West Manheim April 2014 Newsletter

April 2014

South Western School District

Dear West Manheim Parents/Guardians,

I wanted to thank all of you who took the opportunity to participate in our

parent survey this past fall. Many of you may remember sitting down at a

computer station in our building last fall during your parent/teacher con-

ferences to complete a survey or you may have completed the survey on

our West Manheim blog. At West Manheim and throughout the South

Western School District we are committed to creating an exceptional edu-

cational environment for our students to learn, teachers to teach, staff to

work, and for parents to send their children. The input and suggestions

we receive from our parents and community members are essential as we

continuously work to improve. Your feedback is reviewed carefully and

will assist us in facilitating positive changes within our overall educational

program.

Listed on page two you will find the results from our survey questions.

Each question was scored on a range of 1- strongly disagree to 5 –

strongly agree. In addition, each parent had an opportunity to respond to

two questions: 1) What are the strengths of your child’s school? and 2)

What needs to be improved?

Only by working together and developing a positive school/parent partner-

ship can we best achieve our mission of providing all our students with the

knowledge and skills necessary to become well-informed, productive, and

responsible citizens.

Thanks again for your time in providing feedback to our school.

Sincerely,

Brian M. Cromer

Principal

Inside this issue:

School Counselor 3

Specialists Info. 4

Kindergarten Writing 6

Kindergarten Registra-tion

8

Got Star Cards? 10

A Family Science Night

15

Dates to Remember 16

West Manheim Newsletter

West Manheim Elementary School

2000 Baltimore Pike Hanover, PA 17331

Phone: 717-633-4890 Fax: 717-637-2011

Office hours: 7 AM-3:30 PM

“A Tradition of Excellence.”

We’re on the web at:

swsd.k12.pa.us

West Manheim Facebook

West Manheim Website

West Manheim Twitter


Library Links By Mrs. Fisher

Many thanks to our WM music teacher, Mrs. Evelan, for her continual concert connections

to our annual library themes. These year’s theme was “Families That Read Together Suc-

ceed Together.” Mrs. Evelan chose concert songs that connected to books designated

as the 2013-2014 nominees in a state reading promotion program called the Pennsylvania

Young Readers’ Choice Award. Those connections truly do bring a unity to our program-

ming and make learning more meaningful for our students! Did your child bring home a

PA Young Reader book to share with you? J

West Manheim students are now anxiously awaiting the state results of this award! In the

Kindergarten through grade three category, West Manheim voted for Dog in Charge by

X. L. Going . The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate won our grade three

through grade five category. We should know in a few short weeks if our West Manheim

picks and/or our concert song connection will match the winning choices of students

across our state!

Dr. Seuss’ 110th birthday was celebrated on March 3 by students and staff clad in Seuss

character costumes and a wide variety of classroom activities! That was also the week

that students came to the red, white, and blue decorated library computer carrels to per-

form their civic duty and vote for their favorite nominated PA Young Reader’s Choice

Award book.

Second, third, fourth, and fifth graders have been busy learning how to be ethical users of

information through various research projects that coordinate with classroom curriculum.

Many first graders are gearing up to meet the Fairy Godmother for lunch and games in

the library if they read ten fairy tales, folk tales, or fables by Friday, April 4. The Fairy God-

mother is looking forward to hearing about all the wonderful stories and frolicking with our

young readers!

2013—2014 PSSA TESTING DATES

All South Western Elementary Students in grades 4, and 5 will participate in the Pennsylvania

System of School Assessment (PSSA) on the dates below. Thank you for your support in not

scheduling vacation, appointments or other absences from school on these dates.

Grade 5 Wring: April 8, 9 & 10, 2014

Grade 4 Science: April 29 & 30, 2014

April

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Reminder!

West Manheim Art Fair

Wednesday, April 9th

6:30 to 8 p.m.

Think, Explore, Create!

Spend a few minutes or the whole

evening sharing a special moment

with your child.


