Staff Appreciation Week Festivities 2012

It’s that time of year again! May 7 through May 11 is National Staff Appreciation Week! And in keeping with tradition here at Newcastle, we will celebrate our fabulous staff with a fun-filled week, including:

Monday May 7th – Breakfast Buffet: The PTSA will be hosting a breakfast buffet of Top Pot Donuts, fruit, juice and coffee in the staff lounge.
Tuesday May 8th - Luncheon: The Kindergarten and First Grade families will be hosting our third and final Staff luncheon with a Fiesta/Cinco de Mayo Lunch for the staff! Yummy!
Wednesday May 9th - Thank You Notes Day for Specialists and Teachers: Students are asked to pick a staff or specialist to write a thank you to, as well as a special note to their teacher! Also, Jamba Juice will treat our amazing staff to yummy smoothies!
Thursday May 10th – The PTSA will be providing Movie Ticket Bouquets!
Friday May 11th - Staff Car Wash and Cupcakes: The PTSA will be organizing the car wash and hosting a Cupcake Royale treat to round out our week!

How can you help?
Mexican Themed Luncheon- The Kindergarten and First grade families will be asked through their room parents to provide this lunch.

Thank You Notes Day- We are hoping students will take a moment to recognize a couple of individuals at Newcastle who contribute to student’s school day. (Teacher, P.E. teacher, librarian, music teachers, teachers aides, Office staff, lunch staff etc!) They can be thanked with a handwritten note, drawing, flower or treat!

Car Wash- Volunteers will be washing cars of every staff person! If you could help out on Friday, please contact Lani Pedersen. The more hands the better!

Thank you for your help in showing our teachers and staff how much they are appreciated by our community.

Natalie Roberts
Staff Appreciation chairperson

This message was brought to you by the Newcastle PTSA Staff Appreciation Committee

Auction Kick-Off

Please join us for an evening of auction fun! Whether you simply want to learn more about the auction, are interested in being part of it, or are already actively involved, there are three great reasons for you to attend this night out:

• Meet our fabulous auctioneer, April Brown. She will be on hand to share tips for creating a successful auction.
• Find out what our auction theme will be!
• A chance to win prizes, including an item, which will be auctioned off that night.
• Sample our special auction cocktail (oops, make that 4 great reasons to attend!)

When: Monday, May 14th at 7:00pm
Where: Kelly Hay's home in the Reserve (see evite for address)
RSVP: Georgia Forchuk or watch for the Evite

Feel free to bring a bottle of wine or light appetizer / snack to share (completely optional). Wine not used that evening will be donated to the auction (a great way to start building the premium wine table inventory!). We hope to see you there!

Lego Spring Session

Calling all junior engineers! There are still a few openings for the Lego spring session. Click here for more information.

Spring Food Drive

The Newcastle Elementary PTSA is sponsoring a Spring Food Drive through March 28 to benefit the students at Tiger Mountain Community High School. Tiger Mountain Community High School is the only alternative high school in our school district. Many of the students there receive their only meals of the day at school and struggle without the basic necessities of life at home. The donations we collect will be given to the administrators at the high school to be distributed to the students as needed. Suggested donations include: granola bars, cup-a-soup (and similar small, portable food), pasta sauce, spaghetti and other pasta, cold cereals, pancake mix (small sizes, please), flour, sugar and brown sugar (small sizes, please), socks for both boys and girls, yarn and personal hygiene items for both boys and girls. Donation bins will be located upstairs and downstairs at Newcastle Elementary. Mrs. Newton has promised that if we collect at least four full bins of food, then she will read a book from the school's roof and Mr. Miller has promised that during one week each class can choose their PE activity! Let's all work together to help students who really need it. If you have any questions, please contact Kara Beal or 425-793-9708.

MaryArt

It is time to sign up for the Spring Session of the MaryArt guided drawing art lessons at Newcastle Elementary School. There are still a few spots open, so if you would like to participate, please contact Mary Watson or click on Programs to find the link to MaryArt.

Science Fair

The science fair is fast approaching – May 11 from 6-8 pm. Students will be bringing home logistical information at the end of this week via Kid Mail. This e-mail highlights a few important details.

