Issue: #28
April 25, 2016
This Week:
Mon., April 25: Expedition Series Film Screening
Fri., April 29: Poem in Your Pocket Day
From Your Principal
Thornton Creek Parents
by John Miner - jminer@seattleschools.org
 
As we settle into spring, staff is thinking about the packing of their classroom that needs to happen between now and the end of the school year. Teachers will be contacting you to ask for help and set up packing parties to box and store classroom items for the summer.  We deeply appreciate any help you are able to provide with this task.  It will likely take a village. Thank you in advance.
 
Interviewing potential new hires             
 
Staff will be busy this spring with interviewing applicants for open positions. There seems to have been some confusion about the number of new preschools programs opening next year at Thornton Creek. We will have two new preschool programs - one special education pre-K offering a half day AM or PM session. The second preschool program is the Seattle Preschool Program (SPP) offering a full day pre-K program. Staff and parents will be interviewing for the following positions: 1.0   Kindergarten, 0.4 first grade job share, 0.5 PE,  0.6 Resource room, 1.0 special ed. pre-K, 1.0 SPP pre-K.
From The Office
School Choice Assignment

Open Enrollment for School Choice for the 2016-17 school year was February 17 to March 1, 2016. 


Late choice applications will be accepted until May 31, 2016, but will not receive priority tiebreakers. 

 

The results of Open Enrollment will be: 

  • Available online April 15 with Assignment Lookup Tool
  • Sent out by mail to students granted new assignment in late April 2016
Please visit our registration webpage for more information.
Lunch time 100 patriotic
April Lunch Menu
by Jennifer Evans -  jevans@seattleschools.org 

April lunch menu here

From the Library
Friday April 29 : Poem in Your Pocket Day
by Virginia Allemann -vaallemann@seattleschools.org

April is Poetry Month! Celebrate with a Poem in Your Pocket on Friday, April 29. The Academy of American Poets explains: "Every April, on Poem in Your Pocket Day, people celebrate by selecting a poem, carrying it with them, and sharing it with others throughout the day at schools, bookstores, libraries, parks, workplaces, and on Twitter using the hashtag #pocketpoem."

Help your student select or write their own poem to share this Friday!

Soda Float Celebration - a sweet success!
Students in grades 4 and 5 who read at least 12 of 20 chapter books nominated for the Sasquatch Young Readers Award and the Young Readers Choice Award received certificates commemorating their achievement as well as yummy Fanta or Root Bear ice cream soda floats last Friday. I'm very proud of all the kids! Look for the 2017 list to come soon for next year's 4th and 5th graders.
Dress as a Book Character Day is May 18th
by Virginia Allemann - vaallemann@seattleschools.org

This is a school tradition during the Spring Book Fair and is a chance to celebrate the books and book characters we know and love. Kids and teachers celebrate reading and literature by dressing up as a favorite character.

Children can use adult help in organizing the details of an outfit. Please note that this is not a Halloween-type costume. You should not have to go out and buy a bunch of stuff...be creative! Be flexible! Think about different books and the important characters in those books. What do they wear? What do they carry with them? Do they have an accompanying animal? Then think, what do we have around the house to create the outfit?

I have dressed up as Wilbur from Charlotte's Web. How? Pink pants ($3 at Goodwill), pink sweatshirt, a pink cap on which I taped a sign reading "Some Pig!" I taped a black plastic spider (Charlotte) to my shoulder and, voila, Wilbur! Everyone recognized me right away. What other pig characters can you think of? (Mercy Watson, Piggy from Gerald and Piggy, 3 Little Pigs, and so on.) There are also many websites devoted to sharing ideas.

In short, this does not have to be expensive but, by talking and brainstorming with your child about some book characters, and by looking around your home for the various stuff you have lying around or can borrow, you can come up with a clever and cute costume. I tell the kids that it's more fun if people RECOGNIZE which character you are. You might want to carry a copy of the book around! Fairy tale characters are great, but we discourage movie characters that have been written into books.

Thank you so much for your support of our library and this event. Please email me if you have any questions!
Spring Book Fair: May 16-19
by Kaori Tanaka - tanaka.kaori@gmail.com
The Spring Book Fair is May 16 - 19. It is held here at the school in the Mary Cooper Library with books from the Secret Garden Book Shop, an independent book store and long-time supporter of school libraries. Typically, 25% of sales goes towards our library. A significant portion of funds for new materials comes from the Spring and Fall Book Fairs.

