October 2011 Bear Essentials Newsletter

The Bear Essentials Volume 8, Edition 2

October 2011

Why you should support the PTO! Glenside Families, Welcome back to Glenside Elementary School! It is wonderful to be back and in the new building, isn’t it? This school year, the PTO will be hosting many special events and fundraisers. Would you be able to help us?

As was discussed at Back-to-School Night, the PTO needs your help to plan, execute, and support these events and fundraisers. If you didn’t sign up at Back-to-School Night, don’t worry! You can still sign up by contacting the chair of the event. Committee/event chair information is included in the soonto-be-released PTO directory. You will also find contact information for the PTO Co-Presidents in every month’s newsletter.

Are you curious about why the PTO board sends emails asking for support for fundraisers and events? Here are just some examples of what the PTO has supported in the past:  New Digital Piano for the school  Teacher start-up fund ($100) for class decorations, prizes, etc.  Kindergarten Meet & Greet and New Parents Coffee  Buses and Admission fees for school trips  Back to School Week events Please help us support a wonderful Glenside Elementary School community!

In this issue:

KidStuff Coupon Book

2

Mix It Up Day

3

Fall Family Fun Night

4

Calendar

6

Special points of interest:



Green Tip



Rainbow of Friends



Photo Fundraiser



Book Fair



Book Swap

The Bear Essentials

R a i n b ow o f F r i e n d s Our new year in our new school started with a week of exciting activities, including a Rainbow of Balloons welcome arch, our first Rainbow of Friends-themed assembly and a special Rainbow of Water Ice treat for all students. At the assembly, the children heard a story presented on our brand new screen and learned about our first theme of the school year at Glenside: Friendship. We have so many new students this year that the opportunities for making new friends are endless. The children were encouraged to write about friendship so that they could read with Mr. Williams on the Morning Message. You can help your child write a friendship-themed message at home.

Our first project is all about trying to raise money for the ROF program by raffling off some special hand-painted chairs. The raffle tickets cost $1.00 each and the proceeds will go toward assembly prizes, balloons, posters, DVD's (which can be used on our beautiful new smart boards), books and more. We hope to announce the raffle winners in October. The chairs were on display at Back-to-School Night and the first PTO meeting.

The teachers have met and planned great and caring community service projects for the year. In October, we will partner with Jules Pizza to collect candy for the troops. The class collecting the most candy will have a Jules Pizza Party. Candy Collection will begin in October and last through the first week of November.

At the first PTO meeting of the year, Mrs. Goldberg shared the history and details of the Rainbow of Friends program. Any questions or offers of support can be directed to Cindy Goldberg, Room 10; cygoldberg@cheltenham.org.

This year is no different from other years in Glenside fundraising! Glenside PTO is dedicated to providing all of the important extras for the students. The collection of Box Tops helps us achieve that goal.

Here’s how it works: You buy cereal or other products that participate in the Box Tops program; cut the box top off of the box; send the box top in to school with your child; Glenside gets a portion of the proceeds. It really is that easy!

KidStuff Coupon Book Did your child bring home the KidStuff Coupon Book?

It's simple: return payment of $25 (checks payable to Glenside PTO) in the envelope included; order additional books; or, return the book to your child's classroom. Our PTO profits are 50% or more with this fundraiser, in addition, in using just a few coupons, the book pays for itself! Please consider purchasing the book and sharing the details with family & friends!

This is not FREE! Unpurchased books must be returned by October 7th.

Questions ???

Please contact: Nicole Oliver (green511@msn.com/215.887.2502) or Kathleen Brown (matkatpat@msn.com/215.885.1907)

We really appreciated the teachers’ ―thank you‖ cards for the backto-school breakfast & start-up funds!

The Bear Essentials

T h e E a r l y Wo r m G e t s t h e B o o k Once again, Glenside Elementary has joined with Scholastic Books to bring our families the wonderful gift of books! The sale will be held October 28 through November 4th. Additional information will come home with specific details about hours and class visits.

