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.

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!

Hello Leopold Families!  Lots of news to bring you this Thursday night!

Important Dates
The 4K registration for MMSD residents is February 04, 2013 from 1:00-6:00 PM at all MMSD elementary schools except Lincoln, Randall and Marquette. Although Leopold is not a 4K site for next fall, students in our attendance area can register at our school for the program. I will post the full announcement for this on the PFO blog.

If you have an incoming kindergarten student (like me!), kindergarten registration is March 4, 2013 from 1:00-6:00 PM. Please share this information with friends and neighbors. If you know someone who would like more information about Leopold, or to take a tour of our school, please have them call the school office at 204-4240. 

On March 12, 2013 Leopold will hold a meeting for all incoming kindergarten parents at 6 p.m. This will be an informational meeting to learn more about our school and the kindergarten options available (dual immersion, traditional classrooms, etc.).

If you have a 5th grader headed to middle school next year, please join us on February 12 at 7 p.m. in the library, for a middle school informational night. Principals from Cherokee and Wright middle schools, as well as our COPS officer, teachers and a parent panel will all present.

There is no school next Monday, January 21 in honor of MLK day.

Report cards are scheduled to come out on February 1.

Book Fair
Leopold’s annual book fair will be open from Monday, January 28 - Thursday, January 31. We are looking for parent volunteers to help at the book fair. Volunteers help students identify books they like, and when open to families, help shoppers find books and check out. This is a fun and easy way to get involved at our school and there are shifts available at all times of the day. Please follow the link to sign up: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/409084AACAE2CA13-2013

Leopold Night at Qdoba
Qdoba Mexican Grill, located at 5401 Caddis Bend Road in Fitchburg, will host a fundraising night for the Leoopld PFO this Tuesday, January 22, from 5-9 p.m. For this fundraiser, you MUST bring a small flyer in to show you are from Leopold (saying you're from Leopold isn’t enough!). The brightly colored flyer will go home with students next Monday or Tuesday, and is also attached to this email and will be posted on the website. If you don't get one home from school, or want to give one to friends and neighbors, feel free to print on out yourself. We will try to have extras available wherever we can but we are prohibited from handing them out at the door.

Box Tops and Fundraising
Our wonderful BoxTop cutting extraordinaire, Jessica, submitted 11,554 box tops last time around (this is UP from previous reports!). Another collection is underway, with BoxTops due March 8. Congratulations to Mr. Langer's 5th grade class on their extraordinary collection last time around with 1,356 BoxTops collected!

As a reminder, you can also visit the BoxTops marketplace (http://www.boxtops4education.com/earn/marketplace/Default.aspx) to earn eBoxtops when you shop online.

Another way to collect BoxTops is to visit http://www.boxtops4education.com/earn/clip/Projects.aspx for ideas on how to make a collection container to put in your office break room, church lobby, grandma’s senior center, or other place where others can stick their box tops for us!

Please remember to apply for a Target RedCard, either credit or debit, to support our school; shop through the amazon.comlink on our PFO website; collect My Coke Rewards points and donate them to our school; and keep turning in Campbell’s labels and pop tabs. All of these are easy ways to use what we do anyway to easily earn money for our school!

Timberwolf Trample
Planning is underway for the 8th Annual Timberwolf Trample, which will be held on May 11, this year. We are still in need of many volunteers. As the time gets closer, you will be contacted for specific tasks, but if you are interested in helping with the planning or the fundraising, we very much could still use the assistance. Our PFO meeting this week generated some great new ideas, so the more fresh ideas we an bring to this event, the better it will be! We have some fun changes in store for this year’s Trample to both increase involvement and simplify the day.

New this year - we will be holding a student design contest for our Trample t-shirt. All students are welcome to participate! We are finalizing details now, and we will get everyone involved in the fun of designing this year’s tee. Watch for more details to come.

Thanks everyone.
Kris