News from the Gym

Corey Luce/Coach provided information about Kindergarten students' activities in the gym.  They are currently working on Step Aerobics - complex physical movements.  The exercises include many leg movements: steps, knee lifts, hamstring curls, kicks, side lifts, lunges, straddles down, etc.  Arm movements include bicep curls, hammer curls, and tricep kickbacks.  More information about Step Aerobic Terms and Choreography here.

February Box Tops Competition Awards Ceremony at the Roosevelt Island School

P.S./I.S. 217 PTA congratulates the winners of our February Box Tops Collection competition!  Thank you for supporting the Roosevelt Island School!

Students received their awards during Student of the Month Assembly on March 22nd.  Congratulations to Elijah and Samantha - students of the month in K003!

This Week's Highlights at the Roosevelt Island School Gifted and Talented

- Monday, March 22nd @9:15 am - Student of the Month Assemblies in the auditorium
- Monday, March 22nd @9:15 am - Box Tops February "Countdown to Vancouver" Competition awards ceremony in the auditorium
- Tuesday, March 23rd @8:40 am - Conversational English for Parents - in the school library (open to community)
- Wednesday, March 24th @1:30 pm - March Birthday Lunch with the Principal in the cafeteria
- Wednesday, March 25th-Thursday, 26th - School Quality Review Days - Teacher Appreciation Events
- Friday, March 26th @12:30 pm - Mystery Reader - Peter (David's brother) will visit the classroom
- Friday, March 26th @1:30 pm - Conversational English for Parents - in the school library (open to community)
- Friday, March 26th - Last day of school before the Spring Recess
- This week's sight words: LITTLE, STORY, ABOUT, HELP, MORE.  Please practice these words daily with you child in addition to their assigned homework.  Students will have a sight word test on Friday.

- Weekly menu:

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
22 Mozzarella Sticks Served W/ Tomato Sauce Teriyaki Chicken Patty On A Small Whole Wheat Bun Fiesta Blend Vegetables Crunchy Fish Sticks Served W/ Tartar Sauce French Cut Green Beans	23 TRAYLESS TUESDAYS Hamburger / Cheeseburger On A Small Whole Wheat Bun Wedge Cut Potatoes	24 THE CORNER DINER Classic Roasted Chicken Warm Buttermilk Biscuit Mashed Potatoes W/ Gravy Veggie Patty Deluxe On A Small Whole Wheat Bun SchoolFood Plus Steamed Broccoli W/ Toasted Garlic	25 Crispy Chicken Tenders Served W/ Duck Sauce Crunchy Fish Nuggets Choice Of: Hot Lo Mein Noodles OR Vegetable Fried Rice Stir Fry Vegetables	26 PIZZA FRIDAYS French Bread Pizza SchoolFood Plus Very Vegetable Salad

Family Reading Night at the Roosevelt Island School (P.S./I.S. 217)

Elementary grades students of the Roosevelt Island School had a Family Reading Night in the school library on March 19th.  It was a wonderful way to finish Scholastic Book Fair week at P.S./I.S. 217.  Students were excited to meet author Angela Parrino who read the stories about a bird Wendy and a polar bear Gus.  Her imaginative and interactive presentations brought the characters to life, reminding the families that reading is fun.


Craft making and book swap tables were also among students' favorites.  They made their own reading logs, and whoever reads the most books in one month will win a Scholastic book pack.

 

Roosevelt Island School (P.S./I.S. 217) Family Reading Night

Friday, March 19th @6:30 pm in the Roosevelt Island School library (for children in grades Pre-K through 3rd grade).  Come join us for a great night of family reading with Angela Parrino, author of "Gus: The Feeling Better Polar Bear" and other guest readers.

Other activities include:
- Book Swap:  Have your child bring in some old books to swap at our book swap table
- Craft Activity:  Make your own reading log.  Whoever reads the most books in one month will win a scholastic book pack.

Pizza and refreshments will be served
$5 per person.

