Newsletter - Gunpowder Elementary PTA

Gunpowder Elementary
Dec 2014/
Jan 2015
Newsletter
www.gunpowderpta.org
“TOGETHER WE BUILD, TOGETHER WE GROW”
From the
Principal’s
desk.
Greetings Gunpowder Families:
Thank you for coming out and spending time during American Education
Week learning and growing with us. We appreciate the refreshments provided by our very generous and supportive PTA. As I shared during my morning
message each day, we are transforming teaching and learning at Gunpowder.
We are working each day to provide opportunities for our students to develop and apply their
critical thinking skills, as they communicate, collaborate, and create. We appreciate your feedback and look forward to future opportunities when you can come observe and share in the learning process with our students and teachers. This will ensure that we are cultivating a shared understanding of teaching and learning for our 21st century learners at Gunpowder. Together, we
can strengthen our students’ confidence as learnTeam Gunpowder Is Going GREEN!
ers, as they persevere to solve complex problems,
This will be the last edition to be printed for all
make meaning of complex text, and respond in
families. The newsletter will be emailed to families and
writing, as they explain and support their thinking
posted on the PTA and Gunpowder School website. If you
with text evidence. I truly appreciate your ongowould like to continue to receive a printed copy of the
ing support of our mission, our students, our
newsletter, please contact the office and one will be sent
teachers, and the entire Gunpowder school comhome with your child each month. Also, if you are not a
munity. We are Team Gunpowder and We Are
member of the PTA and you would like the newsletter
emailed to you, please contact the school office at 410-887- Proud!!!
0154 to provide us with your email address, so you can be
added to the list of recipients.
Your Proud Principal,
Mrs. Wendy Cunningham
DATES TO REMEMBER



Monday, December 22
Grades 4 & 5
Winter Concert Perry Hall
High School
Wednesday, December 24
First Day of Winter Break
Tuesday, December 30
2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Skateland Event

Monday, January 5
Schools Reopen

Wednesday, January 14
6:30 to 8:00 p.m.
Science Night

Monday, January 19
Schools Closed—MLK
Holiday

Tuesday, January 20
6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
PTA Board Meeting

