Tues News 11/24

Coming Up

Wednesday 11/25  Uniform-free day

Thursday-Friday 11/26-27 No School – Thanksgiving

Monday 11/30 Brent Night at La Plaza

Monday 12/7 No school — parent-teacher conferences

Tuesday 12/8 Open House for Prospective Parents, 7:30-8:30 a.m.

 Winter Concert – Youngest Singers

Wednesday 12/9 Winter Concert – Intermediate Singers

 No Uniforms on Wednesday:  Wednesday Nov. 25 will be a school-wide no uniform day to thank Brent students and families for ensuring that Brent received 100% return on the Impact Aid Parent Student Survey forms. We appreciate all of your help!

New Year’s Bird Count for Kids: On Saturday Jan. 9 you are all invited to a New Year’s Bird Count for Kids. We will have a full morning of bird activities for the whole community, followed by a lunchtime celebration at school. There will be birdwalks led by birding experts at three nearby locations, a local neighborhood bird walk, and activities for younger students at school. Our bird walks will be gathering data for the National Audubon Society’s annual Christmas Bird Count Census, to be added into the reports from thousands of bird watchers across the country. Please consider volunteering to drive a carpool to bird-watching sites, help plan the day, help with publicity and community outreach, or help at school on the day of the event. More information will come home before Thanksgiving break.

Pre-K 3 Spotlight: Ms. Pierce’s pre-k 3 class has had a busy field-trip schedule! The class is currently studying foods and markets, which they kicked off by visiting Cox Farm a few weeks ago (see photo) then went to Eastern Market last week to buy the ingredients for the soup from “To Market, To Market.”

Capital Campaign Update: As part of the Brent PTA’s ongoing fundraising efforts and neighborhood outreach, the Capital Campaign team is hosting its first ever ice cream social on Wednesday, Dec. 2 from 5:30-7:00 p.m. Parent and neighbor donors have been invited to attend. Make your tax-deductible donation today and help Brent reach its $35,000 goal. Donations have ranged from $25 to over $1,000 and all amounts are helping. To date, only 13% of parents have contributed, but total donations have crossed over $20,000. Questions? Greg.herrick@va.gov or (202) 548-3267.

Students Honored: Congratulations to all of the students who received awards at last Friday’s ceremony! Students in grades K-5 received awards for perfect attendance, Honor Roll for outstanding academic performance, On a Roll for students making excellent progress, and one student in each class was awarded the Citizenship Award. Great job Brent students!

Brent Annual Food Drive Continues: The second grade class has been collecting many food drive donations and will be tracking class participation via a pictograph, which is located in the main hallway by the playground door. Donations (non-perishable food and hygiene products) are being accepted through December 1. Thanks for your support!

 Volunteer Opportunities: Museum Studies is looking for parent volunteers to help with pre-k 3 and pre-k 4 classes next week for a paper mache project on Monday Nov. 30 from 9:20 – 10:10 a.m. and 10:10- 10:50 a.m., Tuesday Dec. 1 from 9:20 to 10:10 a.m. and 10:10 – 10:50 a.m. and Wednesday Dec. 2 from 10:10-10:50 a.m. Please contact Denise Diggs at denise.diggs@verizon.net or call 202-355-5830 if you’d like to help during those times, or if you have plastic bowls, flour or newspaper to donate to the project.

Box Tops Contest: Help earn money for Brent – and help your kids win a popcorn party! Submit your Box Tops 4 Education to the school office in an envelope or Ziploc bag with your teacher’s name on it and the classroom with the most Box Tops submissions between now and mid-February will win a popcorn party. Questions? Contact. jsantoboni@gmail.com  Also see www.boxtops4education.com for more information about this program.

Class Photo Thanks: Thanks to all who helped with school pictures, including parents, teachers and staff. Everyone had their pictures taken, so you’ll be able to purchase pictures online after the proofs come back, even if you didn’t bring your money that day. Remember, it is a school fundraiser, so please consider supporting Brent by purchasing pictures. Also, every class had a class photo taken, and they were all great! You can purchase the class photo later as well. If your child was sick, or you want to try again, a make-up day will be scheduled in the next few weeks. More information to come.

Create a Family Folktale: Ms. Jones and her fifth-grade class would like to share an idea for a great activity as families gather together for the holidays: Develop a family folktale based on your immediate family, which is what the fifth graders did for their Brent Publishing Night projects. You’ll need a family photo album, crayons, paper and a tape recorder. First, define a folktale for your child. A folktale contains simple tales that explain basic principles of life. Good usually wins over evil, which gives way to a child’s version of fairness. Tell your child a folktale about your family from beginning to end, or call older relatives for stories that were told in the family that you may have forgotten. It could be stories of old war heroes, stories of how a family “made do” with limited resources, or simple stories of kindness or bravery. Then, retell the folktale slowly and ask your child to illustrate each scene. Ask what your child thought of the story, and record if possible. Send the illustrations to the older member of the family who gave you the story. Play the recording of the folktale on special family occasions, and create a family tree starting with the immediate family and “branching out” to your extended family. Resources such as www.ancestry.com can help. Suggested books to read: Orphan Boy by Mollel/Morin, Grandfather’s Journey by Say, The People Could Fly by Hamilton, and The Legend of Bluebonnet by dePaola.

Quality Family Time: Candlelight tours of Mount Vernon, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from Nov. 27 – Dec. 13 from 5-8 p.m. Visit George Washington’s home while it’s decked out for the holidays, enjoy caroling and hot cider and talk with characters from the Washintgons’ world. Purchase tickets online; $18 for adults, $12 for children 11 and under. See www.mountvernon.org/calendar for details. Foodways of the Americas, National Museum of the American Indian, Nov. 27-29, 10:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. Celebrate the rich contributions of foods of the Americas – from chilies to  chocolate – to the world. See food demonstrations and artisans and participate in hands-on activities for families. Visit “events” at www.nmai.si.edu for details.

Several Short Notes: Bricks for Brent: Want to add a personalized brick to the walkway in front of Brent? You can purchase your own Bricks for Brent until Dec. 31, 2009 – $85 for 4×8 bricks or $180 for 8×8 bricks. It’s a great way to become a permanent part of Brent’s renovation! Look for the green brochures in the school office. Brent Night at La Plaza: If you’re getting sick of eating Thanksgiving leftovers next week, please join us at Brent night at La Plaza Restaurant (629 Pennsylvania Ave., SE) on Monday Nov. 30. It’s a great chance to see everyone after the holidays and support the school – the restaurant generously donates 20% of its income for the evening to Brent.

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