Eisenhower Edition can also be found online at www.uscsd.k12.pa.us on the Eisenhower page.

The Monthly Newsletter of Eisenhower School

April 2013

✎ April 23 & 24 - PSSA Science Testing (4 Grade)

✎ April 26- Half Day Early Dismissal (Students dismissed at 11:30) (PM K students will have session in AM) (K Info will be sent home.)

✎ April 30 - May 2- Book Fair

✎ May 2 - STAR Night- Early Dismissal @ 12:45

✎ May 10- PTA Meeting (9 AM in Cafe Ike)

✎ May 22- Kdg. Spring Tour (9:30 & 12:45)

✎ May 23- Cultural Arts Day

Save The Date

The Eisenhower Edition is written and edited by Principal Mark Miller with contributions from Eisenhower staff, PTA President Diane Stief, and other PTA members.

If you have any comments or suggestions please direct them to

mmiller@uscsd.k12.pa.us.

EISENHOWER EDITION

The

BIG DAY THIS SATURDAY

On Saturday, April 20th, we are inviting all parents of

Eisenhower students and our 3rd and 4th grade students and parents to the Education Partnership’s facility to assist in the distribution of supplies to teachers. This will be a day for parents to work beside their children in helping others.

Additionally, Eisenhower students are invited to participate in a cash and coin drive to benefit The Education Partnership’s school supply initiative. By leveraging donations and community support, The Education Partnership can provide a student with the supplies they need for just $25 a year. Every little bit helps!

As in the past, we also invite corporate and individual donations. Our wonderful partners at The Double Tree Hotel and Casey’s

This year’s STAR Night will be held on Thursday, May 2 from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

The purpose of this educational event is to

involve parents in the academic progress of their children and to celebrate their children’s accomplishments. It is an occasion on which the students take great pride in sharing their work and we look forward to your attendance.

HOW EXACTLY ARE CHILDREN PLACED WITH NEXT YEAR’S TEACHER?

Important discussions and decisions regarding student placement begin to take place at this time of the year. A great deal of time and thought go into this process, as it is one of several critical aspects to children enjoying a successful school year.

Many things are taken into account when completing this important process. To help accomplish the creation of a positive mix of children in each classroom, a placement team (resource teachers, guidance counselor, and principal) take into account many variables that will help facilitate a positive school experience for children.

Areas of focus include:๏ A balanced ratio of boys to girls๏ A mix of students with varying academic abilities๏ A positive group of peers with regard to social interactions๏ Student learning style in relation to teacher instructional style๏ Additional parent information received throughout the year

Because so many variables must be taken into account, being able to achieve positive homeroom placements can at times be difficult. We have found that the outcome is more effective when the people who work with our students every day are involved in the process. Input comes from many different professionals at Eisenhower. Including as many teachers as possible helps us gain a better understanding of our students’ needs.

A step-by-step walkthrough of the process includes:

1. Input is gathered from the current homeroom teacher. (Input consists of academic strength/need, peer/social interactions, learning style, and additional parent information.)

2. Our placement team composes initial homeroom drafts.

3. Current grade level teachers and specials teachers review the proposed classroom rosters for the next school year, without seeing the proposed homeroom teacher.

4. The team makes necessary adjustments based on the feedback from homeroom and other teachers.

During the summer, lists are adjusted based on additional information received over the summer such as possible change of teacher assignments and new students who enroll over the summer.

The process is very deliberate and designed to place children in the most effective way possible. It isn’t always perfect, but as a whole works very well when you think about how many kids are placed every year.

How does kindergarten sectioning happen?

Understandably parents have concerns or hopes about whether their kindergartner will be placed in an AM or PM kindergarten session. Each year I get many requests regarding this issue. The AM/PM sectioning is based solely on neighborhood enrollment numbers and bus routes.

At the building level I do have the ability to change a few placements based on exceptional cases of individual need. However, this can only be done if parents are willing to transport during the midday. This means parents would have to either pick up their child at the end of the AM session (10:55) or bring their child to school for the PM session (12:05). Students can be moved from session to session only if class size numbers allow. Our goal is to keep classroom enrollment numbers at 20 or less.

If you have any questions regarding the process, as always, please do not hesitate to contact me at (412) 833-1600, Ext. 8001. [continued on back]

STAR NIGHT

Eisenhower Edition can also be found online at www.uscsd.k12.pa.us on the Eisenhower page.

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Dates to remember★4/15-4/26 Cash and coin drive for the Education Partnership★4/20 Family day at the Education Partnership warehouse★4/29-5/3 Staff Appreciation Week★4/30-5/2 Book Fair★5/2 STAR night/TGIF charity event★5/10 PTA meeting★6/2 Eisenhower Family Day at PNC

positively ptAThings paid for by the PTA

in March/April

end of the evening and Mr. Miller read a version of “Goodnight Eisenhower”. A special thank you to Dana Gnad for creating this special book. We concluded our Spring Spirit wear sale, those who made purchases look for your items to be coming soon. Our Chick-Fil-A Spirit Night was another big success, thank you to all who enjoyed a night out for dinner. Our school earned approximately $1,300 in sales for the evening so we received 15% totaling around $200 for the Eisenhower PTA. We had a morning and afternoon basketball assembly for the students featuring Jim “Basketball” Jones. His terrific program centered on self-esteem and character building. On May 2nd, we will have a TGIF Charity Event. It's also STAR night and an early dismissal, so come eat lunch, dinner or place a carry out order anytime that day. Friday's will donate up to 20% of the sales brought in to the Eisenhower PTA. Be on the lookout for information regarding the Book Fair April 30th-May 2nd and Staff Appreciation Week, April 29th-May 3rd. There is no one more deserving of recognition than the Eisenhower staff. It's hard to believe we are winding down the school year. We've had an awesome year and it's all because of you, your kids, Mr. Miller, and the Eisenhower staff, thank you!

