Rolling Ridge - Northwest Tri-County Intermediate Unit



Rolling Ridge

Report

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EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE – STUDENT SUCCESS

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December 2007

From the Principal’s Desk

By David Stoczynski

Everyday Activities to Reinforce Math and Reading Skills

Everyone knows the importance of reading to his or her children. How many parents realize that it’s equally essential to help their children understand math – both concepts, reading comprehension, and how it’s part of their everyday lives! Here are some fun ways to incorporate reading and math into your family life – without a lot of time, effort, or expense.

In the kitchen. Cooking and baking using a recipe not only is a terrific way to help children better understand fractions and practice reading, it’s a great bonding time. (And you get to eat the results!) With younger children, show them all the different sizes of measuring cups and spoons and show them how measuring two half-cups of flour or sugar gives them exactly the same amount as one full cup. Ask older children to help you cut a recipe in half or double a recipe. Have them write down the new measurements and double check them together making sure they understand that, when you cook, it’s important to get your math just right.

At the grocery store. Bring a simple calculator with you to the grocery store when you shop with your children. Young children can add up how much you’ve spent on groceries or saved with coupons. Kids in third grade or higher can help you figure out which size of detergent, for example, is the best value, or whether using a particular coupon will end up costing less than buying the same product from a different manufacturer.

In the garage or driveway. A tire gauge is one of the simplest tools for a child to use, and can help him or her learn about adding and subtracting quantities. Show your children how to measure the pressure in your bicycle or car tires. Explain what the pressure should be, what it does, and have them help you figure out how much air you needed to add or release. Figuring out gas mileage is another great math and comprehension skill booster for older kids.

On the road. Long car trips were made for math and reading games. Pick a number from one to 10 or a word and have each child try to find them. Use a license plate whose numbers equal the target number. Younger children can add the numbers together. Children who have learned subtraction can try to find one that involves adding a few of the numbers and then subtract one. Kids who have learned multiplication and division can put those skills to use. Road signs make a perfect object to practice word search and reading.

Money is a powerful teacher. If your children are trying to save up to buy something special for them or someone else, keep a chart of how much money they will need and what they have saved to date.

Create Something. Both sewing and building involve a lot of math and reading ability and children love the ability to create. Teach your children how to measure and sew fabrics together and to build basic structures out of wood (just make sure they know to always have adult supervision and to never do any projects like these on their own).

Above all, make sure not to pass any math or reading phobias that might influence your children. It’s important for children to hear at home that what they’re learning is valuable – that all the work they’re doing in read and trying to comprehend division or fractions or measurement will pay off their whole lives.

FROM THE PRESIDENT’S PEN

I hope everyone who came to the Christmas Store and Ice Cream Social had an enjoyable evening and were able to purchase “the perfect gift” for your loved ones.

A huge thank you goes to Jodi Manna and Sue Carter, who were busy elves all year buying the special items for the Christmas Store. Thank you as well, to Melanie Ford and Antonella Khalilollahi who worked hard to make the ice cream social a tremendous success.

Thank you to all the parents who volunteered your time at the Christmas Store and Ice Cream Social! We couldn’t have done it without your help!

Happy Holidays to our Rolling Ridge families. May you enjoy the season with your friends and families.

Stacy Loncher

PTO President

ACT 34 Clearances

If you have not been able to acquire your act 34 clearance, needed to volunteer in the school, you may do so by logging onto .  Scroll down the page to the section that reads "Credit Card Users" and click the link that says "Submit a New Record Check" and complete the required information.  A one time, non-refundable credit card payment of $10 is required.

VICE PRESIDENT

Hi! I hope everyone enjoyed our Christmas store and ice cream social? Thank you Jodi and Sue for all your hard work. I know you both spend many months preparing for this event.

I want to thank all the families that supported our school in attending the spirit night football game. Even though the weather didn’t cooperate we sold more tickets than ever giving us over a $250 profit! Keep an eye out for the basketball spirit night in January – GO HUSKIES!

Kristin Green

ICE CREAM SOCIAL

The Ice Cream Social offered a sweet break to the shoppers who came to the cafeteria to enjoy ice cream cups, cookies, and drinks. We want to thank everybody for going along with the changes we made this year big and small (e.g. selling tickets through envelopes exchanges instead of having students hurriedly purchase them in the morning, and meeting on a Saturday afternoon). We hope Santa Claus will remember all the volunteers who helped us in so many ways, making our job so much easier and the evening more enjoyable for everybody. Thanks to all and we hope to see you next year.

Melanie Ford and Antonella Khalilollahi

Ice Cream Social

CHRISTMAS STORE

Thank you everyone for helping make our Christmas store a huge success. Even though we changed the date at the last minute we appreciate everyone coming out to shop at our store. We hope everyone got that special gift for his or her loved one.

Have a great holiday season and we’ll be back next year with even more goodies!!

