Berthoud Eagle

Principal to Parent
Dear Families,

February 2013

At the end of this month we will begin testing our third grade students with the reading TCAP and in March we will test 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students in reading, math and writing (3rd grade will be just math and writing, and science for 5th only). It is so important for students to show what they know on these assessments as many kinds of decisions about programming, interventions, curriculum and even funding and accreditation depend on each of us doing our best. For more information you can access the website: http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdeassess/parents_guide.html This month we have a couple of important opportunities for our families. First, on February 11th the Berthoud Feeder System (all four Berthoud Schools) will meet for a joint SAC (School Advisory Committee) meeting at Berthoud High School. Each year we learn much from each other and enjoy great open dialog. We will meet in the BHS library from 4:15-5:30. The second opportunity will be a community forum on safety here at Berthoud elementary on February 19th. Dr. Sheer, our new superintendant, Rick Frei, our district safety officer, and Mike Jones, our assistant superintendant of operations will be sharing what is in place and what is coming around school safety. We will meet in our gym at 6:00PM. I hope you will be able to join us for one or both of these gatherings. Berthoud schools have a wonderful partner in the Berthoud Education Foundation! This not for profit group does an outstanding job raising funds for our schools through a super fun event called the Berthoud Bash. This year it will be held on March 23, 2013 you can find a save the date flier near the end of this newsletter. Each year they host a dinner at the Embassy Suites that includes a silent and live auction. It is a great time for the adults to socialize and support our schools in a very generous way. Classrooms and students have benefitted from Promethean boards, iPads, our subscription to Accelerated Reader (AR), after school clubs and many more items and services that would not be possible without the extra funds. Please find a copy of the calendar for 2013-2014 on our website and the end of this newsletter, to aid in planning family vacations during the set vacation days. It looks like we will also continue the two testing days at the beginning of the new school year, and in April/May. Mrs. LoJeske After-School Clubs Please remind your students when they have a club and be sure to tell them the plans for getting home after! We will announce the clubs each day over the intercom to remind students to attend. Students will be released in to the front hall at the end of clubs at 4:50p, so please be there to pick them up if that is the transportation plan! Also make sure siblings know how they are to get home after school when another sibling is in club. Remember the office staff leaves at 4p and there will not be anyone to answer the phones after that so it is crucial that the students know the plan for getting home safely. Thank you and we look forward to another successful year of fun and bonding with our students during Clubs! . Healthy Tip No obstacle: For some fun exercise, help your child build an obstacle course. Use empty cereal boxes to scoot around, a table to crawl under, a large cardboard box to wiggle through, and a pile of pillows to dive into. Just be sure to create obstacles for your child to go over, under, through and around.

Brought to you by Nutrition Nuggets 2007 Resources for Education, a division of Aspen Publishers, Inc.

Parent/Teacher Conferences Conferences will be held in the evenings in February. Wednesday the 6th 2:30p-6:30p, Thursday the 7th 4:00p-6:00p, Tuesday the 12th 4:00p-6:00p and Wednesday the 13th 2:30p-6:30p. This is a great time to communicate about student progress and expectations for our third trimester. Transitional Colorado Assessment Program (TCAP) Our third, fourth and fifth grade students will be tested in reading, writing and math, and fifth grade will also be tested in science. The testing window will be from March 11th through March 29th. Third grade will also be testing in Reading February 27th and February 28th. As you can see, it will be a very busy time and we appreciate your efforts to schedule any appointments or trips outside of the testing time. Spirit Days Our Spirit Day this month will be on Friday the 8th when we wear neon colors!

Milk Caps Thank you for bringing in your Morning Fresh Dairy caps, the school has raised $100 in proceeds far this year!

