Hello Leopold families. Here is some information on upcoming events at Leopold.PFO Volunteers Needed
There are a couple of particular and somewhat urgent needs on the volunteer front at Leopold. The volunteers who currently chair these positions are moving on to middle school next year, and we would like to have someone learn from them while they are still here!

Our Box Top coordinator runs our school Box Tops contests including providing flyers, class counting and tracking. We have another volunteer who does all of the counting and sorting to submit to Box Tops so this would not be part of the role. Please contact Michelle Barfield or me if you would like more information.

We are also in need of a Timber Wolf Trample fundraising coordinator. This is a great position to raise money for our school. An amazing foundation has been put in place and really is more management than fundraising. This is a very important position to our school, as we raise around $10,000 each year through these efforts. Please contact Pam Baumgartner or me if you would like more information.

*Asking questions and finding out more information does not obligate you to accept one of these roles!*

Thank you for considering offering your time and energy to keep so many important and fun programs at Leopold strong so that we can continue to support our students, staff and families through great programming!

PFO Family Meetings to Begin
Tuesday, November 11 will be our first PFO family meeting of the school year. The topic will be family and community engagement. We'll also touch base on some general PFO info as well. Please join us in the Leopold library from 7-8 pm. Spanish interpretation provided.

Attendance Matters breakfast volunteers
The Attendance Matters Breakfast is an event that Leopold school staff has hosted the past two years.  All Leopold families are invited to a family breakfast and then parents can join their children for the first 15 minutes of class.  Finally, parents return to the cafeteria to learn about attendance expectations.  The goal is to communicate attendance practices and allow parents to see that the classes are off and running at the bell.

This event is very well attended, and for that reason, we need a lot of volunteers to help run it.  We need volunteers onNovember 20thfrom5:30 to 7 pm to assist with setting up the cafeteria.  More importantly, we need volunteers on November 21st from 6:30 to 9 am to help run the breakfast.

Please considering signing up to help with this event.

Set up volunteer sign up (Nov. 20) can be found here and breakfast volunteer sign up (Nov. 21) can be found here. 

Tito's Readathlon Literacy Event
The PFO will lead an all-school literacy event, encouraging kids to read, write, and create! The kickoff, or Starting Line event will be held December 2, in the evening and the Finish Line event will be held on January 13, in the evening. Students will get to hear from guest authors and readers, participate in a book swap, and much more. 

*We are encouraging families to save any books your children are done with to bring in for the all-school book swap at our Starting Line event. A drop off box is now available in the lobby for book swap collection (please don't take books out as a swap yet, we're saving this for the literacy event).
Library Volunteers needed
Mr. Mueller, our librarian, is in need of volunteers in the Leopold library to help shelf books, etc. If you are interested, he can share a calendar sign up link with you so you can find a time that's convenient for you. This is an important request from school staff that supports all of our students. We'd love to have some parents help out in this fun and easy way. 

If you want to take a look at the calendar to see if a time might work in your schedule, please email Ben at [email protected].

Staff Grants from the PFO
This week, the PFO will be rolling our our 2014-15 staff grant program. The PFO has budgeted $5,000 to support innovative and creative ideas that our staff may have, but that are not funded through the regular school budget. If your child's classroom teacher or support staff has mentioned an exciting idea to you, please encourage them to apply for these funds. The PFO loves to see the innovate ideas that our staff wants to implement with our students!

Flu Shot Fundraiser
Flu shots are the most effective way to prevent influenza and its complications. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone 6 months of age or older be vaccinated annually against influenza.

The Leopold PFO is partnering with the HyVee Pharmacy in Fitchburg to offer flu shots to our community, with $4 from each shot coming back to our PFO. In order for Leopld to receive credit, please take a Flu Shot PFO Fundraiser in with you so Leopold gets credit. The coupons can be found on our blog (http://www.leopoldpfo.org/ leopold-pfo-blog) or you can pick one up on the school office.

