The Ripple
November 2012
Park Elementary School
50 S. Sixth St., Columbia, PA 17512
(717) 684-9780
Important Dates:
November
5
6
7
8
12
12
13
14-16
15
15
21
22 – 26
Holiday
PTP Meeting @ Taylor 6:30 pm
Fall Fundraiser Pick-Up @ Park
3:00 pm -6:00 pm
Early Dismissal 1:15 pm
Picture Re-Take Day
Veteran’s Day
School Closed – Parent Teacher
Conferences 12:00 pm -7:30 pm
School Closed – Parent Teacher
Conferences 8:00 am – 12:00pm
Parent Visitation Days
Honors Assembly 2:00 pm
School Board – 7:00 pm
Early Dismissal – 1:15 pm
School Close Thanksgiving
Dear
Parents
Guardians,
and
The first marking period
ends
on
Thursday,
November 1st. Your child’s teacher is preparing
for the Parent Conferences scheduled for
November 12th and 13th. This is an excellent
time for the home and school to work together to
discuss your child’s strengths and areas that
could be improved.
Please make note of your child’s scheduled
conference time and plan to attend. We have
your child’s academic and behavioral issues to
discuss, and we need your participation to make
a difference.
Please attend your child’s parent conference so
you can receive his/her report card. If you
cannot attend this conference, please reschedule
with your child’s teacher.
Ms. Wallace
Principal
STEPS TO A
PRODUCTIVE PARENTTEACHER CONFERENCE
1. Plan for your conference. Talk to your
child. Write down questions. Review your
child’s textbooks and work he/she brings
home. Think about your child’s learning
style and study habits.
2. Have both parents attend the conference if
possible.
3. Ask questions about your child’s
schoolwork; his/her relationship with
students and teachers; tests taken or
scheduled; and any classroom rules you
don’t understand.
4. Concentrate on developing a good working
relationship with the teacher.
5. Share with the teacher any information that
might develop an understanding of your
child.
6. Talk about your child’s needs. Agree on
plans and on any special assistance that your
child needs before you leave.
7. Talk with your child afterward about the
conference.
8. Implement your end of the agreement. Keep
in touch with the teacher. If the plan doesn’t
seem to be working or if new problems
develop, call the teacher and ask for another
meeting.
9. If you need additional assistance, call upon
your child’s school counselor or principal.
SAFETY
PARENT VISITATION DAYS
NOVEMBER 14th, 15th, and 16th
Parent Visitation Days will be celebrated
November 14th, 15th, and 16th. As you know,
breakfast is an important part of your day. What
could make breakfast even more important for
your child? Imagine if an adult member of your
family could join you for that most important
meal of the day! A detailed letter was sent home
Wednesday, October 24th inviting parents,
grandparents, or another adult member of the
family to join us for breakfast on Wednesday,
November 14th (Fourth, Fifth and Sixth
Grades),
Thursday,
November
15th
(Kindergarten and First Grades), and Friday,
November 16th (Second, and Third Grades).
The cafeteria is requesting notification by
Friday, November 2nd if you are planning on
coming to breakfast.
After breakfast, parents, grandparents, or an
adult from the child’s family will have an
opportunity to visit classrooms. You can sign
up for this at your parent/teacher conference.
Classrooms will be open for visits from 8:45
AM – 2:30 PM. We ask that younger brothers
and sisters not be brought into the classrooms
during the visits. Please register in the main
office prior to visiting the classrooms.
Please do not send your child to school before
8:05 am unless they are going to breakfast which
starts at 7:45 am. There are many children here
at school before 8:00 am unsupervised because
the staff is not here. The teachers come on duty
at 8:05 am. I am very concerned about your
child’s safety.
A NOTE FROM THE
SCHOOL NURSE

While we value
student attendance,
we also strive to keep
our students healthy.
If your child should
come to you with the following
symptoms please keep them home:
Vomiting, Diarrhea, Fever (greater than
100*)
Children should be kept home for 24
hours AFTER a fever breaks. If your
child has been started on an antibiotic
prescribed by your physician, 24 hours
after the antibiotic has been started, your
child can return to school.
Medication Policy for Park
Elementary:

If your child is to receive a DAILY
medication, or has an inhaler stored in
the Health room, a written order from
the prescribing physician is required – in
order for the nurse to dispense the med.
Forms are available in the Health room.

If your child needs a medication given
to them on a short term basis (i.e. an
antibiotic) a parent or guardian will need
to bring the medication to the Health
room. The medication needs to be in its
ORIGINAL packaging.

