Highland View PTO: Summertime Funnertime!

Hello Highland View Families!

Hi everyone!  Can you believe this is the second-to-last email you'll get from me this school year?  Wowsers!

This one's a shorty though.  I wanted to take a second and plug a few fun outdoor events coming up in Greendale:

First:  Run To The Parade!   The Greendale High School Marching Band is one of just seven high school bands chosen to participate in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.  The students will be representing the Village of Greendale, Milwaukee County, and the State of Wisconsin as the first Wisconsin high school band to march in the parade in since 2010.  BUT they need a lot of money to go.  One of their big fundraisers is a run this Saturday (June 4th!) through Greendale.

If you're into fitness, or just into enjoying our town or helping our High School band, there's still time to register.  You can go online here:  http://www.zapevent.com/ListActivities.aspx?eventid=8347 or register at the Greendale Hose Tower between downtown Greendale and the Middle School on June 3rd between 4:00-7:00 PM.

Second:  Save the Date!  October 23rd comes sooner than you think!  That's the date for the Step Up To Better Health Fun Run and Walk.  This event benefits Highland View, and the proceeds go straight to programs, projects, and equipment right at our school.  More information will be available as the date gets closer, but for now, just lock in that day for some Fun and some Run!  (And who knows, kids whose families register might get to dunk Mrs. Flater again!)

Third:  Get green!  (And muddy!)  The Highland View Garden is up and growing.  As usual, we'll need families to help keep it watered and tended over summer so our kids can come back in September to a lush green garden full of great things to eat.  Remember--it's little red hen rules; if you work on the veggies, you get to eat the veggies!  If you're watering the garden and see some great looking veggies during the summertime, they're yours to eat and enjoy!  You can sign up to pick a week (or a few weeks!) to water and care for the garden here:  http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4fa5ad22a13-highland3

That was it for today!  Keep having fun and enjoying this awesome weather we're getting!

Aleks

PTO Minutes April 18, 2016 (Accepted)

Minutes: Highland View PTO

Monday 4-18-16

1) Called to order at 6:00 p.m., 11 people were in attendance.

2)  Review and amend agenda: Add Teacher Appreciation Week and take off Room Parent Update

3)  Minutes from March were reviewed. The March minutes were reviewed and approved.

4)  Treasurer’s Report-The Treasurer’s report was reviewed and approved.

5)  School Board Update-Mr. Comiskey noted that there is a math curriculum update: pilots were presented and preliminary decision is that the “Bridges Math” program will be adopted and used in the upcoming school year. An enrollment update was given by all of the elementary schools. Benchmark data comparing Greendale to other school districts was given. Greendale outperforms other surrounding districts on state testing despite our varying socioeconomic statuses amongst the schools. Rumors of a referendum have been going around Greendale. There is no referendum scheduled as of today. There was a building report given and at the May 2 Board meeting, the board plans on reviewing facility studies reports. Mr. Comiskey will look into parking studies for drop off at Highland View.

6)  Past/current events

STEM Fest-The students were proud of their hard work. Just as many 5K as 5th grade students presented their projects. It was a big success! Let’s do it again next year! There were 80 projects and 200 students attended.

RIF-The spring book distribution was successful. Next year we will continue to break up the day by grade level (K4-2nd and 3rd-5th) so students have enough time to pick out grade appropriate books.

Scholastic Book fair-This was our highest volume event of the year thus far. We used some of the profits for Battle of the Books prizes, which the students (and parents) appreciated.

7) Upcoming Events

-May Fitness Event- PTO will purchase gift certificates from Park and Rec to be given out as incentives for students who fill out panther paw sheets for participating in healthy eating and exercise. There will be a whole school incentive, as well. Students will announce how they achieved their 30 min/healthy eating on the daily announcements.

-High Interest Day-Ideas are still needed. There have been some confirmations so far. Grades 3-5 will participate in the afternoon sessions and rotate through the sessions.

-Village Days Game booth-In the past Highland View had a booth and games. This year, Village Days will take place August 12-14, 2016. If parents are interested in volunteering, we could participate in this fundraiser.

-Read and Roll-Every grade level gets asked questions based upon books read this year. Students in grade 3 will get a taste of how “Battle of the Books” is run.

-End of the Year Event-There is not one scheduled so far, since the end of the year is so busy. A committee will meet to discuss a possible event or begin planning a family event for the fall. Maybe incorporate the Milwaukee Flyers as entertainment for Family Dinner Night?