Shots are covered by most insurances; cash price is $29.99. The fundraiser runs through December 31, 2014.
Open Schoolhouse Continues
Come to Leopold from 6pm-7:30 on Tuesday nights. Partnering with various nonprofits in the area, Open School House will now offer at least four separate opportunities for students and families to participate in. These classes will run for three week sessions, focusing on either Physical Activity, Education, Life Skills, and Leopold Family Sessions, an opportunity to interact with principals, teachers, and help guide the direction of our school. At the end of every set of sessions, we will host a large Party Night for all the families, before starting a new set of sessions. This month's programming includes:
Basketball Camp: Fitchburg Rec is hosting four weeks of basketball drills and games appropriate for all elementary-age children. Parents are welcome to participate as well.
Learning While Playing Together: The Fitchburg Public Library will hold family-based learning activities to help students gain new tools for literacy, math and science.
Exploring Your Natural World: Ex;lor, learn how to care for and interact with the outdoor world. Build bird feeders, learn how to identify wild life and more.
November 18th Culture Night


Questions regarding Open Schoolhouse can be sent to Josh Miller at [email protected] or Pat Smith at [email protected].

Girls on the Run founder, Molly Barker, is coming to Leopold!  
This year marks Girls on the Run of Dane County's 10th Anniversary and Molly Barker is coming to help us celebrate.  She will be arriving in Madison on Thursday, November 6th and will be visiting our practice before heading downtown for a presentation.  Molly will be arriving at Leopold in time for our final practice session from 2:45 - 4:15.  She will also be in attendance at the GOTR final 5K on Saturday, November 8th in Waunakee. We are so excited about this wonderful opportunity for our girls and coaches! 

Molly Barker founded Girls on the Run in 1996 in Charlotte, North Carolina. A four-time Hawaii Ironman triathlete, she used her background in social work, counseling and teaching, along with research on adolescent issues, to develop the program. Today, there are Girls on the Run councils in over 210 cities across North America serving over 200,000 girls and women each year. 

Communication
This weekly email is prepared in English and will be posted in both English and Spanish on our blog each week (http://www.leopoldpfo.org/ leopold-pfo-blog ).

Este correo electrónico semanal se prepara en Inglés y será publicada en Inglés y Español en nuestro blog cada semana (http://www.leopoldpfo. org/leopold-pfo-blog ).
Have a great week! 


 

 Kris
 

--

Kris Aman, President

Leopold Parent Faculty Organization

Encouraging Kids. Connecting Families. Serving Leopold.

T-shirt Design Contest Extended
We were a little light on entries for the Timber Wolf Trample t-shirt design contest. The PFO will extend the deadline through the end of the school day on Tuesday. If you need an entry form, they are available in the school office from Emily or you can view ideas and information, as well as print an entry form right here:
http://www.leopoldpfo.org/timber-wolf-trample-fun-run.html

We plan to display the entries at school so that all students will have an opportunity to vote for our winning Trample t-shirt.

Leopold Night at Qdoba
Tuesday is Leopold night at Qdoba from 5-9 pm. Qdoba is located at 5401 Caddis Bend. Please bring your flyer in so Leopold can receive 10% of your purchase. I will post the flyer online on the PFO blog prior to the event Tuesday night.

March PFO Meeting
Thank you to all of the parents who came to our March PFO family meeting. We had a nice turnout to hear Mr. Budd talk about math, Mr. Beaman talk about science, and Mr. Burkholder give a school update. We tried something new and videoed the meeting for those who might have wanted to come but weren't able. If you follow the link below, you can read the minutes or watch the video. I must point out that I wasn't sure of the best way to video, so the quality is not great, but we'll work on that.  The PFO is always open to feedback as to if our meeting topics are informative. We got very positive feedback on this meeting.
http://www.leopoldpfo.org/meetings-and-minutes.html

Next meeting is Tuesday, April 8. Topics are music, art and family engagement.

