Book Fair – FANTASTIC

November 14-19, 2011 Marshall School’s Book Fair: 

Reading is Out of this World!

 

This year’s Book Fair at Marshall School was fantastic.  The theme was “To the Book Fair and Beyond:  Reading is Out of this World!” which created excitement for the children as we reminded them to seek out their dreams and reach for the stars.   Sonya Selig and her beyond creative mind crafted a Welcome alien, and an overall fun outer space environment in our beloved library.   Displayed on the wall in the library was a collection of children’s goals and dreams written out on neon colored paper stars.   Children voted for what Dr. Allen should dress up as, Alien or Robot; and, sure enough the children enjoyed seeing their principal as an Alien for the day!    During their normal library session students created their “wish lists” for books they hoped would be purchased by their parents and caregivers.  The teachers and school staff also browsed and created wish lists of books that could be purchased by students as a gift to their class.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The Book Fair remains another successful fundraiser, grossing sales at approximately $20,000, and yielding about $5,000 for the PTA.

Thank you to all the parents and teachers who purchased books!

While a special thank you goes out to our 2011 Book Fair Chairs:  Amy Cummings, Carol Fardin and Sonya Selig, this week-long event would never have been this successful without the help of story-telling teachers, and the following Marshall school parents:

• Agi Pines, Alexandra Guerrieri, Amy Dixon, Anastasia Knipe, Audrey Kosienski, Bill Byrne, Carrie Thorpe, Cathy Rowe, Cevil Joyce, Christel Hyden, Cindy Tarollo, Connie Thompson, Courtney Viar, Danette McBride, David Gold, Dawn Walsh, DawnYoselowitz, Deanna Marek, Delores Mae, Diliri Borunda, Eileen Neri, Elaine Butkus, Elena Svitasky, Francoise Mosteiro, Heather Evans, Heather Horoschak, Heather Silvestri, Helen Donaldson, Hilary Andreini, Hilary McNulty, Holly McGhee, Jane Kampner, Jane Zevon, Jen Greely, Jen Paganini, Jessamym Tabkin, Jessica Hogan, Jiming Liang, Jocelyn Ryan, Joi Brown, Jolie Verdun, Katherine Kenney, Kathy Greenstone, Kristen Lopos, Krystina Mahoney, Lara Pennington,Latasha Upshaw, Laura Brenden, Laura Farrell, Lil DeFranco, Lilian Nash, Lisa Marie Murray, Magui Spilberg, Mary Conway, Mary Ellen Dawkins, Maura Bigelow, Mim Farley, Mitchell Hecker, Naheli Hadi, Nancy Amar, Noelle H, Patricia Mallory-Maih, Paula Marchese, Philip Cohen, Rani Doyle, Robyn Friedman, Romy Nesin, Sabine Hack,, Shawna Ergin, Sherri McKenstone, Sherrie Mannion, Shreni Zinzwurdia, Sonya LeCount-Maclanahan, Stephanie Canon, Susan Lopez, Susan Sheridan, Susannah Williams, Tanya Meda, Tricia Benn, Zena Hardy

 

MARSHALL MOVIE DAY

SAVE THE DATE! Marshall Movie Day presents

OUR FRIEND, MARTIN

Monday, January 16, 2012 at 10:30am $7.00 per person

(Preorders only)

Join us in commemorating the life and vision of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at Marshall Movie Day.

The viewing will be held at SOPAC Theaters.

Our Friend, Martin is an EMMY nominated children’s educational film about Martin Luther King, Jr. and the American civil rights movement.

***********************************************************************************************************************

Name: _________________________________            phone #: ___________________ Email: ___________________________ Child’s Name (if applicable): _________________ School and Grade (if applicable): _______________________________ #of tickets: _______ ______ Total enclosed: $____________ (if financial assistance needed, please contact Dr. Allen)

Please RSVP to Stephanie Dowling via Mae in Mrs. Wyche/Simandl’s class or mail to Marshall Movie Day, c/o Marshall School 262 Grove Road, South Orange, NJ 07079. Questions about event? Delores Mae at dwmae@yahoo.com

NOVEMBER VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT

Marshall Volunteer Spotlight for Nov 2011

Name:

Dina Pearlman (AKA Benjamin Schwartz’ mom)

Duties:

I’m a weekly Lunch Volunteer helping Lunch Monitors set up, dispensing hand sanitizer and encouraging children to eat their lunches in a timely fashion with my upbeat personality and pep.

