November 2015

Clara Byrd Baker Elementary School Newsletter

Working Together for

Student Success

Parent/Teacher conferences

are coming soon. Nov. 18 th,

19th, and 20th are early release

days for students in order to provide time for parents and

teachers to meet and discuss student progress. Evening

hours will be available on Nov 19 th. Our amazing teach-

ers will be sen ding home schedules with dates and times

very soon. Please sign up right away so we can work to

get a time that is most convenient for you. We want you

to feel welcome, so here are some questions that might

help guide your discussions with your child’s teachers:

1. What is the best way to communicate with you?

Phone, email, notes,

2. What are my child’s strengths?

3. What do you think are the academic challenges

for my child?

4. How is my child doing socia lly?

5. Is my child on grade level in reading? What

about math?

6. What can we do to prepare for standardized

testing and reduce stress?

7. What is your homework policy?

8. What can I do to support what you are doing in

the classroom?

Interpreters will be available in the media center for

Spanish speaking families.

Please let us know ho w we can improve on the parent/

teacher conferences. Your feedback is welcomed an d

valued.

GIVING

This time of year, it always seems like we are the recipi-

ents of requests for many types of “giving”. Most of

that, of course, seems to be in the manner of monetary

support for things like Cub Scout popcorn, dancing cos-

tumes, school fundraising, church stewardship and prob-

ably many more that I have not named here, but are very

important to you or your family. Each request has a

unique goal, but, finding a balance bet ween all of them,

especially this time of year, can be stressful.

This Fall, CBB PTA has held several events that have

asked a lot from you. From Spirit Wear, Book Fair,

Walk-a-thon, Spirit Nights and school pictures, your

“giving” has been more than any school could ask for.

Your continued support for all of these events within the

first eight weeks of school has been phenomenal. What

is even more impressive, is that parents, teachers and

students, already supporting with donations, have given

even more with their time and talents to ensure school

success.

There is no doubt, your PTA plans a lot of things and

asks for a lot of support. I also know that no matter

what, you always find a way to “give”. You give of

your time; give of your talents; and continue to give

from your heart. So, if we have not said it to you al-

ready, THANK YOU for all that you “give”. We appre-

ciate it more than you will ever know.

Bear Pause

PTA President, Mike Loy Principal, Phyllis Dorsey

Flu Season

Cold weather has arrived and with that the beginning of cold and flu season. Some of you may

wonder if your child is well enough to go to school. Here are a few guidelines to help you.

Your child should not attend school if he/she:

• has a fever of 100° or more (should remain at home for 24hrs after fever is gone)

• has vomited or has diarrhea (should remain at home for 24hrs after vomiting/diarrhea has

stopped)

• has a persistent cough

• has any rash

• has open or draining skin sores

• has inflamed or draining eye or ears

If your child is well enough to attend school, but must have medication during the day, please

bring in the proper documents signed by a physician.

Margaret Bitler, RN

CBB School Nurse

Clinic 221-0949 option 1

Box Tops

It’s the Final Countdown for the Fall Box Tops Collection

We are in the process of counting all the box tops that all the families and teachers sent in. Thanks to everyone for taking the time to collectively raise money for CBB! The final count and winner of the ice cream party will be announced in the December newsletter.

Kristen Hooker-Watkins, Corporate Fundraising

If you have any questions, email CBBboxtops@gmail.com.

The 8th annual Walk-A-Thon is only a few days away, November 2. The theme for this year is

LUV2WALK.

Thanks to our sponsors, every student will be given a CBB Bear Zipper Pull. Also, because of

the generosity of our sponsors, any student who brought in a minimum pledge of $25 by Octo-

ber 23, won a Walk-a-Thon T-Shirt. If your student won a T-shirt, please have him/her wear

it to school on November 2nd!

We are fortunate again to offer great prize packages for our students, thanks to the generous

donations of local businesses. Each student is eligible for the drawing for one of the four

prize packages. Every dollar earned gives a student a chance at winning a prize package.

The Grand Prize for the top student pledge earner this year is a $100 Target gift card and 4

passes to Busch Garden’s Christmas Town! Remember to look on the PTA Facebook page for a

list of the donations and prizes.

The money raised for this event will be used to help the PTA enhance the academic experi-

ence for all students at Clara Byrd Baker! If you are reading this before November 2, please

join us the day of the event to cheer our students along as they show CBB BEAR PRIDE!

You can pledge online at: https://squareup.com/market/clara-byrd-baker-elementary-school-pta-2/walk-a-thon-donation-pledge. Remember, all money must be turned in no later than October 30th in order to be

eligible for prizes.

The Walkathon Planning Committee

See the next page for Walkathon Sponsors and be sure to thank them!

