 Dear AmPark Families, Happy New Year to all! We hope you all had a very happy and healthy winter break together with family. It is great to be back and looking forward to an exciting 2020 ahead! January’s Book of the Month is The Legend of Rocks, Papers, Scissors, by Drew Daywalt which reminds us of Habit 4: Think win-win. We also love that using this game is a favorite AmPark strategy for problem-solving (thank you Caitlin!). Given the silly nature of this text, this read aloud can also address saw-sharpening with the belly laughs that it brings to both children and grown ups alike.  Coming up this month, we have an amazing new partnership with the NYU Dental Health Program and are very excited to offer their public health work to our AmPark community. On Monday and Tuesday, January 13th & 14th, members of the NYU Dental Health staff will be at AmPark with tables ready to share more information about the program. During those school days, they will also be conducting classroom visits to present on the importance of good dental hygiene and dental health practices. Should families wish to participate, you need only fill out the consent waiver and your child will receive a dental health screening conducted by NYU Dental Health practitioners, free of charge! The screenings themselves will take place over the week of January 21st - 24th.  The final count is in for this year’s past March of Dimes/March for Babies fundraiser with final pledges accepted which brings us to almost $1400 total! Well done community! The way we always show up for this cause gives us all the warm feelings and we are proud of all of your efforts. In support of our students and the District 10 goal to improve attendance district-wide, we are starting an AmPark attendance team that will be meeting once a month to look at attendance data and areas that we can improve. Attendance is the one thread that runs through every single data point in our students’ lives and academic performance. Our team will be looking at specific students to support and planning into initiatives to improve student attendance at AmPark, school-wide. Nothing is more important to your child’s academic success than being at school, on time, every day. Thank you to all of you who already work tirelessly to ensure that your kiddos are present and ready to learn each day.  Along the lines of being ready to learn each day for AmPark in winter, because we believe in getting students outside and running around as much as Mother Nature allows, please send your child ready to go outside and play. Below is an excerpt from the DOE in this week’s Principal’s Weekly that supports our shared beliefs… “Children benefit from vigorous exercise and should be given the opportunity to play outside whenever possible. Unless it is snowing, or there is ice on the playground, or the wind chill factor produces an effective temperature below zero degrees Fahrenheit (-18 degrees Celsius), temperature alone should not be a barrier to outdoor play. You are encouraged to work with your staff to maintain outdoor play periods, and you should take precautions to keep students warm and to ensure that they are appropriately dressed on very cold days. When outdoors, please ensure that your students and staff cover exposed skin, wear warm clothing, and use multiple layers to maintain warmth. Students that need to avoid the cold weather for medical reasons must submit a note from their health care provider to the school nurse.”  Finally, it is with great pride that AmPark is sending two of our amazing spellers to the Bronx Borough-Wide Spelling Bee on January 21st. Congratulations to Nelson & Clyde who not only won the 5th Grade AmPark Spelling Bee this fall, but also will represent AmPark for all the Bronx. We wish them luck and hope they feel like champions already! In collaboration and with appreciation, Kelly & Bonnie  Important Upcoming Dates:
From the Wellness Committee: Our next Wellness Committee Meeting is on 1/30 in K-Cafe at 8:30. Wondering what’s for lunch this month? Check out January’s PreK-8 Alternative Lunch Menu here. For our spring WITS Labs, we’ll be having Curry Cauliflower Soup that our amazing Chef Ricardo generously sampled for us at December’s PA meeting. Please find the delicious recipe on our WITS page here. Yours in health, The Wellness Committee  Our January Blast from the Parent Association:
Good Evening AmPark Parents and Families, Happy New Year! The PA General Meeting will be on Wednesday 1/15. Evite to follow shortly. Spring Auction News SAVE THE DATE! 2020 Spring Auction is Friday, May 15th Early Bird tickets ($15/person) will be on sale shortly. Congratulations to Nelson Altreche Jr. And Sonia Gonzalez for winning 2 auction tickets by raffle at the last PA meeting! 2 tickets will be raffled off at every PA meeting, so come and join us! Also, please join us for our Spring Auction Committee meetings. The first one is this Tuesday at 6pm in the Ampark Library. Planning and running the Auction is a lot of fun, but also a lot of work! Check out the Evite ***There are so many ways that you can support AmPark right now!*** The Avon Fundraiser is still happening until January 8th: Follow the link below and the Ampark PA receives 25% of all sales generated! TO ORDER: https://www.avon.com/fundraiser/ampark Earn for AmPark without spending an additional dime! Sign up for Amazon Smile – log into your Amazon account at smile.amazon.com and choose AmPark Parents Association as your charity Stop&Shop A+ School Rewards – log in or create an online account using your Stop&Shop rewards card and choose AmPark Parents Association as your charity Turn your shopping into earnings for AmPark! ShopWithScrip – buy gift cards and ecards at face value, earn rebates of up to 20% for AmPark, give your cards as gifts or use for your usual shopping, dining, and entertainment! Over 750 retailers! See how it works and sign up today! Thank you, AmPark PA Comments are closed.
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