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4130 Albemarle St. NW
Washington, DC 20016
202-282-0110
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| Calendar
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Monday, April 21 - Friday, April 25
DC CAS Testing, 3rd-6th grades
Wednesday, April 23 Soup Kitchen
Friday, April 25
Blue & White Day
Friday, May 2
Spring Picnic
Editors
Gretchen Cheney
Jenny Kletzin DiBiase
Elizabeth Levenson
Karen Mandel Muoio
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A Note from Your PTA Co-Presidents
Dear Parents:
Our last fundraiser of the year is underway! Please consider buying raffle tickets at the low, low price of $25.00 each and get a chance to win a flat-screen TV, a laptop, or an iTouch. Look for our wonderful raffle chairs, Katherine Martin and Fran Brennan, outside of school at drop-off or pick-up in the next two weeks or contact your class seller to buy tickets. Thanks as always for supporting the PTA! The drawing will be held on May 2 at the Spring Picnic.
We wrote a long letter last week about needing community input and help. Thanks to all of you who volunteered over the last week to assist with the many Janney activities we have planned for next year. (If you missed our letter, please take a look at last Tuesday's Presidents' letter and email us your responses.)
Here is another opportunity to make a major contribution to Janney: There are three parent vacancies on the Janney School Improvement Team, known as the SIT, that need to be filled for next year. If you are interested in running for a two-year term, please submit a one-paragraph biography to us. We will include it in the next newsletter. The SIT election will be held on May 2, during drop-off, pick-up, and the Spring Picnic.
The SIT (also known as a Local School Restructuring Team or LSRT) is composed of the principal, four teachers, four parents, a student representative, and, at times, a community representative. The SIT is responsible for advising the principal on matters of school policy including (but not limited to) allocation of resources; school organization; curriculum options; maintenance and improvement of buildings and grounds; funding of equipment and supplies; priorities for staffing patterns; and monitoring student progress.
Have a great week,
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Janney Modernization Petition Update
As was announced in last week's newsletter, a petition is being circulated to move Janney up on the city's modernization plan. While in just two days we've collected about 150 signatures, we need more to convey how much this means to our community! It is our understanding that a new Capital Improvement Plan is to be submitted by the end of May, so we need as many signatures as we can get by the end of April to impact where Janney's modernization is scheduled on that plan.
In order to include your name on the petition, please send an email to janneymodernization@yahoo.com. Please give your name, indicate whether you are a current Janney parent, and also indicate whether you are a DC voter. You can also use this email address if you have any questions.
The petition reads in part as follows:
Janney is essential to the continued and future health and vitality of our community and delivers excellent schooling. It is unacceptable that the now outdated modernization plan relegated Janney's expansion to begin only after 2013. As it appears increasingly unlikely that Janney will be expanded through a public-private partnership, and in light of DCPS' planned closing of 23 schools, the Mayor, Council, and DCPS leaders must act now to move Janney up to the first phase of school modernizations. Janney Elementary has a "design capacity" of 364 students. Current enrollment is just under 500 students, and the school has a proposed capacity of 550.
Consider these facts:
· The building was constructed in 1925 and has scarcely been upgraded in the past 88 years;
· Bathrooms (not ADA compliant), wiring, heating, and air conditioning all need modernization;
· Because there are currently more than 100 students than the school can house, five classrooms are located in trailer units on the property;
· The three-story building does not provide essential accommodations for mobility challenged students or staff;
· The only large space serves as gym, lunch room, and assembly space, and for plays and musical productions. The multi-activity room can never accommodate the entire student body at one time;
· Due to space constraints, students must eat lunch within three separate lunch shifts of 20 minutes or less.
Thank you.
-Scott Cheney and Mark Popovich
Advocacy Committee Co-Chairs
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Soup Kitchen Tomorrow
Parents, please don't forget to bring in your lasagnas, green beans, lettuce, bread, and ice cream. Teachers, please remember to ask your class parents to bring in cookies, salad fixings, and snacks. All of this needs to be brought in by noon tomorrow. Thanks so much for your help!
-Camille Martone
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Spring Picnic
The Spring Picnic and Raffle is coming! Plan to bring the whole family to this school-wide event, to be held on the playground from 6-8 pm on Friday, May 2. Hot dogs, drinks, and chips will be sold. Families are asked to contribute as follows:
Family last name A-K: bring a salad or side dish
Family last name L-Z: bring a dessert
Looking for a new flat screen TV? Maybe a Mac laptop computer or a Mac itouch? Raffle prize winners will be drawn at the picnic so buy your tickets in advance.
Picnic volunteers are needed for one-hour shifts to help with cashiering, clean-up and set-up, grilling, etc. Please email Leslie Dembinski at leslied@mcenearney.com to let her know you can help.
