School Supplies - Deadline extended until June 16!!!

SOME ITEMS ARE REQUIRED FOR ALL STUDENTS

If you choose to purchase school supplies through the PTO program please follow the ordering instructions. The website is www.SuppliesToPlease.com. Please click here for prices and supply lists. All students are required to have a homework folder. Students in grades 3-5 are required to have an assignment book. These can be purchased as part of the supply pack or separately. You can also order by mailing in the order form.

Scholarships are available through Paula Bleakley, but must be submitted by 6/16.

Questions? Email Christina Ramos or Sue Blenke.

Volunteer for Next Year!

We are looking forward to welcoming all willing helpers: working parents or stay-at-home parents, moms or dads, there is an opportunity for you to be involved and we want to meet and greet you! So fill out your neon yellow card(let us know if you did not receive one) and either stamp it and drop in the mail, or return via the backpack to school. Please note that next year's room parents will be drafted via this card. In the event we receive more volunteers than needed, room parents will be selected by lottery.

Below are positions that need volunteers:

Family Activities (2 Chair Persons Needed):
Plan and execute Holmes School family activities, particularly the highly popular Back to School Picnic and Bingo Nights. Create and distribute event press, recruit volunteers and manage event. Family Activities Chairs work along side the PTO Executive Board and Principal.

Directory Committee, Publisher:

Assemble the directory (content, photos, student data) into booklet form and coordinate with the print shop for distribution at fall open house. This job can be done mostly from home/ office, with help and service from the print shop. Approx time commitment 6-10 hours. MS Publisher or Adobe skills helpful, but not necessary.

Social Media Committee, PTO Blogger:

Responsible for maintaining the Holmes PTO Website, posting announcements and information in a timely manner. These postings will be from the administration and/or the PTO regarding the interests of the Holmes community.

Special Education Representative:

This role is to serve as a conduit of information from their respective constituents (typically parents of the individual schools) to the special education administration and from the special education administration to the parents of the respective schools regarding topics and issues related to special education in Darien.

Time Commitment: Two representatives preferred. Meetings held on a monthly basis during the mid-morning on a weekday to be selected by those on the committee.

Any questions, please contact Jennifer Woodbury at jennifer.woodbury@gmail.com or Jennifer Rideout at jenrideout@gmail.com.

Attention 5th Grade Parents:

MOVING UP CEREMONY

Save the date: Moving Up Ceremony is Monday June 15, 9:30-10:45am. More details about "end of year" events to follow.

Any questions, please contact Deb Wayland @ deb.wayland@gmail.com or Tricia Gallagher @ trishgalla@optonline.net.

6TH GRADE SCHOOL SUPPLIES

School supplies for your incoming 6th grader are now on sale. Ordering your supplies through the MPA saves you time and money while also raising money for our school. New this year, supplies are by grade with input from each department thereby eliminating multiple Staples visits in that first week of school. To order, go to epipacks.com and enter the code MID003. Orders must be placed by May 22. Questions: contact Theresa Vogt at tcvogt3@gmail.com

MMS INFORMATION BOOK 2015-2016

We are making every effort to validate your family's information for the 2015-16 Information Book (formerly directory) before it goes to print. This information comes directly from what you previously input into ASPEN. Please take a minute and check ASPEN to make sure your families information:

Primary Contact Name (Parents first and last name)

Primary Street Address (Child's home address)

Primary Phone number (home or cell phone number)

Primary email

If parents are living separately please let us know the same information for the secondary Contact.

We will be printing nick names in the Information Book. Please make sure the nickname listed in ASPEN is appropriate and leave it blank if your child does not have a nickname.

Please update ASPEN before June 8th, 2015. You must update your ASPEN account with any changes or your family information will be incorrect in the 2015-16 Information Book.

You may email mmsdirectory1@gmail.com with any special circumstances or concerns. You are the only one who can update your ASPEN account. We cannot change the data for you.

We are also looking for a volunteer to help gather changes, proof the document and coordinate with the printer. If you have any questions or are interested in learning more, please contact Liane Zielinski, lcarita@optonline.net or Elizabeth Fitzpatrick, ebfitzpatrick24@gmail.com or Dawn Edgar, dawnedgar@mac.com..

Darien Library @ Holmes

Darien Librarians will visit Holmes School on May 28th and June 4. During their visits, they will share exclusive details about the Library's Summer Reading program and reveal top-secret summer reading booklists!