First, please ensure that your scientist takes his/her project to school on Wednesday, May 9, Thursday, May 10, or Friday, May 11 during regular school hours. Please note: Students are NOT allowed to transport their tri-folds and projects on the bus. If you need to deliver the science project after school has started for the day, please take it to office and they will ensure it gets to the appropriate classroom. Teachers have graciously agreed to store the projects in their classrooms until the science fair. Volunteers will be setting up the science fair projects starting immediately after school on Friday, so we will need all projects ready to go by 3:40 pm on May 11.

Second, please make sure that your scientist’s tri-fold includes his/her name, teacher and grade level.

Third, go to our Science Web page to view the checklist for student projects. Scientists from the community will be using this checklist to help in providing feedback to students at the event.

Finally, student scientists will be asked to stand by their projects for a specified period during the science fair to answer questions from the judges and others at the science fair. Everyone will also have an opportunity to view projects created by other students.

I am looking forward to seeing everyone’s projects! If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

Danielle Dixon
Science Fair Chair
206/353-0610

Parenting and Technology: Internet Safety Class - March 27, 2012 at 7 PM in the Newcastle Commons

Given easy access to computers and cell phones, our children have become very tech savvy and have access to content that is not always appropriate. As parents, we are concerned about their safety and the balance between cyber space and interpersonal skills. Most of us agree on these points. The “how to manage it?” is the hard part!

At the invitation of the Newcastle PTSA, Ken Wong will address both topics on Tuesday, March 27th at 7 pm in the Newcastle Commons. Mr. Wong has over 20 years of experience as an Eastside educator, consultant, counselor and community leader. Community education and parent support are his areas of expertise.

If you have any questions, please contact Kris Blik or 425-226-3594 or Elizabeth Ury or 425-572-6626.

ISD Bond Initiative

Newcastle Elementary PTSA endorses the ISD Bond Initiative! To learn more about the $219 million package on the April 17 mail-in ballot, please click here

Parents Night Out!

Hey parents… Do you need a night out? Lake Heights YMCA would like to help you take some time out for yourself. We are hosting our annual Parent’s Night Out series from 6:00-10:00pm on the following dates:

February 10; March 2; March 9

Our experienced and knowledgeable staff will be providing dinner, a movie, and arts and crafts activities all night. The cost is $25 per child, or $40 for up to two siblings. If you would like to take advantage of this opportunity, please call Nicole Andes at 206-276-0095, or email at nandes@seattleymca.org. Registration is required at least two days prior to the night you would like to attend. This event is open to the public for children ages 5-12 years old.

The Lake Heights Y preschool department will also be hosting Parents Night Out on February 10 for children ages 12 months-4 years old. For further information on that, please contact Angie Gould.

All proceeds for these events will be going to the YMCA’s annual Partners With Youth fundraising campaign.

Calling All Cooks!!!

As many of you know, our beloved Mrs. Tinnea is undergoing chemotherapy and continues to do really well. One way we can show our love and support to her and her family is to help prepare meals for them. It is one less thing to worry about after a long day. If you would like to share a meal with Mrs. Tinnea's family, simply log on to http and sign up for which date you would like.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Allison Flash

Eat out and support our 5th graders!

Tired of the cold and rain? Need a break from the kitchen for a while? Want something to look forward to? We have the perfect day planned for you! Take a break from cooking on Tuesday, January 31 and eat lunch and/or dinner at Amante’s! Mention that you’re from Newcastle Elementary and 10% of your purchase will go to our 5th graders to help make their trip to Camp Warm Beach a little easier on their parents’ wallets!

Amante’s Pizza and Pasta
4201 Sunset Blvd. NE, Renton 98059
425/271-8985

Golden Acorn Volunteers Needed

We are trying to find 2 more people to join Lisa Vold on this year's Golden Acorn/Awards committee. The job involves collecting nominations, then spending an afternoon or evening as a group working through everything with the rubric we will provide, then ordering certificates and letting the winners know. Pretty simple, yet incredibly important and valuable. Please email Lisa is you would like to join her or if you have any questions - lisalvold@yahoo.com

Box Tops Contest until January 27th! Winning class gets a Pizza Party!

This month until Friday, January 27th, we are having our Box Top contest. The classroom with largest collections will be rewarded with a Pizza Party! The second place class will receive a Smoothie Party. So clip and save to help our school earn cash! Each box top is worth $ .10 and last year we earned over $1000.

