“The Panther Press”
PrestonParkElementary School Newsletter
March 2017
A Message from the Principal
As you can see in this month’s newsletter, March is a busy time of year as we wrap up the Third Nine Weeks. Please take special note of the “Upcoming Dates” provided below as you will notice several important events. We appreciate your continued support and dedication to your child’s education!
In addition, thank you for your cooperation and understanding as we continue to work to ensure the safety of our students with the increased enforcement of parking and traffic concerns on Preston Avenue at arrival time. In an effort to improve the drop-off conditions, we continue to encourage all car riders to use the designated car rider line for student drop-off and pick-up. While we understand that the car rider line may take a few minutes to get through, it is the safest location for student car riders. Also, when using the car rider line, please stay in a single-file line without pulling around the car ahead. Thank you again for your cooperation!
Upcoming Dates
--March 6-16—Simulation Testing for Grades 3-5
--March 16—End of Third Nine Weeks; Two-hour early dismissal for students
--March 17—No school for students (Professional Development Day for teachers)
--March 21—Tornado Drill
--March 24—Report cards go home
--March 30—Fourth and Fifth Grade Concert at 6:30PM (in our gym)
--April 12—Class Pictures (more information will be coming home)
--April 14—Two-hour early dismissal for students
--April 17-21—Spring Break
RCPS+ is Returning this Summer!
As you know, Roanoke City Public Schools will once again host a summer program entitled RCPS+. This enrichment program will start June 19 and run through July 28 (not in session on July 4th). The hours for the program are8:00AM to 2:00PM, Monday through Friday. Preston Park students will attend RCPS+ at Monterey Elementary School.Current fifth graders will attend the summer session at James Madison Middle School (June 19-July 28; 9:00-3:00).
RCPS+ is a rich instructional program designed to be motivational, engaging, and hands-on for students. It will provide relevant problem-solving activities in a supported environment to promote critical thinking and creativity and to enrich the learning experiences of all students.RCPS+ is free for all students and transportation will be provided. Registration forms have been sent home with all students. Please return registration forms for this program byMay 1st. Additional application forms are available at the school.
Preschool
Our preschool classis beginning the new themeof "Pet/Vet"which will continue through the month of March andon until Spring Break. We will be looking at all kinds of pets and their care including some unusual ones. If you have any special/unusual pets that you would be willingtointroduce to the preschool class, pleasecall the school and speak toMs. Hudert. We would be excited to learn about them!
The children are more than half finished with their "Look at Letters" projects. Participating in reading challenges such as the Winter Reading Program with the public library, and reading to your child daily at home helps buildstronger literacy skills. We are also striving to develop early math skills that will give us a solid foundation as we prepare for kindergarten.
First Grade
March will be a busy and exciting month for first graders! In reading this month, we will discuss sequence of events, understanding characters, and review skills such as identifying the main idea and details, and comparing and contrasting. We will begin the month learning about time in math, and thenstart a unit on measurement. In science, we are learning about the needs of plants. Social studies will focus onVirginia traditions. As the weather starts to warm up, please remember to send your child with a coat so we can finally start to enjoy some fresh air at recess again!
Second Grade
Can it really be March already? Where has the year gone? We hope you are seeing the growth in your children that we are seeing! We are finishing up money in math and will be starting to learn about geometry. Please continue counting money at home! In science we will be learning about life cycles and then plants. What fun topics in the spring! Please continue to have your children read every night.
Third Grade
It is hard to believe that spring is right around the corner! Third grade is ready for yet another busy month ahead! Not to mentionour simulation testing is quickly approaching. In language arts, we will be focusing on a variety of topics such as story structure, sequence of events and comparing/contrasting among various stories. We will also review prefixes/suffixes, synonyms/antonyms, and homophones. In math, we will multiply two digit numbers by one digit numbers, identify equivalent periods of time, and touch on elapsed time. We will discuss the physical properties and states of matter as well as animal life processes in science. In addition, we will discuss characteristics of Rome and Mali in social studies.
As always, we encourage you to continue to read with your child every night! We appreciate everything you do!
Fourth Grade
March will be a busy month for fourth graders. In science, we will begin to learn about living systems. Students will explore animal adaptations, food webs, and life cycles. We will finish up our last few SOLs in Virginia Studies in order to prepare for our SOL simulation test. The students have enjoyed learning about the Civil War, Reconstruction, and famous Virginians. We are excited about our trip next month to Jamestown. The final payment is due by March 15th. In math, we will finish up our unit on measurement and move into probability and elapsed time. Students will also review important reading strategies and skills in order to prepare for SOLs in May. Thank you for your continued support in helping our students succeed.
School Climate Survey Available
Your feedback is important to us! If you have a few moments, please take time to complete a school climate survey, which is available online at (Click on “View All News” then “School Climate Survey”). Thank you for any feedback so that we can continue to improve your and your child’s experience with us!