Dragon Tales: ISD News - Friday, November 14, 2014

The Newsletter of the International School at Dundee

Friday, November 14, 2014

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Nov. 17

Adv. Band (Gr. 5)

7:55am

Chorus Part 1

7:55am

General Membership PTA Meeting w/Guest Speaker Phil Dunn

@ ISD Media Center 6:00pm

Adv. Orchestra

7:45am

Chorus Part 2

7:55am

Personal Safety

8:45am - 4D

9:30am - 4W

10:00am - 4M

BOE Meeting
@ ISD Café

7:00pm

ESOL

Thanksgiving Celebration

9:30am - 10:30am

Nov. 24

Adv. Band (Gr. 5)

7:55am

Chorus ALL

7:55am

Adv. Orchestra

7:45am

Early Release

1:15pm

HAPPY
THANKSGIVING!!

Schools

Closed

A Message from the Principal ~

Dear ISD Parents,

I hope your children shared details with you about our annual Veteran's Day Ceremony. It was a warm and heartfelt event and I felt our students learned a lot about the meaning and significance of this special day. We had many more Veterans attend this year, which was wonderful and the "intimate reception" afterwards, with our fourth graders resulted in greater understanding by our students of the courage our Veterans demonstrated when serving our country. Thank you to all the Veterans who attended and to those who reached out to friends and family members.

The marking period closes today, Nov. 14th and teachers will soon be completing report cards on each of the students. Report cards will be shared at your respective parent/teacher conference which you should have signed up for at Open House. The two afternoons dedicated to conferences, after the students are dismissed at 1:15, are Thurs., Dec. 4th and Tues., Dec. 9th. Also, some of you may have made an evening appointment for Thurs., Dec. 11th.

The report card key uses a one through five number scale. A "three" (3), indicates the student "Meets Expectations" on a given standard. As I read each report card, I see mostly threes with some "fours" (4), which means the student is meeting most objectives representing that standard but exceeding some as well. I do see some "twos" (2), which require extra effort between home and school and certainly the student to bring about more progress. I see very few "fives" (5) and conversely, few "ones" (1). Parents of students receiving ones would have been communicated with by the teacher, prior to the conference, that their child is experiencing difficulty.

There is a PTA meeting on Tuesday evening, Nov. 18th, with special guest speaker, Mr. Phil Dunn, Chief Information Officer for the school district. His topic is Digital Learning. Our school is scheduled to implement Phase Three during the `15-`16 school year so his presentation, which starts at 6:00 pm, is especially timely. I hope you can make it.

Thank you to Angie Hartofilis and Ursula Howard-Sneyd for co-chairing the social event this past Saturday evening. It was a huge success and everyone who attended had a great time.

Sincerely,

Terry Ricci

ISD GENERAL MEMBERSHIP PTA MEETING NOVEMBER 18

ISD PTA General Membership Meeting

Tuesday, November 18

6 pm, ISD Media Center

Special Guest Speaker - Mr. Phil Dunn

Chief Information Officer, Greenwich Public Schools

Please join us for a Digital Learning Update from the Chief Information Officer of Greenwich Public Schools, Mr. Phil Dunn. We are thrilled that Mr. Dunn will be able to present on a variety of topics including, but not limited to:

District Goals
District Updates on

Infrastructure
Student Devices
Applications
Classroom use
Professional Development

Digital Citizenship

Please let us know if you would like Mr. Dunn to address additional topics or questions related to the Digital Learning Plan in Greenwich by emailing isdpta.ct@gmail.com.

We look forward to seeing you on the 18^th!

Those requiring special accommodations to attend this meeting should contact Kitsy Scott either by phone at (203) 637-3800, by email kitsy_scott@greenwich.k12.ct.us or in person at 55 Florence Road, Riverside CT at least 72 hours prior to the meeting.

ISD BOOK FAIR DECEMBER 10 & 11

Two, Four, Six, Eight

The Book Fair is coming

So SAVE the Date!

The ISD Book Fair Committee is getting ready to stack the shelves for this year's Book Fair that will take place on Wednesday, December 10th and Thursday, December 11th. The fair will be held in the ISD Gymnasium, and will include an early morning opening and a late day closing time to accommodate as many parents' schedules as possible.

