Dear Janney Families,

First, I must ask you to forgive me for my shortened letter this week; the snow has left me without home-based internet, and it is a bit more difficult to type on my phone!

We ended last week with a fantastic Career Day, prior to our early dismissal on Friday. Thanks to Maureen Leventhal's leadership and our many volunteers, students learned about careers as artists, engineers, web designers, public servants and more. Most importantly, students had a FANTASTIC time and the Janney hallways were quite literally full of sounds of glee.

As the snow keeps us by the fire, on sleds, catching up on sleep or just spending some (okay, a lot) of time with family, report cards and the regular Take Home Tuesday folders will be distributed on the day that students return. Please also note that tonight's PTA and SIT meetings are both cancelled, with the SIT meeting likely to be rescheduled for Monday or Wednesday of next week (an email update will follow). Assuming that there are no changes, this weekend remains a long one for students, with Friday still scheduled as a Professional Development day for Janney faculty and with President's Day on Monday.

Stay safe, have fun and we hope to see you soon!

Sincerely,

Norah Lycknell
Principal

The Jungle Book Starring The Janney Players

"We'll set the stage and turn the page and open up The Jungle Book..."

Mark your calendars and tell all your friends! On February 19th and 20th at Hardy Middle School, the Janney Players will proudly present the musical The Jungle Book. Based on the book by Rudyard Kipling and the classic Disney movie and directed by the incomparable Ginny Curtin, The Jungle Book is more fun than a barrel of monkeys! Journey with us to the jungle and learn about "The Bear Necessities" of life from Mowgli the jungle child, Bagheera the wise panther, Baloo the fun-loving bear, the swinging ape King Louie, Colonel Hathi the elephant and all their jungle friends. Bagheera thinks it is time for Mowgli to return to civilization. But is he ready? And what if he meets Kaa the snake or Shere Khan the tiger on the way? "Trust in us" - with toe-tapping tunes, dynamic dancing and an all-star cast of talented Janney 4th and 5th graders, The Jungle Book will be a musical to remember! This is a great show for all ages and the perfect destination for a birthday group or gathering. Tickets are $5 general admission, $15 reserved, and will be available at Janney beginning February 16.

Notebusters

Spring session begins March 16 !!!!!!!

"The Jersey Boys Use Hairspray"

Notebusters is an after school vocal music experience open to children in grades 1 through 5. Notebusters is about teaching children to have fun through singing and to enjoy performing in front of a live audience. The children have weekly opportunities to gain confidence by standing up in front of their peers to sing alone or in small groups. They are given lots of opportunities for solo and small group performing experience which builds confidence and self assurance, and transfers to all aspects of life.
Notebusters is directed by Mr. Alex Helsabeck, a professional singer with the US Army Chorus and the founder of SHS: Soldiers Helping Students. Mr. Alex, performs regularly in the Washington, DC community and across the nation. He has directed Notebusters at Janney School since 2002. Mr. Alex is assisted by Dr. Wood (of Janney School) and other members of the Army Chorus who join the Notebusters in rehearsals and the final performance.

Notebusters will meet on Tuesdays after school beginning March 16. Pick up is at 4:00 p.m. The spring session will run for approximately 10 weeks with a final performance for family and friends tentatively scheduled for May 23. For this show, Mr. Alex is combining the greatest hits from the musical, The Jersey Boys, with the best songs from the musical, Hairspray, to create a fantastic fun show for everyone to enjoy!
Registration forms will be sent home soon and also will be available in the school office. The fee is $100 per child for the spring session.

You may learn more about Mr. Alex and Notebusters by logging onto AlexHelsabeck.com

Save the Date: Janney's Wild!

Mark your calendars, and find a babysitter now, because Janney's annual fundraiser, Janney's Wild! is going to be Friday, April 16th, 2010. You won't want to miss this great evening of gaming, food, music, and fun!

Part of the evening's festivities will be silent and live auctions. The Janney's Wild! committee is still looking for luxury items to include in both auctions. If you can help with the acquisition of these items, please contact Dianne Bock (364-9858) or Karen Harris (966-8765).

And look for information each week in the Janney newsletter for more details about the event!