CBB Walk-a-Thon: November 2nd

2015 Walkathon Sponsors

Platinum

Williams Landscape & Design

1st Advantage Federal Credit Union

Coldwell Banker Professional Realtors

Gold

Andrew G. Gilfillan D.D.S., Family & Cosmetic Dentistry

Drs. Boss, Blaney, Lachine & Wendell, Family & Cosmetic Dentistry

Papa Murphy’s

Silver

Auto Parts and Supply

Tony Pauroso, realtor

Bronze

Center Street Grill

Clip It Up Pet Grooming

Thanks to the following businesses that donated prizes:

Busch Gardens

Nails Uptown

Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation

School Crossing

The WISC

Virginia Living Museum

Virginia Aquarium

Adventure Park at Virginia

Aquarium

Bounce House

William & Mary

Ripley’s Believe it or Not

Nauticus

Virginia Zoo (in Norfolk)

Stampin’ Up

Food Lion

Perfection Day Spa

Noodles & Company

Zoe’s Kitch en

Jimmy John’s

Papa Murphy’s

Coldstone Creamery

Tide Radio, Save 30 Store

Virginia Aviation Museum

(Richmond)

Chick-Fil-A Monticello

Cine Bistro

Trader Joe’s

Smallcakes –A Cupcakery

7-Eleven

Uno Pizzeria & Grill

November 2: Walk-a-Thon November 3: Election Day, Schools Closed November 12: Spirit Night, Wendy’s on Monticello 5-8 pm November 12 : PTA Meeting, 6pm, Media Room November 17: CBB Spotlight at School Board Meeting November 18, 19, 20: Early Release & Parent/Teacher Conferences November 23: Report Cards Sent Home November 25: Early Release November 27, 28: Thanksgiving Break December 21—Jan. 1: Winter Break

Cultural Arts

The PTA has 2 great performances from Theatre IV this

month:

Tales as Tall as the Sky on November 10th at 9:45am

for grades 3-5.

Country Mouse, City Mouse on November 16th at 9:30am for K-2.

Yearbook

We need your help in making a great yearbook! If you take any photos at CBB events, in class-

rooms or on field trips, please email them to: cbbyearbook@yahoo.com

Photos taken from digital cameras or IPhone 5 or higher (or equivalent) will

produce the best images in the yearbook.

Counseling Corner

Encourage Your Children to Grow: A wise dad once said, “Can’t never could until she tried.”

You can help your child develop a growth mind set. Praise persistence and effort. When work is hard re

mind them that hard work pays off.

Focus on growth and improvement rather than waiting for complete success.

Encourage them to take the risk of making a mistake. We all learn from our mistakes.

When your child says, “I can’t do it” always add “yet!”

Help them see problems as challenges they can overcome with perseverance. A

problem is an opportunity to try your best.

Remind them they are not in a race. It is smart to take time to learn.

Whenever possible make the connection between effort and results. Effort is every-

thing.

Be wary of praising them for their intelligence or talent. This can give the child the wrong impression that

their ability is fixed. This can lead to fear of trying new things, fear of failure, and seeking validation from

others rather than striving for mastery of new skills.

Fifth Grade Parents: The next WJCC Parent Academy is scheduled for Wednesday, November 11, 2015 -

6:00p.m., at the Central Office, James Blair. The topic is Success in Middle School and parents will explore aca-

demic planning, social influences in middle school, and career exploration. This is a great opportunity to get ready

for what lies ahead.

First Grade Parents: Is your child learning to cope with a changing family? He or she might benefit from a small

support group with peers who are also dealing with separation, divorce, and blended family. Activities will focus on

feeling expression, common areas of adjustment, and development of coping strategies. The group will be sched-

uled for 30 minutes a week for 6-8 weeks. Please call or email the counselor for further information.

Join Our Career Fair: The Resource team will coordinate our Baker Bi-annual Career Fair for 4 th & 5th Graders

the morning of Friday, March 18 th. We are eager to have parents from a wide variety of career fields: skilled trades,

public servants, artisans, and technical specialists, the milita ry and other professionals. It’s a fun and engaging

morning for presenters and students. Please contact me if you are willing to share your vocation with our future

work force!

Times are Tough: If your children need school supplies and you can’t provide them please call me. I have a closet

full of supplies so no child should do without. Also if you need help with holiday meals please let me know. The

agencies and charities that offer this type of help will be calling me soon.

You can contact me at 221-0949, ext. 42306 or Virginia.Szczypinski@wjccschools.org

Ginnie Szczypinski, Ed.S., School Counselor

______________________________________________________________________

Clara Byrd Baker PTA is now accepting credit/debit card payments using

Square Readers and Square Market Square is an electronic payment service, provided by Square Inc. A Square Reader is a portable credit/debit card transaction reader, which allows us to process PTA related purchases such as PTA Member-ships & Spirit Wear. This small pocket-size device allows our organization to accept all major credit card payments with our smartphones during events such as Back to School Night, by swiping the card on the Square device with the ability of the customer to sign for the transaction with their signature. Credit card information is encrypted at the moment of swipe and is secure. Square Market is an online store where you can purchase PTA related items or donate to events such as the upcoming CBB Walk-A-Thon. Again, credit card information is encrypted and secure. If you use the on-line store please remember to enter your child’s name, teacher and grade in the note section in or-der for us to process the purchase and deliver purchased items as necessary.

