October 2016 Volume 11, Issue 3 TheThe latest latest buzz buzz . A Message From Ms. Mary .. 1 Afternoon Discovery Preschool Corner ................. Clubs Spotlight .....................2 ............. 4 FieldPA Update…………….…….2 Trip of the Month ........ Painting With Papa……………….....6 Parents Night Out…..…..…..10 .............Trike-A-Thon 1 News………..3 PARed Board Ribbon Week…..….….……......7Update .................. ASTEM Little Time About in the Library….11 ............. 3 our Teachers ........................ 4 WildcatWildcat Chat……………..…4 Chat ......................... 2 Beta Club at Dogwood Forest….…7 Photos……………...…………12 Computer Lab Learning….5 BetaWord ofClub the Month…..…….….........8 News .................... 3 Middle School Fun……..….5 3rd Grade Visits Tellus……..……...8 Halloween Health…..……...6 2nd Grade Pumpkin Day…..…...….9 Inspiring Students with the Passion to Excel DATES TO REMEM- 10/ Halloween Parties A Message From Ms. Mary 31 5-8 Costume Contest 3rd Grade Trip to October is such an exciting time of each school year 11/1 Atlanta History Center Picture Retakes by Sign up as the students now know their class routines and Kindergarten Trip to individual learning expectations and a wonderful time 11/2 Gwinnett Environ-mental of academic growth kicks in. The first set of report and Heritage Center cards have been sent home and parent teacher Middle School Trip to 11/3 conferences have further solidified the strong Wasega 4-H partnership we have between home and school. 1st Grade Trip to 11/4 Thanks to the more than 97% of you who made it a Stone Mountain Pow Wow priority to attend the conferences. We love sharing No Classes your students success and goals with you and take 11/7 GISA Conference your questions about your child to heart and work to After School Only make each students learning as optimal as possible. 11/8 2nd Grade Trip to Legoland With the changing leaves and cooler weather the students have really enjoyed the 11/9 New Student Open House Outdoor Classroom and the many surprises it holds along the path and near the PreK Guest Speaker: creek. The teachers have enjoyed their partnership with Kevin Smith from Keep Lee Bryan 11/11 Forsyth Beautiful and the interesting research he has introduced the students to. 4th Grade Trip to Tellus Museum He recently held a Frog Walk that many of our 2nd and 3rd graders participated in. We will be sure to keep you informed of more unique opportunities that will 11/ Scholastic Book Fair 14-18 be hosted throughout the year. 11/ 20-25 Thanksgiving Holiday We are hoping that you will join us tomorrow for our 16th Annual Fall Festival. The Festival will be held from 1:00pm – 4:00pm and will include: games, arts 11- Holiday Shoppe and crafts, pony rides, cotton candy, popcorn, hotdogs, a costume contest, spooky 28-29 music by some of our chorus students, a haunted house and the Spider Bungee. Tickets will be available for $10 per person at the gate. Also, you will not want McGinnis Woods to miss the amazing PA Raffle which has been a big hit with McGinnis the Mission Statement Money Turkey, Lego Mania, Lea, the American Girl of the Year and the Gift Card Wreath. Fun is in store for all, so be sure to join us for the Fall Festival. Our mission is to provide superior academics Happy Fall, through hands-on approaches, which foster Ms. Mary self confidence and self esteem that inspire a life- long love of learning. P.S. Please see Facebook for more pictures and happenings. Parent Association Update October has been a wonderful and busy month for the McGinnis Woods family and it’s not over yet! Thanks to all who supported our first fundraiser of the year, Square One Art, and a very special thanks to Jessica Marro for coordinating it all! We saw a lot of adorable ornaments, sketch books, tote bags, and mugs featuring some precious artwork going home. We hope you are enjoying your little artists’ masterpieces! The money raised by this fundraiser will be used to fund teacher grants so your purchases and support made a big difference! Our Fall Festival Basket Raffle is well underway and our winners will be announced at the conclu- sion of Saturday’s Fall Festival. We’ve got some fabulous prizes this year! McGinnis the Money Turkey is making his triumphant return with his feathers fluffed with the biggest cash prize yet: $500! Our Shop ‘Til You Drop wreath is bursting with $200 in retail gift cards. The Lego Mania basket contains 9 different Lego sets and the American Girl basket gives you a chance to take home the Girl of the Year, Lea! The baskets are on display in the elementary school