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4130 Albemarle St. NW
Washington, DC 20016
202-282-0110
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| Calendar |
Wed, Feb 27
Soup Kitchen
Wed, Feb 27 Janney vs. Layafette Girls Basketball Final, Kelly Miller Middle School
Thurs, Feb 28
School/Library RFP Community Meeting
Fri, Feb 29
NO SCHOOL: Conference Day
Mon, Mar 3
Dr. Seuss/Read Across America Day
Thurs, Mar 6 and Fri, Mar 7
"High School Musical," Deal Middle School
Editors
Gretchen Cheney
Jenny Kletzin DiBiase
Elizabeth Levenson
Karen Mandel Muoio
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A Note from Your PTA Co-Presidents
Dear Janney Community:
Did you see the recent Washington Post article "Parents Rise Up Against a New Approach to Math"? No? Here is the link to the article!
Parents Rise Up Against New Approach to Math
The PTA meeting on Tuesday, March 11 offers a great opportunity to ask questions you might have about how math is taught here at Janney. Our wonderful math specialist, Karen Langford will be presenting and taking questions about everything MATH! The meeting is at 7:15 pm in the all-purpose room on March 11th. Child care is provided, and we hope you come!
Over this year, many people have taken the time to thank us for serving on the PTA. The truth is, we are happy to be able to give back to a terrific school we feel is providing our kids a "private school" education at public school prices! Schools thrive and function best when a community of parents, staff, and teachers support the education of children, both at home and at school. We are lucky to have that community at Janney, but it happens because parents, staff, and teachers spend time making the school environment enriching, safe, respectful, and fun. If you feel, as we do, truly grateful for all the hard work of others on behalf of your kids, please consider giving your most valuable asset, your time, to the Janney Community by volunteering to serve on the PTA next year.
We are currently seeking energetic individuals to help raise the money, plan the PTA budget, and coordinate PTA activities next year. Here's a quick description of the different officer duties. If you are interested in giving some of your time to help Janney next year and would like more information about the many positions we are trying to fill, please e-mail us and let us know.
Presidents: Set and circulate agendas prior to executive board and full PTA meetings, and chair same. Serve as PTA's chief liaison to the principal. Share with VPs responsibility for keeping in contact with and supporting each of the roughly 36 PTA committees.
VPs: Share with Presidents responsibility for keeping in contact with and supporting each of the roughly 36 PTA committees. Lead the PTA's efforts to positively engage with DCPS and the broader community. Volunteer to assume the responsibilities of the President after one year of VP service.
Secretaries: Record, distribute, coordinate, and post official minutes from all executive board and full PTA meetings. Maintain a complete set of minutes and other official documents created or considered by the Executive Board or the full PTA for the Janney PTA archives. Maintain and disseminate an up-to-date calendar of school activities. Disseminate information on key PTA activities and issues prior to and following full PTA meetings.
Treasurers: In consultation with the PTA Executive Board, build a proposed annual budget for the PTA. Working with the PTA bookkeeper and the school business manager, create a monthly summary of the PTA budget, and present and explain that financial statement to the full PTA at its monthly meetings. Advise the PTA Executive Board on pending issues or concerns with the budget, and on the feasibility of proposed new expenditures. Serve as chief spokesman for and expert on the state of the PTA's budget, communicating to the broader PTA membership how its contributions are being used. Manage the receipt of Student Support Fund contributions.
PTA-SIT Liaison: Attend all PTA Executive Board, full PTA, and SIT meetings, in order to ensure that the plans and activities of both boards are mutually known and understood. Provide Executive Board with an update of SIT discussions, plans, and activities at each monthly Executive Board meeting.
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At our meeting on February 19, the SIT discussed budget developments, class configurations, and the city's recent decision to change the rules for a potential development of the Tenley Library/Janney site. We are concerned about the impact of this change, and sent letters expressing these concerns to several DCPS and city officials. A copy of the letter to Eric Scott, who is managing the project for the city, is available at www.janneyschool.org/PTASITPPP/sitlettersppp.htm.
In order to get more feedback from the Janney community, we will distribute questionnaires to parents and teachers after developers unveil their proposals at the meeting on Thursday, February 28 (information on that meeting can be found in the In the Neighborhood section of this newsletter).
-Dan Charles, SIT Chair
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| Dr Seuss' Birthday Celebration
Dr. Seuss's Birthday and Read Across America Celebrations are coming in less than a week to a classroom near you! Get ready to celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday and the joy of reading this Monday, March 3. Please see the flyer in today's Take Home Tuesday for a list of planned activities and further information. Parents interested in volunteering on March 3 --please contact Nicky Goren at ngoren@gmail.com. |
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High Fives to Open House Students & Volunteers
Many thanks to all who participated in our last Open House for this school year. The students represented their school beautifully and a great group of parents helped them out: Valerie Alten, Rennie Anderson, Lauren Case, Jenny Dibiase, Karen Kalat, Sally McClain, Erica Perl, Sczerina Perot, Claudia Piras, Elizabeth Rankin, Dianne Torreson, and Elizabeth Vaden. Kate Laguarda also put out a gorgeous spread of refreshments. We also admire our amazing principal, Scott Cartland, who graciously welcomes all parents into the community and handles every question under the sun!