How much time does the job require?

35 adorable minutes per week.

Favorite part?

The look on my son’s face when he first sees me.  He’s always so happy!  Will it be this way in ten years when I turn up at his school?  Not likely….  ”Oh, no… not HER…”  I also enjoy helping one particular little boy open his Fiber One bar and it’s always funny explaining the concept of the “spork”.  Plus Ms. Cannedy (Lunch Monitor) is always a lot of fun.

Would you recommend this job to others?

I would recommend Lunch Volunteer because you’ll get to see your child relating with their friends; you’ll get to know the kids in the class, the Lunch Monitors and maybe some of the other parents, and you even get to interact with your child’s teacher. You’ll see your child’s artwork on the walls.  Also, it’s always interesting to see what other parents pack for lunch.  Mac and cheese in a thermos!  Who knew?!

What have you learned about the Marshall community?

The Marshall community is a very energized, enthusiastic and responsive group. When something came up and I could not make it in for my regular Lunch Volunteer slot, I simply put a call out to the other volunteers and within minutes someone offered to fill in for me. Lunch Volunteers have each other’s backs.

MARSHALL BOOK FAIR NOV 14-19

Click on  Book Fair to print out form and enlarge

BOOKS AND BAGEL BREAKFAST

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Our Book and Bagel Breakfast was a great success thanks to all who attended and all the wonderful moms who helped make it so!  My sincere and heartfelt thanks to Delores May who spearheaded the morning, and to Mary Ellen Dawkins, Dannette McBride, Janice Taylor, Andrea Lloyd, and Zena Hardy for all of their hard work, time and efforts on behalf of Marshall, including being willing to be up so early on a Saturday. (And, for helping me to keep calm throughout!)   It was lovely to meet all the parents who attended; thank you for your time.  If you have any additional questions about what was presented, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me: jpoutre@somsd.k12.nj.us, or 973-378-7698.

News from the Art Room….

Move Over Famous Artists…

Marshall Elementary School artists are taking over the spotlight!

Art work is gradually being added to the Marshall School galleries on Artsonia.com.  This is a time consuming process, but the goal is to have one art work per student posted by the end of November. Your patience will be rewarded with some amazing student creations!

Anyone can view the school gallery online at: www.artsonia.com/schools/Marshall17.  For a student’s art work to be visible a parental permission slip must be submitted. Once the permission slip is returned it is logged into the website and a security key is generated and sent to the email submitted on the permission slip. If you did not receive an email with your security key it is possible that it might have ended up in your Spam folder or I made an error entering your email as it must be done manually. I also have access to all security keys if that email has not made its way to you.

So far we have approximately 370 out of 488 students registered and more coming in every day…be sure to return the purple permission slip as soon as possible!

 

FUNDRAISER

 

LIVE YOUR DREAM OUT LOUD 

Mark your calendars for a winter party! Saturday, January 21^st we will host Marshall’s first Living Your Dream Out Loud fundraiser!

 

Ever dreamed of being a comedian, rock star, actor, poet… well now is your chance! Join us for a fun evening of performances by your very own Marshall community of parents who have always dreamed of doing something but never got the chance. Come eat, drink, laugh and be entertained- all benefiting your community school!  On January 21^st, we will host Marshall’s first ever Living Your Dream Out Loud fundraiser showcasing the incredible talent that exists right here in our own school. This is your chance to dream out loud and be supported by your community.  So start thinking about your performance now and let your imagination run wild. We need your talent!

 

This is your chance to fulfill that dream that has never gone away.

Holiday Breakfast

Marshall Teacher and Staff Holiday Breakfast:

On Friday, December 16^th the Marshall PTA will host the annual Teacher and Staff Holiday Breakfast. This is a much appreciated event at a busy time of year. If you are interested in baking a breakfast item for our wonderful Marshall staff or in helping with set-up, serving or clean-up, please contact Erika January at ewjanuary@yahoo.com.

