May 2008

From the Principal's Perspective

We Love our Volunteers!

                     Thank you for Appreciating our Wonderful Teachers ! !

We have six weeks of school left.  That’s one-half of a marking period.  Please help us stay the course as activities, both in and out of school, try to draw our attention away from our number one priority: teaching and learning!

The following are just some of the events occurring in May:

·          Kindergarten Registration – Friday, May 2nd

·          Teacher Appreciation Week – May 5 - 9

·          Field Day – Friday, May 16th (raindate 5/22)

·          Teacher Recognition Dinner – Richlin Ballroom - Tuesday, May 6th

·          PTA Meeting – Tuesday May 13th – 7:00 p.m.

·          5th Graders visit NHMS – May 12th

·          Citizens’ Advisory Committee – May 15th – 9:00 a.m.

·          Early Dismissal – Friday, May 23rd

·          Book Fair – May 20-23

·          Choral Concert – Thursday, May 15th

·          Band and Strings Concert – Wednesday, May 28th

·          Art Show – May 15th and 28th

·          SCHOOLS CLOSED MAY 26TH – MEMORIAL DAY

All of these activities are directly related to our educational program and to the positive climate and environment in which our children learn.  I look forward to seeing many of you at many of the events.  I appreciate that you will continue to remind your children of appropriate behavior during special as well as routine events.

That’s the good news.  Now for the rest of the story:  as a result of cuts to the requested budget of the Board of Education, Elementary Schools have suffered a 28 teacher reduction in staffing.  Norrisville Elementary has been impacted by these cuts.  I am sad to report that Jessica Keller, who has done an outstanding job in third grade this year, will be administratively transferred – SHE STILL HAS A TEACHING POSITION. Class sizes dictate that there will be only one First Grade during the 08-09 school year.  I have decided at this time, based on all current information, to assign Ms. Fritz to Second Grade and Mrs. Swanenburg to Third Grade for the 08-09 school year.  This will have obvious impact on our grouping this spring.  Let me assure you that, as a school, all of our teachers are committed to providing an educational environment that:

 * Is Nurturing yet Stimulating.

       * Promotes Home School Communication (notes, phone calls, e-mails answered within two school days).

 * Provides positive reinforcement as appropriate.

I know that you will continue to support our teachers and our school as we deal with the challenges that this reduction presents.

When I suggested the possibility of forming a Citizens’ Advisory Committee at the last PTA meeting, I did not know that we would be facing these – and possibly additional – cuts.  The purpose of our first meeting will be to determine topics of future discussion.  Our conversation will include the impact of Federal, State, and Local budgets, as well as Maryland State and Harford County Board of Education expectations on our school programs.  If you would like to attend the meeting on May 15th at 9:00 a.m., please RSVP to Mrs. Morris at 410-692-7810.  I must stress that the purpose of this meeting is not to discuss my decisions about student or teacher placements, but about programs that are available and how they are funded.

Duane Wallace
PRINCIPAL

The Harford County Public School System does not discriminate on the basis or race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, or disability in matters affecting employment or in providing access to programs. Inquiries related to the policies of the Board of Education of Harford County should be directed to the Director of Public Information, 410-588-5203.

PTA News

Can you believe the school year is almost over?  However, we still have lots of work to do over the next six weeks. Please consider participating in our current United Script program. This is an easy way to help our school raise funds while not purchasing anything extra, simply purchasing gift cards for the things that you already use on a day to day basis.  Please feel free to contact me if you have any new fundraising ideas for next year as well. 

Congratulations to Kim Tulp on becoming the PTA Secretary for the next two years.  Thank you to Mitzi Webster and her committee for their hard work and commitment on the Patriot Program.

Thanks to everyone for your support of the PTA sponsored activities thus far. The funds we raise are crucial to the success of the programs for our children, as well as our new playground project! If you have some time and are interested in helping in any of the PTA sponsored activities, please contact me or the committee chairperson.

