Taylor Mill Times March 2011

Phone: 859-356-2566

Fax: 859-356-5750

Website: www.taylormill@kenton.kyschools.us

5907 Taylor Mill Road

Covington KY 41015

March

1 PTA Board mtg 7:00

pm

3 Kindergarten

Registration 11:30am

-1:30pm and 5:30pm-

7:00 pm

7 Board of Education

mtg 7:00 pm

8 Spring Portrait and

Class Picture Day

9 Market Day Pickup

7:15 pm

14 PTA Skating Party at

Independence

Skateway 6:00-

8:30pm

15 PTA General mtg

7:00 pm

18 Professional

Development Day-

NO SCHOOL

19 PTA Adult Night at

Pride Park House

23 Work Ethic Dinner

6:30pm in Cafeteria

31 Middle School

Parent Information

Night at Each of

the Middle Schools

Announcements

-Keep saving your aluminum can tabs for Cystic Fibrosis and return them to Mrs. Litton

-Congratulations to former Taylor Mill student, Atticus Gurley, for being named a National Merit Scholarship winner!!!

Words from Mrs. White: Hopefully, Spring is around the corner! For parents with children who will be enrolling in Kindergarten for the 2011-2012 school year, Kindergarten Registration will be Thursday, March3. Registration will be here at Taylor Mill from 11:00-1:30 and 5:30- 7:00 in the evening. Please bring your child’s social security card, the original birth certificate and two proofs of residence (power bill, phone bill, rental agreement, driver’s license, etc.) Open Enrollment for Kindergarten will only be accepted on March 3th. Tuition will be accepted beginning April 1st. Tuition forms will be on the district web site under student ser-vices and available at the school. I am so proud to announce that the Taylor Mill Academic Team placed 2nd in the recent District Governors Cup. Congratulations to our Academic Team! Our door is always open to you and we hope you can

come sometime for a visit to see all the GREAT things

our students are doing. I’m sure you will agree that our

students are Smart and Getting Smarter Every Day !!

Spring Book Fair

Our spring book fair will be taking place Friday, March

11 - Thursday, March 17. Students will visit the book

fair during their regularly scheduled library time.

Students will be bringing home more information about

the book fair soon. We will also be having a “Book

Fair Carnival” Family Reading Event on Tuesday,

March 15, from 5:00-8:30 (before and after our PTA

meeting). The Space Painter will be performing at 6:00

pm, and there will be contests to enter and door prizes

given away every half-hour, in addition to a large

selection of books for the whole family. Profits from

the book fair are used to purchase new books, media

equipment, instructional videos, library supplies, and to

maintain our school’s Reading Counts program. Please

come and help support our school library and family

literacy!

A few volunteers are still needed to help with the

spring book fair during school hours Friday, March 11-

Thursday, March 17 and during the Family Reading

Event on Tuesday evening, March 15, from 5:00-

8:30. If you are able to volunteer, please email Mrs.

Glaza at heidi.glaza@kenton.kyschools.us.

March 15th – Don’t miss the March PTA meet-ing. The third grade students will be presenting a play called Earth Day that teaches all about recycling. Also, the Energy Wise Team will have informational displays on recycling and energy saving tips that you can use around your house. We hope to see you there!

Congratulation to the Taylor Mill winners at the District

Governors Cup on February 26th at Whites Tower. Taylor

Mill Team finished 2nd in the district, trailing Kenton

Elementary by only 1 point.

Winners:

Math- Jenna Gripshover 4th place

Social Studies- Kyle Mastin 2nd place

Brooke Thornsburg-4th place

Science- Joel Parece 1st place

Jake Beckelhimer 3rd place

Language Arts- Brooke Jones 2nd place

Madison Berberich 4th place

Composition- Brooke Thornsburg 4th place

Hayley Back 5th place

Arts & Human.- Madison Berberich 2nd place

Brooke Jones 3rd

Quick Recall- 3rd place

Parent and Child Cafeteria Guidelines

Taylor Mill School recognizes and supports parent involvement. The following guidelines are established to make lunch with your child a special treat and a positive experience while ensuring the safety of all. A round table on each side of the cafeteria will be designated for parents to visit and enjoy lunch with their child. These special tables are exclusively for the use of these visitors and their child. If purchasing a school lunch, parents may get in line directly behind their child to make their lunch selections. No food may be purchased for or shared with any child other than your own, due to possible food allergies or unknown parent preferences

