UPCOMING EVENTS
Friday, Oct. 5
Loyalty Card Sign-ups due
5:30-8 p.m. Pizza Bingo
Monday, Oct. 8
9:30 - 11:30 a.m. & 1:45 - 2:30 p.m. School Open House
Friday, Oct. 12
Mixed Bag Fundraiser Ends
Sunday, Oct. 14
5-9 p.m. Restaurant Night at Sugo
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HELPFUL LINKS
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2012-13 PTA Officers and Board of Directors President - Eric Williams |
A BIG THANK YOU TO...
- Lisa Bosse for organizing Restaurant Nights for the whole Year. The eNews incorrectly noted Maria Doyle for Restaurant Night.
- Maria Doyle for organizing the Lego after-school class.
- Jimmy Bosse for volunteering to be the parent participating in the LEGO class each week. If he had not volunteered, the class was in jeopardy.
- Maria Doyle and Jeannie Glasser for organizing Pizza Bingo.
- Jennifer Young and Ms. Zagarra for organizing the school directory and to all parents who provided their information. A print copy of the directory should be coming home for each family in backpacks toward the end of October.
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Loyalty Card Programs
Loyalty Card Sign-ups due on 10/5. Win a Ice Pop party for your child's class. Contact Steve Schuck for more info.
School ID: 58180
(school 6557768)
(school 7852)
(school 00762 Rockville)
(school 219478)
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Pizza Bingo is Tonight!
We hope you can bring your whole family out for a night of fun, food and games. Pizza bingo is tonight from 5:30-8 p.m. in the Trumpet Room at St. Raphael's Catholic Church (across the street). We will have pizza, snacks, sundaes, great bingo prizes and a raffle. If you haven't volunteered to help please sign up now. Start your weekend off with a fun-filled family night. We will see you there!
We are selling reusable bags of all sizes, shapes, colors/patterns and for multiple purposes. They are fashionable, economical, environmentally-friendly, and profits from the sales go directly back to the PTA for the benefit of our kids! Catalogs came home with your children so you can start selling right away. The sale only runs 10/1 through 10/12 so please don't procrastinate. There will be a pizza party for the class that sells the most. See flyer for more details or visit www.mixedbagdesigns.com. Co-Chairs: Julie Baron and Lisa Bosse.
Membership & Halloween Party Fund
If you have not yet sent in your PTA membership form, please remember to do so. Also, with the classroom Halloween parties fast approaching, the form is also where you can send in your $10 (per child) for your student's classroom party and $10 (per child) for holiday staff gift. This is a one time collection that we are doing for the parties and for the staff and you do not need to be a PTA member to send in this contribution. If you have already joined the PTA and have already sent in money for the classroom/holiday staff gift -- a HUGE thank you to you! Contact Marquette Heaven if you have questions. Register Now for After-School Classes Beginner and Intermediate FLES Spanish: Please visit www.biglearning.org to register. Spanish classes are scheduled to be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays directly after school. The PTA is currently seeking a Coordinator for these classes. Please consider serving in this position if you are planning to enroll your child in one of these courses. As Coordinator you will get a 50% break on tuition. If you are interested, please contact Joanne Faulkner.Chess Club Does your child enjoy the "smart fun" of chess? Chess Club is coming to RPES on Fridays from 3:10-4:10 p.m.; October 12 - December 14. All equipment will be provided. Children must be registered in order to attend chess club. Register on-line at www.silverknightschess.com. Please contact Tonya Greenspan with any additional questions.
Our Condolences to the Wylie Family
We have sad news to share. Mr. David Wylie, the father of a fourth grade student at Ritchie Park, died suddenly of an illness. The PTA is reaching out to the fourth grade families to help support the Wylie family in their time of need.We hope that we can provide some assistance to the family by purchasing grocery and restaurant gift certificates. If you are not a fourth grade family, but would still like to donate, the family would certainly appreciate it.If you would like to make a donation, please put cash or checks in an envelope addressed to "PTA - Wylie Family collection". Checks may be made out to "Ritchie Park PTA". We ask that donations be sent to school by Thursday, October 18, 2012. Please do not hesitate to contact Mrs. Capoccia with questions.
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MARK YOUR CALENDARS
School Open House
On Monday, Oct. 8 from 9:30-11:30 a.m. and 1:45-2:30 p.m., parents are welcome to come visit their children at school. Stay as long as you like but please be quiet and do not disturb the class. Younger siblings are not allowed.
October Restaurant Night at Sugo in Park Potomac
We are doing something a little different this time. Treat your family to dinner at the new restaurant Sugo in Park Potomac on Sunday night, October 14 from 5-9 p.m. Mention you are from Ritchie Park. The food is italian-small plates, pizza and salads. Very tasty and fun! Eat well and benefit RPES at the same time!
Halloween Skate Night at Cabin John Ice Rink
Saturday, Oct 27, from 6:30-8 p.m.
Please join us for Ritchie Park's annual Skate Night sponsored by the PTA!This year's theme is Halloween. Come out in your spookiest skate-safe costume and join the other ghosts, ghouls and goblins for a "spirited" evening! The Fifth grade promotion team is taking pre-orders for pizza and drinks. Skate tickets and food must be purchased in advance so send in the Skate Night Reservation Flyer to make your Halloween Skate Night reservations. For more information, contact Janice Woo.
