Dece mbe r 2010/Janua ry 2011

DuVall Elementary School Newsletter

Happy New Year and Well Wishes for 2011 I hope that everyone has a fantastic holiday break with his or her families and I wish all of you nothing but the best for the New Year 2011. It has been an honor and a pleasure to work at DuVall Elementary over the past year and a half in the capacity of school principal. Through that time, I have really come to appreciate the dedication of the school community as everyone has worked hard to support the best interest of the children. I look forward to working with all the students, their families, and community members in the New Year. DuVall PTA Technology Initiative DTAC is starting to get active again this year with the initiation of fundraising programs and grant writing in an attempt to bring additional technology funding to DuVall. On December 13th at 6pm, at Barnes and Nobles on the Hill in Allen Park, we will have our first DTAC fundraiser for the school year. (Don’t forget, as part of the Scrips fundraiser, we will have gift cards available that night!) Please see the attached flyer for information. We are also hopeful to initiate the 2nd annual DuVall technology professional development camp in May of 2011. DuVall Multimedia and Technology Integration Proposal The DuVall Elementary Technology program has brought a great deal of enthusiasm and enhanced learning opportunities to our students. The Primary Goal of the Technology program is to focus on improving the quality of curriculum and instruction. Technology is integrated into the core content areas and is used as a tool to enhance the delivery of instruction. Higher order thinking skills and interactive learning are important components of our program. Students create multimedia projects that focus on the benchmarks and objectives in the Michigan Curriculum Frameworks and Dearborn Curriculum. Technology Integration is part of the DuVall School Improvement Plan with an objective to

Principal’s News

Contents

Principal’s News 1

Strong Readers 2

Bullying & Core Values 2

City Beautiful 2

Healthy Foods Update 2

Msg from PTA President 3

PTA Reflections Contest 3

Camp Wolverine Update 4

School Play 4

Mrs. Courtright’s News 4

Dec / Jan Calendars 5-6

B & N Flyer 7

Pizza Days Flyer 8

November Calendar 9

We’re on the Web! www.duvallpta.org

provide students with the necessary skills to become successful in the 21st century global economy (ISTE, 2007). Cold Weather Guidelines at DuVall I am encouraging all students to dress warm at school. Please bring appropriate hats, gloves, scarves, boots, and coats. Also, it is a good idea to bring a sweater or sweatshirt. The district has implemented a policy of setting classroom temperatures at 68 degrees in order to save money. Thus having a sweater will give students options if they feel cool. Also, we will implement an indoor recess policy whenever the temperature is between 10-15 degrees including the wind-chill. I have some flexibility with the exact temperature when making decisions on indoor recess. However, if it is below 10 degrees students must stay inside per district policy. We prefer to have children go outside for recess but we will keep them inside for their safety when weather conditions are not conducive for outdoor recess. Traffic Safety Please remember that it is illegal to make a turn from Beech Street to Francis Street from 8am-9am and 3pm-4pm on school days. The purpose is to maintain a flow of traffic on Francis Street going in one direction in order to ensure student safety. Also, please avoid parking in front of resident driveways as this creates a major inconvenience to DuVall area residents.

Thank you, Glenn Maleyko, Principal

--------------------------------------------------- Important Phone Numbers: Office: (313) 827-2750 Attendance Line: (313) 827-2751 Kid’s Club: (313) 827-2759

Gle nn Ma leyko , Pr i nc i pa l

Upcoming Events

♦ Book Fair Dec 3rd – Dec 10th

♦ Barnes & Noble Fundraiser December 13, 6-8 pm

Without doubt, reading with children spells success for early literacy. Putting a few simple strategies into action will make a significant difference in helping children develop into good readers and writers. Through reading aloud, providing print materials, and promoting positive attitudes about reading and writing, you can have a powerful impact on children’s literacy and learning. ✪ Invite a child to read with you every day. ✪ When reading a book where the print is large, point word by word as you read. This will help the child learn that reading goes from left to right and understand that the word he or she says is the word he or she sees. ✪ Read a child's favorite book over and over again.