-Teacher Appreciation Week-Should we spend some of our budget on teacher gift cards? Aleks will ask Angie Latus about her plans for this event happening in May.

-New PTO Board officers-Aleks will be contacting those persons interested in serving on the PTO board for the 2016-2017 school year.

-Daddy Yo’s Night Out-Will be taking place April 21.

-School Pak-Order forms have been sent to students.

-Step Up to Better Health-t-shirt design contest sheets will be going out soon.

-Kickball team-There will be a kickball tournament at Village Days. PTO will sponsor a Highland View teacher’s team.

-Box Tops for Education-Return Box Tops by April 29. There will be a Box tops cutting party April 30.

8) Principal’s Report

Buddy bench update-Students voted and picked choice B. Two buddy benches will be ordered and installed soon.

Superintendent Dr. Kiltz-The new superintendent met with Principal Flater and discussed her vision for Highland View and the district’s plan. 2nd-4th grade students also met with him and talked about what they liked about Highland View and what they would like to see improved. They mentioned respect and kindness throughout their discussion with him. Dr. Kiltz will be attending our May 9 PTO meeting.

Lost and Found-There is a new and improved lost and found!

Admirals Game-This past Friday night was Highland View night. Principal Flater was the human hockey puck. The families enjoyed this night!

State Testing-The Wisconsin Forward exam is beginning this week for grades 3-5. The testing window closes at the end of May.

Kindergarten Orientation-Will take place May 20 at all elementary schools.

Adjourned 7:30 pm

Just announced: May 12th Dine Out for Highland View Night!

URGENT BULLETIN!

THIS JUST IN!

READ ALL ABOUT IT!

BREAKING NEWS!

We interrupt your regularly scheduled broadcast to bring you this announcement:  

Thursday May 12th is now the next DINE OUT FOR HIGHLAND VIEW NIGHT!

Bring this flyer (one will also be coming home from school) with you to Panera on Layton Avenue just west of 76th Street between 4:00-8:00PM and a portion of your purchase will go to support our school.  Need a quick dinner before the 3rd-5th grade spring concert?  I may just have a great idea for you!

Here's the flyer:

Highland View PTO: Once you see this, things will never be the same again!

Hello Highland View Families!

Just a few big alerts for everyone this week:

1)  High Interest Day!  A few areas can use extra help for High Interest Day coming up May 13th.  If you don't know what High Interest Day is, here's the skinny:  During the afternoon on the 13th, volunteers will spend time with groups of 3rd-5th graders giving the kids a chance to learn/try different subjects, activities, and hobbies.  Topics range from rocket science to pillow making to football to cheerleading (and more!)   The following areas need extra volunteers, so if you are (or could be) available May 13th, please contact Mrs. Michalski at Christine.C.Michalski@ehi.com These areas already have leaders, they just need extra grown-up hands and eyes to keep things moving smoothly!

Topics needing extra helpers:

Cooking
Bracelet Making
Pillow Making
Journal Making

2)  Garden Day!  There are a couple repairs needed on the Highland View Garden, but they'll be wrapped up this week, so we'll be having a Garden Cleaning and Seeding party after school on Friday May 6th.  (Weather permitting.) TEACHERS:  If you have any particular produce you'd like to have in the garden ready for harvest next fall, let me know.   Once everything is planted, we'll get a summertime watering/weeding sign up schedule out.

As always families, if you sign up to help with the garden during summer and there's something that needs eating during your volunteer time--it's yours to enjoy!

3)  Teacher Appreciation Week is coming up next week (May 9th-13th) so keep an eye on your Friday folder for more information on how you can join in the celebration of our school's amazing teachers and staff!

4)  Kickballers (still) wanted!  We have a solid one-half of a parents kickball team ready to roll at the Greendale Education Foundation's annual tournament.  Games will be August 13th-14th during Greendale Village Days.  Who else wants to get their kicks for education?

That's all!  Have a great week!

Aleks Skibicki

Highland View PTO: People went to a meeting and you won't BELIEVE what happened next!

Hello Highland View Families!

Thanks to everyone that came to our meeting last night.  As always, there's a lot of good stuff going on at Highland View.  Here's what you should know about:

1)  Daddy Yo's Highland View Day THIS THURSDAY!  Make a custom frozen yogurt sundae at Daddy Yo's this Thursday 4/21 any time between 11:00AM-9:00PM and 10% of your sale will be donated to Highland View!  ( 4874 S. 74th Street, Greenfield, WI )  You should have received a flyer in your take home folder last Friday.  (They also serve soup if the weather keeps cooling off!)