If you'd like to volunteer to help out with the Open House next year, just e-mail us at spm32@law.georgetown.edu or lsashford@msn.com or mark it on your PTA form. The kids are adorable, and it's easy and fun--no experience required!
-Sharon Masling and Lori Ashford |
Lady Jaguars in City-Wide Basketball Final
On Thursday, February 21, the Janney Jaguars girls' basketball team defeated the team from Brookland Elementary School in the semi-final tournament game. The Lady Jaguars now are headed to the finals for the city-wide championship!
The championship game will be held at Kelly Miller Middle School, 301 49th Street, N.E., at 3:15 pm on Wednesday, February 27. The Lady Jaguars will play the girls' basketball team from Lafayette Elementary (their arch rivals!). The Lady Jaguars were victorious over the Lafayette team last week, but the Lafayette team defeated Janney earlier this season. It should be an exciting game, and all Janney families are welcome to attend and cheer for the Jaguars.
If you are interested in attending but need transportation, please contact Christopher Lyon (363-8349) or Deborah Dupont (W-202-418-7072), who are coordinating carpools. If you want to support the team but cannot attend the game, give a Lady Jaguar a high-five (a high-paw?) and wish the team luck! GO JANNEY!!!
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Counselor's Corner
Career Day
Special thanks to all the parents and community members who participated in Career Day this year. It was an exciting and eventful morning and a wonderful experience for our students. Our participants were Mark Bauman (National Geographic), Michael Brown (DC Shadow Senator), Robert and Beth Burchard (EPA, and yes that was him inside the Garbage Gremlin, above and beyond the call of recycling!), Samantha Crowe (NIH Neuroscientist), Mark Davidson (Foreign Service Officer DoS), Dr. Ellison (Orthopedic Surgeon and grandfather extraordinaire), Linda Feldman (Yoga Instructor), Hedda Garland (Dog Trainer), Dennis McVey (DCFD and former Janney Parent), Joseph Mellott (Foreign Service Office DoS), KK Otteson (Photographer and friend of Smiles and Anderson family), Robert Parker (Judge), Sczerina Perot (Attorney working with the homeless), Andrea Razzaghi (NASA Aeronautical Engineer and friend of the Parker family), Sgt. Garlen Rogers (USAF), Carole Stearns (DCPD, our local school officer), Christopher Vaden (Attorney DoJ), Scott Weidman (Math writer) and Betsy Wittleder (Fitness and Personal Trainer).
-Maureen Leventhal, Janney Counselor
Peer Mediation Training
There will be a peer mediation training open to 4-6th grade students who are recommended by their classroom teachers. Students should be in good academic standing and able to attend the two day training in March. If interested, please talk to your classroom teacher and Mrs. Leventhal.
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In the Neighborhood
School/Library RFP Community Meeting
As Scott Cartland mentioned in his recorded message left on your home phones last week, the DC Office of Planning and Economic Development announced a community meeting to review the proposals submitted to his office in response to the JanneySchool and Tenley-Friendship Library Request For Proposals. The meeting and developer presentations will take place Thursday, February 28 at 6:30 pm at Janney.
Each of the three developers will have the opportunity to present their original proposals and any modifications (respondent to the February 1st amendments to the RFP). This community meeting is open to the public and Janney parents are encouraged to attend.
Book Drive for Kenyan Kids
Many of you are aware of the sad situation in Kenya, where widespread violence and displacement of over 300,000 people followed the December elections. The family of Ema Klugman (in Ms. Clements' class) spent the past two years in Kenya, and is organizing a book drive to benefit children in Kenya who are disadvantaged and/or have been affected by the conflict. It struck us that many Janney families have gently used books on the shelf at home that they would be happy to see go to needy girls and boys in Kenya.
We invite each family to bring a children's book or books for shipment to Kenya. Distribution on the ground will be done by friends working with libraries in the slums, and non-governmental organizations looking after displaced families.
Two baskets will be placed in the school foyer for this purpose during the period of Read Across America, the first week of March. If there are larger donations, please drop these at the Klugman's home (4608 Davenport Street). If you have any questions or suggestions, please email Jeni Klugman at jklugman@worldbank.org. Thanks in advance for your generosity.
