September, 2009
Issue 1
The Lion's Pride
Forest Heights Academy of Excellence
From the Principal
Excellence is the Expectation! The overwhelming attendance at our annual “Meet the Teacher Day” and “Open House” is evidence of your commitment, support and expectations for your child's education. The administration, teachers and students are actively engaged in our first nine weeks of school. In an effort to ensure students receive the maximum time on task, students should be on time for school each day and all day. It is very important that student homework and bi-weekly work packets are examined by parents on a regular basis.
Ms. Varmall, Principal
Important Dates
to Remember
September 9 Work Packets &
Progress Reports
September 11 Cherrydale Candy Sale
Kick-Off
September 16 12:30 Early Dismissal/
Staff Development
September 23 Work Packets
October 2 9:00 Kindergarten-
Sharing Session
12:00 First Grade
Sharing Session
October 5-9 Literacy Week/Book Fair
October 17 10:00-3:00 Magnet Mania
(Cortana Mall)
October 20 Forest Heights Magnet
Open House
Drop Off/Pick Up
Student drop off time is from 8:00--8:25 AM. Students arriving after this time are marked tardy and parents MUST sign them in at the office.
Dismissal is at 3:25 PM. NO check outs after 2:45 PM
Easy $$$$$
for our School
Help us earn money to purchase materials and equipment for our school. Please cut, save and send all Community Coffee and Box Top for Education barcode labels to your child's teacher. Classes that collect the most labels receive special school rewards. Ask neighbors and family members to save labels for you, and consider organizing label drives with your church or community group. The extra money for our school really makes a difference!
Thanks &
Keep them coming!
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Attention Exxon Employees
Did you know that employees and family members of Exxon Mobil can earn $$$ for our school? If you or someone in your family works for Exxon, then volunteering for our school can also earn cash for school improvements.
A proud supporter of education in our community, Exxon donates money to Forest Heights every time one of its employees or family members provides twenty hours of volunteer service to our school. This is a great opportunity for you to become more involved with us, while earning valuable financial support for our school!
Call the school office to find out more about earning dollars for your child's school.
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Accelerated Reader
Program
Students in grades 2-5 will be using the online Accelerated Reader Program provided by Renaissance Learning. This program offers thousands of tests that assist students in reading comprehension and vocabulary skills. Students will also be able to take a test on the selection they are reading in their classroom text. Parents are encouraged to monitor their child's progress through the Home Connection Program of Renaissance Learning. Each 2nd through 5th grader will be bringing home a letter explaining this new program. The letter will include your student's log-on information, so parents can access the program from home.
*****************************************Improvements
In Technology
Mrs. Shelia Johnson (5th Grade) and I attended the National Educating Computing Conference this summer in Washington, D.C. We were amazed at the variety of technology other elementary students around the country are exposed to in the classroom. Inspired by what we saw, Forest Heights Academy will focus attention this year on improving the technology available to teachers and students here at school.
If you or your company is willing to help us bring new and exciting technology to our campus, please contact the school for information on ways you can help.
Think Positive at Forest Heights
Forest Heights has adopted the Positive Behavior Support system where good behavior is rewarded often, encouraging those with inappropriate behavior to make better choices.
Good behavior is rewarded with a ticket called Lion Loot. When a child is caught displaying the school's expectations they are given a ticket and a reward. At the end of each week the teacher pulls a ticket from the class container and that student receives a certificate and another reward. The teacher keeps a running tally of each student's tickets and at the end of the month the students that fall within the range of 15-20 tickets receive a very special treat.
We have already seen some good results and I am confident that we will continue to see even more.
Thank You for all your support!
Ms. Bonadona-TOR Moderator
Special Thanks
A special thank you to the Forest Heights Security Dads for all their help and support as we get the school year underway!
Grade Level
News
Pre-K
This month has been an exciting experience for our pre - kindergarteners. They have jumped over a milestone already getting to know their teachers and classmates, and learning their way around in the school. They have begun to settle and do their routines. They have started to gain more understanding of rules and to make good choices in and out of the classroom.
On Thursday, September 3, 2009, our pre-kindergarteners had their vision and screening checked by our nursing staff.
