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September 2008 |
Greetings Harelson Parents:
Wow! Where did the month of August go? The beginning of the year activities are complete and we are rolling along into September. As I walk through classrooms, it makes me so proud to see the quality instruction given by our teachers and the students engaged in their work. Students are now familiar with classroom and school routines and procedures and we are progressing accordingly.
Open House: On Thursday September 18th from 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. Harelson will be having an Open House to kick off our Direct Giving Campaign. Please stop by to hear a little presentation in the forever green at 7:00 p.m. and then stop by your child’s classroom to see their work. This will be a great community event that will promote direct giving instead of sales based fundraising and we will be able to showcase student work and talent.
Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) – Level Testing: Students in Grades 2-6 are in the middle of taking leveled tests in the areas of Reading, Math and Language. Second grade students are taking only the Reading and Math tests. The testing window is during the weeks of August 25th – September 19th. Each student will take one test in each area and the data will be used to help drive the instruction for individual student needs. Parents will also get results during parent teacher conferences.
Tax Credits: Tax Credits are an easy way to help support extra-curricular activities or functions. We use tax credit money for the fine arts, after school clubs, science materials, math manipulatives, field trips and our Reading Crew Program. These are just a few of the areas we use tax credit money. Please help us to continue strengthening these child-centered activities with your tax credit contributions. Remember, a married couple can give up to 400.00 dollars and you get this money back when you complete your taxes. I have included a breakdown of where the money has been given so far on a page in the Heartbeat. We have 412 families that attend Harelson. If every family gave 400.00 dollars that would come out to 164,800 dollars. If every family gave 200.00 dollars, that total would be 82,400 dollars. 5th grade camp and the 6th grade trip to San Diego are two other areas you can use your tax credit money. You also need to know that you don’t have to give the 200.00 dollars or 400.00 dollars in one payment. Some people spread out the money throughout the year. Let’s see if we can reach our goal of 82,400 dollars!
Parent/Teacher Conferences: As a friendly reminder, parent/teacher conferences will be held during the days of October 7th-10th. If you have any questions or concerns before that time, please do not hesitate to contact your teacher. You will be contacted with dates and times for your conference in the upcoming weeks.
Thank you to the following people: I want to take this opportunity to formally thank Jenny Carrillo and Nancy Smith and their direct giving committee members for all their time and energy in preparing the Direct Giving Campaign. This is a wonderful change at Harelson from sales based fundraising.
I also want to thank Mary Elder, Laura Ward, and Donna Cook for volunteering their time to be copy parents for our teachers. The teachers are very appreciative of your services.
Let’s continue to have a positive and productive year.
Sincerely,
Andrew T. Heinemann
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