Read Across America

 This year for Read Across America Week, we have several exciting activities planned.  Next week is “kick-off” week.  Each student will be receiving a “reading log” to keep track of how many hours they read each night.  They will be challenging their grade-level peers to see who read the most hours.  Please check with your child to see that their reading log is being completed.  Other fun events will follow.

Educational Trips

            In the spring we always have a handful of educational trip requests, and this year is no different. We are aware that these are family vacations taken during the school year, but the amount of time taken away from education makes it necessary to account for the time spent outside school. Your child will be given a form by the principal or teacher to be completed and handed in the first day back from the trip. Your child should be writing about experiences during the trip so that the report is complete upon returning to school.

            Please note that trips should not be planned during the PSSA testing, which is held at approximately the same time every year. Next year’s dates are already on the web site, and the policy is clearly outlined in the parent handbook that is distributed at the beginning of the school year. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

In-house Fundraisers

            You have already been asked to complete booklets with names and addresses of family members for our Time for Kids Magazine program, and soon you will be asked to complete another booklet for Weekly Reader. I would like to explain how this helps our school.

            When you complete these booklets, these people are contacted through the mail to see if they want to buy magazines. To my knowledge, no one is harassed or pushed to buy magazines. However, for every name and address completed by you, our school gets 2 free subscriptions to Time for Kids. The same will be true of Weekly Readers. This is a substantial savings to us, and some students even get two different publications if we fill out enough booklets. If any of your relatives is ever contacted in an offensive way because of this program, please let me know. I don’t want anyone to feel uncomfortable about this.

            In the fall, we are considering doing this again with another company that gives us cash instead of magazines. It is a way for them to get names and way for us to augment our resources. We very much appreciate your help with this.