The Spring Book Fair is open 9:00-9:30 and 3:40-4:40 for sales. The Fair is open for browsing during lunch and recesses, but no sales will be transacted during school hours. The Fair will also be open Thursday night, May 19, before and during Athletic Skills & Art Show Night.

Volunteer Opportunity
Please consider volunteering for an hour or two May 16-19. You can write receipts, make change, straighten displays, help children find prices and write wish lists, and check out all the new books! Go to www.SignUpGenius.com/go/508044DAEAC2CA75-spring to sign up.
From the Art Studio
News from the Art Studio
by Maria Callahan - mlcallahan@seattleschools.org

I want to say a huge thank you to all those parents who helped create our auction art this year! Parents put in hours and hours of time to make those beautiful pieces. To all those who worked on auction art, I know how hard you worked and I am very grateful to you. All the pieces were gorgeous!

We have a wonderful traveling exhibit from the Junior League of Seattle at our school right now! It will leave on Thursday and will have been with us for 10 days. This is a terrific opportunity for our students to see some museum works up close. All grade levels have had great discussions thus far. The art pieces are by Northwest artists. We have focused on a piece of photography by Spike Mafford and a painting/drawing by Fay Jones. Be sure to enjoy the pieces as you walk through our halls this week.

The piece by Fay Jones has helped us to highlight an idea. Images in works can be, or look, like more than one thing. We read the book Duck, Rabbit to illustrate this very point. Now we have an art room joke; if it looks like more than one thing we call it a 'duck/rabbit'. Ms. Jones also creates her pieces with little to no plan in mind. The children had an eager response to this, with lots of wiggling hands in agreement. So we all set down to do a piece, using oil pastels and paint and no plan. This lead us to talk about how you choose a color; does it sing to you or just feel right? We also discussed whether our images were representational, or designs, or a mixture of the two.

Our entire room right now is full of clay pieces. We have clay animals from the Lewis and Clark trail, clay ravens, clay birds and clay tile hearts. Our plan is to display these at our all school art show. So... mark your calendars for Art and Athletic Skills Night on Thursday, May 19th.

Third graders are working on some beautiful weavings right now. I asked them what they enjoy about weaving. There were comments about relaxation, the calming rhythm, getting to use lots of colors, the satisfying feeling of the yarn, and just feeling like you are good at doing it. I love doing weaving the kids for all these reasons and all the problems solving situations that arise. Tangles yarn and knot tying are good problems to solve.

Some fourth and fifth grade classes are working on flat, articulated puppets or paper mache  hand puppets. Mark and Steve's classes are looking at the work of sculptor Alberto Giacometti. We will be creating our sculptures based on his work.

Students in rooms 3, 6, and 10 are working from a book called My River. We are creating large collages of animals who live in river habitats. And we are singing and laughing often, too.

Come the art studio by anytime!
From Site Council
Site Council April Meeting Minutes
by Stacy Earlywine - stacy.earlywine@gmail.com
Expedition Series Film Screening

Please join us tonight, Monday, April 25 at 7:00 pm in the cafeteria for a special community viewing of the award-winning documentary "Including Samuel."  
 
For our second film in the Site Council Education Series, we explore why inclusion of children with special needs is important, how it impacts all children at our school, and the challenges and benefits of this model at Thornton Creek. Did you know that Thornton Creek is an innovative school that is implementing an inclusive model of education where children with disabilities learn side by side their typically developing peers in the general education classroom? Whether you have a child of with or without disabilities, this model impacts your child, the teacher, the classroom and staffing. 

Childcare is provided and there may be a few last minute childcare spots. Contact Stacy Earlywine (stacy.earlywine@gmail.com ) for childcare.
After School Enrichment
by Susan Rosebrough - susanerosebrough@yahoo.com

The After School Enrichment Program is entering the second week of the Spring quarter.  Here is an at a glance schedule. Parents please remember to remind your children about their classes and pick them up on time!

The schedule for next year will be developed by June, 2016 so we are accepting proposals now! Would you like to teach a class for next year? Please fill out this proposal form.  Or feel free to email this proposal form to class providers that you would like to see at Thornton Creek. 

Also, if you have ideas for classes, fill out the form on this website.