so come check them out! You can’t win if you don’t enter so be sure to purchase your raffle tickets if you haven’t already! Pre-sales have been going on all week and we will be selling tickets at the Festival for $1 per ticket. Remember you don’t need to be present at the Festival to win but we’d sure love to see you there! After Saturday’s Festival don’t forget our Tanner Photography event on Sunday, October 30th! Tanner Photography is once again partnering with McGinnis Woods to offer a portrait seating for $20 which includes a free 16X20 family portrait. The best part of this fundraiser is that 100% of the money comes back to the school. Share your portraits with us at [email protected]. We’d LOVE to see them! Our Room Representatives have been busy planning some SPOOKTACULAR class parties to celebrate Halloween. The par- ties will be held during the school day on Monday, the 31st. Thanks to all of the families who’ve volunteered to assist in some way. Whew! We told you October was busy and we are not slowing down for November! With Thanksgiving around the corner our minds are turning towards giving thanks and helping others. The PA Board is once again partnering with North Fulton Com- munity Charities and adopting families for the holiday season. Please looks for our trees later in November in the entrances of both the preschool and elementary schools decorated with ornaments indicating the wishes from families in need this holiday season. Please choose an ornament and help us make the holidays a little brighter for another family. It is a great opportunity to teach our children what philanthropy is all about! November also brings with it the kick-off to our beloved Annual Holiday Shoppe! Our PA Board elves have partnered with Hallmark this year to bring you and your children a fabulous holiday shopping experience on Wednesday, November 30th, Thursday, December 1st and Friday, December 2nd. For those of you that are new to the school, the Secret Holiday Shoppe is a “store” set up for the students to purchase items on their own for family, friends, teachers and even themselves. Younger shoppers will have the guidance of a parent volunteer while they shop. The items purchased will be gift-wrapped for the chil- dren. The majority of the items in the shop are priced between $5 and $20. You will be able to guide your child’s shopping by completing a shopping form indicating their budget and gift recipients. Each class will be assigned a time to shop during the school day. Parents are welcome to join us on our special preview night Wednesday, November 30th or may stop by dur- ing school hours on Thursday, December 1st and Friday, the 2nd. The Shoppe is both a fun and educational experience for the students, whether they observe a gift-giving December holiday or not and the McGinnis Woods PA will receive 25% of the sales proceeds. As you can imagine, the Holiday Shoppe requires A LOT of volunteers to make it a success! We are looking for parents to assist with student shopping and gift wrapping. Keep your eyes out in your e-mail in the coming weeks for a Sign-Up Genius link and please consider giving an hour or two of your time towards helping out. We really can’t do it without you! As an incentive, parent volunteers will receive a coupon for 20% off at Betsey’s Hallmark at the Village at Flynn Crossing (in the Publix shopping center). Have a wonderful Thanksgiving season! You can always reach us through our website www.mcginniswoodspa.org. We’d love to hear from you! Preschool Corner The preschool held its Annual Trike-A-Thon this past month and what an amazing success it was! The Trike-A -Thon is a fundraising event we participate in to support the efforts of the Saint Jude’s Research Hospital. All of the proceeds from the event go directly to aid families with children battling cancer and other life threating diseases being treated at the hospital. Saint Jude’s Research Hospital provides not only medical care to their patients but housing, food and much more to support the family members who have to travel from afar and stay with their loved ones during treat- ment. All care is provided to them free of cost! Families pay nothing while they are under the care of Saint Jude. The hospital relies completely on the community to run its facility. So one way it raises money to treat patients is through the Trike-A-Thon. The day of the Trike-A-Thon, children bring in their favorite bike or scooter and ride them around the covered drop off lane and also on the sports court. Friends of the riders made banners and helped cheer on the riders.