High School Musical at Deal Middle School
Deal Middle School will present its own version of Disney's HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL on Thursday, March 6 and Friday, March 7 at 7:30 pm in the Deal Auditorium. The cast of more than 80 students will bring its own special Deal flair to the stage adaptation of the movie that has become a phenomenon featuring the great numbers from the show. Come enjoy a wonderful evening of singing and dancing by our own Deal stars, including many Janney alumni: Anna Allard, Timmy Barrows, Maddy Conover, Claire Dempsey, Skyler Hughes, Liam Kerwin, Will Kerwin, Anna Martone, Erin O'Brien, Sasha Pfeiffer, Marisa Remez, Atena Sherry, Michelle Sloss, and Anne Marie Torresen.
Tickets are $2 for students and $5 for adults and may be purchased at the door.
Free Tickets to a Concert at the Kennedy Center
The Washington Chorus will be presenting a spring concert at the Kennedy Center on Sunday, April 27 at 3 pm. The performance will include Faure's Requiem, Brahms' Gezang der Parzen, and the Washington premiere of Carlyle Sharpe's Proud Music of the Storm. Our school has the opportunity to request up to 30 tickets for this performance, so if you and your family would like to attend, please email Ms. Bellissimo as soon as possible with the number of tickets you are requesting. Her address is kristenbellissimo@comcast.net. Ticket requests will be taken on a first come-first serve basis, so act fast to hear wonderful choral music!
PEP Summer Camps
The Parent Encouragement Program (PEP) is offering day camps focused on friendship and leadership skills. The camps are open to boys (ages 8-10) and girls (ages 8-12) in June and July. The Friendship Camps are planned around the social interactions of the children and offers children opportunities for learning specific friendship and communication skills, build leadership qualities and grow in self-awareness and self-confidence. For more information, check the PEP website at www.PEPparent.org/girlscamp.html
or www.PEPparent.org/boyscamp.html.
Other workshops offered by PEP this spring include:
- Helping Your Underachieving Child Be More Motivated and Self-Disciplined in School (for parents of children ages 10-18) Saturday, March 8 from 9 am-noon.
- Parenting a Child with Serious Health Problems (for parents of children ages 2-12) Wednesday, March 19 from 7:30-9:30 pm.
- "Where do Babies Come From?" and Other Questions: Becoming an Askable Parent (for parents of children ages 4-12) Mondays, February 25-March 17 from 7:30-9:30 pm.
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 Safety Patrol Tip of the Week
When driving look for clues such as School Safety Patrols, Adult Crossing Guards, Playgrounds and Bicycles which indicate that children are in the area.
-Nathaniel Remez, Safety Co-Captain
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 Principal's Letter
To the Janney Community:
The city is having a public meeting at Janney on Thursday at 6:30 pm to share the three proposals they received for the proposed Public-Private Partnership. This is a critical meeting and I strongly encourage everyone to attend. It is my understanding that the proposals will be posted online after the meeting but this is a great opportunity to hear from the developers themselves. The SIT will pass out an open-ended survey to gather as much feedback from the school community as possible. Janney has a huge stake in this discussion, a lot to gain as well as to lose, and it is critical that the school community be vocal about protecting our interests. Please plan on attending.
As many of you have heard, our girls' basketball team, the Lady Jaguars, has made it all the way to the city championship! The game will be played tomorrow (February 27) at Kelly Miller Middle School at 3:15 pm. We're encouraging all of our students to wear blue to support the team and we'll be having a pep rally for the kids at 10:30 recess. If you want to go to the game, Kelly Miller is located at 201 49th St., NE. It's a 45 minute drive so you'd need to leave school at 2:30. Win or lose we're proud of the girls and congratulate them and the coaching staff, Mr. Harvey and Ms. Green, on a fine season.
Speaking of championships, it was such a relief that the Senators edged out the Yankees for the pennant! The Janney Players were in fine form in their musical extravaganza of "Damn Yankees." The band was tremendous and all the actors were in fine form. Kudos to Ginny Curtain and all the parent volunteers for pulling off another blockbuster. A special thanks is also due to Melissa Kim for allowing us to use the Deal Auditorium for both shows.
Don't forget that this Friday is parent-teacher conference day. Sign-up sheets are in the main hall and there is no school for students. For a variety of reasons, both personal and religious, many staff members are choosing to make themselves available for seven hours earlier on Friday than the suggested 12:00-7:00 time. If you have trouble finding a convenient conference time, I'm sure your child's teacher will work with you to find at an alternate time when it is mutually convenient.
Have a great week!
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Contributing to the E-Newsletter
Submissions to the PTA newsletter may be emailed to Janneynewsletter@yahoo.com.
The deadline for submissions is Thursday at 3:15 pm. Because the newsletter is reviewed by several individuals before distribution, we must adhere to this deadline in order to get the newsletter to you every week on time.
Please make every effort to submit your notices by email for the electronic newsletter. Include all text in the body of your email (rather than as an attachment). Small jpeg thumbnails may be attached and can be included in the newsletter. All links or email addresses will be made active (clickable).
Prepared fliers should be turned into the school office by COB Monday for inclusion in the regular Take Home Tuesday envelope.
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