In addition the Children's Department at the Darien Library has some great programs happening in May. For information go to http://www.darienlibrary.org/kids

In This Issue

School Supplies

Volunteer for Holmes

5th Grade Parents

Darien Library at Holmes

Calendar of Events

June:

6/8 Author's Tea Bartl 2:15-3PM

6/10 Author's Tea Tate 2:15-3PM

6/11 Author's Tea English 2:15-3PM

6/12 Author's Tea Lambert 9:45am-

10:30am

6/12 Gr 5 Picnic 12:45-2:30PM

6/12 Gr 4 State Extravaganza 9AM-1PM

6/15 Moving Up Ceremony, 9:30-10:45

6/16 Last Day of School for Students

Thank you to everyone who has continued to clip Box Tops to support our school! Please submit all of your Box Tops to your teacher by Friday, June 12th for our last collection this year.

Have a great summer!

There are a limited number of Holmes water bottles and totes available on a first come-first served basis. Please fill out the order form and send it with your payment in your child's backpack asap. Thank you!

Remember that Earth Day is EVERY day. Rethink, Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Any questions, email Susie at flahtsus622@yahoo.com!

THANK YOU!

Please register your card and earn money for Holmes School. It needs to be renewed each year!

Thank You!

When you shop at

Amazon Smile 0.5% of the price will be donated to

Holmes School.

Please register your Target REDcard. You just need to enroll and link your card number to Holmes School.

Community News

Darien Junior Cheerleading League Registration

Registration in underway for the new Darien Junior Cheerleading League(DJCL) Fall season. The date to register before the fees increase has been extended to June 7th. The fee for the Fall program is $250 if you register by June 7th. To register visit www.djfl.org. The registration fee increases to $300 beginning June 8th and registration closes August 1st. There will be an informational meeting about the program held on Tuesday June 9th beginning at 6:30 pm in the DHS cafeteria. Uniform fitting/sizing for those registered will be held immediately following the meeting. Preseason practices will be held during the week of August 24th on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 6:00-7:00 pm (location TBD). Practices during the season will be held on Fridays (exact time and location TBD). During the Fall season, cheerleaders will cheer for DJFL teams at home games held on Saturdays at the DHS stadium. DJCL is also looking for parent coaches and managers. If interested or if you have any questions, contact DJCL at darienjuniorcheer@gmail.com

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A New Book is at the Woodland Park Book Walk!

We hope you enjoyed the first one, come check out the second. Start at the Middlesex parking lot entrance and follow the White Trail and read Heckedy Peg along the way. Make sure you sign the guest book at the end. Book Walk ends July 3.

Hi! My name is Drake Corrigan, and I am a junior at DHS. I am a Boy Scout from Troop 186. I have been working hard to become an Eagle Scout, and am close to the finishing my Eagle project. What I have chosen to do for my project is a "Book Walk" to take place in Woodland Park. I will install posts along a trail in the park and attach a page from a picture book to each post, so as you walk through the trail, you can read the whole story.

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Family Concert Series

The Youth Commission is pleased to announce its Family Concert Series once again at Weed Beach in June! Scheduled to take place at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday's:

June 3 - "Annie & the Natural Wonder Band";
June 10 - DHS Jazz Band;
June 17 - Lou del Bianco;
June 24 - Tom Weber

(The cost to attend concerts is $4.00 per person; $10 per vehicle per concert.)

On the 24th, the concert will be preceded by the 9th annual Sand Castle Building Contest! Co-sponsored by TD Bank, the contest is free and begins @ 4:00 p.m. Following the concert, the Youth Commission/Parks & Recreation Department will be sponsoring their annual movie at the Beach. The feature film this year is TBD. Showtime is dusk (@ 8:30 p.m.). Uncle's by the Shore will be open for dinner, however there will be NO lifeguards on duty, so swimming will be at your own risk. For additional information, call the Youth Commission at 656-7388. Or, visit www.darienct.gov/yc and down load the full concert schedule there!

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YW Offering Children's Art Workshop this Summer

The YW will offer art workshops during the following weeks this summer: June 22-25, June 29 - July 2, and August 3 - 6. Workshops are open to children ages 5 through 10 and will be taught by Rowana Shepard. Art projects will focus on utilizing used, re-used, and recycled materials. Space is limited and registration is required. Visit ywcadariennorwalk.org for further details.

Submission Guidelines:

Please send your submission in the text of your e-mail, single spaced and left adjusted, with "HTH Submission" in the subject line to holmes2home@gmail.com.

Make sure you include a contact name and email or website in the text of your submission for questions.

We do not accept files or formatted text.

Please limit your submission to one paragraph. All text may be edited. Submission does not guarantee publication.

Community submissions must be local, 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organizations and parent or child-related. We will not include advertisements for businesses. Submissions will run for two weeks.

The deadline for submission is Monday by 4pm; H2H is normally distributed on Wednesdays.

For recently distributed newsletters please visit our archive.

Holmes to Home / Holmes School / Darien, Connecticut 06820 / (203) 353-4371