The website for the CBB PTA On-Line Store is:

https://squareup.com/market/clara-byrd-baker-elementary-school-pta-2

A Round of Applause for a Successful Fall Book Fair

Thanks to the generous support of our CBB families, we sold over $6,300 in books at the Fall Book Fair! This allowed the PTA to gift our dedicated teachers with over $2,700 worth of books for their classrooms and Mrs. Bell with $850 in books (pictured below) for the school library. Thank you to all the parent volun-teers who helped run the fair each day. We truly rely on volunteers to help make the Fair a success! And a special thank you to Mrs. Bell and Mrs. Geer for their patience, knowledge and support throughout the week. We look forward to see everyone at the Spring Book Fair! Kelley Sousa & Nicole Samuels Book Fair Co-Chairs

Parents—please be sure to check

your child’s account on Vue for updat-

ed information from his/her teacher to

include: class work, homework , daily

schedule, monthly calendar, grades

and more.

http://wjccschools.org/vue/

Physical Education &

more

Recycling:

The TREX plastic bag contest begins

on November 15, 2015 and ends on

April 15, 2016. CBB has won this

contest 7 times. Our rewards have

been park benches which have been

installed on our playgrounds. Please

recycle your clean, dry, empty plastic

bags (#3&4 plastic bags, newspaper

sleeves, bread bags, product wrap,

cereal liners, food storage bags, ice

bags, dry cleaning bags, produce

bags, case overwrap, and packaging

air pillows). The bags become an

earth-friendly composite decking and

railing. Check trexrecycling.com for

more information. Thank you for sup-

porting CBB’s recycling program.

The Fifth Grade Student Council

Association (SCA) election will be

held on Thursday November 5th. On

Monday October 26th the SCA appli-

cations will go home. Forms are also

found on the CBB website:

http://wjccschools.org/

cbb/2015/10/23/student-council-

association-elections/

and on Student Vue. Applications

are due to Mr. Goggin by October

30th. If your child decides to run for

an office, he/she will give a one mi-

nute speech on November 5th at 2:15

PM in the gym. All parents are wel-

come to hear the speeches. The chil-

dren will vote after the speeches in

their classrooms. Mr. Goggin will call

all candidates starting at 5 PM. It

usually takes 2 hours to complete all

the calls. If you have any questions,

please contact Mr. Goggin at either

757-221-0949 ext. 42321 or

james.goggin@wjccschools.org.

Good luck to all the candidates!

The school store will open on Mon-

day November 9th. Please look for a

letter, during the week of November

2nd, explaining the prices and store

hours.

The 2015 Fall SHIP Clubs have

started successfully. 137 third, fourth

and fifth grade students belong to the

clubs: 67 children are in the coed

running club, 28 are in the Hip Hop

Dance Club, 27 are in the Karate

Club and 15 are in the cooking Club.

Thank you, Jim Goggin

A Word from the Bear

Pause Editor,

Karen Burden

It is an honor to serve as PTA Corre-

sponding Secretary for the 2015-2016

school year. I am responsible for pre-

paring and publishing this newsletter.

There is so much important infor-

mation about our school that you will

learn when reading through the news-

letter. I welcome your input about

ways to make our newsletter more

enjoyable and helpful to all of our

families, teachers and school staff.

All editions of the newsletter will be

electronic and you will receive an

email with a link to access it. It will

also be on the website each month

(http://wjccschools.org/cbb/

families/ptsa/).

Teacher Notes & More

Fundraising to Support CBB

MEGA Auto Spa and the PTA have partnered together to raise funds for the students and

staff of Clara Byrd Baker. MEGA will donate one dollar for every

purchase made by your supporters which goes directly to our

school. MEGA Auto Spa automatically records and compiles

these washes, and the CBB PTA receives a quarterly check! The

next time you get your car washed, use the Fundraising Code

9027 and we’ll watch the funds roll in. It's that simple. Please con-

sider CBB the next time you go to Mega Auto Spa – Our local

fundraising partner for 2014-15.

Help Our School Earn FREE Equipment!

Our school is participating in the Farm Fresh 123-4 Community Program.

Your grocery store receipts will help our school earn much needed free educa-

tional equipment and supplies.

What do you need to do?

Hopefully you received the key tag at Back To School Night or it was sent home with

your child (more tags are available in the CBB office if you need one). Simply give

the cashier the tag to scan. Or tell the cashier you would like the rewards to go to

Clara Byrd Baker.

Do you have an iOS or Android phone? Do you shop? If you said YES to both of those, consider sign-

ing up for Shoparoo. It's an easy, secure way to earn money for our school simply by taking photos

of your store receipts.

Simply download the app at http://www.shoparoo.com/, create your account and choose Clara

Byrd Baker Elementary as your school, and immediately start submitting your own receipts to earn

donations for CBB! You can create an “Anonymous” account if you have any concerns over your per-

sonal information being shared.

We only have 34 supporters on Shoparoo so far, but in just over 1 month we have already earned over

$20 for CBB. Imagine what we could earn in a year if we had 200 supporters!!