Question, contact Andrea at tcenrichment@gmail.com
From the Parents
Yearbook Last Chance for 5th Grade Baby Photos
by Anna Farr - yearbook@thorntoncreek.org
If you have a 5th grader and have not yet submitted a baby photo for the yearbook or photos for the age progression 5th grade segment of the annual slideshow please email those to me ASAP.  Photos can be jpg, png, RAW, however you have them, but digital is much preferred over scanning and returning photos.  Email photos to  yearbook@thorntoncreek.org or email me to setup photo drop off if you don't have digital copies. We are in the final weeks for creating both the slideshow and are still missing photos for several students.
Bike-to-School Day Wednesday May 4
by Amanda Thornwell - thornewell@hotmail.com
 
Please participate in the 2016 May Bike challenge by riding your bike to school. All riders can get a treat on Wednesday May 4. Come join our popular bike trains on Wednesday May 4 and  Fridays (details below) or just show up.   
 
Last year Thornton Creek school won the Golden Medal award by logging the most minutes in bike riding.  It's time to defend that title.  Pizza party will be awarded to classrooms with most participation. All riders with bike log entries in May will receive a prize. Details coming soon. 

BIKE FRIDAYS:
Join the bike trains for our popular Bike Fridays! Bike trains run regularly every Friday - Parents riders are always welcome.   
  • A map for Thornton Creek bike train route can be found here.
  • North bound route leaves 39th and 55th at Friday April 29th at 9:10 am. 
  • South bound route leaves 89th and 38th  (Our Lady of the Lake playground) between 9 and 9:05 on Fridays. All major hills are gone at this starting point. You can drop off your kids if they can follow direction and don't try anything dangerous.  
Contact Amanda if you have questions or just show up on the route. 
Athletic Skills and Art Night is May 19, 2016!
by Cindy Hazard- crhazard@gmail.com
Please join us for a fun evening of art and athletic presentations. Here is what you need to know to participate in this fun event:

Guidelines for Athletic Skill performers:
  1. A child may perform in a maximum of one act
  2. A performance must last no longer than 1 ½ minutes
  3. Performances should contain appropriate language, no violence or weapons
  4. One copy of the music should be provided to Alan Chitlik at alan@pugetsounddj.com. Please include the song title and artist. Alan usually has access to most songs chosen. Please choose your music as soon as possible. A CD can be given to Sue for practice in the gym during scheduled lunch practices. 
Preparing your Child
Please help your child with his/her routine as soon as possible, he or she may need your coaching at home or during school practices.

Your child's teacher will allow for rehearsal time outside of class and during recess, but otherwise will not work with children on their acts during class time.

Please remind your child to practice during the lunch time practice provided, see below for days available.

It is very important your child be ready with his/her act by dress rehearsal on Wednesday, May 18, 2016 starting right after school. Parents, please arrange transportation and supervision of your child during their dress rehearsal time slot. If you know of any scheduling conflicts, we would like to know about them asap. This helps us prepare a line-up that doesn't have to be revised at the last minute. Thanks!

Behind the scenes opportunities for 4th and 5th graders only

Gym Assistants -moving equipment (mats), microphones, sound equipment. If we have more students than jobs, we will first limit the jobs to 5th graders and then if need be, we will choose from a lottery to fill the jobs available. Gym assistants can be in 1 other act.

Masters of Ceremony (M.C.'s) for 5th graders only
Depending on the number of kids that sign-up, we may have to select by a lottery. M.C.'s can be in 1 other act.

Sign-ups
Sign ups and permission slip acceptance will close April 29, 2016. Please use our NEW online permission form found here: You must submit an ONLINE signed permission slip before you may practice.

Schedule
  • Sign-ups Until till April 29th
  • NEW Lunch Rehearsal schedule:
  • Tuesdays during lunch will be for K-2.
  • Thursdays during lunch will be for 3-5. These are the only days there will be lunch rehearsals so please have your children plan accordingly.
  • Dress Rehearsal is Wednesday May 18, 2016 right after school
  • Athletic Skills Night is Thursday May 19th, 2016 
Any questions? contact Sue Doty, 206-252-5260 or lsdoty@seattleschools.org or Cindy Hazard at crhazard@gmail.com.
Teacher Appreciation Day
by Lisa Skylnd - skylynd@nurturingknowledge.com
Teacher Appreciation Day is coming up on Tuesday, May 3rd!  This year, we are planning to celebrate our teachers all week with treats each day.  Please choose a day and dish that works for you to share with our wonderful teachers and staff at Thornton Creek using our Sign-up Genius poll http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0b4ea5a72ea0f49-teacher/.  