Look for Box Tops on General Mills cereal, Betty Crocker desserts, Nestle juices, Green Giant frozen vegetables, Totino’s Pizza, Hamburger Helper, Old El Paso products, Progresso soups, Pillsbury breads and rolls, Yoplait yogurt, Nature Valley granola bars, Welch’s jelly, Huggies diapers, Pull-Ups, Avery office supplies, Ziplock bags, Cottonelle bath tissue, Kleenex, Scott paper products, Hefty garbage bags, and more.

We will also collect Labels For Education, but they will not count for the contest. Each label is worth 1-10 points that can be used for athletic equipment or academic resources. Last year we collected over 12,000 points. We must have both the Labels for Education logo and UPC code to receive credit.

Look for Labels for Education on Campbell’s soups, Pepperidge Farm snacks, Prego sauces, SpaghettiOs, Swanson broth, Pop Secret popcorn, Wolfgang Puck soups, BIC stationary products, and more. You can also collect caps from V8 juices.

Clip those Box Tops and send them in with your child to his/her classroom. There will be a collection bag in each classroom. Please don’t drop them off in the container at the front of the school or your child’s classroom may not receive credit.

Thank you for your help and enthusiasm for this simple yet productive fundraiser!

Questions? Contact Susan Crow or Landy Bowers

Wanted...Used Books

The Spring Used Book Fair (SUB) is just around the corner, so while you are doing your post-holiday cleanup and gearing-up on spring cleaning around the house, please review your book inventory to see what books your kids have outgrown that could be donated to our school book fair. If you want to place them in a bag and label it “donation” they can be dropped at the PTSA office. We always have a need for books appropriate for the 4th and 5th graders (as most books donated are for 4-9 year olds) so remember to ask your neighborhood friends with middle schoolers for any book donations they may ready to depart with.

SUB will be held in March and each book will be available for purchase for just $1/each! Proceeds go to PTSA and ultimately to the needs of our wonderful school!

Thank you, in advance, for your generosity and support!

Yearbook Chair Needed

Two lovely volunteers, Heidi Campher and Lisa Crutchfield, are working tirelessly to create a memorable 2011/2012 yearbook for our students. While these ladies focus on design and layout, we need volunteers to help coordinate sales and distribution. Sales will occur in February; this includes coordinating orders and payments. Distribution will occur in June. Please contact Meri Hartman if you can help. Thanks!

Announcing our Newcastle Elementary Geography Bee Finalists!

A big congratulations to fourth and fifth graders: Tristan B, Joey E, Dillion G, David H, Nathan J, Trisha J, Olivia L, Toshin R, Jacob R, Tommy T, Bridget U, Brooke U, Andre W, and Colby V who have qualified to participate in our school geography bee on Friday, January 13th at 1:45pm in the Commons! In addition to classmates who will be in the audience to support them, family members of those listed above are also welcome to attend to show their support for our school finalists. The former mayor of Newcastle, John D. Dulcich, will also be in attendance to help judge the bee and show his support for all of our talented finalists!

Are you wondering if our school winner on January 13th will have the chance to compete again after winning the school bee? They just might! Since our school geography bee is a part of the National Geographic Bee, the winner of the school bee will have the chance to take a written test to qualify for the state bee. The top 100 students in the state (selected based on qualifying test scores) qualify to represent their schools and compete at the state level. State winners are then invited to the National Geographic headquarters in late May to compete in the national finals for scholarships in the amount of $25,000, $15,000 and $10,000. We are so proud of all of our finalists and wish them the best of luck!

Polar Express Drive - Wish List available now

The Polar Express 2011 Gift Drive is underway!

Please click here to see the wish list for the eight adoptive families that Newcastle Elementary is helping out this year. Gift cards from Safeway, Fred Meyer and for gas would be greatly appreciated by these families.
All unwrapped donations and gifts are due to the school office by December 9th.
If you have any questions, please contact Terri Catalani

Thank you for your kindness and generosity!

