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bolivar road school the address for success june 2010 from the principal s desk as the last month of the school year begins our focus continues to be teaching and learning with some special events intermingled all grade levels have been and will be taking part in field trips as well as participating in field day events and a school picnic fifth grade classes will celebrate the end of their three years at bolivar road school by participating in a sendoff party and a moving up celebration fourth and fifth grade chorus orchestra and band students performed in our spring concert on may 27 at the high school mr merola when we reflect on the events of the 2009-2010 school year we remember the continuing successes of our daily academic studies project c.a.r.e science fair music performances and school fair projects our student council accomplished many worthwhile projects including a fundraiser for habitat for humanity drug free red ribbon week school supplies drive for golisano children s hospital food drive for sullivan pantry hearts for haiti for american red cross 5th grade community day pennies for patients for leukemia lymphoma society drug free ­ the way to be day letter writing campaign to keep chittenango falls open and pet supply drive to benefit wanderers rest animal shelter our pta sponsored many successful events such as after school clubs book fairs p.a.m.p parents as math partners holiday crafts cookie dough sale family fun nights project c.a.r.e and reading challenge 2010 thank you to our pta officers and committee chairpersons for your excellent leadership this year s officers were sheila pitt president sonja kingsley vice president amanda blaszkow secretary connie tessier treasurer and barb buyea membership the building planning team bpt facilitated several worthwhile projects including after school clubs volunteer recognition and fitness fest we are grateful to all the teachers parents and community members who sponsored the 26 clubs that were offered this year thank you to the following bpt members for their dedication to school improvement parents darlene collado theresa giarrosso marylourdes laramee michelle morgillo teachers courtney shevchuk nicolette sterling katie weiss michelle wilson support staff mary lou champlin and community member kris burleigh to all parents thank you for your ongoing support of not only these programs but especially your child s learning efforts children are more successful in life when the home-school partnership is positive state testing sche dule reminder the following test will be administered in june grade 4 nys science test june 7 please encourage good attendance on june 7 it is important that your child is well rested eats a good breakfast and is on time thank you is your child missing a pair of boots or shoes a lunch box coat or sweatshirt we have many clothing items on our lost and found cart that have not been claimed there are just a few more weeks left of school to reclaim your belongings news from the building planning team on june 4 all bolivar students and staff members will participate in fitness fest a whole school event organized by the building planning team the event will begin with a special guest speaker and a performance by the basketball handling club following this students will attend workshop sessions on different health and fitness areas we re looking forward to this very meaningful learning experience if you are interested in becoming a member of the building planning team please call the school at 687-2880 cafeteria no tice please remember to send your child with money each day or put money on your child s account to last for the remainder of the year any money remaining in your child s account will carry over to the next year no refunds are given if you have outstanding charges please pay them off asap thank you.

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grade level news 3rd grade the end of the school year is approaching quickly june will be filled with many fun and exciting activities for the third graders to participate in some of these activities include fitness fest super kids day pet day and they will also be visited by the second graders from lake street we are very proud of our third graders and the many accomplishments that they have achieved throughout the year they have made great strides in both reading and writing in math concepts were learned to help them succeed in writing explanations of how word problems were solved additionally they have become more proficient in the speed and accuracy in which they solve math facts students enjoyed using leveled readers to help them acquire sufficient reading skills the leveled readers explored many different genres such as biographies folk tales fantasies plays and fictional and non-fictional stories students also enjoyed creating various types of writing pieces such as poems creative stories fairy tales autobiographies and letters third grade teachers and children have greatly appreciated and want to thank the many parents who have volunteered this year to help with various activities in the classrooms and throughout the school we hope that everyone has a safe and enjoyable summer vacation we look forward to seeing each other again in the fall don t forget to continue to read read read this summer 4th grade it s not over `til it s over although we ve heard this before it s particularly true in fourth grade as we enter into our last month of the school year in addition to being an actionpacked month our last month is often considered by many to be our greatest here s why in science and social studies we ll be continuing with our studies of immigration the erie canal and local history whether you re interested in l frank baum the chittenango landing canal boat museum chittenango pottery or chittenango