We would love for parents to drop by and help their children choose books. On November 3rd & 4th, our book fair will coincide with,

Mixin’ It Up! Have you heard about the all of the terrible

―Donuts with Someone Special.‖ You’re already here for a donut, so why not stop by the book fair, too? We will also be hosting a, ―Dinner with Books‖ night, on Thursday, November 3rd, with an option to pre-order dinner. Details about this evening will

tragedies happening in schools all across the

be forthcoming.

bullying? So have we!

Why support this cause? Not only do your children get to choose their own reading material and learn to love reading, but Glenside also gets part of the profit from the sale. Based on our sales, we earn cash that goes to help fund PTO events, and we also earn books for the library and the classrooms. This sale is a win-win for everyone. Really, is there anything better than the gift of reading?

Now that you are all excited to buy books, PLEASE volunteer to help at the book fair. We need volunteers for all of the hours that the book fair is open, in addition to help with setting and packing it up. Look for specific volunteer requests coming soon via our Googlegroups email. Please contact Co-Chairs: Stephanie Fields, stephandben@comcast.net, 215-881-7794; Patti Peet, pattipeet@gmail.com; Rebekka Hartwell, RMDH@comcast.net

country as a result of Mix It Up Day is a celebration of diversity. At lunch, the students are ―mixed up‖ in teams with kids that are not their close friends. We will then be doing an activity in the cafetorium.

Book Fair Hours:

Can you help us? We need volunteers!!

10/28 (am) – setting up the Fair - 10 volunteers needed

Please contact the chairs:

10/31 – 11/3 school hours 11/4 – school hours including packing up in the afternoon (8-10 volunteers)

Donuts w/ Someone Special ―Donuts with Someone Special‖ will take place 7:45 am—8:45 am on November 3rd & 4th, at Glenside Elementary School. Each student may invite someone special in her/his life. Coffee, juice, and donuts will be served to attendees.

Children with last names A-L should attend on Thursday, Nov. 3rd, and those with last names MZ should attend on Friday, Nov. 4th.

Because we know you were dying to go to the book fair, but always interested in reducing the number of trips you make to and from school…

The book fair will open at 8am on both mornings, so that you (or that someone special) may go browse with the children.

Additional information soon to come! If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Nicole Oliver (green511@msn.com) and/or Denise Thompson (denisthom5@aol.com).

Tasha Holland (phillytchr@hotmail.com) Shira Neuberger (shiraneu@yahoo.com) Kelly Durand (goose1023@aol.com).

The Bear Essentials

Fall Family Fun Night Thanks to everyone who braved the storm on Friday, September 23rd, to attend the new Glenside Elementary’s first movie night! As the rain poured down, the cafetorium was filled with students snuggling with their families and friends on blankets and lawn chairs. It was the perfect way to spend a rainy evening!

Also, we’d like to thank everyone who helped make the event a success! Thank you especially to our technology consultant, Dana Walker, for lending her expertise on the new AV system; to Nancy Bower for manning the popcorn machine to fill over 100 popcorn containers; and finally, to the fourth graders who volunteered at the concession stand. Thanks to them, we raised over $200 toward this year’s fourth grade yearbook. Way to go!

Pretzels Fridays just couldn’t get any better at Glenside Elementary.

Who doesn't love the last day of the week? It gets better, though, since Patti Peet & Diana Weimer have brought back Pretzel sales!

The pretzels are 35¢ each or 3 for $1.

Don’t forget to get enough for the whole family! We’re sure the neighbors would love some, too!

Green Tip It is back-to-school time and many ―first day‖ photos have been taken – the new kindergartener stepping on the bus, or your proud 4th grader standing in front of the new school? Is it time to upgrade your ―old school‖ digital camera? When it is time to upgrade, you don't have to throw your camera out. If it still works, you can donate it to a charity or youth program. To recoup some of your investment, try Best Buy's trade-in program for "gently used" electronics, or organize a recycling fundraiser with Ecophones.com. If your camera has truly bitten the dust, look into whether your manufacturer takes back used products (Canon does) or recycle it at Staples.

The Bear Essentials

S ay C h e e s e !

Ads for Sale!

