March 18, 2015
Volume XI, Issue V
DATES TO
REMEMBER
March 20
Student of the Month
Breakfast 7:45 am
March 20
School Spirit Sports Day
March 25
Late Start — 10:30 am
Skate Night
March 27
School Spirit
Pajama Day
March 31
Concert Grades 1 & 2
6:30 pm
March 31
Last day to collect for
Pennies for Patients!
FROM
THE PRINCIPAL
Dear Family and Friends of Orchard Center Elementary,
Thank you to our West Valley voters for your support in passing the 2015 replacement
maintenance and operations and technology levies. This is exciting news for each and every learner in West Valley as your supportive votes will allow us to continue to provide
strong programs for learners in our district and specifically Orchard Center. Thank you
for your support!
This month students in 3rd grade will be taking the state SBAC assessment. Testing has
already begun for our 3rd grade learners and will continue through the month of May for
grades 4 and 5. Teachers will be notifying you of the dates of testing in their classroom
and I know they shared information at conferences. Please make sure that your child gets
plenty of sleep the night before the test and has a good breakfast that morning. Please also
avoid scheduling appointments during this time and, as always, please try to schedule vacations around our school holidays. Making up these assessments can be quite challenging
for us. Thanks in advance for your help!
April 1
Late Start — 10:30 am
Spring will also officially arrive this month, which brings with it many interesting weather
patterns. Thank you for making sure your children are dressed appropriately for the
weather. Let’s hope that the month of March goes out like a lamb.
April 2
Fifth graders go to CMS
9:30 — 11:00 am
Enjoy the upcoming warmer weather and as always, thank you for sharing your children
with us!
April 3
Student of the Month
Pennies for Patients
Assembly & Basketball
Game - 1:00 pm
Sincerely,
April 6 - 12
SPRING BREAK
NO SCHOOL
April 13
School Resumes
Barb Knauss
Principal
Demeetrius
Rogers
Kindergarten
Brooklyn
Peterson
Kindergarten
Mrs. Collins
Ethan
Cates-Shelton
Kindergarten
Mrs. Wolfe
Kaden
Quenzer
1st Grade
Logan
Ensor
1st/2nd Grade
Ms. Trask
Mrs. Miller
Ciorsdan
Donaghy
2nd Grade
Mrs. Andres
Ms. Claire
Bus Rider of the Month
Orchard Center Elementary
Student of the Month
Trey Bohr
2nd Grade
Mrs. Lamberson
“FAIRNESS”
Basheer Glover
Bus 17
Ms. Carmen Jensen
January 2015
Willow
Mclaughlin
3rd Grade
Ms. Craze
Annika Lund
5th Grade
Dylan Cowger
3rd Grade
Ms. Owens
Ms. Williams
Mariya
Balabanova
5th Grade
Mr. Howell
Natalie Abbott
4th Grade
Karley Ingram
4th Grade
Mr. Maloney
Mrs. Kivett
Cherokee
Monnin
3rd/4th Grade
Mrs. Cebriak
Layden Moore
Kindergarten
Mrs. Collins
Yorick Lewis
Kindergarten
Jacarie Webb
1st Grade
Mrs. Wolfe
Ms. Trask
Ella McQuaig
1st/2nd Grade
Mrs. Miller
Jacquelyn Bohr
Kindergarten
Rex Van Hees
2nd Grade
Ms. Claire
Mrs. Andres
Bus Rider of
the Month
Orchard Center Elementary
Student of the Month
Cailin Blasier
2nd Grade
Mrs. Lamberson
“HONESTY”
February 2015
Dani Smith
Bus 28
Mr. Pat Lewis
Jersey Dorian
3rd Grade
Ms. Craze
Jadalee Blount
5th Grade
Ms. Owens
Ryan Berry
5th Grade
Kicea Lopes
4th Grade
Mr. Howell
Mr. Maloney
Airiann Terpko
4th Grade
Shayde Day
3rd/4th Grade
Mrs. Kivett
Mrs. Cebriak
Madison Babcock
3rd Grade
Ms. Williams
PTG NEWS
The PTG Candy Bar Fundraiser was a huge success thanks to all the support from our parents and OC Community. We raised over $3,000! There will not be a PTG Meeting during the month of March. The next PTG Meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 14th at 5:30 pm in the OC Library. Please consider joining the Orchard Center
Parent Teacher Group. We will be discussing the needs of the PTG and new ideas for the 2015-16 school year at
the April Meeting. We will be holding elections for next year’s officers at the May meeting. If you have any questions in regards to joining the PTG, please contact Heather Hansen at [email protected].
