| Principal's Update |
 After the Fun alas, DC CAS Testing
Murch has been buzzing with the many exciting activities that took place in the last few weeks. We are still saying our thank-yous to the many, many parents who organized, attended, and contributed to the Murch auction. We are more grateful for your support than we can ever say. What's more, we are still aglow from the excitement of the Lip Sync concert and seeing all those talented students (and teachers!) "sing" and dance their hearts out. Our hats are off to staff organizers Lauren Miller and Sabrina Finberg.
It may seem too early to bring up the state testing that will take place in April, but there are some changes of which parents should be aware. The 2010 DC CAS will be administered across the city according to the schedule below. For security reasons, all schools will now administer the same sections of the test on the same day, and testing will begin in schools each day at 9:30 a.m. Please help us by not scheduling any doctor's visits or other appointments on testing days. Students cannot study for the DC CAS. This test is an assessment of how well they have learned the DC learning standards that have been taught to them since last April. However, parents can support their children's success by making certain they are well-rested, have eaten a good breakfast, and are in school on time the day of each test. We have every confidence that Murch students will continue to perform well on this high-stakes assessment, just as they have in past years.
Tue, April 20 Grades 3-5 Reading Sections 1 & 2
Wed, April 21 Grades 3-5 Reading Sections 3 & 4 Thurs, April 22, Grades 3-5 Math Sections 1 & 2
Fri, April 23 Grades 3-5 Math Sections 3 & 4
Tue, April 27 Grade 4 Composition Sections 1 & 2
Wed, April 28 Grade 5 Science Sections 1, 2 & 3
As we get closer to spring break, it is imperative becomes for parents who have not returned their letter of intent for next year to do so as soon as possible. With more than 650 students on the waiting list for Murch next year, we need to know which of our current students are returning to us next year.
Enjoy the spring weather!
--Dawn Ellis, principal
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| HSA Update |
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Hail Ye, Comet! Plus, A Record Auction and New Flea Market
We would like to reiterate our gratitude to Karissa Kovner and her team for the spring auction on March 6. From the debut of a mini-auction online as a "warm-up" event to the addition of an after-party at Café Deluxe, their innovations raised what was already a high bar even higher. Not only was this the most successful auction financially, but it was also a very fun party. It was wonderful seeing so many of you come out to support Murch. It took a village to make the auction happen -- and we thank you all.
The first Murch Monday at Comet Ping Pong is April 5, which happens to be the last day of Spring Break. Yes, there really is no school that Monday, and meeting up with your Murch friends at Comet will be a great way to end the break with a bang. Not only do Murch families receive a 10% discount on food but you'll also be helping our school as Comet will donate 10% of all purchases back to Murch.
Coming up on Saturday, May 8, we are having a Flea Market and Plant Sale to replace the rummage sale of years' past. Please contact Jennifer Landry-Jackson, Deborah Crouch, or Alison Howard if you would like to help out. More details on the way...
Find out more about the HSA here. |
| Student Life |
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Lip Sync Acts Rock the House
The second annual Lip Sync show was held Thursday and Friday nights, March 11 and 12, in the gym. There were lots of different genres of music. There were songs from musicals, rock songs, and more.
I interviewed some of the performers. First graders Eilythia Penati, Lyna Davidson, Madeline Conway, Emily York, Zara Kovner, Sabina Lordan, and Stella Schwartzman performed "Do-Re-Mi" from the musical "The Sound of Music." Zara said, "Our group all saw the 'Sound of Music,' so we choose the song 'Doe, a Deer.'" Zara and her group were proud of their performance.
 Everybody in the crowd seemed to enjoy all of the performances. The teachers' song, "Walking on Sunshine," was a really big hit. One third grader commented, "Their costumes matched their song, and it looked like they worked really, really hard on it."
Money from the tickets from the show went to two good causes. One of them was the Murch Student Council. The other was a charity called Save the Children that the Student Council picked for Haiti relief.
The show was a big success. If you weren't here this year, hopefully you will be there next year.
--Julia Arnsberger, 3rd grade
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Parent Survey
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Murch Strategic Planning
Taking Murch to the Next Level
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We need to hear from you!
Click the link below to take a short survey seeking your views on your child's education at Murch.
Link to Parent Survey
Whether or not you attended one of the recent Parent/Staff Forums, this survey will tell us what matters most to you. Your response is completely anonymous.
The survey will be open until Sunday, March 21, but don't wait... Take a quick moment right now to share your views. | |
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Click here for more LSRT strategic planning details | |
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| Dispatches |
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Let the Good Times Roll!
