March 2008 Newsletter

New York State Assessments
New York State Mathematics Assessment which will be given to all 3rd, 4th, and 5th gr. students during the week of March 3 –7.
     · Grades 3 & 5 will take parts 1 & 2 on Monday, 3/3 and Tuesday, 3/4
     · Grade 4 will take parts 1, 2 & 3 on Wednesday, 3/5, Thursday, 3/6 and        Friday, 3/7
     · Make-up testing will take place during the week of March 10.

Dental Health Month
Ms. Judith Dember -Paige, author and dental hygienist, as well as local community member, has written a new book, Smile Wide Look Inside: Nicole’s Trip to the Dental Office. Ms. Dember-Paige’s book tells the story of a child’s visit with a dentist, explaining in terms children can understand. Local dentist, Colleen Watson will be visiting our school this month to discuss oral hygiene.

Destination Imagination
On Saturday, March 1st, the GW Destination Imagination team competed in the DI Regional Competition in Yorktown. Peter Pizzolongo, Nikolas Velez, Afoma Madueabuna, Akshay Karve, Samantha Stretz, Tyler Barbaretti, and Nancy Champagne diligently solved the problem entitled, Obstacles, Of Course! Together, they used their imagination to create a vehicle, an obstacle course and a nonverbal story about overcoming obstacles. Great work,
GW’s Extreme Team!

Appropriate Dress for Spring Weather
The weather is always tricky this time of year. We can often continue to have cooler mornings, so please make sure that your child wears a jacket, a sweater, or something that will keep him or her comfortable during the chilly mornings. At the same time, the days are warming up as we move closer to May and June.

     · Shorts are permitted; however, parents please help out by asking your        children to save spaghetti strapped tops, blousy tank tops, mid-riff tops,        and other “extremely casual clothes” for the weekends or after-school.
     · In addition, backless sandals, flip-flops and platform shoes could be        dangerous when your child is playing outside during recess; we highly        discourage wearing these types of shoes to school.
     · We appreciate your help!

Absences
If your child is sick, it is most appropriate to keep him/her home. A child who is sick will not be able to perform well in school and is likely to spread the illness to others. You should not send your child to school if he /she has had fever, vomiting or diarrhea in the past 24 hours, ear pain, or conjunctivitis that has not been treated. A child must be on antibiotics for 24 hours if diagnosed with strep throat. Please keep your child home for 24 hours after a fever has returned to normal for his/her protection as well as the protection of other students and staff.
Absences must be called in daily. When your child returns to school, a written explanation for all absences including dates must be sent to your child’s teacher.

No Junk Food Week
March is National Nutrition Month and our school will be participating in NO JUNK FOOD WEEK. This is a nutrition awareness program sponsored by the Westchester County Department of Health. Your child will receive a contract, on which they will write one healthy snack they eat each day. Parents, please sign for each day with your child. On the back of the contract, please take note of the sampling of healthy snack alternatives. This will help raise awareness of what to snack on and what not to snack on in order to maintain a healthy weight. Childhood obesity is soaring and we, as parents and educators, need to stop the increase.
Parking Safety
The staff at George Washington Elementary wants to ensure the safety of all students and adults. Please make sure to proceed through the parking lot in a single line at a minimal speed when you drop students off in the morning. This action alleviates traffic concerns and creates a safer loading environment.

Bandland Music News
     · Band students are currently practicing two new band pieces –        Beethoven’s Ninth (otherwise known as “Ode to Joy”) and the Might of        Hercules. Students have also learned a few new notes, and are beginning        to work on eighth notes!
     · We will begin our early morning band rehearsals on Wednesday        mornings, beginning March 5 at 7:45 am in the APR. This is in preparation        for our upcoming Spring Concert in May. Also, a notice was sent home the        last week of January that needs to be signed and returned to Mrs.        Dashnaw by the first band rehearsal.
     · Please check out Mrs. Dashnaw’s Bandland website! Just go to the        George Washington home page, specials, music, and Mrs. Dashnaw.        There you will find the lesson schedule, concert dates, where to buy        music supplies, homework, fun sites, and so much more.
     · We will begin our early morning orchestra rehearsals with Mr. Craig on        Thursday mornings, beginning March 5 at 7:45 am in the APR. This is in        preparation for our upcoming Spring Concert in May.

Music News
      · Chorus has resumed rehearsals as of February 12th. Ms. Riley meets with        the students every Tuesday at 8:00 a.m. sharp. The Spring concert is on        Wednesday, May 14th at the Walter Panas Performing Arts Center at 7:00        p.m.

     · There will be two assemblies on March 19th for the entire school to enjoy        called "Meet the Musicians." Mr. Dennis Kobray will return to George        Washington as the famous classical composer, " Wolfgang Amadeus         Mozart.” Through a dramatic first person presentation, he will portray the        life, times and music of Mozart. This will be a great tie in to the curriculum         since, the students have been studying Mozart in their music classes.

Lost and Found
Many items (hats, coats, gloves, scarves) are located on the lost and found rack to be claimed. Please have your children stop by and take a look to see if any items belong to them.

GEORGE WASHINGTON IS "BAGGING IT"!
We are very excited to begin a new part of our recycling effort. To help make our school more "green," we will be collecting clean plastic bags in a bin in the front lobby. The bags will then be recycled via the new Westchester County recycling initiative. Here are some plastic bag facts:
     · More than 100 billion plastic bags are used each year in the USA, and less        than 1% are recycled.
     · Plastic bags can cause damage to wildlife, phone and power lines, and        storm drains.
     · Plastic bags can be recycled to make such items as carpeting, plastic        lumber form building, and...MORE plastic bags!

Please join our new program and bring us your plastic bags! More information about recycling in Westchester can be found at www.westchestergov.com Many thanks to Glenn Mirel, Mary Gansfuss, and some helpful third graders who made this program happen!

March
Monday 3- 7       Grades 3, 4, and 5 NYS Mathematics Assessment
Monday 3            PTA Meeting 7:30 p.m.
Friday 7               Grades 3-5 Activity Night 7:00 –8:30 p.m.
Saturday 8          LEF Dinner Dance Colonial Terrace 7:00 – 12:00 a.m.
Thursday 20      Superintendent’s Conference Day
Fri- Mon 21-24   Holiday Recess, School Closed
Friday 28            Grade 5 Activity Night 7:00- 8:30 p.m.