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.

Hello Leopold families. Welcome back after a long, cold break! I hope you were able to enjoy some quality time with your family. The PFO is excited about lots of exciting things going on in 2014!
First and foremost, we are searching for some parents interested in stepping up some volunteer efforts in 2014. We have several needs, both PFO Board positions and other events that our PFO sponsors. These are all important to our active and vibrant Leopold community. We know many parents are hesitant to take on leadership roles for a variety of reasons. Our current Board and volunteer leaders are happy to train and guide new volunteers for as long as needed. I believe, however, that it is essential to any organization to have fresh ideas and perspective, so we need to be sure that our Board and volunteer positions change over regularly to keep our PFO strong and healthy! PFO volunteers can be moms, dads, grandparents, or anyone with a Leopold affiliation. Many of our Board members and volunteers have full time, demanding careers, own their own businesses, have very busy kids, have kids at multiple schools, have younger kids and older kids, and are overcommitted already (that's what makes them fabulous!). The diversity of ideas and experiences are an asset to Leopold and we encourage you to spend some time considering the importance of volunteering at our school and demonstrating the value of education and involvement for your kids. 

Here are some of our immediate needs, but we are always open to other ideas that you may have:

• 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!*

Giving Tree
Thank you to the many parents and community groups that supported our Giving Tree this year! Our staff was so appreciative for everything received. The Giving Tree will continue to be updated online, but the actual tree in the lobby will come down for now.

Martin Luther King, 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].


Leopold High Five Night
Leopold's High Five Night is scheduled to take place on Jan. 14th, during Open Schoolhouse. The evening will consist of workshop sessions on positive behavior support (PBS), morning meetings, and the Second Step program. There will also be a family scavenger hunt that incorporates positive behavior, and an art gallery inspired by the Leopold High Five. Open Schoolhouse Staff is looking for more volunteers to help with set up/tear down/serving food, etc. Please visit this online sign-up to volunteer for this fun event. 

MMSD Technology Plan
From MMSD...
We have made considerable progress in crafting the five-year Information & Technology Plan, including identifying central themes and preliminary recommendations.  Our website (mmsd.org/techplan) has lots of information on the plan and is continually updated with new resources and our latest thinking. Please visit this website to learn more about the plan and to offer your ideas via the online feedback form.  

We also encourage you to share this link widely so we can gather as much feedback as possible.  All the input collected will help us craft a stronger, more compelling plan that will push the district forward in the coming years to achieve our goals.

Remember to check the MMSD Community Events bulletin board for other activities and announcements.
https://pubinfoweb.madison.k12.wi.us/communityevents

Have a great (short) week and dress your kiddos warm for coming to and going from school!

Hello Leopold Families! Fall is in the air and we are excited to kick off some fun fall events for Leopold!
An Apple Affair
Tomorrow night (Monday, October 7), the PFO will host An Apple Affair - an event to raise money for iPads and technology at Leopold, at Lilliana's restaurant (2951 Triverton Park Drive in Fitchburg) from 6-8 pm. This adults-only event will feature apple-themed appetizers that Chef Dave has prepared especially for this evening, as well as several exciting raffle baskets including UW Football tickets, Nutcracker tickets, a golf package, spa packages, hand-made pottery and art, fitness packages and much more!

Tickets are $30 per person and can still be purchased online here: http://www.leopoldpfo.org/an-apple-affair.html, or by sending a check to school tomorrow marked "PFO An Apple Affair".  You can also reply to this email to let me know if you are planning on coming and pay at the door.

We have had a great response to this event! If you are unable to attend, we would encourage you to consider a donation. All donations made for this event will go directly toward the purchase of technology at our school. Donations can be made here:
http://www.leopoldpfo.org/an-apple-affair.html. Leopold is a 501(3)(c) non-profit organization and your donation is tax deductible.

Open House
Tuesday, October 8, from 6-7 pm is the annual Leopold all-school open house. Families of students in all grades, including 4K, are encouraged to attend. Open House is a chance for students to show parents and family members where and how they work and learn each day. The PFO will serve ice cream in the cafeteria at Open House!

Get to Know Each Other Nights will continue next week with 4th Grade on October 15 and 5th grade on October 22.

