Also, please continue to have your
child practice addition and subtraction facts.
This will help prepare them for what is to
come in second grade.
It is hard to believe the school year is almost
over and our children are going to be second
graders next year.
We have enjoyed the
opportunity to teach your children. Thank you
for all of the support during the 2012-2013
school year.
Second
fjglka
As second graders move forward, we are
excited about our upcoming units. We will be
studying Matter for our science unit, then
move right into our study of Economics in our
social studies unit to finish the year. In
math, we will learn time, graphing, probability.
The focus of our probability study is to help
your child understand the concept of chance.
We will use terms such as impossible, unlikely,
equally likely, more likely, and certain. Your
child will also interpret information in graphs
and charts. We have enjoyed learning about
plants. Hopefully, our students will have
success with the sunflower and pumpkin
plants as they are transplanted at home. We
all had fun experimenting with growing our
seeds. Hello spring!
Third
Third
graders
are
studying
Ancient
Civilizations including Ancient Greece, Ancient
Rome and Ancient Mali. We enjoy learning
about other cultures and their ways of
life. In addition, third graders are rounding
out our school year in math with lessons in
Time and money. These can be challenging
and any help at home would be great. We
have had a wonderful year so far and are
continuing to work right up to year end so
please remember to remind your child to come
to class prepared. Last, third graders are
looking ahead to our SOLs which are fast
approaching. We will be practicing and
reviewing our skills.
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Fourth
Fifth
Fourth grade students traveled back in time
to Richmond to experience Virginia History!
We enjoyed reviewing and learning new facts
about our state. In Math, we are beginning
our Measurement unit and will continue
working on our Graphing skills. Our last two
units of study for Science will be Plants and
Animals. During the Plants unit, students will
create a “Beastly Plant” to show the different
parts of a plant. Also, in Reading, we are
reviewing our strategies for the upcoming
SOL test in May. Good luck to all students on
their SOL tests!
The fifth grade classes will be taking their
field trip to Washington, D.C. on May 7th. We
have many chaperones attending, and the
students will be able to visit the wealth of
museums along the National Mall. Make sure
that your child wears comfortable walking
shoes and brings two lunches with drinks in
throw away bags. Students and Parents must
be at Dare by 7:00 a.m. The buses leave from
Dare at 7:15 a.m. and we usually arrive back
by 6:30p.m. Let’s hope for a beautiful, sunny
day.
Our fifth grade classes are working on a
collaborative project with GMS in which our
students wrote letters to sixth grade
students asking for their advice on middle
school concerns.
Our students asked
questions about classes, scary lockers,
cafeteria food and extra -curricular
activities. We will receive individual letters
back along with a video created to inform
fifth graders about middle school.
SOL Testing:
We are already at work
reviewing and preparing for SOL Tests.
Reading: May 17th,
Math: May 29
Science: May 28
Save the Date: Fifth Grade Celebration is
scheduled for Tuesday, June 11th at GMS
auditorium at 6:00p.m.
Look for more
information in upcoming weeks.
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EARTH KIDS CLUB NEWS
snack
Our last Earth Kids Club meetings for the 2012-2013 school year are coming up on
May 14th-May 16th. We had an exciting year learning about conservation efforts,
native plants, habitats, and recycling. Our club raised close to $300 for the
Monarch Watch organization to help plant and distribute milkweed across the
country. We are looking forward to educating and inspiring others in our community
to take care of the environment. We want to thank all those who sent in drink and
donations.
Your
help
and
support
has
been
greatly
appreciated.
Mrs. Bultman and Mrs. ChapmanSecond & Third Grade
Mrs. Meade and Mrs. Hogge- Fourth Grade
CULTURE CLUB
The last meeting for Culture Club will be held on Tuesday, May 7th. This year as we
focused on building character and developing leadership skills, we used the “7 Habits of
Happy Kids” as our model for being the best students that we can be. Many thanks to
the presenters for sharing their careers and how they used the “7 Habits” to build
character and develop leadership skills. Special thanks to the students for their participation,
parents for their support, and Mrs. Coates for co-sponsoring the Culture Club.
CHROME CLUB
The last meeting of CHROME was held in April. We had AWESOME meetings with
presenters from NASA, Jefferson Lab, and ODU. They presented activities that
stimulated our minds and piqued our curiosity and interest in the areas of science,
math, technology, and engineering.
Many thanks to the students for their
participation, parents for their support, co-sponsors, and all the teacher volunteers
who assisted. Special thanks to Mrs. Haskiell, parent volunteer!!!!!
-
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The "Name our Garden" contest has a winner! Congratulations to Mrs. Buckley's Fifth
Graders for submitting Dare's Marvelous Meadow. On Earth Day, each class had the
opportunity to plant several plants in our school's butterfly garden. The "Money for
Monarchs" fundraiser provided Dare with several literary resources, DVD's, bug
magnifiers, and puppets to use in the classroom. Students will be provided with hands on
learning activities in the outdoor environment and bring the outdoors into the classroom.
**There is an art display at Tabb Library throughout the month of May. Several students
submitted literary works in support of the Monarch Initiative Project.
**The Odyssey of the Mind team won First place at The Regional competition, and Third
place at the State competition.
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KELLER WILLIAMS REALTY
Doug Holmes
Realtor/Consultant
First Choice in Real Estate
757-810-1297
804 Omni Way- Suite 200
Newport News, VA 23606
TOWNE BANK, PENNINSULA
Brian K. Skinner
President
1 Old Oyster Point Road, Suite 300
Newport News, VA 23602
P- 757-249-7662
F- 757-249-0970
brian.skinner@townebank.net
HOSS'S DELI
CONTEMPORARY BUSINESS
SERVICES
Gloria A. Serafini, President
Certified Bookkeeper
P.O. Box 706
Grafton VA 23692
P- 757-218-2705
F- 757-282-7754
Bookkeeper4You@aol.com
Member, American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers
LIA SOPHIA
SHARING THE LOVE OF
JEWELRY
Stephanie K. Thompson
Independent Unit Manager
Hp- 757-874-8744
C- 757-287-4534
skayt@cox.net
www.liasophia.com/stephaniethompson
Chris Pittman
806 Old Oyster Point Rd
Newport News, VA 23602
P- 757-596-9104
info@hosssdeli.com
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Dare Elementary PTA
Membership Form
Dare Elementary
If you wish to join the Dare PTA, fill out the form below and return it to your child's class in an
ENVELOPE labeled “PTA Membership” with $5 per member (checks made payable to DES PTA)
# _____ memberships at $5.00/member. Included is an additional donation of $_________
Total amount enclosed $ _________ Method of Payment: cash
check # ________
1st Adult Member's Name: _______________________________________________________
2nd Adult Member’s Name: ______________________________________________________
3rd Adult Member’s Name: ______________________________________________________
Address: ______________________________________________________________________
Phone: __________________________ Email: _______________________________________
Student's Name(s): _____________________________________________________________
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