Jodi Manna and Sue Carter

PROJECT YOU/PROJECT YOU TOO

Our first meeting this year was held on Tuesday, October 16th. The turnout was good as we worked on the topic of respect. Seems like a good way to start the year, don’t you think? We met again on Wednesday, November 7th to discuss the topic of citizenship and being active in our community. The Project You teams had the opportunity to work with Allison Long of Harbor Creek High School on Project A.C.T.I.O.N., a service project to assist Community Shelter Services. Goods that were collected from the elementary schools were then assembled at our meeting into 90 personal care packages for those in need in the community. Good job students!

We have a lot of fun working with these students. Just a reminder, parents, that all students need to have a signed permission slip turned in the Friday before our scheduled meeting to participate in this program. This gives our permission slip coordinator time to distribute an attendance sheet to all teachers so that they know which students are allowed to stay after school that day for Project You. We need to account for every student for safety reasons. It wouldn’t hurt to ask your child to make sure that they turned in their slip to their teacher, as sometimes they forget.

Mark your calendar for upcoming meeting dates:

Tuesday, January 8th

Tuesday, February 5th

Thursday, March 6th

Wednesday, April 16th

Lynda Meyer, Project You! (grades 1-3)

Carrie Jaskiewicz, Project You Too!! (grades 4-6)

SCRIPT/GIFT SHOPPING CARDS

“I purchased a Famous Hair cad for the convenience of a quick haircut for my son. This location does not take a credit card. Not only do they swipe the card for the cost of the haircut, but I can add my tip too! I have also earned cash for my son’s school” M.R.

“I like the convenience of having a Sheetz card with me. With all the running I do with my kids, it’s great to know I can stop and fill my tank (well almost), pay at the pump, and not have to worry about having cash with me all the time. It’s also convenient for morning coffee on the way to work.” D.M.

“My favorite card is the Giant Eagle gift card. I purchase the $100 card to buy odds and ends groceries, or when I see a good sale at Giant Eagle. I have a Trac Fone and used the gift card to buy additional minutes. I was also able to earn fuel perks by scanning the Advantage Card for these purchases. I can then use the Giant Eagle gift card to purchase gas at Get Go with the fuel perks I’ve earned. Plus I’ve earned money for our school by purchasing a gift card and by using the advantage card. C.J.

These are a just a few of the ways that you can benefit by purchasing gift/shopping cards through Rolling Ridge PTO. Please consider making a purchase. It is convenient and simple, plus benefits our school at the same time. For your added convenience, the list of businesses and an order form can be found on the Rolling Ridge School website for you to download and print as needed.

Just a reminder, the last chance to order gift cards in time for holiday giving is Friday, December 14th (delivery date will be Friday, December 21st). We will then keep you posted in the New Year with the new dates. Thanks for your support.

Scrip card committee:

Carrie Jaskiewicz, Marcy Rutkosky, Sandy MacGurn

BOX TOPS

Our first deadline of October 1 has come and gone. We collected a total of $945.10 in Box Tops which only puts us $113.90 away from our goal! Our next deadline is February 1. Our earnings for the year will appear on the Box Tops for Education website after December 1.

Please visit the Box Tops Website at and enter to win 10,000 bonus box tops for our school. Just click on the promotions tab. While there, you might want to check out the Box Tops Marketplace. Our school will earn money for anybody who shops through this site. This site has great recipes and printable coupons. Also, if you shop Sam's Club, watch for the Bonus Box Tops worth 50 cents on participating products like fruit roll ups and fruit by the foot.

Kathy Noonan

SPECIAL SALES

Happy Holidays' Rolling Ridge Families!

I would like to thank everyone for making the Spirit wear sale such a success. It is nice to see that Rolling Ridge has the most “Huskies Spirit”. If you still have a problem with your order please give me a call so that we can get it resolved. It was nice to see everyone shopping at the Christmas store, I hope you got all of your shopping done. I would like to wish everyone a very happy and safe holiday season. Look for all kinds of new spirit wear items for the New Year. Happy Holidays!

Jenny Hall

397-4505

HONOR ROLL

SECOND QUARTER 2006-2007

GRADE 4

Katrina Amann-Ross, Lea Kate Amendola, Kaitlyn Askins, Colin Babbitt, Kimberly Barone, Danielle Bartlett, Chelsey Bielanin, Rachel, Biroscak, Luke Brooks, Tyler Carr, Anna Chimera, Christopher Dietz, Brian Faipler, Jacob Gonda, Gregory Gordon, Alex Gorski, Meghan Green, Olivia Gula, Nathaniel Hall, Ashley Harayda, Nicole Herman, Mitchell Hillhouse, Issac Hodapp, Rebecca Horetsky, William Kalie, Dylan King, Daniel Kuhn, Emily Learn, Taylor Lewis, Zachary Morris, Connor Needham, Erica Olsen, Kristen Pound, Nathan Pytlarz, Timmothy Romanski, Sydney Shultz, Jordon Seroka, Joeseph Shotts, Tessa Siedlinger, Ryan Simmer, Ruthie Warren, Michael Winiarczyk III, Megan Young and Sam Zdunski