I hope you take the time to read through the newsletter, mark your calendars and help out where you can.  Remember to visit our website at www.norrisville.org for the latest updates and PTA news. Please feel free to sign up on the website to have the newsletter and other PTA related updates emailed to you.

Ernie Preston
epreston@ddogcom.com
PTA President
410-692-2172

March 11, 2008 PTA Meeting Minutes
Attendance:  Julie Marindin, Darlene Sullivan, Scott Grove, Lynne Smith, Dayna Kilduff, Rebecca Rommelman, Kim Tulp, Diane Murk, Mitzi Webster, Missie Berrell, Susan Birchfield, Duane Wallace

Old/New Business:

*Kim Tulp will be filling the position of PTA Secretary for the next two years.  Many thanks to Kim for serving our school.

*Spring Skate Night was a big success.  We had over 90 skaters in attendance.  Thanks to Tracey Grumbach for organizing this fun event.

*United Script will run from April 28 to May 7.  Please consider supporting this fundraiser.

*Thanks to Mitzi Webster for organizing another successful Patriot Program!

*May 13 will be the next PTA meeting.  All are welcomed and encouraged to attend.

*Olympic Day will be on May 16.  Stay tuned for more information from Mrs. Berrell in the coming days.

Adjourned:  7:55 pm

Respectfully Submitted,
Susan Birchfield, NES Secretary

May PTA Meeting
The next PTA meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 13th at 7:00 p.m. in the Norrisville Elementary School Library.  This is the last PTA meeting for this school year.  All officers, committee chairpersons and co-chairpersons are asked to attend. The meeting is open to ALL who are interested and we welcome your attendance. For those committees who have activities in May/June, your presence is especially important. If you are unable to attend, please call or send an update before the meeting to Ernie Preston.

The deadline to submit information for the June newsletter is May 25, 2008. Please send NEWSLETTER entries/updates to Patty Preston. 

Upcoming Events, Updates and Help Wanted

www.norrisville.org: As we move forward with technology, it will become easier than ever before to access NES updates. We will be updating our site by posting current events, modifications, and general information pertaining to our school.

In addition, www.norrisville.org is our PTA website. You can find the latest PTA Newsletter, information about our committees, Artwork, helpful links to online learning databases and much more. Contact information for PTA officers and NES faculty is located on our website under the 'Contact Us' link. We encourage you to use this method to communicate with us. You can also sign up for important notifications (including the monthly PTA Newsletter) via email-just enter your information under the 'Join the Norrisville Elementary School PTA Email List' section. Your email address will not be shared with outside organizations. This is an effective way to communicate important information to our community of parents and teachers.

Book Fair:  The Spring Buy One Get One Free Scholastic Book Fair will be the week of May 19th. Class schedule is listed below. Feel free to stop by and help your student select new books.

Classroom Visitation Schedule:

		Tuesday		Wednesday	Thursday
		May 20th		May 21st		May 22th
	 	 				(Buyers Only)
9:00 - 9:30	Keller		Marecki	 
9:30 - 10:00	Blalock		Keller	 
10:00 - 10:30	Breiner		Breiner		Kilker
10:30 - 11:00	Wimer		Swanenberg	Mundle/Frome
11:00 - 11:30	Frome	 			Marecki
11:30 - 12:00	Swanenberg	Fritz/Blalock	Blalock
12:00 - 12:30	Thomas		Wimer		Breiner
12:30 - 1:00	Grove		Grove		Grove/Wimer
1:00 - 1:30	Mundle		Mundle		Keller
1:30 - 2:00	Marecki		Thomas		Thomas
2:00 - 2:30	Fritz		Frome		Swanenberg
2:30 - 3:00	Kilker		Kilker		Fritz

 		Friday
		May 23rd
		(Buyers Only)
9:00 - 9:15	Grove/Wimer
9:15 - 9:30	Kilker/Swanenberg
9:30 - 9:45	Blalock
9:45 - 10:00	Mundle/Frome
10:00 - 10:15	Marecki/Breiner
10:15 - 10:30	Keller
10:30 - 10:45	Fritz/Thomas