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Box Tops Update Great job, everyone! On January 7, 2013, we received a check from Box Tops For Education for $1,113.80. We can use this money to buy whatever our school needs. This year we plan to help with additional classroom materials. Our goal for the year is $2,000.00, so were doing great! Keep the Box Tops coming in as we will be submitting again March 1st and receive a second check in April. Many thanks to all who are participating. Together were ensuring our kids success! Look for the Box Tops collection worksheet at the end of this Newsletter to print. Remember to send all clipped Box Tops and finished collection sheets back to school in your child's folder or drop them off in the VITAL Room. Thank you for all your support with earning money for our school! Jessica Mazzei & Melissa Tychsen
Summer Bridge Workbooks We will have order forms available at conferences for parents who would like to purchase Summer Bridge workbooks. These are a wonderful tool to help students work on their math and writing skills during the summer break.

How About This Weather! Wow!! We have had quite variable weather this winter! Please make certain that your child/children dress appropriately for the changing temperatures and snow. We want students to be able to go outside, as the weather permits, but they must be dressed warmly enough for them to be safe and comfortable. Reporting Absences Just a reminder to call our attendance line 613-7590 to report your childs absence. You can call this number to leave a message any time during the day or night. We need a message each day that your child is out and the reason for the absence. Also, if your child will be tardy and would like a hot lunch, please call and leave a message on the attendance line before 9:00am. Thank you!! District Spelling Bee Berthoud Elementary will be represented on February 2, 2013 at the Thompson School District Elementary Bee by the following students: Adrian Reghitto, Gunnar Hudson, Calli Taylor, Saquora Glasser, Ellie Yuska, Jeromiah Lewis, Alana Hymel, Chloe Lowery, Issy Condon, Sierra Wallace, Taylor Whittet, Sarah Kouns, and Emily Cavey. They earned the highest scores on a written test in order to qualify and will complete a 50 words written test to begin the bee. Those who qualify will move on to an oral round later that morning. The Bee will be held at Walt Clark Middle School.

Thank You Thank you to Battle of the Books for sponsoring our Family Movie Night in January. Many thanks, to Steve Schmidt for setting up the movie screen and audio/video equipment for movie night. Library News I would like to encourage all students to enter a haiku poem to be considered for publication in the Young American Poetry Digest. Use this link, youngpoets.org, for entry guidelines and submission form. Please print and fill out the submission form, attach it to your childs poetry and send to the library by Monday, March 11. Good Luck and Happy Writing! ~ Mrs. Kouns

The Scholastic Book Fair Story Laboratory: Reading Gives You Super Power!

We invite you to visit our Scholastic Book Fair and experience a celebration of reading that provides families the opportunity to get involved in a universal mission: encouraging kids to read every day so they can lead better lives. Our Scholastic Book Fair theme Story Laboratory: Reading Gives You Super Power! is part of an incredible energy source for reading that brings to school a wonderful selection of fun, engaging, and affordable books kids want to read. Giving kids access to good books and the opportunity to choose their own books will motivate them to read more. And like most acquired skills, the more kids practice reading, the better theyll get. Reading is vital to every childs success, and raising kids as readers means getting involved while theyre young. Now is the time. Since there will never be a substitute for a parents direct involvement in his/her childs education, please make plans to visit our Book Fair. Hope to see you there! Book fair hours are: Feb 6 2p-7p Feb 7 3p-7p Feb 12 8a-7p Feb 13 2p-7p If youre all booked up during Book Fair week (or just want to keep shopping), be sure to visit the Book Fair online at http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/homepage/berthoudelementary The online Book Fair is available for an extended time from 1/31to 2/20. Find an expanded selection of books for the whole familypreschool to adults. Share your Book Fair with family and friends by sending wish lists or eCards. All orders ship to school for FREE and each purchase benefits our school Any questions please contact Suzy Bullett at 978 337 2515 or Kari Holden at 970 990 1831
Memory Book Orders Information on Memory Book pre-orders will be coming home with your child this month. Keep your eyes open for a flyer to order early to save money! The Memory Book committee is also looking for ads for this years memory book. The cost is $25 for a business card size ad (personal or business). If you have any photos you want to share (with the exception of Fall Carnival and Field Day - we have plenty of those), please contact Julie Bunch at bunchmania@gmail.com or 532-1082. Messages for Students Families may not be aware of how many phone calls occur each afternoon to convey messages to students. As we do not have a receptionist, our secretary and health aide find themselves taking between 15 and 20 phone calls each afternoon. These calls then require a trip to classrooms or an interruption over the intercom which takes them away from the front office duties (which are extensive) or away from children in the health office. Understandably, there are emergency situations that do require students to be given alternate information, but overall these calls are not of that nature. Please keep in mind that arranging end of day plans before school is the best plan and allowing students the responsibility of remembering these plans without additional prompts gives them confidence in their own abilities.

