Principal’s Message December, 2016

C O L D S P R I N G S S C H O O L

December 1

Student Picture

Make-Up Day

December 6 PreK 3

Family Involvement

Express Yourself

December 7

PreK 4

Family Involvement

Express Yourself

December 8 End of First Trimeseter

December 12 SLC Meeting

3:30 PM

Media Center

December 13 Report Card Issued

December 14 Winter Concert

“Arf on the Housetop”

7:00PM

December 16 CSS Spirit Day

Favorite Book Character

December

19 - 22

PTO Santa

Secret Shop

December 8 PTO Santa

Secret Shop

6:30 - 8:00

December 23 Early Dismissal

December 24 -

January 2

Winter Recess

School Closed

January 3 School Resumes

Page 1

Dear Parents,

I hope you had an enjoyable short break, and for those who celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope it was

special in every way. The school staff was also pleased to see so many parents for conferences.

We appreciate your participation in conferences and your understanding of the time constraints. If

you were not able to attend your conference, please contact your child's teacher so alternate ar-

rangements can be made.

The warm glow of holiday buzz is all around us (as each day in December passes, the buzz gets

louder)! CSS has many activities planned in the spirit of the holiday season. Our character trait

for the month of December is “Generosity”, which coincides perfectly with the season. Our ob-

jective is to impress upon our students that the practice of being generous is not in the tangible gift

giving, but in the sharing of our intangible gifts. The gifts of our talents, friendship and patience

are among those gifts that we want to focus upon with our students. In the spirit of generosity, our

whole - school activity will be working in conjunction with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelph-

ia by hosting a Pajama Day on December 23rd. While faculty and staff will be asked to contribute

monetary donations, our students will support the kids at CHOP by making cards in the hopes of

brightening their holiday just a little.

As usual, I ask that you follow the school calendar for special upcoming events. Most important-

ly, the first trimester grading period is coming to a close on December 6th, report cards are ex-

pected to go home on the 13th. Due to Benchmark assessments taking place from December 1st

through the 8th, Santa’s Secret Shoppe has been pushed back to the week of December 19th. Clas-

ses will be testing three days during this period and for just one class period each of these days.

Spirit Day for December is the 16th and the theme is, “Dress as your favorite book character.”

Our annual Winter Concert will be held on December 14th at 7:00 pm in the cafetorium. Mrs.

Linda Lorenz will be directing students from Third Grade classes in “Arf on the Housetop”. Stu-

dents from Ms. Blake, S. MacDonald, D. Chando and Mikle’s classes have been working hard to

present their best work and look forward to your attendance.

The district will have an Early Dismissal Day on Wednesday, December 23rd. The Homework

Club will not be in session. School will be closed Monday, December 26th through Monday, Jan-

uary 2nd for Winter Break.

In closing, and on behalf of the Cold Springs School family, I would like to wish all of our fami-

lies a joyful holiday season and a pleasant winter break.

Fondly,

Mrs. Karen Kessler, Principal

Cold Springs School

COMING EVENTS

The Cub’s Tale

December Video Conferences Now that the holidays are upon us, our students are participating in several activities

that will put them in the holiday spirit

The Christmas Tree Ship This month the 3rd grade will be “traveling” to the Milwaukee Public Museum in Wiscon-

sin to hear about the story of the Christmas Tree Ship. They will meet with Ms. Gaye-Lynn who takes

them back to 1912 when Great Lake Schooners sailed on Lake Michigan bringing trees from the far north

to the city of Chicago in time for Christmas.

In this program the children listen to the reading of Jeanette Winters' book, "The Christmas

Tree Ship." They then make a storytelling ornament that helps them share Great Lakes mari-

time history with friends and family.

It is a wonderful way for students to start off the holiday season and learn about history and the joy of

reading all at the same time.

Lights Camera Action!!!

“ARF! On the Housetop A Holiday Musical about Caring and Sharing”

Singing children, howling puppies and the one and only Santa Claus make a

great combination for holiday show. The local pound is overcrowded and

in an uproar. Someone has eaten Buster Bulldog’s supper. Har-

old Hound Dog can’t get any sleep, and there’s no room at all to

run and play. It’s just the pits I the pound! See how one fami-

ly’s trip to the pound on Christmas Eve makes dreams come true

for these canine characters and children around the world.

Classroom Highlights

Page 2

As the holiday season quickly approaches in the month of December, we have several activities planned for the next

few months. We welcome all preschool parents on December 5th and 6th for an “Express Yourself” parent involve-

ment. Come and join your child while they participate in art and music activities. Please look for our upcoming

VIP days during the week of January 23rd. Parents are invited to visit the classroom and have lunch with their child

on those days. The Blue Sky Puppet Theatre will be presenting “The Three Green Pigs” to all preschool students on

January 18th.

All kindergarten classes will have their ornament parties on December 19th. Detailed information will be sent home by the

classroom teacher. Kindergarten students will participate in the “Magic of Reading” program on January 24 th and the Acade-

my of Natural Sciences, “Everyone Needs A Home” presentation on January 30th.