Book fair hours:
12 PM – 3PM     Mon, May 19th                   Teacher Preview
9 AM – 3 PM      Tues, May 20th                  Student Preview/Purchase
6 PM – 8 PM       Tues, May 20th                  Evening Hours & Klutz Build a Book Event
9 AM – 3 PM      Wed, May 21st                   All Students Day
9 AM – 3 PM      Thurs, May 22nd                 Buyers only
9 AM – 11 AM    Fri, May 23rd                      Buyers only

Lisa Kendall-Murray will be leading the first KLUTZ Build A Book event on the evening of Tuesday, May 20th from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm. Parents would work with their child(ren) to build a one of a kind book to take home. The kits are $6.95 for a 4” x 4” wire bound 10-page book and includes a double-tipped pen, glue stick, googly eyes, assorted foam shapes and a selection of specialty papers. (The larger kits were just discontinued.) Please call me to reserve a kit for your kids, we want to be sure to have enough kits on hand.

New this sale, we will be accepting credit cards.

Scholastic offers inventory liquidation warehouse sales near the end of each school year. Based on my experience from a different state, these sales offer phenomenal deals. (Shoppers typically use rolling shopping carts rather than hand baskets to collect purchases.) The nearest warehouses are in Odenton, MD or Middletown, PA. Check the website below for location specific operating hours and details.

http://www.scholastic.com/bookfairs/events/warehouse/

For any questions or to reserve a kit at the KLUTZ Build A Book event, call Valerie Hartman.

Field Day/Olympic Day: Scheduled for Friday May 16, 2008 with a rain date of Friday, May 22, 2008.  Students will be outside in the morning and afternoon.  Water bottles will be provided, please apply sunscreen to your students that morning.  Parents feel free to come and watch our Norrisville Athletes.  Any questions, please contact Kim Tulp 410-399-0333, or email kimberly_tulp@yahoo.com.

GIANT A+ School Rewards/Bonus Bucks:  The Giant Bonus Bucks program has concluded for this school year and we earned $547.00 in Giant Rewards just for shopping at Giant!  Thank you to all who registered their bonus card this year.

2008 Patriot Assembly:  Norrisville Elementary celebrated the 2008 Assembly with a packed auditorium to congratulate our 30 fifth grade students who have completed the Program K-5th grade.  We had a total of 150 students successfully complete the requirements for their grade - and we recognized each of them.  We had some local county officials that joined in the celebration by sharing a few words and giving each of our 5ht grade students a Certificate from their office.  The 5th grade students also received a flag from the PTA for the accomplishment!  We’re proud of all of the following students for having completed the Patriot Program this year.

5th Grade
Emma Beck	Stephanie Hanus	Sydney Newlon
Kara Becker	Cierra Hovermill	Hunter Pomraning
Jacob Birchfield	Gabrielle Karr	Alyson Scholz            
Michael Boley	Noah League	Grace Sexton
Ben DiBastiani	Wade McCartin III	Branson Smith
Colton Geiger	Casey Melefsky	Quinton Smith
Alex Giordano	Hannah Miller	Daina Sullivan
Heather Greer	Seth Miller		Patrick Sweeney
Rachael Griffin	Lauren Murk	Hayden Tranter
Tyler Grumbach	Joshua Nagengast	Michaela Willenburg
 

4th Grade
Ashley Arnold	Christopher Hare	Macey Rommelman
Jacob Bayer	Sophia Hodiste	Jenna Smith
David Boegner 	Christopher Hoffman	Ashley Tillman
Brandon Demski	Allison Kettell	Mikaela Tillman
Kassie Dieter	Kelsey Mangin	Cory Townsend
Perri Friedel	Grace Marecki	Jessica Webster
Bobby Gay		Zachary Mullen	Christopher Weir
Cidney Gray	Elliott Preston	
 