Important Upcoming Dates:
March 18 - Math Night at Open Schoolhouse
March 21st and March 28 - early release at 10:45 am
April 5 - Leopold Rummage Sale (drop off on April 4)
April 8 - PFO Meeting
April 14-21 - Spring Break
April 26 - Spring Grounds Cleanup
May 5 - 9 - Spirit Week
May 10 - Timber Wolf Trample

PFO Literacy Project
Over the past several weeks, Sara Dawkins and Emily Royalty from our PFO Board have been working very hard on developing ideas for a fall literacy campaign for our students for the upcoming school year. They have been writing grant proposals, making community connections and more to fulfill several goals centered around literacy for our students. The PFO works so hard behind the scenes and these ladies deserve lots of credit for the endless hours they are putting in to make Leopold an even better school. We look forward to sharing more information as we solidify the ideas and upcoming program.



COMMUNITY NEWS

Regent Soccer Club Kindergarten Soccer
Registration deadline extended to March 22 to guarantee a spot on a team

Regent Soccer Club and Madison Area Youth Soccer Association (MAYSA) are team up every spring to offer Kindergarten (Kinde) Soccer.  The season starts in mid-April.The time to sign up is NOW!  New teams are being organized this spring. Register by March 22 for a guaranteed spot.  Registration includes a uniform and ball for each player and cones and flags for team play. Play dates for Kinde are Saturday mornings, April to June (times may vary). Practice times vary depending upon the coach. Typically there is one practice per week. We typically have parent volunteers who coach.  Please let the club know when you register if you are interested in coaching. For more information and online registration, visit Regent Soccer Club (http://www.regentsoccer.org/) or MAYSA (http://www.maysa.org/).


Regent Soccer Club also has a limited number of openings on existing teams from 1st grade and up.  Please visit the club website (http://www.regentsoccer.org/) to register. If your child is interested in playing on a particular team please contact the Regent registrar at [email protected]. 

Scholarships are available to students with Free & Reduced lunch.
Hope to see you out on the field.


Thanks and have a great week!
Kris


-- 
Kris Aman, PresidentLeopold Parent Faculty Organization
Encouraging Kids. Connecting Families. Serving Leopold.

Good morning Leopold families. In defiance of the weather, we are beginning to plan some exciting spring events!
2014 Timber Wolf Trample!
Planning is underway. Here are some important things to know:

• The 9th annual Timber Wolf Trample fun run will take place on May 10. Information on last year's Trample can be found here.
  
• Again this year, we will be holding a t-shirt design contest for our "official" Trample t-shirts. Forms should go home with kids this week, and will be available online as well. All Leopold students are welcome and encouraged to enter their design!
  
• Leading up to the Trample, we will hold a Spirit Week, with fun dress up days that coincide with donations to important causes in our area. We are excited to work with the new Leopold student council to plan Spirit Week events.
  
• A major component of the Trample, as well as a significant funding source for many of our activities and events throughout the year, is the sponsorship campaign. Businesses are asked to donate toward our event, and in return, they receive advertising on our materials. If you work at, or know of, a business that might be interested in becoming a 2014 Timber Wolf Trample sponsor, please contact Pam Baumartner ([email protected]) so that we can add them to our list. You do not have to ask for the sponsorship (although you are welcome to, personal connections always work best), as Pam is also happy to add them to her contact list.

Spring Grounds Cleanup
Please mark your calendars for our spring grounds cleanup on April 26 from 9 am-12 pm. We will work on cleaning up our grounds and getting the garden ready for spring, as well as some possible playground improvements. Many hands make light work so we encourage families and neighbors to join in a fun day of taking pride in our school. More information will come about how you can play an active role in making our school and community look great!

PFO Meeting
Our next PFO family meeting will be Tuesday, March 11 at 7 pm in the Leopold library. Everyone is welcome to attend! We will be having Mr. Beaman, our REACH science teacher talk to us about the REACH science program. Every Leopold student spends time in Mr. Beaman's class during the school year so come find out what fun and exciting things they're up to in this unique program. Mr. Budd, 3rd grade teacher, will talk about fun math activities and how parents can support math skills at home for kids of all ages. Both will be able to answer questions parents have as well. We will also have a quick PFO update as well as a principal update. If you need childcare other than Open Schoolhouse, please let me know in advance.

