A little late this week, but here's some information about what's going on at Leopold!

COME TO SCIENCE NIGHT TONIGHT FROM 6-8 PM!  Ms. Kosterman says you don't want to miss out on your chance to walk on water (and cornstarch), learn about cells with superpowers, launch film canister rockets, build the tallest tower, watch dry ice in action and many more exciting hands-on activities. Come out for a night of excitement, exploration and ingenuity!

CONGRATULATIONS TO MS. PERSIKE'S KINDERGARTEN CLASS, winners of our March Box Tops contest. They collected 494 Box Tops this round! Mrs. Persike's class will receive an ice cream party from Pump it Up, our Box Tops party sponsor. We collected more than 5,700 Box Tops this round. What a great job everyone is doing!! Watch for the next collection sheet in boxes in a few weeks with a deadline of May 13 for the final party of the year.

YEARBOOK production is in full swing! Some important info on yearbooks...

(1) Attention 5th Grade Parents - Sponsor the Yearbook!

If you are the parent of a 5th grader at Leopold, sponsor the yearbook for only $15!  Your donation includes a personalized message to your child (under their school photo) in the back of the yearbook.  Sponsorship Forms are available here.

(2) Book Bowl, Spelling Bee & Geography Bee Photos Needed!

We are looking for group and individual photos for the yearbook from these events.  If you took photos, please e-mail copies to Jana Olson (janaolson73@gmail.com).  Thank you!

(3) Field Trip & Classroom Photos Needed for the Yearbook!

Did you take photos of a class field trip or class party?  We'd love to include them in the 2012-2013 Leopold yearbook.  Please send the photos to Jana Olson (janaolson73@gmail.com).  Include the grade level of the children in the photos.  Thank you!

LEOPOLD SPIRIT WEAR is available for order through this week only. New items offered. Please visit here for a printable form or online ordering.

THE TIMBER WOLF TRAMPLE T-SHIRT DESIGN CONTEST voting was held last Tuesday evening in our school library. We had 30 voters come through and view the 24 entries we received. Thank you to everyone who participated. Congratulations to the following students:

K - Catherine Arnold

1 - Sandy Flores

2 - Kate Aman-Lavicky

3 - Jake Hansen / Divondre Hughes

4 - Isabel Kreger

5 - Joey Aman-Lavicky

Overall winner of the t-shirt design:  Joey Aman-Lavicky

All of the entries are on display on the PFO bulletin board in the lobby and I hope to have them posted on our Facebook page soon too.

THE TIMBER WOLF TRAMPLE is scheduled for May 11. In the next few weeks, registration forms and donation collection sheets will be distributed. Please note that you do NOT have to pay or collect donations to participate in the run, although we encourage kids to try.  Collecting donations is a large part of the PFO's budget and a great way for neighbors, friends and families to support our students. Incentive prizes are offered for donations collected.  More information on the event can be found here.

THE PFO HAS BEEN WORKING ON SOME UPDATES TO OUR LOBBY. Next time you're at school, take a look at our gallery wall, which will change out on a regular basis and allow featured students to take home their framed artwork! We also have a wall honoring our namesake, Aldo Leopold. We are continuing to make updates to this space to make it warm and inviting for our families and guests.

THROUGH THE EFFORTS OF A LOCAL KELLEY WILLIAMSON COMPANY STATION, Leopold School has been awarded a $500 ExxonMobil Educational Alliance grant.  The money will be used for math and science materials.

Funded by the ExxonMobil Corporation, the ExxonMobil Educational Alliance program is designed to provide local Exxon and Mobil dealers with an opportunity to invest in the future of their community through educational grants to neighborhood schools.  We appreciate this generous support of our school community!

GET FIT IN FITCHBURG! Saturday, April 13, the City of Fitchburg will host a free health and wellness fair for Fitchburg Families at Leopold Elementary. Please visit the PFO blog here for a flyer with all of the details.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support of our school and the PFO!

Kris

Saturday, April 13, the City of Fitchburg will be hosting a free health and wellness fair  for Fitchburg families at Leopold Elementary! Please click here to see the flyer for more information.

Hello Leopold families. As spring is hopefully getting closer, we are looking ahead to a busy and exciting time at school.

Come help pick our t-shirt contest winner - TIME CHANGE
Please join fellow parents, students and the PFO board tomorrow evening, March 12, at 6 p.m., in the Leopold library to review and vote for you favorite Timber Wolf Trample t-shirt design contest entries. This will be in lieu of a regular PFO meeting, so please stop when you can between 6 and 7. 

The REAP Farm-to-School program, a supporter of our Fresh Fruits and Veggies Program, will also have a table set up so you can learn more about the healthy programs they are supporting for our students.

At the same time (Tuesday, 6 p.m.), a meeting for families with incoming kindergartners will also be held in the cafeteria.

Timber Wolf Trample
The t-shirt design contest is the kickoff to lots of fun and exciting stuff leading up to our 2013 Timber Wolf Trample. Additional events will include a pep rally, Spirit Week and more. We encourage you to use this opportunity to talk to your kids about the benefits of exercise and healthy habits. Everyone is encouraged to participate in the one-mile fun run/walk! This year's Trample will be followed by a picnic for all families so we hope to see everyone there and excited to get out and move.

We are still hoping to have willing parents to step up and help with a couple of simple pre-planning tasks including food organization, and learning the ropes of volunteer coordinator. Our amazing volunteer coordinator, Tiffany, is "graduating" out of Leopold this year and it would be great to have someone learn from her while they can. We are now using Sign Up Genius to fill most of our volunteer spots, so gone are the days of dozens of phone calls. Please let me know if you would like to assist (with much help and guidance) for either of these important roles.