3rd Grade
Kierra Baltimore	Brett Friedel	Aidan McGovern
Win Berrell		Ashley Gabor	Jacob Meadows
Hannah Blosser	Paul Gettier	Josue Mutombo
William Breiner	Tyler Giordano	Wyatt Ortman
Julia Cook		Brenna Grumbach	Bobby Otto
Kasie Crowther	Grant Harvey	Grace Patsche
Kirsten DiBastiani	Melanie Hemling	Anthony Poe
Castine Donoff	Noah Hollingsworth	Brandon Wilkinson
 

2nd Grade
David Aiken	Drew Colquitt	Kaitlyn Murk
Haleigh Ayres	Lauryn Demski	Jarrett Newlon
Matthew Breiner	Jacob Hartman	William Pappas
Ethan Beck	Autumn Hodiste	Chad Rogers
Bethany Birchfield	Anna Jeric		Jacob Schouten
Paul Boegner	Kate Kettell	Ben Sexton
Matthew Breiner	Aerionna Long	Franklin Shields
Hanna Cochran	Kayla Mangin	Sarah Wood
Julia Cochran	Natalie Mullen	Shelbie Woods
 

1st Grade
Clayton Allred	Jared Hedrick	Alyssa Marks
Wyatt Biensach	Mackenzie Hildt	Lila Murray
Joshua Blosser	Joseph Hood	Dustin Otto
James Burnley	Alanna Hutton	Will Patsche
Audrey Dick	Will Kettell		Garrett Pigg
Savannah Dieter	Phallon Kilduff	Andrew Preston
Jack Ettenhofer	Hunter Kurgan	Eliza Rommelman
Jacob Gast		Josh McElwain	Sydney Tulp
Sierra Giordano	Henri Marindin	Tallon Virts
Stephanie Glinksy
 

Kindergarten
Drew Bauerle	Kelsey Knight	Caleb Maffei Stein
Mark Boegner	Charlotte McElwain	Jackson Stoekstill
Taylor Cook	Christopher Pappas	Ethan Walters
Cole Ettenhofer	Nicholas Pappas	Sierra Warfield
Christopher Gettier	Nicholas Robinson	Matthew Weir
Spencer Hartman	Lucas Sexton

Thanks to all who make this such a successful Program and the PTA look forward to another successful year in 2008-2009.  Any questions about the Program, please call Mitzi Webster at 410-692-0435.

School Store: The school store will be closing for the year on Friday, May 23.  Thanks to all of the children who stopped in to purchase supplies.  A special thanks to Anne Willenburg, Kelli Ashe, Darlene Sullivan, and Patty Aiken for coming in each week to help the kids run the store.  A gigantic thank you goes out to the two 5th graders who ran the store...Ben DiBastiani and Brandon Montufar.  Great job, boys!  The school store will reopen in September!  See you then!

UnitedScrip:  Everyone loves receiving gift cards right?  We will be accepting UnitedScrip gift card program orders thru Wednesday, 5/7.  Why not let us do your shopping for gift cards?  Think about your regular purchases for groceries, gas, movies as well as special occasions coming up for the summer.  Remember, you are paying face value for the gift card just like you would at a retail store.  There are a ton of places to choose from and you don’t have to spend the gas money to go buy them!  Cards are usually delivered within 2 weeks after orders are submitted. Contact Patty Preston 410-692-2172 if you have questions.

Other Notes:  The 1^st grade team would like to thank Benjamin’s Landing for visiting our 1^st grade students in April to conduct an educational workshop where the students learned about plants and flowers and planted bulbs for a special Mother’s Day surprise.  The children had a great time! 

NES News and Info

IMPORTANT DATES:

·          May 2 – Kindergarten Registration

·          May 5-9 – Teacher Appreciation Week

·          May 6 – PTA Meeting 7:00 p.m.