Science Night
Science Night is scheduled to take place at Open Schoolhouse TOMORROW March 4th from 6pm-8pm. We hope that this event will show families how fun science is, and expose students to different areas of science. This event will include family challenges, hands-on experiments, and cool demonstrations. Science Night will also feature "MaGicEnergy," an interactive show that includes juggling, storytelling, and magic and inspires kids to engage in environmental stewardship. We are looking for volunteers to participate in Science Night by facilitating interactive exploration stations, serving food, and assisting with set up and tear down. MUCH HELP IS STILL NEEDED to support our awesome Open Schoolhouse group who is sponsoring this fun event for our kids! Please review this online sign up and see how you can participate. Any questions/comments, please contact Kao Yong Thao (608-204-4334,[email protected]) 

Leopold Garage Sale
Calling bargain hunters and closet cleaners! The Leopold garage sale is scheduled for April 5. Items to donate for the garage sale can be brought in on Friday, April 4 (drop-off time to be determined). Mrs. Czech is organizing the garage sale and would like a few parent volunteers to help out! If you are interested in helping (and getting a first look at the goods), you can email Mrs. Czech at [email protected].

DLI Summit
DLI parents are invited to attend a DLI Summit and BoE Forum. This is a summit designed for DLI parents, teachers and stakeholders who want to have conversations with other parents and stakeholders from all the MMSD DLI schools.  The DLI Summit is being organized by Nuestro Mundo parents and the Latino Education Council and will be hosted at Centro Hispano on Sat. March 8th from 9 -1:30.  Food and childcare provided. RSVP requested as seats are limited. The Board of Ed. candidates will be there over lunch to hear from families.  Backpack flyers were sent home with DLI students.

Race to Equity Project
Last week, Sara Dawkins (PFO VP) and I attended a presentation on the Wisconsin Councils of Children and Families' (WCCF) Race to Equity project.  This was an eye-opening presentation about a multi-year project to reduce racial disparities in Dane County. I would encourage everyone to visit the project's website at http://racetoequity.net. and review the first report issued by the project. Presentations have been given by Race to Equity throughout Dane County to various groups. The presentation we went to at Franklin Elementary School was very well attended. We are considering ways to bring this discussion to Leopold for our community and families as well. It is worth your time to look at and understand some of the powerful data that has been collected so far.


COMMUNITY NEWS


Madison Reads Leopold
On March 1st there will be a free public reading from Aldo Leopold's work at the UW Arboretum Visitor Center from 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM on Saturday, March 1st. Eric Liljequist, a retired teacher from Leopold, is one of the readers.

Thanks everyone. Have a great week!

Kris

Hello Leopold Families. Sorry for the late weekly email, the time got away from me! Here's what's going on at Leopold:
Leopold Book Fair
The Leopold Book Fair is coming up. The book fair will be held in our school library. All students will get a chance to visit the book fair with their class, and bring home a list of books they are interested in. They can bring money back to school to purchase the books, or families can visit the book fair together. The book fair will be held:
January 27 from 8 am to 1 pm
January 28  from 8 am to 7 pm
January 29 from 8 am to 7 pm
January 30 from 10:30 am to 12 pm
Please keep an eye on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/LeopoldPFO) for changes or cancelations to due weather.

As part of the book fair, volunteers are needed to help students select books and check out. Mrs. Conner will show you what to do if you are new to the book fair. This is a fun way to help out at Leopold! Please see the online sign up here to find a time that works for you to volunteer:
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/409084AACAE2CA13-book1

Restaurant Night Fundraisers
Thank you go everyone who has attended any of our restaurant night fundraisers. Most recently, we made $103 from our Qdoba fundraiser and $101 from our Buffalo Wild Wings fundraiser. Our next restaurant fundraiser will be at Culver's on February 17, from 5-7 pm. We will need five volunteers to help run food to tables. Fourth of fifth graders would be great for this job, as would middle school Leopold alums, particularly those would like to perform, or are in need of community service hours for various groups. If you know someone interested, you can email me. 

