Updates from the PTA President

Greetings to all Hanawalt families!! I covered a lot of the basics in the welcome letter that was on every student’s desk for Meet the Teacher Night. This can also be found on the blog below this newsletter. One additional bit of information is we would like to encourage everyone to use the mailbox outside of Mrs. Looney’s room for PTA correspondence-this will lessen the load on the front office and keep all PTA business to one receptacle. Please remember to put your correspondence, money, box tops & soup labels in an envelope or zip baggie—anything that goes in the mailbox should be bagged and labeled to its recipient!! We have no way to keep it straight otherwise and it is almost impossible to have it be credited or answered in a timely manner.

Which brings us to box tops and soup labels….we are going to collect these again this year! Jennifer Carstens has generously agreed to head up these programs and is looking for a few helping hands to cut and paste labels. This is a super job that can be done from home if you still have little ones around and it’s not easy for you to volunteer at up at school. PLEASE deposit your labels in an envelope already trimmed, this saves our volunteers so much time! I keep an envelope on the side of my refrigerator and trim as I go so when the envelope is full I have the boys take it to school and put it in the mailbox. This is a great one for grandparents to be involved with as well—just ask them to clip and save then add them to your stash!!

Now for my BIG plea: We desperately need someone to step up as the coordinator of Hanawalk-Fall Fest. We have many of the pieces in place and a good start with committee members, as well as a template of how it’s been run in the past and some changes set for this year. Are you the person who will take charge and coordinate all the pieces? Without Hanawalk many of the programs our students enjoy throughout the year would not be possible. Currently Hanawalk-Fall Fest is scheduled for Friday, September 25, 2009 and will coincide with our Fall Book Fair.

Don’t forget to attend the first PTA general meeting on September 10, 2009 at 6:30 pm in Mrs. Carpenter’s room. Our guest speaker of the night is pediatrician and Hanawalt dad, Dr. Pete Hetherington; he will talk to us all on the H1N1 virus and what we need to know to keep our kids safe.

Until then: "How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these".

-George Washington Carver

I hope everyone is off to a great and successful year and if throughout the year you need anything please feel free to give me a call at 252-1787 or drop me an email at Cheryl@tasty-treats.com.

News From the Principal

Welcome Back to School! Hanawalt Elementary School takes pride in welcoming new families! We are always excited to have people join our school family. This year we have two sections of kindergarten with 24 and 25 students; three sections of first grade with 19, 19 and 20 students; two full sections of second grade with 25 and 26 students; one combination classroom of second and third graders with a total of 24 students; two other sections of third grade with 26 and 24 students; three sections of fourth grade with 27, 28 and 28 students; and finally three sections of fifth grade with 19, 20, and 20 students.

A few staff members have also changed grade levels: Mr. Garvey is teaching 5th grade; Mrs. Thomas is teaching 4th grade; and Mrs. Genzen is teaching Kindergarten. Open Enrollment is closed for several grades. We have one new staff member: Aaron Carter, teaching special education.

NEW PROCEDURES

Students are encouraged to arrive at school between 8:00 and 8:05. When they arrive the kindergarten students sit in the hallway near the school photo array. First through fifth grade students report to the gym and sit quietly according to their grade. This will make the lobby area less congested. Metro Kids Care is available before school if you need to drop off your child before 8 am.

Classes begin promptly at 8:15. Your children will be considered tardy if they arrive after the 8:15 bell.

The district has adopted a new student discipline code. If you have any questions or concerns about the new the discipline code, please do not hesitate to call me at 242-8411.

As you are dropping off your children in the morning, please remember to have them exit the car curbside. We do not want children getting out of vehicles in the middle of Robertson Drive. Thank you to the parents who are assisting with the morning drop off. We all want our children to be safe. Reminder: If you have a child waiting at a bus stop in the morning, please make sure that an adult is waiting until the child gets on the bus.

Other news: The district has been designated as a district in need of assistance according the guidelines established through No Child Left Behind. Hanawalt, however, met the annual goals in student achievement as measured by student performance on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. We are NOT a school in need of assistance. We should be very proud of our students and the staff for maintaining the high levels of achievement that are traditional at Hanawalt.

DRESS CODE

Students need to wear clothes that are appropriate for school. This means that students cannot wear shirts with spaghetti straps or shirts that are midriff cropped nor can they wear muscle shirts. Baggie shorts are not allowed. Tennis shoes must be worn on days that students have PE. Religious head coverings are permitted. Concerns about clothing can be addressed with the principal or the nurse.

