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4130 Albemarle St. NW
Washington, DC 20016
202-282-0110
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Calendar |
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Tues, May 6, 8:00 pm
PTA Executive Board Meeting
Fri, May 9
Signup for Parent-Teacher conferences
Tues, May 13, 7:15 pm
PTA Meeting
Wed, May 14, 7:00 pm
Janney Band Spring Concert
Fri, May 16
NO SCHOOL; Parent-Teacher Conferences
Editors
Gretchen Cheney
Jenny Kletzin DiBiase
Elizabeth Levenson
Karen Mandel Muoio
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A Note from Your PTA Co-Presidents
Dear parents:
As usual, we had a great picnic! Thanks Leslie Dembinski and all those amazing cooking, cleaning and helping parents! Thank goodness it didn't rain! Lots of things happened at this year's picnic; here is an update:
Congratulations to next year's parent representatives to the SIT: Allison Feeney, Jane Malhotra, and Cheryl Ohlson. Thanks to those who put their name forward and were willing to serve, as usual it was an impressive field of committed and talented parents. We are also grateful to the parent representatives to the SIT who have served these last two years and will be stepping down this summer: Dan Charles, Sherry Ettleson, and Claudia Piras for their time and guidance.
The raffle was a great success thanks to the hard work of Katherine Martin and Fran Brennan! Tickets sold out! The lucky flat screen TV winner was Anne-Louise Oliphant! People told us that they loved the low, low, prices and the cool prizes so we'll certainly let you get a chance to try again next year!
Tonight the PTA Executive Board is meeting at 8:00 pm in the library. This meeting is open to the public. We particularly hope that people who are interested in serving on the PTA Executive Board next year will attend to observe. We will have a regular PTA meeting on May 13 at 7:15 pm that we hope the whole community will attend. We will have important business at the May 13 meeting, including submitting a proposed PTA budget, amending the by-laws which govern the PTA, voting on PTA Executive Board candidates, and voting on parent representatives for the Principal Selection Advisory Committee. Please mark your calendars.
By now everyone has had a chance to absorb the difficult news of Scott Cartland's departure. Scott is a terrific communicator, a compassionate educator, and a leader with vision. Any school that gets him is receiving a gifted and talented person. Janney has benefited a great deal from his energy and passion; we will continue to benefit from the momentum he has created after he has gone. We feel sad to see him go but grateful to have worked with him.
Too soon, the Janney community will be asked to provide input to DCPS about the selection of Janney's next principal. Transition is a test of any community, but we are confident that this thriving Janney community will attract excellent candidates and provide invaluable input and support to DCPS and our next principal. DCPS has a well defined process for interviewing potential candidates. Soon, our community will be asked to convene a Principal Selection Advisory Committee made up of Janney staff, community members, and Janney parents. The Principal Selection Advisory Committee will review candidates that are pre-screened as qualified by DCPS and will make a hiring recommendation to Chancellor Rhee. The committee work will be time intensive and require time commitment during the workday. We expect to have a decision by mid-summer.
We would like any parent who wants to be on the selection committee to submit a three sentence biography to us by e-mail or in the PTA in-box by Thursday, May 8, close of business. We will publish a list of who will be on the ballot on May 9, and people will be asked to vote on parent representatives to the Principal Selection Advisory Committee by closed ballot at the May 13 PTA meeting.
Hope to see you tonight, or at next week's PTA meeting!
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Word Up! Janney Scrabblers
This week, Janney will become the first D.C. public school to participate in the National School Scrabble Championship. Sixth-grader Lily Gasperetti and 5th-grader Charlie Williamson will be one of 100 teams of 5th-to-8th graders from around the country competing for a $5,000 first prize at the event on Friday and Saturday, May 9 and 10, in Providence, R.I.