Please RSVP to psis217@gmail.com so that we know how many people we can expect.

The Roosevelt Island School (P.S./I.S. 217) 2010 Pamphlet

The Roosevelt Island School (P.S./I.S. 217) 2010 Pamphlet

An Update From The Roosevelt Island School PTA

 Letters were sent home last week via backpack about the Art Show & Silent Auction.  The letter specifically addresses the auction.  Some important things for parents to pay attention to are:

1- This fundraiser is very important to the school. Money raised at this event will go to numerous activities, special programs and supplies!  We really need the help of all parents, teachers and staff to make this a success!  If you have questions about this event or do not understand, please contact me at kristi.pta217@gmail.com and I will be happy to explain the event and its purpose.

2- Part of the way parents can help is by getting donations to be auctioned off.  Sample donations can be found on the letter and another donation form is attached to it.  **Remember all donations are tax-deductible.  The tax id for the school is on the bottom of the donation form.  Make a copy for your records then return the form and donation to the PTA.

3- Families are being asked to donate money towards art baskets that the PTA will be putting together.  The suggested donation is $5.  Our goal is to do 3 baskets for different ages.  These baskets will also be part of the school auction and families will have the opportunity to bid on them.  This goes along with the art theme of the event.

4- If you cannot donate but would like to donate your time, we have many needs for assistance at this event.  It is on April 17th in the afternoon.  There are numerous opportunities for families to be involved.  Just email me at kristi.pta217@gmail.com and let me know if you can help.

I know this seems like a lot but it is not!  It is extremely important for us as parents to do our part in supporting our school.  We all want what's best for children.  Providing funds to our school to enrich our children's education is one of the many ways we can provide them and our school with more!!

Budget cuts in public schools have had a large impact on every city school.  The PTA supports many programs, events and class needs throughout the year.  Our funding limits our opportunities and ability to give more.  We need the help of all of you!

Thank you so much those of you that have already donated!  It is greatly appreciated.

All the best,
Kristi T.

1st VP PS/IS 217 PTA

The PTA Needs Volunteers!

The Roosevelt Island School (P.S./I.S. 217) PTA has a few volunteer needs this week.  Could you think about your availability or ask other parents in your class about these events?  

1- School Book Fair all this week.  Volunteers are needed for various times and duties.  

2- Learning Environment Survey from 5:30 - 8pm tomorrow, Tuesday, March 16th.  We need volunteers to man tables handing out the school surveys and getting parents to fill them out immediately.  Tables will be located on different floors of the building to reach out to all parents.  The idea is for all surveys to be taken while waiting on the conferences.  Anytime you or any other parents are available would help (a half hour to the whole time). 

3- Teacher Appreciation Lunch/Dinner tomorrow, Tuesday, March 16th from 3 - 5pm.  Volunteers are needed to help set-up, serve food and/or clean up.  

Please contact nikkipta@gmail.com to volunteer to help with these events.

Thank you all for your hard work!  

Kristi T.

This Week's Highlights at the Roosevelt Island School Gifted and Talented

- Monday-Friday, March 15th-19th - Scholastic Book Fair
- Tuesday, March 16th - Parent-Teacher Conferences - half-day, early dismissal at 11:40 am
- Tuesday, March 16th - Teacher Appreciation Luncheon in the library
- Wednesday, March 17th - St. Patrick's Day
- Friday, March 19th @7:30 am - School Leadership Team Meeting in the conference room
- Friday, March 19th @1:30 pm - Conversational English for Parents in the school library (open to community)
- Friday, March 19th @6:30 pm - Family Reading Night in the cafeteria
- This week's sight words: OVER, ALL, MUST, LET'S, CAN'T.  Please practice these words daily with you child in addition to their assigned homework.  Students will have a sight word test on Friday.
- Weekly menu:

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
15 Zesty Italian Meat Topping W/ Tomato Sauce Whole Grain Pasta Choice Crunchy Fish Sticks Served W/ Tartar Sauce French Cut Green Beans	16 TRAYLESS TUESDAYS Breaded Chicken Patty Deluxe On A Small Whole Wheat Bun SchoolFood Plus Very Vegetable Salad	17 Southwest Style Beef / Baked Tortilla Chips Hot Turkey & Swiss Wrap SchoolFood Plus Hot Confetti Corn	18 Roasted Chicken W/ BBQ Sauce Golden Fish & Cheese Tasty Corn Bread **NY State Bean Trio	19 PIZZA FRIDAYS New York Pizza Slice Schoolfood Green Salad

Mystery Reader Update from K003 G&T Classroom Roosevelt Island School (P.S./I.S. 217)

Yesterday I had a blast reading Irish Folktale "Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato" to the Roosevelt Island School K003 class.  A cute story about the laziest man in all of Ireland who didn't want to work, even to dig potatoes - yes, he would rather starve than do the gardening.  Definitely not the best book to teach the values of discipline and hard work, since Jamie's indolence was in the end rewarded: other villagers promised to always provide him with food when he agreed to never grow a potato that big again.

Children seemed to enjoy the tale, especially the part with the leprechaun.  They all told me that they would rather get a pot of gold than the largest potato in the whole world, because:
"you can buy a ton of potato with the pot of gold";
"when you eat the potato - it's gone, but you can save some of the gold for later";
"if I caught a leprechaun, instead of 'all the potato I can eat' I would have asked for all the money in the world!"

You can imagine, our discussion was hilarious and awkward at the same time.  And, to my surprise, this book somehow ended up on the Michigan "annotated list of over 400 books with positive food, nutrition and physical activity messages for children in grades K-2".  Rather amusing that the lists' authors see a positive food and physical activity message in a story where the protagonist intends to spent his entire life laying in bed and doing nothing, and other characters had to eat so much potato, they never want to look at it again :) Yet the book is very entertaining, and perfectly timed for St.Patrick's day next week.

Great experience for me too, I had fun reading phrases like "me home" and "me potato";  and even learned a new word "pratie".

Olga
(Sophia's mom).

Roosevelt Island School Kindergarten Field Trip to See "The Great Mummy Adventure"

Kindergarten students from the Roosevelt Island School (P.S./I.S. 217) went on a field trip to see a performance by the Paper Bag Players on March 10th, 2010. The troupe People Magazine called “unquestionably the leading U.S. theater company for kids" returned in "The Great Mummy Adventure" an expedition to the land of the pharaohs in search of a mysterious mummy named Shirley. As advertised, the show was chock full of good humor, sing-along songs, and extraordinary props made of paper bags and boxes.  Students loved the performance, and particularly enjoyed the parts of the play where they get to join the troupe singing, dancing, and goofing around.

Roosevelt Island School PTA March General Meeting

PS/IS 217 (Roosevelt Island School) PTA General Meeting 
Thursday, March 11th 2010 at 6:15 pm in the school library.

Please join us for refreshments and an opportunity to fill out the very important LEARNING ENVIRONMENT SURVEY which is a large component of our school's report card.  Our goal is to have as close to 100% participation as possible.  Last year we were 2 points away from receiving an A on the report card.  Your participation in filling out the survey will help us reach the goal of an A this year.  Please make every effort to attend.

Thank you,
PS/IS 217 PTA

"Respect for All" Parent Workshop in the Roosevelt Island School (P.S./I.S. 217)

Roosevelt Island School (P.S./I.S. 217) held a parent workshop "Respect for All" on March 9th, 2010.  Among topics covered by the facilitators were:
1) What do we know about bullies? How can we identify a bully?
2) Myths about bullying:
- most bullying is physical
- bully has little long term affect on a student's academic progress
- very few kids are actually targets of bullies
- bullies grow out of it and don't have problems with other people once they leave school
- being bullied make a person tougher in the long run
- most targets of bullying report in to teachers or other concerned adults because they know they need help in - addressing the situation
- peer mediation is a good strategy to use to make peace between a student who is engaging in bullying

- behavior and the student she/he is bullying
3) Facts about bullying:
- every day about 160,000 U.S. students stay home from school because of fear of bullies
- bullying is a form of victimization or peer abuse which requires adult intervention
- being the target of bullying can affect a child's physical health
- over half of students who are bullied report that they are bullied because of how they talk or how they look
- research indicates that students intervene in bullying situations more than twice as often as adults
4) Children who are bullied.
5) Intervention for both bullies and the bullied.