Congratulations to all Taylor Mill 4th grade students for their Science Fair projects. Students completed projects in the areas of: Animal Sciences, Earth Science, Plant Sciences, Behavioral Sciences, Engineering, Chemistry, and Physics. Winners in these areas went to the District Science Showcase on February 25th at River Ridge to showcase their projects. Winners included:

Animal Science (Zoology):

1st- Justin Grindstaff

2nd– Ty Houston

3rd– Caitlin Burke

Earth Science:

1st– Trey Meister

Plant Science (Botany):

1st– Molly Franxman, Mckensi Meyer

2nd– Brent Parsons

3rd– Alivia Elsbernd

Honorable Mention– Berina Halilovic

Behavioral Science:

1st-Blake Parsons

2nd– Logan Elliott

3rd– Mariah Owens

Engineering (Physics):

1st– Dean Bowling

2nd– Ethan Riegsecker

Chemistry:

1st– Patrick Flynn

2nd– Jayden Connelly

3rd– Bryce Sanders

Honorable Mention– Sophee Gregory, Hannah Allen, Jorie Beil, Maeve Hamlet

Group:

1st- Bernadette Sears and Kiah Royse

2nd- Delanna Hensley and Brandi Katinic

3rd- Tyler Lybrook and Korey Kleier

Honorable Mention: Keegan Robbins and Tyler Koch

Physics:

1st– Cameron Hilbert

2nd– Emma Poole

3rd– Scott Farrell

Honorable Mention– Joey Case, Lily Paganetto, Chloe Ruscher, River Wetzel

Taylor Mill Elementary School Teacher Request Policy

Taylor Mill Elementary understands the importance of matching students

with teachers, classrooms, and other students in determining student

placement. Toward the end of each school year, currently enrolled students

will be grouped for the following school year’s class placement. Placement

considerations will be made on:

-Learning and personality styles of the student and teacher

-Gender make up of the class

-Social/emotional needs of the student

-Teacher/parent input as it relates to potential impact on student

learning

-Parent request for teachers must include:

Valid academic concerns

Social/emotional needs of the student

Personality/motivational concerns

Requests must be based on specific teacher traits

Must be made, in writing, to the building principal by

April 30th of the current school year.

Although parent requests will be taken into consideration for student

placement, it does not guarantee placement of the student into a particular

class or teacher. Final class placement of a student will be made by the

building principal

Learn how to save money, become energy efficient and learn about possible tax incentives that you never knew about. Attend Work The Circuit – Saving Money Makes Cents – A free energy efficiency fair presented by J.D. Patton ATC, Duke Energy and The Kenton County School District on Saturday, March 26th from 9:00AM – 3:00 PM at Turkey Foot Middle School. There will be industry experts, vendor booths, solar power car races, interactive educational booths and door prizes such as an iPad, Lowes gift card, etc… If you have any questions please contact Chris Baker or Allison Basham at (859) 344-8888.

School-wide Bowling Champions

Congratulations to this year’s school-wide bowling tournament champions. The primary champions were Katelyn Moore, Aiden Masemore, and Christopher Davisson from Mrs. Banks’ class. The Intermediate Champions were Ethan Hines and Jordan Tapp from Mrs. Lohmoeller’s class. Good job to all of our bowlers!!

Reminder!!! If your child is going to be riding a

different bus home with another student, you MUST

have a note from each student’s parents for them to

ride that bus. This ensures that both parents have

agreed that the student has been OK’d to ride that

bus.

Bed Bugs What are bed bugs?

Bed bugs are small, flat insects, usually brown or reddish-brown in color. Bed bugs are typically about 1/4 of an inch long. Bed bugs do not fly, but can

quickly move across floors, walls and other surfaces. They are typically active at night.