Harvest Fest
We are very excited for our first-ever Harvest Fest! Harvest Fest will be held on October 19, from 1-4 pm. Come to Leopold for this fun fall event featuring face painting, cake walk, live music, hay wagon rides, pumpkin launch, gunny sack races, dunk tank, prize drawings, demonstrations in salsa dancing, rainbow loom, The Cups Song, and much, much more!

A wrist band will be required for everyone over 2 years old to come to Harvest Fest! Order forms should come home Monday for wrist bands, as well as information about donations for the cake walk and grade level prize baskets.

We need many volunteers to make this a successful event. Please visit our online volunteer signup here and sign up for one or more activities. Middle and high schoolers are welcome to sign up for volunteer shifts. We encourage every Leopold family to take at least one shift for this big event.
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/409084AACAE2CA13-harvest

Additional PFO Volunteer Opportunities
Lori Zink, our school nurse, needs volunteers to help with vision screening on October 17 and October 29. This is an easy and fun way to help out at school. Just a few volunteers are needed for each shift. An online sign is available here: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/409084AACAE2CA13-vision

And last but not least, there is one more volunteer spot to fill for picture retake day, which will be held on November 8. That sign up can be found here:
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/409084AACAE2CA13-picture2.  Thanks to those of you who came out to volunteer for picture day last week!


Box Top Collection
Remember our ongoing Box Top collection contest! The deadline for our first contest is November 15. The class that collects the most Box Tops (prorated for class size) will receive a pizza party! The class that collects the most BoxTops throughout the year will receive a class party at Pump It Up. So, get cutting and turn those Box Tops in to your students teacher by November 15.

Box Top collection forms were sent home this year at registration so you could get an early start on collection! If you did not get a Box Top collection sheet, please visit our blog here http://www.leopoldpfo.org/leopold-pfo-blog.html where one is posted. Leopold gets 10cents for every Box Top collected, so be sure to ask friends and family to save them too! You can also shop through the eBox Tops marketplace to earn additional Box Tops for our school.  https://www.boxtops4education.com/marketplace

Lunch Buddies
If you are interested in really making a different in the life of a Leopold student, we have a number of students who are in need of lunch buddies. The lunch buddies program, run by Social Worker, Sandra Rivera and Vista volunteer, Adam Emmert, helps pair kids who might benefit from some one-on-one adult interaction and positive conversation. Volunteers would spend lunch and the lunch recess with a student, both eating and then doing an activity of mutual agreement such as an indoor or outdoor game, etc. Lunch and recess times vary for different grades, but placements can be made from 11-1. Volunteers can choose to spend 30 minutes (with one student) to an hour (with two students back to back) one or more days a week. If anyone is interested or knows someone who might be interested, please let Adam Emmart know. There is an application and disclosure to fill out to be a lunch buddy. Please contact Adam at [email protected] if you are interested in helping a student in this way!

Early Childhood Resource Fair
The Madison Early Childhood Council will host an Early Childhood Resource Fair on Tuesday, October 29 from 6-8 pm at Leopold. There will be activities including screening and resources as well as face painting, pizza and prizes.


Thanks everyone! Hope to see you tomorrow night at Lilliana's! Have a great week.

Hello Leopold families. I hope everyone was able to enjoy some sunshine this weekend. Too bad our weather wasn't quite that nice for the Timber Wolf Trample, but we had an amazing, fun and successful event anyway! Here's some info:

• 105 kids participated in this year's fun run (right on track with past years)
• Sponsorship fundraising brought in about $6500 (slightly up from past years)
• Kids fundraising brought in about $7500 (slightly down from past years)
• The PFO spent about $3000 on event costs (significantly down from past years)
• The Bridge Madison provided food to feed 500 people, probably around 350 actually came and at with us (first year for the picnic)
• The event was wrapped up by noon (much earlier than past years)

We are so thankful for the kids who participated with amazing effort, raised money, and supported their school; the volunteers who helped at the run, before the run and after the run; staff who encouraged kids to participate and those who volunteered at the event; and our community partners who supported us in many, many ways. This is a fun, community-building event that we are proud to continue at Leopold. If you have feedback, please feel free to let me know. 

If anyone would still like an event t-shirts, we have a limited number available for $15. You can reply to this email with the size you'd like and we'll get it make arrangements.

If you contributed to this year's Trample, either through a business sponsorship or by donating to your own choice, Leopold's Tax ID # is 39-1583370. This was wrong on some of our material, so please note the correction.

