Preston Park News

“The Panther Press” Preston Park Elementary School Newsletter February 2017

A Message from the Principal Can you believe that the school year is beyond the half-way mark? As we head into the “bottom half” of the year, we look forward to continuing to work hard as we prepare our third, fourth, and fifth grade students for upcoming Standards of Learning Tests. You will notice in the “Upcoming Dates” below, Parent-Teacher Conference Day is scheduled for Monday, February 20th. Please take this valuable opportunity to meet with your child’s teacher to discuss your child’s progress. I continue to be reminded about just how special Preston Park is! Preston Park truly does have a great staff, a great parent community, and great students! I am proud to work with such a dedicated and talented faculty and staff. We are lucky to have a supportive community that collaborates to enrich the lives of our students! In addition, I am always inspired by the numerous volunteers that come to our school to assist in countless ways. The efforts of all of these groups are aimed at providing the best experience possible for the most important part of our community—our students. Together, we will move mountains for our students!

Upcoming Dates --February 8—Interim reports come home --February 20—Parent-Teacher Conference Day (no students) --March 2—“Read Across America Day” --March 3—PTA Chuck E. Cheese Night (5:00-9:00) --March 9 + 10—Kindergarten Registration for 2017-2018 --March 16—Two-hour early dismissal; End of Third Nine Weeks --March 17—Professional Development Day for Teachers (no students) --March 24—Report cards come home

Safety Concern—Student Drop-Off and Pick-Up If your child is a car rider, please use the car rider line for drop-off and pick-up. We are having a growing problem with cars parking in front of the school on Preston Avenue. This is causing a major safety concern with students crossing this busy road, while also preventing the buses from getting out to move on to their next schools. Please notice that “No Parking Between 7AM-9AM” signs have been placed on Preston Avenue directly in front of the school. Thank you for your cooperation in ensuring our community’s safety!

Preschool In February our class will explore the "Hospital" theme and incorporate Heart Healthy Month and Dental Health Month into that theme. We will have several visitors to help us learn more good ways to stay healthy. We have introduced nearly half of the letters in our "Look at Letters" project and recognize many of our letters and their sounds now. We are also enjoying many learning games on the school iPods! The second Conference Day will be this month and the Preschool families will once again set up our home visits for conferences as required by the VPI Program. We are looking forward to sharing the students' progress during those visits!

Kindergarten February has us reviewing counting skills and learning about money. Students will learn to recognize each coin, know its value, and understand how to add simple combinations of coins. Our reading program is moving along nicely and this is the time of year you will see your child's reading skills really take off. Please help them to learn the instant recognition sight words. We are learning about presidents, especially George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Thank you for pitching in to help us celebrate our 100th day of school. It was a lot of fun! We will be having a Brewster's blue ice cream fundraiser soon and the money is due on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14. This is a fun promotion and everyone loves it. We are hoping for 100% participation so no one feels left out. Also, it raises money for a good cause: Preston Park PTA! We will see you at parent-teacher conferences on the 20th. First Grade First graders will be learning so much this month! We will begin the month learning all about fractions in math, and then we will spend time learning about money and telling time. In reading, we will focus on cause and effect relationships, sequence of events, and story structure (characters, setting, and beginning/middle/end). In social studies, we will talk about famous Americans and American symbols. Our science unit this month will be life processes of animals. Please try to read as much as possible with your first grader!

Second Grade February 1st marked the 100th day of school! Where has the time gone? We are busy working in second grade. In math we are learning about fractions and then will start learning about money. Please give your student coins to count at home. In social studies, we are learning about famous Americans and our responsibilities as citizens. Please continue to read with your student every night!

Third Grade It is hard to believe that February is here! We have been super busy in January and will continue to be busy this month. Probability and measurement will be discussed in math. In language arts we will be focusing on how to use an index and table of contents in stories, using media resources as well as review using a dictionary and thesaurus. In social studies, we will locate Ancient Mali, Greece, and Rome on a map as well as describe the traditions that were a part of those locations. As a reminder, please continue to read with your child every night and check his/her folder and planner daily for any important upcoming announcements! Thanks for all you do!

Fourth Grade During the month of February, we will begin our Civil War unit for Virginia Studies. In math, we will dive into factors, greatest common factors, adding/subtracting fractions, and liquid and linear measurement. For reading, we will focus on comparing and contrasting, sequence, roots and suffixes, cause and effect, dictionary and glossary skills, text and graphic features, prefixes, and author’s purpose. In science, we will zap our way into electricity. Also, the first payment ($35) for the Jamestown field trip is due on February 15, 2017.

Fifth Grade February might be a short month, but we are packing a lot of learning into every single day! Fifth grade scientists are concluding their unit on light and will begin learning about plant and animal cells this month. We had a "hair raising" day last week using the Van de Graff generator with our in house “Bill Nye” (Mr. Richardson). Students will continue reviewing the fourth grade science content for the SOL test in May. In math, we are diving into a new unit on geometry. Students will be learning all about angles, identifying triangles, and exploring 2D shapes. Be sure your child is completing homework daily and practicing their basic math facts at home. For extra practice on skills taught in class, have them go to www.studyisland.com. It’s an excellent resource! Have you heard about Bud Caldwell and all his encounters as he travels to Grand Rapids? If not, ask your child today. Fifth graders will be finishing up the novel by Christopher Paul Curtis this month. This is a realistic fiction novel that has great examples of figurative language. To assist your child in reading, set a reading time at home—a time where everyone can sit and read together or independently.