PTA Newsletter. Happy Holidays, South School Families! PTA Hosts Holiday Lunch for South School Staff. Save the Date, January PTA Meeting

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1 PTA Newsletter Happy Holidays, South School Families! PTA Hosts Holiday Lunch for South School Staff South School PTA will be hosting a holiday luncheon for South School Staff on Friday, December 18 th. We need your help to make this a successful event for our wonderful staff. A Sign Up Genius will be coming out shortly with items we need donated. Please consider making a donation as a thank you to our amazing staff. Save the Date, January PTA Meeting Join us for our first PTA meeting of the new year. Meet in the South School Library at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 13, We will be discussing all PTA sponsored activities occurring the second half of our school year. We will also be looking ahead to next year. All members holding chair positions are asked to attend this important meeting. Important Dates at South School Box Tops Start saving those box tops!!!! The PTA will be having a Box Tops contest in January. Hold on to them until the contest begins on January 4 th. Please remember to check expiration dates, as expired box tops do not count. December 12/5 Breakfast with Santa 12/10 Popcorn Day 12/16 Hawk Shop (Grade 1,4 & 5) 12/17 Hawk Shop (Grade 2 & 3) 12/18 PTA hosts staff holiday lunch January 1/5 1/29 Box Top Contest 1/12 Family Science Night 1/13 PTA Meeting 1/14 Popcorn Day 1/19-1/22 Spirit Week 1/20 Hawk Shop (Grades 1,4 & 5) 1/21 Hawk Shop (Grades 2 & 3) 1/22 Mother/Son Dodgeball

2 Notes from the Library Did you know? Research shows that giving children increased access to books helps improve their reading skills? Why not consider giving a book store gift card for the holidays? Allowing students to choose their own reading materials also motivates them to read! Magazine subscriptions make excellent holiday gifts as well. It s the gift that gives all year! We have some very popular ones in the library: American Girl, BMX Plus, Catster (formerly Cat Fancy), Dirt Bike, Discovery Girls, Dogster (formerly Dog Fancy), Looney Tunes, National Geographic for Kids, Scooby-Doo and Sports Illustrated for Kids, to name a few. If you re stuck for a gift idea, why not consider ordering a magazine? Another perennial favorite of students in the library is the latest Guinness Book of World Records (currently the 2016 edition). We can t keep them on the shelf! You will find them available for purchase at Wal-Mart and Sam s Club, as well as at Barnes & Noble and through Amazon. Very popular this year too, is a collection of handbooks to one of the hottest video games: Minecraft. Ladybug voting took place for first and second graders right after the Thanksgiving break. Our winners were tallied and sent to Concord to be counted with other schools and libraries from across the state of NH. The statewide winner will be announced in early Stay tuned Third graders have had 2 of their 3 Destiny (online catalog) lessons. They are that much closer to independence in the library and they re doing a great job! The library staff wishes all of you a very happy holiday season. Leslie Schilling lschilling@londonderry.org ext. 5210

3 Connors Corner Dear Families, The Art-to-Remember products will be arriving at South School shortly. Please take a look at your order as soon as your child brings it home from school. If you have any additional concerns at that point, you may contact PTA volunteer Denise Inman at: denise4272@msn.com or myself at: mconnors@londonderry.org Thank you for your support of our annual fundraising program! November proved to be a busy month with grades 1-4 working in clay that was fired in the school s kiln on Parent Conference day. Your child will be bringing home their creations at some point during the first 2 weeks of this month. Students also worked on various fall themed art projects that nicely introduced families of colors such as primary, secondary, warm and cool colors to students in the younger grade levels. Grade 1 Clay Sun/Flower Art! Grade 2 Clay Owl Art Grade 3 Clay Fish Art Grade 4 Clay Animal Environment Art Grade 5 students are scheduled to create their three dimensional pinch pots in February which will then be fired on the March Parent Conference day. Their clay work will be featured in the school s Annual Student Art Show which has a new date: Wednesday, May 11, 2016! This new date will allow students, families and staff to meet our Artist in Residence Robert Rossel that night and see the newest mural being worked on in the art room. We hope to have the installation of the mural in our Courtyard area in time for the school s carnival if weather cooperates! The month of December means that for Grade 2, students will be designing their snow globes with modeling clay and baby food jars. If you have any glass baby food jars with lids, feel free to donate them to the art department. Thank you, Mrs. Connors

4 SUM+IT TM Math Program SUM+IT TM, the extracurricular math program that is offered by the PTA, will shortly be starting. Any student at South School may enroll in this program and if you would like to participate but have not yet registered you may still do so by either returning the form that was sent home with the students in November or by ing the program coordinator, Jessica Beaulieu The purpose of SUM+IT TM is to promote enthusiasm for math. It consists of three packets of activities that are designed for completion at home by the student and parents together. The participants are asked to complete a minimum of five challenges from a range of problems that address basic math topics such as time, money, graphing, geometry, decimals and per cents through means such as puzzles, games and experiments. The program is designed to accommodate students of all abilities and, most importantly, is designed to be simultaneously fun and instructive. If you have any questions regarding this program, please contact Jessica Beaulieu School Spirit Week School Spirit Week will be held from January We hope to chase away some of the winter blahs with this fun week. Participation is optional, of course, but we hope you will show your school spirit and choose to participate in some way. Ideas and suggestions will be available on the PTA website ( or on the PTA bulletin board at the beginning of January. Tues, Jan 19 - Character Day - dress like a character from a book Wed. January 20 - Penguin Appreciation Day. Dress like a penguin (wear black and white) and get a penguin pencil from the PTA for participating. Thu, Jan 21 - Crazy Hair Day Fri - Jan 22 - School Spirit Day - wear your school colors (blue and white), South School shirt or hat, or create your own spirit shirt or hat!

5 Membership form Please join the South School PTA and support our students and staff. Fill out the information below and return with your payment to your child s teacher. THANK YOU! Why join the PTA? Connect There s no better way to keep up with what is happening at South School and stay connected to the community. Network Build your South School network with other parents, teachers, and administrators. Grow Volunteering gives you valuable experience! Role Model Demonstrate to you South School student the value you place on education. Membership Fee $10.00 (cash or check payable to South School PTA) Name: Phone: Student Name: Teacher: