April 2 5Th Grade Math STAAR Testing

April, 2013

Dear Parents,

In the ten weeks of school that are left this year, we continue to need your support to help each child grow and bloom. Teachers continue to make their lessons interesting and engaging to help students reach their fullest potential. Your help and support with their homework only increases their chance for success in school. Please continue to read with them 20 minutes a night and compliment their great successes and extraordinary character traits. Help them establish great study skills and good habits for attendance for their college years.

April Dates to Remember : April 2 5th Grade Math STAAR Testing

April 2 4th Grade Writing STAAR Testing

April 3 5th Grade Reading STAAR Testing and Second part of the 4th Grade Writing Test

April 5 Report Cards Go Home

April 8 Kuehnle Spirit Night @ Chick-Fil-A, 3:00 – 8:00 PM

April 10 Reading Logs Due to Library

April 12 Family Fun Night (rain date April 20), 6:00 – 8:00 PM

April 16 Kindergarten Performance – 8:30 AM in the Kuehnle Cafeteria

April 17 Bouncin’ Bears, 3:00 – 6:00 PM, sponsored by PTO

April 23 3rd and 4th Grade Math STAAR Testing

April 24 3rd and 4th Grade Reading STAAR Testing

April 24 5th Grade Science STAAR Testing

April 25 Unite for Understanding Council, 5:30 - 7:00 PM, at the Vista High School Program Building, 12550 Bammel North Houston.

April 27 2nd Annual Kleinwell Family Fitness Fair (More information in Newletter)

April 29 Kindergarten and 1st Grade Field Day

April 30 4th & 5th Grade Field Day Progress Reports Go Home

1 Looking Ahead May 1 2nd and 3rd Grade Field Day

May 1-8 Let’s Band Together – 5th Grade Service Project

May 2 Kindergarten Round-Up, 8:30 AM in the Cafeteria

May 6-10 Teacher Appreciation

May 7 5th Grade Class Picture

May 22 Klein Graduating Senior Reception, 3:30 PM in the Library

May 23 2nd Grade Program, 7:00 PM in the Cafeteria, PTO meeting at 6:45 PM

May 30 Choir Awards Program, 7:00 PM in the Cafeteria

Kuehnle Employees of the Year Congratulations to our Kuehnle Employees of the Year! We thank you and appreciate all the outstanding work you do for our school.

Ms. Therese Keller – Teacher of the Year Mrs. Diane Harrison– Professional Support Person Mrs. Pam Muddiman – Clerical/Paraprofessional of the Year Mrs. Cathy Tralmer –Teacher Assistant of the Year

Memory Books Reserve your copy of the 2013 Kuehnle Rock Stars Memory Book; please place your order today! Check out the Kuehnle website for a form (http://classroom.kleinisd.net/webs/kue.campus/). The cost is $16 per Memory Book. Limited number of books available. There will be no reorders.

Kuehnle PTO Please join us Monday, April 8th from 3-8 PM for Kuehnle Spirit Night at Chick-Fil-A located on 2920 and Kuykendahl.

Family Fun Night Please join us on Friday, April 12th from 6-8 PM for our PTO sponsored, Kuehnle Family Fun Night! It's fun and it's free! Don’t forget to bring your picnic dinner and lawn chairs! Bullritos, CiCi’s Pizza and Kona Ice will also be on site to purchase food from if you don’t feel like packing a picnic. Family Fun night will be held on the far side of the Gym. Look for us over there!

Music News ♪♪ This year’s Kindergarten class will present a music program for parents on April 16th at 8:30 AM in the Kuehnle Cafeteria. Stay tuned for more information on the upcoming 2nd Grade musical “Hats”.

Bouncin’ Bears for PK – 5 th Grade, April 17th from 3-6 PM, sponsored by PTO Come for a fun afternoon at Bouncin’ Bears, an indoor play area with bounce houses, inflatable slides, moon walk and toddler bouncers. Socks are required. Parents must accompany their children. No drop offs. Cost - 6 years and under is $5. 7 years and up is $8. Seventy-five percent of the proceeds will come back to the school. For more information, please go out to their website at www.bouncinbearstexas.com.

2nd ANNUAL KLEINWELL FAMILY FITNESS FAIR

2 The Family Fitness Fair is Kleinwell’s biggest event of the year, and is scheduled for 8 a.m. – noon on Saturday, April 27, at the Klein Memorial Stadium. The health fair featuring community vendors and fun activities for children is free. The one mile run/walk is $10 per person and includes a t-shirt, prizes, and awards.