Update from "LINKS" (P.S./I.S. 217 The Roosevelt Island School Newsletter)

The students in the Roosevelt Island School (P.S./I.S. 217) G&T class K003 have been busy writing personal narratives.  They have been working on catchy beginnings as well as revising and editing their work.  In reading, they continue to work on strengthening their comprehension and fluency skills.  They have begun to practice glued sounds such as -ink and -ing in Fundations.

In math, K003 completed the unit on measurement and are working on a new unit on data.

In social studies, they have been discussing their community on Roosevelt Island as well as the school community.  They are about to begin a unit on wood and paper in science!

This Week's Highlights at the Roosevelt Island School Gifted and Talented

- Tuesday, March 9th @8:45 am - "Respect For All" Parent Workshop in the library room

- Wednesday, March 10th @8:45 am - School tour for prospective parents

- Wednesday, March 10th @9:30 am-12 pm - Field Trip to see "The Great Mummy Adventure" by The Paper Bag Players 

- Thursday, March 11th @6:15 pm - PTA general meeting in the library

- Friday, March 12th @ 12:30 pm - Mystery Reader - Sophia's mom will come to the class
- This week's sight words are: PLEASE, WON'T, MADE, SOME, THOSE.  Practice these words daily with your child in addition to the assigned homework, students will have a test on Friday.

- Weekly menu:

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
8 COLORFUL DELIGHT Seasoned Vegetables Whole Grain Pasta Choice Roasted Chicken Served W/ Dipping Sauce Vegetable Normandy	9 TRAYLESS TUESDAYS Toasted Cheese Sandwich Schoolfood Green Salad	10 We will be eating lunch in the classroom when we return from the show. if you cannot provide a bag lunch for your child, let the teacher know so she can have tho school provide a bag lunch	11 THE THREE POINT PLAY Mozzarella Sticks Served W/ Tomato Sauce Hamburger / Cheeseburger On A Small Whole Wheat Bun Capri Blend Vegetables Straight Cut Potatoes	12 PIZZA FRIDAYS Corner Style Pizza OR Turkey Pepperoni Pizza SchoolFood Plus Very Vegetable Salad

February Box Tops Collecting Competition Results in the Roosevelt Island School (P.S./I.S. 217)

Congratulations to the students that brought in the winning number of Box Tops in their group for the "Countdown to Vancouver" competition at the Roosevelt Island School (P.S./I.S. 217)! K003 had 2 medalists in Group 1: Lilli won a Gold medal and Sophia - Bronze. The students will be given their medals/awards at the March Student of the Month Assembly on Monday, March 22nd (details will be sent home next week).

A message from the PTA:

"We had a wonderful results with February's Box Tops Competition for Pre-K - 5th grades of the Roosevelt Island School (P.S./I.S. 217)! Thank you for sending in your Box Tops! The total number of Box Tops earned for February was 1,025! At 10 cents for each Box Tops we earned $102.50! This is great considering it was our first month focusing on the new competition and of raising awareness of what the Box Tops program is. With continued effort each month we will see better results - and we will reach our goal of 2,000 Box Tops at the end of this school year, and then set higher goals each year to raise funds for teachers & classes at 217!

A Box Tops Bulletin Board will be put up by Friday, stop by the Main Lobby to see:
1) The progress of all the classes at the end of each month. How many Box Tops did they earn?
2) View a list of products where you can find Box Tops. Know what to look for when you are shopping, looking through your house for Box Tops and asking friends/family and neighbors to help!
3) See the packaging from the products which carry the Box Tops you want to clip!
4) Many more fun ideas to be a successful Box Top Collecting student, family & school!

