Issue: #7
November 2, 2015

This Week:

Thursday, Nov. 5: Picture Re-Take Day

 

From the Office
Updates from the Thornton Creek Office
by Jenny Evans - jevans@seattleschools.org
 
Is your child being left before or after school with no supervision?
Parents are reminded students are required to have adult supervision before 9:15 and after 3:40!  School staff are not on duty and students should NOT be left unattended at school when school staff are not on duty.  This is a safety issue and parents must be responsible and make plans for their children's supervision.

Please have all children keep a change of clothes at school!
Even our 5th graders get wet outside at times. We cannot keep clothing on hand to change all students so please help your children stay dry by keeping a spare change of clothes on hand for them in their lockers or cubbies. 
 
Lost and Found... follow the dragon's tail!            
Some of you know we changed the location of lost and found to the west hallway. Find the dragon's tail on the wall outside the gym and it will point you in the right direction.  Very small items are in the main office. 
November Lunch Menu
 
November lunch menu is here
From Your School Nurse
A Healthy Community - The Challenge
byJudy Underhill - jmunderhill@seattleschools.org
Thornton Creek School Nurse, Mondays and Thursdays

At this time of year, staying well can be a challenge - especially with over 400 students, staff and families sharing common spaces and resources at Thornton Creek As we're getting reports of students and staff who are sick, it is a reminder to all of us to stay home when we're too sick for school.

STAY HOME...
  • For fever - 100 degrees and greater - stay home until fever-free for 24 hours without medication;
  • For sore throat - especially with fever or swollen glands in the neck, stay home for 24 hours after receiving appropriate treatment;
  • For vomiting/diarrhea - 2 or more times in 24 hours - stay home for 24 hours after last time they vomited or had diarrhea.
Thanks for your cooperation in  working together to stay healthy as a community.
From the Library
Global Reading Challenge Comes to Thornton Creek!
by Ginny Allemann - vaallemann@seattleschools.org

After more than six years on the waiting list for the Seattle Public Library-sponsored Global Reading Challenge (GRC), Thornton Creek's time has come!

What is it? 
Each year, public elementary school 4th and 5th graders work with teacher librarians and parent volunteers to form teams. The teams read up to 10 books, selected by librarians. (Copies of the books are provided to the school libraries). After several months of preparation (November-January), the teams compete in a quiz-show style contest at their school. Winning teams advance to compete with teams from other schools across the city. The program ends with an All-City Final that takes place at the downtown Central Library.

Goals
Among the goals of the GRC are to motivate children to read, encourage reading for retention, increase teamwork and cooperative thinking skills, and have fun. 

Details
We can have up to six teams in our inaugural year. Each team can have up to seven students (4th and 5th grade only). This is a voluntary activity and students will meet at lunch meetings once a week in November and December and more frequently in January to prepare. The questions in GRC are "point to-" type questions. That is, the answer must be found in the text (not inference questions). Teams will be built with input from teachers and students.

Call for Volunteers - you don't have to be a 4th or 5th grade parent!
2 volunteers to work with groups of students, to quiz them, read the book with them and prepare them for the school tournament and beyond. These two volunteers will "manage" up to two teams (we won't know how many teams we have until we see how many kids sign up). 

10 volunteers. Each volunteer will read one of the 10 titles and prepare a two-page study guide with questions/answers and page numbers of where answers are found. These volunteers are needed primarily in January to work intensively with each team on that particular book. 

Please contact Ginny Allemann (teacher-librarian) if you have questions or would like to help make this event a great success! 
From Site Council
Site Council
by Stacy Earlywine - stacy.earlywine@gmail.com
Site Council Chair

November Site Council meeting coming up!  
Nov 10th at 7:00 pm.  Come see what our busy committees have been up to!  
Agenda to be published in next week's newsletter.

A big thank you to our Landscaping Committee Chair Greg Williams who rallied this great crew and spent last Saturday cleaning up/weeding the front of the school. 

We appreciate your efforts!
Parent Group Fundraising
Read-A-Thon Update
by Stacy Earlywine - stacy.earlywine@gmail.com
Site Council Chair

You've heard whisperings of a Read-A-Thon but you want to know more!  I know, me too!  Our fearless event chairs, Deb Glazer and Erin Nelson have encountered a few unexpected scheduling challenges and are working hard to line up schedules, dates and stars.  Do not fear... our Read-A-Thon IS still happening and as soon as we know more, we will pass it on to you.  

At this time, I anticipate the fundraiser will begin sometime in early November.  And just to keep you excited... here's a sneak preview:  the event will begin with an all school assembly featuring a dramatic read-a-loud involving two beloved characters - Elephant and Piggie - by two beloved teachers. You'll have to check back to find out the rest.  

Stay tuned and thank you for your patience.
From the Scrip table
by Leslie Cary - scrip@thorntoncreek.org

Are you planning to buy some winter coats or other cold weather gear for your family? If you shop at REI or Lands End, you can pay with a scrip card, and a percentage of your purchase (8% or 14%, respectively) will come back to the school! Stop by the scrip table today to pick up cards for these and other retailers (new starting this week: Lands End and Amazon).

Volunteers still needed! Working at the scrip table once a week (before or after school) is a great way to get in your volunteer hours and be connected to the school community. Currently the table is staffed Mon afternoons, Fri mornings and afternoons, and by appointment.

There are hundreds of scrip retailers available online! Sign up for an account today, and you'll receive email notifications before the next school order (you can avoid shipping fees). Sign up at scripzone.com and use our school group ID: 206TCPG.