falls the subjects we ll be learning about are sure to leave all students with a new admiration for our wonderful village in addition to our local history studies we ll be visiting the chittenango landing canal boat museum where we ll engage in archeological activities that will not soon be forgotten fasten your seat belt for a great time in math we ll be finishing our multiplication and division strategies in our unit packages and groups then we ll wrap up the year continuing to explore multiplication division and word problems in ela we ll continue to read a great selection of guided reading books as well as some wonderful trade books as we ll try to sneak in so much before the school year is over it s unquestionable that we ll have some great suggestions to get the students summer reading lists underway grade level news continued 5th grade in science we have finished up our unit on animal adaptations and are about half way through our unit on ponds wetlands the students had a great time on our field trip to the great swamp conservancy in canastota and the fenner wind farm earlier this month they have learned a lot about the importance of wetlands and many of the species that live there in social studies this month students have finished up their state reports and are working on sharing them with their classmates they all worked very hard on their research reports and should be very proud of their final projects in mrs randall s class they are now learning all about canada and in ms davidson s class they are studying the regions of the united states in math we are learning all about probability in our unit called between never and always in this unit students learn how to calculate the chance of an event occurring or not and what factors influence probability the students seem to really love this unit and they have had the opportunity to work in small groups to play different games to collect data to see how their predictions compared to their actual results they will also have the opportunity to create their own fair games in addition we continue to encourage every child to practice their basic multiplication and division facts daily at home as well as practice their multi-digit computations in ela students are working on reviewing comprehension strategies that have been taught throughout the year we are also working on finishing up units on poetry in writing we are continuing to practice and improve upon our use of descriptive language supporting details and organizing our pieces effectively we continue to encourage students to read at least 15 minutes every night the end of the year is quickly approaching and each student is required to read at least 25 books by the end of june keep up the good work special area classes it has been a very busy spring musically here at bolivar fourth and fifth grade band orchestra and chorus students have been practicing for the spring concert that was held at chittenango high school on may 27 the music teachers really appreciate all their hard work especially when it means missing outdoor recess on a warm sunny day the amazing performances the kids are able to put forth make it all worth it third grade students were treated to a concert at the high school on may 25 we kicked off the instrumental recruiting season with performances by the high school orchestra and wind ensemble students in third grade will have the opportunity to tryout both band and orchestra instruments during the first few weeks of june after tryouts there will be an informational meeting for parents and students on june 15 in the chittenango middle school cafeteria parents look for more information in your child s take home folder soon although we are sad to be losing some incredibly talented fifth grade musicians as they move on to the middle school we look forward to getting our third graders into the instrumental music program next fall.

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grade level news continued remedial/resource classes it s been proven · all young people experience learning losses when they do not engage in educational activities during the summer research shows that students typically score lower on standardized tests at the end of summer vacation than they do on the same tests at the beginning of summer vacation · on average students lose approximately 2.6 months of grade-level equivalency in mathematical computation over the summer months studies show that the greatest areas of summer loss for all students are in factual or procedural knowledge · if children do not read over the summer months they can experience a reading loss of up to three months regardless of the effective reading instruction they have received during the school year in other words when students do not read over the summer they play catch up in september so what can a parent do · insist that your child continue to set aside 20 minutes each day to read visit the library often so that your child has a variety of reading materials available · get caught reading and writing let your child see you engaging in everyday literacy activities let your child know how important reading and writing are in everyday life · read with your child read some of the books magazines or web sites your child is interested in with them on a regular basis listen to books on tape when traveling and discuss the stories with your child · engage in writing with your child keep a family summer journal to record daily events maybe blog as a family or keep friends and family members up to date with emails co-created with your child write short notes to your child and encourage them to respond back to you · use flashcards to practice addition subtraction multiplication and division skills · demonstrate the everyday uses of math tally your spending while shopping calculate the savings on a sale item estimate how many