I am grateful that our Janney family has returned from vacation with thanks shared, bellies full, and hearts and minds rested.

Before the Thanksgiving holiday, we had a wonderful send-off at a jubilant Notebusters concert (fantastic job Mr. Alex, Dr. Wood, accompanists, students performers, student alumni, and Noteboomers!). Our Pre-K and Kindergarten classes also performed as part of their annual Thanksgiving Feast, along with several other classes who partook in food, conversation and community. Thanks to all of the teachers and parent volunteers for your cooking and serving expertise!

On Wednesday, November 25th, much of our community gathered for an afternoon Jamboree to recognize Ms. Rona Walters' contributions to the Janney community. We celebrated Ms. Walters' last day at Janney with speeches, flowers and student notes, and wish her all of the best in her future endeavors.

We got right into the swing of things this week with Student Council Restaurant Night at Potomac Pizza on November 30th; 20% of all dine-in and carry-out proceeds will go to the Janney Student Council.    Our school photographers return as December 1st is candid picture day, followed by club pictures on December 2nd, and the Jungle Book Musical auditions for 4th and 5th graders will take place after school on the 30th and the 1st.

The PTA executive board will meet at 7:30pm on December 1st. Current designs for the modernization will be released on the Janney website on the 1st. The SIT team continues to work hard to represent the Janney community, and is excited to solicit broader feedback on the Office of Public Education Facilities Modernization's plans. We have also asked that OPEFM finalize the date for a community meeting around these designs as soon as possible (the tentative date is December 15th). I have several upcoming meetings to discuss the staging and construction process, and my clear priority will be to minimize disruptions to our classrooms. I will provide regular updates as those plans materialize, but one immediate success has been to move soil boring/testing from the school day to this weekend. As a result, please note that the parking lot and the playground will be closed on December 5th and 6th.

Parent conference sign-up sheets will be on tables outside of the multipurpose room beginning at 7:30am on December 3rd. Fifteen-minute conference times are slotted from 12pm to 7pm on December 7th. If you are unable to make it to Janney to sign up, please feel free to call the main office for assistance.

We will close out the week with a Young Suffragists meeting (3:30pm in Ms. Brill's room) and a "Wear Your Favorite Color" Spirit Day on Friday, December 4th. Start gathering your clothes now - who will be able to dress from head to toe?

Have an extraordinary week Jaguars!

Sincerely,

Norah Lycknell
Principal

A Note from the PTA Co-Presidents

We hope everyone had a chance to enjoy the fantastic events Janney had last week. The Notebusters concert at Hardy was a resounding success and heaps of thanks to Mr Alex, Dr. Shellie Wood, the Noteboomers, the band, all the performers and above all, the children who were amazing. If you haven't seen and/or been a part of it, it is out of this world. Thanks also to all volunteers who made the PreK/K Thanksgiving Feast another fun-filled and delicious event with more singing and creative costuming to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Please join us at the next PTA General Meeting, Tuesday December 8th at 7:30 PM in the multipurpose room where we will discuss a number of topics including:
- A presentation by Karen Langford and Beth McLung on Math and Reading Assessments which is a must see for parents and a real insight for understanding report cards and the processes used for evaluation;
- An update and discussion of Janney's upcoming modernization with details on rough schedules and latest plans...see Janney's future in the making and offer thoughts and ideas (there will also be community meetings in the near future devoted just to the modernization);
- An initial discussion of Janney Extracurricular Activities planning with thoughts and ideas on how we approach it

We are in the initial stages of planning the Spring Fundraiser, Janney's Wild, and will be looking for volunteers. Stay tuned and feel free to contact one of us if you're interested.

UPCOMING EVENTS
- Remember School is closed for Parent-Teacher conferences on Monday the 7th.
- The Janney 1-3 Grade Musical Geology Rocks! is December 9th at 6:30pm in the multipurpose room
- The Janney 4-5th Grade Musical Jungle Book is holding Auditions November 30 and December 1st after school

Thanks and have a great week,

Scott Cheney and Jonathan McHugh

Yearbook Club Photo Day

Yearbook Club Photo day is scheduled for Wed. December 2. A representative from Lifetouch, our yearbook company, will be here that morning to photograph clubs and special activities. If your child is participates in a club or activity that has a uniform or special T-shirt, please be sure to bring them/wear them on Wednesday for the photos. If you have any questions, please contact the yearbook advisors, Cynthia Schiffrin or Rennie Anderson. Thanks!

Attention Fifth Grade Parents

Calling all parents of graduating 5th graders! Your baby picture submissions for the yearbook are due by this Friday, December 4. Please place your pictures in the envelopes labeled "Yearbook Photos" outside your child's classroom or mail any digital pictures to mrsamythompson@netscape.net. These are the pages your child will turn to first when he receives his yearbook so don't miss out!

PTA's Winter Citrus Fruit Delivery

Thanks to all families who ordered oranges and grapefruit from Florida's Indian River Groves. About 40% of your purchase price went directly to Janney PTA. The fruit will be delivered soon and the tentative date will be known this week. Please watch the Janney listserv and this newsletter for the exact date and distribution plan. For questions, contact Janney parent Allison Scuriatti. To join the listserv go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/janneyelementary/and click on Join Group!

Geology Rocks!

The Janney 1st-3rd grade theater troupe will perform a musical mystery -- the show Geology Rocks! Come see the show in the multipurpose room Wednesday evening, December 9th at 6:30 PM. Professor Rock, a beloved geology professor, has disappeared! His students search high and low, singing their way through interviews with potential witnesses, racing against Detective Sherlock Holmes, and learning about geology along the way until the mystery is solved.

Counselor's Corner

PEP:
Parent Encouragement Program is offering a class this week:
Defusing Sibling Rivalry & Fighting for parents of children ages 1 to 14 on Thursday, Dec. 3, 7:30-9:30 pm. Pre-registration with payment is required for all programs: If interested Call PEP at 301-929-8824 or 703-242-8824. For more information visit http://www.pepparent.org/.

UNICEF:
The final tally is in...Janney students raised $2,039.87! Awesome job Jaguars!

Safety Patrol Tip of the Week

Please never stop your car in a crosswalk blocking visibility for children and other motorists. Tony Smole, Safety Patroller

Janney Shopping at Amazon!

Do you shop through Amazon? Earn money for Janney by clicking on this link or starting your search in the Amazon Search box on the Janney Homepage. Janney will earn up to 6 percent of your order every time you begin your search on the Janney site. Just think, no additional
cost to you, lots of additional funds for Janney.

In the Neighborhood

Come see the Alice Deal Middle School Chorus Sing a selection of holiday favorites at the Shops at Wisconsin Place in Chevy Chase this Sunday, December 6th at 2 p.m. until 3 p.m. The Shops at Wisconsin Place is located on the Northwest corner of Wisconsin and Western Avenues NW.

Contributing to the E-Newsletter

All submissions to the PTA newsletter should be emailed to Janneynewsletter@yahoo.com. The deadline for submissions is Friday 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 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).

If a notice should be run for more than one week, please indicate the dates the notice should be run, or resubmit the notice by the Friday deadline for each week.

Please note there is no longer a box in the Janney office where hard copy newsletter submissions can be turned in. If you have prepared fliers to be included in the Take Home Tuesday envelope, those should be turned into the school office by COB Monday.

We will run notices about community or other non-Janney events of interest to elementary school children as space permits. It is the PTA's policy not to carry for-profit advertisements or classifieds. Thank you for your cooperation.

The Editors