Rolling Ridge



Rolling Ridge

Report

EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE – STUDENT SUCCESS

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September 2007

From the Principal’s Desk

By David Stoczynski

New At Rolling Ridge

Two new facilities were under construction during the summer and completed to open the 2007-2008 school year. When school was dismissed for summer recess Kidsville was torn down and a new playground was constructed in its place. A new outdoor classroom was also constructed in the courtyard by the 4th grade wing.

The site was prepared during June and our PTO president was very busy organizing volunteers for that all-important weekend. As the weekend approach the excitement grew stronger. On Friday, July 27, 2007 at 8:00 AM construction time had come to begin our project. It didn’t begin the way we would have liked. We began mapping out the position of the equipment and the skies opened up and it started to pour. The rain was short lived and the sun came out. On that 1st day 94 holes were dug and our work concluded at 6:30 PM.

Early the next morning (7:30 AM) a huge contingency of people came from: GE, PTO parents, families, and staff converged on the site and with the guidance of our playground foreman began constructing the new equipment. As nighttime approached we began filling the all the holes with concrete to secure the poles. With lights from our automobiles allowing us to see, we completed that phase of the project at approximately 10:10 PM.

Our job was not over. With only 1 week before the beginning of school the final phase was completed. The curbing and ground cover were put in place and the playground was ready to be used.

A very big thank you goes out to everyone who gave a hand in the installation of the playground. To make the playground project a reality many people donated their time and resources. One very special thank you goes out to our PTO president Stacey Loncher. Without her we would still be searching for help to complete this project.

Students, parents and staff voted to select a new name for the playground. Voting was very close and the following is a list of the choices and result of that voting:

The Ridge – 15 Kidsville Too – 14

Ridgetown – 12 Kidsville At The Ridge – 7

Kidsville II – 218 Ridgeville – 28

The Huskie Pound – 211

The winner by a slim margin and new name of our playground is Kidsville II. Thank you to all that voted.

Our outdoor classroom in memory of Mrs. Melanie Jell former 4th grade teacher was also constructed during the month of July. This project has been in the works for many years as well.

Members of this committee included: Ms. Emling, Mrs. Huber, Ms. Tyler, and myself. Together we developed the plan for the new outdoor classroom.

During the week of June 19, 2007 ground was broken for the construction of the outdoor classroom. Aaron Cavalline after hearing all of the committee’s plans went to work and the result is a classroom that we can all be proud of.

The dedication ceremony for the outdoor classroom was held Friday, September 21, 2007 at 2:00 PM.

FROM THE PRESIDENT’S PEN

Welcome would like to extend a big welcome to all the new families we have this year at Rolling Ridge.

I would like to thank everyone who helped to make Open House and Book Fair a huge success. We sincerely appreciate the time and effort of all the volunteers, as well as, everyone who may have donated baked goods or penny candy. Way to go! Thank you Shelly Main for organizing an awesome Open House and thank you Jenn Purpura and Angie Calkins for a fantastic Book Fair! We couldn’t have done it without you!

Please continue to support the efforts of our PTO. It is a Parent/Teacher Organization so we rely on your help to make our events successful. Watch for flyers announcing upcoming events, parties, sales etc. Everything we do benefits Rolling Ridge and your children. There will be many areas this year where parents can volunteer their time. It’s a great way to meet other people and feel good about being a part of your child’s school.

I would like to remind everyone to take the time to read the Rolling Ridge Report thoroughly. This is one of the best ways to find out what’s happening with the PTO, the classrooms and the school.

Sincerely,

Stacy Loncher

PTO President

Vice President:

It’s football time again! We will be having “School Spirit” night on October 12th Harbor Creek vs Ft. LeBoeuf @ 7:00 PM. All games are held at the high school home field. Tickets will be on sale in the school lobby look for the flier to be sent home soon and make sure to purchase your discounted tickets in advance. No tickets will be sold at the door for this discounted rate!

I hope to see our Rolling Ridge Families there (

Kristin Green

SPECIAL SALES::

Hello Everyone;

Welcome back to a new and exciting year at Rolling Ridge. I would like to introduce myself. My name is Jenny Hall and I will be running special sales this year at our school. I have a daughter Morgan at the high school and a son Nathan, he is in 4th grade in Ms. Emlings' class. My husband Steve a lot of you know as Coach Hall. We have been at Rolling Ridge for many years so I am sure that you have seen us around the halls of school. I hope to have lots of awesome things to sell this year to show our huskie spirit. I would like to Thank everyone for a very successful book cover sale at the beginning of the year. I know that I met a lot of you at this years open house which was a huge success. I am running a HUGE fall spirit sale right now with a ton of new and exciting hoodies and pajamas and T-shirts. I have all of these items on display in the lobby at school. Please feel free to go and check out the new designs and the new PINK. I have extended the deadline to place an order till October 1. If you need an order form there are extra in the office. I wish you all a Happy Fall!

