PGE Staff Attends RSAC

Six teachers received a scholarship from the Regional Office of Education to attend the Raising Student Achievement Conference in St. Charles on Monday and Tuesday.  Teachers attended sessions on math, reading, science, and assessment and brought home many ideas to share with other staff.  They also had the privilege to hear Tom Schimmer and Mawi Asgedom deliver an address as key note speakers.  Teachers attending this year were Mrs. Jole, Mrs. Keppel, Mrs. Giesecke, Mrs. Brody, Mrs. Laing, and Mrs. Grove.  Mrs. Grove also presented on our summer reading program! The teachers attending will be presenting the information they learned at upcoming staff meetings and on institute days.

Mrs. Laing Wins Grant

This week, we were notified that 2nd grade teacher Mrs. Laing was awarded a grant from Explore Learning.  This grant allows 35 students to use the Reflex: Math Fact Fluency online program.  Reflex is individualized to each student so that they are only working on learning the facts that they have not mastered.  It is game based so the students really enjoy using the program and it is based on documented research.  Mrs. Laing's class will be using Reflex in their classroom to improve student fact fluency.  We are also encouraging these students to use this program at home.

Storyteller Visits PGE!

Today, storyteller Dr. Michael Lockett visited the students at PGE.  He did two presentations for us - one for grades 3 and 4 and the other for grades kindergarten through 2.  During his presentations, he shared songs (while performing on his dulcimer) and many different stories.  He did an outstanding job with vocal effects and had all of the students participating in the stories that he was telling.  The staff and students really enjoyed Dr. Lockett!

A special thank you to Mrs. Franseen for organizing Dr. Lockett's visit to our school!

Make and Take Night at PGE

Last Thursday, November 6th, PGE students and their parents were invited to our Make and Take Night. This was an opportunity for families to spend quality time together making activities to support their learning at home.  Families that attended had a lot of fun and received free books to take home.  Two families also won a Thanksgiving feast door prize.  These were compliments of the PGE Staff.

 

Honoring Our Heroes

Each year, Veteran's Day is a day set aside to honor and pay tribute to all of America's past and current veterans for their service to our country and the numerous sacrifices they've made and continue to make.  In honor of this day, we asked families to decorate stars with information regarding any family members or friends they would like to honor for their past/present service. These are displayed on our wall in the Multi-purpose Room throughout the month of November.

We also had some veterans come to classrooms today and speak to our students about their military service. A special thank you to Mr. Phillips and Mr. Engelman for sharing their stories and showing us pictures and equipment that they used while in the service.

As a school, we would like to say thank you to all of our veterans.  We appreciate your service to our country!

Students Collect for Gigi's Playhouse

The PGE students did an outstanding job collecting coins for Gigi's Playhouse.  Overall, the students collected  $1374.32!  That is $104.27 more than last year's collection.  Ms. Lough's class collected the most per student, collecting $18.98 per student.  Mrs. Winebaugh's class was in 2nd place, collecting $11.66 per student.  Way to go PGE Students!  Your generosity will make a difference for all at Gigi's Playhouse!

Lots of Halloween Fun at PGE!

The students gathered this Halloween morning for a parade for parents, grandparents, brothers, and sisters.  The costumes were wonderful and everyone had the opportunity to see all of their friends dressed up for Halloween.  Following the parade, the students went back to their classrooms for their Halloween Party.  Everyone had a wonderful time and did lots of fun activities with their classmates. Below are some pictures from our Halloween Parties.

 

Thanks for Your Support at Pizza Ranch!

A special thank you to all of the staff, students, and parents who helped with our fundraiser last night at Pizza Ranch.  We had many North Boone Families come out for dinner and were able to raise $576!  That is amazing!  A special thank you goes out to the PTO Board for arranging this event for our school.

Pizza Ranch Fundraiser

Tonight, October 29th, the PTO is hosting a fundraiser at Pizza Ranch.  PGE Staff will be working for tips tonight from 5 - 8 p.m.  We will also receive up to 10% of the sales!  Feel free to stop over for some dinner and help support the fundraiser!  Have a great evening!

Donuts with Dad is a HUGE Success!

We had outstanding attendance at our Donuts with Dad/Special Person event!  Over 300 people came to PGE and had breakfast together.  A special thank you to all of our dads/special people who took time to eat with our students and start their day on a positive note.  A special thank you also goes to the PTO for organizing this fun event.

