Mayo PTA: Armstrong Update 3-24-2016

Greetings Armstrong Parents!

We’re in the home stretch! Whether you spent your Spring Break having a “staycation” or you went out of town, hopefully everyone had a wonderful and restful week off. We are SO PROUD of all of our Armstrongs who were able to attend our field study to Helmzar earlier this week. They all showed a great amount of courage in conquering their fears and pushing past their comfort zone. The teamwork and cooperation that was exhibited was wonderful to see. Both the teachers and students had a great time! Please read the entire letter as there is important information concerning the upcoming State Testing, Armstrong Program and 5^th Grade Promotion.

FYIs and Reminders:

- The Magnificient Monarchs will be leading our Celebrations this Friday at 7:55 A.M.

- Summer School enrollment has started, please check with the office for more information.

- Dine with us at Zoes Kitchen (3629 S Peoria Ave) this Friday, March 25^thbetween 6-9pm to help our 5^th graders raise money for their trip to St. Louis. Bring your friends and family and tell them you are there to support Mayo 5^thGrade and the 5^th graders will earn 15% of all sales towards their fundraising goal!

- Please remember to return your home ‘n backs to the tubs in the cafeteria or the front lobby. Please make sure to get these returned every week before Thursday morning. There is a tub in the office and one in the cafeteria where you can drop them. Thanks so much!

- Don’t forget to check the lost & found and the lunchbox table on a regular basis!

- Dismissal Reminder – If you pick your student up, you should always enter through the North cafeteria door and exit through the South cafeteria door. This allows for the safety of everyone and is not meant to inconvenience anyone. Thanks for your cooperation and consideration.

Armstrong Program – The Armstrong Program is scheduled for Thursday, April 28^th at 6:30PM. We will be holding try-outs for speaking parts next week and those students who do not have a speaking or singing part will be an integral part to the behind-the-scenes work. Every Armstrong will be expected to be involved in some form, whether it is working on props and scenery, making a playbill and advertising for the program or making the costumes. Much like enrichment, students will get to choose what they would like to work on and we will work to place them in groups to best fit their choice.

*We are asking for any and all donations of materials to help with costume-making*

State Testing – Our state testing window this year is Monday April 11^th through Friday April 29^th. Below are the days that we will be testing as a large group. We will be testing in the mornings, starting at 8:15/30. Please make sure that your child is on time to school during those days.

- Tuesday 4/12 – 4^th Grade Reading (Part I)

- Wednesday 4/13 – 4^th Grade Reading (Part II)

- Thursday 4/14 – 5^th Grade Reading (Part I)

- Friday 4/15 – 5^th Grade Reading (Part II)

- Tuesday 4/19 – 4^th Grade Math (Part I and II)

- Thursday 4/21 – 5^th Grade Math (Part I and II)

- Tuesday 4/26 – 5^th Grade Science (Part I and II)

- Wednesday 4/27 – 5^th Grade Social Studies (Part I and II)

One of the things that we do in the Armstrong area to lift students’ spirits and take some pressure off of testing is write encouragement notes to our students. We also let students write letters of encouragement to each other and we love for parents to join in! This is nothing fancy; you can simply write a little note to let your child know that you are thinking about them on the day of the test. Before we test each day, we will let students read their notes. To make this process a little easier, we are going to have folders set up outside of Mrs. Smith’s room for you to place your letters in. There will be one set of folders for Hewitt, Najera and Moore homebases and one set of folders for Smith, Guss and Molina homebases. The folders will be labeled by test (ex. 4^th Reading Pt. 1, 5^thReading Pt. 1, 4^th Math, etc.). Just put your letter in the folder of whichever test you are wanting to encourage your child on. If your child is a 4^th grader, you will need to write 3 notes, as there are 3 days of testing. If your child is a 5^thgrader, you will need to write 5 notes as there are 5 days of testing. If you have any questions, please email Mrs. Moore (mooreco2@tulsaschools.org) or Mrs. Smith (embryel@tulsaschools.org).

5^th Grade Promotion – 5^th Grade Promotion is scheduled for Thursday, May 12^th at 6:30 PM. We will be holding the promotion in the Wilson Auditorium with more details to come closer to the day. What we are looking for right now are 4^th Grade Parent Volunteers to help plan the after promotion celebration. If you are willing to help plan this, please contact Mrs. Moore (mooreco2@tulsaschools.org) or Mrs. Smith (embryel@tulsaschools.org)

IMPORTANT 5TH GRADE INFORMATION:

-Our next meeting is Tuesday March 29^th at 6:30PM in Mrs. Moore’s area.

-Our next fundraiser is Zoe’s Kitchen Dine and Donate on Friday March 25^th. Please encourage your friends and family to go eat at Zoe’s Kitchen and tell them that you are with Mayo 5^thGrade so that our 5^th graders can receive 15% of the profit from that night for their trip.

-We still have 6 people who said they are going, but haven’t paid anything and haven’t contacted Mallory. Please contact Mallory if you are one of those people! April 1^st is the deadline for getting back with her and if you don’t then we won’t be able to include you on our reservations and you won’t be able to come on the trip.

As always, if you have any questions please feel free to email your child’s homebase teacher, myself (embryel@tulsaschools.org) or Mrs. Moore (mooreco2@tulsaschools.org). Have a wonderful weekend!

Elyse Smith

Lead Armstrong Teacher 4^th/5^th

Mayo Demonstration

Upcoming Dates:

March 25^th – Dine and Donate at Zoe’s Kitchen (proceeds go to 5^th grade trip fundraising)

March 29^th – 5^th Grade Trip Meeting at 6:30PM

April 1^st – Mayo Spirit Day and Early Release at 1:00PM

April 2^nd – Garage Sale (5^th Grade Trip Fundraiser)

April 8^th – Spring Dance (5^th Grade Trip Fundraiser)

April 11^th-29^th – State Testing Window

April 28^th – Armstrong Program

May 2^nd – 4^th Grade Field Study to Gilcrease (Any Given Child)