Welcome back from Spring Break! I hope everyone had a healthy and relaxing time with your families. We have many exciting things happening at Eisenhower this month and many more yet to come.At the end of March we had some fun PTA activities, including the annual book swap. Many thanks to those who donated books, games, and puzzles. The students love this event. We also set aside some wonderful books for the Kelly School and some of the books appropriate for younger kids went to the Kelly School preschool and the Head Start program. Thanks to those who came to “Snuggle Up and Read” night. It was a great night with 8 different readers and themes. These included a visit from the REEC, USC firefighters and Sparky, sports with John Steigerwald, scary stories read by Eisenhower parent Holly Dietrick, Kathy Harrington and her therapy dogs, Diary of a Wimpy Kid books read by Wil King, a ballerina from the Academy of Dance by Lori, and rockstar substitute teacher Denise Naumann was our mystery reader reading about the pigeon series books. We also had a surprise visit from Iceburgh, GO PENS!! We all gathered in the gym at the

[continued from front/BIG DAY THIS SATURDAY]

April 2013

★ Staff AppreciationTHANKS PTA!

Clubhouse will once again lend their support to our school’s efforts.

What are the benefits of participating?

‣ Teaching kids to help other kids in need.‣ Modeling making a positive difference for your children.‣ Connecting with other parents and members of the Eisenhower staff.

Additional information has been sent home, but please feel free to call the office at Eisenhower if you have any questions.

When Eric reads, he instantly recognizes most words. He reads sentences smoothly, understands what’s happening in the story, and has good expression.

Eric is a fluent reader - his reading sounds like speech. Here are some ways to help your youngster read fluently.

Be a role model. When you read to your child, have him read along with you. Don’t be surprised if he tries to match his voice to yours. You can also alternate paragraphs or pages, or take turns reading for different characters.

Choose the right book. Your youngster should recognize most of the words (one to two unfamiliar words per page are okay - that will keep him challenged). If he’s having trouble reading smoothly, try picking an easier book.

Use expression. Punctuation marks are clues that tell us how to read something. Encourage your child to sound excited when he sees an exclamation point, and make his voice go up for a question mark. Teach him to pause briefly at a comma and slightly longer at a period.

Check for understanding. If your youngster doesn’t understand the book, he will sound choppy. And if he’s reading one word at a time, he’ll have a tough time following the plot. As he reads, ask him questions to make sure he understands the story.

Taken from the “Reading Connection”, Resource For Educators

★ For more info on activities to support & strengthen early reading at home please go to our school website.

”Snuggle Up and Read” was an enormous success again this year as students enjoyed listening and reading about a variety of topics and a visit from Iceburgh and Sparky the Fire Dog. A great big Eisenhower thank you goes out to the PTA, Chrissy Sileo and all of the committee volunteers (see list of volunteers to the right)

for organizing this event. We would also like to thank all of the community members and room hosts that visited to read and helped to make this event so much fun. We hope that all of you got to read a special book with someone special that night.

SNUGGLE UP AND READ

Don’t miss the 4th grade chorus singing the National Anthem at PNC Park before the Pirates take on the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday, June 2nd. As always, thanks to the PTA & this year,

Miss Palmer for supporting us with this event. The entire school is invited for this family fun-filled day at PNC! 

Go Eisenhower and Go Pirates!

CHORUS TO PERFORM AT PNC PARK

HOW TO HELP YOUR CHILD BECOME A FLUENT READER

A GREAT BIG THANKSA special thanks goes out to the many volunteers who have helped with the recent PTA functions. Thank you to the chairs and many volunteers that have made the following activities a success:

Reading Night: Chrissy SileoBook Swap: Stephanie Ioli/ Kim SollieSchool Clothing Sale: Mary RocksGE Programs: Moira Cain-MannixMarket Day: Stacey Cobb/Lynda MisraBowling: Amanda McQuillan/Mary KirkHospitality: Tracy Wangler/Chrissy Sileo/Dana GnadStudent Newspaper: Carole King/Laura MurtoughRoom Parent Coordinator: Kristina GzikowskiOutreach: Jeanne McNamara/Chrisy Sileo/Susan SpeerStaff Appreciation: Stephanie Ioli/Melissa StalderBook Fair: Chrissy Sileo/ Kristen BuonomoBirthday Book Club: Janet GuidasAll Room Parents!

Programs: Chrissy SileoWebsite: Susan SpeerPirate Game: Kelly KniznerSupply Clerk: Tracy Wangler

★5/23 Cultural arts day★5/30 Fourth Grade Farewell★5/30 Kindergarten Field Day★5/311st - 4th Grade Field Day