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WAYS TO VOLUNTEER
The Instrumental Music students at Ritchie Park need your help! Once again we are in need of instruments for students to borrow for the year. Do you have a long forgotten instrument taking up space in your attic or basement? Are you finally willing to part with that flute that you haven't played since you were in 5th grade? Please consider donating your instrument, music stand, or accessories to the Instrumental Music program at Ritchie Park. All instrument donations are tax deductible. We are in need of the following instruments: flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, baritone, violin and cello. Please contact Mrs. Kanowith if you would like to make a donation. The future musicians of Ritchie Park thank you!
Special Education Liaison: this person works within the school community to serve as a resource to parents, caregivers and school staff members by serving on the MCCPTA special education subcommittee, helping parents understand the Special Education Process, and helping to facilitate family-school communication. If anyone is interested or would like more information, please contact MCCPTA Delegate Jennifer Young.
Programs needs (Contact Joanne Faulkner for more info):
- Kindergarten Orientation Chair
- FLES Spanish/French Coordinator
Fundraising needs (Contact Kara Hall for more info):
- Co-chair for corporate donations
- Loyalty cards program co-chair
Submit Your Aug. & Sept. Volunteer Hours
This is just a gentle reminder, please submit your volunteered hours for August and September to Teresa Williams by October 8 if you have not been using the Volunteer Log Book. You can contact her at etk2williams@gmail.com.
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FUNDRAISING FORUM
Stock up on Spirit Wear!! Ritchie Park Spirit Wear will be sold at Pizza Bingo Night on October 5. Purchasing Spirit Wear at PTA events is the easiest and quickest way to get it, so come prepared to make your purchase and show your school pride! You can also fill out an order form and send it to school.
 BOX TOPS Help RPES Raise Needed Funds
1) We collect Box Top Rectangles ALL school year plus summer.
2) Visit boxtops4education.com for more information on products etc.
3) Major collection efforts will be in month of October and February because deadlines are on Oct. 31 and Feb. 28. The school receives payment checks twice a year.
4) Boxtops are collected in classrooms. Send them to school in a baggie or envelope.
Thanks to all !!
The Box Top Lady
P.S. Please keep my identity as Roxana Hall (mother of Mia and Eric) a secret to the kids. They enjoy the "mystery"!!
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ADVOCACY CORNERMCCPTA Updates: At its September meeting, MCCPTA anounced the Montgomery County PTAs and PTSAs who were recognized by Maryland PTA AND MCCPTA for membership achievement in 2011-2012. Congratulations to Ritchie Park PTA and its membership chair, Marquette Heaven, for winning a Bronze "Grow It" award for increasing PTA membership by 5% last year. Let's do even better this year! Also, two critical resolutions were introduced at the meeting: the draft MCCPTA Operating Budget priorities resolution and the draft MCCPTA Capital Improvements Program (CIP) Budget priorities resolution; these are posted at www.mccpta.com under the Issues tab. We are looking for your feedback on these resolutions which will guide how MCCPTA and your RM Cluster Coordinators represent the interests of Ritchie Park in discussions with MCPS and the County Council on the FY2014 Operating Budget and CIP Budget. Please provide any comments to your MCCPTA Delegates, Jennifer Young or Richard Hart (contact information on sidebar).
Opportunity for Comment: The Montgomery County Board of Education has requested community comment regarding its Policy JPD, Emergency Care for Students Experiencing Anaphylaxis. This policy authorizes the school nurse and other school personnel to administer auto-injectable epinephrine to a student who is determined to be or perceived to be in anaphylaxis, regardless of whether the student has been identified as having an anaphylactic allergy or has a prescription for epinephrine from an authorized licensed health care practitioner. A copy of the draft policy, Policy JPD, Emergency Care for Students Experiencing Anaphylaxis is available through the Department of Public Information and Web Services by calling 301-279-3391. You also can access the policy online. Individuals who wish to provide comments should respond in writing by October 15, 2012 to the Office of the Superintendent of Schools, 850 Hungerford Drive, Room 122, Rockville, Maryland 20850 or sent by email to the Board of Education at boe@mcpsmd.org. All responses will be shared with the Board of Education and the Superintendent of Schools.
Technology
In the last PTA newsletter, we shared with you the exciting news that the Board of Education reviewed and approved a technology proposal to have every school in the county outfitted with wireless networks and supply all elementary schools with interactive whiteboards (Prometheans) in every classroom by the start of the next school year. Now there is a need for families in the Ritchie Park community who are interested in seeing this technology proposal come to fruition (hopefully, that is all of you) to contact the Montgomery County Council members NOW. The County Council still has to allocate the funding to make this project happen. You can let them know that, as a family of Ritchie Park ES, a school with no Promethean Boards, you strongly support equity in technology and the Board of Education-approved initiative to put Promethean boards in all elementary classrooms and wireless access in all schools by the opening of the 2013-2014 school year. You can send a short email to county.council@montgomerycountymd.gov which will be seen by all the County Council members, and ask them to vote for the funding to make this technology proposal a reality.
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COMMUNITYDoes you 1st-5th grade boy want to join Cub Scouts? Come learn all about the fun activities and make new friends. Pack 1280 is starting it's new year out with a pack meeting at Locust Grove Nature Center on Saturday, 10/13, from 5-6pm. **Raindate is Monday, 10/15 at Cold Spring School, 7-8pm. For more information please contact Pack Leader Sam Block.
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