Thank you to those of you who shopped at amazon.com by entering through the Leopold link. We made $41.40 in October, $75.95 in November and $88.35 in December. You can continue to use this link at any time during the year, as the PFO will receive a portion of all purchases through amazon.com, including Prime movies and more! You can find the link here. 
Box Tops
Our next BoxTop contest deadline is February 18. An ice cream party and free passes to Pump It Up with go to the winning class! Forms were sent home some time back, but feel free to send them in a baggie if you don't have a form. If you'd like to print a new form, it can be found here. Be sure to label them with your student's classroom teacher so their class can get credit. We have amazing participation in BoxTop collection, so keep up the great work and let's work toward our goal of filling in the MineCraft creeper in the lobby!

Open School House Schedule

High Five Night Date Change
PBS team has decided to postpone High Five Night to Feb. 4th instead of tonight. 

MLK, Jr. Celebration
Leopold will be holding an Open Schoolhouse event to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy on January 21st from 6-8 pm. The evening will consist of poetry, dance, and music performances by students and parents, followed by a family art activity inspired by Dr. Kings, "I Have a Dream" speech. Food will also be provided. Please RSVP by filling out and returning the yellow flyer that was sent home or by contacting Delia Watkins at 608-204-4336 or [email protected].

January 22 and 23rd, 6:30-7:15 - How to Build Your Student's Self Esteem
January 28, 6:00 - Math Night

4K Family Night
Since we didn't cover our 4K families in our original round of Get to Know Each Other Nights (sorry - we didn't know there would be 4K at Leopold when we planned these events), we will be holding a 4K Family Night, with dinner provided by the PFO, on Tuesday, February 18, from 6-7 pm in the school cafeteria. Flyers will be sent home to 4K families.

Kindergarten Registration
Kindergarten registration for families with students who will be entering kindergarten next fall, and who do not currently participate in MMSD 4K, need to attend kindergarten registration on Monday, February 3 from 1-6 pm at Leopold or your neighborhood elementary school. For more information, visit mmsd.org/kinder

All children who are four years old on or before September 2, 2014 and live in the MMSD are eligible to participate in 4K. 4K is not required and is tuition free. Registration for this program is also February 3 from 1-6 pm at Leopold or your neighborhood elementary school. For more information, visit mmsd.org/4K

ExxonMobil Educational Grant
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 to provide materials and supplies for student use. 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!

NO SCHOOL January 20 in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

There is no PFO meeting in January. Our next meeting will be Tuesday, February 11 at 7 pm.

We are still looking for volunteers for the following fun positions at our school:

• PFO President for the 2014/15 and 2015/16 school years - The president works with an awesome PFO Board to help set the budget, organize committees and events, communicate on behalf of the PFO with parents and the school, plan and lead PFO meetings, and additional jobs as needed and allowed. Per our bylaws, we hope that board members can serve a two-year term. This job can be split between two people if you have someone to partner with. Training, guidance and support will be provided for as long as needed!
  
• PFO Secretary for the 2014/15 and 2015/16 school years - The secretary also works with the awesome PFO Board on many of these same things, takes minutes at meetings, as well as handles correspondence such as thank you notes, etc. on behalf of the Board. Training, guidance and support will also be provided for this role!
  
• Website / Facebook Coordinator - Currently, I handle all of the website and Facebook setup, updates and communication. I know there are some much more tech-focused parents out there who could do this behind-the-scenes job. It definitely requires some technical knowledge and the ability to make timely updates, but can be done at night from home, which is an appealing option for many parents. Ongoing training and support provided!
• Spirit Wear Coordinator - Works with spirit wear vendor for item selection, help set pricing, coordinate translation of order forms, copy and stuff teacher mailboxes with order forms and/or online order setup, order processing, and delivery. This is a relatively small job that takes place just once or twice a year and the timing is flexible. Our vendor separates orders and prepares them for individual delivery to students. Training is provided!
  
• Grounds Cleanup Coordinator - Historically, we have had a volunteer to organize a fall and spring grounds cleanup, including raking and bagging leaves, picking up garbage and sometimes some trimming of overgrown greenery. This happens at schools across MMSD and we like to show we are proud of our school and our neighborhood! The Coordinator works with the Board to pick the dates, makes sure we have the needed supplies, works with the PFO Board to communicate the event and find volunteers, and gives direction on the day(s) of the events. Training and information is provided!
  
