March 10, 2017
February Students of the Month
Kinder: Keegan Bouathong
1st/2nd: Samantha Koppenol & Kayla Geerlings
3rd/4th: Tristan Harrington & Aydan Herrera
5th/6th: Shayne Moore & Aidan Coutts
7th/8th: Lauren McCullough & Nathan Kollen
Congratulations! Keep up the great work!
BUILDING READERS!!
MIRM
(AKA: March Is Reading Month)
Please take a peek at our March Is Reading Month Calendar! There are a TON of fun things planned starting March 1! Calendars are attached to my email announcing that the BLOG is updated and will be posted on the home page of the Parent Website! I’ve highlighted a VERY FEW of the fun days in the Calendar Plug-ins.
Dismissal and Parking Lot Information
Just some reminders about the parking lot, primarily at dismissal. It’s very congested in the parking lots (both the east and the west). The east lot is much worse than the west lot due to it being smaller to begin with, but much space is taken up for staging areas for the construction. There is nothing that we can do about that, but encourage families to be careful and on the watch. A few things that may help:
*Drop off and pick up your kids in the west lot (there’s construction, but this lot is much larger than the east lot)
*PARK in an ACTUAL PARKING SPOT, not in no parking zones
*Walk up to get your kids & do your best to leave as quickly as possible in order to free up parking spaces
**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE...if on nice days you are sticking around to converse and let your kids play on the playground, DO NOT ALLOW them to go onto the playground until 3:50pm. This gives us enough time to make sure that ALL kids getting picked up have parents attached to them and those who do not will then be taken to the office to call for rides. It’s super difficult to find kids when they are playing on the equipment without our knowledge. I have been and will be enforcing this expectation.
**PLEASE, find a parking spot when picking up your kids! You will NOT be allowed to stop traffic and have them get into the car. This slows down the process of getting cars in off of Roosevelt, causing backups for all cars and busses trying to get out of the bus lane.
Sign Up Genius Alley!
The Big Game Snack Sign Up
(aka M-sTEP for grades 5th & 8th)
Grades 4th, 6th & 7th coming soon!
Library Help for MIRM
8th Grade PE Course in June: Transportation Help needed
(all grade level parents can help)!
JRL Library at ZQuest!!!
Dear ZQ Families,
In the upcoming 8 to 10 months, I will be working to build a Just Right Library for ZQ students. Up until now, Roosevelt School and ZQ have shared the JRL. With the addition of space, we would like to build our own library for ZQ students. Many of you have already generously donated books and I am in the process of leveling these and getting collections organized. It is an enormous undertaking. Thank you to the PTO and other parents who are assisting with the process.
We are looking for books in Guided Reading Levels and specifically looking at levels A-N for our JRL. Our priority at this time are reading levels A-J to support our early and emergent readers. Leslie asked that I send out a few links to help you know what kinds of books we are looking for and where you can purchase them if you so desire. Here are two of the most affordable links.
Book Source
If you search under the Collections by Level in this link, you will see books at a specific level to purchase.
Book Wizard (Scholastic)
This is a teacher resource that helps teachers look for level text for classroom use.
Most Scholastic books you order have a guided reading level with them. Scholastic is a great source to use if you are ordering books for your child as well.
Thanks for all of your support. Feel free to contact me with any questions or ideas. ~Mrs. Hooker
Zeeland Quest Yearbook
Sponsored by Miss Marcy
Who: Grades 5th-8th
When: March 13, March 27 & April 10
Time: 3:30pm-4:30pm
Where: Computer Lab
**Any 7th or 8th grader participating is welcome to stay after school in Miss Marcy’s room and work on HW until the meeting starts!
Construction at Zeeland Quest
As I reported in our last BLOG update, construction is getting started!! It is more important now that we all get used to using the WEST parking lot instead of the EAST parking lot for drop off and pick up! Once construction is well underway, it will be extremely difficult to circle in the east lot to drop off due to limited space. Kids can be dropped off in the WEST lot and either enter through the west wing doors OR they can walk around to the main entrance from the drop off side. We will be adding an addition to the end of our hallway in order to get all of our ZQ kiddos in the same area of our school! It is going to be hectic, crazy and a bit disorganized for the remainder of this year and the beginning of the 17/18 school year! We appreciate your willingness to be patient and flexible with us. Because we are having walls knocked down and many new improvements done and added, we will be moving our school to Adams Elementary in June and August. Our last official day in our current ZQ space will be on Thursday, June 8 and we will take over some space at Adams on Tuesday, June 13. More information will come on this move, however it is important to note that there WILL NOT be school on Monday, JUNE 12. This is moving day for us. Facilities will taking our necessities out to Adams and teachers will be getting things ready to teach there, where we will finish off the 16/17 school year! We will then start the 17/18 year in Adams as well and move over our Labor Day break week at the end of August/beginning of September. Those families who use ZKids will still have that available to them at Adams Elementary. I’m going through details with the director still, so stay tuned! There WILL BE many things that we will need help with, so please stay tuned for updates on how you can help teachers out with the move!