Jenny Hall

BOX TOPS:

Our Box Tops for Education goal this year is $1,059. We currently have $450.80 in Box Tops. We are hoping the Box Tops everybody sent in for Book Fair will get us a little closer to that goal. If you haven't already, please visit the Box Tops website! Our school receives the equivalent of one Box Top for every person who visits the Box Tops website and signs up (). We currently only have 67 people signed up. If you haven't visited this site before, try it. It's a great site. They offer money saving coupons that you print at home. They also have great snack ideas, recipes, and the Box Tops Marketplace, where you can shop online. Our first deadline is October 31, so ask your friends, neighbors and relatives if they would save their Box Tops.

Keep clipping and sending them in!

Kathy Noonan

Project You!/Project You Too!!

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our children acted responsibly, treated others with respect, did their fair share, acted with kindness, and cared about others as much as they cared about themselves? I’m sure they already demonstrate these traits, some more often than others. The goal of Project You and Project You Too is to help our kids to make these kind of character traits habit forming! Through the use of skits, stories, and interactive activities, we try to show how developing good character need not be difficult, but fun! The first meeting for this year will be Tuesday, October 16th from 3:45-4:45, right after school. Students in grades 1-6 are welcome. There is no fee to come to a meeting, and you can come to one or two or all of them. A snack and drink will be provided. All that is required is a permission slip to be turned in prior to each meeting, and a willingness to make yourself a better person, while having fun with your friends. We welcome any adult volunteers to join us as well. Sign up on the permission slip with your child, and come join the fun (Act 34 on file in school office is required).

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

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

Script Gift Card Program

We are pleased to have introduced the new Gift Card Program to the families of Rolling Ridge School. It can be very convenient to purchase gift cards directly through the school, and have them brought home to you by your child. Since this is a new program, we have tried to make it as easy for you as possible. Simply turn in your gift card order, with payment enclosed, by the date due. Your gift cards will be available one week later, to be picked up at school, or delivered to your child’s homeroom for them to bring home to you. The order due dates and delivery dates, so far, are as follows:

Order due date: Friday, Sept 30 Delivery date: Friday, Oct.5

Order due date: Friday, Oct 12 Delivery date: Friday, Oct. 19

Order due date: Friday, Oct. 26 Delivery date: Friday, Nov. 2

Order due date: Friday, Nov. 9 Delivery date: Friday, Nov. 16

These gift cards not only make great gifts. They can be very useful for your personal shopping as well. The great thing is, that you get just what you pay for! Our profit on each card sold is small, but with continued use throughout the year, they will add up. The profit that is made goes right back to help provide programs for our school.

Please try to make this a worthwhile program by actively participating whenever possible. Thank you for your support.

Script card committee:

Carrie Jaskiewicz, Marcy Rutkosky, and Sandy MacGurn

Calendar Sales:

Sales have been announced for the 2007-2008 Rolling Ridge Calendar. Flyers have been sent home with a sales date ending October 1st and each calendar is only $3. This calendar provides you with information about what is going on this school year at Rolling Ridge. There is plenty of space on the calendar to provide your own personal schedule. If you do want a calendar after 10/1, please don't hesitate to get in touch with me. Enjoy your calendar!

Marcy Rutkosky, Calendar Sales Coordinator

Campbells Labels:

Welcome back to school students!! Since we did so well at the end of the school year 2006-2007, I will continue to collect the labels. Saving labels will help our school earn free items for the students. You can earn 5 points from over 150 of your favorite Campbell's brands such as V8 Splash® and Pepperidge Farm® Goldfish® crackers. Simply save the UPC codes and caps—it's never been easier! Remember, you no longer need to clip the entire label – just the UPC code itself on most items. You can always refer to website. Flyers will be coming out soon.

Marcy Rutkosky, Campbell's Labels Coordinator

BOOK FAIR

Once again the book fair was a GREAT success. Each day the students got to shop for books. During open house the book fair is a great opportunity for students and parents to shop together. They are able to look through the books and pick what best fits their needs.

We had another “Guess how many?” contest. You had to guess how many sno-caps were in the jar. We had a winner from each classroom that won $5.00 towards a book. Ms. Sheffer was the closest of all the teachers and Ellen Jaskiewicz was the closest guesser of the whole school. She won the jar of sno-caps and $5.00. CONGRATULATIONS! to all.

A special “Thank You” to all those who were gracious enough to donate to the teachers wish lists. The teachers are thrilled when they receive these books. They help their classroom libraries grow and the students really benefit.

We look forward to seeing you at our spring book fair.

Thank you for all your support.

Jenn Purpura,

Angie Calkins

Christmas Store:

Mark your calendars for November 16th our annual Christmas store will be held in the gym. We have a ton of great items to start your Christmas shopping off right. Keep an eye out for fliers to be coming home with your children soon.

