February 2015

February 2 - 6 Jump Rope for Heart in P.E.

Thursday, February 12 4:00 p.m. PTA Meeting in the Library

Friday, February 13 See classroom letter Classroom Valentine Parties

Monday, February 16 NO SCHOOL Elementary Teacher Planning Day

Tuesday, February 17 Papa John’s Pizza Night

Tuesday, February 24 4:00 p.m. Talent Show Auditions

EARLY MARCH 2015 DATES TO KNOW

Monday, March 2 10:00 a.m. School of Choice Window Opens

Thursday, March 5 End of Third Quarter

Friday, March 6 NO SCHOOL Teacher Work Day (All Schools)

Sunday, March 8 Daylight Savings Time begins

Thursday, March 12 Report Cards go home

Thursday, March 19 6:30 p.m. Talent Show & Dessert

March 23 – April 3 Spring Break

2015

School Not In Session

Please note that students will not be in

school on this date in February: Monday, February 16 – Elementary Teacher

Planning Day

From the Principal’s Desk…

State Assessments

Colorado assessments are changing in order

to accurately assess student mastery of the

new Colorado Academic

Standards. With the standards

being more focused, coherent

and rigorous, assessments must

adapt to align with them. There

are 2 testing windows for 3rd grade students

and 3 testing windows for 4th & 5th grade

students. More information will be provided

for parents of those students. This

assessment will be online for all student this

school year unless they require specific

accommodations indicating otherwise.

Please go to the state website

www.cde.state.co.us for more information.

D51 Foundation Awards

Each year the D51 Foundation awards 5th

grade teachers who earned the highest

growth in reading, writing, and math for the

prior school year. Congratulations to our

own Jenna Hansen, who has been awarded

with the highest growth in reading based on

our state assessment data.

(Jenna is teaching 3rd grade this

year, but last year she was

teaching one of our 5th grade

classes.) This means that Jenna

was above all 4th and 5th grade

teachers in our elementary schools

throughout the district! She is amazing – be

sure to congratulate her!

CELEBRATION: On Saturday, February 7

at 7:00 pm at the CMU Ballroom there will

be a White Ice Cocktail Party honoring

teachers and schools who have earned top

awards for the work they are doing for our

students in District 51. Go to

www.d51foundation.org if you would like

to get tickets for this event.

Classroom Valentine Parties

You will receive information from your

child’s classroom teacher informing you of

the specifics regarding plans for classroom

Valentine’s Day parties.

Parties will take place on

Friday, February 13th

unless you hear

otherwise.

School of Choice The School of Choice window for the

2015-2016 school year is coming soon.

Detailed information will be available soon

to outline the application process. The

window will be open from 10:00

a.m. on March 2nd until 4:00 on

March 20th. If you have further

questions please don’t hesitate to call the

office at 254-7560.

3rd Grade Dictionaries from Rotary Club

The Grand Junction Rotary Club is very

generous to SD51 Third Grade students.

Every year they give a dictionary to each

and every 3rd grade student. What a great

resource and support to our readers and

writers for years to come! If you know

someone who is part of the Grand Junction

Rotary Club, please let them know what a

great gift the dictionaries are to Orchard

Avenue Elementary students.

Barnes & Noble Fundraiser

Many thanks to everyone who made this

event a huge success! We earned a

whopping $654.00 and our P.E.

and Music teachers will be

purchasing equipment for their

programs with the funds raised

from this event. Thanks to the 5th graders in

Mrs. LeFebre, Mrs. Snider, and Mrs.

Wilson’s classes. They filled the air with

holiday music to add festive flair at Barnes

& Noble that evening.

We Recycle Ink Cartridges!

Keep Orchard Avenue in mind when you are

changing out your computer

printer ink cartridges. By

donating empty computer

inkjet and laser toner

cartridges, you will not only save valuable

landfill space and prevent pollution, but also

assist our school in raising valuable funds.

Pass this information on to your friends

and workplace, too! Thanks for your

support.