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On February 16, the first day back to school after Murch's "snowcation," many classes were celebrating belated Valentine's Day parties, but in two classrooms the parties had a second theme -- Mardi Gras, also known as Carnival or Fat Tuesday.
Luckily for those two classes -- Ms. Martell-Stevenson's and Ms. Bogan's -- there was a New Orleans connection. Harry and Holden Scharpf's family had just spent a long weekend in their mother's hometown of New Orleans and brought back beads thrown from Carnival parade floats, Mardi Gras music, and King Cake to share. In the traditional King Cake, enjoyed in New Orleans starting on Kings' Day (January 6, the twelfth Day of Christmas) through Mardi Gras Day, a tiny plastic baby is hidden. Whoever gets the baby in his or her piece is crowned king or queen for the day.
Ms. Bogan's class crowned Queen Eva Flaherty and King Eric Feng. In Ms. Martell-Stevenson's class, the king and queen were Jonah Winchell and Grace Stohr. Harry and Holden's mother came in to talk about the traditions and festivities surrounding King Cake and Mardi Gras. "I was especially impressed that many fourth graders wore their New Orleans Saints jerseys and t-shirts in support of the American Mardi Gras city and our awesome Superbowl-winning team," said Mrs. Scharpf, who also spread some cheer in the front office with a big bag of Mardi Gras beads for Ms. Ellis and the administrative staff. As they say in New Orleans, "Laissez les bons temps rouler!" Let the good times roll!
See more class dispatches here |
Q & A
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And the Murch Mystery Teacher is...
Ms. Bergin!
Several students guessed Ms. Cresswell, but only Langley Custer from Ms. Mathur's class emailed in the correct answer.
 Getting to Know Ms. Bergin
Did you know that we have a teacher at Murch who is an aquatic goddess? A competitive swimmer most of her life, first-grade teacher Kathleen Bergin even held the record for the 200-meter backstroke at Catholic University. Here, the DC native tells us the many ways she stays in perpetual motion.
First things first: where are you from?
I grew up in College Park, Maryland, and have lived in Glover Park, DC, since college. My grandmother grew up in Mount Pleasant.
When did you come to Murch?
Six years ago as a special-education teacher. I taught special education for three years, and this is my third year teaching first grade.
Was teaching your first love?
Actually, I love to swim and was a lifeguard, swim coach, and swim lesson instructor before I started teaching. I still love to swim and enjoy teaching swimming lessons in the summer. I started swimming on a summer swim team when I was four and then swam year round by eighth grade. At Catholic University, while on the swim team, I studied social work. Then I got my masters in early childhood education from George Washington University.
Why did you decide to become a teacher instead of going into social work?
My dad was a professor at American University, so I had always thought about the teaching profession. After college, I took some time to travel and planned to get a job as a social worker in the fall. Through a friend, I ended up getting a job as a teaching assistant at a school and loved it. I knew then that I wanted to get my masters in education and teach.
What has been your most memorable classroom moment?
My first year teaching first grade, there was a huge jumping bug in the classroom. The kids started screaming; so I had all of them sit down and went over to take care of the bug. However, I am petrified of bugs so when it jumped, I screamed. One of the first graders ended up rescuing me from the bug. The next day, writers' workshop was full of stories about me jumping and screaming.
What has been your greatest challenge as a teacher?
Meeting the needs of all the students in the class.
What makes your teaching style unique?
There is a lot of movement in my classroom. We warm up every morning with a few minutes of dancing before starting morning meeting. We also do different exercises during the day to keep us energized. Then we have a few minutes of quiet time every day when the students can choose a quiet activity to do alone. The students love this time, and it helps us start off the afternoon in a calm way.
What enhancements or curriculum would you like to see at Murch?
I would love to have more assemblies and performances.
Besides swimming in your spare time, what other hobbies do you have? I have been volunteering at a camp for children with HIV since I was in college. My brother helped start the camp, my dad is the tennis instructor, and I run canoeing. Really Awesome Times, Inc. runs the camp, and I joined the board of directors two years ago. It has been amazing to watch kids that I met when they were in kindergarten graduate from high school and attend college themselves! That is cool.
You really are always in motion!
It's true. I also love to travel. I take trips every chance I get. I spent the last two summers visiting Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines. I love spending time outside and have taken trips out West the last two years to ski and, of course, still spend any free time I have in the summer at the beach or the pool.
Finally, how would you finish this sentence: "If I weren't a teacher, I'd be a...."
