Tuesday News April 6, 2010
Coming Up
Wednesday 4/7: Middle School Working Group Meeting, 6:30 – 8 p.m.
Thursday 4/8: Study Dance for all 3rd, 4th and 5th graders in Room 208, 4:40 – 6:30 p.m.
Middle School Options to meet your families’ expectations, with Ruey Timberg in the library, 6-6:30 p.m.
Saturday 4/17: Brent’s Spring Gala St. Mark’s Church, 3rd and A Sts., SE, 6 p.m.
Monday 4/20 – Wednesday 4/28: DC-CAS testing for students in grades 3-5 (see below for full schedule)
Get Ready for the Gala: Brent’s Spring Gala, “Taste of the Hill,” is coming soon! Besides serving a great cause, the event is a fabulous celebration in itself, featuring food and wine from some of the area’s best restaurants, incredible auction items, and great live music. The Gala will be held on April 17 at 6 p.m. at St. Mark’s Church, 118 3rd St., SE. This is our school’s biggest fundraiser — proceeds will help pay for our physical education teacher, Chinese program, enrichment classes, classroom supplies, professional development and other important programs. Tickets cost $75 and can be purchased in the school office in the mornings, or at www.buybrent.org or from Julie Santoboni at jsantoboni@gmail.com. You can also support Brent by buying raffle tickets — $10 each or three for $25 – which provide the opportunity to win Redskins tickets on the 30-yard line, Nationals tickets, a $200 gift card for several restaurants in Jose Andres’ ThinkFood Group, a $100 Harris Teeter gift card, an iPod Nano and an iTunes gift card. Students who sell 10 raffle tickets will get a Brent t-shirt or water bottle, and the student who sells the most tickets will win an iPod Nano. To be eligible for the prizes, tickets must be turned in to the office no later than April 14 in an envelope with the student’s name on the outside and a contact phone number. Please make checks payable to the Brent PTA. You can also help by donating to your class’s auction basket – check with your class’s room parent or teacher for more details.
DC-CAS Schedule: Students in grades 3-5 will take the DC-CAS tests starting on Tuesday April 20. Testing begins at 9:30 a.m. every day, so please bring your students to school on time and make sure they’re well rested. Our 3rd-5th graders will take the English/language arts test on Tuesday and Wednesday April 20-21, the math test on Thursday and Friday April 22-23, 4th graders will take the composition test on Tuesday April 27, and 5th graders will take the science test on Wednesday April 28.
Aftercare Update: A message from Karen Neal, Special Education Coordinator and After School Program Coordinator: Three staff members from the aftercare program have left their positions and we have already hired one new teacher, Mrs. Browne, from the Sharpe Health Center, who starts on Tuesday. We are trying to get additional staff through the human resources process ASAP. Please be assured we will continue to make sure all students are actively engaged and safe during this transitional period. Thanking you in advance for your patience.
Brent Friends Spotlight: The caterpillars in Ms. Pierce’s pre-k 3 class turned into butterflies on the first day of Spring Break, and Ms. Pierce has been feeding them fruit and sugar water so that they’ll be alive when the kids return to school. “We’ve been studying Eric Carle (The Very Hungry Caterpillar) and we’ll release our painted ladies into the garden when we return to school so they can help fertilize the flowers,” she says. “We also have a praying mantis egg and lady bugs (The Grouchy Lady Bug) arriving soon.”
Middle School Update: We are finalizing our Brent preferences for a high-quality, academic middle school for college-bound students that will attract and retain not only Brent families but also other city-wide students with shared goals. We will forward our recommendation to the Chancellor the first of next week. We will meet on Wednesday April 7 from 6:30 – 8 p.m. and again on Thursday April 8 at 6 p.m. (for any 3rd-5th grade parents picking up students from the DC CAS celebration) to receive your thoughts and prioritize the “big ideas” required to meet our expectations. What will it take to keep your family in DCPS for middle school? Please be in touch with Daniel Holt (daniel.holt@mail.house.gov; 202-225-0898) or Ruey Timberg (rtimberg@gmail.com; 607-643-3005) to provide input, ask questions, or discuss the issues.
Quality Family Time: The National Cherry Blossom Festival continues throughout the city until Sunday April 11. See www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org for a full schedule. This week’s special events include the Cherry Blossom Festival Parade on Saturday April 10 from 10 a.m. to noon on Constitution Ave. from 7th to 17th Sts., NW, and the 50th Annual Sakura Matsuri Japanese Street Festival on Saturday April 10 from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. at 12th St. and Pennsylvania Ave., NW (see www.sakuramatsuri.org for details). Family Day: Explore the Universe, Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, Saturday April 10 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Observe the sky through telescopes, build a pocket solar clock, and enjoy stories and activities for all ages. See www.nasm.si.edu/events for details.
Several Short Notes: Buy Brent merchandise: You can still buy Brent t-shirts ($10 for t-shirts, $18 for polos), water bottles ($10) and car magnets ($5) every Tuesday from 8-9 a.m. or put a note and check in an envelope addressed to Lisa Perry in the PTA mailbox, with your child’s name and teacher, and Lisa will deliver your order to your child’s classroom. E-Cycle: Wondering what to do with your old computer or electronics? Hearst Elementary School (3950 37th St., NW) is holding an e-cycle event on April 17 from 9 a.m. to noon to collect old or broken electronic equipment, which will be transported to Ft. Totten for recycling, and a free-cycle for folks who wish to donate working electronics they no longer use. For details, see www.hearstes.org. Enrollment packets: Please fill out your enrollment packet from DCPS as soon as possible and return it to the Brent office.
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