| Support Murch |
SOS Campaign Update
30 Days To Go...
October 1 marks the official start of SOS Month. But already close to 40 percent of Murch families have responded to our early appeal. We look forward to hearing from the rest.
To provide the highest quality education possible for our children, the Murch Home and School Association (HSA) will spend $141,800 on additional staff members and educational support. Our goal is to raise the entire amount by the end of October -- and we are almost halfway there.
SOS packets were sent home in your child's backpack last month. If you have misplaced your packet, you can pick up another from the HSA table next to the school library; download a form or pay online. For more information, contact Julie York. |
| School Portraits |
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Picture Day Monday
 Individual school portraits will be taken on Monday, Oct. 5 from 9:15 to 11:45 a.m. and from 1 to 2:30 p.m. The flier/payment envelopes went home last week. Extra forms are available at the HSA table next to the library. You can also pay for your order online at the LifeTouch Web site. If you're wondering what your child should wear or to expect, check out LifeTouch's picture day checklist. For more information, see the Picture Day FAQs on the Murch Web or contact Murch picture chair Trenny Jefferson. |
| Safety |
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Please remember to practice good habits when dropping off and picking up your children. We have created a drop-off area in the no-parking zones on davenport and ellicott Streets, which are marked off by orange cones. Safety patrollers are now on duty to escort your children into the playground. Please keep your children safe by always dropping them off on the curb side of the street and never pulling into or walking in the teachers' parking lot. And always cross at the crosswalks.
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| Save the Date |
Get Ready for the Fall Fair 
Preparations are underway for the Fall Fair, Saturday, October 24, from 12 to 4 p.m. Contact your room parents to sign up for a shift at your class's booth.
Highlights include: Flea Market: Rent a table and turn your junk into cash. Contact Rachel Garrett. Used Book Sale: Children's and adult books will be collected the week of the fair. Please, no magazines, textbooks, or outdated travel or reference books. Contact Sara Kanach. Costume Sale: Pull out the old costumes and other Halloween paraphernalia and donate them to the costume sale. Contact Donna Fabiani or Gayle Hager. Cake Walk and Bake Sale: Donate a cake, pie, a batch of brownies, cookies or other baked goody. Contact Sunsan Zentay and Karen Hahn.
We appreciate your help! -- Michelle Cochran and Kathryn Harllee, Fall Fair co-chairs
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| Book Fair |
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Judy Moody Author Visits Murch
When author Megan McDonald visited our school, it was RAD! (That is, "radical" -- read Judy Moody Goes to College.) Megan McDonald shown left with Book Fair chair Lori Woerhle told us how she gets ideas for books - they sometimes start out on paper napkins. She showed us a giant jawbreaker, which was supposedly the world's largest and is how she came up with Stink and the Incredible Super-Galactic Jawbreaker. Afterward, she gave us a sneak peek of the tenth-year anniversary special edition Judy Moody books.
-- Adelaide Kaiser, 3rd grade
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| Culture Corner |
Creating a Culture of Sketchbook-ing!!
If your child is in grade K through 5, I'm sure by now you have gotten the notice that your child needs to bring in a sketchbook for art. My goal is to create a culture of "sketchbook-ing" at Murch. The sketchbooks will be used for journal writing, scrapbooking, sketching, and much more.
I teach the children that artists are not the only people who carry aroundsketchbooks. Thinkers, architects, designers, writers, and just about anyone who values their own thought process carries some form of sketchbook.
Sketchbook-ing and journal writing teach that all great ideas start inside one of these raggedy notebooks and grow, grow, grow to become complex sets of ideas. I teach the children in class that in our sketchbooks we do not erase. We allow ourselves to make mistakes and learn from them. That way, months from now we can look back and assess our own growth.
-- Miriam Cutelis, art teacher
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| Murch Mustang Express |
Newsletter News
We hope you've been enjoying the Murch Mustang Express. The newsletter is continually evolving and you may have noticed that this week's edition is somewhat shorter than in weeks past. We are experimenting with our production schedule: For the next few weeks you will receive an "Express" version composed of timely announcements and short news items; a longer edition, containing features, additional columns, interviews, and student-written articles will come out the last Friday of the month.
While we don't have an official student newspaper at Murch, the Mustang seeks to cultivate a group of students to report stories and take pictures for the newsletter. There will be an orientation meeting for student staffers at 4 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 5, in Room 207 (following the Student Council meeting). We encourage children in grades 2 through 5 with an interest in writing, journalism, and/or photography to attend. We will brainstorm and assign story ideas. The students will meet once or twice a month with parent volunteers to develop stories. Parent writers, editors, and photographers are also invited to get involved. For more information, contact Laura Kaiser or Catherine Cooney.
As always, we welcome your comments, corrections, and suggestions. - The Editors
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| Got News? Comments? Contact us |
| Copy deadline: Tuesdays at noon.
Editors: Laura Kaiser and Robin Schepper Contributors: Shawn Berger; Michelle Cochran; Miriam Cutelis; Kathryn Harlee; Trenny Jefferson; Adelaide Kaiser; Lori Woerhle; Julie York.
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Share the Mustang Express with your children!
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Reminder
HSA General Meeting
Tuesday,
October 13
7 pm |
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Volunteer
School Picture Day: Volunteers needed from 9 am - 2:30 pm. Contact Trenny Jefferson or call 202-316-0221. Fall Fair Class Booths: Be sure to sign up with your child's room parent for your class booth. |
October is Walk/Bike
to School
Month |
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Events |
Oct 2
Sally Foster orders due
Oct 5
School Picture Day
Oct 5
Student Council Meeting
3:30 - 4 pm
Murch
Mustang
student
reporter Meeting
4 - 4:30 pm
Oct 12
NO SCHOOL
Columbus Day
Oct 13
7 pm: HSA meeting
Oct 13 & 15
3:30 - 5 pm: Boys Basketball tryouts
Oct 14
3:30 - 5 pm:
Girls Basketball
tryouts
Oct 16
8:30 am: Coffee on the Playground
Oct 28
Halloween Parade
Oct. 29
12:15 pm dismissal
Records Day
Oct 30
NO SCHOOL
Professional Development Day
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Join the Murch Basketball Teams
Boys Basketball
Oct 13 & 15, 3:30-5 pm
Girls Basketball
Oct 14, 3:30 - 5 pm
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Shop for Murch
 Sally Foster Orders Due Oct. 2
Time is running out for you to get your Sally Foster and Classic Cookie goodies - all orders are due Friday, Oct. 2. Murch earns up to 50 percent of every order of gift wrap and dough. Student also earn prizes for Sally Foster sales, including Internet orders-so forward this newsletter to out-of-town family and friends! The Murch group account number is 499225. Each online order will be shipped directly to customers. Online shipping fees are nominal, but orders over $70 receive free shipping. Contact Sally Foster chair Chris Mahoney. |
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Contributors Wanted
The Murch Mustang
Express is looking for parents--and students!--to be reporters, editors,
& photographers.
Contact Laura Kaiser or Robin Schepper | |