...beach bum!
Interviewed by Donna LaPorte Scharpf
Check out the Staff Page for more interviews with teachers |
| Auction |
Thank you very much to everyone who donated, attended, volunteered, contributed, or otherwise supported the Murch 2010 "Bring on the Blue" Auction last weekend. On behalf of the entire auction committee, I sincerely thank you for making Saturday evening so lovely, fun, and successful. Everyone seemed to have a good time and, although we don't have final totals, I think we clearly met our goals. Thank you all for your tremendous generosity and support...read more
--Karissa Kovner, Chair Murch Auction Committee |
Student Live
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Hot Lunch Freshens Up
Murch students who get hot lunch have been seeing more variety on their trays lately. In January, the food supplier for DCPS started serving "fresh-cooked" food at Murch. The revamped menu is part of a District-wide program designed to improve the quality of the food for the students, says Curtis Trent, a Chartwells/Thompson employee assigned to our school.
Chartwells/Thompson always had fresh pears, apples, oranges, and other fruit. Now, instead of having one option of food to pick from as the main course, they offer two, so if a student is allergic to one option, they can eat the other. "It is a different type of food altogether," Trent says.
The menu is based on the food pyramid created by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Murch gets its food from Wilson High School, which is located a few blocks away. Kitchen employees at Wilson "prep" most of the food because the kitchen at Murch is tiny. It has a convection oven, a freezer, a refrigerator, and a sink.
Sometimes Trent cooks the food in the small kitchen next to the teacher's lounge at Murch. For example, he cooks burgers in the oven and adds cheese, he says.
Surprisingly, a lot of the kids at Murch like tuna, Trent reports. They also love pizza. Trent says that an average of 135 people each day get hot lunch at Murch, but when he serves pizza the number can be as high as 160 students eating lunch. Any leftover food just goes into the trash.
Now that Murch has two options for lunch, most students think that the food is more interesting. Curtis has noticed that the kids are more excited about the food, he said.
Phoebe Long-Sires, Murch second grader, says that she likes the popcorn chicken the best. "The food tastes the same, but it is much fresher. Only two things come in a container, the applesauce and the fruit cup. The rest of the food comes on a tray with spaces. We throw the containers and the tray away," Long-Sires adds.
--Meghan Dayton, 3rd grade; photos by Tim Berger, 3rd grade |
Field Trip
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Third Graders "Tourmobile" the Mall
The third grade classes went on a Tourmobile to explore some of the DC monuments on Feb. 24. First, we were picked up by a school bus at Murch. The bus dropped us off at the Tourmobile stop on the National Mall. We took a guided tour and then we got to go inside the Jefferson Memorial, which is located at the Tidal Basin. We saw a statue of Thomas Jefferson standing on a pedestal. He looked enormous! We took a bathroom break after that. Who knew the Jefferson Memorial had a bathroom in it!
 Next stop was the Lincoln Memorial, where we had lunch. We all had the same food: an apple, a hotdog, potato chips, and a bottle of water. Then we went in the Tourmobile a little more. Our last stop was to see the FDR Memorial. All of the teachers said many times that we were not allowed to play on the statues. We obeyed. We went back into the Tourmobile and were dropped off at the Van Ness Metro station. That was really fun. We got off and walked back to Murch. It was a great day and a great tour!
-- Sophie McInerney, 3rd grade
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Performance
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Fifth Grade's "Jubilee"
 Just as wintery blasts were turning into winter blahs, Murch fifth graders took to the stage to perform "Jubilee," a play with music about the Harlem Renaissance that tied in with their social studies unit. Created and written by Murch's music teacher, Anne Smith, and told through the eyes of a young reporter, "Jubilee" captures the people, the fun, the music, and the dances of the age as characters parade across the stage. Third and fourth graders watched with pleasure as incredible fifth-grade actors, dancers, singers, and musicians brought this rich and vibrant period in American history to life.
--Vicki Otten, fifth-grade teacher |
Class Visit
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| Thomas Friedman Coaches
Third-Grade Essayists
 On March 2, Thomas L. Friedman visited Ms. Friedman's third-grade classroom. He's the foreign affairs columnist for The New York Times. Did you know that his book The World Is Flat has been translated into 37 languages? He gave us some writing tips for our persuasive essays and answered questions. He even critiqued some of our writing. "It was awesome," said Lily Forte-Fast.
It's not every day you get a Pulitzer-Prize winner to come in and teach you about persuasive writing! Of course, when your teacher is his daughter, it helps a lot.