Washington State is at risk of a midyear funding cut that will greatly impact public education

Washington State is at risk of a midyear funding cut that will greatly impact public education. We need to contact our local legislators to encourage them to fully fund public education. Budget decisions will be made during the Special Session that begins on November 28, 2011 and many of these decisions could take effect immediately. The following proposed budget cuts will impact our school district:

Loss of $2.4 million for class size funding causing local class sizes to increase
Loss of State funding for Kindergarten and early childhood education programs
Loss of one full week of quality instructional time for all students and a loss of $2.2 million in State funding if the school year is shortened by one full week
Loss of State funding for highly capable and honors programs (SAGE, Merlin)
Loss of $400,000 to support National Board certifications
Loss of funding for science, technology and STEM programs
Loss of $3.7 million for bus transportation

You can help support our local schools by contacting your local legislators now and tell them not to cut public school funding. One of the easiest things to do is make the subject heading of your email your wishes. For example, “Please fund the SKILLS Act” or “Don’t cut our school year.” Sometimes they just count the emails in support of or against an issue based on the subject heading.

Go to www.leg.wa.gov/
Click on Find Your Legislator
Enter your street address
Your Senator and 2 Representatives will be listed

Call the Legislative Hotline at 1-800-562-600 and leave a message for your local legislators.

Help us make sure that every student has a quality education!

Register Now for Winter Enrichment Programs

Registration for the Winter sessions of MaryArt and Lego is now underway. MaryArt classes start as early as November 29 and Leap4Kidz is providing early registration savings through November 26. Please click on the links below for program and registration information:
MaryArt
Leap4Kidz Lego
Chess
Please contact Georgia Forchuk or Rachel Handsman with any questions.

Innisbrook Orders are In!

Innisbrook Orders are In! Please pick up your orders from the stage between 3:00-5:00 on Monday (11/7) and Tuesday (11/8). Questions? Contact Michelle Riley

Spirit Wear

We only have one more opportunity to place orders for Spirit Wear! You can go online to Cloud 9 Sports to place your order. Orders must be placed by FRIDAY NOVEMBER 11th and they will be delivered before winter break. Email Jayme Benson with any questions.

Register to Vote

Voter’s registration forms are in the office or:
Register online
King County Elections registration form site has info and forms in various languages.

Food Drive--Huskies v. Cougars

The PTSA's annual food drive begins Nov. 1 and runs through Nov. 18. Collection bins are in the front lobby of the school and at the bottom of the front stairs. Just send food in with your kids and they will know where to take it. If you are a Huskies (University of Washington) fan, then you put your donations in the UW bin. If you are a Cougars (Washington State University) fan, then put your food in the WSU bin. We will announce the school which gathers the most donations at the end of the food drive. All donations will go directly to the Issaquah Food Bank. The food bank is currently in need of all types of perishable items (but not canned pumpkin or canned cranberry). Please visit their webpage, which they update regularly, to see their most pressing needs.
If you have a large donation and you would like someone to pick it up from your house, please contact Kara Beal or 425-241-0400.

Support your team and support the Issaquah Food Bank at the same time! Go Cougars! Go Huskies! Go Newcastle Elementary!

Support our school when you shop at Everything Party!

We recently enrolled Newcastle Elementary in a give-back program with Everything Party at The Landing in Renton. Every time you shop and tell the cashier you are with Newcastle Elementary, 10% of your transaction will be sent to our school. To participate in the program, simply notify the store cashier of our school name at the start of your transaction. Everything Party will automatically track the sales and send a quarterly check to our school!

To kick off the program, Everything Party has also provided a 20% off coupon to each family, which will arrive in kid-mail. The coupon is valid only on merchandise at full price (marked down items do not qualify for further price reductions) from October 13-26th.

If you have questions on the program, please contact Meri Hartman

PTSA needs your help!

The PTSA has a number of programs that do not have Chairpersons in place. Without volunteers like you to support these programs, we may not be able to have them this school year. If you have the ability to give time to the school, your efforts will be greatly appreciated! Please contact Meri Hartman or Cindy Buono to learn more.

Corporate Matching Program: The position researches which Puget Sound companies offer corporate matching programs and provides information back to Newcastle families on how to sign up for the programs to benefit the school. The position runs during the fall and spring at an average of 10 hours per semester.

Spring Used Book Fair: This position oversees procurement and sale of used book donations from Newcastle families for the used book fair held during Read Across America week. The position runs from January through March at an average of 1 - 3 hours per week.

Yearbook Sales: This position coordinates with Dorian Studios, the Yearbook Layout team and Newcastle families to order and distribute yearbooks. Yearbook sales kick off in February and distribution is in June. During these months, the position takes an average of 2-4 hours per week.