GRADE 5

Jennifer Angelo, Hayley Boyd, Caroline Bremner, Lindsey Bresee, Shawna Britton, Alex Burnett, Megan Carlson, Vincent Cross, Pedro Cubero, Daniel Fitzgerald, Alexander Ford, Raymond Galeza, Adam Hamilton, Nicholas Harayda, Ellen Jaskiewicz, Ryan Kaschalk, Daniel Macaluso, Noah Mandel, Mark Manson, Colton Messina, Benjamin Nowak, Charlene O’Neal, Troy Palmer, Olivia Purpura, Jacob Raymond, Andrew Russ, Abigail Sallot, Jacob Sanders, Rachel Schultz, Kaylee Schewnk, Rachel Sinnott, Casey Smith, Alyssa Stenger, Tiffany Taccone, Megan Uht, Nathan Vogel, Logan Wenzel and Jackson Zaunegger

GRADE 6

Hannah Bemis, Celeste Bentley, Sydney Berlin, Aaron Blakney, Shana Brown-White, Eric Campbell, Andrew Carter, John Charney, Tristan Chavez, Kaitlyn Dietz, Marissa Drobitch, Mitchell Fife, Justin Gallagher, Luke Gonda, Koltin Hammer, Dustin Hillebrandt, Zachary Hillhouse, Marigrace Hood, Jordan Hunter, Clyde (Teddy) Kendall, Alyssa Kerstetter, Kara Kosterman, Carol Lechner, Bethany Loncher, Daniella Lopez, Garrett Lye, Charles Mazur, Sophie Mazza, Collin McCarty, Kelsie Mleczko, Serena Olsen, Kyle Ostermann, Jacob Phillips, Kirsten Riley, Tyler Shumaker, Brandon Slomski, Anthony Twaroski, Erin Vollmer, Zachery Wainwright, Jonathan Warren, Margaret Wegelin and Jamie Zaunegger

CONGRATULATIONS!

CLASSROOM NEWS

Kindergarten – Mrs. Farantzos, Mrs. Akin, Mrs. Moffett, Mrs. Bond

First, we want to welcome Mrs. Lada to Kindergarten. We are so happy to have her with us while Mrs. Moffett is on maternity leave. Speaking of which, we also want to welcome Leah Claire to our Rolling Ridge family. She is Mrs. Moffett’s new daughter.

We are thankful to be in Kindergarten! To celebrate Thanksgiving, we had a feast of our own. We made the food ourselves. It was an experience! We learned to measure, stir and work together. The resulting feast was delicious. We are thankful for many things. We are trying to think of others by being kind and helpful. We donated food to the food drive and gave a helping hand to someone this month!

In the midst of all this partying, we have been learning A LOT! Letters, letter sounds, sight words, vowels and punctuation are just a few of the reading skills we are covering. We enjoyed meeting the Letter People. They were fun and helped us learn our letter sounds. We have been continuing with our counting skills to 50 and writing our numbers to about 15 or 20 in math class. There is nothing more fun than learning about the five senses during the holiday season. The sight, sounds, smells and oh those delicious tastes are so exciting this time of year! We know most of our letter sounds and now are so excited to put them together to make words!

Next up, of course...the Christmas party season! We are looking forward to show kindness to others again this month. Pretty soon, it may just become a habit!

Happy Holidays to All!

Grade 1 – Mrs. Testi, Mrs. Nowakowski, Mrs. Chimera, Mrs. McIntyre

All is well in first grade as we prepare for the upcoming holiday season and the long winter months ahead.

We would like to extend warm birthday wishes to the following:

December: Gregory B., Natalia M., Cassidy C., Ryan V., Taylor, and Samuel

January: Thomas D., Victoria S., and Nathan

February: Jacob F., Sunny C., Emily, Rachel B., Brayden N., Thomas C., Jacob W.

In Social Studies our studies include holidays around the world and Martin Luther King Day. In Science our studies are of the earth’s natural resources and how to protect them, matter, magnets, sound and motion, and animals.

We are making a lot of progress in both Reading and Math. In Handwriting, we continue to perfect our printing – working on line control and proper letter formation.

Grade 2 – Mrs. Logan, Mrs. Rodemoyer, Mr. Young, Mrs. Pearson

We have been working very hard this quarter in second grade. In Math, we have been practicing our addition and subtraction facts to 18, solving word problems, and exploring fact families. Pretty soon we will be learning to tell time and count money!

In Reading Class, we are working hard to read with expression. The students are doing wonderful work in spelling, too. Keep practicing those words!

In Writing, the students have been so excited to be able to start writing in cursive. They are doing a super job!

In October, we learned about weather and migration by going on a field trip to Presque Isle and the Tom Ridge Center. We had a fantastic time! Thank you to those parents who helped out on the trip.

We would like to thank our room parents and volunteers for the wonderful Halloween parties they provided. We can’t wait to see you for the Christmas party!

Happy Birthday wishes go out to all students who celebrate their birthdays in December, January, and February.