Please mark your calendar, September 16, Early Dismissal. We will be holding our first parent involvement day. Your child's teacher will send an invitation to you regarding the time. We encourage you to join our pre-kindergarteners and teachers to learn new things with them.
Kindergarten
In kindergarten we are busy making new friends. We are learning how to follow rules and procedures in the classroom, hallway, bathroom, and cafeteria.
We are enjoying our art classes. The children are engaged in music, dance, art, P.E., and drama. In class, we are learning how to listen and follow directions. We listen to poems and stories and respond to the story by drawing a picture. In math we are exploring shapes and sorting by size, color, and shape.
We would like to show appreciation to our parents for showing so much support to the classroom teacher. Thank you for the healthy snacks you are sending and for helping your child each night with their homework.
We are seeing great results from you and your child's efforts!
First Grade
First Graders have gotten off to a great start. We have been busy reviewing letters and sounds in reading. We have also been learning new vocabulary words and story sequence. Math has been filled with learning about patterns, numbers and graphs. We have made bar graphs, t-charts and Venn diagrams. It has been fun analyzing the graphs to see what information they provided and the information they did not provide.
We have been learning about school rules in Social Studies. We have also been learning about goods and services, consumers, jobs and the reason different people have different jobs.
It was fun interviewing our parents about their jobs!
Second Grade
Our second graders are off to a great start! We would like to thank all of the parents who attended our open house on August 26th. We have begun our first reading unit and we are working on analyzing stories, beginning, middle, and end, and main idea and details.
In math we are working on ordering and comparing numbers, interpreting and creating graphs, and adding and subtracting to 18. In social studies we have been discussing our community, good citizenship, and the history of our community. As a project this month the students are to create a timeline of their life. We also will begin our first science unit this month on weather.
We are looking forward to our upcoming field trip on October 23rd to the Louisiana Arts and Science Museum. Please send in your child's deposit of $9.00 by Friday, September 11th. Also if you have not done so already, please send your child's supply and arts fee of $20.00 to school as soon as possible.
Third Grade
A new year is underway in third grade! Our classes are enjoying working together as a team as we build on our classroom success. Routines and procedures are becoming a more natural part of our day, which helps our school day go by smoothly and provides us with more learning time. We are very excited about what is going on in our classrooms and eager to share them with everyone. We are exploring different genres of literature and improving our skills in writing through our new writing program, “Write from the Beginning.” Our number sense is strengthened each day as we explore place value and addition and subtraction strategies.
Thank you so much to the parents that have turned in supply money! It is most appreciated! If you have not turned in the supply fee, please be sure to do so as quickly as possible. We have so many exciting things planned for the year, and we would not be able to do them without you! Thanks again!
Fourth Grade
We are already learning so much this year. Your child has been exposed to a variety of activities that have stimulated their education. We are currently working on exciting units of the curriculum and your child is being challenged daily. Please help to keep your child focused and excited about learning. We need them here every day and prepared for excitement during learning.
We truly have an exceptional group of fourth graders this year. Stay tuned for more information regarding your child and their education. Please remember to communicate with your child and stay abreast of their education. Thanks for all that you do.