If you are in need of assistance for school clothing or shoes, please contact me. All assistance is confidential.

Thank you for entrusting our amazing staff with your children.

Directories

Thank you to everyone who filled out the orange directory sheets at Meet the Teacher Night-we have a great start on the directory. Currently we are going through and updating all the changes that were requested. Within a couple of weeks we will send home a self sealing envelope with what is currently in our database. It will be the final chance for each family to check and edit this year’s directory submission. On the envelope it will also tell you the cost per directory and give you the chance to order…if you would like to order the directory simply note how many copies you would like, seal your money in the envelope and drop in the PTA mailbox outside the music room. Please make sure to seal the envelope - there is no way to know what money belongs with which order if it is just dropped loose in the mailbox!!

Work, Play and Create Together

Looking for a creative activity that you can do Saturday mornings with your child? The RDG Dahlquist Art Studio is offering classes for adults, but there is one that is specifically designed for a child over the age of 6 AND an adult. (parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, or family friend). The “Play with Clay” class begins September 26 and concludes October 31.

Call 284-1675 for more information or go to www.RDGARTEDUCATION.com for more information. This would be an opportunity to work, play, and create together!

Health News

An area support group for families and adults who are affected by Attention Deficit Disorder meets the first Monday of every month from 7-9 P.M at the West Des Moines Public Library, 4000 Mills Civic Parkway, West Des Moines, Iowa.
Please call Julie at 223-6730 if you have any questions. You do not have to be a CHADD member to attend. “CHADD does not endorse any product, service, publication, medication or treatment.”
Welcome back. I am so excited to be at Hanawalt and I am glad to report that my hours have increased here so, I will be here every day from around 8:00am to about 2:15 pm. I wanted to update you on what we are doing to combat the H1N1 virus. We are encouraging all of our staff to stay home when they are ill. We are also encouraging them all to receive the flu vaccine when it becomes available. All students need to stay home if they are ill. They should stay home if they are running a fever over 100 degrees, are vomiting, or having diarrhea. We want everyone, staff and students, to be symptom free for over 24 hours before they return. They must be fever free without the use of any medications such as Tylenol or Ibuprofen.

We are encouraging everyone to cough into a tissue or their elbow. The teachers will be reviewing this with all the students. We encourage frequent hand washing with soap and water, especially after using the restroom or before eating. We also encourage the use of alcohol based hand sanitizer when they are unable to use soap and water. We will be cleaning desks, door handles, stair rails, and drinking fountains frequently. Please feel free to call me at any time with any concerns or questions. We will all do our best to make this a healthy school year for everyone.

- Sandy Willett, School Nurse

Area Support Group

An area support group for families and adults who are affected by Attention Deficit Disorder meets the first Monday of every month from 7-9 P.M at the West Des Moines Public Library, 4000 Mills Civic Parkway, West Des Moines, Iowa.

Please call Julie at 223-6730 if you have any questions. You do not have to be a CHADD member to attend. “CHADD does not endorse any product, service, publication, medication or treatment.”

Safety First: Check Out These Drop Off Procedures

We’re off and running in the new school year and thanks to parent volunteers who make up the Parent Patrol, we’ve had a smooth drop off process.

As you drop your child off in the morning, we ask you to remember the following:

• No left turn on to Robertson from the parking lot. We know it can be easier to hit the light on Grand Ave., but it really creates congestion in front of the school, which complicates the entire process.
• There is no stopping in front of the school. Even if you just need to run into the office for a minute, please park east of the parking lot exit. The only exception is for drivers with handicap tags. While the handicap spots are blocked off, if you have a handicap tag, show it to one of the volunteers and we’d be happy to move the cones.
• When dropping off your child stopping along the curb in the driveway is the safest place. We want to get as many children out of their parent’s car as quickly and safely as possible. This is achieved when the cars serpentine through the parking lot. And, you don’t have to be at the stairs to let your children out, anywhere along the curb is acceptable.

Again, the Parent Patrol makes this all possible and we’re looking for volunteers to help children out of the cars. We need three volunteers a day to be effective, so please consider giving 25 minutes of your time. We meet at 7:45 a.m. and we’re ready to leave at 8:10. So if you can give a day, a week or even commit longer, please contact Lisa Russell at lisa@scubacreative.com or 277-1368.

