Happy Holidays and Important Dates Ahead

Dear Families:

The Winter Concert was a huge success. The chorus performed so well despite only four rehearsals prior to the concert. Similarly, it was the first full concert for our new band conductor/instructor, Michael Castillo, who joined us on Election Day. The new Middle School Band was in excellent form! The event drew numerous family members, staff, and visitors. The auditorium was packed. The 8th grade students also raised funds for their end-of-year events by selling refreshments during the intermission. Thank you for supporting us and thank you Dr. Rispoli for coordinating. We will display pictures from the event shortly.

We will circulate January's events calendar shortly.

Important dates in January are as follows:

-January 5, 2009 - students return from holiday break
-The administration schedule for the New York State ELA Exam for grades 3-5 remains January 13-14 for grades 3 and 5 and January 13-15 for grade 4.
-January 19, 2009 - Martin Luther King Jr. Day (no school)
-January 20, 2009 - Presidential Inauguration Day (school-wide event)
-The ELA exam is now scheduled for January 21-22 for grades 7 and 8, and January 21-23 for grade 6.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a warm and safe holiday break. Please remember to read with your children daily, always asking questions about the text. We appreciate all of your efforts during the first four months of school and look forward to seeing you in the new year. Thank you for everything you do.

Community-Building Events & Fundraisers

To the Holliswood School Community:

As you are aware, last Monday, December 1st, several staff members, parents and students gathered at the Fresh Meadows Barnes and Noble Bookstore for a special Holliswood School event. Guest readers included myself, Assistant Principal Klocek, Mrs. Paulson Bromberg, Ms. Ehrentreu and parents, Mr. Cavounis and Mrs. Miller.

Assistant Principal Klocek coordinated the entire event and is awaiting the confirmation on the funds raised. Thank you Mr. Klocek for organizing this wonderful community-building event and thank you to all of you who read and came out to support the Holliswood School. As you know, improving our learning environment and strengthening the home-school connection is one of our school-wide goals this school year. This event generated a terrific turnout, especially since it was the day after a long holiday weekend. The funds raised from this event will be utilized to purchase read aloud books for classrooms, professional books for teachers, and materials to improve teaching and learning.

Similarly, the funds from the Big Apple Fundraiser are being tabulated. Preliminary results demonstrate that we raised over $5,000. Thank you to all of the students, parents, family and staff members who supported this fundraiser. As mentioned previously, we will allocate funds towards purchasing guided reading books and towards materials to enhance differentiation and enrichment.

This week, Parent Coordinator Corley and I facilitated a workshop to familiarize parents with Acuity Assessments. As you know, Acuity assessments replaced Princeton Review interim assessments to inform instruction. Teachers utilize Acuity student data to create small groups and to target teaching specific skills. Mrs. Corley also organized a community-building event, a cupcake decorating workshop, that gathered numerous parents and staff members.

Finally, please do not forget that, on this Wednesday, December 10th, our 2008 Winter Concert will take place. The concert begins at 6:00 PM. We will begin seating at 5:45. Performers should arrive between 5-5:30. There is also a PTA meeting this Tuesday at 7 PM.

Thank you for being our partners in education.