PRINCIPAL’S ROUNDTABLE

 

 

The first Principal’s Roundtable with Dr. Allen, which addressed the topic ”School’s Open: Now What”, was held on Wednesday, September 21 in the Cafetorium.  Dr. Allen opened the discussion, attended by approximately 35 Marshall parents and guardians, with about 10 to 15 minutes of remarks, during which she touched upon topics such as the new bullying policy, the first day of school, lunchtime and school security.  Dr. Allen let parents know that she was open to hearing suggestions.  The 45-50 minute question/answer period that followed, whereby attendees submitted questions to the moderators on note cards who then posed the questions to Dr. Allen, prompted a lively discussion with Dr. Allen.   Topics initiated by parents included, among other things, the first day of school, cars in the parking lot at drop off, issues on the school buses, the new bullying policy, and blacktop line-up.  In addition to addressing the specific questions read by the moderators, Dr. Allen took follow-up questions from the parents.

 

Four topics dominated the discussion:  behavior on the school buses, cars in the parking lot at drop off, anti-bullying rules and the first day of school. .

 

Parents raised the issue of unkind treatment of students on the bus, often resulting in students denying others’ seats.  As a direct result of the ensuing conversation, Dr. Allen immediately took action, and at the school-wide assembly on Monday, introduced a new bus policy whereby students must take the first available seat on the bus and slide over to let others’ sit.  She also has requested that the bus drivers be instructed to remind students of this new policy.  This information is detailed in the purple flyer that was sent home in the students’ backpack this week.  Parents also expressed deep concern about the danger of cars in the parking lot and around school during drop-off in the morning.  Dr. Allen also immediately addressed that issue by starting the process of securing a police barrier that blocks entry to the rear parking lot and also in the purple flyer, asks parents to utilize Turrell Avenue for drop-off.

 

The topic that seemed to be on the mind of most of the attendees, and which they desired to address with Dr. Allen, focused on improving the logistics and organization of the first day of school.  Many parents expressed frustration and concern, noting the negative effect the first day had on their children and themselves.  Dr. Allen responded that she had a different view of the first day, indicating that although it was not perfect, she thought it went well.  Parents offered multiple concrete suggestions, including communicating with parents the detailed logistics for the first day, prior to the first day of school; creating a committee to help plan and implement changes for the future; having color-coded lines on the black-top; communicating to parents a rain contingency plan for the first day; having a kindergarten visit to the classroom prior to the first day; increasing the number of bus monitors from the buses to the black-top; and affixing to each child, their name, teacher and line number.  Dr Allen also informed the parents that to help with the confusion of the young kindergartners getting to the black-top from their buses, the bus monitors are now instructing the older students to lead the way.

 

Parents also asked for clarification on the new NJ anti-bullying act, and Marshall’s anti-bullying effort, which Dr. Allen indicated will be an important component of school policy this year and going forward.  There was discussion regarding when a bullying report should be filed and what happens in the event of over reporting.  Parents asked how to advise their children to handle potential bullying situations when there is no teacher present, such as on the bus.  Other parents commented that students should have an understanding of the anti-bullying rules at a level they can understand.  Dr. Allen said she plans to discuss “kindness” at the next school assembly.

 

The next Principal’s Roundtable is scheduled for Wednesday, November 16 at 7pm in the Cafetorium.

THANK YOU

Dear Marshall Families –

We hope September was a great month for everyone. We want to thank everyone who volunteered and/or participated in all of the special programs/events and fundraising activities during the month of September. We would not be able to do it without all of our great parent volunteers!

Thank you, Dr. Allen for graciously giving your time at the Principal’s Roundtable.  Additionally, thanks for following up and addressing concerns raised by parents.

We would also like to thank all administration, teachers, staff, and lunch aides. We also thank and welcome back Mrs. Scates and Mrs. Merrigan to the PTA Board.

This month the PTA will be sponsoring several events designed to continue building a strong sense of Marshall Community. The grade-specific International Pot Luck meals will kick off on Friday, October 14^th with the Kindergarten Fiesta. The Second Grade/Multi-age and First Grade Fiestas will take place on October 28^th and November 4^th, respectively. We hope you will bring the entire family and spend time with other families from your child’s grade.

The Book and Bagel Breakfast is another great event we will be co-hosting with Mrs. Poutre, the new Librarian, on October 22nd. It is open for all families new to Marshall.  Students will enjoy different activities while parents/guardians learn how to instill the love of reading in their children. Please look in your child’s backpack for more information this week.

The next PTA meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 19^th at 7:30 pm. Please feel free to attend. There will be an “open microphone” portion of the meeting in which parents/guardians will have an opportunity to speak. We welcome any ideas and/or suggestions.

Please feel free to contact us with any questions or ideas you have for the PTA!

Warmly,

Zena and Mary Ellen

PTA Co-Presidents