Health Reminder…

This has been an especially hard year for

student absences due to illness. In the

interest of keeping students healthy, please

keep your child home from school for 24

hours after any flu symptoms appear,

especially vomiting and diarrhea. Children

with a temperature of 100 degrees or above

will be sent home from school.

Kindly call the office each day

that your child will be absent

due to sickness to avoid the

absence being recorded as

unexcused. The direct line to leave that

information is 254-7560, then press “1”.

Winter Time

It is officially winter. Even though we are

experiencing unusually warm temperatures

for normal Colorado winter weather, it is

still cold in the early morning when students

arrive to school. And typically

Colorado weather conditions

can change drastically during

the course of the day.

Students spend time outside before school

and during recess and they will need to be

prepared for the cold temperatures. Students

should be sent to school prepared with a

warm coat, hat, and mittens every day.

Snow boots may also be in order on those

snowy days! We are mindful of bitter cold

temperatures & wind chill that winter can

bring and we do make decisions on a day to

day, sometimes hourly, basis regarding

indoor vs. outdoor recess. Be sure to label

your clothing, too, so that your items come

back home to you.

Kindergarten Round-Up

Kindergarten Round-up Day is Friday,

March 6th! If you have or know of a child

who will turn 5 years old by July 15th please

be aware of this important date.

We will not be having a formal program for

Kindergarten Roundup. Kindergarten

registration packets will be available the

week of March 2nd. You may pick up a

packet, complete the registration forms, and

turn them in at the office on March 6th, or

any time after that date. Documents

required for registration are a

copy of birth certificate,

immunization records, proof

of residency, and important

phone numbers (day care

providers, work numbers,

emergency contact names and phone

numbers). This date is for registration

purposes only. We will have the

opportunity to visit the kindergarten

classroom and meet teachers at a later date.

D51 Early Access Information

Early Access is offered to those few students

who would fully benefit from the

opportunity to begin formal schooling early

and who would not

suffer emotional, social,

or developmental

setbacks because of early

entrance. The EA

registration has opened for the 2015-2016

school year. More information and

applications for early access can be found on

the SD51 website, Gifted & Talented tab.

Applications must be received by February

27. 2015.

Watch Dog Dads

Our Watch Dog Dads program is off to a

great start. We are grateful to the

gentlemen who have volunteered to be

on our campus, lending an extra hand

and set of eyes and ears in the interest of

keeping our campus a safe place to learn.

If you are interested in being a volunteer

for this program please don’t

hesitate to call the school for

additional information.

Orchard Avenue Elementary

Has Got Talent!

The OAE Talent Show will be held on

Thursday, March 19th at 6:30 p.m. Entry

forms for auditions will be available to

4th & 5th grade students on Thursday,

January 29th. Auditions will be held

Tuesday, February 24th at 4:00 p.m.

There are four categories for auditions –

singing, dancing, musical instruments,

and miscellaneous. This is not a

competition and is intended to showcase

our students’ talents. Six acts will be

chosen from each category to perform in

the Talent Show for families on March

19th.

Jump Rope for Heart

February is “Heart Month” and Orchard

Avenue students are focusing on heart

health in PE class. The annual Jump

Rope for Heart benefiting the American

Heart Association kicks off the

observance. Selected

students are also

giving us heart

healthly facts at the

end of the school day.

Family Fun Nights

We have enjoyed some fun evenings of

roller skating at Spin City this year. Our

PTA has some new activities in the

works at some different venues in the

months ahead. We will keep you posted

as these activities for families are

planned. A “shout out” to

Jamie Smith for organizing

the Family Skate Nights

and exploring the other fun

activities that Grand

Junction has to offer to

families.

Attention Parents of 5th Grade

Students…

Informational meetings for the 2015-

2016 Challenge Program at East Middle

School were held on January 26th & 27th.

Applications will be accepted until 2:40

p.m. on February 27, 2015 at East

Middle School. For more information

contact Tina Sleigh at 254-5020, Ext.

33145 or Tina.sleigh@d51schools.org.

5th Grade Orientation to middle schools

is scheduled for Monday May 4th in the

morning. 5th Grade students will travel

to the middle school they will be

attending next year. More details about

this and other orientation and graduation

activities will be available soon.