Any snacks or contributions are welcome so feel free to be creative.  We know our teachers appreciate having healthy options and especially enjoy homemade items but bring whatever inspires you on whichever day fits best for you.  We welcome cards and artwork to decorate the table and show you/your child's appreciation.  Thanks, in advance, for your contributions to celebrate our teachers!  
  • Please have dishes ready to serve and eat, labeled so teachers/staff will know what ingredients are included.  We will have some labels available for you to use. 
  • Breakfast items on Tuesday should be delivered to the school staff room by 9:15am.  
  • Lunch items on Thursday should be in the school staff room by 11:45.  
  • Snack items, drinks, and desserts should be brought to staff room by the start of school. 
Lisa Skylynd, Amy Roberts, Polk Pud"homme, Heather Sorenson
Hospitality Committee
Parent Group Fundraising
Boxtops for Education
by Karen Selboe -  kselboe@gmail.com
Thornton Creek is a Boxtops for Education School!  Every year we bring in $200 to $500 in boxtops from families who clip and drop off their pink BoxTops coupons found on food, storage, and office supply packages in your home.  Empty your coupon drawer before the summer break!  Just clip and drop off in the basket near the front door of the school.  Coupon information can be found atBoxTops4Education.com
Next year we need a new family to take over the counting.  It's a super easy volunteer opportunity ... and fun for kids to help with the counting into groups of 50 coupons.  The job goes like this:
  • Pick up coupons from the basket at your convenience
  • Count coupons into groups of 50
  • Mail them once or twice a year to the boxtops company, again at your convenience
  • Boxtops sends a donation check directly to Thornton Creek!

Interested?  Contact Karen at kselboe@gmail.com
Thornton Creek Night at the Mariners
by Erica Lerer  - ericaeirene@yahoo.com
Order by Friday, April 29th!  Join other Thornton Creek families and enjoy the fun of a Mariner's Game! See our school's name on the big screen during the 4th Inning! The Seattle Mariners are contenders for the pennant this season. Hopes are running high! And the first 20,000 fans will take home Kyle Seager Bobble-Heads!  Order forms were sent home before spring break. Extras are available in the office.
  • When: Saturday, May 14, 6:10pm (first pitch)
  • What: Seattle Mariners vs. LA Angels of Anaheim 
  • Cost: $15 each ($3 of the ticket will go to the Thornton Creek Parent Group)
  • Scholarships are available: One ticket per TC student, plus one adult ticket per student
  • Accessible seating within our group is available! And IAs (sponsored by John) will be in attendance so all families are able to attend.
To request scholarship or accessible seating, please make a note on your order form. If you'd like to sit next to friends, no problem, please submit the forms and payment together in one envelope. Ticket order forms are due to the office by 9:30am on Friday, April 29.

Questions? Email room 14 parent, Erica Lerer ericaeirene@yahoo.com.
District Approved Communications to Families
Please Note: Information below is not specifically endorsed by the school, nor have they been vetted by school staff.
Seattle Public Schools Preschool
In Fall 2016, Seattle Public Schools will expand its partnership with the City's voter-approved Seattle Preschool Program. Our school has been selected as a site for a Seattle Preschool Program classroom for the 2016-2017 school year! The classroom will be funded by the Seattle Preschool Program and taught by certificated Seattle Public Schools teachers. Families will be able to enroll their 3 and 4 year olds for a full 6 hour school day and this classroom will operate on the same school-day, school year schedule as the other grades in our building. Tuition is subsidized for families with incomes at or below 300 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. To have your child entered into Round 2 selection, please submit an application form by May 27, 2016 to the City of Seattle. Applications submitted after May 27 will be included in future selection rounds.

Applications can be found here, or for more information call: (206) 386-1050.
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Seattle, WA 98115

TEL: 206-252-5300
FAX: 206-252-5301
In This Issue
From Your Principal
School Choice Assignment
April Lunch Menu
Poem in Your Pocket Day
Dress as a Book Character Day
Spring Book Fair
From the Art Studio
Site Council Meeting Minutes
Film Screening
After School Enrichment
Yearbook
Bike to School
Athletic Skills and Art Night
Teacher Appreciation Day
Boxtops for Education
TC at the Mariners
SPS Preschool
calendar icon
CALENDAR 

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

April 25
Expedition Series Film Screening

April 29
Poem in Your Pocket Day

May 3
Teacher Appreciation Day

May 10
Site Council Meeting

May 16-19
Spring Book Fair

May 18
Dress Like a Book Character Day

May 19
Athletic Skills & Art Show Night

May 23rd
Expedition Series Film Screening

May 26
ELOB Exhibition Night

May 30
Memorial Day - No School

June 1
2-hour early dismissal

June 14
Site Council Meeting

June 17
Field Day & Wacky Hair Day

June 24
Last Day of School; 1-hr Early Dismissal

Quick Links



Site Council Information & Meeting Minutes
  
  
  
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.

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