Jodi Manna

Sue Carter

HONOR ROLL

FOURTH QUARTER 2006-2007

GRADE 6

All A’s: Emily Bailey, Daniel Blazek, Anthony Concilla, Emily Galeza, Hayden Seibert, Kaitlyn Steigmeyer, Joseph Zoltowski.

A & B’s: Chandra Adamowicz, Christopher Belfiore, Alyssa Burnett, Brandon Carr, Kyle Carver, Chelsea Charney, Eva Chase, Brandon Cruz, Amanda Ewanick, Dana Faipler, Angela Gleba, Brett Gonda, Robert Grandalski, Thomas Greggs, Jamie Hillebrandt, Brittany Hunter, Matthew Karash, Jonathon King, Kelsey Kuhn, Kelsey Nowosielski, Trevor Osborne, Adam Pearson, Jacob Pound, Aaron Reese, Richard Resta, Alexandria Reiger, Haydon, Sanders, Christopher Sampson, Jessica Sinnott, Bethany Sulecki, Emily Urban, Jessica Wall, Taylor Wood, Aric Young.

GRADE 5

All A’s: Sydney Berlin, Aaron Blakney, Eric Campbell, Kaitlyn Deitz, Marissa Drobitch, Coltin Hammer, Kirsten Reiley, Anthony Twaroski.

A & B’s: Timothy Barone, Hannah Bemis, Celeste Bentley, Andrew Carter, Justin Gallagher, Morgan Hill, Marigrace Hood, Jordan Hunter, Clyde Kendall, Kara Kosterman, Carol Lechner, Bethany Loncher, Kayla Lopez, Charles Mazur, Sophie Mazza, Serena Olsen, Trenton Osborne, Kyle Ostermann, Meagan Prindle, Tyler Shumaker, Brandon Slomski, Cassidy Trejchel, Zachery Wainwright, Jonathan Warren, Margaret Wegelin.

GRADE 4

All A’s: Jennifer Angelo, Caroline Bremner, Lindsey Bresee, Pedro Cubero, Daniel Fitzgerald, Alexander Ford, Ellen Jaskiewicz, Jaiden Lacey, Noah Mandel, Benjamin Nowak, Tiffany Rieger, Andrew Russ, Rachael Sinnott.

A & B’s: Rachel Amendola, Hayley Boyd, Shawna Britton, Alex Burnett, Vincent Cross, Cheyanne Dobozy, Raymond Galeza, Adam Hamilton, Nicholas Harayda, Michael Hess, Ryan Kaschalk, Crystal Malmgren, Mark Manson, Mikatelyn McGill, Samuel McGill, Colton Messina, Cameron Morgan, Matthew Noonan, Charlene O’Neal, Troy Palmer, Cornell Pearson, Olivia Purpura, Jacob Raymond, Abigail Sallot, Jacob Sanders, Rachel Schultz, Kaylee Schwenk, Casey Smith, Jessica Spiegel, Alyssa Stenger, Tiffany Taccone, Meghan Uht, Nathan Vogel, Logan Wenzel, Jackson Zaunegger.

CONGRATULATIONS!

2007 ELEMENTARY TRACK MEET RESULTS

GIRLS FIRST SECOND THIRD

50M Catherine Pomorski - K Dani Dougan - C Samantha Heller – K

Emily Urban – RR

100M Natasha Brigham – K Catherine Pomorski – K Emily Urban – RR

Sophie Mazza – R Daniella Lopez – RR

200M Natasha Brigham – K Sophie Mazza – RR Abby Sallot – RR

400M Sophie Mazza – RR

400M REL Ellen Jaskiewicz - RR Dani Dougan - C Paige Brigham - K

Charlene O’Neal Haley Ellrich Ashleigh Nichole

Jenny Angelo Ashley Pier Erin Reilly

Abby Sallot

800M REL Paige Brigham - K

Erin Reily

Ashley Nicholl

Sammi Desser

SOFTBALL Kirsten Reilly – R Abby Sallot – R Dani Dougan – C

LONG Natasha Brigham – K Jennifer Angelo - R Catherine Pomorski – K

JUMP

SHOT Kirsten Reilly – R Tiffany Rieger -R

BOYS FIRST SECOND THIRD

50M Tyler Bretz – R Sean Artello - K Adam Whitcomb – K

100M Tyler Bretz – R Adam Whitcomb – K Casey Krotoszynbski – C

200M Jonathan Warren – R Brandon Slomski – R Mithchell Campbell – K

400M Jonathan Warren – R Koltin Hammer – R Luke Gonda – R

400M REL Zach Larner – C Jonathan Warren – R

Tyler Grolemund Zach Wainwright

Tyler Bretz Koltin Hammer

Dan Cornish Brandon Slomski

SOFTBALL Adam Whitcomb – K Nick Harayda – R Sam Mandel – R

LONG Isaac Mattson – K Koltin Hammer – R Hunter Scott – C

JUMP

SHOT Jake Verderese - C Sam Murabito – K Luke Gonda – R

HIGH Isaac Mattson – K Hunter Scott – C Sam Murabito – K

JUMP Sam Mandell - R

CLASSROOM NEWS

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

Welcome to all the new kindergarten students and parents. This is such an exciting year. We have much to do, but love to have fun in the process. We hope you will come to love Rolling Ridge and kindergarten as much we do!

