Rosemount Elementary
December 2008
Independent School District 196
Leprechaun Ledger
——————–“Educating our students to reach their full potential”———————
Independent School District 196
WEATHER-RELATED
SCHOOL CLOSING DECISIONS
ARE BASED ON SAFETY
Winter is around the corner and most of our nearly
28,000 students (and probably many staff) will at
some point be wishing for a snow day. However,
while snow days really are fun for kids, we cannot
take closing school lightly. We know decisions we
make about closing school impact families throughout the district who may need to find alternative
care for their children. For more information on
how these decisions are made and communicated,
and how they may impact not only the school day
but other morning and evening activities in the district, go to http://www.district196.org.
~~~
MAGNET SCHOOL AND K PLUS APPLICATIONS
NOW AVAILABLE
Applications are being accepted for enrollment in
the district’s three elementary magnet schools and
Kindergarten Plus program for the 2009-10 school
year. K Plus offers children the opportunity to remain at school, with their kindergarten teacher,
for the remainder of the school day. The deadline
to submit applications for the magnet schools and
K Plus program is 4 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23. Applications may be completed online.
For more information and applications, go to
http://www.district196.org.
Winter Time Reminders
For the past week, I began my mornings by scraping the
windshield.
Geese are flying south, and frost is on the grass. With
winter approaching there are some expectations we have
for students regarding their health and safety.
Warm coats, snow pants, gloves/mittens, boots and a
warm hat are necessary for recess once the snow falls.
Students who do not have snow pants and boots will need
to stay on the blacktop area of the playground during
recess. The school has received donations of winter
wear. If you are in need of clothing for your child during
the winter months, please contact the office and we will
assure your child is outfitted with warm clothing.
The district has stated that when temperatures dip below 0 degrees and/or windchill is below 0 degrees, students will stay inside for recess.
One last reminder: Help your child to remember to pack
their shoes if they wear boots to school. There have
been a lot of students with extra warm feet during the
school day as they wear their boots inside due to shoes
left at home.
Let it snow!
~~~
District 196 Community Education offers many
opportunities for all ages. To find out more visit:
www.district196.org/ce.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
From all of us at RES
Rosemount Elementary School
Tom Idstrom
~
District 196 does not engage in unlawful discrimination on the basis of race,
color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, disability, status with
regard to public assistance, sexual orientation or age. The School District Attorney, 14445 Diamond Path West, Rosemount, MN 55068, (651) 423-7883, has
been designated to respond to inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies,
including inquiries under Title IX.
Visit our Website - http://district196.org/re
Holiday Greetings from your SCRIP Coordinator!!
20 Families are well on their way to having Christmas
shopping done. Thank you so much to the families who
purchased gift cards. $160.00 were raised from your
efforts. Now everyone else has to get on board, because it is the easiest fundraiser ever. Here is how!
1. Log on to www.shopwithscrip.com
2. Go to “Not a member? – click here”
3. Follow the on-screen instructions to register. Email
address required. Visit the school website
www.district196.org/re/ for a complete set of instructions.
4. Enter the RES PTO enrollment code
F4852FBF14484
5. Payments can be made by check to RES PTO.
6. PRESTO PAY is also an option. Presto pay is a way
to pay on-line at a cost of $0.39. Click on the Presto Pay
link to begin the enrollment process. This process takes
one to two business days.
Orders are due Friday, December 5,
2008 to be picked up in the office on
Friday, December 12, 2008.
Thank you so much again for the continued support from
our Rosemount Families. Think about asking friends
and relatives if they need any gift cards. You never
know, that someone special they could be buying for just
might be you!
Laurie Johnson
Veteran’s Day Display
952-913-7029 or johnss2@aol.com
See Rosemount Town Pages article on last page of newsletter...
ORDER YOUR ‘08-’09 YEARBOOK NOW
Community Support Makes School Events Possible
In FULL COLOR this year!
Please join our entire RES community in thanking the
following businesses for their generosity:
The First State Bank of Rosemount for supplying hundreds of cups for our Monster Mash and Turkey Bingo.
Marcus Theatre of Rosemount for generously donating
all the popcorn for both the Monster Mash and Turkey
Bingo, and McDonalds for supplying cups and orange
drink for Monster Mash.
You have made fun events possible for our students at
no cost.
Many Thanks
Karen Brown-Hepp
RES Volunteer Coordinator
Rosemount Elementary School
•
•
$14.50-standard yearbook
$16.00-standard yearbook with a current events
year in review insert
~
ORDERS DUE: December 15, 2008-or you can give them to our
yearbook coordinator, Laurie Cornell, at Wendy’s Night
REMINDER:
THE LAST DAY FOR AFTER SCHOOL CLASSES
is Friday, December 12th
Visit our Website - http://district196.org/re
Wanted: Small Bicycles
Hello and Happy Thanksgiving to all
from your PTO President!
I have much to share with you, so I will
try to keep it brief but informative.
So far this year, students have raised just shy of
$13,000 from the fall fundraiser!! Wow, way to go. So,
you are probably wondering where that money goes....this
year your PTO has decided to give some of that money
toward the purchase of SMART Boards for the 4th
grade classrooms. What are SMART Boards you
ask? They are interactive, electronic whiteboards used
to enhance instruction and learning. They are starting to
be used in many of the upper grades and if you would like
more information on them, try this website:
www.education.smarttech.com/
PTO also sponsors the Monster Mash, Family Fun Night
(coming in February) and the Spring Picnic (coming in
May).