This event promises to be an outstanding opportunity to promote wellness throughout the Klein community as well as benefit the Kleinwell Healthy Living Program.

Sign up today for the one mile run/walk. Invite your family and friends and come out and support the Kleinwell Healthy Living Program. For more information and to register for the one mile run/walk go to www.kleinisd.net/familyfitness or contact Winni Attaway at 832-249-4162.

Field Day Kuehnle field days are just around the corner! The dates are April 29th for K and 1st grades; April 30th for 4th and 5th grades; and May 1st for 2nd and 3rd grades.

Please put sunscreen and bug repellant on your child before they leave home. Your child should bring a hat or cap, sunscreen (to reapply if needed), and a towel to sit on for lunch. Students should also bring a water bottle with their name on it.

Please remember that dress code is enforced EVERY school day, so children should wear appropriate- length shorts and shirts with appropriate-width straps. Also, closed-toe shoes are a good idea for safety.

Field Day Volunteers Needed We will need volunteers to help on Field Day. If you can help out, please contact Lana Muenster by email at [email protected].

Calling all Future Koalas! It’s that time of year to get your future Koala signed up for Kindergarten! Please join us for the Kuehnle Kindergarten Round-Up on May 2nd. Parents and future Kindergarten students will meet in the Kuehnle Cafeteria at 8:30 AM. Students must be born on or before September 1, 2008 to be eligible for Kindergarten for the 2013-2014 school year.

Please bring the following information to be copied:

 Current Immunization records  Original Birth Certificates—no copies accepted  Original Social Security Card—no copies accepted  Proof of residence in Klein/Kuehnle zone— Current Utility Bill (Gas, Electric or Water - NO cable or phone) or a current signed and dated lease.  Parent/Guardian Driver’s License

Pre-Sale for School Supply Packages for the 2013-2014 School Year Kuehnle will be doing a pre-sale for our 2013-2014 School Supply Packages at the end of April. For your convenience, we have added the option of using a credit card through the online ordering program. More details and an order form will come home later this month.

The School Supply Package will be custom packed to include everything that is requested by the teachers at each grade level and include materials of good quality. 3 This plan has three major advantages: 1. You are able to purchase the School Supply Package now, rather than in August when you have other expenses getting ready for school. 2. It is easy and will save you time. You can avoid the beginning of the school rush, the traffic and looking for special packets or items in the store. 3. It is convenient. Your child’s School Supply Package will be delivered directly to the classroom and ready for the first day of school. You will not have to purchase the package in August, bring it home and then return it back to school on the first day.

This is one of our school fundraisers and we hope you will support this advance school supply sale.

Pedaling for Success For the second year, the Champions Sunrise Rotary Club has included Kuehnle in their “Pedaling for Success” program in an effort to promote good attendance. Two bikes will be raffled at the end of each semester. Any child who has maintained perfect attendance and held a B Average or higher will be eligible to enter the drawings for the bikes! Do your best! Good Luck!

In addition, we will have a Perfect Attendance/No Tardy Party for all students with Perfect Attendance and No Tardies at the end of the year.

Birthdays If you would like to celebrate your child’s birthday by sharing a treat with their classmates at lunch, you may do so by contacting Diane Harrison, the school nurse, at 832-484-6625. Mrs. Harrison will provide you with the information you need. Please provide the child’s name, teacher and date you would like the treat provided. Please allow a 2 weeks’ notice.

ART Corner Every six weeks, student artwork is selected to be displayed at the Klein Instructional Center (KIC). Congratulations to Matthewes Berhane, Hunter Saglime, Olivia Atherton, Presley Turner, Bailey Johnson, Sagar Mistry, Nevin Partain, Rajvi Patel, Ainsley Rose, and Catalina Watson!

The annual Houston Children’s Festival is April 6-7 from 10:30 AM – 6:30 PM. It is located in Tranquility Park and will feature numerous art activities, games and shows. For more information, please visit http://www.houstonchildrensfestival.com/.

The Pearl Fincher Museum is holding its monthly Family Fun Day on Saturday, April 13, 2013 from 11 AM - 3 PM. Visit www.pearlmfa.org for more information.

The Museum of Fine Arts Houston (MFAH) is hosting its weekly Sunday Family Zone and Studio on April 28. The theme, “Pictures in Clay: Exploring Pottery in the Arts of Korea Gallery” will begin with story time at 1:30 PM and families can create their own artworks at Creation Station. All activities end at 4 PM. For more information, visit http://www.mfah.org.