Kindergarten is always interesting in September, for teachers, as well as students! We are busy learning new routines, new names and new rules. We started the year with lessons to help us learn the rules, practice manners and check basic skills.

Kindergarten is now learning letters, numbers from 0-10, new songs, and doing many art projects. We are trying to write, cut and paste carefully. We are graphing and learning about famous people like, Johnny Appleseed and Christopher Columbus.

We enjoy the Hill Brothers songs. They help us to remember to show respect to everyone and not to bully. Mr. Leuschen and Ms. R also help us with these concepts.

We are planning a field trip to Port Farm in mid October. It is a new place for us and we are looking forward to checking it out.

Our biggest mission is listening and following instructions. We have a ways to go, but we are working on it. Mrs. Long and Mrs. Hart, the reading specialists, come in and help us with that as well as our regular teachers.

We are off to a great start and looking forward to achieving the goals we set for ourselves on the first days of school!

Mrs. Moffett is expecting (or may have had by this reading!) her second child. We will miss her while she is on maternity leave and wish her the very best.

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

We're glad to welcome everyone back to school! We are especially excited to welcome six new first-graders to Rolling Ridge. It's great to have Hunter L., Joseph P., Lienne S., Ryan S., Ryan V. and Jacob Z. join our fabulous first-grade family!

We had such a great time during Book Fair week!. We enjoyed looking at, purchasing and, most of all, reading our new books. Thanks to the many families who purchased books for our classroom libraries. We are all very grateful for your kindness and generosity.

It was wonderful to see so many families at Open House. The children really enjoyed "showing off" their classroom and hallway filled with all of their fantastic artwork. It is so important for them to be able to share their school experiences with their loved ones at home.

We have jumped right back into the swing of things! Our reading/language arts class is filled with many activities to improve our independent reading as well as our spelling, grammar and writing skills. We will be reading and writing stories in school as well as bringing home books to read. We're off to a great start. Let's keep up the good work!

Math is a time for exploring and learning as we develop our skills with patterning, counting, graphing, adding, subtracting and measuring. We are so busy-the time just flies! We are learning about what science is and how to be a scientist. We are also learning about living and non-living things. Social studies class allows us to learn about the people and cultures that make up our school community, our neighborhood and the world around us. We are all special and have important roles to play. We are also learning so many things about our country, the Constitution and U.S. symbols. Activities in printing, health, and character education also fill our days. We are learning so much! We are all going to work hard and do our best to make this school year the greatest!

Happy "Fall" Birthday to: Hunter P.-Sept. 5 Ryan S.-Sept. 7 Gabby V.-Sept. 25 Solomon K.-Sept. 28 Jimmy L.-Oct. 2 Ethan H.-Oct. 10 Evan H.-Oct. 10 Hunter L.-Oct. 10 Domonic V.-Oct. 12 Michael H.-Nov. 1 Justin V.-Nov. 6 William B.-Nov. 13 Katelyn R.-Nov. 23 Eric K.-Nov. 30

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

Welcome back to school! The girls and boys in second grade are off to a wonderful start! We have been working so hard in all of the subject areas and are being introduced to many new and exciting concepts. The Spelling words this year are quite a challenge, but with a lot of help from home and through completing our homework assignments, we are doing a great job learning them. We are enjoying our Reading stories and our reading skills are improving daily. In Math we are learning all about pictographs, bar graphs, charts, and Venn diagrams. We will soon be introduced to addition and subtraction story problems, as well as to turnaround facts. We would like to thank all of our parents for providing our students with the much needed support from home. Your efforts are greatly appreciated throughout the school year.

Good luck to everyone as we strive to make this year a successful one for all!

Our room mothers this year are Mrs. Callahan (2A), Mrs. Percy (2B), Mrs. Calkins (2C) and Mrs. Carter (2D). Thank you for volunteering to plan our parties....we are looking forward to a great time!

Please feel free to contact us should you have any questions!

Happy birthday wishes go out to all of the children in second grade who have celebrated or will celebrate their birthdays in August, September, October, and November.