Wonderful, local photographers have offered to help with another PTO event. On Nov. 5th & 6th, Cindy Graul & Patrick Snook will be on-site to take photos of your family. The sitting fee is only $25 and well worth the money! Proofs are provided for you to choose your favorites. Once you’ve chosen, you pay an additional fee for any photos you want printed.

Glenside Elementary receives a 100% donation of all sitting fees.

Appointment Required To schedule an appointment, please contact Cindy Graul at 215.881.9404, cindy.graul@verizon.net or Patrick Snook at 215.782.9127, patrick.snook@mac.com

Board position open and it pays VERY well (in appreciation, at least)! We are in need of a treasurer or a couple of co-treasurers for the board. We've had a few folks volunteer, but if there are others out there who are dying to count piles of coins we'd like to hear from you. We'll be holding a "treasurer training" and then letting folks decide if they still want the job. Please contact Tom Durso or Nancy Bower if you are interested. We'll hold an official election in October. The nominee(s) and election date will be announced via google groups soon.

Like Reading? Swap a book Please donate gently used children’s books to our Glenside Bears’ Book Swap, being held December 1st and 2nd. The Book Swap benefits both you and your child; you get to send in any books your children are finished with, and your child gets to pick out a book of her/his very own to keep. All children will participate, regardless of whether they donate any books. The donation bin will be in the school lobby over the next several weeks; the more books we collect, the more varied the selection will be. The students are always very excited to choose their ―new‖ book! For more information, or to volunteer for sorting and distributing the books (hint, hint), please contact Elizabeth Bitterman at elizabethb612@yahoo.com or Michelle Leister at mleister@comcast.net. Thanks!

(or free, but shhh, don’t tell anyone!)

Do you need to let the Glenside Elementary Community know about a school happening or information the school community could use? We are happy to put it in the newsletter.

All you have to do is write the article and send it to us by the 16th of the month prior to when you want the article to appear. Example: If you want an article in the November newsletter, we need the article by October 16th. Make sense?

The Bear Essentials

M a r k Yo u r C a l e n d a r

~

Upcoming Events November October

1st– 4th - Book Fair

3rd -

UPG Mtg. (7pm; Admin. Bldg)

3rd-4th -

Donuts w/ Someone Special

19th -

EARLY DISMISSAL (2:45 pm)

8th -

No School - Election Day

21st -

Family Fun Night

9th -

PTO Mtg (7:30 pm)

24th -

UPG Mtg. (7pm; Admin. Bldg)

16th -

EARLY DISMISSAL (2:45 pm)

31st -

Book Fair

21st -

Early Dismissal - Parent Conferences

22nd-23rd - No School - Parent Conferences 24th-25th - No School - Thanksgiving

Thank you! Merci! Gracias! Ogiwadong!

This newsletter made possible by

Our sincere thanks go to -



Becky Messa, Carrie Peck, and Vivian Go for the incredible Kindergarten Playdates.



Suzy O'Brien and Kelly Chipman for their excellent brewing that made the Kindergarten coffee such a huge success!



All who helped with the Back-to-School breakfast — it was a wonderful start to the year!



Terri Kelly and Terri Schmidt for a fabulous Fall Family Fun Night!



Everyone who attended Back-to-School Night and the first PTO meeting; we know taking time out of busy evenings is not easy, but it is very much appreciated!

Glenside Elementary School 8149 New Second Street, Elkins Park, PA 19027 215-881-6440 (p) | 215-886-6797 (f) www.cheltenham.org/glenside

Contact the Editors:



Cedarbrook Middle School students who provided outstanding child care services during Shira Neuberger | 267--735-0233 the PTO meeting — it was tremendously helpful! shiraneu@yahoo.com



All those family members who have signed up to assist with various school events this year — you will REALLY make a difference.



Terri and Mike Kelly for decorating for the pizza party at school and scooping water ice for the rainbow of water ice.

Kelly Durand | 215--901-6370 goose1023@aol.com Contact the PTO Co-Presidents: Nancy Bower | nancyjbower@gmail.com Tom Durso | tom@tomdurso.com