Another interesting enrollment tidbit from from the Superintendent’s letter to the School Board prior to next week’s meeting…

We continue to see greater enrollment on the south side and will need to open another Kindergarten class at Winnona Park. That site will allow us to add this class. As has been our practice for many years, as we see openings in various classes, we place newer enrollees at these sites. Glennwood will be our smallest K-3 next year. Any new tuition students will be first placed at Glennwood. As I have said at many many previous meetings, just as a way of planning, we will retain portables until after Labor Day so that we can be sure they are not needed.

Who are the Winnona Park Elementary “Green Captains”?  They are 16 third graders who “helped the school ‘Go Green’ throughout this [past school] year”!  As a final project, they’ve written an open letter to Decatur Metro readers.  Here it is in full.  Great job Green Captains!

We are the Green Captains at Winnona Park Elementary in Ms. Sisler’s third grade class.

Do you know what goes in the recycling bin and what doesn’t? Styrofoam, plate glass, and certain numbers of plastics (according to the county) DON’T go in the recycling bin. [editors note: In the city of Decatur, almost all plastics can be recycled!] Newspapers, aluminum cans, plastic bottles, and cardboard DO go in the recycling bin.

How can you help the environment – by buying organic foods! Organic foods are better than conventional foods because they don’t use pesticides. Pesticides kill pests. But they also kill other animals besides pests such as birds. They also may harm humans. Conventional farmers plant GMO’s (genetically modified organisms/foods). They are so new, we don’t know if they are good. Organic farmers don’t use any of these.

How do you make compost? The first important thing you do to make a worm compost is to buy a worm apartment or bin and worms, or you can dig worms from the ground. Red wigglers make the best worms for composting. The next important thing you can do is fill your bin or apartment with soil. The last thing you can do is put any food scraps except orange peels, dry veggies, dairy or meat. Another idea is you could install more composting bins so that our community will compost more food scraps and yard waste like grass clippings and leaves.

Thank you for understanding our feelings for making the world go green.

Ms. Sisler’s third grade Green Captains

CSD’s Bruce Roaden forwards the announcement…

Winnona Park Elementary School Awarded Platinum Award for the Greatest Gains in CRCT Scores

The Georgia Department of Education and the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement recognized Winnona Park Elementary School as being one of 46 Georgia schools whose students made the most gains on their CRCT scores from the 2008-2009 school year to the 2009-2010 school year.

In order to qualify for the Platinum Award (the highest honor given) for greatest gains, Winnona Park met Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) three years in a row, had more than 35% of students exceeded standards, and was in the 98th percentile of Georgia schools that made the greatest gains in the meets and exceeds levels in the CRCT.

It’s so random when Decatur pops up in the national media spotlight.

Laura points out that Winnona Park Elementary School book fair organizer Ilene Zeff is quoted in the currently most popular article on the New York Times’ website about the recent decline in picture book sales across the country.

Still, many children are getting the message [that their parents wanted them to read chapter books instead of picture books]. At Winnona Park Elementary School in Decatur, Ga., a recent book fair was dominated by chapter books, said Ilene Zeff, who organized the fair.

“I’ve been getting fewer and fewer picture books because they just don’t sell,” Ms. Zeff said. “By first grade, when the kids go to pick out their books, they ask where the chapter books are. They’re just drawn to them.”

It’s also weird that I started reading this article a couple hours ago, thinking I might post it for general conversation, but then abandoned it in a moment of distraction.

Anyway, I yield to Dave (of Little Shop fame) as to whether there’s merit to the premise of the article.  I just thought the Decatur reference was cool.

A concerned parent writes in about a new experimental program at Winnona Park Elementary aimed at eliminating student “snacking” during the school day.  The parent wonders “How does one determine just plain old hungry vs. really hungry anyway?”

From the August 5th Winnona Park newsletter…

Snacks- Winnona Park is experimenting with eliminating snacks during the school day. Students who eat a substantial breakfast will consume an adequate number of calories to sustain them until lunchtime. And students that eat a complete lunch should be OK until dismissal. We expect to see an increase in consumption of food at lunchtime, which will reduce the amount of food wasted daily. As needed, healthy snacks will be available, if a student is really hungry.

However, after speaking to a couple of teachers in each grade level kids don’t seem to miss the snacks. Other than a few kids asking, “Hey, when’s lunch?” the students don’t seem to miss snacks at all.

Michele writes in…

The Winnona Park Elementary School Online Auction is now LIVE and ready to receive your bids! Bidding will close Wednesday, April 21.

Go to http://tinyurl.com/wpauction . Select “Catalog” and enter Password WILDCATS2010 — It is case-sensitive.

There are all sort of deals on restaurants, products, art, trips, entertainment, etc.

Thanks for supporting our wonderful school.

Michele sends along the info for this year’s Winnona Park Elementary Online Auction and Fundraiser Raffle…

For the past several years, Decatur City School’s Winnona Park Elementary has held an auction in the spring to raise funds for the school. This year, the school will host an online auction and raffle. Both are open to the public.

The online auction component has dozens of items available for bidding, and will be open April 14 – 21. The public is invited to browse the auction site now and to bid after April 14, on some great donations from local businesses: trips, entertainment, classes, camps, restaurant vouchers and other items solicited from the Decatur/Atlanta area. Included are gift certificates from the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, The High Museum of Art, Winspire Travel, The Center for Puppetry Arts, Elite Island Resorts, Dynamo Swim Club, Cakes & Ale, Wahoo!, Little Shop of Stories, Eddie’s Attic, and Decatur/DeKalb YMCA, Holiday Inn Decatur, Squash Blossom, Decatur Music Center, and much, much more.

To view the auction go to http://tinyurl.com/wpauction, enter the auction password WILDCATS2010 and register.

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