Alice Deal Middle School Tours

In order to accommodate continuing community requests to see Alice Deal Middle School in action, Deal's counseling department and Mr. James Albright, IB coordinator, have teamed up to offer "Visit the New Deal" days throughout the second semester. These bi-weekly sessions will allow families who haven't been able to visit us during our Open Houses to get a feel for the school and to meet with Deal representatives. The tours are from 9 - 10 am on the following days:

February 19
March 5
March 19
April 9
April 23
May 9

Counselor's Corner

Career Day:
Career Day would not happen without the generous support of Janney parents, grandparents and community members. Again this year they came through with flying colors! A special thanks to all our participants including: Douglas Abbott (Real Estate Development- father of Allan 3-D), Julia Bloom (Artist-mother of Philip Wright 4-A) , DC Police Department (Ofc. Julius Cook, Ofc. John Hardee, Ofc. Suzie Stears and Ofc. Tanisha Thomas), Hedda Garland ( Dog Trainer and mother of Felix 2-Za), David Hamlin (Senior Producer, National Geographic Television- father of Will 5-S), Stacie Harrison (Web Designer - mother of Nathaniel Reistetter 4-Y), Michelle Heller (Journalist -mother of John Conlin Pre-K-V), Kristin Hetz (Store Window Designer -mother of Jacob K-G), Matthew Katzive (Producer, Discovery Television-father of Anna -R and Caroline 3-D), Anna Kessler (Job Recruiter-mother of James 1-M and Madeline 2-B), Willa Morris (Social Worker-mother of Naomi Todd 3-M and Jackson Todd 5-O), Timothy Robert Mhyre (Neuroscientist, Georgetown University), Fariborz Navidi-Kasmai (Civil Engineer -father of Anya 5-S), David Power (DCFD and Rescue Squad 2 #4- father of David 3-D), Harold Sharlin (Scientist, retired professor and volunteer in DC schools), Nikita Stewart (Washington Post Reporter - mother of Emma Moore 5-H), Ray Suarez (TV Anchor, NPR-father of Isabel 5-O), Jacoba Warmerdam (Artist-mother of Ids Pre-K-M and Nynke 3-D), and Elizabeth Workman (Social Worker - mother of Madeline Williams 3-D). Special thanks to our volunteers from the community, Mr. Timothy Mhyre from Georgetown University, Mr. Harold Sharlin and the DC Firefighters and DC Police Officers for spending the morning with us.

OASIS:
We have many wonderful volunteers at Janney and one of the groups who has come to tutor at Janney for over 13 years is OASIS, (Older Adult Service and Information System). OASIS has a tutoring program that trains retired professionals to tutor students who need support in reading. Several of our tutors are former teachers. In January, Elizabeth Knott, an OASIS tutor and former teacher, died. Elizabeth, "Liz", loved Janney and tutoring students her. She has request that in lieu of flowers, friends and family donate money to the Janney PTA. Liz will be sorely missed, but the gift of her time and talent will live in the students she tutored and in her generous wish to recognize Janney.

Attendance and Tardiness:
This time of year it is often hard to get up and go in the morning. Please make every effort to help your child get to school start their academic day with their classmates on time. It is disruptive to the classroom routine when students arrive late and it puts a child in a "catch-up" mode for the rest of the day. Parents please support your child and your child's teacher by getting to school on time!

If your child is ill, call the office to report it before 9 a.m. and send a note upon their return to school indicating the reason for the absence. In absences for illness of three or more consecutive days, a doctor's note is required.

Safety Patrol Tip of the Week

Drivers should always be alert to handicapped pedestrians, observing all advance warning signs of seeing or hearing impaired pedestrians. Sam Alten, Safety Patroller

Set Painting Party for The Jungle Book

PARENTS (and grandparents, teachers, and other helpful adults!)

Hey, you-oo-oo! You wanna be like uh-uh-us? Volunteer to help out with The Jungle Book!

One great way to pitch in is to come to our GROWN UPS ONLY Set Painting Party on Wednesday, February 10th at 6:00 p.m. in the Janney multipurpose room. If you have paint brushes and jungle-colored paint (greens and browns) kicking around, bring them... if not, just bring yourself! No acting/singing/dancing/kid-in-the-musical required, just come have fun and help out. Thanks!

That's what friends are for, right? Plus, the more helpers we have, the better the show!

We're also still looking for a few good parents to help out with other small tasks to help get our jungle jumping, so if you'd like more information, please email Kate LaGuarda or Erica Perl .

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.

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.

Material in the newsletter must be:
1) For the benefit of Janney students;
2) Related to activities or programs that take place on Janney school grounds, or for specific Janney-sponsored events or programs;
3) From and for not-for-profit organizations (unless #1 and #2 above are satisfied, and approved by both PTA presidents); and
4) Submitted by an official representative of the organization or program referenced.

Inclusion in the newsletter is at the discretion of the newsletter editors, the PTA presidents, and the principal. Please include all text in the body of the 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. Prepared fliers to be included in the Take Home Tuesday envelope should be turned into the school office by COB Monday.

Thank you for your cooperation.

The Editors