Grade 3 – Mrs. Pero, Mrs. DeVore, Mrs. Janiuk

The third grade has tackled telling time in math! Elapsed time is a difficult concept for third graders! We encourage you to practice at home. Ask your child questions like this:

❑ What time is it now? If we are leaving in 25 minutes, what time will it be then?

❑ If you wake up at 7:00 a.m. and you leave for the bus at 8:35 a.m., how much time do you have to get ready?

Also, practice counting money and making change at home(

We celebrated the students that met AR goals with a “Sundae Party.” Don’t forget to encourage your children to continue to read and increase their AR points! We want all students to reach their AR goals by the end of this quarter! We have a special SNOW DAY planned to honor those that will meet their next goals!!!!!!!!! Remember, accuracy counts, too! Our goal for everyone is 85% or better! Happy reading!!

Our students were challenged with an EGG-cellent problem!!! Working cooperatively, they needed to get an egg safely from the rooftop of the school to the playground pavement below without their egg becoming scrambled. We had containers, cushions, parachutes, and many other creative contraptions to safely float their eggs back to earth. Many groups successfully completed the mission and their eggs were thankful for their creativity. A few sad eggs perished during the activity, leaving their groups thinking of creative solutions for next time.

The third grade teachers wish you all a wonderful Holiday Season as we look forward to a New Year of more fun learning with the children(

Grade 4 – Ms. Emling

Reading-

Ms. Emling's Reading class has been reading and enjoying the stories in Unit 2, entitled "Something in Common". This unit talks about how sometimes sharing ideas can lead to meaningful cooperation. One of our favorite stories so far was "Just a Dream". It is a fantasy about a boy's trip into a future shaped by the present day's disregard for the environment. When he awakes, the boy is glad to discover his trip was "just a dream". We learned that if you think that one person can't make a difference when it comes to recycling, you're wrong. We all need to recycle and not litter so that our environment remains as clean as possible.

Math-

Ms. Emling's Math classes have been learning about time, real time and elapsed time. We have also been working on place value to the millions period and comparing, ordering, and rounding whole numbers.

All Math classes have also received six sets of flash cards which we are to be studying every night. Ms. Emling has given us two 100 fact multiplication quizzes six weeks apart. Many of us gained a significant amount of facts during that time period.

Social Studies-

We are finishing up our unit on Pennsylvania. We are currently studying "Famous Pennsylvanians". It has been so nice to learn more about our home state.

Happy Birthday to:

December- Taylor, 12/3, Dan- 12/4, and Rebecca- 12/18

January- Kristen, 1/14

Thanks to Mrs. Kuhn, Mrs. Morris, and Mrs. Hall for a fantastic Halloween Party. A good time was had by all!!!

Happy Holidays to you and yours from 4B!

. Grade 4 – Mr. Ziroli

Since our last newsletter, many exciting events and activities have taken place for the students at the Ridge.

One of the most memorable assemblies was the Power Team from Texas who demonstrated to all of us their super human strength. Their main message was to be happy with your self and make wise choices in life.

Another exciting event was the Huskie Homework Bowling Party. Everyone there had a fantastic time and we even bowled well! Keep up the good work in completing those homework assignments so that you may enjoy the fun at our next homework reward in mid January.

The annual parent-teacher conferences were held in November. It was great to meet all the parents and talk with them about their children.

Our Halloween Party and Parade were such fun we can’t wait for the next holiday classroom party to arrive. Thanks to Mr. & Mrs. Zdunski for their help in setting up and playing the games with us.

Lest you think that all we do is enjoy ourselves, we want you to know that we have also been working very diligently on writing personal narrative stories and we are beginning our study of nouns and their various functions. With the arrival of the holidays just around the corner, sometimes it is difficult to focus, but with the help of our teachers and parents we are doing our best to learn in school!

The following students have had or will be celebrating a birthday:

October: Mitchell H. (10/3), November: Ike H. (11/8), January: Will K. (1/1)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Until next time, enjoy the holidays with your family and friends!

Grade 4 – Mrs. Doverspike

Students in my classes have had great success adjusting to the challenges of fourth grade. Read on to learn more about all the discoveries we are making.

Mrs. Doverspike’s Reading class is beginning Unit 2 “Something in Common.” In this unit we are learning that sharing ideas can lead to meaningful cooperation. We will be spending time making predictions, forming generalizations, understanding sequencing, and determining cause and effect in comprehension. We will also continue to use context clues in order to determine the meaning of words we may not understand.

In Mrs. Doverspike’s Science classes we have been learning about Earth’s weather. We recently read a book from the library on weird weather. Did you know that there is a man who was actually struck by lightning seven times? It melted his watch and burnt his hair, but he lived to talk about it. Also, we read that in Paris in the 1800’s, it rained frogs! Ask your child how scientists think this may have happened. To add to our weather knowledge, we invited Mr. Tom DiVecchio from Channel 24 News to visit us. He provided our students with more information about clouds and their impending weather.

Soon we will begin to study plants and seeds. In fact, we will watch seeds burst open to observe what emerges first, roots, stems, or leaves. After planting our seeds, we hope to watch our plants grow by leaps and bounds when given soil, water, sunlight, and some T.L.C.