We are excited to use these funds to support our school and our staff. The main focus of the PFO right now is on technology for our school. We will solidify some ideas over the coming weeks and we look forward to share those with you and getting feedback!

We also had a student-led assembly on fitness and a really fun Spirit Week leading up to Trample. If you haven't seen pictures of these things, please check them out on our Facebook page.


Leopold Night at Dairy Queen
Tomorrow night, Tuesday, May 21, is Leopold Night at DQ on Fish Hatchery Road! Come in between 4-10 pm for dinner or a treat (or both!). 20% of the sales will be donated to Leopold!! We normally do not have to bring a flyer along for Dairy Queen, but if you've got it, it never hurts to bring it and be extra sure Leopold gets credit!!

Leopold Spirit Wear
There are a few remaining Leopold Spirit Wear Items for sale:
(1) Lg Red Leopold Timber Wolves t-shirt -- $10
(2) Adult Size Medium sweatshirts (these run pretty big) -- $33 each

If you would like to purchase one of these items, please reply to this email to let me know. You can send payment in with your child and I can send the item home with your child.

Final Box Top Contest Winner
Congratulations to Mrs. Sanders' second grade class, this session's Box Top contest winner! The class won a pizza and bounce party at Pump it Up, Mrs. Sanders gets a membership to Princeton Club courtesy of Pump it Up, one student from the class will receive a personalized since sac from Thirty-One Gifts and Mrs. Sanders will receive a lunch tote from Thirty-One Gifts. Thans to Michelle Barfield for coordinating the Box Top parties and donating the fabulous Thirty-One gifts!

Leopold Night at the Madison Mallards Duck Pond
Flyers went home last week for Leopold Night at the Madison Mallards Duck Pond on August 10. Reconnect with Leopold friends before school starts again at this fun outing. Tickets are $16 each and include an all-you-can-eat tailgate party before the game. The order form for tickets needs to be returned to school by May 31.

5th Grade Graduation and Class Picnic
5th grade graduation will be held on Tuesday, June 11, at 1:15 in the school cafeteria.  The ceremony will start promptly at 1:15 and conclude by 2:00.  Students will be able to briefly celebrate with their families in the cafeteria after the ceremony and then dismissed for the day at 2:30.  Casual dress is recommended.  Each graduating child will be allowed only 2 tickets per family.

The 5th grade field trip and picnic will be held the following day, on Wednesday, June 12.  Students will travel by bus to Milton House in Janesville.  Following the field trip, the buses will take students directly to McKee Farms Park Shelter for a picnic, rain or shine.  Permission slips will be sent home within the next few days.  Families will be asked to contribute $15 to cover the cost of the field trip ($8.00) as well as for picnic supplies and a class gift ($7.00).  Within the next few days permissions slips will be sent home with students with additional information regarding food donations.  Parents wanting to help with the picnic can sign up HERE.

For additional information, please contact Jess Lathrop.

Leopold Resource Fair
Leopold Resource Fair is tomorrow (Tuesday May 21st) at Open Schoolhouse from 6-8 pm.  There will be dinner, summer fun baskets for raffle, and several community representatives from summer programs for kids, as well as services and resources for adults.  The event is free and open to the public, so bring your neighbors and friends from other schools, too!

Get Involved in Your PFO
The PFO is doing some planning for next school year. If you have any ideas for projects or events that you would like to help lead, or if you would like to volunteer in any capacity - from helping with school pictures to joining the PFO Board, please let us know. We welcome and encourage the involvement, ideas and enthusiasm of all Leopold families!

Mindfulness Workshop
At Open School House on Tuesday, April 30, three dynamic teachers from the Holistic Life Foundation, Inc. in Baltimore, Maryland, shared some mindfulness practices with students and families.  Ali Smith, Atman Smith, and Andy Rodriguez have been working together since 2001 to nurture the wellness of children and adults.  Nearly 50 Leopold community members came to take part in movement and breathing exercises that can help to calm the mind and improve focus.  These types of brief but powerful exercises can be used by children and adults in school or at home.  Some of the exercises we tried included:  seated stretches, standing stretches, deep belly breath, taco breath, alternate-nostril breath, and breath of fire.