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

We’ve begun our third grade year with much excitement! Mrs. Pero, Mrs. DeVore, Mr. Bookhamer, and Mrs. Janiuk welcome everyone back to a new school year! We encourage you to get as excited as we are about upcoming Accelerated Reader (AR) rewards and to practice the math addition and subtraction flashcards at home!

In science we have been learning about plant life. We learned the parts of a plant cell and made a Jell-O plant cell! Students also planted tulip bulbs around the new outdoor classroom! We will be learning about plant and animal habitats, food chains, and whether or not an animal is a producer or a consumer. We will also be learning about the body and how it works.

In Social Studies, we have been exploring COMMUNITIES and government. We have been discussing the people and places that make up our local, state, and national government. We will continue to explore why we need a government and what our government does for us as citizens of the U.S.A. We read the story of Roxaboxen. We have created our own city of “Roxaboxen” using rocks, boxes, and other resources. Each child was responsible for designing one community building such as a school, hospital, police station, store, library, etc.

We celebrated September 17, Constitution Day! Happy Birthday to our Government!! (The cupcakes were the best!)

Ask your child about “Rodeo-Round-up” and “Mystery Madness!”

We look forward to a year overflowing with fun and learning!

4B Miss Emling

Our Reading class is working on Unit 1 entitled "Reflections". In this unit we are reading stories that let us share the experiences of others. Comprehension skills we are learning about are story elements, making inferences, problem and solution, and main idea. Vocabulary skills we are

working on include multiple-meaning words, antonyms, and synonyms.

All of the students have set their AR (Accelerated Reading) and/or IR (Independent Reading) goals, and they have begun working toward meeting them.

In Math we have spent the first few weeks of school studying various types of graphs- bar graphs, pictographs, line graphs, line plots, and stem-and-leaf plots. We have also spent some time reviewing the problem solving steps and solving word problems.

All fourth grade students will be bringing home multiplication flash cards very soon. Please help your child study them nightly. They are a very important part of our Math curriculum this year and will need to be mastered by every child.

Mrs. Zajac, our Math Specialist, has been working with the Math classes once a week reinforcing skills. She is helping to prepare the students for the PSSA Test which will be administered in the Spring.

In Social Studies the class has been learning about our home state of Pennsylvania. We have been concentrating on the geography and history of Pennsylvania. Fun Fact- Did you know that the state toy of Pennsylvania is the Slinky???

4B would like to welcome two new students to our class this year. They are Olivia G. and Taylor L. Welcome girls! We're glad to have you here!!!

4B students celebrating birthdays this fall are- October- Alex G., 10/10, Lea A., 10/11, Jacob G. and Nate H., 10/24, and Erica O., 10/30. Happy Birthday!

4C Mr. Ziroi:

WELCOME BACK EVERYONE !!

We want to extend a warm welcome to all our students, teachers, and parents to begin the 2007-2008 school year at Rolling Ridge !

There is a new face in the fourth grade this year- Mr. Ziroli who has previously taught the learning support for grades 4-6.

This year has started out beautifully with all the excited faces of the children returning and the new students who are eager to be here at the Ridge.

Our Open House, which was held on September 12, was quite successful and we want to thank all the parents who were able to show up and discover more about what we are learning in the fourth grade this year.

The entire Rolling Ridge Community will be having a tree dedication ceremony for one of our former fourth grade teachers, Mrs. Melanie Jell, who passed away over a year ago and whose memory we will be celebrating that day.

We have been learning so much in such a short amount of time. In English, we created bio-poems of ourselves and displayed them out in the hall for all to admire and read. We also are learning about sentence structure and the components of a sentence to aid us in the writing process.

We are putting forth our best effort in completing all our assigned homework so that we may enjoy the Husky Homework reward at the end of the first quarter.

We want to thank our parents, teachers, administrators, and staff for all the wonderful things they have done to make this school year begin so fabulously.

4D Mrs. Doverspike:

In Science/Health we have explored the physical properties of rocks and minerals such as color, luster, streak, and hardness. We tested our “pet rocks” and a few other samples using some of the same tools that geologists use. The next unit of study will include various Earth structures and the makeup of our soil.

Mrs. Doverspike’s reading class has been working on the first unit entitled “Reflections.” We’ve enjoyed reading about Luke and Amelia’s special places. Soon we will begin reading a novel entitled Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days. In addition to our regular Reading curriculum, our classes are looking forward to creating Literature Circles or Book Clubs. Groups of students will be discussing themes and characters. This will allow us to share thoughts, make connections, and participate in follow up activities based on the same novel. It’s going to be a wonderful and fun learning experience!

We are pleased to welcome Taylur Fuller-Masi to 4D. She has been a wonderful addition to our classroom.