More details will be provided over the next few weeks, as well as class schedules. If you would like to volunteer to help with set up, fair hours, and break down, please use the sign up link below to view and choose a time that works for you. We appreciate all of your help and support! Sign up here

If you have any questions, please email Kimberly Thomas.

Looking forward to the next chapter!!!
The Book Fair Committee

LOOKING FOR FOCUS GROUP VOLUNTEERS

The Greenwich Public Schools Administration and Board of Education are seeking elementary school parent volunteers for focus group on Wednesday, December 3 from 9:00 to 10:30 am.

Please click here to view a letter sent from Dr. McKersie to all parents in the district.

Interested parents must submit name, contact information (phone and email address) and school name(s) to the attention of Donna Thibault at donna_thibault@greenwich.k12.ct.us no later than Wednesday, November 19.

If the number of volunteers exceeds the capacity of the focus group (12-15), volunteers will be randomly selected.

PARENT SOCIAL THANK YOU

Angie and Ursula would like to THANK everyone who attended the Parents Social this past Saturday night! You all created the most fantastic atmosphere with your 80's energy and costumes! We are also grateful to all of those who could not attend the event but still contributed to it either by their donations, support, or man power.

THANK YOU all so much for making it such a memorable evening.

DO YOU SHOP AMAZON? OF COURSE YOU DO...

The ISD PTA is proud to introduce a NEW fundraising program from Amazon!

Amazon's School Rewards Program contributes up to 10% of every purchase made at Amazon to the ISD PTA. It is very simple: when you buy at Amazon, please do it via the below link, and at no extra cost you will help ISD!

Click Here then bookmark the page and use it every time you shop.

Money raised will help fund PTA-sponsored enrichment programs and special events including author visits, High Touch/High Tech Classroom Enrichment Programs, Math Night, Science Night, Monster Mash, Movie Night, and much more.

Thank you for your support.

RECYCLING IN THE CAFE

earth recycle

Streamline recycling has been introduced to the Greenwich Public Schools as a way to reduce, reuse and recycle both at lunchtime and in the classrooms.

When the children follow the proper recycling guidelines waste can be greatly reduced. Volunteers are needed to help teach the children how to make this recycling program a success.

Please click here for volunteer lunch positions to help make this program a success!

AFTERS END DATES

Monday - 11/17

Pop Golf

Kids in the Kichen (3rd-5th grade)

Tuesday - 11/18

Morning Mini Sports

Yoga (1st & 2nd graders)

Kids in the Kitchen (1st, 2nd, & 3rd graders)

Flag Football

Chess

Wednesday - 11/19

Sparky's Fall Naturalists

Kids in Clay (3rd-5th grade)

Thursday - 11/20

LEGO Robotics

Friday - 11/21

Mine Craft

ARTSONIA

Dear Parents:

What is the best gift to give and receive? Items that trigger a special memory. You can find many of these right on our artsonia.com website made from art your child has produced during her/his ISD years. When you log on to Artsonia, please make comments, or have your child create an artist statement on his/her own work, join our fan clubs and ENJOY this terrific website celebrating our fantastic ISD artists. Twenty percent of your purchases goes back to our own ISD PTA.

Go to artsonia.com, click on "Location." Type in 06878 and click on the International School at Dundee. You may email me for your child's security key -- and please register to make comments and join the fan clubs.

Best Wishes,

Melissa Verdier, Art Teacher

Above Picture, 4th Grade "My Most Fun Day," Below pictures 2nd Grade "After Joan Miró," and 1st grade "Winter's Here."

FLUORIDE RINSE VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

flouride volunteer

We are still looking for Parent Volunteers to help with the fluoride rinse program. Please contact the school Dental Hygienist, Jeannie Schnakenberg @ (203) 622-3779 if you have a small amount of time on just a couple of Wednesday mornings that you could spare to help with the program.

Thank you!

COMMUNITY EVENTS

November 16

Third Sunday Nature Play Day

@ Garden Education Center

Adventure hunt will be all about compost! Click here for flyer.

For more information please contact Deanna Novak, youth.director@gecgreenwich.org

November 29

Turkey Trot 2014

Arch Street Teen Center
100 Arch Street

9:30/10am

Registration is open for the 4th Annual Greenwich Alliance for Education 5K & 1 Mile Fun Run/Walk.