A big “thank you” to Mrs. Green and Mrs. Brooks for hosting a wonderful Halloween Party. A terrific time was had by all!!!

Upcoming 4th grade birthdays include –

December: Luke B. – 12/17 January: John K. – 1/14, Tyler C. – 1/20 February: Nathan P. – 2/26 March: Tessa S. - 3/12, Dan L. – 3/20

5B - Mrs. Bool

Thanks to Mrs. Jaskiewicz and Mrs. Boyd for a great Halloween party. They provided super treats and great activities.

Happy December birthday to Alexander Ford on the 2nd. Celebrating in January is Nathan Vogel on the 24th and Caroline Bremner on the 30th.

Mrs. Bool’s Reading classes had 78% of the students meet their goals in our Independent Reading Program for the first quarter which is awesome! Each of those students signed the “IR Star” chair and had a chance to win the chair for themselves. Our lucky winner this time was Meghan Uht. There are still 3 chairs to win this year so keep on reading! All who met their goal also enjoyed a morning of popcorn and games the day before Thanksgiving. We are working very hard so that 100% of the students make their IR goal for the second quarter. Mrs. Bool just put out a whole box of Christmas IR books, which we are all excited to share!

All of the students successful in the Husky Homework Heroes program had a wonderful time bowling at Eastway Lanes as their reward. We are looking forward to a trip to Splash Lagoon in January and hope that more students will qualify to attend. Remember, to qualify you can only miss 5 assignments.

We have decided to give up our usual exchange gifts at our Christmas party. We will pool the money we would have spent and any extra we make doing odd jobs to purchase gifts for a family who is less fortunate than we are. It makes us feel good inside knowing we can help someone have a brighter Christmas.

Happy holidays everyone!

5C – Mr. Richards

We had a great first quarter in 5C. The year is flying by. Almost three-fourths of the class made the Honor Roll and many others came very close.

Mrs. Purpura with the help of Mrs. Uht provided us with a fantastic Halloween party. We had plenty to eat and lots of fun games. Thanks a million. We can hardly wait for the Christmas party.

In Science class we are studying about Forms of Matter & Energy. We have been making some interesting mixtures and solutions in class. I’ve told the students to try some on their own at home. Their favorite has been

making a milkshake. It’s full of solvents and solutes. Ask your child about them.

All the students that met their Huskie Homework Hero goal had a great time bowling at Eastway Lanes. There were a lot of strikes and a lot of gutter balls. Next quarter we are going to Splash Lagoon, so do your homework! Fifth grade also went on a field trip to the beautiful Warner Theater to hear the Erie Philharmonic play and then went to Ricardo’s Restaurant for a delicious lunch.

Here is a list of gifts students would love to find under the tree at Christmas:

Nintendo Wii: Drake Heyer, Jacob Raymond, Olivia Purpura, Ray Galeza

Nintendo DS: Rachel Amendola, Rachael Sinnott, Meagan Schauble, Tiffany Taccone, Jackson Zaunegger

iPod: Adam Hamilton, Sam McGill

Cell Phone: Kelsey Malmgren

PlayStation Portable: Pedro Cubero

Bunny: Katie McGill

Ventriloquist Dummy: Ben Nowak

Health and Safety Hint: Remember that the holidays are a good time to replace all your smoke detector batteries. It could be a lifesaver!

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5D - Mr. Zajac

Hello! We’ve had a great first quarter. We have been busy working on many different activities during school. Check out what we are doing!

Read Aloud

Mr. Zajac is reading aloud: There’s a Boy in the Girls Bathroom by Louis Sachar. It is interesting to hear some of the circumstances students in school can get into.

Math:

Math Facts! Math Facts! Math Facts!

We are busy memorizing our multiplication facts from 2 to 12. We need to know these in order to practice two digit multiplication and division. We are finding common multiples and least common multiples with numbers on dice. You will see our LCM snowman display on our outside bulletin board.

We spent a lot of time working on decimals this month. We have been discussing the rules for adding, subtracting, comparing and multiplying decimals.

PSSA:

We are also busy preparing for the PSSA by practicing multiples choice questions. Mr. and Mrs. Zajac give us a RUSC problem to practice every week. These questions can be very confusing, the questions won’t trick us because we can make sure we read, understand, solve, and choose the correct answer using our RUSC workmats.

Social Studies

Social Studies is a little more interesting this year. Mr. Zajac uses video-streaming on the SmartBoard. It’s like watching an educational video (on a big screen). Our last video discussed the Spanish Explorers in North and South America.

Happy Holidays Everyone!!

Grade 6 - Mrs. Meyer, Ms. Sheffer, and Mr. Blose

Winter is here, but we’re not letting it slow us down! However, please make sure that your child dresses appropriately for outdoor recess in the snow and cold.

Harbor Creek School District participated in a food drive collection for the Food Bank. Thank you to all that were able to help! Your generosity is greatly appreciated!

