February 2014 Howling Herald Newsletter for the Families of James M. Marlowe Elementary Hilda Martin, Principal * Stacey Yeretzian, Asst. Principal 5642 Cecelia Drive New Port Richey, FL 34652 (727) 774-8600 UPCOMING EVENTS February 7th – Spring Pictures & Class Photos February 7th – Progress Reports February 10th – 14th – Valentine Lollipop Grams February 14th – SAC Meeting 7:40 am February 17th – No School February 20th – It Takes A Village Breakfast Series 8:40 am February 25th & 26th 4th Grade FCAT Writing February 27th – McWolf Night – S.R. 54 - 5:00 – 7:00 pm . SCHOOL CHOICE Open Enrolment for 2014-2015 The District School Board of Pasco County’s (DSBPC) Open Enrollment initiative provides an opportunity for a Pasco County student to attend any public school in the school district that may be outside the student’s zoned school, as well as any public school in neighboring counties with District approval. The parent/guardian of a student wishing to attend a school outside his/her boundary area must submit the School Choice Open Enrollment Application to the DSBPC during the established enrollment period. Submitting an application does not guarantee that the student will be approved to transfer to the requested school of choice. Open Enrollment applications will be accepted from February 1 through March 1, 2014, for the 2014-15 school year. Applications are available at the DSBPC office and online at: http://www.pasco.k12.fl.us/ed_choice/school_choice/registration Scroll down to the end of the page and click Apply On-Line. Please note the following: Siblings of students who are on school choice must also be approved for school choice. 5th grade students will only roll over to Gulf Middle School if they are zoned for Gulf Middle. FCAT WRITING Students in 4th grade will be participating in the FCAT 2.0 Writing Test on Tuesday, February 25, 2014. The FCAT 2.0 Writing Test is administered in one 60-minute session in which students write an essay in response to a prompt. Later this spring, your child will receive a score for his/her writing on a scale from 1-6 score points. Test prompts are considered secure information by the state. Students may not share test prompts, verbally or on social media ie; Facebook, Twitter. Violation of this expectation could result in an invalidation and or discipline referral. Please be aware that electronic devices are not permitted in the classrooms during testing. If your child is found with ANY electronic devices, including cell phones, at anytime during testing, including bathroom breaks, his or her test will be invalidated. The best practice is for students to leave devices at home on the day of testing. If your child leaves campus before completing the test (for an appointment, illness, etc.), he or she WILL NOT be allowed to complete the test. If your child does not feel well on the day of testing, it may be best for him or her to wait and be tested on the make-up day. The ONLY makeup day is Wednesday, February 26. You may visit http://fcat.fldoe.org/writing-prompts.asp to access writing prompt descriptions and scoring guides with sample essays. IT TAKES A VILLAGE February 27th 8:40 a.m. in the Media Center Marlowe’s Guidance Department and Youth and Family Alternatives Inc. will be offering the fourth “It Takes a Village To Raise A Child” breakfast series on February 27th from 8:40 – 9:20 a.m. in the media center. A refreshing look at hygiene and your student, along with resources available for families for medical and dental. Light refreshments will be provided. Join us for this informative and entertaining look at parenting. Free take home materials will be provided. VALENTINE’S DAY LOLLIPOP GRAMS PTO will be selling Valentine’s Day Lollipop-Grams When: February 10th – 14th Where: In front of the school during arrival. $1.00 each (cash only) Send a Lollipop to a friend, teacher or anyone special! Lollipops will be delivered to students on Valentine’s Day. McWOLF / McTEACHER NIGHT PTO NEWS February 27th 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm State Road 54 Help raise money for the school while having a fun dinner. If you aren’t able to come inside, pick-up dinner through the drive thru! Any PTO Families with their membership cards will receive a special treat from the PTO! PTO will be selling Valentine Lollipop Grams the week of February 10th – February 14th in the front of the school during arrival. They are $1.00 each and will be delivered to students on Friday, February 14th. PTO would like to thank everyone for coming out to support the McWolf/McTeacher Night in January. There will be another McTeacher Night on February 27th at the McDonald’s on State Road 54 from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. BOX TOPS Start saving and bringing in as many box tops as you can during the month of February. The class with the most box tops for the month of February will win an Ice Cream Party. Look for those box tops and cut them out! ATTENDANCE AWARDS Congratulations to the following classes for having 85% attendance for 90% of the month of January. Cockerham, Hero, Parra, Bunker, McKim, Kalemba, Shea, Magavero, Rohrbacker, Johnson, Moberley, Fuchs, O’Neill, Brindley, Nichols, Smith, Anderson, Leyendecker, O’Connell and McCartney Each of these classes will receive a popcorn party to celebrate their attendance in school. Please remember the importance of children being at school and on time each day. PRE-ORDER YOUR YEARBOOK It’s that time of year to pre-order your Marlowe Elementary yearbook. Look for an order form to come home with your student. Additional order forms will be available in the office. For Only $12.00 you can pre-order your yearbook. After March 1st the cost will go up to $15.00. Order now, so your child won’t miss out when the yearbook is distributed! As an adult, you know how important school memories become. Don’t let your child’s memories fade; make sure you get a yearbook now! SCHOOL CROSSING GUARD APPRECIATION DAY JANUARY WOLVES OF CHARACTER “Pride” KINDERGARTEN Arianna Procko, Marcus Coleman, Jaxon Doty, Adan Devars 1ST GRADE Adrian Rosas Strong, Victoria Miller, Kiley Hetrick, Sarai Rivera 2ND GRADE Jessie Palma-Hernandez, Elaji Alexander, Brianna McAnally, Ivy Coleman, Ryan Taylor 3RD GRADE Rebecca Muir, Mya Teixeira, Kevin Flores, Stephanie Rangel, Mya Teixeira 4TH GRADE Xavier Cruz, Isaiah Clemson, Jeremiah Acquah, Emmanuel Flores 5TH GRADE Tony Luciano, Hailey Davis, Elisabeth Gaffney . February 7th is School Crossing Guard Appreciation Day. Each and every school day, thousands of dedicated individuals whom we call Crossing Guards, spend countless hours assisting our children across busy street intersections as they arrive and depart from school. Crossing Guards provide an invaluable service to our communities and deserve special recognition for their tireless efforts. We would like to recognize and thank Marlowe Elementary School Traffic Control Officers, for their dedicated service to our school. Thank you! TIMBER CUB’S CAFÉ IS READY TO “JAM” AGAIN James M. Marlowe Elementary School is starting our 13th annual food drive. “Feed a Child’s Belly with Peanut Butter and Jelly!” Please help us “spread” the news. We are asking all staff, students, family, and friends to donate jars of Peanut Butter and Jelly or any other non-perishable food items. All donations will go to a local food bank just in time for our Spring Break. Our drive will run through March 12, 2014. Please send all donations to the cafeteria along with the student’s name. Prizes will be awarded to the classrooms that collect the most jars. Together we can feed a hungry child, one sandwich at a time! MARLOWE IS ON FACEBOOK District School Board of Pasco County Kurt S. Browning, Superintendent of Schools 7227 Land O’ Lakes Boulevard Land O’ Lakes, FL 34638 Like us on Facebook! Upcoming events and information will be posted on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/pages/James-M-MarloweElementary/484263344997743