Simple Strategies for Creating Strong Readers

We have been implementing positive core values assemblies that focus on bullying prevention since the last school year. While I do not see any major problems at DuVall with bullying, it is critical that we teach students how to make the right choices and deal with uncomfortable situations and interactions. We have one to two assemblies scheduled every month that focus on this topic. We divide the assemblies into two groups, Kindergarten to 2nd grade, which is run by Mrs. Meyers and Dr. deSouza, and 3rd to 5th grade, which is implemented by Mr. Maleyko and Mr. Schumer. We also plan to start implementing a peer mediation program in January. Three DuVall students under the guidance of Mr. Schumer have been trained for mediation, they include Alexander Restum, Quinn Marion and Vanessa Rico. Mr. Maleyko

Bullying Prevention and Core Values

City Beautiful Program

Page 2 DuVall Newsletter

✪ Read many stories with rhyming words and lines that repeat. Invite the child to join in on these parts. Point, word by word, as he or she reads along with you. ✪ Discuss new words. For example, "This big house is called a palace. Who do you think lives in a palace?” ✪ Stop and ask about the pictures and about what is happening in the story. ✪ Read from a variety of children's books, including fairy tales, song books, poems, and information books. Reading well is at the heart of all learning; children who can't read well, can't learn. Help make a difference for a child. US Department of Education

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News

Camp Wolverine: Thanks Again

Zoe Rogula and Simon Aytes are the two junior city beautiful commissioners at DuVall Elementary. They attended the City Beautiful breakfast on October 27th with Mrs. Grahl, Mr. Maleyko, and many school district and city dignitaries. They took the pledge to support a Green and Clean City during this breakfast meeting.

Many thanks to our sponsors that made Camp Wolverine more accessible to many more families: Dr. Robert Levy Dr. Natasha Umlauf Dr. Brust Dr. Norwick SunGlo Dearborn Exchange Club If you see these sponsors, please thank them personally for promoting the children to have such a positive learning experience at Camp. Thank You!

Healthy Foods Update Students in Mrs. Alabakoff's class are in the process of designing and implementing a survey on healthy foods and healthy lifestyles including physical fitness. The students will then analyze the results and this will help us to come up with both short term and long term solutions to our positive discussion on healthy lifestyles. I want to stress that I think we already do pretty well as a school community with advocating for healthy choices. However, anytime that we can increase awareness in a positive manner, it is a great conversation to have.

Page 3 DuVall Newsletter News

December is here and we have yet to see snow, I wonder how long we can go. Last month had a pretty crazy schedule, but we managed to get some things done. The PTA General Meeting went well and we would like to thank Mr. Eric Hunter for donating fresh brewed Starbucks coffee. He has volunteered to make sure that there will be Starbucks coffee at all of our PTA meetings. Also, Mrs. Alabakoff’s class had the most parents attend the PTA meeting, and the entire class received free tickets to the Festival of Trees. With the holiday season upon us and everyone in the spirit of giving, what better way to give than to donate to the “Tree of Warmth”? More than ever families are in need of some of the most basic items. This year the PTA would like to give back to the community by collecting hats, gloves, and scarves for local children and families. A tree is set up in the lobby at DuVall. Please have your child(ren) bring in new hats, gloves/mittens, and scarves to decorate the “tree of warmth”. The items will be available to any DuVall students that may need them and also donated to the Dearborn Heights Salvation Army. This year’s bookfair will be December 3rd thru December 10th. Let us know the day and time you can help! http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/homepage/duvall Melissa and Lynn (Bookfair chairs) kachaturoff4@yahoo.com or Lske48124@yahoo.com The MPTSA’s Reflections program aims to continue student’s creativity and interest in the arts at home and in schools. All DuVall students are encouraged to consider the theme “Together We Can…”, and to create a work/response to it over the Thanksgiving Break. Entry guidelines and information were sent home on 11/19. All entries are due Dec. 8. This is a voluntary program for all students, all grades. IMPORTANT PTA Announcements: Any time you want to find out about what is happening with the PTA, you can always check out our bulletin board located in the foyer by the playground or the PTA website at www.duvallpta.org. December 3rd through 10th - Scholastic Book Fair December 17th- Christmas caroling (6:30 to 8 p.m.) – meet in the cafeteria – hot cocoa and treats, too! January 18th- PTA General Meeting Looking forward to a great year, Amina Guvetis, PTA President