These winter months bring cold temperatures, we ask that children are dressed in warm clothes with hats and gloves or mittens.

We appreciate your understanding and cooperation.

Please remember that all preschool students must have the flu shot by December 31st. Students may not return to school on

January 3rd without record of the flu shot.

Happy Holidays!

Norell Gurcsik

EC Director/Assistant Principal

Early Childhood News and Updates

Raising a Reader As a parent one of the greatest gifts we can give our children is the love of reading. Learning to love to read is like looking up at the stars with a tele-

scope for the first time! It allows us to see our world so differently, to envision possibilities we never considered before.

Here are a few strategies that may be useful in helping your child to love reading.

Help make reading a joyful learning experience. It will immediately help your child succeed in school. Throughout your child’s educational career a

solid reading base helps broaden their knowledge and experience base and paves the way for future success.

Show your child the value of reading every day. Point out to your child on a regular basis how you use reading in your everyday experiences.

Help your child develop reading skills. Teach them new words. Ask them to think about the meaning of words. Ask your child what they think will

happen in a story. Illustrations and pictures help tell and explain the story.

Reading for 10 to 20 minutes helps children retain focus. Reading slowly and following along with a finger with expression helps make the story

come alive.

As your child progresses they enjoy reading aloud. Taking turns reading aloud and helping sound out new words is a helpful strategy. Have your

child practice restating the new word.

Encouragement of their effort helps with their development and will allow them to gain confidence in their abilities.

Consider a visit to the Library. Help your child choose books that interest them.

Read to your child as frequently as possible. Every day is great!

Help make reading a memorable by reading together.

Please feel free to contact me at 456-7000 x3154 to discuss your child’s educational needs.

Sincerely,

Joseph DiPatri

Counselor’s Corner

Spreading the Holiday Feeling!

In the beginning of November Mrs. Schultes' and

Mrs. Gansert's second grade class wrote letters to

veterans to thank them for their service. Those

student's with service members in their family

were able to take their letters home. Those who

did not, gave their letters to Mrs. Schultes who

mailed them to Germany to a group of marines. We thank all

service members for their dedication to our country!

Page 3

Dear Parents,

It’s hard to believe that the holidays are soon approaching! The level of excitement in the building is starting to

build already. Teachers and students continue to remain focused on their schoolwork while integrating themes of

thankfulness and generosity into their schoolwork.

During the month of December, the character trait we are focusing on is “Generosity”. When people hear the word “generosity”

they often think of material things, however, we are directing our students’ attention to being generous with

intangible things, like:

Sharing their talents and helping others

Being generous with their friendship

Being generous with their patience

By focusing on generosity at this holiday time, we especially want our students to think about the needs of

others and how they can give of themselves.

I would like to thank the Cold Springs families and staff for making me feel so welcome at Cold Springs

school. We truly have a caring community focused on learning.

Have a Merry Christmas.

Sincerely,

Kate Kearney

Vice Principal

A Holiday Message

Math Award

1st Grade

Alison Ding

Corinne Kelly

Robert Glassman

Sophia Daily

Austin Wang

Hannah Mansell

2nd Grade

IXL Math Honor Roll Student

Fariha Karim

Noa Hewlett

Leland Kidd

Nataly Alanis

Jonathan Clark

Savannah Daily

Aiden Marlin

Sahida Rahman

Jaeden Boccaler

3rd Grade

Janiyah Rivera

Vincent Kelly

Olivia Kirschner

Fatimah Covington

Leniyah-Marie Osler

Reese Dunn

Jordan Webb

Keegan Cohan

Samuel Long

Stephany Rosas Gonzalez

1st Grade

Joseph Carlino

Kayla Ellis

Sierra Aquilante

Samantha Japa

Enzo Mensah

Jonathan Smith

Kaylee Greenlaw

2nd Grade

Ava Moore Victoria Garcia Jonathan Clark Savannah Daily Jacob Lilly Carter Jordan Leland Kidd Jayson Nelson Meghan

3rd Grade

Vincent Kelly Kristopher Foster Samuel Long Jordan Connor Robert Loughlin Keegan Cohan Brendan Retting Jack O'Connor Gina Haubrich

Math 100% Club

Samantha Ton Addison Chiodi Riley Cole Hunter Doakley Dominic Sears Leland Williams Gavin Willis Owen Doran

All This and Fun....in the Book Talk

Dr. Brady and Mrs. Bonner Book Talk group is reading Wednesday Surprise. The group is reading about a senior citi-

zen who learns to read, and surprises her family about her new accomplishment. This inspirational story teaches us

that you are never too old to learn something new. Moreover, the Book Talk students are making ornaments that they

can surprise an older person with this holiday season. Students are also learning valuable reading strategies and com-

prehension skills...learning can be fun!!!!

Tutoring students are hard at work with learning sounds, word recognition, fluency skills, and comprehension skills. Dr. Brad-

y's first grade tutoring students are competing in a sight word contest to enhance their word recognition and reading fluency.

Mrs. Bonner is creating exciting lessons for the kindergarten students to help them learn their sounds. All of the students are

learning that reading is fun!!!!!!