September Birthdays: Kelsey Wegelin – 7

October Birthdays: Katrina Amann-Ross – 14, Mike Winiarczyk – 30

November Birthdays: Anna Chimera - 12

5B - Mrs. Bool:

Happy Fall, everyone! We are off to a great start in 5B. First, we would like to welcome Bianca Thompson from Corry and Patrick Carson from Girard, to Rolling Ridge this year. We hope you enjoy being here as much as we enjoy having you. We welcome room parent, Mrs. Jaskiewicz, and the other volunteers. We are looking forward to some great celebrations this year.

We began the semester reading No Talking by Andrew Clements, who is quickly becoming a favorite author of the 5th grade. We are enjoying our reading book this year, as well. It is full of great stories taken from popular children’s books. Our guided reading lessons allow us to read even more about various topics, like weather, famous people, and ships. Our Independent Reading is off to a great start. Many students have already made their quarter goal. When we make our quarter goal, we get to sign the IR Stars chair. The chair will be raffled off at the end of the quarter to a lucky winner. Students are reading AR leveled books as well as self-selected “Just Right” books that help them achieve their goals.

Mrs. Bool would like to remind all 5th grade parents that students become better readers when they read at least 1/2 hour each day, weekends included. Bedtime is a great time to relax and settle down with a book. We are looking forward to meeting other goals throughout the year as we improve our reading comprehension skills.

In Social Studies we are learning about the explorers who discovered our land, and in English we are having fun writing our personal narratives as we prepare for the PSSA in writing in February.

We would like to wish happy September birthdays to Colton Messina on the 16th and Alyssa Stenger on the 24th. Celebrating in October is Casey Smith on the 4th, Brandon Clarke on the 20th and Charlene O’Neal on the 31st.

Have a great school year, everyone!

5C – Mr. Richards:

5C would like to welcome everyone back to Rolling Ridge School. We have a number of new students in fifth grade this year. Let¹s make them all feel welcome.

In Science class we are studying Physics. We have learned that a guy named Sir Issac Newton came up with three laws that all things on Earth must follow. Did you know that a student could lift Mr. Richards with one finger if they had a lever long enough!! In Social Studies we are studying the Ancient American, The Early Indians, and the Explorers now. Did you know that the Vikings were in North America five hundred years before Columbus, and that America was named after an explorer, Amerigo Vespucci ?

I would like to thank Olivia Purpura’s mom for volunteering to be my room parent this year. We are all looking forward to some great parties.

There are a couple birthdays coming up in 5C. If you see these people on their birthday, wish them a Happy One!

September birthdays are:

*Katie McGill- 4th

*Tiffany Taccone-5th

Please continue to check your child¹s homework book each night and sign it. We want all the students to get off to a great start this school year.

5D - Mr. Zajac

Hello and welcome back to a great school year. Thank you for visiting Rolling Ridge on September 12th for Open House activities. We hope you learned a lot about your child’s education program.

Math: We’re off to a great start in Math. Check out what we are doing!

PA Math Standard 2.6 - Graphing: We are doing a lot of data collecting and graphing in math class. So far we’ve made bar graphs, pictographs, frequency charts, stem & leaf plots, line graphs, and much more. We’ve used data collected from Hula Hoop activities to make a stem and leaf. What a humorous event this turned out to be! We made Character Glyphs which are types of pictographs. You can see them hanging in our hall. We even used Sunday’s NFL scores to make a stem and leaf plot. Graphing can be a lot of fun.

PA Math Standard 2.1 - Numbers: We are just about ready for larger numbers. Fifth graders are responsible for reading, rounding, comparing, and ordering numbers through the millions. Take a look at to see some of the other activities we will be doing.

Multiplication: You are probably aware of the 100 math fact practice going on in fifth grade. It is very important that your child can memorize their multiplication facts to have a successful math year. Students are suppose to be studying at home. Many activities and practice cards have been provided for each student to practice at home. Thanks for your encouragement in this matter.

Collections in 5D: We will be collecting a few household items from time to time in 5D. Currently we are collecting empty food boxes for a math/writing activity (Cereal, fruit snacks, crackers, etc.) We are also collecting small puzzle pieces that you may be discarding. Don’t worry if some pieces are missing. We will not be putting the puzzle together. If you have any empty cereal boxes or puzzle pieces, send it to 5D. We’ll put it to great use. We’ll keep you informed of our next collection. Thanks.

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

Well, we are back in the educational groove once again. Classes are going great, and parents keep signing those homework assignment books, you’re doing a super job. This book is a great way also to get information to the teachers. Homework is essential to the lessons taught that day and must be turned in on time. Make your child responsible to pack their homework every night before going to bed. They are to pack their book bags at the end of the day using their homework book. We’re getting better at it each day.

We have only a couple of new students in our homerooms this year and they are: Mercedes Carson (from Girard) and Erin Vollmer (from St. James). Welcome to the Ridge!

Some of our students have activities after school as well, some of these are music lessons, football, soccer, swimming lessons, boy scouts and girl scouts.