Friday, January 23
Schools close 3 hours early

Monday, January 26
Schools Closed
going unnoticed, and is truly appreciated by all, but especially me. We are blessed to have such caring teachers,
staff members and volunteers who make such a positive
Hello GES Family!
difference in our children’s daily lives. As always, please
feel free to contact me with any suggestions, questions or
As we approach the holiday season, I would like to take a concerns or drop by one of our monthly PTA meetings.
moment to show my gratitude to the many GES volunWe meet the 3rd Tuesday of every month at 6:30pm in
teers, faculty and staff who make GES such a WONDERFUL the school library.
school! It is hard to believe we are almost halfway
through the school year! We have had so many great
I would like to wish all of our Gunpowder families, faculty
events already. I am extremely grateful to all of the vol- and staff a wonderful holiday season and I look forward to
unteers and committee chairs who have made our events the many awesome events we have planned for the secsuch a huge success! You are making this such a special
ond half of the year. Happy Holidays!
year for our students, their families, and the GES faculty
Sincerely,
and staff. I would also like to personally thank those parents who are taking the time to make our monthly PTA
board meetings. Your input is invaluable to our progress.
Finally, my co-executive officers, your hard work is not
FROM THE PTA PRESIDENT
Jenn Holt
INCLEMENT
WEATHER
Where can I find information
about BCPS school closings or
delays?
There are several places to find out information:
 BCPS school status information line:
410-887-5555
 TV/Radio: local radio and television stations,
including The Education Channel, Comcast Cable
Channel 73.
 Internet: www.bcps.org or www.schoolsout.com
Please do not call schools or media outlets for this
information.
***Also, don’t forget to
check out the BCPS Appit sends you notifications of
schools closings and delays.
ANIMALS AND PETS
According to Baltimore
County Public Schools
Guidelines and Application for Use of School Facilities, please note that
animals are not permitted
on School Property. Due
to the possibility of danger to children, we cannot
allow pets onto school property at arrival or
dismissal times. Even pets on leashes can be
dangerous when frightened by the presence of
crowds of children and adults. In addition,
please do not bring pets on school grounds
during the day, because many times it makes it
difficult for our children to play and participate fully in PE classes. Finally, there are no
pets allowed in the school building at anytime.
Please help remind neighbors to clean up after
their pets if you are on the school grounds after hours. We appreciate your cooperation
with this county policy.
Attention: This organization and its materials are not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Baltimore County Public Schools, the Superintendent, or this Baltimore County
school or office.
December 2014/January 2015
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WINTER BREAK PARTY
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Putty Hill Skateland
8019 Belair Road
Admission:
 PTA Members – Free
 Non-Members & Friends of Gunpowder
Families are Welcome for $5
Skate Rentals: $2.00
All children must be accompanied by an adult,
and each skater must have completed
a waiver.
Questions? Contact Kelly McCready
(Committee Chair)
Skateland@gunpowderpta.org
5TH GRADE STEERING COMMITTEE NEWS:
The 5th grade students have all received their Class of
2015 T-shirts thanks to PTA funding from the Bingo
Fundraiser. The 5th grade steering committee will be
meeting very soon to discuss upcoming festivities for
the 5th graders. If you would like to be a part of the
committee, please contact Kim Levush at
grade5@gunpowderpta.org.
The next PTA Newsletter Deadline is Friday, January 16.
To submit an article for the newsletter or if you have any questions, please contact:
Jenny Phillips, newsletter@gunpowderpta.org
December 2014/January 2015
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C OUNSELOR ’ S C ORNER
I would like to thank
the students, staff,
families and the PTA
for all their help with
Red Ribbon Week! In
celebration of being
“Drug Free,” many
students participated in the Red Ribbon Week Spirit
Days; Red Ribbon Week pencils and stickers were
distributed thanks to our wonderful PTA! Gunpowder
students shared drug free messages over the
school’s morning announcements, signed drug free
pledges in their classrooms, and classroom guidance
lessons in grades 3 and 5 focused on drug free
prevention. It was a great success!!
need this year, please contact either myself or Kathy
Scheulen, School Nurse, by Friday, December 12. It
is important that you contact us so that we can add
your name to the list and assist all families who need
our help. As always, all information will remain
confidential.
During the month of December, monthly guidance
lessons in grades K-5 will focus on the Peer
Mediation Program available at Gunpowder
Elementary. Peer Mediation is a program in which
fourth and fifth grade students help Gunpowder
students to solve their peer conflicts peacefully.
Applications to become a Peer Mediator will be
passed out to fourth grade students during their
classroom guidance lessons this month. The fifth
The holiday season is fast approaching and can be
grade students who are currently Peer Mediators will
very stressful for families experiencing financial
be performing skits to help educate the students on