Each month we will have a different incentive to help students work toward our Box Top Goal.  We are now kicking-off March's Competition, and as this is our Teacher Appreciation Month, the student body of PS/IS 217 gets to "Show Your Teacher You Care!"  The class in each Group which brings in the most Box Tops, will help their teacher earn a $100 Gift Credit to be used through Scholastic Books!  Teachers will be able to use the money to purchase books and other school supplies for their classroom.  Collection sheets are available from teachers or in the Main Lobby.  All Box Tops must be turned in by Friday, March 26th.

Thank you for being a Box Top Collecting Student & Family! Good luck in March!
Summer L.
Box Top Coordinator & PTA"

100th Day Reflections by Roosevelt Island School (P.S./I.S. 217) K003 Students

"100th Day of School Reflections written by some K003 students after participating in the Roosevelt Island School (P.S./I.S. 217) 100th Day of School Celebration:
"My favorite part was everything." - Maya, Shai & Elijah
"My favorite part of the day was when we did the Race To 100!" - Xavier T.
"I like making the packet with Ms. Bloom because we got to do several activities." - Lilli

Thank you students for trying your best, teachers for all your hard work and our PTA for supporting this special tradition, until the next 100th Day, KEEP COUNTING!

Mrs. Fokine."

Colombian Dancing Program Performance at The Roosevelt Island School

It was great to see so many parents and community members at the Roosevelt Island School Colombian Dancing performance! Students from grades 301, 302, and 345 performed alongside the Colombian band "Folklore Urbano". This show concluded Turtle Bay Music School 4th year of programming with Roosevelt Island School students.  More pictures in our photoblog.

Colombian Dancing Program Culminating Performances at The Roosevelt Island School

P.S./I.S. 217 and Turtle Bay Music School

PRESENT

 Colombian Dancing Program Culminating Performances

 In 2009/10 Turtle Bay Music School did their fourth year 12-week residency in the Roosevelt Island School.  The focus of this year programming has been the music, dance and culture of Colombia.  The PTA is pleased to invite all parents, guardians, and Roosevelt Island community members to attend two special culminating performances featuring students from grades 301, 302, and 345 performing alongside a 10-piece Colombian band "Folklore Urbano".

 When: Friday, March 5th @ 10 am and 10:45 am

Where: in the Roosevelt Island School (P.S./I.S. 217) Auditorium

Roosevelt Island School (P.S./I.S. 217) PTA March 2010 Newsletter

Roosevelt Island School (P.S./I.S. 217) PTA Newsletter March 2010

This Week's Highlights at the Roosevelt Island School Gifted and Talented

- Monday, March 1st - Spanish After School foreign language program begins

- Tuesday, March 2nd - Picture Day 

- Friday, March 5th - Colombian Dancing Program performance in the auditorium

- This week's sight words are: INTO, BACK, STOP, AWAY, BEST - please practice these words daily with your child in addition to their assigned homework. Students will have a sight word test on Friday.

- Weekly lunch menu

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
1 Traditional Meatballs & Whole Grain Spaghetti Hot Ham & Cheese OR Turkey & Cheese Wrap Steamed Spinach	2 Crispy Chicken Nuggets Baked Potato OR Straight Cut Potatoes	3 YUM - O NYC Sizzling Soft Taco Southwest Roasted Chicken & Sweet Roasted Corn Rachael Rays SW Red Pepper Sauce Vegetarian Veg-Head Beans Steamed Broccoli	4 BURGER BLAST Hamburger / Cheeseburger / Classic Deluxe / BBQ Style Burger Latin Burger On Small Wh.Wh.Bun Crunchy Fish Nuggets Served W/ Tartar Sauce SchoolFood Plus Lemon Roasted Carrots / Wedge Cut Potatoes	5 PIZZA FRIDAYS New York Pizza Slice Schoolfood Green Salad