A Message from the PTA President …

Each year, the PTA Reflections Program challenges students to create art inspired by a specific theme, and students submit entries to a local PTA or PTSA. Nationally, the program has six arts areas, dance choreography, film production, literature, musical composition, photography, and visual arts. Students can complete this voluntary project over the Thanksgiving break; all entries are due on Dec. 8. A great place to start is to finish the sentence “Together we can…” Participating is easy! 1. Take just a few minutes to review the submission guidelines and submission form being sent home just before the Break. 2. Consider the theme, and decide on what you believe and want to share. 3. Create your work using the guidelines to be sure your submission meets the entry requirements. 4. Write a brief Artist Statement explaining the idea behind your submission. 5. Complete the Submission Form. 6. Turn your submission into the PTA mailbox in the DuVall office before or on Dec. 8. School finalists are submitted for the City of Dearborn and State of Michigan competition. Finalists from the state are submitted for the national competition where an Awards of Excellence and Awards of Merit are awarded. Although Reflections entries are judged, the goal is to allow students to express themselves creatively and receive positive recognition for their work. There will be a ceremony for the City of Dearborn entries. DuVall PTA will also make all entries available on ArtStamps.com so families can order US Postage stamps of their child’s work. The DuVall PTA will receive 25% back from all ArtStamps.com sales to further its programs for the school. For a complete description of the categories: ptsa.dearborn.org. Find Dearborn Reflections online at http://ptsa.dearbornschools.org; go to the Parents Resource Section then click PTSA Information. Contact me with questions: Carla González, DuVall Mom and 2010 Reflections Chair crgsmilz@hotmail.com

PTA Reflections Program: “Together We Can …”

Book Bingo is back! During the colder months we play Book Bingo as a way for families and friends to get together and have a terrific time while being cozy indoors. Doors open to the cafeteria at 6:00 and play begins at 6:30 promptly, usually ending around 7:45. We play 5 games of bingo and every participant walks out the doors at the end of the night with at least one book. Cost is $3.00 per participant and all proceeds go toward purchasing more books. After the third game we take a brief snack break, chips and suckers are available for .25 each and lemonade is free. Please bring your family and friends to a fun night! Dates for book bingo this year are: Friday, Jan. 7 (please note date change from previous newsletter) Friday, Feb. 11 Friday, March 18 CAN the Principal is here and all cans are due by December 14th. This is a fun activity that emphasizes good will by helping the Dearborn ELKS collect canned goods for their annual holiday baskets given to those in need. Students are encouraged to bring in canned goods weekly to fill the principal’s office by offering a friendly competition between classes at DuVall. The class that donates the most goods wins a pizza party given by Mr. Maleyko. Also, if you are a family in need or know of one, please send the family name to your child's teacher by Friday, December 3rd to be forwarded to the Elks. Any questions, please contact Mrs. Courtright. -- Mrs. Courtright

Mrs. Courtright’s Corner

News Page 4 DuVall Newsletter

Camp Wolverine Field Trip, November 8-10, 2010

Fourth and fifth grade students at DuVall attend Wolverine Camp in Wolverine, Michigan each year alternating fall and winter seasons. Lessons are outdoors and focus on fourth/fifth grade science and social studies curriculum. Students are also given responsibilities and challenges that promote high self esteem, respect and cooperation. Using the outdoors as a classroom enhances learning and gives them experiences they never had before. This was the 11th year DuVall has participated. Mrs. Courtright, a 5th grade teacher, is the coordinator of this wonderful field trip and she has worked extremely hard with students, parents, and the PTA in order to raise money and implement the annual field trip. The learning experiences that students received from this trip were outstanding and they were very excited to participate with their fellow students at DuVall under the direction of Mrs. Courtright. Mrs. Ranka and Mrs. Ravenscroft from the DuVall faculty attended the trip to chaperone. Mrs. Courtright, Mrs. Ranka and Mrs. Ravenscroft did an outstanding job with this trip as they went above and beyond the call of duty to coordinate this wonderful experience for Duvall students. I would also like to thank the parent