We would like to thank Mrs. Fife, Mrs. Slomski and Mrs. Reilly for being our Room Parents this year. Your time with us will be greatly needed and appreciated.

Students with fall birthdays are as follows: (Sept) Dustin Hillebrandt, Justin Gallagher, Jon Warren, Marigrace Hood. (Oct) Brandon Slomski, Luke Gonda , Hannah Bemis. (Nov) Erin Vollmer, Meagan Prindle. Happy Birthday and Congratulations!

One item that you can purchase for your child that will last their entire educational life and then some is a good Collegiate Dictionary and Thesaurus. So keep them in mind, maybe a Christmas gift this year.

Remind your child manners go a long way, we will stress this all year long. Students are to be helpful, considerate, curteous, polite, thoughtful and mannerly to school personal and classmates at all times.

We hope you had a safe summer, in our classes we had a student that needed passports to travel to Canada, Mexico, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Others traveled to the states of Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, Louisiana, Alabama, Maryland and New York. Within our own state Pittsburgh, Hershey, Ridgeway, State College, Lechworth and the Allegheny National Forest were the most popular places our students visited.

We look forward to another great year and many exciting things to come!

Mrs. Nicolia – LS Primary News:

Welcome back!

I can’t believe how much all of the students have grown and changed this summer! I’ve also enjoyed meeting my new students too!

This year, as in prior years, my room will support growth in Reading and Math. We work with grade level materials when possible and follow the grade level curriculum topics. Last year, I worked with the students using the LIPS and Visualization and Verbalization Programs for increasing reading and comprehension levels with much success. Because these programs were so beneficial, I am going to continue working with the students using this program to further develop their fluency and comprehension skills as well as applying their skills to the areas of problem solving, writing, and spelling. Also, in order to develop PSSA test taking skills, the third grade group will work in a PSSA coach book to gain practice with question formatting and language.

Don’t forget that practice is the best way to learn how to do anything, so make sure your child takes time to read and practice basic skills every day away from noise and disruptions! Doing homework is an excellent and important way to practice new and old skills, so it is vital that you give your children a structured time and place to complete it, as well as help and encouragement when needed. Also, attendance is a key factor in learning growth, so try to get your children to school every day and here on time.

Mrs. Romines – LSSI:

We are excited about the new school year! Our new room MOM, Dora Kifer, is already buzzing with different activities for our class to do! We also had a lot of volunteers to help out with parties. We are happy to have Betsy Garofalo and Amy Sheridan back as our classroom aides. We are looking forward to our student teacher, Jenna Kuhn, coming in October!

We have some fun fall recipes that we are cooking and will hopefully share with some of the staff. We have various ability levels in our room so we work on many different goals. We will hopefully have a lot of volunteers for the reading program where regular ed. students read during their recess time about once a month. We also have a recess associate program where students have direct social time with their regular peers.

We look forward to a great year!!!

Mr. Lutz – LSSP:

Hello,

My name is Don Lutz. I am the new LSSP teacher here at the Ridge. This school year is going to be quite the adventure for all of us. “New” is the word that can sum up many aspects of what’s going on in room 324. Aside from me being new to the class and district, the students have new things going on. First of all, the students each received new desks to work at instead of group tables, this will hopefully assist in developing independent work skills. We are working on the new rules of the class as well as their new schedules. Each day so far has been enlightening and a learning lesson for us all. Survival signs, cooking activities and following the “Job Jar” assignments are just a few of the “new” things we have started. In the coming months, the class will be working on various activities to enhance their fine motor skills as well as their overall creativity. Along with being new I’m sure the school year will be quite exciting and we all look forward to having fun.

Miss Rapp – Learning Support:

Welcome Back to School!!

I hope everyone had an exciting and relaxing summer. I know it came and went quickly and I am sure our school year will do the same!

As we get back into the routine of school we are also getting back into the routine of refreshing our basic skills. We have been working on sharpening both our Math and Reading skills. The patience and dedication of all the teachers has helped our students refresh their memories in order to be ready to learn! In our room we will be working with grade level text, when appropriate, in order to prepare for state testing. This year we will be using the PSSA coach books to prepare for the tests in the spring. These books will familiarize us with the word usage and problem types seen on the PSSA. Our goal is to be confident readers, writers, and mathematicians by testing time.

The best way to continue to sharpen our basic skills is through practice. Each night try to spend time reading a short story or practicing basic Math facts. A few minutes each night, will go a long way!

Once again, the Husky Homework Reward program is in full swing. I hope that all of our students will complete their homework each night and be able to enjoy the planned activities.

Math News – Mrs. Meehl

MATH IS EVERYWHERE

This year our theme is “Caution--High Proficiency Area!” We want to prepare our students to be proficient in their math skills. We will continue our big push for the students to learn their basic math facts. First graders will eventually work on Facts to 12 (+/-). Second Grade will work on Facts to 18 (+/-). Third Grade will continue to work on Facts to 18 (+/-), and then will introduce multiplication facts in the second semester.