We are also doing great academically with students on Honor Roll for the first quarter. These students are as follows:

6A- Hannah Bemis, Aaron Blakney (All A’s), Katie Dietz, Mitchel Fife, Justin Gallagher (All A’s), Dustin Hillebrandt, Zack Hillhouse, MaryGrace Hood, Jordan Hunter (All A’s), Carol Lechner, Kelsie Mleczko, Jake Phillips, Jonathan Warren, (All A’s), Janine Zaunegger.

6B- Celeste Bentley ( All A’s), J.J. Charney, Tristan Chavez, Marissa Drobitch (All A’s), Luke Gonda, Teddy Kendall, Alyssa Kerstetter, Bethany Loncher, Charlie Mazur, Sophie Mazza (All A’s), Brandon Slomski, Anthony Twaroski (All A’s), Erin Vollmer, Zack Wainwright, Maggie Wegelin.

6D- Sydney Berlin (All A’s), Shana Brown-White, Eric Campbell (All A’s), Andrew Carter (All A’s), Koltin Hammer (All A’s), Kara Kosterman, Daniella Lopez, Garrett Lye, Collin McCarty (All A’s), Serena Olsen (All A’s), Kirsten Reilly (All A’s), Tyler Shumaker (All A’s).

We had a great time bowling for our first quarter homework reward and are looking forward to Splash Lagoon in January for our second quarter reward! Remember that students can miss no more than 5 homework assignments during the second quarter to attend the next field trip to Splash Lagoon.

In Science, we are finishing our Pennsylvania Standards relating to Life Science. We enjoyed researching topics relating to DNA. Our next adventure will be health-related topics. First stop will be the Endocrine System! We sure are enjoying our new Science series with many new and interesting concepts!

In Math, we are learning about decimals, measurement, and basic algebra concepts. Soon we will begin fractions! We enjoy having Mrs. Zajac come into our classroom once a week to help teach us special topics and prepare us for PSSA Testing!

In Social Studies, we are busy learning about U.S. History from 1900 to the present time and investigating how the United States related to world events during these time periods. We need to remember to review our notes each night to keep up with the new challenges of sixth grade.

Congratulations to Luke Gonda! He’s a 6th grade student and the big winner of the Wii game system raffle.

Lastly, we would like to recognize students with winter birthdays. They are:

December- Tim Barone, Jon Stile, Shana White, Aaron Blakney

January- Sophie Mazza, Carol Lechner, Janine Zaunegger, Garrett Lye, Kirsten Reilly, Tiffany Cady

February- Katie Dietz, Tristan Chavez, Celeste Bentley

Mrs. Nicolia – LS Primary News

Thanks to helping get your students off to a great start with homework and organization! Taking the time to check homework is well worth the effort!

We are working on phonemic and word blending skills, which also helps with spelling and writing skills too. We are practicing sounding out words with various vowel groupings and practicing ordering our vowels so that we can remember or figure out the sounds when reading and writing. Reading at home to and with your child helps them retain and improve their skills. It is also great together time! Also, you may want to turn on the closed-captioning on your t.v. That way your children can hear and see the words. It has been shown in research to help improve reading skills.

In second grade math we’ve been practicing our addition facts and fact families. In third grade Math we have practiced time and money skills. These are very difficult for all students, so keep practicing them at home whenever you can. Playing store is a great way to practice money! You can practice time by not reading the clock for them when they ask, “What time is it?” You can also practice elapsed time by having them figure out how long it took them to do something or how long they have to wait to do something.

This year we have also begun a PSSA group, where we practice honing our test-taking skills in both reading and math. This practice also helps keep our newly learned skills sharp!

I am also pleased that you are being vigilant in sending your children to school every day or almost every day, especially during this season where students are falling ill constantly. It really helps to have them here consistently. It keeps the learning moving forward!

I look forward to hearing from you or meeting with you for any questions you may have, so feel free to call me at 899-0816 X335 or you may e-mail me at snicolia@hcsd..

Learning Support – Ms. Rapp

The year is off to a great start as we enter the second quarter. All of the students should be proud of their accomplishments so far this year.

In Math class the students have been working on basic facts and their skills are improving! Keep up the good work. While we continue to progress through the Math Curriculum, the students are continuing to strive for the best! This quarter we will use our PSSA Coach books to prepare for the state tests. I feel that the Math students will be very comfortable with the Math PSSA test format when the time comes.

In Reading we are continuing to work on out fluency and comprehension. We have started using Reader’s Theater as a way to help the students become better readers. I think the students are doing a superb job! We are continuing to prepare for the state assessment by using our PSSA books and working on important reading skills. I am also encouraging the students to read independently for 30 minutes or more each night. This will help improve their confidence as a reader as well as their reading skills.

The Huskie Homework Reward program was a success for the first quarter. Many students enjoyed the bowling trip! I hope to see all of my students at the next reward- it’s sure to be a blast!