2)  The May Fitness event is coming up again!  Time to get active and healthy.  Keep an eye out for a Panther Paw worksheet to come home.  During May, every time your student eats 3 servings of fruits and vegetables during a day, or gets 30 minutes of exercise, mark off a pawprint on the sheet.  Get 31 pawprints marked and tun in your sheet for your student to earn a prize and help the school earn its way to a great prize too.

3)  We have the option to run a games booth for the kids at Village Days again this year.  Before we commit, I'd need to see if we'd have enough volunteers to do it.  If we don't, then we won't, because we can't!  Here are the details:  We'd have a 10'x10' area with some carnival style games in it (in the past we've had throwing games, catapults, and wheel-of-fortune style games) we'd supply the games, prizes, and volunteers and charge kids to play the games, then keep the receipts.  Volunteers would have to be at the booth at Village Days (August 12-14) for 1-2 hours per shift (enough shifts to cover Friday evening, all day Saturday, and Sunday) and would have to collect money, hand out prizes, and supervise the games.

So, to get a tally of whether this is even an option for us:  Who could spend an hour or two at a Highland View Games booth at Village Days?

4)  Box Tops--Turn them in!  Box Tops for Education need to be turned in by next week!  This can be a big fundraiser for our school, and can make a big difference when it comes to deciding whether we can do things like continue to pay for field trip buses for our students, extra buddy benches, and things like that.  Every Box Top counts, so please send them in.  If you're able to use scissors, contact Michelle Persike or Caroline Roberts about helping trim the Box Tops for submission too.

(Or, to be extra awesome, please make sure the box tops you turn in are trimmed to the dotted lines!)

5)  Looking for ballers! KICKballers! The Greendale Education Foundation is putting on another kickball tournament during Village Days (8/13-14).  There'll be a Highland View teacher team again this year (They made the finals last year!) and I'd love to have a Highland View parent team too.  Reply to this email if you're interested in playing and I'll get you on the list and keep you up to date on details as they come out.  (Don't worry--you won't be committed yet, just interested!)

Thanks for reading this far, I'll see you at school!

Aleks Skibicki

Highland View PTO: Set the wayback machine to 6:00!

Hello Highland View Families!

Quick correction:  The PTO Meeting today starts at 6:00, not 6:30.  If you can't make it until 6:30, that's OK though--we'll see you then!

Happy Monday!

Aleks

Highland View PTO: 5 Tips for a Super Spring!

Hello Highland View Families!

I hope you got to enjoy some of the beautiful weather we had this weekend.  WOW!  I've been missing it for sure.

I know the subject said "5 Tips..." but because it's so beautiful outside, we're going to knock it down to three:

1)  AWESOME PTO meeting Monday 4/18.  On the agenda:  Meet our new Greendale Schools Superintendent, High Interest Day, the May fitness event, Village Days games?, an End-of-the-Year Fun event, and Room Parents.  6:30 PM in the Highland View Library--Be there!

2)  All your school supplies in one click?  WHAT?!?!?!??  Try something new this year!  The Highland View PTO is working with a local company, School-Pak, to let you buy all your school supplies online and have them delivered right to your door in one click.  The lists were drawn from the teachers' own supply lists, and include brand name products bundled for a great price.  Check out the Highland View page here for details and to place your order:  http://www.schoolpak.com/catalog/highland-view

3)  It's time to NAME NAMES!  Seriously, there are only a few days left to nominate great Highland View volunteers (maybe even yourself!) for the 2016 Bruce Paprocki Volunteer Award.  Every nominee will be recognized, and one outstanding Highland View volunteer will have their name added to the plaque in the office.  Just send a note to the office at school, to this email, or to Mrs. Flater saying who you think should be recognized as a great volunteer and why.

Also, we're still looking for names of folks who would consider stepping into a leadership role on the PTO next year.  The PTO at Highland View operates a $10-20,000 per year budget, and funds, promotes, and runs just a crazy amount of programs and projects at the school.  Each position is an important part of maintaining the amazing environment we've created here at Highland View.  Interested in keeping this great organization moving?  Know someone else that might be?  Email back and we'll talk!

Thanks for reading this far!  See you Monday!

Aleks Skibicki