Student Safety We take the safety of our students very seriously and consider this an area of constant focus. Please remember to check in with the front office if you are going to be in the building. To walk the hallways you must have a visitor's name tag or your volunteer badge on. You must do this during all school times, even if you just want to pop in to a teachers class at the end of the day and go through the building, you will need a name tag. Also, the parking lot can be congested during drop off and pick up times and we ask that you please follow the one way signs and the cones when entering and exiting. We do have a large parking lot and it is a much safer choice to park there and walk to meet your child than to park across Bunyan and call your child over through bus lanes and two lanes of traffic. Children need to stay with their parents while being picked up and dropped off so that they are supervised and remain safe. Thank you for helping us keep the school a safe place for all!

Schools On The Move Challenge The School on the Move Challenge logs will come home with your children. The challenge starts February 1st and ends on the 28th, just one month this year. Students and staff need to complete the form and have it returned back to school no later than March 5, 2012 to receive prizes. For participation alone you just have to complete one check, answer all questions on the back, and have a parent signature. We recommend that you sign the parent signature portion first thing! Anyone who returns and has filled in 25 boxes or more on the challenge will receive a Schools on the Move T-shirt. New this year, families can participate as well, they can go online to print off a form and return it with their students for a T-Shirt with qualifying checks, see Rule #4 on the log! Classes that have 100% participation will be eligible for an extra Physical Education time. If you have any questions, please contact our PE teacher, Tim Jones at 613-6289.

The Jog-a-thon is Coming! The Jog-a-thon is coming again to Berthoud Elementary! This is one of our main fundraisers and is unique because it not only raises money, but it teaches our students to value health and fitness. Physical activity has been shown to improve academic performance in students and helps to prevent childhood obesity. Instead of selling unhealthy treats, we will have our students run or walk laps and have a blast while raising funds for their school. Parents are welcome and encouraged to watch or participate with their children. Each student and teacher will get a Jog-a-thon t-shirt for free. In addition, a variety of prizes will be provided for any student who brings in pledges, classes that run the most laps and students that run the most laps in each grade. Stay tuned for specific times and dates for each grade, we are looking at April again! Thank you for supporting the Berthoud Elementary Jog-a-thon! PTA News Voting for new office members will be done in March, if anyone is interested in running please contact Dawn Williams at 532-3695. A huge Thank you to our PTA for supporting so many classroom needs including more iPads, classroom supplies, pencil sharpeners, fans, Activotes for the Promethean boards to name just a few of the wonderful ways PTA impacts our students! VITAL News All volunteer hours, including home hours, need to be turned in by the end of February so we can get our 100 hour pins completed. Reminder to Room Moms/Parents: Valentines Day parties are approaching fast! Parents are providing a main meal on Wednesday February the 6th for conferences and snacks on Thursday February 7th. If you have any questions or want to participate please contact Toni Cox at 532-4123.

Monthly Glance February 1 6 7 8 12 12-14 13 14 18 19 21 26 27-28 5th Grade going to Turner Middle School Parent Teacher Conferences in the evening Parent Teacher Conferences in the evening Spirit Day; Neon Colors! Parent Teacher Conferences in the evening Scholastic Book Fair Parent Teacher Conferences in the evening Valentine's Day Parties the last hour of the day (with exception of 1st grade at 1:45-2:45) No School; Presidents Day 4:00p SAAC Meeting Class pictures 6:30 1st Grade Showcase; 7:30 2nd Grade Showcase 3RD Grade Reading TCAP