FORT ZUMWALT SCHOOL DISTRICT DARDENNE ELEMENTARY The Knight Line

Dr. Jill Hutcheson Principal

Ph: 636-978-4001 December 2011 Dear Parents: In December our faculty and students will be participating in a Giving Tree program to support a local charity providing assistance to those who are less fortunate. Any student can participate in this program by returning a permission slip to Mrs. Mills. They will then be able to select an ornament from the Giving Tree. Families are asked to purchase and wrap the item taken from the tree and return it to school with the ornament attached. The wrapped gifts will be picked up prior to the holidays and donated to St. Joaquim and Ann for distribution to local families. During the busy days of late November and December, it is easy to forget about the happy memories you and your family are creating together. I have included a poem entitled December Days are Short written by Jack Prelutsky. I hope it reminds you of the fun that comes along with winter and the holidays. It really gives a childs perspective of winter time fun and reminds us all to make time to enjoy! Happy Holidays from the faculty and staff at Dardenne Elementary School! Best Wishes!

Dr. Bernard J. DuBray Superintendent

www.fz.k12.mo.us

December Days Are Short

December days are short, and so theres not much time to play, the fun has hardly started when the sun has gone away. Today, right after breakfast, while the sky was growing light, I ran to meet my friends outside and have a snowball fight. We began to build a fortress then raced our wooden sleds, we belly-whopped and spun like tops and tumbled on our heads. We stopped for lunch, then once again threw snowballs for awhile, we made a giant snowman with a really silly smile. We fed some hungry pigeons and went sliding on the ice, my mother brought some cake for us, a dog ate half my slice. We made another snowman and we finished off our fort, then suddenly, the sun went down... December days are short. Jack Prelutsky

Jill Hutcheson Principal

Feast day is coming

OUR HOLIDAY FEAST WILL BE WEDNESDAY, DEC. 14, 2011.

RESERVATIONS ALONG WITH PAYMENT ARE REQUIRED IN ADVANCE. PLEASE LET US KNOW IF YOU WILL BE ATTENDING BY FILLING OUT THE FORM BELOW AND RETURN IT WITH YOUR PAYMENT. ALL RESERVATIONS MUST BE MADE BY FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2011. THANK YOU.

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Name of student______________________________Teacher___________________ Number of guests: Adults @ $2.65 each ___________ Children@ $2.00 each ____________ Total amount included for all guests $_____________ (Dardenne students should not be included in this reservation as they will select their lunch choice in their room as usual.) If you have questions please call the school office at 9784001. Thank you.

PARENT INFORMATION Just out- the provisions of the Free/Reduced side of the office is an information rack lunch program. All students are for parents. Please feel free to take any charged if they select a second flyers, brochures and pamphlets that drink. If you do not want your child you find there. This month you will find to participate in this option, please information about a variety of Youth Programs, DES activities, The Decem- contact Donna Waldron, our cashier, ber Knight Line, a current school menu in writing to ask that your child not and PTC information along with Ft. be allowed to incur the expense of a Zumwalt School District information. second drink at lunch. Papa JOHNS PIZZA - When you are hungry for pizza on the third Tuesday of every month, make sure to order from Papa Johns and mention Dardenne Elementary. Dardenne will receive a portion of your total purchase to support student activities. PARENTS RIGHT TO KNOW As a parent of a student at Dardenne Elementary you have the right to know the professional qualifications of the classroom teachers who instruct your child. If you would like to receive this information, please call Dr. Hutcheson at 9784001.

SAFETY DRILLS - Students at Dardenne practice a variety of safety drills throughout the school year. These drills include fire, tornado and earthquake drills as well as how to respond to an unexpected intruder in the building. Ask your child what he/she is to do when any of these situations occur while they are at school.

DECEMBER FEAST - If you missed the Thanksgiving feast and you would like to join your child for lunch on December 14th, please call the office and make arrangements to pay in advance and let us know that you will be coming. As you know seating is limited and we will want to set up extra tables if needed. The office number is 978-4001, please call as soon as possible so that you can enjoy this opDRINKS AT LUNCH - Students can portunity to join your select milk, water or juice for a sechild for lunch.

cond beverage at lunch. The cost is .50 cents to everyone. These second drinks are not covered under

LOST AND FOUND - Our lost and found containers are overflowing again! If your child is missing a hat, coat, pillow, lunch box or shoes, please check out our lost and found barrels which are located at the top of our ramp. It would be helpful if you could put your childs name on all of his/her belongings so that we can return missing items more easily.

doing this for the St. Louis Caroling organization as volunteer community outreach. We will share our winter songs along with traditional carols. Dardenne families are welcome to take a stroll through The Meadows with us that afternoon! Thursday, December 22nd our Dardenne Singers will perform along with the faculty, students and staff at the Winter Sing-Along.