After leading participants through short guided meditation exercises, Ali, Atman and Andy then responded to questions from participants.  In the discussion about mindfulness practices and how to use them with children, one Leopold parent shared the title of a helpful book that incorporates steps to take at home:  Building Emotional Intelligence: Techniques to Cultivate Inner Strength in Children by Linda Lantieri and Daniel Goleman. 

If you’d like to know more about Ali, Atman, and Andy and the Holistic Life Foundation, Inc., their website can be found at :   www.hlfinc.org.

If you have other questions about mindfulness at Leopold school, contact Lisa Thomas Prince, DLI program support teacher at Leopold ([email protected]).

Thanks everyone. Have a great week and holiday weekend ahead!!

Kris

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)
[email protected]

Hello families. A mid-week update for you because I want to invite all of you to our school BOOK FAIR! This week, all students have visited the book fair with their class and identified books they like. If you would like to have your child purchase a book, you can either send money with them to purchase books at school themselves, or visit the book fair with your child. The book fair will be open tomorrow, Wednesday, January 30, from 8 a.m. - 7 p.m. If you can't make it to school tomorrow, you can also visit the book fair online through February 12, here. 
Children must be accompanied by an adult if attending the book fair after school. Cash, checks made payable to Leopold School, as well as credit cards are accepted at the book fair. The bookfair is a fundraiser for the Leopold library to purchase special items and additional books. Classroom teachers also have "wish lists" at the book fair, so considering buying a book for a teacher's library.

Thanks to the parents who have volunteered to work at the bookfair. It's always fun to go and see so many familiar faces!

Since I'm emailing anyway, here are some other things...

Timber Wolf Trample T-Shirt Design Contest
The 8th Annual Timber Wolf Trample, a one-mile fun run, will be held May 11. Planning is in full swing for this awesome event! New this year, the PFO will be holding a Trample t-shirt design contest. A backpack flyer will be coming home in the next couple weeks with details on this contest. We can't wait to involve our students in the t-shirt design and parents and students in judging! So, get your markers and crayons ready!! The Trample t-shirt will be available to students who raise $15 or more for our school. 

A side note for your artists: Google is holding it's annual Doodle 4 Google contest where kids can enter a Google Doodle around the theme, "My Best Day Ever....". The overall winner receives a $30,000 college scholarship and a $50,000 technology grant for their school. Details can be found here.

Adopt-a-School Partners
I had the privilege today of attending a meeting of Leopold's Adopt-A-School partners. If you are not familiar, the Adopt-a-School program is led by the Foundation for Madison's Public Schools, and pairs public schools in our district with local businesses to form partnerships that enriches everyone involved. Leopold is fortunate to have a very successful program, with partners that include the Wisconsin Department of Revenue (DOR), Group Health Cooperative (GHC), The Bridge Madison, and Zimbrick. Representatives from these organizations meet throughout the school year to see how they can help support our school. Support comes in many forms: financial, volunteers, tutors, lunch buddies, clothing drives, BoxTop collection, pen pals, support of our Giving Tree wish list, and more.

It's important that we, as parents, understand the support we have in our community from these wonderful companies and individuals. So, if you hear your 5th grader talk about their pen pal, or your kindergartener mention their lunch buddy, be sure to have them tell you more!

If you, as a parent or guardian of a Leopold student, are interested in further volunteer opportunities at our school outside of the "regular" PFO opportunities, here are some:
Current and Upcoming Volunteer Opportunities at Leopold

• Read Your Heart Out/ African American Parent Involvement Day
  2/8 at 7:45 AM
  Myra McNair 204-4336/ [email protected]

• Black History Month Celebration
  2/21 from 6-7:30 PM
  Theresa Sanders 204-4279/ [email protected]
  Sue Robinson 204-4261/ [email protected]

• Science Night
  3/5 from 6-8 PM
  Kelsey Kosterman 204-4296/ [email protected]

• Lunch Buddies
  Once per week during one of the following lunch/recess periods (K and 3rd 11-11:35 AM, 2nd and 4th 11:40-12:15, 1st and 5th 12:20-12:55 PM)
  Adam Emmart 204-4334/ [email protected]

• Individual Student Tutoring
  Varying times and days are available, dependent on class schedules and tutor’s schedules.
  Adam Emmart 204-4334/ [email protected]

Now let's all hope the weather is manageable tomorrow so we don't have to stay in school through June!

Have a great night.