Latin serves grades 5-8 at 4115 16th Street, NW and grades 9-12 at 4715 16th Street, NW.

For more information, visit www.latinpcs.org.

Expenses

Income

P.S. Many thanks to all of you have been clipping those Box Tops! Please continue to place Box Tops in the specially marked box in the school lobby.

Please let your neighbors know, especially if they have new K students for next year, that they can join me for a mini-open house on 2/23/12, 3/1/12, & 3/15/12, all at 9:30 a.m., for an overview and mini-tour of our school. Also, the out-of-boundary process has begun and many want to see our Stoddert Wolves in action. As you know, we are very full at this time and will admit from waiting lists when seats become available. Many families, who have visited with me and seen the school and students in session, have said that they will hope that their children will be able to join the Stoddert Wolves.

Please note that our ACADEMIC NIGHT this year will be Wednesday, March 7th. PTA will offer pizza in the cafeteria and play time in the gym for your children on this night. We will plan concurrent, different sessions for parents to learn more about reading and mathematics instruction, the new Paced Interim Assessments, DC CAS assessments, etc. It is a night you will not want to miss. The concurrent sessions will cover multiple grade levels and academic disciplines, at 6:30, 7:00, and 7:30 p.m., ending the evening at 8:00 p.m. A complete listing will be forthcoming.

This is a friendly reminder about the importance of being at school (when you are well) and coming on time every day. It is very disruptive, at every grade level, for teachers and students when teachers have to stop to attend to students who are late. Please help us keep our tardy and absentee records looking great. The bottom line is … we need your child(ren) to come to school every day and on time, so our dedicated teachers can TEACH, and learning can occur for all! Please work on this and HELP us provide a quality education for every Stoddert Wolf! We can maintain excellence only if everyone complies and cooperates.

Please remember that if you need to reach me, you are always welcome to call the school. If I am out and about, please leave a message, make an appointment, or let me know your thinking via email; I believe that you have it, but here it is yet again for anyone who needs it, marjorie.cuthbert@dc.gov.

Locations include Cathedral Heights (St. Albans/NCS) as well as Bethesda and McLean.  Camps start the week of June 11 and run through the week of August 20.  Discounts are available for groups, siblings, multiple weeks, and early enrollment.

For more information, read the Headfirst Brochure or visit www.headfirstcamps.com.

You should sign up ASAP as many classes begin Jan. 30. Contact maria.mckitterick@gmail.com for enrollment forms or more information.

Don’t put off your registration!

Is it possible that we move into February next week?  Wow, 2012 is marching along in double time.  It is a bit confusing to have rain, no rain, 60 degrees, 32 degrees, sun, no sun, and just plain, no snow.  We will have to see what Mother Nature has for us as February crops up this next school week.

We hosted another Open House this week and had many visitors again.  It is very rewarding for me to hear the comments of many who visit us.  They speak about the positive feel of the classrooms and building, the well-behaved students, and the lovely physical plant, and inquire about their chances of getting to join us.  I do have to tell all the prospective parents of Pre-K students that their chance of getting a seat is random after several preferences are awarded.  Our enrollment for next year, as mentioned last week, depends so much on parental decisions, which will be made soon.  So, I tell all parents seeking other grade levels that their chances are uncertain right now, but apply for out-of-boundary and see what happens, at all of their school choices.  Many leave saying they hope they can join us.

On February 3^rd, we have a Professional Development Day so there will be no school for students.  We will work on more strategies and techniques for teaching English language arts even more effectively.  We also should have back data from the Paced-Interim Assessments given this past week.  We use these results to inform instruction.  If have not already marked your calendars and/or signed-up with your child’s teacher, please so do for February 6^th, as this is Parent/Teacher Conference Day.  This means no school for the students.  I say this since we usually have some students come on no-student days, as the parents forgot to mark these.

Please schedule in lots of reading time as you plan your weekend events.  Read to your child(ren) or have them read to you.  It makes a huge difference to their success in school.   Also, let them experience some authentic learning about math at the grocery store, shopping for bargains, or adding up their minutes of independent reading.  Home and school working together equals continued success.

Happy Weekend!  I think I will read a good book !

Dr. C.