• Yearbook Coordinator - Works with our yearbook vendor to provide photos and some layout work on our annual school yearbook. Also distributes and collects order forms. Currently we provide hard copy yearbooks for purchase to our students, but there is an options of preparing an online yearbook as well. Our current yearbook coordinator, Jana Olson, is happy to provide training and support over the coming year!
  
• Giving Tree Coordinator - Collects needs from staff and posts them in a google doc or similar to the PFO website. Coordinates the delivery of items to staff (which is very rewarding!), and removes items from list once they've been fulfilled. An annual visual, such as the "tree" in the lobby, is a great visual reminder, but not a necessary part of the program. Training and guidance is provided!
• Staples Schoolkidz School Supply Program - the PFO is working with Staples to provide an easy option for families to order one simple school supply kit with everything on the list for each child's grade. This coordinator would simple work with our Staples coordinator to provide school supply lists and coordinate the ordering of items by our families. This would be a relatively small job that happens just once per year! All information would be provided by Staples.

*If you would like more information about any of the above roles, or would like to attend a PFO Board meeting to learn more, please don't hesitate to email me. It doesn't commit you to anything!*

Saris Poster Contest
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation posted this announcement in the WisDOT’s Safe Routes To School Newsletter. The poster contest is open to 5th graders and first prize is a new bike!

http://www.sarisparking.com/why-saris-parking/advocacy-efforts/poster-contest/

Thanks everyone. Have a great week!

Good evening Leopold Families. It's been a tough weekend to be a parent of elementary school kids. I hope you were all able to squeeze in a few extra minutes with your kiddos this weekend. In the event you have not seen Friday's and Saturday's messages from Principal John Burkholder or Sunday's message from Superintendent Jane Belmore, they are both worth your time to read.
Leopold Staff Treat Day
Please consider putting your baking, cooking, or purchasing premade snacks expertise to good use and help our teachers/staff get through the last crazy day before Winter Break. Leopold parent Kristi Buscemi is organizing the annual Winter Staff Treat Day, which will be held on Friday December 21. We would like to ask parents to bring in some special goodies for staff on Friday. Kristi will be at school by 9:00 a.m. on the 21st, you can drop your item off to her then, or send it in with your student. Be sure to label items "staff lounge". If you bring in items before 9 a.m. you can leave them with Jane or Emily in the school office.  Some ideas of things to bring:  cheese and crackers, salads, dips/chips, cookies/bars, crock pot casseroles, fruit trays, candies.  
 
If you are able to help out, please email Kristi with the item you think you'll bring.  If you aren't sure yet what you'll bring, no problem, just let me know you're bringing something.  [email protected]  Also, label any dishes with name and teacher and I'll get it back to you via backpack express. Larger/breakable items can be picked up in the staff lounge.

Open Schoolhouse
Thursday will be the last Open Schoolhouse of 2012! Come grab a warm winter drink and check out the cookie decorating station.  The ZUMBA instructor has a special surprise for all participants.  Come anytime from 6-8 pm for a night of cozy family fun!

Traffic Safety
Please help keep all of our kids safe by obeying the signs and regulations regarding parking and traffic around school. Attached is a brochure that details safety and parking information.

Fundraising
During our recent BoxTop collection contest, our kids brought in more than 10,000 BoxTops! This is in addition to the 10,000 turned in earlier this year. This is AWESOME!!!!  Classes are being totaled and the winners will be announced soon! Keep saving BoxTops for our next contest in the spring.

Our Amazon earnings are already at $181 for the year! That is double our earnings from last year. Please continue to enter Amazon.com through the link on www.leopoldpfo.com so we can get credit for whatever you buy!

We will also be using our Campbell's and My Coke Rewards points to buy some Giving Tree items for our staff.

Giving Tree
Speaking of the Giving Tree, remember to check teacher wish lists here. Consider adding to a classroom library for a holiday gift.


Thanks everyone. Have a good last week before break, and enjoy the time off. School resumes on January 7.