Fifth Grade
Welcome to Fifth grade! The first unit in reading talks about CHALLENGES. It is indeed a challenge to be the senior students in the school this year. There are lots of expectations on you as role models to the lower grades. The reading selections in this unit will give you insights on how to deal with the challenging situations boys and girls like you may encounter in school. As you study the elements of a short story, you can relate the different events in the plot to your daily life as a student. And just like the events in a plot, your story should have a happy ending or conclusion. As Sage puts it, There's gold in every mistake. The first time may not always be perfect, but everyday perfection and excellence should be your goal. Carry on fifth graders! We still have a long journey ahead of us. Good luck to you all!-Ms. Pitre
Welcome, new 5th graders! Summer is over, and we are off and running into a new school year. As you begin this school year, you will notice differences from 4th grade. Our hopes are to prepare you for Middle School. Listen carefully and be sure to keep your write down all assignments, so you and your parents will know about upcoming events and deadlines. This year promises to be a busy and rewarding one. Fifth graders will spend time this year learning about early American history, exploring a variety of new math concepts, and enjoying many selections of literature. We look forward to many exciting lessons (thanks in part to the new Active Boards in each classroom). Thanks for a great start to a fantastic fifth grade year. -Ms. Asa
In math students have been learning about each other through measurement and graphing activities. This month, we will focus on factors and multiples of numbers along with multiplication and division strategies. The current science unit is Earth and Space Science, which teaches about the Earth and atmosphere, cycles, climates and space. -Ms. Johnson
Art
News
In The Arts
We are very happy to welcome a new Arts faculty member to FHAE this year -
Ms. Elizabeth Foos, our new drama teacher. We are also delighted to have an LSU student teacher, Ms. Melissa Medina, who will be working with Mrs. Chernetz and teaching with the Vocal Music classes this semester. The students have all met them and are very excited to come to the arts each day for an hour. We have many wonderful plans for programs this year and want to help all students discover the knowledge, skills, excitement, and sheer joy of participating in the visual and performing arts.
Fall Production Schedule
October 2, 2009, Fri., at 9:00 am - Kindergarten
October 2, 2009, Fri., at 12:00 pm - 1st Grade
October 7, 2009, Wed., at 2:00 pm - 5th Grade
October 9, 2009, Fri., at 10:00 am - 2nd Grade
October 9, 2009, Fri., at 1:00 pm - 3rd Grade
**Mini-musical: November 12, 2009, Thurs., at 11:00 am - 4th Grade
“Poetry Coffee House”
Visual Art
Move Over Famous Artists! Forest Heights artists are taking over the spotlight! Anyone can view the school gallery online at: www.artsonia.com/schools/forest25. Family and friends can browse the artwork in our school gallery by grade level, or by exhibits. I encourage you to join your child's fan club and make comments on their artwork. This is a great way for families to encourage creativity and imagination in our young artists. You can also purchase keepsakes imprinted with the child's artwork, with Artsonia donating 15% of their annual product revenue back to school art programs. -Mrs. Lauren Haddox, Art Specialist
Art Clubs
Performing Art Groups are now being formed. Grades, behavior, and performance are all considered. You will receive a letter before Friday, September 11, 2009 informing you of the specific club(s) for which you have been selected and the club meeting days. All Performing Art Groups will begin meeting Monday, September 14, 2009 from 8:05 - 8:45 am. Please arrive by 8:00 am on your club days. The Performing Art Group Schedule is as follows:
Monday Tuesday Thursday
Choir Art Club Choir
Honor String Drama Club Dance Ensemble
Orchestra Honor Piano Honor Band
Orff Ensemble
Vocal/General
Music
Thank you to all those who came by to visit at Open House! A special thanks to those parents who signed up to volunteer for our Fall Arts Festival, Friday, Oct. 30, 2009!
Our music classes are going great! We are learning routines for coming in and leaving the music room moving and listening to music. All students are learning the correct way to play Orff and percussion instruments and developing their singing skills. Ms. Medina has presented name games with all classes and will be teaching classes soon. We are so excited to have her with the FHAE students and faculty this semester.
A number of our students auditioned and were selected to participate in the East Baton Rouge Parish Junior Chorus. The students chosen are Taylor Brock, Nadia Johnson, Grace MacQueen, Jennie MacQueen, and Kenysia Wynn. Congratulations! We are very proud of these students and we look forward to hearing them sing in their December, 2009 and May, 2010 concerts! Look for concert information in future newsletters. -Mrs. Chernetz, Choral Music Specialist
Drama
Congratulations to those students who auditioned for The Wiz last month at the Independence Park Theatre, as well as those students who auditioned for Playmakers' The Hobbit.
Performances of both productions are this fall and open to the public. Check with the theatres or stay tuned to next month's newsletter for show dates.
Talented Art
This nine weeks in Talented Art we are exploring the cosmos and creating our own using value and shading.
Talented Drama
This nine weeks we are working on expression and production building. Students are partnering to work on scenes, while others are working on monologues for use in future auditions.