Reading Specialist – Mrs. Long

Successful reading is not just saying all the words correctly when reading; it is also, understanding what is read. Some children with good phonics and decoding skills don’t necessarily understand what they read. Their comprehension is poor. When your child is reading at home, besides having him/her simply say the words on the page, you need to ask various types of questions to be sure that understanding is taking place. Your child’s comprehension can be checked by using simple questions such as asking characters’ names, where the story is taking place, events in the story, etc. Your child should also be given the opportunity to share his/her opinions and feelings about the story or events through “critical” questions that require thought based on what he/she read. Examples of these questions could be: How did you like the story and why?, What do you think might happen next?, What would you have done?, Do you agree with what happened or what was done and why?, How did the characters feel-change?, etc. Another good way to check comprehension is to have your child retell you the story or write a short summary of the story in logical order. Also, ask your child what certain words on a page mean to check that he/she understands the vocabulary used in the story.

Remember, saying all the words means nothing if you don’t understand what you are reading!!

Math News – Mrs. Meehl

The K-3 students at Rolling Ridge have learned a lot of new math concepts, and are striving to do their best.

Kindergarten is learning to recognize the numbers 0-10 and matching sets and numbers. You can help them practice at home by letting them count and sort toppings for all those holiday treats.

First grade is learning about adding and subtracting. Ask your first grader which way they like the best-counting up or counting back. Make up story problems for them to solve…”If Santa brings you 3 presents, and you get 2 presents from Grandma, how many presents do you have now?”

Second grade has also been working on addition and subtraction. Ask your second grader what a fact family is. They will soon be learning to count money and make change up to $1.00. Turn your family shopping trip into a math lesson by asking your child to help you figure out how much something will cost and how much change you’ll get back.

Third grade has been learning to round numbers to the nearest ten/hundred to help them with estimating. They’re also learning addition/subtraction with regrouping. Ask your third grader what a missing addend is. Soon they’ll be learning multiplication! You can help them along by practicing skip counting (by 2s, 3s. 4s, 5s, etc.) Once they understand these patterns, learning their multiplication facts will be a snap!

Here are a few fun websites that you can explore with your child:



(Look for School Bell and select Math)

Math news – Mrs. Zajac

Hello again. This quarter has been busy working on concepts such as elapsed time, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of whole numbers and decimals. We’ve also been rounding and comparing numbers. Ask your child about the dice and spinner games we’ve been playing. We are really getting to be great with numbers.

Math Websites:

The Websites below are great websites for you to use at home. Try them out.

http:/ -- This website provides over 400 pages of interactive lessons, homework help, worksheets, puzzles and more. The activities are geared towards the upper grades.

-- The website provides educational games for math and other school subjects. The activities are specific for each grade level. Simply choose your subject, concept, and grade level to get started.

PSSA: We’ve started PSSA preparations in the upper grades. Students in grades four, five and six will participate in the PSSA this year. So far we are focusing on Multiple Step/Multiple Choice Questions and Math Vocabulary. Ask the students about multiple-choice questions, and why we call them RUSC problems. I’m sure they can tell you what it means.

Literature Connection: Math Stories:

100 Days of School: by Trudy Harris-This neat book will give you many math problems that equal 100. It would be great to use on the 100th day of school.

Super Math Tricks by Zondra Knapp - This book gives students a chance to become Super Sleuth Detectives by solving challenging math problems.

The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins – This great story will help students figure division problems using the cookies as a tasty theme.

Enjoy.

Computer Lab – Mr. Richter

The computer lab is a very busy place as we move focus from writing stories to the manipulation of the computer and various software.

The first and second grade students have been learning how do draw on the computer. The students are learning how to create and manipulate different shapes to create a larger, more detailed drawing. Some of the drawings they will be working on are pyramids, snowmen, and different people.

The third through sixth grades have been learning about PowerPoint. Each student is learning the proper way (rules) to create and present a PowerPoint presentation. Some of the things they will be learning are how to insert and animate a picture, adjust fonts, bulleted items, and backgrounds, and the proper layout for slides. In addition to PowerPoint, these students have been working very hard learning to type without looking at their hands with Type to Learn.

I am very proud of all of the students for the hard work that they show me on a weekly basis. Some of the things I’m asking them to do are not easily, but with a little guidance and a lot of effort, the students are creating amazing drawings and presentations!

Physical Education – Mr. Brennan

Kindergarten is certainly learning how to do all three basic motor movements with all the practice they are getting running, skipping, galloping, hoping, and jumping. When they are done with all the hard work they have learned how fun it is to be a “shark” with the parachute. Speaking of parachute, the children learned how to make an igloo with the parachute and what type of person actually lives in igloos.

1st through 6th have recently finished 4 out of 5 Presidents Challenge Tests and all have been doing very well. It is safe to say that Rolling Ridge School ranks high with other students the same age across the country in ability on all the tests.

The 4th through 6th grades also completed Frisbee Golf in the fall. Students learned proper golf rules so if they decide to take up the lifetime sport they will have a head up on everyone. Congratulations to all the classroom winners.