The image above shows our wing. You will notice that existing space is in blue and new space is yellow. We are adding 2 classrooms and an extended learning space that will provide great break out spaces for individual learning, small group learning and even large group learning! We are also putting removable walls in between all classrooms, getting updated bathrooms and a much needed staff lounge/staff work space! It’s going to be beautiful when all is said and done!
Still in NEED of HELP on Popcorn Fridays!
Each month, we have popcorn Fridays (or Thursday depending on breaks!). Popcorn is sold for $.25 a bag (1 bag limit) for all of our K-8 kiddos. We are in need of ONE (1) volunteer to come from 8:40a-11:30a (approximately) to help pop and bag popcorn with the Roosevelt PTO volunteers (it’s a joint effort to get popcorn to all of the kids in both schools!). If you are interested in helping, please sign up on the Sign-Up Genius provided below.
Popcorn Dates: Mar. 17, April 21, May 19
It’s not too late!
If you haven't filled out an application for free and reduced lunch (in most cases this is a yearly renewal and you need to reapply), there is still time to do so! Even if you don't think you will qualify, filling out the application helps the school by providing us with additional funding from the government. It's simply to apply. Simply follow this link to apply online or email Leslie for a paper application!
SECURITY NEWS…
*PLEASE make sure that you are CHECKING in at the office BEFORE coming down to the rooms. This MUST be done even if you are only dropping off a lunch or walking your child to their class in the morning. In addition, you MUST wear your printed name tag at all times in the building, making sure it is visible to all teachers and faculty at all times. You will be stopped if you do not have a visible name tag! These are things that we must do in order to keep all of the kids safe! Thank you for your patience and for understanding!
What about Volunteering??
IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO CHAPERONE OR VOLUNTEER in any way, OR just VISIT at Zeeland Quest...you MUST make sure that you have had a background check online! Please go to https://v2ms.zps.org/Login.aspx and create an account (if you haven’t already). The account you create is good each year, however you MUST update it every year (so put your username and password in a safe place).
This is necessary for ALL parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. who want to attend trips or come in to visit! We CANNOT allow you down to our hall without this completed (this is not to be an inconvenience to you, but to keep ALL of our kids safe ALL the time)!
**IMPORTANT** Starting October 3, if your tag is YELLOW, you will not be permitted past the office, so PLEASE get those background checks in! If a grandparent is coming from out of town, please plan ahead so that they can participate in whatever activity they are coming to school for!
Small ways to give to ZQuest through your everyday shopping...
Family Fare Receipts
Simply drop your family fare receipts off in the white trash can outside Mrs. Leslie’s office and they will be counted toward reward money that comes back to our school! It’s an easy and simple way for us to earn money by your weekly shopping!
Box Tops
You can sign up to receive coupons and Box Tops extras by going to www.boxtops4education.com. It’s easy to sign up, clip coupons to save at stores and earn money for ZQuest!
A few things to remember BEFORE turning them into school…
*Please look at the expiration date! If the top is expired, please just recycle.
*Please cut the box top out around the dotted perimeter. This helps our parent volunteer in making sure they are all taken care of (imagine the hours it would take to cut everyone’s box tops out?!).
*Please make sure that you place them in a baggie or the collection sheet and label with your child’s name and their teacher’s name!
*PTO is working on a fun classroom challenge, so keep cutting those Box Tops!
Shoparoo!!!
What is Shoparoo? Shoparoo is a free mobile app that lets you earn cash donations for our school, just by taking pictures of your shopping receipts. It’s super easy and only takes seconds. The best part is that it doesn’t matter where you shop or what you buy--every receipt counts! If you are unable to get the app, please feel free to send your receipts in weekly and we will scan them!
Download the free app here and start snapping those shopping receipts!
**Paper Gator Recycling:
What? Please bring in your newspapers, catalogs/magazines/junk mail/phone books/office-school paper. We cannot take plastic, metal, trash, glass, or cardboard.
Where? In the back of Creekside (Look for “Paper Gator” on the bin)
When? 24-7(drop off anytime)
What will the paper become? The paper will be shredded and processed into hydro-seeding mulch, lawn establishment products, lawn repair products, cat litter, dog litter or small animal bedding. Help us become a greener world!!!! Recycle!!!