Where are bed bugs found? Bed bugs are typically found in luggage, clothing, bedding and furniture. They can live in almost any crevice or protected location.

Bed bug infestations are common in places where people come and go frequently, such as hotels, motels, dormitories, shelters, apartment complexes

and prisons.

Unlike many other pests, bed bugs are not prevented by clean conditions, and can be found in places that are frequently and thoroughly cleaned.

Locally, bed bugs have been found in some of hotels, apartment units, single family homes, libraries, workplaces, etc. The potential exists for them to be transported to almost any public building, vehicle or work site.

How do I know if a place or item is infested

with bed bugs?

Bed bugs typically infest mattresses, box springs, bed frames and couches. These areas usually have dark spots and stains from the dried excrement

of the bed bugs.

Another sign of bed bugs is rusty or red spots of blood on bed sheets, mattresses or walls.

Heavy bed bug infestations may also have a musty smell.

What do bedbugs do to humans? Bed bugs require blood to survive. To get this nourishment, they often feed on humans. Bed bugs usually bite people at night when they are sleeping,

and feed on any area of exposed skin, such as the face, neck, shoulders, arms or hands. The amount of blood lost by humans to bed bugs is minimal.

The bites do not hurt, so the person usually does not know that he/she has been bitten, but bed bug bites do irritate the skin. People with bed bug bites may develop a small, hard, swollen white welt at the site of the bite. The welts are accompanied by severe itching that usually lasts a couple of

days.

Anxiety and restlessness are also common in people who have bed bug bites.

Do bed bugs spread disease? Bed bugs do not appear to transmit diseases. The greatest threat from the bites in humans is the swelling and inflammation at the site of the bites,

which can lead to secondary bacterial skin infections.

The bites can be treated with antihistamines or over-the-counter cortisone creams. Check with your health care provider to determine which treat-

ments you should use.

How do I know if I’ve been bitten by bed

bugs?

Not all bites or bite-like scratches are due to bed bugs. If you wake up with itchy bites that you did not have when you went to sleep, then you may

have bed bugs. To confirm if the bugs are present, a professional will most likely have to identify them.

How are bed bugs spread? Bed bugs attach to luggage, clothing, beds and furniture, and move when and where those objects are moved. Bed bug outbreaks can most often be

traced to travel.

Use of secondhand furniture, particularly beds and couches is another way bed bugs can be spread. You should be very careful when purchasing or

receiving used beds and couches, and should avoid all furniture left sitting at the curb.

How can I keep from getting bed bugs? Once bed bugs have infested an area, treatment by a professional exterminator is necessary.

However, you can prevent bed bug infestation in the first place by:

Watching for the signs of bed bugs when you travel by examining the bed sheets and upper and lower level of the mattress for signs of bed

bugs and then sleeping elsewhere if you suspect infestation

Making sure to keep your suitcase off of the floor when traveling

Not using secondhand beds, mattresses, box springs, couches and furniture, particularly if you don’t know where it came from

Not taking items like purses or jackets into movie theaters, libraries or similar places where bed bugs might be in the seats. Check yourself as

best as possible before getting in the car or going into your home afterwards.

Regularly checking your child's backpack, blankets, clothing, school books and related items if they are taken to school or child care.

Regularly inspecting your family's mattresses, bedding and rooms in general to be on the look out for bed bugs. It's better to catch them early

than to deal with a full blown infestation.

Keeping in mind that bed bugs might also be in your neighbor's home. People or things coming into your residence is the most common source

of infestation.

If you live in an apartment or condo, bed bugs can travel between walls, floors and ceilings and therefore can move from one unit into

others. Work closely with landlords to be on the look out for signs of infestations.

I think I may have been exposed to bed bugs in a public place and want to keep

them out of my house. What should I do?

Take any clothing or items that you think have bed bugs off before entering your house. Put them in a plastic bag and then immediately wash the items in the washing machine and run them through the dryer on the hot cycle--at least 120 degrees or higher. This will kill bed bug eggs and the

bugs themselves. If needed, you can first place items directly into the dryer to kill the bugs--especially for items such as backpacks and duffel bags and such. While the weather is hot outside. you can could also place suspected items in a black plastic bag, seal it shut, then allow to sit in direct

sunlight for a day or two. If done during hot sunny weather, the temperature in the bag should reach 120 or higher.