From Mrs. Rathell’s class:

Questioning Quinn had a dog and a cat. The dog barked at the cat. The cat hissed at the dog. Questioning Quinn loves his pets. ~Bridget Thornton One day I was swinging at the park. Suddenly, I saw a wolf. I jumped off the swing and ran away. Whew! That was a close one! ~Lleyton Reiner Kayleigh, Cole, and I went to the carnival. We went on the ferris wheel. We went fast. It was fun! ~Lucy Peltzer

From Mrs. Buffington’s class:

Colton Resetar I am mad. Why? We had nothing to eat on the bus so I had to eat take out Chinese food! Adler Stine On March 25, 2014, Grandpa Stine said, "Do you want to go somewhere?" "Ah, maybe." "OK, let's go! I'll tell you in the car. OK, we are going to get a tablet." "OK!" We drove to our Wal-Mart. They didn't have 7 inch tablets. So we drove past the hospital. Then we turned around. Then we went to the other Wal-Mart. They had 7 inch tablets! I was so ex-cited and after dinner I got to play it. Joshua Bryant Once upon a time there lived a dino named Sky. He was a triceratops. Sky was about to climb a mountain when he saw a T-Rex. He went back. He saw a spikatops, it was bursting in the mountain! The T-Rex roared. Sky had enough and he bumped the T-Rex.

Kindergarten Writing...

Fitness Forum By Miss Hull

I would like to thank North Hanover Bowling Center for providing us with their carpeted bowling

lanes and generously providing a free game for each student.

Our annual 4th & 5th grade Gym-O-Ree will be held on May 16th at the High School Track begin-

ning at 9 am. More information about the event will be coming soon.

April

Kindergarten Writing...

From Mrs. Stetter’s class:

April

Information Regarding E-mail Messages From Parents

Parents have found that e-mailing a teacher can be a very useful and timely tool. This method of

communication certainly expands the communication capabilities between parents and teachers.

Free e-mail addresses from Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail, or any other free e-mail service are automati-

cally treated as SPAM by the district e-mail system. If you are e-mailing someone for the first

time, be sure to let them know by some other means of communication. Sending a handwritten

note with your child to the teacher can be helpful. When the teacher knows that an e-mail mes-

sage is coming in from a parent, the teacher is prompted to thoroughly check the list of SPAM

messages in order to retrieve the “good” e-mail message from the parent. This process only

needs to be done for the initial contact between parent and teacher. After the parent e-mail mes-

sage is opened by the teacher the path is clear for all future messages.


KITCHEN TIDBITS

Back by popular demand, the visiting chef will be coming to your building for breakfast on April 17th. He will be cooking up the Mustang Slam (scrambled eggs, sausage, and French toast sticks). Please visit the cafeteria for breakfast that morning to enjoy a fresh, warm breakfast and see the chef in action.

April

COMMUNITY FITNESS—SWSD Adult Education Classes

Zumba, Aqua Zumba, Community Swim, Open Volleyball. Get Moving, Get Exercising!

Visit www.swsd.k12.pa.us for more details about adult education classes at South Western

School District

CALENDAR CHANGE—SNOW/ICE MAKE UP DAYS

Thursday, April 17, 2014 will be our second School Make-up day. Mon-

day, March 31, 2014 will be our third School Make-up day. Monday,

April 21, 2014 will be our fourth School Make-up day. Friday, June 6,

2014 will be our final make up day with Wednesday, June 4, 2014 being

a full day for students and Thursday, June 5th & Friday, June 6th being

early dismissal days. School will be in session on these days. This is due to the

school closing on January 3, January 21, February 3, 5, 13, and 14 due to snow.

Please adjust your school calendars to reflect these changes. Thank you.