It is our goal that by next school year your children will
not have to sell 'stuff' in order to make money for the
school. But to do that, we will still need your help. It is
our goal that SCRIP cards will replace the Spring fundraiser!! There have been a few flyers sent out for
SCRIP cards, and more information is sure to come your
way in the coming months...however, IF you join us at
Wendy's night on the 26th, you will have the opportunity
to purchase SCRIP cards right there at Wendy's (Laurie
Cornell will have them). These are cards that you can use
for yourself, or give them as gifts. They look just like a
normal gift card, but when they are purchased a percentage of amount purchased goes right back to RES!!! These
cards are something most of us will use anyway (Cub,
Starbucks, Wendy's, Kwik Trip, Barnes & Noble), so why
not support RES in the process? If you have any questions, please contact Laurie Johnson or myself.
May you all have a wonderful month.
-Kim Beslin, PTO President
Rosemount Elementary School
As you clean out your garage, consider donating your small bicycles, with training wheels, to
the school.
Jackie Young , our occupational therapist and
Brett Kosidowski, our adapted physical education teacher, would like to work on bicycle riding
with several students.
Bicycles with training wheels would be preferred. Please contact Jackie Young by email:
jackie.young@district196.org to arrange drop
off times, or you can call the school office.
Thanks so much!
You’re invited to our
MUSIC
PROGRAMS
Thursday, December 4th
~
“Let’s Sing, Let’s Dance, Let’s Play”
Presented by the 2nd graders
6:30-7:00 pm.
~
“How Can I Keep From Singing”
Presented by the 4th graders
7:30-8:00 pm.
~~~
Bring the whole family,
Even Grandma and Grandpa!
Visit our Website - http://district196.org/re
“The Bus is Back!”
Hello RES Box Top Collectors!
Week 7 Update!
You have collected 22,831 Box Tops!
The weeks are flying by and each class bus is filling up with Box Tops. We have just
three more collection dates in December leading up to the big finish on December 19th.
We would like to ask everyone who will be seeing friends and relatives over the Thanksgiving weekend to ask for their Box Tops and have them keep collecting for you! Also,
make sure to check your own homes for any left over Box Tops from the summer
months. We need to keep the numbers growing, so get them turned in!
Great work by everyone over the first seven weeks of collecting!
Which class is in the lead for each grade? Look below!
Kindergarten :
Mrs. DeBord
1,582 Box Tops
1st
Grade:
Ms. Hunt
1,076 Box Tops
2nd
Grade:
Mrs. Hilden
1,592 Box Tops
3rd Grade:
Ms. Ringaman
1,460 Box Tops
4th Grade:
Mrs. Perkett
1,276 Box Tops
5th Grade:
Mr. Kennedy
982 Box Tops
Will these classes hang onto the lead? Turn in your Box Tops and find out!
We can continue to earn money year-round!!
visit www.innisbrook.com
Click on EZ Order Entry:
Then enter our School Number: 102258
The items ship directly to you
and Rosemount Elementary benefits!
Thank you
Rosemount Elementary School
Visit our Website - http://district196.org/re
Students create a touching tribute
Nathan Hansen Rosemount Town Pages
Published Thursday, November 13, 2008
There have been tears shed in the halls of Rosemount Elementary School this week, but that’s OK. They’re good
tears. Tears of pride. Tears of remembrance. They’re tears that pay tribute to generations of men and women
who have served their country.
The reasons for the tears line a hallway that stretches from the school’s main entrance down past the library to
the kindergarten classrooms. There are sheets of blue paper stapled and taped to the wall and photographs of
fathers and mothers, uncles and grandfathers uncles. The are men and women who served in the Army, Navy, Air
Force and Marines.
The papers carry names and messages about where each person served or stories about good times spent with
them.
RES student Amaya Hill put up a photo of herself getting a hug from her uncle, Sean McDonald. The story that
accompanies it is about sledding with him while he was on leave from Iraq.
McDonald died in March of 2008 while on patrol in Iraq.
“I wanted people to see it,” Hill said of the tribute on the wall. “He’s special.”
There are a lot of special people on the walls at RES, and for the people who helped put everything together the
project was a special experience.
Candy Elmore is one of those people. Elmore is the secretary to RES principal Tom Idstrom, and a photograph of
her father, a former Navy pilot, sits in a locked case dedicated to the friends and family of RES staff members.
Donald Woog died a little more than a year ago, and putting together the display helped Elmore deal with that.
“I’ve had a hard time losing him and being part of this display was a way to (lift him up),” she said. “One of his favorite things was being a Navy pilot.”
Kindergarten teacher Teri Skaar worked on the display, too. Her son, Evan, is training to become a Navy Seal. She
said she’s seen teachers reading the entries on the wall to their students with tears in their eyes.
The project has also helped start discussions among families about relatives who served, and about the wars in
which they fought.
“It’s just brought up a lot more history than we expected,” Skaar said. “We’ve covered a lot of different wars and
all different branches of the military.”
The project started with an e-mail from Idstrom looking for people willing to help assemble a display for Veteran’s Day. It was Elmore who recommended turning the display case over to RES staff, and the response was impressive. In addition to photos of Donald Woog and Evan Skaar there is a uniform that belongs to the son of kindergarten teacher Diane Kelly and a photo of a former RES student who is currently serving in the Navy, among
other items. In another display case there is an old newspaper story about the father of one of the school’s custodians, who served along with his five brothers.
Skaar said the response to the display has been good from all sides.
“You don’t know how it’s going to be received because not everybody has somebody in the military,” Skaar said.
“This is not a political statement. We’re trying to do what Veteran’s Day is intended to be and that’s honor veterans.”
The display was originally going to be up through this week but the response has been so positive it will stay up
through November. Skaar and Elmore said there has already been talk about next year’s display.
Rosemount Elementary School
Visit our Website - http://district196.org/re