Principal Newsletter // DECEMBER 5th, 2023
Upcoming Dates to Remember
Dec. 5 - 5-7pm Ornament Night
Dec. 12 - Food Drive Ends
Dec. 13 - 6:00 5th Grade Music Program
Dec. 14 - 4:10 PTA meeting in the Library
Dec. 18 - 4:10 School Accountability Meeting
Dec. 22-Jan. 7 - No School - Christmas Break
Jan. 8-9 - No School - Teacher Workday & In-Service Day
Jan. 10 - Students Return to School
Click on any of the above dates to check out more info on our Events Page!
Dear Appleton Community…
Thank You!
Thank you for your incredible generosity and support of the Appleton Spell-A-thon! We raised $40,341.71 , our second highest total ever! That is both amazing and humbling. The PTA and Appleton staff are so thankful for what these generous gifts will mean to our students and families. Last year your generosity allowed us to outfit all of our general education classrooms and a few special classrooms with Aquos Smart Boards which have been crucial to the adoption of our new literacy curriculum. Of course the main use of our PTA funds goes to pay for reading and math interventionist personnel to support our kids who need a boost. This model has long demonstrated great growth results in our kids and has led to several high student growth awards for Appleton Elementary. Your support of the Spell-A-Thon is a gift that supports kids. We also want to extend a Special thanks to parent, Hilary Soria, Appleton’s Spell-A-Thon Coordinator. Thank you!
We had our second highest number of Appleton students getting 100% on their Spell-a-Thon spelling tests! 163 students had perfect scores and were celebrated with special ribbons and certificates. All our students worked so hard and many came close to 100%. We are rewarding all our students with a special popsicle treat and pencil in the near future for their effort and participation. Class lists of our 100% Spell-A-Thon Spellers are displayed in our cafeteria all year long!
Ornament Night - Tuesday, December 5 // 5pm-7pm
As we come into the Holiday season we don’t want you to forget about a fun PTA sponsored event coming up Dec. 5. - Ornament NIght will be from 5-7 pm and this year all the proceeds will go towards purchasing gift cards for Appleton families in need. Sometimes folks are surprised to learn that some Appleton families are really struggling to make ends meet. At any given time, there are Appleton families housed in hotels, shelters, or doubled up with family. So we thought this event might be able to help those families who need a hand this holiday season by collecting grocery gift cards and cash towards groceries during the event. We will have a basket to collect these donations and would love to see it overflowing by the end of the night.
Our hope is that the Appleton community will come together and not only make this event a great and fun event for their kids, but maybe we can also make it a life changing event for some of our own Appleton families in need. So if you can, plan on bringing cash or grocery gift cards to a local grocery store to the event.
As for the event itself, it will be held in our south gym, and we’ll have hot coco, cookies, christmas music and a whole lot of fun. Ornaments are $10 to paint and Angelo’s Pottery Studio will fire them, and get them back to our students in time for putting on your Christmas trees.I really hope to see you all there!
Grocery Cards for Needy Families
Christmas time can be a hard time for many families in our school. Students who normally get lunch and breakfast at school are now home for the holidays and it can be a stretch for families to provide food for their children. Would you like to donate a gift card to a grocery store? We will give gift cards to our families in need just drop them by the Appleton office.
Thank you for your generosity!
Kate McPhail-Appleton Counselor
Salvation Army Canned Food Drive has started.
Remember, Burton Orthodontics will reward the school with the most weight collected with $1,000. $300 will go to the 2nd and 3rd place schools. The food drive ends December 12.
Hour of Code-Dec. 4-8
What is Hour of Code? . Hour of Code is an introduction to computer science, using fun tutorials to show that anybody can learn the basics. This grassroots campaign is supported by over 200,000 educators worldwide. Stop in to see your child participate in The Hour of Code with our wonderful computer teacher, Camille Chapman. Click HERE for more information.
Weather Prepared Kids
The temperature is really dropping. Inclement weather can come in during the school day making recesses colder than it was when you sent your child off to school. Please send your child prepared to enjoy the outside with the appropriate clothing. Those of you who tell your kids stories of growing up and walking 5 miles to school, uphill both ways, and through four feet of snow will appreciate that we go outside for recess even when it is snowing. We do use a wind chill chart that guides our decisions for outdoor recess and helps us keep students safe during inclement weather.
PTA Meeting Date Changed for December
PTA will now meet on Dec. 14 at 4:10 in the library.
Go Bookworms!
Corey Hafey - Principal, Appleton Elementary School