Donuts with Dad

Just a reminder that tomorrow, October 24th, is our Donuts with Dad breakfast from 7:30 - 7:50 a.m. We have a large number of people coming so feel free to park in the Poplar Grove Methodist Church lot if there is no parking available on school grounds. We look forward to seeing you tomorrow!

3rd Grade Science Learning

 As part of their Structures of Life unit, the 3rd graders are investigating crayfish. On Friday, they explored the structure of a crayfish's body. The pictures below show the fun they had in learning about crayfish!

Learning with Pumpkins in 1st Grade

Today, Mrs. Winebaugh's class learned using pumpkins.  They learned about all the parts of a pumpkin and then completed a pumpkin investigation where they measured their pumpkins, counted the pumpkin's stripes and seeds and did a writing exercise about the best part of the investigation. You can see from the pictures that the students really enjoyed this activity.  For some of them, it was the first time they had ever the pulp and seeds of a pumpkin!

A Very BIG Thank You to Sam's Club!

This morning was an exciting time for the Poplar Grove Staff and Students!  Mrs. Jamie Wheeler and Mrs. Michelle Staver surprised all teachers with a $50 Walmart/Sam's Club gift card and also delivered balloons and special treats to all students and staff members!  This year, each Sam's Club is awarding $50 gift cards to 20 teachers and Poplar Grove Elementary was chosen to receive this award. This was a very special gift for our staff and we are very appreciative of it.  The gift cards will be spent on supplies for each classroom.  Thanks again to Sam's Club for their generosity and to Mrs. Wheeler and Mrs. Staver for nominating our                             school and delivering everything to us today!

No Early Release Today!

PGE Parents/Guardians,

THERE IS NO EARLY RELEASE TODAY, SEPTEMBER 24th!  We apologize for any inconvenience that the school menu caused.

Thanks!
Kristi Crawford

Progress Reports are Coming Home!

Today, September 19th, progress reports will be coming home to all parents and guardians. Please take a moment to look these over. Focus on the strengths your child is showing and also look at areas where your child could be working a little bit harder.  Take some time to talk with your child about the progress report and set a goal to work on between now and the end of the 1st quarter (October 10th).  If you have any questions about the progress report, please contact your child's teacher.

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to the 2014-2015 school year!  The staff have been working very hard to prepare for the upcoming year and are excited to see all of the students!

Class lists will be posted on the outside school sign at 4:00 p.m. today (Friday, August 15th).

Open House will be on Monday, August 18th, from 4:30 - 6:00 p.m.  Please bring your school supplies, meet your teachers, and tour the building.  The PGE PTO will also be sponsoring an ice cream social during this event.

Our first full day will be Tuesday, August 19th.  We will meet in the multi-purpose room at 8:00 a.m. and be dismissed to classrooms from there.  This is a full day of school, so student walkers will be dismissed at 2:40 p.m. and bus riders and car riders will be dismissed at 2:45 p.m.

Please let us know if you have any other questions.  We look forward to a great year!

One School, One Book

On Monday, February 3rd, our One School, One Book story was revealed!  The story that our whole school is reading is The World According to Humphrey.  To kick off our reading, we had a veterinarian come to school and speak to all students about hamsters.

Each family received a book and a reading schedule to follow.  We are discussing the book each day and we answer trivia questions from each chapter.  We understand how busy our families are, but please make reading this book a priority for your family.  The whole school is very excited to read about Humphrey!

Humphrey has arrived at PGE!

Parking Lot Safety

As we begin the new year, I would like to address a couple of issues so that all students remain safe during arrival and dismissal.  With the cold weather upon us, more students are being driven to school.  We need to remember that parents may not pass other cars in the drop-off lane.  In addition, when exiting onto State Street, ALL VEHICLES must turn right onto State Street when leaving the drop-off/parking area.  Left-hand turns take too long and are holding up the driving lane considerably. 

Parents also have the option to pull into the parking area to drop off students.  However, if this happens, all students must be accompanied by an adult across the parking lot and cross-walk to the front office doors. 

Finally, we also have had many parents calling to change pick-up plans for their children. We are very happy to assist with this, but we need to receive all calls regarding this by 2:00 p.m.  If calls are received after 2:00 p.m., we cannot guarantee that students will receive the information before dismissal.

Thank you for your assistance!