hardships. Both The Helping Hands Food Pantry and the process and benefits of peer mediation. During
The Raven’s Roost have helped Gunpowder families fifth grade guidance lessons we will integrate
by providing food baskets for Thanksgiving. Our
technology by using the school Flip Cams to video the
school has also begun collecting for the GES Adopt-A peer mediation skits. Peer Mediators will be able to
-Family Program. Please consider donating to this
improve the skits they have created with this
program as it is a positive way to teach our children
motivating tool!
about the importance of giving and sharing with those
Please let me know if there is any way I can help you
in need and the true joy this brings!! What a
to promote school success with your child. Feel free
wonderful way to reinforce our Core Essential Value
to contact me anytime with questions or concerns at
of the Month, “GENEROSITY~ making someone’s
410-887-5121.
day by giving something away!” Since we would
like to help families right here in our Gunpowder
J Lisa DeIaco
Community with these donations, if your family is in
School Counselor
MAGNET PROGRAM INFORMATION
A special note to parents of students who have applied to a magnet school, if you have applied
for a magnet program at Loch Raven Technical Academy they are conducting their magnet
assessments on January 10, 2015. Parkville Middle School and Center of Technology, is
conducting their magnet assessments on January 17, 2015. Deep Creek Middle School is
conducting magnet assessments on January 10th and 14th. All assessments are by appointment.
Please check to make sure that you have made arrangements to attend the assessments. This
information can be found in the application packet. More information about BCPS magnet
programs is available at www.bcps.org/offices/omp or by calling the Office of Magnet
Programs a 410-887-4127.
December 2014/January 2015
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SWEET FROG SUCCESS
We had an outstanding kick-off to our
restaurant fundraisers this year at Sweet
Frog. The GES community showed its
support by teachers, students and families
attending. Thank you all for being so
"sweet" and enjoying treats. Sweet Frog told
us that ours was the most successful
fundraiser they’ve ever had!
Congratulations GES!
See you all at our next
restaurant night.
Suzanne Lindsay
C LASS C OMMUNICATIONS
FIRST GRADE
In ELA we have been using text features to
identify main topic and key details in a
variety of nonfiction text.
In math we completed the geometry unit
and are now moving into unit 3 which will
focus on using addition and subtraction to
solve story problems. Thanks to everyone
who came out for AEW and all those who
attended parent/teacher conferences!
SECOND GRADE
In ELA, 2nd grade has been learning about
Author’s Purpose. In Math, 2nd grade has
completed Geometry and will be learning to
solve story problems. Thank you to all the
parents who contributed items and time to our
Fall Celebration on Tuesday, November 25.
December 2014/January 2015
THIRD GRADE
Third Grade will be looking for
individuals interested in sharing
information about their profession
during a Career Day in the spring. If
interested, please email Mrs. Kuebel
(pkuebel@bcps.org) your name,
contact information, and profession.
We want our students to see endless
possibilities!
Third graders have been hard at
work on using strategies to add and
subtract. They were excited to learn
the traditional algorithm!
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Please keep practicing at
home.
BCPS S PEAK U P
S URVEY L AUNCHED
D URING AEW
Speak Up is the annual research project conducted by Project Tomorrow, a national education
nonprofit group that collects and reports on the
views of K–12 students, teachers, administrators,
parents, and community stakeholders on 21st
century education and technology. Nationwide,
over 2.6 million students, educators, and parents
have shared their views regarding the use of educational technology through the Speak Up survey.
This year, BCPS has worked with Project Tomorrow to offer a custom survey for BCPS stakeholders. Speak Up provides a unique way for the ideas
and opinions of our stakeholders to have an impact on BCPS' S.T.A.T. program, as well as federal policies and programs. All data collected is
100% confidential.
The Speak Up online surveys are open for input
from Monday, November 17, 2014, to Friday, December 19, 2014. There are Speak Up surveys for
students, educators, parents, and community
members/business partners. All of the Speak Up
surveys are online and accessible 24/7 from any
Internet-connected computer.
Log onto http://www.speakup4schools.org/
Have you checked out what workshops and
events Parent University has had available
lately?! There is no time like the present!
The goal of Parent University is to provide
centralized access to resources that support
parents in guiding their children to
academic success and enhancing personal
growth and family wellness. You can
benefit from all Parent U has to offer.
Please visit on the BCPS website at
http://www.bcps.org/parentu/.
CLOTHING DONATIONS WELCOME!
Consider donating your
outgrown children’s clothing to
the Gunpowder Health Suite!
We try to keep a supply of
spare clothing available for
students, but we often run low
on certain items. We often
need pants for younger
students. Stretchy tights or
leggings for girls and elastic
waist athletic or sweat pants
for boys in smaller sizes are especially useful.
We welcome all donations – thank you!
Kathy Scheulen, RN, MSN
School Nurse
December 2014/January 2015