Iowa AEA Online

Iowa’s Area Education Agencies and your school are providing up-to-date online resources for Iowa students. Check them out for research, homework or just for fun! Through Iowa AEA Online Iowa K-12 students have free access at school and at home (Internet access required) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to the following resources:

• Magazines – Thousands of articles from popular titles to scholarly journals.
• Newspapers – National, international and regional newspapers, plus television and radio transcripts.
• Encyclopedias – Online encyclopedias in English and Spanish, including all articles from World Book’s 22-volume print edition.
• Videos, Photos & Clipart – Over 4,000 educational videos, over one million current and historical photos, over six million images, fonts and sounds.
• Software Training – Thousands of tutorial movies answering the common questions people have when learning software programs.
• PLUS literary writings, dictionaries, maps, almanacs, biographies, web links, government documents, historic documents, information on weather, health, careers, business and more.

Login information: www.iowaaeaonline.org – user id is dsm18, and password is aea11. Have fun!

September 2009 - Dates to Remember

1		School Board Meeting
4		Site Based Council Meeting 7:00 a.m. Library. Bill Good, Chief of Operations for the district, will be here to discuss the upcoming Sales Tax Revenue Purpose vote on September 8. Please join us!
8		School Board Election and Vote on the Sales Tax Revenue Purpose Statement
9		School Pictures – begin at 8:15 a.m. Don’t be late! 120-minute early dismissal
10		PTA Meeting – 6:30 p.m. in room 117 – Topic: H1N1 Flu
18		No student classes

Welcome to a New Year

Welcome to Hanawalt 2009-2010

On behalf of the PTA I would like to welcome all students and families to Hanawalt for another fun year. We have a really great community here and whether you are new to Hanawalt or are a returning family-- here are a few tips to get you started off right!!

Wednesday’s are our “distribution” day. What that means is we try very hard to send home all important information on Wednesday’s. Occasionally you may have a paper come home on another day but be sure to check backpacks on each Wednesday for PTA correspondence, community, school and DMPS flyers. In an effort to save paper we will combine students from the same families and send the information home with only the youngest student.

Newsletters and Blog Spot: Our newsletters are published the first Wednesday of the month. It is available to view or download as a PDF on our blog: hanawaltpta.blogspot.com there are links to the school calendar as well as other information. We are still refining this communication tool, so any input, suggestions or additional things that you would find helpful please let us know! The blog is designed to provide quicker more efficient information to all our families. Meeting times and places will be on the calendar. If you do not have internet access please let your child’s teacher know so that we can send home a paper copy of the newsletter so you don’t miss out on any important information.

PTA General Meetings: All are welcome and encouraged to attend-information and great speakers will be the focus of our meetings. We will have two in the fall and one or two in the spring. The meetings will be held at 6:30 pm and will be kept to right around an hour. Our first two meetings are both on important subjects. Our September 10th meeting will feature pediatrician Dr. Pete Hetherington-he will discuss the H1N1 virus and how to keep our kids and school safe. The October meeting will discuss the new math curriculum.

SBC Meetings: The site based committee was formed when the remodel was being planned and executed at Hanawalt. This committee has remained active and deals mostly with building issues, class sizes and budgetary concerns just to name a few. Anyone is welcome to attend. These meetings are held the first Fridayof the month in September, October, February, March and April at 7am in the library. Any parental or teacher concerns can be voiced at these meetings. Additional meetings maybe scheduled if the need arises-a note will be sent home in backpacks and will be noted on the school calendar which can be found at hanawaltpta.blogspot.com The first meeting will be held September 4, 2009 our speaker will be Bill Good from DMPS, he will discuss the Sales Tax Revenue Purpose. He will give us information so that each family can be informed and make their own decision on this important issue. The vote will be held on September 8, 2009.

PTA Board and Committee Chair meetings: The elected officers and committee chairs (when available) meet the first Friday of each month at 8:15 am in the cafeteria to approve expenses for the month, hear committee reports, discuss teacher requests and general planning. Any parent is welcome to attend and speak to the board at these meetings. We try to keep these to an hour-but sometimes they run longer depending on the business on the floor. First meeting will be held September 4, 2009.

Fundraising: Hanawalk date is September 25th: This is the major fundraiser of the year that allows the PTA to do all the things we do for each our students. Sally Foster-gift wrap will be back this year as well. In the spring we will be replacing the Spelling challenge with a Geography Challenge. More information will be coming home on all these!

Important email addresses you may need throughout the year:

Principal: Julia Burton: julia.burton@dmps.k12.ia.us
PTA President: Cheryl Thompson: cheryl@tasty-treats.com
Volunteer coordinator: Beth Steffensen: bethsteffensen@dwx.com

These and others can also be obtained on our blog: Hanawaltpta.blogspot.com