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News from the Library
Here's what our children are up to in the Cybrary/Library:
Pre-K, K, and 1st grade will be looking at "All About" books and discussing the differences between nonfiction informational books and fiction story books.
The 2nd and 3rd grades will be looking at different types of traditional literature (fairy tales, myths, legends, folk tales, fables) with a special focus on a deeper examination of fables. At the end of our study, the children will write their own fable.
The 4th grade will explore fairy tales and fractured fairy tales. At the end of the unit, students will develop and perform their own fractured version of a traditional fairy tale.
The 5th grade will undertake an in-depth study of fairy tales and traditional literature, culminating in a readers theater performance of a fairy tale.
The 6th grade will create a basic Powerpoint presentation about a country that will include general background information; current economic, educational, and environmental issues for that country; and a bibliography of their resources.
-The Library Committee
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Darfur Lottery Update
Thank you to all who participated in and/or contributed to the "Darfur Lottery"! The lottery raised $532 dollars for the people of Darfur! The Darfur committee appreciates all the support and is thrilled by the amount raised! Thank you, thank you!
-Meredith Dedolph, Barbara Murphy, and the Darfur Committee
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The Class of 2008 Unveils Mosaic "Scrapbook"
 The sixth grade gift to the school this year was a mosaic "scrapbook." It was installed in the library and unveiled on Tuesday, April 15, at 9 am. It was made by the sixth grade classes and its theme is "Janney Days." The sixth graders looked at the book of that same title, which was published in September 2001, and used parts of that book, along with some old yearbooks, photos, and things they brought in as a permanent scrapbook to commemorate their years at Janney and those of the students, teachers, staff, and parents before them. We welcome everyone to come take a close look at it! Thanks to Connie Johnson, Lee Coykendall, Sarah Schwartzendruber, and Lena Frumin for working on it with the students. |
In the Neighborhood
Get a Peek at the Music Program at Deal Middle School
The Deal Middle School Music Department will hold its annual spring concert on Thursday, May 8. Everyone, mark your calendars and plan for a night of excitement and outstanding music. There will be a special appearance by Deal's own Alumni Band. The program will begin at 7 pm in the auditorium. The cost is $3 for adults and $2 for students.
Neighborhood Dog Show
Friendship Terrace, Janney's neighbor at 4301 Butterworth Place NW, will hold a Dog Show for kids and their dogs this Saturday, April 26, at 2 pm. Kids under 13 are welcome to bring their dogs to compete for prizes in show classes including "Smallest Dog," "Ugliest Dog," "Most Elegant Dog" and several other categories. The entry fee is $2.
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 Safety Patrol Tip of the Week
Reduce your speed when you enter a school zone or where children walk or bike along the road.
-Jordan Bolden, 2nd Sergeant |
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Principal's Letter
To the Janney Community:
Congrats to the Janney Chess Team for winning the DC Chess Challenge last Saturday! We also had three individual medalists: Miro Furtado, Joshua House, and Stefan Saliba. Way to go, kids, and a big thanks to our fabulous chess teacher Mr. G as well as to the fourth grade teachers for supporting the chess program.
I have some very bittersweet news to report. Fabulous third grade teacher Ermyn Roberts has decided to retire at the end of this school year. Mrs. Roberts has been teaching at Janney since 1972 (that's not a typo and, yes, we all need to figure out where she's hiding the fountain of youth). Mrs. Roberts has been a great asset to me the past four years, offering her advice (always graciously) on how things are to be done at Janney. For my part, I've often been smart enough to listen to her wisdom. Mrs. Roberts worked with six principals in all in her time at Janney and I'm sure they would all report as I can, that they never once walked into her classroom without seeing the kids as well as Mrs. Roberts hard at work. Her retirement is well earned and much deserved but she will be greatly missed. When someone has given so much to the school, they deserve to be thanked with great fanfare, so planning will begin soon for a schoolwide retirement celebration. Stay tuned for details but if you have photos of Mrs. Roberts or anecdotes, I'd love to get them.
There is a letter from the Chancellor included in the THT for all 4th and 5th graders. The letter indicates that Deal will in fact be converting to a Middle School and accepting 6th graders at the start of the 2009-2010 school year. I know that this news is a mixed blessing as the Deal transformation is a welcome development as is the classroom space that will be available in our school, but many would like to see their children remain at Janney as long as possible. It seems that Allen Lew is doing great things and that construction projects are now staying on schedule. Finally, although the news itself is a mixed blessing, it's nice that the district is giving us advanced notice rather than waiting until the last minute.
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.
We will run notices about community or other non-Janney events as space permits. It is the PTA's policy not to carry for-profit advertisements or classifieds. Thank you for your cooperation.
The Editors
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