Please refer to the policy in your child’s
planner.
WRITING ACADEMY
The elementary schools
have implemented the
Writing Academy program to teach students
about the domains of writing and how to be
better writers. The students do not do much
writing the first marking period so the students
may not have writing grades on their report
cards the first marking period.
STUDENT COUNCIL CORNER
SPIRIT DAYS:
Friday, November 9th
Veteran’s Day (Sunday the
11th)- wear Red, White, and
Blue to School
Wednesday, November 28th
o Slipper Day (bring shoes for
recess)
o
EVENTS:
Wednesday, November 14th thru Friday,
November 16th
o Canned Food Drive: for every
2 cans you bring, you can pick a
lollipop for a chance to win
other prizes!
SPOTLIGHT ON SECOND
GRADE
We have been busy so
far this year in second grade! Here are some of
the things we have been working on:
In math we are reviewing facts and
problem solving strategies that the students
learned last year in first grade and we are
learning how to put labels on word problems.
We are also focusing on learning our even and
odd numbers and identifying, creating, and
extending patterns.
In reading we have been working on lots
of skills such as predicting, identifying the main
idea and details of a story, identifying the
sequence of a story (what happened first, next
and last), text features, and comprehension
strategies. We are practicing short vowels, long
vowels, consonant blends, inflected endings, and
consonant digraphs using our spelling words,
vocabulary and other text.
In writing we have been working on
having nice handwriting and correctly forming
our uppercase and lowercase letters. We are
working on correct capitalization, punctuation,
writing in complete sentences, adding lots of
details to make our writing more interesting, and
using good vocabulary. We practice some type
of writing daily, whether it is sentences,
paragraphs or short stories.
We are working on developing good
study habits to be more successful in the
classroom. We encourage you to support your
children at home by completing homework on
time and by reading daily with them.
Developing good habits now will help your child
be more successful in the future.
OCTOBER STUDENTS OF THE MONTH
Virtue – Self-Control
Kindergarten
Brielle Jones
Clara Vazquez
Briann Billings
April Yingst
First Grade
Carly Vanburen
Xavier Jones
Kahlan Rodriguez
Quincy Stewart
Second Grade
Izzabella Hershey
Thomas Beshara
Kristina Lopez
Third Grade
Layette Melo
Jeffrey Segarra
Douglas Sumpman
Courtney Wilson
Joel Ober
Fourth Grade
Haillie Settle
Alyssa Wiker
Fifth Grade
Khloe Brotzman
Megan Betteley
Eileen Irizarry
Sixth Grade
Enyer Diaz-Paniagua
Etsub Tolossa
Devinee Tucker
BOARD STUDENTS OF
THE MONTH FOR
OCTOBER
The following elementary students were honored
by the Board of Education at the October 18
meeting.
Mr. Carlisle - Brianna Geiger
Mrs. Hoffman - Quentin Brubaker
Mrs. Wright - Haide Sorial
Saturday, November 10, at 10 AM: Saturday
Morning Story Time – “Meet Virginia Lee
Burton”
Monday, November 12, at 1 PM: Stories and
Crafts with Mrs. K: “Lars the Little Polar Bear”
costume character. Polar bear stories and craft.
Tuesday, November 13, at 6:30 PM:
“Community Conversations”, sponsored by Live
Well Lancaster County. Call 717-544-3779 to
register.
Wednesday, November 14, at 6:30 PM:
“Community Conversations”, sponsored by Live
Well Lancaster County. Call 717-544-3779 to
register.
Thursday, November 15, at 1 PM: Benny the
Reading Education Assistance Rottweiler’s
Birthday Party
COLUMBIA PUBLIC LIBRARY
Columbia Public Library Calendar of Events –
November 2012
All Events are Free of Charge!
Saturday, November 3, at 10 AM: Saturday
Morning Story Time – “Meet Mo Willems”
Friday, November 16, at 10 AM: “Medicare
Basics” with Highmark. Please call 1-800-3504135 to register!
Saturday, November 17, at 10 AM: Saturday
Morning Story Time – “Meet Kevin Henkes”
Monday, November 19, at 1 PM: Stories and
Crafts with Mrs. K: “It’s Turkey Time”
Monday, November 5, at 1 PM: Stories and
Crafts with Mrs. K: “Whooo, Me? Let’s Learn
About Owls”
Wednesday, November 21, at 6 PM: Family
Film Night – “Cinderella”
Tuesday, November 6: Election Day. Don’t
forget to vote!
Thursday, November 22 through Saturday,
November 24 – Library Closed. HAPPY
THANKSGIVING!
Wednesday, November 7, at 6 PM: Family Film
Night – “Mary Poppins”
Thursday, November 8, at 11 AM: “The History
of Folding Fans” with Mrs. Vera Albert
Thursday, November 8, at 7 PM: Columbia
Public Library Board of Directors meeting. The
public is welcome.
Monday, November 26, at 1 PM: Stories and
Crafts with Mrs. K – “Native American Lore”
Wednesday, November 30, at 6 PM: Family
Film Night – “Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs”
Happy Thanksgiving!