-- Adelaide Kaiser, 3rd grade
Check our more class dispatchers here | |
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Share the Murch Mustang Express with your children |
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Lost and Found
Thanks to Miriam Cutelis and Christopher Snipes, all lost and found items can be viewed now online. Click here.
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Bloggers Wanted
We are looking for student bloggers and photographers. Contact
Laura Kaiser and Robin Schepper to join the online team.. |
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International Night Help
International Night is May 13. Parents are needed to help run committees, contact our international parents and embassies, and get volunteers. This will be a night of food, music and cultural education. Contact: Ms. Lipshie |
Ms. Cutelis needs wipes, if you can please send in two boxes of wet wipes with Ms. Cutelis's name on them or deliver them directly to the art room. |
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Murch Mondays
On the first Monday of every month at Comet Ping Pong,
Murch
families receive a 10% discount on food and 10% of all purchases are
donated to Murch. What betterway to give yourself a break, enjoy a fun
night out with a little pizza and ping pong, and help our school at the
same time? See you there! 5037 Connecticut Avenue NW; 202-364-0404.
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Volunteer
On April 3,
Casey Trees and Murch
continue their partnership with a spring tree
planting.
Everyone old enough to hold a shovel is invited to join in the planting and a light
picnic lunch
afterwards. (Lenten and Passover food will be on offer.) Casey will
provide the
trees, shovels, and other tools. All you need to bring: your helping
hands and
maybe a slicker and galoshes, since this event will take place rain or
shine.
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Salute
Snowmaggeddon Shovel Brigade
The snow may be gone but let's still tip our ski caps to the many parents, teachers, and staff who helped help shovel the white stuff after the January blizzard. This includes the amazing crew from DCPS maintenance who came and cleared the bluetop and hand-shoveled the soccer field. Principal Ellis said, "The new playground is our facility's crown jewel, and we want to do everything we can to preserve it for our children's enjoyment."
-- Kelly Callahan-Poe
-- Photo by Regina Lewis
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Salute
Count Them In
Vicki Otten, Lauren Miller, and Sabrina Finberg spearheaded the drive that collected more than $3,000 for Haiti. Principal Ellis said that the drive was very successful and "gave our children a real sense of being able to impact others less fortunate." In addition to Vicki, Lauren, and Sabrina, the other teachers who hand counted each nickel and dime for Haiti included Wendy Cresswell and Holly Hope.
-- Kelly Callahan-Poe |
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Guess 
Mystery Teacher Challenge #2
Can you guess the identity of this Murch teacher? Here are some clues...
Before she became a teacher, she was one of the first female pizza delivery people for Dominos.
Among her many talents, she is double jointed all over her body.
During her time at Murch, five years, she says her best Halloween costume has been Tacky the Penguin.
She was once arrested by storm troopers - in a Star Wars "fan film" called "Revelations."
Who is she? Email your answers here.
--Adelaide Kaiser, 3rd grade
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Student Council
March 8, 2010 Minutes
We reviewed last meeting's minutes, then began discussing the upcoming Lip Sync show. We had many things to work out, such as volunteers, donations, tickets, and advertising. Half of the money we raise will be donated to Help Murch Help Haiti. Finally, we made Lip Sync posters and hung them around the school. We hope to see many of you at the concerts this Thursday and Friday night!
Our next Student Council meeting will take place on Monday, March 22.
--Justin Atwood, secretary
Find more about the Student Council here. |
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Please make sure to return the Safe Route Survey sent home in Friday Folders last week |
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Shop for Murch
Check out all the ways you can raise money for Murch while doing your regular shopping.
Click here for details |
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School Store Hours
3:30 - 4 pm
in the gym
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Stay Connected |
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Join the HSA Classifieds Yahoo! Group &
Click here to find out more ways tp stay connected |
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Make-Up Dates
for Snow Days |
Full days of school:
Additional school days:
Summer school starts Monday, June 28
More at DCPS calendar |
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Publishing Schedule
The Murch Mustang Express's next issues will be April 16
and 30. |
| Got News? Comments? Contact us |
Copy deadline: Tuesdays at noon.
Editors: Laura Kaiser, Robin Schepper, Stefanie Berger, Mike Heffner
Contributors: Julia Arnsberger, Justin Atwood, Tim Berger, Kelly Callahan-Poe, Meghan Dayton, Adelaide Kaiser, Regina Lewis, Sophie McInerney, Donna LaPorte Scharpf, Vikki Otten | |