APRIL CALENDAR OF EVENTS

May—1 AG Lab

May—2 AG Lab

Grade 4 visits Utz Terrace

Family Science Night, 6-9 PM

May—3 West Manheim PTO Community Yard

Sale

May—5 Spirit Day—Wear Project Harmony t-

shirt or black and white

May—6 PAC Meeting, 2:30-3:30 PM

Grade 2 Portfolio Night, 6-7 PM

May 7 & 8 West Manheim Kindergarten

Registration, 8-3:30 PM

May—7 WM PTO Market Day Pick up, 7-8 PM

May—10 Grade 5 Washington, D.C. Trip

May 12-16 Children’s Book Week

May—12 Skateboard Science Assembly

May—13 WM PTO Meeting, 6:30 PM, WM

Troubadours to perform

May—14 WM PTO BOGO Book Fair

Jump Rope Assembly

School Board Planning Meeting, 7-9 PM,

at Admin.


May—15 Grade 1 to Catactin Zoo

Grade 3 to Health Fair


Spirit Day—Wear WM T-shirt or blue

and yellow


April—1 PSSA Reading for Grades 3, 4, 5

Spirit Day—Roll Reversal: Teachers

dress as students and students dress as teachers.

April—2 PSSA Math for Grades 3, 4, 5

WM PTO Market Day Pick up, 7-8 PM

April—3 PSSA Reading for Grades 3, 4, 5

Girls Night Out, 6-8:45 PM, at EHMIS

April—4 WM Grandparent’s Day

After School Bowling, 2:30-5:15 PM

April—8 Spirit Day—Wear Project Harmony t-shirt or black and white

PSSA Writing for Grade 5

WM PTO Meeting, 6:30-7:30 PM

April—9 PSSA Writing for Grade 5

Grade 2 trip to Whitaker Ctr.

PAC Meeting, 2:30 –3:30 PM

West Manheim Art Fair, 6:30-8 PM

School Board Mtg., 7-9 PM at Admin.

April—10 PSSA Writing for Grade 5

April—11 Star Day—Wear Yellow or clothing with stars on them.


April—13 National Library Week

April—14 Open Library night, Grades K-2, 6-7:30 PM

April—15 Open Library night, Grades 3-5, 6-7:30 PM

April—16 Talent Show Rehearsal, 6-8:30 PM

April—17 Schools are Open—Second Snow Make Up Day

Project Harmony Assembly

April—18 Schools Closed

April—19 West Manheim PTO Skating Party, at Magic Elm, 4:30-6:30 PM

April—21 Schools are Open—Fourth Snow Make Up Day

April—22 Spirit Day—Wear Earth Tone Colors

Elementary Open House, 9 AM and 7 PM

April—23 School Board Mtg., 7-9 PM at Admin.

April—24 & 25 West Manheim PTO Talent Showcase, 6-8:30 PM

April—25 Spirit Day—Wear WM T-shirt or blue and yellow


April—28 AG Lab

PSSA Science for Grade 4

April—29 AG Lab


April—30 AG Lab


LOOKING AHEAD - MAY/JUNE DATES TO REMEMBER

May—16 Gym-O-Ree

May—19 WM Music Fest, 7-8 PM

May—22 Grade 5 to Dutch Apple Dinner

Theatre

May—23 “Special” Spirit Day—Dress as Art,

Music, Phys. Ed., or Library teacher

May—26 Schools Closed

May—27 Spirit Day—Wear Red, White & Blue

No school for current Kindergarten

students

Kindergarten Visitation for Incoming

new students

May—28 School Board Meeting, 7 PM, at

Admin.

May—29 Kindergarten to East Woods

May—30 Spirit Day—Wear WM T-shirt or blue

and yellow

WM PTO Carnival, 6-9 PM

May—31 WM PTO Carnival Raindate

June—3 Spirit Day—Wear Project harmony T-

shirt

WM PTO Board Meeting, 6:30-7:30

PM

June—4 Full Day of School for Students

K-11 (Early Dismissal Canceled)

WM PTO Market Day Pick up, 7-8 PM

June—5 Early Dismissal for Elementary at

12:30 PM

June—6 Early Dismissal for Elementary at

12:30 PM

West Manheim April 2014 Newsletter

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