HELP US BRING JAN BRETT TO O.C.
Help us bring author, Jan Brett, to Orchard Center!
Jan Brett is an American illustrator and writer of children's picture books. She is known for colorful, detailed depictions of a wide
variety of animals and human cultures from Scandinavia to Africa. Her best-known titles include The Mitten, The Hat, and
Gingerbread Friends.
Helping us is simple!
1.
2.
3.
4.
Go to: http://app.wizehive.com/webform/jb2015
Enter a first name and email address. (Have more than one? Enter them too!)
Select Spokane Valley in the drop down menu.
Select Orchard Center and enter zip as 99212.
That’s it!
Please spread the word to your family and friends. The more votes the better our chances! Currently, OC is in 54th
place. Thank you for helping us get to #1!
PENNIES FOR PATIENTS
March is a very exciting month at Orchard Center. For the 10th year, we will join almost
30,000 schools nationwide in Pennies for Patients. Between March 9th and March 31st, our
students and staff will collect their coins and dollars to help patients with blood cancers. Our
efforts will help local kids with cancer and fund research around the world to find cures.
Last year O.C. raised $3,519. 35! That was well over our goal of $2000. For each dollar donated, students will have the opportunity to win prizes in a drawing at our assembly on April
3rd. There will also be school-wide incentives for each $500 goal the school meets.
This is a great opportunity for our kids to learn the value of making a difference and to have some fun while doing it! So, check under couch cushions, in the car, in backpacks, on the sidewalk and in your family's junk drawer!
Thanks for fighting cancer...one penny at a time!
Page 4
Orchard Center Elementary
DR. SEUSS READ ACROSS AMERICA!
In honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday, OC held it’s annual Read Across America program on Friday, February 27th at
8:00 am. Moms and Dads came to school to read books with their children and enjoy Muffins for Moms and Donuts for Dads! It was a great turnout with Dr. Seuss and Waldo making guest appearances! Here’s a Reading
Pledge that you can recite with your child as a great reminder to read, read, read!
WE PLEDGE TO READ!
We promise to read
Each day and each night.
We know it’s the key
To growing up right.
Each book that we read
Puts smarts in our heads
‘Cause brains grow more thoughts
The more they are fed.
We’ll read to ourselves.
We’ll read to a crowd
It makes no difference
If silent or loud.
So we take this oath
To make reading our way
Of feeding our brains
What they need every day.
We’ll read at our desks.
At home and at school,
On a bean bag or bed,
By the fire or pool.
MS. WILLIAMS’ CLASS HAS A WHALE OF A TIME!
Ms. Williams’ class (under the direction of Mrs. Henriksen) recently learned about informational writing. Informational text is the kind of writing we find in encyclopedias, magazines such as National Geographic, or books on
sharks. There may be captions, illustrations, and diagrams. An informational book may have a table of contents or
a glossary. Students spent two weeks’ time learning about all these features so they would be prepared to do research on whales.
We focused on five kinds of whales: the gray whale, humpbacks, blue whales, orcas, and belugas. Did you know
that some whales have a plate called ‘baleen’? Baleen acts like a strainer and filters out the krill, plankton or fish
that baleen whales eat. Most of the large whales are baleen whales. The smaller whales are the ‘toothed’ whales,
such as orcas and belugas. These whales may feed on fish, crustaceans, or seals. The big whales have two blowholes; the smaller, toothed whales have one. Did you know that gray whales may travel up to 12,000 miles a year in
their migration to and from their feeding grounds? Amazing!
Your child conducted research on his/her particular whale. They had to find out four things: what does it look
like, what does it eat, where does it live, and interesting facts. They then presented this information on an information “cube” (see pictures) and displayed them in the hall. Be sure to ask your ‘whale expert’ about his or her
whale!