Gift-A-Book Update

WOWZA! Thank you so much to everyone who has participated in the 2011 Gift-A-Book campaign! So far 97 new books have been selected by kids for our library! If you are interested in donating a book to the Newcastle Library in your child’s name there is still time. Our campaign runs until Wednesday, November 23rd. You can find the form here. To see the list of requested book titles on the Library Connect site, click here. If your child would like a book title that is not listed, just send in the title of the book and the author and it will be ordered for you.

Many thanks to all who have so generously donated to the Newcastle Library! If you have any questions, please call or email Laura Berry (837-5825 or berryl@issaquah.wednet.edu).

Innisbrook Fundraiser

Congratulations, we passed our $20,000 goal last night! Please keep entering those orders, every fundraising dollar we earn for the school helps the PTSA support programs like science enrichment and education assistants. Please click here to enter your outstanding orders.

To View the Incentive Flyer, click here

Art Docent Volunteers Needed!

We need your help! The Newcastle PTSA is excited to continue its Art Docent Program for the 7th year, but we are missing docents in several classrooms. If your child has either: Ms Andrews, Mrs Reimer, Mrs Generaux, Mrs Keegan, Ms Keller, Mr Neugebauer or Mrs Smith, please consider becoming a docent volunteer. No formal art training is needed. The program provides each docent with art lesson plans and samples of the projects, so the planning is already done for you. There are 6-8 projects over the course of the year and each can be completed in a one hour session. Volunteers get to choose the date and time of the projects so it is easy to work into your own schedule. Volunteering as an art docent is a fun and rewarding way to get involved in your child's classroom. Please consider becoming a docent. For more information please e-mail Rachel Handsman or Heidi Furman.

PTSA Directory Ads

There’s still time to get an ad in this year’s PTSA school directory! This is grassroots marketing at its best, one of the smartest ways to connect to our community. Your ad and listing will help put a “face” to your business as a supporter of our school and what matters most, OUR KIDS! Your name will be at the fingertips of those that want your products and services. You will help our families and staff find what they need, FAST!

It is our goal to provide our families with not only a means to get in touch with each other, but also an efficient way to connect with the wonderful resources within our community. We are striving to be the directory that families go to first! If you would like to have an ad in this year’s directory or if you know of another business that might, please contact Leanne Cole .

Please download and fill out the Order form. Submission instructions can be found on the form.

Volunteers needed for Hearing & Vision Screening and Costume Carnival

On Thursday, October 20th our school nurse will be conducting both vision and hearing testing on every student at Newcastle. We are in need of 20 more volunteers for either morning or afternoon shifts. It is a fun and easy way to volunteer and get to know fellow students.

On Friday night October 28th we will have our fabulous Costume Carnival. We need parent volunteers to help run multiple booths and help the evening run smoothly for the kids.

Please contact Lani Pedersen if you are able to volunteer (425-430-2911)

PTSA Newsletter and Communications Sign-up

Welcome to our new website!
Click here to enter your family's information to be included in the PTSA directory, to get e-communications and much more!

Mochas with Marla

Please join our Principal, Marla Newton for coffee, juice and refreshments in the Commons area after morning drop off on Friday, September 30th. Starting at 9:15am, this is a cordial, informal event for you to ask Marla questions or share what’s on your mind regarding this coming school year. We will be wrapping it up around 10am; don’t miss this opportunity! Sponsored by the Newcastle Elementary PTSA, please contact Event Chair, Monique Bloch at 206.909.8457 if you have any questions.

Show Your Newcastle Lion Pride!

This year we are excited to offer online ordering for Newcastle Spiritwear! Check it out at www.c9sports.com/newcastle and place your orders to show your "Lion Pride". Please place online orders by Monday, September 19 to receive the October 13th delivery!
If you have any questions email us!
Jayme Benson
Kiersten Byus

Innisbrook Gift Wrap Fundraiser

Our school has selected Innisbrook for our fall fundraiser. Please plan to participate and help our school.
Innisbrook Flyer

Our new kindies need your help!

Help our kindergartners first week of school be a great success!

We need help with kindergarteners getting on and off the bus, or at the drop off/pick up circle and at lunchtime! If you are available to help in the morning at drop off/buses, AM kindie pick up, PM kindie drop off, or pick up/buses in the afternoon please let us know!

Contact Rae Miller