If you would like more information about volunteering or purchasing scrip cards, please contact Leslie Cary at scrip@thorntoncreek.org.
From the Parents
Pies for Teachers
by Lisa Skylynd - skylynd@nurturingknowledge.com

Pies for Teachers has become a fall tradition at Thornton Creek.  Please join us in celebrating our teachers and school staff by contributing a pie (or two)!  On Friday, November 20st, each teacher will get to select his/her pie choice from the contributions we receive from families so we can send them into the Thanksgiving holiday with lots of love.  We need 80+ pies (or other desserts) to make sure everyone has something special to take home.  Please sign-up on our Sign-up Genius poll so we can make sure we have a nice variety and enough quantity.  Although everyone appreciates a homemade pie/dessert, store purchases are fine, too.  Bring your pie to school on Friday morning (Nov 21st) before school.  Please include a note so teachers can thank you, too.  Thank you for supporting our school staff and an early Happy Thanksgiving!   
  
Lisa Skylynd, Amy Roberts, Heather Sorenson, Polk Prud'homme
TC Hospitality Committee
Looking for Yearbook Volunteers
by Anna Farr - yearbook@thorntoncreek.org

The yearbook is looking for a few volunteers who can take pictures of classes, events and teams and volunteers who are able to do some organization and editing.  Many classes have sent out notices asking parents not to share photos of anyone other than their children, but the yearbook and the slideshow run photos based on who has a signed form on file, so please share your photos with yearbook@thorntoncreek.org, or there won't be one.

Yearbook needs photographers for: Harvest Fest, Instrumental Music, Field Day, Athletic Skills Night, Cover Art, Book Character Day, Archery, Talent Night, Makeup photos of new students, staff photos and additional classroom photos.

Yearbook also needs volunteers who can: crop, color correct and mosaic the student artwork for the cover; gather photos for each class; track down 5th grade baby photos and age progression photos.

If you can help out email Anna Farr at yearbook@thorntoncreek.org

Also, feel free to only run yearbook notices for 1 week. Later in the year when I'm in full nag mode I'll just send an update if it needs to run for more than a week. Thanks, Anna
District Approved Communications to Families
Please Note: Information below is not specifically endorsed by the school, nor have they been vetted by school staff.
Advertising Review/Approval Process

Per Seattle Public School Board Policy, outside materials must be approved before being distributed. The materials must meet district criteria, be approved by the Office of Public Affairs, and must be pre-printed and delivered to the school with the approval form attached.

 

You can find details regarding the review/approval process here. All requests to include information in the Thornton Creek Newsletter should be submitted via this process. 

The Roosevelt High School Jazz Band performs the Jazz Nutcracker on December 5th & 6th

The Roosevelt Jazz Band is one of the few bands in the United States to have the score for Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn's 1960's take on Tchaikovksy's Nutcracker.  Ellington reworked Tchaikovsky's tunes into swinging versions; 'Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy' becomes 'Sugar Rum Cherry' and 'Arabian Dance' is now 'Arabesque Cookie.' The Roosevelt Jazz Boosters' presentation of Ellington's Jazz Nutcracker is a treat for the whole family.

Performances are scheduled for Saturday, December 5th at 7:30pm andSunday, December 6th at 2:00 pm.  For more information and to purchase tickets, click here or call 206-201-1650.
Free Afterschool Music Program
by Amanda Thornwell - thornewell@hotmail.com
 
Mr. Smith, the orchestra teacher at Eckstein Middle School, runs a FREE after-school music program for the elementary school kids in the Eckstein school area. If your child has at least one year of string instrument, please consider joining this program.   Students meet on Thursdays from 4:00-5:00 p.m. in the Eckstein orchestra room.   Students in this program have the option of  performing in the Spring concert with the middle school students. First meeting starts on Thursday 10/29. Contact Amanda if you would like more info.
TC Logo Medium7711 43rd Ave NE
Seattle, WA 98115

TEL: 206-252-5300
FAX: 206-252-5301
In This Issue
From the Office
From Your Nurse
From the Library
From Site Council
Read-A-Thon Update
Scrip
Pies for Teachers
Article Headline
calendar icon
CALENDAR 

The 2015-16 Seattle Schools Calendar (in PDF format) can be found here.   
 
Thornton Creek calendar can be found here

November 5
Picture Re-Take Day

November 9
Parent Education Night - Helping Kids Deal with Disappointment
  
November 10
Site Council Meeting (7-9pm)
  
November 11
No School - Veteran's Day
  
November 23-25
No School - Parent-Teacher Conferences
 
November 26-27
No School - Thanksgiving holiday

December 4-7
Fall Book Fair

December 8
Site Council Meeting

December 11
Winter Bazaar

December 21-January 1
Winter Break 

Quick Links

 
  
  
  
The Source Children's
Library accounts
Thornton Creek is a Box Tops for Education School

 

Thornton Creek Elementary is a Box Tops for Education school! Look for pink Box Top coupons on products you have at home (e.g. Cascadian Farm cereal), then just clip and drop them in the collection basket just inside the front door of the school. For coupon information, go to:  

www.boxtops4education.com 

Say Thank you

We have a tradition at our school of saying "thank you." If you would like to submit a thank-you note, send an email to ae2newseditor@gmail.com or  click here.

Thanks to Amanda Thornewell for her amazing time and effort with the Bike Fairy and Bike-to-School program.  Amanda is a tireless advocate for our kids biking and we all benefit from it. 
Thank you Amanda!
Catherine Reidy Liermann
NEWSLETTER SUBMISSIONS
Do you have an article or Bulletin Board item you would like to submit to the newsletter?

Click here for submission guidelines. Click here to send your article to the editors. Content is due Thursday for the following Monday's edition.