Lily and Charlie are among about 20 students in grades 4 to 6 who have joined Janney's new Scrabble club, which meets in the library after school on Thursdays. The club is run by Janney parent Stefan Fatsis, the author of the bestselling book Word Freak about the subculture of competitive Scrabble, and 4th-grade teachers Kate Etris and Andrea Litvack.
In addition to playing in the Janney club, Lily and Charlie have been training for the national tournament at the D.C. Scrabble Club, which meets at the Chevy Chase Community Center on Tuesday evenings. They have learned all of the 101 two-letter words acceptable in Scrabble-from AA to ZA. Among their recent "bingos"-that is, using all seven letters in a single turn-Lily and Charlie have played the words NOTIONAL, SQUINTER, DARLINGS and REGRADE.
ESPN will be in Providence to cover the National School Scrabble Championship-and because Stefan is one of the cohosts, there might even be a segment featuring Lily and Charlie. (The show should air in August or September.)
To learn more-and to check the standings to see how the Janney team is doing in the tournament-visit the School Scrabble website at http://school.scrabble-assoc.com. Go Janney Scrabblers! |
Janney Band Spring Concert
You are invited to the Janney Band's spring concert and ice cream social. Please join us in the Janney gym on Wednesday May 14 from 7:00-8:30 pm. R.S.V.P. to sscrogg@american.edu. |
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In the Neighborhood
Get a Peak 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 for adults is $3 and $2 for students.
Pippi Longstocking!
Bring your family and friends on Saturday, May 10 at 12:00 noon for a family festival with Pippi Longstocking & Friends Children's Theater, all the way from Astrid Lindgren's World in Sweden. They will sing, dance and act on the lawn outside the House of Sweden. There will be games and surprises for all children. Admission is free. The Embassy of Sweden is located at 2900 K St NW. www.swedenabroad.com/washington
Friends of the Tenley Library Annual Meeting
All are welcome to attend the Friends of the Tenley Library Annual Meeting which will be held at the Interim Library, 4200 Wisconsin Ave NW, at 10:00 am on Saturday, May 10. Committee Reports, including that of a Nominating Committee, will be on the agenda. Election of an Executive Board for the coming year will be held; additional nominations may be made from the floor. | |
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To the Janney Community:
Thanks to Leslie Dembinski and all the volunteers that made the spring picnic such a success. I was certainly bummed to miss out but one of my high school friends got married on Friday afternoon (as an aside, you may have seen the happy couple on the front page of Saturday's Post as they took Metro from the synagogue to the reception). Congratulations to Allison Feeney, Cheryl Ohlsen, and Jane Malhotra on being chosen to represent the SIT for the next two years.
There are two meetings scheduled at the school tonight. There is a meeting from 6:00-7:00 p.m. in the auditorium for anyone wishing to discuss class configuration and space issues for next year. The second meeting is an open PTA executive board meeting in the school library beginning at 8:00. With regards to the space issue, DCPS has let me know that they will not be providing another demountable for the school. I have made two decisions though that will have some impact the fifth grade for next year. The first decision is that Ms. Osterman will not keep her entire class intact as she moves to fifth grade. Parents in her current class will be asked if they would like to not have Ms. Osterman a second time but won't be guaranteed to loop with her. The other decision is that Dr. Langford will be deployed to help reduce class size during math instruction by working with a few children from each class. I know that class size continues to be a sore subject and I have no doubt that I've lost whatever credibility I may have once had, but I will continue to reassure everyone that Janney will provide a supportive environment and rigorous academic instruction for next years fifth graders.
Congratulations to Charlie Williamson and Lily Gasperetti for representing Janney and Washington, DC in next week's National School Scrabble Competition. The addition of the Scrabble Club to Janney this year has been a huge hit and wouldn't be possible without the efforts of sponsors Kate Etris, Andrea Litvack, and most importantly Janney parent Stefan Fatsis. Good luck Charlie and Lily, the Scrabble Club and all of Janney are rooting you on.
Sincerely,
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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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