gallons of paint you ll need to cover the back deck let your child help with recipes or let your child put together a budget for an activity including the cost of gasoline accommodations and activities the following websites offer additional ideas for summer learning www.readwritethink.org sponsored by the international reading association click on parent and after school activities and then search by grade level for literacy activities and projects games printouts podcasts and tips http ccsdweb.chittenangoschools.org/bl/starke/educational_sit es.html mrs starke s webpage with links to mathematics related sites the time you spend on these types of activities will truly pay off come fall bolivar pta corner the 2009-2010 school year at bolivar is wrapping up without space for our extensive list please know that we appreciate all our volunteers teaming up with bolivar school bolivar pta volunteers will be individually recognized thanks to the bolivar building planning team for this year s volunteer recognition gifts that will be sent home looking back students will remember various bolivar pta events such as the reading challege with special guest author james bruchac also they ll remember project c.a.r.e with recognition for students with prizes and special t-shirts awarded perhaps your child bought a special book at the book fair and became more interested in reading on rainy days your child may have had fun at recess with board games/crafts from the pta-sponsored quiet games carts all the students participated in making a holiday craft and surprising their family with a picture frame in december did you visit school during open house or family bingo in the fall did your child participate in after school clubs also sponsored by bolivar pta thanks to successful fundraisers we were still able to help support cultural education field trips for all grade levels and the traditional 5th grade celebration this spring we helped students recycle capri sun empty juice pouches and all year long we collected campbell s soup labels and box tops for education and earned free school supplies even our fundraisers this year are memorable such as the dinner catered by outback steakhouse we are looking for dinner ideas for next year students artwork printed on items purchased in our fall original works fundraiser and spring cookie dough order pick up went well despite the power outage at school that afternoon furthermore our bolivar pta won three membership awards this year from nys pta simply put none of these activites or events would be possible without our bolivar pta chairs officers and parent and teacher volunteers above is just part of the list of items that your bolivar pta coordinates supports and organizes volunteers for throughout the year ptas in nys don t only coordinate fun school events volunteers in nys pta advocate for students such as meeting with legislators on school budget aid needs expanding advocacy locally we are pleased to welcome chittenango special education pta septa to our district in early may bolivar pta participated in national teacher appreciation week with a luncheon and dessert day thanks to all parents who donated items and special thanks to theresa giarrosso and sonja kinglsley congratulations to our 5th graders we will miss all of you but we know you are prepared for middle school thanks to barb buyea for chairing 5th grade celebration committee bolivar school and bolivar pta team up for a sendoff party on june 18 during school and moving up ceremony and reception for the 5th graders and their families on

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wednesday june 23 from 9­11 am at the high school we need 3rd and 4th grade parents to help on the morning of june 23 call barb at 687-6400 or email bolivarpta@gmail.com also as we wrap up the year yearbook deliveries will take place during the last week of school thank you to yearbook chair connie tessier join us in celebrating the arts at bolivar on wednesday june 2 art teacher mr devendorf will display art work from each class and the after school talent showcase club will give an evening performance bolivar pta business at the may meeting bylaws were approved and the following officers were elected sheila pitt interim president [and we are looking for a co-president ­ newly added to our by-laws sonja kingsley,treasurer and amanda blaskow secretary we thank connie tessier who served as treasurer from 2008-2010 looking ahead attention 3rd and 4th grade parents we are recruiting committee chairs and members for next year yes all families are busy so we are asking you to please donate about three hours of your time to help with one activity next year so we can continue to offer a variety of activities and events please call sheila pitt at 510-6622 or email bolivarpta@gmail.com for more information project c.a.r.e the project c.a.r.e team would like to thank staff members and parents for all of their support this year we could not have been successful without your help our last assembly will be on june 11 at 9 a.m at the assembly honesty and citizenship awards will be given congratulations to all the award winners this year we look forward to continuing this program next year please visit our web page to find out more information sunday monday tuesday june 2010 1 2 wednesday 2 3 thursday friday fitness fest library books are due saturday 4 5 3:45 pm bpt 3 meeting ­ library 6 pm 5th grade parent info night cms 4 5 6 7 nys science test ­ grade 4 8 2 9 3 10 4 11 5 marking 18 period ends 5th grade sendoff party5 12 1 13 14 1 15 2 16 school picnic during lunch periods 17 4 19 3 20 21 1 22 9:15 am 5th 23 24 gr moving up last day of school ceremony chs 10:30 dismissal half day of school report cards 2 11:15 dismissal 3 issued 4 25 26 27 28 29 30 have a fun and safe summer!

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