Yearbooks
Order forms have gone out for the 2012-13 Yearbooks. Please return those in the next few weeks. We are still in need of pictures to make this year's yearbook as memorable as can be. Please send pictures you have to Jana Olson.  Ideas include pictures of FunFest, field trips, classroom activities and more. If your order form is lost, extra forms are available from Emily in the office.

Spirit Wear
Back by popular demand! Leopold Spirit Wear order forms are coming home this week. There are a couple of new items this time around. Return your form and payment to school or order online here.

School Schedule
Please note that this Thursday, March 14, is an early release day. Kids will be done at 10:45 Thursday morning.

Spring Break is March 25 - April 1. Classes will resume April 2.


Additional Announcements
MSCR Learn to Ride

Is it time for your child to break up with their training wheels?   Learn easy, innovative techniques to get your child riding solo on two wheels!  This approach teaches youth ages 4+ how to balance, pedal, stop and steer on a closed course. Each participant will receive a free bike helmet and should bring their bike.  Call us if you need to reserve one of our practice bikes (limited supply).  All participants must be accompanied by a companion 16+ years.  In collaboration with MSCR and Madison  Department of Transportation.  PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED.  MMSD resident/non-resident: $7/$10.50 per child.  www.mscr.org      608-204-3000.  Find a location near you.  Everyone welcome!  

School Date Time Course #

Elvehjem Sun. 5/5 10am-12pm 42343

Olson Sat. 5/11 10am-12pm 42338

Falk Tue. 6/18 5:30-7:30pm 42340

Mendota Thu. 6/20 5:30-7:30pm 42341

*Leopold Wed. 7/10 5:30-7:30pm 42342

*Spanish speaking staff available


Westside Lacrosse Club
The Westside Lacrosse Club is developing both a 5th/6th grade team and a 3rd/4th grade team for the Spring 2013 season.  Tim Prince will be coaching the 5/6 team and Mark Frey will be coaching the 3/4 team.
 
The season will run from mid March - Mid June.  The first 3-4 weeks will be indoor practices once a week and once we can get on the outdoor fields (~April 15th) we'll practice twice a week.  We will likely hold practices 5:00 to 6:30 in the evening.  I am leaning toward a Monday/Thursday schedule and hoping to hold 3/4 and 5/6 practices at the same time.

Registration is open online at http://westside.uslaxteams.com/ and we'd love to have you sign up soon to help build our momentum!
 
Also, Westside LAX has field time reserved OUTDOOR at Keva for the 5/6 and 34 teams to have some pre-season practice/skills sessions.  Tuesday, March 19th from 5-6:30 and Thursday March 21st from 5-6:30.  

These will be full pads and gear - helmet, shoulder pads, arm/elbow pads, gloves, stick and cleats (no metal cleats).  Athletic shoes can work, but cleats are best option.  We have a limited number of equipment items available to borrow.

If you have any questions please contact: 
Tim Prince
852-3520 (cell)
timprince99@yahoo.com

Hello families. An exciting week lies ahead at Leopold!
Science Night Tuesday
Remember to come to Science Night on Tuesday, March 5th from 6-8. Mrs. Kosterman says you don't want to miss out on your chance to walk on water (and cornstarch), learn about cells with superpowers, launch film canister rockets, build the tallest tower, watch dry ice in action and many more exciting hands-on activities. Come out for a night of excitement, exploration and ingenuity!

T-shirt Design Contest Deadline
Remind your young artists that entries for the Timber Wolf Trample T-Shirt Design Contest are due Tuesday, March 5, at the end of the school day. Bring them in to your classroom teacher or the school office. For the indecisive, multiple entries from one artist will be accepted. Additional information and forms can be found here.

Plan to join us next Tuesday, March 12, in the school library, for judging the entries!

Community School Task Force
Leopold has been identified as a Community School supporting the West High attendance area, and a Parent Task Force is being put together to support this effort. Please come to a Parent Task Force Attendance Area meeting on Thursday, March 7 from 6-7:30 p.m. The purpose of Parent Task Force is:
1. To address barriers and access in opportunities
2. To collectively share and generate information about promising practices
3. To recognize family
4. To build social and political capital of traditionally disenfranchised families
5. To provide opportunities for shared governance and build social capital
6. To make recommendations to MMSD Administration for what parents want in their Community Schools.
Please see the attached flyer for more information.

Box Tops
Thanks to all parents and students for their continued Box Tops efforts for Leopold. We are finishing up counting for this round and we'll announce the winners soon. We are on an amazing pace for this year!

We also have a check for $204 coming from amazon.com. This is money we made just for clicking on the amazon.com ad on the PFO website when we go to make a purchase.  This amount is double what we made last year, so keep those clicks coming! Once you enter amazon through the PFO site a few times, it will become a habit for every time you shop at amazon.com. The link can be foundhere.

Kindergarten Registration
Tomorrow, March 4, from 1-6, is kindergarten registration. If you have an incoming kindergartener who is not currently in an MMSD 4K program, they will need to register for kindergarten. I'm registering my youngest and I'm torn between the sadness of letting her go and cheering that they're all finally in school! 

Lobby Updates
The PFO has been working with the school on some minor updates to the lobby space to make things more inviting and cohesive. Over the next few weeks, some of these changes will start to take shape. We look forward to making our school even more inviting.

Thanks everyone. Have a great week!