Our LOST AND FOUND
is filling up. Please
encourage your children
to check the lost and found
box if they come home
without clothing items that
they wore to school.
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WHEN SICKNESS STRIKES: KNOW WHEN TO
KEEP A CHILD HOME FROM SCHOOL
A parent’s decision to keep a child home from school when he or she is sick
can sometimes be a difficult one. No parent wants to interrupt their child’s
learning, and for some, keeping a child home means missing work or losing
pay. However, if he or she has a serious illness such as influenza, it’s
important for the child to stay home from school. By taking this step, parents
can help their children get better faster as well as prevent the spread of illness
to others. Below, are some frequently-asked questions and answers to aide
parents in decision-making this flu season.
Q: Should I keep my child home from school if he or she has cold or flu symptoms? Is your advice
different for cold versus the flu?
A: If your child has flu symptoms, you should keep him or her home from school. If your child has a cold,
the decision to keep him or her home may depend on the severity of symptoms. A good rule of thumb is to
keep your child home if he or she has a fever of 100 degrees or higher.
It’s also important to note the difference between cold and flu. Flu is a serious illness, and children who have
the flu should always stay home from school. Fly symptoms include fever, along with chills, cough, sore
throat, headache or muscle aches. Many people describe it “like being hit by a truck.” It’s a good idea to
contact the child’s pediatrician if he or she has these symptoms. Symptoms of a common cold include stuffed
nose, sneezing, sore throat and hacking cough. Often, cold symptoms arise gradually. Although the common
cold is usually not serious, if the symptoms are severe, it’s a good idea to keep your child home to rest and get
better.
Q: If my child does have the flu or a bad cold, how long should I keep him or her home from school?
A: Parents should keep their sick children home from school until they have been without fever (temperature
under 100 degrees) for 24 hours, to prevent spreading illness to others. Flu is spread from person to person
through coughing and sneezing. Occasionally, people can get the flu from touching a germ-infested surface.
Children are one of the biggest sources of flu spread.
Q: Should I call the doctor if I think my child has the flu?
A: If a child experiences flu symptoms, parents should contact their child’s doctor quickly. Some children
may benefit from an antiviral medication, which can be prescribed by a doctor and can help lessen the number
of days that a child is sick with the virus. To be effective, antiviral medication should be taken within 12 to
48 hours after fly symptoms begin.
Q: What should I do to help prevent the rest of the household from getting sick?
A: Teach and practice healthy habits. Wash your hands often with soap and warm water for at least 20
seconds to help prevent germs from spreading. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth, because the virus
can spread when your hands touch surfaces that are infested with germs. Also, consider contacting your
doctor if someone in your household gets the flu. A doctor can prescribe antiviral medication that can
actually prevent other members of the household from catching the virus.
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For additional information on the influenza virus, visit www.cdc.gov/flu
December 2014/January 2015
BOX TOPS
UPDATE
THANKS A MINION FOR
SUPPORTING THE PTA
We raised
$925.80 with
our last box tops submission—that
is almost 50 percent of our goal for
the school year! The next deadline
is in April. Please save those box
tops!!
Thank you for joining our schools
PTA!. We appreciate your support and
invite you to take advantage of all the
benefits that your PTA membership provides. This year’s membership drive was
a huge success, with more than 530 people joining.
THANK YOU!
In November, two
kindergarten classes will be
receiving their Pizza Party
lunch award. While
no classes reached
100 percent membership, we did surpass our membership
goal and would like to recognize the two
classes with over 90 percent. Great
job, Mrs. Blackwell and Mrs. Connor’s
classes. We would also like to thank the
wonderful teachers and staff for reaching
100% participation. They were also
awarded a Pizza Party!
Thank you so much to all who supported our
Annual Bingo Fundraiser last month! The Bingo committee worked very hard preparing for
the event, meeting regularly since the summer
to prepare for the event and it looks like all that
hard work paid off. We were very proud of the
support and generosity we found among our
school community, neighborhood businesses
and larger corporations, so many of
whom contributed to
our wonderful prizes.
Words cannot express how grateful
we are to all who
contributed, from the
volunteers to the
teachers & administration, to the bingo patrons; we could not
have done it without you!
Sincerely,
Kim Levush, Christine Green, Tori Banks &
Stacey Schwink
Gunpowder Elementary School
9540 Holiday Manor Road
Nottingham, MD 21236
Phone: 410-887-5121 Fax: 410-887-5122
www.gunpowderpta.org
www.facebook.com/OfficialGunpowderPTA
If you are not already a member you may
join anytime, visit our website to join.
Thank you again for supporting our children and remember:
"Alone we can do so little; together we
can do so much!" - Helen Keller
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