Research shows that students who haven’t memorized their math facts struggle when they are expected to work on more difficult math concepts. As parents, you can help your children be successful by practicing those math facts every day! Begin with a few facts, and then add on to the list as your child/children begin to memorize them.

A few fun websites that you can practice your facts on:



(choose School Bell, and Math)

Thanks to all of the parents and students who stopped into the Math Resource Room (Rm. 351) at Open House and said hello.

Math News – Mrs. Zajac

Hello and welcome back to school. It looks like everyone is off to a great beginning. All grade levels are busy constructing and reading graphs. Data and analysis are being discussed at school through the use of bar graphs, line graphs, pictographs, circle graphs, line plots, stem and leaf plots, box and whisker plots, and much more. It is exciting to watch the students become so involved in data analysis.

Graphing Activities:

PA Standard 2.6

Try a few of these simple activities at home. Your child can create a chart or graph after collecting data using the following items.

Sort: Sort the following items by color or shape. Then have your child graph the results.

Colored cereal

Noodles of different shapes

Colored candy pieces

Numbers, Numbers, Numbers!

PA Standard 2.1

Most classrooms are currently working with number concepts and relationships. Students are comparing, ordering, rounding, and estimating numbers. See how many large numbers you can find at home such as: house numbers, skew numbers, fluid ounces, playing cards.

Use Dice or Number Cards to...

Order and round numbers

Compare numbers

Identify even, odd, prime, composite numbers

Name numbers before and after

Math Facts: Thanks for your help at home. It is extremely important that your child practice and memorize his/her math facts. There have been many practice items sent home. Let me know if you need anything else.

Contact Me: Feel free to contact me if you have any math questions or concerns. I am at Rolling Ridge on Day 4 and Day 5. My extension is 351 and e-mail address is czajac@hcsd.

LITERACY LINKS from Karen Tyler, Literacy Coach:

Welcome back to learning and literacy in the Harbor Creek School District! Our children have been exposed to many interesting pieces of literature already this month and your time spent at home reinforcing their reading is appreciated. Ensuring that your children are reading every night is so important to their success as a student.

Storytelling is highly regarded as an important step in developing your child’s literacy abilities as well as exposure to literature. When you tell stories to your children, you are building their vocabularies, giving them a sense of how stories work and exercise their comprehension skills through visualizing and connecting with the story. A family rich in stories has a true legacy to pass along. Here are some suggested storytelling ideas from the Keystone State Reading Association:

▪ Choose an appropriate story for your audience. Make sure young listeners will be able to follow the plot and that the story can be told within the limits of their attention span. Family history, silly or painful moments from your own childhood, folk and fairy tales, legends, or book retellings are all good sources.

▪ Tell the stories you enjoy. If you are not excited about a story, your voice will give away your lack of interest. Remember that enthusiasm is contagious.

▪ Use colorful or sophisticated words. Teachers from K-6 can always find the children in their classrooms that have been exposed to rich, descriptive language experiences at home.

▪ Change your voice. Distinguish among the different voices of your characters and dramatize the story action and mood.

▪ Have your children participate. They can say the magic words at your cue, chant lines that repeat, add sound effects or even determine the ending for your story.

Tell it again! Like a favorite book, a good story can be retold over and over. In time, your children may tell those same family stories to their children!

Cafeteria staff:

Welcome back from the cafeteria staff. We all hope you had a Great summer and are glad to be back. It seems the summer always goes by so fast, but we all start getting a little bored just about the time we start back. We have a great year planned! We are doing really well with our breakfast program and our lunches are also picking up. I have gone to several school food shows this past year and have found that a lot of venders are changing to healthier menu items. The healthier samples we have tried don’t taste much different than what we have been serving, (some I think are better)! We have added wheat, and whole grain breads to our daily choices.

The Wellness Program that we have been introducing is countrywide. Every school in the U.S. has to follow guidelines. It’s going to take a few years to put it all in operation. The gradual implementation will help the children to adjust and maybe try some new items.

Remember parents if your children are on FREE or REDUCED lunches they can get their BREAKFAST for FREE and the reduced students pay only $.40 for their lunch.

Both the breakfast and lunch menu are now on our web site, along with the alternative choices for breakfast & lunch. Don’t forget to check out: (hcsd.)

Thanks to all the parents for using our POS (payment on account system). It makes it easier on everybody. You don’t have to remember to give your children money every day, and we don’t have to add small amounts every day.

Please remember if you have any questions or concerns about the breakfast or lunch programs, or you need assistance with anything else regarding the cafeteria don’t hesitate to call us, 899-0816 ext.391

HAVE A GREAT YEAR!!!!!!!

The Lunch Bunch!

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