·          May 7 – United Scrip Gift Card Orders Due

·          May 12 - 5th Graders visit NHMS

·          May 15 – Citizen’s Advisory Committee Meeting 9:00 a.m.

·          May 15 – Choral Concert 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

·          May 15 & 28 – Art Show

·          May 16 – Field Day/Olympic Day (Rain date 5/22)

·          May 20-23 – Spring Book Fair

·          May 23 – Early Dismissal 1:00 p.m.

·          May 26 – Memorial Day, Schools Closed

·          May 28 – Band and Strings Concert 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

·          June 6 - Carnival

2008-2009 Kindergarten Registration:  It is that time of year again, Kindergarten Round-Up!  We are beginning our yearly search for boys and girls born on or before September 1, 2003.  If you have or know of a child who will turn 5 years of age before September 1st, you are urged to let us know.  We are compiling the list of the new kindergarten pupils for the 2008-2009 school year.  Pre-registration information will be sent to you during the month of April.  If you have a child who was born September 2, 2002, through September 1, 2003, or know of a neighbor who has a child, please use this form.  Fill it out and send it or bring it to the school office.  If you are considering sending your child to a private facility or considering a maturity waiver, you must notify the school to have proper forms completed since Kindergarten is mandatory.  Kindergarten registration will be held on May 2nd.  You will receive pre-registration information during the month of April.

www.schools-out.com "School's Out" provides a free public service that notifies parents of emergency school closures, delays, cancellations, or schedule changes. The School's Out website is tied directly to the school administration and is updated by their own authorized personnel.

Please take the time to enroll at www.schools-out.com. You will be given the option of simply logging on to their site to gather school details, or having those details e-mailed directly to you free of charge.

Other Community News

2008 Strawberry Festival
Seeking Artists and Crafters!

The Norrisville Arts Program is gearing up for it's annual fundraiser to be held Sunday, June 1st at the Norrisville Recreation Fields. All artists and crafters interested in having a booth should visit http://www.norrisvillearts.org/ and click on the festival page for a registration form and instructions.

This is a wonderful day in Norrisville!! Please mark your calendars, tell your friends, and plan to join us for art, crafts, live music, great food, and lots of family fun!!!  Questions? Call Stacey Tranter at 410-692-5104.

Eden Mill Open House and Re-dedication Event: Saturday, June 7, 2008  10:00 AM - 2:00 PM Rain or Shine.  Stop by for Tours of the Historic Mill, Renovated Nature Center, and Guided Nature Hikes.  There will also be environmental and historical organizations from the local area on display, face painting, crafts and live animals on display!  Bring a picnic lunch or concessions will be available.  Check out edenmill.org for more information.

Annual Fallston American Cancer Society “RELAY FOR LIFE”:

Hello Norrisville Families,
Saturday, June 6th-7th, beginning at 7pm, is the annual Fallston American Cancer Society “RELAY FOR LIFE.”  This is a 12-hour event organized to raise funds and AWARENESS in the fight against cancer.  I have organized a team, called the Jumpin Jaguars, to participate in this walk.  If you are unfamiliar with this event, the general concept is that at least ONE person (or all) from your team must be walking the track for the entire 12-hour period.  Prior to the walk, you do as much fundraising as possible – get your friends and family to SPONSOR your efforts.  It’s a LOT of fun!!  There are games, concessions, music, themed-laps, and much more.  This is a FAMILY event so plan on camping out with your kids and friends for hours of spirit-filled activities and WALKING!  Please take a moment to read further about the event and make a commitment to walk with us!

Website: www.fallstonrelay.org

To JOIN our team: Click “Join a Team”, Team Name: Jumpin Jaguars (Team Captain: Nicole Giordano)

** If you think you can put together a team of 12 or more people, please start your OWN TEAM and reserve a campsite near OURS (#28)!!  I'm really hoping that we can have LOTS OF NORRISVILLE families participating in this event!!

If you have any questions, please contact:

Nicky Giordano  410-692-5519 or email: franknicky3@msn.com