Hello Leopold Families! The final countdown to winter break craziness is on! There are still some things going on at school this week.
Qdoba Night
Make your week of holiday preparations a little easier by dining out at Qdoba on Tuesday night, December 17. Come between 5 and 9 pm to Qdoba at 5401 Caddis Bend in Fitchburg and 10% of your purchase will go to the Leopold PFO! You must show your flyer to receive credit, but showing the flyer on your smart phone will be accepted. If you would like to reprint your flyer, or show it at Qdoba you may do so from our blog HERE.

Staff Treat Day
On behalf of our families, the PFO organizes staff treat day each year on the Friday before winter break (you might remember extra cookies in your house from last year as it was a snow day the Friday before break!). We ask that families bring an item to share with staff to show our appreciation. A flyer was sent home, so if you could fill it out and return it, that will help us determine what we have and need. If you don't have the flyer, feel free to just reply to this email. Please consider bringing one of the following items:

• holiday treat such as cookies, bars or homemade candies
  
• fresh veggies and dip
  
• fruit
  
• cheese and crackers
  
• nuts
  

Drop off your items in the school office on December 19th after school or in the teachers' lounge on December 20 by 8:00 am.

If you would like to volunteer for this event, please contact Sara Dawkins at leopoldpfovp@gmail.com.

Teacher Grants
In an effort to get money directly into our classrooms and support our staff, the PFO recently established a teacher grant program. All staff members were offered the opportunity to apply. The PFO set aside $5,000 total in grant funds and grant applications could be for any amount, up to $1,000 each. The PFO received 14 outstanding applications and we are pleased to say we were able to fulfill at least part of each grant request. Here is a list of the items and projects granted:

• Cheri Watt (all school) - grant to support new student council at Leopold, beginning in January
  
• Jackie Smith and Hannah Braverman (Grade 4) - Spanish guided reading libraries
  
• Kendra Cerniglia (Grade 3) - iPad headphones with microphones
  
• Caroline Michaelis, Ronnita Nesimoglu and Becky Brown-Zehren (all school) - headphones for netbook carts
  
• Linda Slaveney (Grade 2) - Spanish story books to study Fact / Opinion writing
  
• Kao Yong Thao, Delia Watkins and Addy Miller (all school) - Leopold Math Night
  
• Susanna Alvarez (Grade 3) - Spanish books for classroom library
  
• Cheri Watt (Grade 3)- Math mentor texts
  
• Tracy Smith (Grade 3)- Culturally responsive mentor texts
  
• Cheri Watt (Grade 3) - iPad headphones with microphones
  
• Becky Brown-Zehren (Grade 5) - anti-bullying project and video
  
• Daniella Porro (school counselor) - kindergarten social skills
  
• Callie King (Grade 1) - classroom iPad
  
• Courtney Ramirez (Grade 1) - classroom iPad
  
• Jenni Stitgen (Grade 1) - classroom iPad

Also on this note, the PFO provided training for our staff with iPads in their classrooms by brining in some teachers from Sandburg Elementary to talk about ways to use iPads effectively in classrooms. It was very helpful for those who attended to learn about tried-and-tested, practical applications for this great technology.




Have a great week and a fun and safe winter break! 

Remember to check all your holiday meal packages for boxtops and shop through our amazon link as you finish your holiday shopping!




Happy Holidays,

Kris

You can download and print the staff treat day flyer here.

Hello Leopold Families. A beautiful winter snow has arrived!! Time to get those shovels out!

Our December PFO Family Conversation will be tomorrow night (Tuesday, December 10) at 7 pm in the library. Leopold's TAG teacher, Iliana DeRemer, will give an overview of the MMSD TAG (Talented and Gifted) program at Leopold. Mr. Burkholder will give an overview of standardized testing, including the tests our students take, when tests are taken, and how test scores are used. Free childcare and translation is provided during the meeting!
DLI families are invited to the first DLI family meeting of 2013 at 6:30 pm Tuesday, December 10, in room 205/207. The focus of this meeting will be on student assessments from kindergarten through 4th grade. Silvia Romero-Johnson, Executive Director of the Office of Multilingual and Global Education, along with Leopold DLI teachers, will help families understand how assessments work in bilingual classrooms.

Our staff Giving Tree Wish List continues. Please follow this link to see what you can do to support our classrooms during this holiday season. Check your home for items you have and may not be using, or watch for good deals at stores, and let's help our staff get some much-needed stuff for their classrooms.

The PFO is organizing our annual Staff Treat Day for Friday, December 20. If you would like to show your appreciation for our wonderful Leopold staff, please considering bringing a holiday treat, veggies and dip, fruit, cheese and crackers, or nuts. You can deliver your goodies to the main office on December 19th after school, or on Friday, December 20, by 8 am, to the teacher lounge. A form was sent home for this event so that families could mark down what they can bring. If you did not get the form, please go here to our blog to download the form. If you would like to help out with this event, please contact Sara Dawkins atleopoldpfovp@gmail.com.

BoxTop collection forms were recently sent home. This round of BoxTops is due by February 18. The class with the most average boxtops per student will win a prize!

The PFO would like to recruit some additional lead volunteers to support our programs. We have many fun opportunities to get involved at our school. Many hands make light work! We are currently looking for a grounds cleanup organizer, a family book club organizer (new program idea!), a Staples Schoolkidz school supply program organizer (new program!), an after-school club organizer (new program idea!), a new PFO president and secretary for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 school year, and a yearbook chair to train with our current chair beginning with the 2014-15 school year. Please contact me by replying to the email if you're interested or would like to find out more information about any of these positions. If you have other ideas for our school, we are happy to hear more about them and work with you to implement ideas!

Remember to support Leopold in your holiday shopping. And, as we break out our hats, mittens and snow pants, help your kids keep track of them with Mabel's Labels. Info on all of our ongoing fundraising programs can be found here.

There is a Unity meeting on December 12.


News from The Foundation for Madison's Public Schools

Leopold Elementary School Endowment Fund Makes Grants Possible

The Foundation for Madison’s Public Schools’ School Endowments provide each school with annual income that is used to fund creative and innovative programs and projects that are not funded within the core school budget.  Forty-six schools were awarded grants totaling $69,243.  This year Leopold Elementary School had $1,082 in endowment income available to use to make grants for imaginative programs and projects that propel student learning which can’t currently be funded through the core school budget.

Our grants committee decided to fund the following projects using the available endowment income:

$482 Funds will be used to host an Attendance Matters Breakfast for students with their adults. The event will help make parents feel welcome in the school, enable them to get to know their child’s routine, and most importantly, help them fully understand the necessity of being present and on time to school.

$600 Funds will be used to purchase 14 Rogue baritone ukuleles to add to the 10 existing functional ukuleles, for use with all students in grades 2 through 5.

If you have any questions about the School Endowments, please contact Mary Bartzen at 232-7820 ormbartzen@fmps.org. To donate to our school’s endowment, visit the Foundation for Madison’s Public Schools’ website at www.fmps.org.

Thank you. Have a great week!!