Tuesday, December 15, 2015

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

It is also one of the busiest times of the year for us all. Let us not forget to keep calm and do what we do best in the next few days as we approach a much needed two week break. This week's blog has a lot of information. Please keep reading so you can be informed because there are so many things happening this week! 



Important Info to Know:

Fundraiser Pick-up: Orders will be at the school on Wednesday, December 16th in our school's media center for pick up between the hours of 1:30 pm and 5:30 pm. We have communicated this information via paper and email. On Tuesday, December 15th a reminder call will go out to parents via Edulink. It would be helpful for you to communicate this to your class parents as well as some items need refrigeration. 

Fundraiser Incentives: Individual prizes that students earned will be included in with the orders picked up on Wednesday.  The top nine sellers will have the opportunity to slime Mr. Moore on Friday, December 18th. Friday will also be the day for the "Game Day" students earned. See below for the schedule. We have 110 students participating! (We will get a list of students participating to you as soon as possible.) Thanks for your support and assistance to make this winter fundraiser a huge success. 

Third Grade and Barnhill, Thompson, Moore, and Fulbright @ 9:30-10:30 
Fifth Grade and Hughes, Wilkie, Jordan, and Tate @ 10:30-11:30
Each group will be divided into three groups, and will rotate through each station for 20 minutes (game truck, laser tag, hamster ball). Students will finish with Kona Ice before they go back to class.

Class Party: Class parties will be held on Friday, December 18th beginning at 1:40. No one will be allowed to classrooms until 1:40. Parents can sign in through our main lobby area. They will have the option to sign their child out in the classroom at the end of the day. We look forward to a festive time with our students and parents on Friday afternoon! Please let the front office know if you need anything that day or afternoon. Feel free to leave after car riders have been dismissed. 

Chorus and Strings Concerts: Our Chorus concert will be held on Tuesday, December 15th in our school's multi-purpose room at 6:30. Doors will open at 6:00 at which time members of our Chorus are to report to the music room. The Strings concert will be held on Thursday, December 17th also in our multi-purpose room at 6:30. Again, doors open at 6:00. We have very talented students at PVES and hope you can make it to support our students as they perform!

Live streaming and recording: In a previous e-newsletter, we were excited to announce to parents that we would be able to live steam and record events this Christmas season. Due to circumstances beyond our control, we are simply not able to do so. We are confident that we can use the system in the Spring and in the future to live stream and record events. We attempted to use the system to record the third grade performance, but our attempt was unsuccessful. Please make sure any parents who ask know that currently this is not an option. 

Let's Talk Testing

An email went out last week about testing information and updates. Included in this email was a presentation with information the District Office Administration felt our teachers need to know. Mr. Havird has strongly encouraged teachers to view this presentation. Here are some of the highlights:

SC Ready (Grades 3-8) 
  • Tentative Test Window: April 27 - May 6
  • Writing, Reading, English, Mathematics
  • Open ended, traditional multiple choice, selected response items
  • Timing (to be determined by the SCDE)
  • Grades 5 and 8 will test online
  • 100% aligned to 2015 SC College and Career Readiness Standards
SC PASS (Grades 4-8)

  • Science, Social Studies
  • Optional online
  • Untimed
  • Science includes field test items for the 2014 SC Science Standards
Please also keep in mind that Tammy Lee will begin working with resource, ESL, and regular education teachers to review testing accommodations to prepare for ordering testing materials, creating small groups, etc. Thank you for working with her and assisting her as needed in this process.

Great Things Are Always Happening at PVES:

Teachers and students have been working hard to Tech the Halls of PVES. Enjoy this quick Animoto video of some of the displays around our school. 



Great job to both our teachers and students for stepping up to donate canned goods. We had 793 items donated last week. Thank you for your generosity. 



Last week Mr. Moore took some third grade teachers to visit Forest Lake Elementary School in Richland 2. This school is doing some great things with PBL and NASA. Teachers came back with some wonderful ideas. 



Third grade students performed their Christmas program and had an excellent turn out by friends and family. Mrs. Turner made sure students were prepared and the musical was a hit. Thank you to third grade teachers for supporting their students and being flexible with some last minute changes in logistics. 



The Christmas Luncheon sponsored by PTSO was a special treat. Please make sure to express thanks for all they do for us at PVES!



Our hospitality committee put together another wonderful Christmas Dinner for staff members and spouses. The evening included dinner, desserts, games, door prizes, and a hay ride to see Christmas lights. A great time was had by all who attended! Check out some pictures from the snowman competition.  

            


On Monday third grade teachers had an opportunity to use half of the day to plan their upcoming PBL unit on bees. It was incredible to hear such rich discussion taking place between teachers, our science lab teacher, media specialist, and school technologist. They were able to tie in all content areas and related arts during the planning process. Third graders will begin their PBL unit on January 19th with a special guest to share their driving question for the unit. Look for updates on this amazing and innovative time for PVES! 



Mark Your Calendar:

  • Tuesday, December 15th- Digital Playground @ 3:15
  • Tuesday, December 15th- 4th and 5th Grade Chorus Concert @ 6:30 (MP Room)
  • Wednesday, December 16th- Fundraiser Order Pick up 1:30-5:30 (Media Center)
  • Wednesday, December 16th- Fire Drill (Time will not be announced) 
  • Thursday, December 17th- Strings Concert @ 6:30 (MP Room) 
  • Friday, December 18th- Jean Day for Teachers and Everyone's Tacky Sweater Day for Relay for Life ($1 for Sweaters)
  • Friday, December 18th- Fundraiser Game Day (see above for details and times)
  • Friday, December 18th- Slime Mr. Moore
  • Friday, December 18th- Class Parties @ 1:40 
Tollison's Tidings:


  • This month's Digital Playground will be the best one yet! Join us in the Media Center turned Coffee Shop at 3:15 for some hot chocolate, coffee, and sweat treats. Use this time to treat yourself, learn about Today's Meet and enjoy great conversations with colleagues. Jessica Preisig also has some exciting giveaways. You will not want to miss! (Be sure to sign into PD Express for credit.) 
  • This week's video includes our school Christmas card. We shared this card with our District Office staff and administration as well as other school's administration teams in our district. Thank you for sending in photos and videos. Please share with your parents and students. We will plan to share via social media soon! 




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