Geography Bee
Stoddert Elementary
4th & 5th grades

Hi! I’m Robert M. (1st place winner) and I have always loved looking at maps and highways, and I think it’s really cool to look at places all over the world. This all began when I was five. Once my Dad told me about going to Oshkosh after he’d gotten out of college to see a fly over. I’d never heard of Oshkosh before then and I never thought that I’d get a question on that very city at Stoddert’s Geography Bee last Thursday. The question was: Oshkosh is located in what northern state? My correct answer was Wisconsin! My parents’ stories, many books on geography that my parents have gotten me from the National Geographic’s book fair at the Armory over the years, and lots of studying, enabled me to win this year’s bee. The winning question for me was: Cologne Cathedral is located in what northern European country? I answered correctly with Germany. I knew I had a chance at winning this bee because I study geography a lot. I love it and I have plenty of practice in it.

Hi! I’m Casey B. and I’m the 2nd place winner. I was motivated to take part in the Geography Bee this year because I participated last year. I got interested in geography when I was in 3rd grade. I like bees and competitions because you have a chance at winning and you get tested on what you know. For this bee, I used my Dad’s iPad app and played Stack the States and Stack the Countries. I focused more on worldwide geography and those questions were harder than the ones about the states. The question in the bee that I thought was the hardest was: Okefenokee Swamp is in Florida and what other state? I’d never heard of this swamp, so I just guessed. That happens sometimes in bees. The correct answer is Georgia.

Hi! I’m George T. (3rd place winner) and geography is really my thing. I got a kid’s atlas in the 1st grade from my grandparents and that’s how I got interested in geography. I thought the regions of the world were really interesting. It’s nice to know where things are. For this bee, I really studied. My Mom got me geography study books. I focused on both worldwide and the states. Physical and cultural geography is hard. The hardest question for me was: Which state capital city is on the Puget Sound? The correct answer is Olympia.

Casey, Robert & George

Once again, it was a short instructional week, but a terrific week.  I was not able to get into every classroom due to required meetings this week, but where I was able to go, many good things were happening.  Some students were making “Stone Soup” (it was delicious), some were illustrating their written stories, some were reading books of their choice, some were doing fractions, and all over the building – teachers were teaching and students were learning.  As you do, but please continue, thank the teachers for all they do for our students every day!

 The Local School Advisory Team (LSAT), which includes your elected parents, will be meeting soon.  If you are new and are not sure what this group does, it is a group of elected parents and teachers/staff who advise me on many issues including budgeting.  As soon as I receive the allocations for Stoddert for school year 2012-2013, we will begin to work on how best to meet the needs of our community.  As you have been observing, the early childhood population is expanding exponentially and the upper grade enrollment is more variable as some parents make different choices for 4^th and 5^th graders.  We will all work together to make the most sound decisions we can to best meet the needs of our Stoddert Wolves.  If you do know that you are leaving next year, for any reason, please let us know as we make our staffing and materials decisions for next year.  The LSAT and I will keep you updated as information becomes available.  Official forms will come out soon to ask you to inform us of your plans for next year, but please just let teachers or me know, if you know before you are officially asked.  The next weeks become critical to making plans for another successful school year next year — fiscal 2013.  Oh my, time ….where does it go?

You know my style, I always like to mention a few dates that are coming up.  On January 23^rd and 24^th, students in grades 2-5 will take the Paced Interim Assessments for the third time this school year.  These assessments in English language arts and mathematics measure what has been taught for the last 6 weeks time period.  Please have your students report on time for these assessments.  We try to set the best testing situation for all and if everyone arrives on time, teachers can guide students to their best performance.  These test results help inform instruction, as the teachers and I identify any student who might need additional help to reach proficiency. 

 Other dates of importance include an Open House at 9:30 a.m. on Thurs. Jan. 26 for any parents who have new students in-boundary who will attend Stoddert, and those who will apply for admission through the out-of-boundary process that runs throughout the month of February.   We have many who would like to join us for quality instruction. On January 27^th, our top spellers will compete in the school Spelling Bee to see who will represent Stoddert at the next level of competition.  We are fortunate to have many talented spellers.

As we march along through January and into February, please know that every day of instruction matters for every student.  Please strive to have your child(ren) come to school each day that they are healthy and arrive on time.  Teachers set the tone of the day right from the beginning, and students who are not there lose out on the natural cohesion of the class and the start of the day.  Thanks for all you do to ensure that all of us, in our roles, do the very best we can for our Stoddert Wolves every single day!  If you need me, please email at marjorie.cuthbert@dc.gov or call for an appointment at 202.671.6030.