Family Basketball Night

FAMILY BASKETBALL NIGHT

Dear Families:

Please join us on Thursday, January 15th, from 6-8 PM, for Family Basketball Night.

The first hour will consist of basketball drills and activities designed for students and parents (all ages are welcome)!

The last hour will consist of a Faculty versus Parents Basketball Game.

Please enter through Avon Road.

See you then.

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.

Chancellor's Discipline Code

We will be revisiting and reviewing the Chancellor's Discipline Code with the middle school students next week during recess. We will review the various levels of infractions and disciplinary responses. The Chancellor's Discipline Code is distributed annually at the beginning of the school year. In September, every student is required to sign a contract upon reviewing the Discipline Code with their teachers, as well as a parent.

If you have misplaced a copy, you can view the Discipline Code online at:
http://schools.nyc.gov/RulesPolicies/DisciplineCode/default.htm

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at the school. As always, you can contact our Parent Coordinator, Phyllis Corley, or Assistant Principal, Patrick Klocek.

Have a terrific holiday!

Important Announcements

Attention: 8th Grade Families

High school applications are due back to guidance counselors, Ms. Peters or Mr. Feigelson, by Tuesday, December 2. Please return completed and signed applications by this date, since the counselors will need time to review the applications and enter data from the applications into the system.

Attention: Grades 3-8 Families

Acuity Results from the Fall Predictive Exam will be printed and distributed early next week. Mrs. Corley will have a parent workshop during the first week of December explaining the benefits of utilizing the Acuity online system and how you can use this tool to work with your children.

Attention: Holliswood Family

Please visit the Times Ledger of Fresh Meadows. There is an article about our school:
http://www.yournabe.com/articles/2008/11/17/fresh_meadows_times/news/fresh_meadows_times_newsecclrqz11142008.txtHave a terrific parent-teacher conference!

OPEN SCHOOL WEEK, Report Cards & Other Reminders

• Open School week will take place between 11/17 - 11/21
• Due to the ITA exams in ELA and Math on 11/17 and 11/18, we ask that you do not visit grades 3-8 classes on Monday and Tuesday. Our recommended schedule for open school week is as follows:

Grades PK & K - 11/17 between 10-11 AM; Grades 1 & 2 - 11/18 between 10-11 AM

Grades 3-5 - 11/19 between 10-11 AM; Grades 6-8 - 11/21 between 10-11 AM

• November 20th is a half day. Therefore, we do not recommend a visit on this day. If the above-mentioned times are not convenient for you, please arrange a class visit with the teacher at an alternate time. As a reminder, open school week is not an opportunity for an individual conference. Individual conferences take place at Parent-Teacher conferences. Students will be dismissed at 11:30 AM. All After-School Programs will be cancelled. Parent-Teacher Conferences are scheduled 1-3 PM and 5:30-8 PM. Elementary parents should have received an appointment notice from the classroom teacher.
• The PTA has sponsored a book fair, which will be open all week, including during parent-teacher conferences.
• The Big Apple Fundraiser Company will deliver all purchased goods to the school on November 20th. Ms. Stoll will contact the students to arrange for pick up.
• Our Student Council nominations have launched and currently, middle school students are campaigning for various seats. Students will vote beginning November 20th.

REPORT CARDS

• Report cards were distributed today to all students in grades 1-8.
• In the middle school, there was an important change regarding the physical education grade. A parent letter has been issued and will be distributed tomorrow regarding this topic.
• For class 702, the Spanish grade appeared twice on the report card. This was an error in the system. We are aware of the error and will issue revised report cards as soon as it can be resolved. Thank you for your patience on this matter.
• In middle school, student averages will be rounded to the nearest whole in order to be considered for academic or principal's honor roll.
• Principal's Honor Roll, Academic Honor Roll & Attendance Honor Roll will be announced shortly

OTHER EXCITING NEWS

• Last week, Young People's Chorus began. Students in grades 3-8 may still audition during any given Friday when the conductor is at 178. Students must audition with a signed permission slip. Permission slips are available in the office. Band members are also eligible to participate in chorus [they meet on different days].
• Our Ballroom Dance Residency with Dancing Classrooms of American Ballroom Theatre begins on Wednesday, November 26th. We are very excited to launch this program for our fifth grade.
• Our ThinkQuest After School Technology Program begins next week (selected participants).

ENJOY THE WEEKEND!

Winter Concert - SAVE THE DATE!

SAVE THE DATE

Winter Concert

Wednesday, December 10, 2008 at 6:00 PM

Featuring:

The Holliswood Middle School Band, led by Band Instructor, Michael Castillo

Holliswood School students from the Young People's Chorus (YPC):
Grades 3-5 Chorus & Grades 6-8 Chorus, led by YPC Conductor, Amy Kotsonis

Details will follow