Counselor’s Corner: Reducing Test Taking Anxiety Test anxiety is when a student excessively worries about doing well on a test. This can become a major hindrance on test performance and cause extreme nervousness and memory lapses among other symptoms. The following are tips on reducing test taking anxiety. Being well prepared for the test is the best way to reduce test taking anxiety. Space out your studying over a few days or weeks and continually review class material. Don't try to learn everything the night before. Try to maintain a positive attitude while preparing for the test and during the test. Exercising for a few days before the test will help reduce stress. Get a good night's sleep before the test. Show up to class early so you won't have to worry about being late. 4 Stay relaxed, if you begin to get nervous take a few deep breaths slowly to relax yourself and then get back to work. Read the directions slowly and carefully. If you don't understand the directions on the test, ask the teacher to explain it to you. Skim through the test so that you have a good idea how to pace yourself. Write down important formulas, facts, definitions and/or keywords in the margin first so you won't worry about forgetting them. Do the simple questions first to help build up your confidence for the harder questions. Don't worry about how fast other people finish their test; just concentrate on your own test. If you don't know an answer to a question, skip it for the time being (come back to it later if you have time), and remember that you don't have to always get every question right to do well on the test. Focus on the question at hand. Don't let your mind wander on other things. If you're still experiencing extreme test anxiety after following these tips, seek help from your school counselor, Mrs. Birden. 

Library News Children’s Book Week is May 13 – 17, 2013 so we’re going to celebrate with another Scholastic Book Fair! This Book Fair will be a “BOGO” Sale - buy one book and receive one free book of equal or lesser value so students can stock up on books for summer! We will also celebrate each day with a different theme. Our final Reading celebration will take place on Friday, May 17th with our “Hats Off to Great Books!” Students may wear a hat decorated to represent a book and parents are invited to join us for tea on that day in the Library. The Book Fair will be open each day during Children’s Book week between 8:00 – 3:00 PM.

Another note from the library……..The end of the year is quickly approaching and all library books must be returned or paid for by May 24th! If your child has already paid for a lost book and has since found it, please return it to the library and a partial refund will be given.

5 th Grade Service Project Let’s “Band” Together!

Attention Kuehnle Elementary Families! 5th grade will be working on their Service Project beginning April 25th. This year the 5th graders will be collecting character band-aids for the children at MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital. The statement below is from MD Anderson.

“ The Children’s Cancer Hospital is world recognized for its care and treatment of pediatric patients and families during the difficult journey of a cancer diagnosis. This is a very difficult time for patients. Each day in the outpatient clinic we see between approximately 60-80 children. Most of these patients receive more than one poke every time they come to the clinic. The Let’s “Band” Together Campaign will help all of these children have a fun band-aid.

The Child Life program at MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital is grateful for the generosity of Kuehnle Elementary School! You are helping to make cancer history.”

Collection is planned for May 1-8. Please look for more information in the Tuesday Folder on April 30th!

5 Tardies Attendance is recorded at 9:45 AM. If a student arrives at school after 8:20 AM, he/she will be marked tardy. If a student is tardy more than four (4) times in a grading period, (which is 9 weeks) the conduct grade will be lowered by one letter. Any further tardies will cause the conduct to drop a letter grade for each infraction. It is very important that all our students arrive on this campus in a timely manner.

Early Dismissals If you know that your child will have to leave early, please send a note on the morning of the early dismissal, rather than emailing the teacher who may not have a chance to see the email during class time. The student should show the note to the teacher first thing in the morning. This will enable the teacher to make any necessary preparations for the child, i.e., homework or any assignments they may miss during the day. The office will sign an early dismissal permission form; in addition, parents will be required to come in, show identification, and sign the child out before he/she will be allowed to leave the school.

Signing In Parents please sign-in and get a visitor’s badge when coming to have lunch with your child, for a parent conference, or when volunteering at the school. We ask that you not visit the classroom without an appointment as classroom instruction is taking place. If you need to talk to a teacher during the instructional day, please leave a message with the front office for the teacher to call you.

First In Math Parents can now access the First in Math program from home for grades K-5. Students can earn points by accessing this website from home at www.firstinmath.com. These students have their own log on and password information. Please look for these to come home in the Tuesday folder or Homework folder.

Custody Issues Please assist us in the handling of custody related issues. It is the responsibility of the parents to provide the principal a certified copy of the court order affecting any other person’s right to their children. Should you have any questions, please call Mignon Johnson at 832-484-6620.

As always, thank you for your support of children. Kuehnle Elementary School has an outstanding heritage and your partnership with this faculty and staff is a strength that is most meaningful.

Sincerely,

Mignon Johnson Principal 832-484-6620