JOB FAIR - The Fort Zumwalt School COATS AND JACKETS - Please help District is sponsoring a job fair on Saturday, Feb. 11th. From 7:00 - 10:00. your child dress appropriately for the Participants will be interviewed briefly weather. We will be going outside alby a Fort Zumwalt building administramost every day for recess unless it is tor. For more information, please see raining or snowing. Children need an the attached flyer or contact any buildopportunity to run and play but when ing administrator. they are not dressed for the weather they cant enjoy their time outside. MOSAICS MENTOR ME 2011 - The MUSIC - Our Second Grade Musical will be held at WHS on Friday, December 9th. The performance will begin at 7:00 p.m. Even if you dont have a second grader in the show, wed love for you to attend our performance. 16th Annual exhibition of art created by teachers and students from area schools was held at the Foundry Art Center from Sept. 17th Oct. 23rd. Artwork from several DES students was on display. Myia McCallister, Cora Deverick and Mikalyley Hopkins were presented with recognition letters from the governor. Congratulations to those students and our Art Teacher, Susan Thomas.

The Dardenne Singers will sing at The Meadows in Lake St. Louis on Saturday, December 10th from 2-3. We are

ENTRANCE ONLY - Please be aware that the entrance to our school parking lot is ONE WAY ONLY. Our exit onto Highway K is at the traffic signal. Please do not use the entrance to leave campus. I urge everyone to be safe by using the traffic signal. It can be very dangerous to pull out into the traffic on Highway K. Since our entrance is one-way only, drivers pulling into the entrance of our parking lot are not expecting drivers to meet them coming out. Dont put yourself and your precious cargo in jeopardy by ignoring the signage directing traffic at our entrance. For safety sake use the traffic light as your only exit. STUDY ISLAND - Last month I sent home a letter with every student about using Study Island at home. We have had this web based learning tool for over four years. It has become an important school improvement strategy. I have found that students who use Study Island are making better academic gains than students who do not use this program when MAP scores are used as a crite-

ria for comparison. Please urge your child to use this resource at home as part of their routine. This is one way that parents can easily promote academic improvement in a fun and engaging way. Students enjoy using Study Island at school while they reinforce the skills that have been taught at school. In addition, they can also preview skills that havent been taught and get a head start on their classmates. Using Study Island is a win-win proposition for everyone. Students learn and grow, parents can be involved and help their children learn and have fun at the same time. Our PTC purchased the latest subscription renewal for Study Island so you can be assured that your child will have access to this resource through the remainder of 2011-12. Your child has access to Study Island resources at any computer that has Internet capabilities. That means if you are taking a trip over the holidays, he or she can use it at Grandmas house, at home, at the library, or at the beach! Why not encourage learning while your child plays interactive games that are fun and challenging? STUDENT COUNCIL - STUCO will support the Salvation Army Bell Ringing project on Saturday, 12/3/11 at Dierbergs (K and N) from 10:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. Thank you to this group for volunteering and sponsors, Mrs. Hall and Mrs. Patchin.

DARDENNE SPELLING BEE PARTICIPANTS 2011-2012

FOURTH GRADE HEIZMANN 1. Joshua Eggert 2. Ava Overman Ryan Staples/Alternate ERMELING 1. Emma Cadwell 2. Myia McAllister Delany Shuffett/Alternate 1. 2. 1. 2. FIFTH GRADE THOMPSON Ally McLaughlin Jr. Mack Jordan Sanchez/Alternate PATTON Brendan Douglas Brenden Davis Kavya Alagendran/Alternate BURKE 1. 2. TURNER 1. Dylan Bennett 2. Lupita Alonso Brandon McCutchen/Alternate 1. 2. Courtney Schif Brandon Analla Anna Chen/Alternate SCHWARTZ Zeke Emerick Dakota House Jordan Sutherland/Alternate

December 2011