If bed bugs have infested part of my house,

how do I get rid of them?

Once bed bugs have infested an area, treatment by a professional exterminator is necessary. The exterminator may use a combination of insecticides

to kill off the bed bugs. The insecticides are applied to all areas where the bed bugs are discovered, or where they tend to crawl or hide.

In many cases, multiple applications are necessary to completely rid the infested area of bed bugs. In apartments and hotels, nearby units may need

to be treated as well.

Furniture and related items, as well as heavily infested bedding or clothing, may need to be thrown out.

I thought bed begs weren’t a problem in the

U.S. Why are they are concern?

Bed bug infestation was common in the U.S. prior to World War II, but the use of DDT (a chemical insecticide) in the 1940’s and 1950’s caused bed bugs to all but vanish from the U.S. Because of safety concerns, DDT is no longer used for pest control, and many people use baits to control ants

and cockroaches—these baits are not effective on bed bugs.

An increase of international travel, particularly to areas of the world where bed bugs have remained prevalent has also lead to an increased preva-

lence of bed bugs in the U.S. However, bed bugs are still rare when compared to other household pests.

Can the Health Department do anything to

make someone get rid of bed bugs? The Health Department does not have the authority to require bed bugs to be removed from private residences, such as homes and apartments.

In public buildings, the Health Department only has the authority to act if the facility is inspected for another reason--for example, a hotel room or a

restaurant.

Where can I get more information on bedbugs? Call the Health Department’s Environmental Health and Safety Office at 859-341-4151

Middle School Must!

Organization is a Key to Success

Middle School presents a new organizational challenge for students and parents. Students have at least 5-6 different teachers each day (4 Core teachers and 1 or 2 Elective teachers), each with their own homework, projects, due dates, and test dates. Good organization is essential for success. Start practicing NOW for future success. When kids are organized there is less conflict at home, less stress, improved grades and improved self confidence!

Here are some tips for you and your child:

Continue to help your child be organized at home with homework completion (if they need it).

Provide an area that the she can use nightly to complete homework in. The area should be quiet (no TV or younger siblings distracting if possible)

Provide easily accessible materials: pencils, pens, pencil sharpener, eraser, stapler, dictionary, paper, scrap paper, markers, crayons. These can be kept in a crate if you don’t have drawer or shelf space. When done materials go back in their spot.

Help him develop an organized routine ( you can use a laminated checklist if needed).

Use the following Homework Success at Home tips that I give to students:

Take out your planner

Take out all folders and books

Check to see if you have all of your needed materials

Do your homework one assignment at a time

Have an adult check each assignment to see that it is completely, accurately, and legibly done.

Have the adult check off each completed assignment in your planner.

Have the adult watch you as you put EACH homework assignment back into your folder or binder to return to school. (No stuffing papers in backpacks)

Have the adult sign your planner

Put your planner, folders, and binder into your backpack

Zip your backpack and place by the front door

Return your homework in the morning

This may seem like a lot of effort for the parent or guardian but I promise it will pay off. If your child is organized already. Hooray. If not, they need your help to be ready for the future. Put some time in now and reap the benefits as they enter Middle School. More Middle School Musts next newsletter.

Mrs. Hackman 356-2566 ext 6616

Child Advocate and Best-Selling Author to Address hot Topic of Emotional Bullying and Cyberbullying

Nationally-acclaimed author and children’s advocate (featured on ABC’s Good Morning America and PBS’s Keeping Kids Healthy),

Trudy Ludwig, will present on Tuesday, March 29th at Ryle High School Theatre/Auditorium from 6:30-8:00 pm. Mrs. Ludwig

will speak on the topics covered in her books, including My Secret Bully and Confessions of a Former Bully which were written to

raise awareness of relational aggression and emotional bullying. The event is FREE and open to the public, although due to

sensitive material contained in this presentation, this is an adults-only event.