Music – Mrs. Kweder

A very special thank you to the Rolling Ridge PTO, for sponsoring the fifth grade music field trip to the Erie Philharmonic. For many students, this was their first introduction to Erie’s historic “Warner Theatre”. Our students enjoyed a concert titled, “What Charlie Heard”. It was performed by both the Junior and Erie Philharmonic organizations. Hundreds of students, from all over Erie County, attended this special student concert in October.

The students at Rolling Ridge enjoyed the talents of Miss Simoncelli, a student teacher from Mercyhurst College. She was a vocal music education major and taught music classes during the month of November. We will miss her!

The fifth grade chorus and hand bell groups are practicing for the Rolling Ridge “Winter Program”. The date is Wednesday, January 16, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. Please mark your calendars, so you don’t miss this special performance!

Until next time- keep ringing and singing!

School Nurse - Cindi Dalhkemper

Proposed Immunization Changes

The Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) is proposing changes to the immunizations that your child must have in order to attend school in Pennsylvania. These changes will affect all students in all grades. It appears that these changes will most likely be required for the start of the 2009-2010 school year, but could be required as early as the first day of school for August 2008 (NEXT YEAR!!)

One of the reasons that the Department of Health is making these changes is because there has been an increase in Pertussis (whooping cough) outbreaks in school age children. It appears that teenagers and adults are coming down with whooping Cough because they are no longer immune to the disease then they are spreading it to the younger children who are at most risk for complications for the disease. In addition, the Department of Health hopes that these new immunization requirements will ensure that high school students receive the Meningococcal (Meningitis) vaccination prior to graduating high school and enrolling in college.

Below are the proposed changes. Please review your child’s immunization record to ensure that your child’s immunizations are complete. If your child is missing any of the newly required immunizations, please contact your Pediatrician or Primary Health Care Provider to schedule an appointment. The Erie County Health Department also provides immunizations free of charge if you do not have insurance to cover the cost of immunizations. You can call the Erie County office at 451-6777 for an appointment.

Please forward an updated copy of your child’s immunizations to the school nurse’s office. If you have any questions, you may contact the school nurse.

When the school nurse has more information about when these changes will take place, she will let you know.

School Immunization Requirements for All Grades

4 doses of Diphtheria and Tetanus (DTaP, DT, Td). One dose

must be given on or after 4th birthday

3 doses of Polio (IPV or OPV)

2 doses of Measles and Mumps (MMR)

1 dose of Rubella (MMR)

3 doses of Hepatitis B

2 doses of Varicella or documented proof of Chickenpox disease

School Immunization Requirements for Entering 7th grade

3 doses of Diphtheria and Tetanus (DTaP, DT, Td)

1 dose of Tetanus/Diphtheria/Acellular Pertussis (Boosterix or Adacel)

3 doses of Polio

2 doses of Measles and Mumps (MMR)

1 dose of Rubella (MMR)

3 doses of Hepatitis B

2 doses of Varicella or documented proof of Chickenpox disease

1 dose of Meningococcal conjugate (MCV)

Graduate project concludes that hand sanitizer use in classrooms improves absenteeism rates

As part of the requirements to obtain her Master of Science in Nursing degree, Mrs. Dahlkemper completed a three-year study to determine if waterless gel hand sanitizer use in an elementary school would decrease illness-related absences. The study compared illness-related absenteeism data of an elementary school that had waterless gel hand sanitizer dispensers in every classroom to an elementary school that did not. The study also looked at the impact that a hand hygiene education program would have on illness-related absenteeism rates.

The study concluded that when comparing the experimental school to the control school, waterless gel hand sanitizer use coupled with a formal hand hygiene program was effective in decreasing illness-related absenteeism rates. When comparing data within the experimental school, it was concluded that waterless gel hand sanitizer alone had the greatest impact in decreasing illness-related absenteeism rates among an elementary school population. However, the addition of a hand hygiene education program did not show an improvement in the illness-related absenteeism rates.

As a result of this study, the school nurse will be discussing with the School District administration the possibility of placing hand sanitizer dispensers in all classrooms in the district.

If you have questions about this study, please see Mrs. Dahlkemper.

Harbor Creek

B I Q Y N H L Y G V C W U J A R V F N S

O D M K U O Q F M O O R S S A L C R U C

O X I S O H M Y E L Y R D P O M B I F I

K S K H C O L L U X O H A B W Y U E I E

C I C N A S F R H S I L G N E G S N D N

E S U M Z R E F W J T U D T H F T D N C

J L L Z Z T T I I Q I H M E Y B S S U E

H G S V U L H C P C Q I L B Q S W T O D

Z X N P R Q B D P D E Z O L G W Z C R G

G Z M I M U D X F X Q C X A O Z J J G K

S O M U D N U N M F T R D C R F V E Y P

C H S R S A R O L L I N G K I D L B A L

O I N E I I E B E N J L Y A D W A Z L T

C O Y V P V T R O B S Q M T G E N S P D

O C M R P D W H Z Y C X E E E G E M F C

K X U Y F U U N E B U E L C J N T H Y W

G X T E A C H E R V F I M Y M A M C Q J

V L V N R H G M G I Z X G V H R A X T V

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Take Care,

Mrs. Nicolia

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