chaperones for their hard work, Mr. McFarlane, Mr. Marion, Mr. Monroe, and Mr. Noyes. An additional thank you goes to the parents who were engaged in fundraising for the event. Mrs. McFarlane worked especially hard with fundraising in order to lower the cost for students to attend this trip. Listed below are the names of the students that attended the trip. The students were Annamaria Hadbah, Stephanie Ivanyi, Dalal Mustafa, Mya Brown, Zaid Fakhouri, Asia Ford, Brendan Hay, Nora Heaton, Olivia Jankowski, Amaya Kuznicki, Maya Lewy, Max Marion, Jeremiah Noyes, Alexander Aly Restum, Zoe Rogula, Hunter Vandenbosch, Anna Varitek, Georgia Ziegler, Regina Mylum, Joey Combs, Justin Stanhope, DeVonte Miller, Christopher Parker, Stephen Stormzand, Abby Stewart, Sophia Payne, Favia Nixon, McKenzie Mendez, Ryan McFarlane, Sophie Martin, William Marano, Sarah LeFranc, Mallory Frisbie, and Zachary Alabakoff - Mr. Maleyko

Candy for the Troops I would like to congratulate the Students, Staff and Parents at DuVall Elementary for sending Halloween Candy to the Troops oversees. I would especially like to thank Mrs. Courtright and her class for taking the lead with this wonderful collection for the troops. – Mr. Maleyko School of Choice School of Choice applications for middle school are due 02/01/2011 and elementary school applications are due 05/01/2011.

School Play There has been a great tradition at DuVall with honoring and celebrating the arts. This includes the implementation of a school level play. Mrs. Champoux has done a great job with this production the last two years. However, it is a big commitment and we currently have no one to take the lead on this. I spoke to Amina Guvetis (PTA president) and we wanted to put this call out to anyone who might have the ability and time to take the lead on the development of a play. Please contact Amina or myself if you are interested. If no one comes forward, then we will look into alternative options on a lower scale. Mr. Maleyko

DuVall Newsletter

December 2010

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Sat/Sun

1 LATE START 9:35 (NO SCHOOL FOR KINDER-GARTEN)

2 GROUP PHOTOS

3 Book Fair Class Previews

4/5

6 Book Fair

7 Book Fair

8 Late Start 9:35 Book Fair

9 Book Fair

10 Book Fair

11/12

13 Barnes & Noble Fund-raiser, 6:00-8:00pm

14

15 Positive Core Values Assembly 9:05am

16 Music Concert, 2:00pm Gym

17 Christmas Caroling, 6:30-8:00

18/19

20 NO SCHOOL

21 NO SCHOOL

22 NO SCHOOL

23 NO SCHOOL

24 NO SCHOOL

25/26

27 NO SCHOOL

28 NO SCHOOL

29 NO SCHOOL

30 NO SCHOOL

31 NO SCHOOL

For current updates, please see: http://blog.dearbornschools.org/maleyko/duvall-calendar/

Page 5 of

DuVall Elementary School Calendar

January 2011

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Sat/Sun

1/2

3 SCHOOL RESUMES

4 5 LATE START 9:35am

6

7 Book Bingo, doors open @ 6:00pm

8/9

10

11 12 LATE START 9:35am

13 14

15/16

17 NO SCHOOL

18 PTA MEETING, 6:30pm Cafeteria

19 Positive Core Values Assembly 9:05am

20 21 22/23

24

25 26 Positive Core Values Assembly 9:05am

27 28 HALF-DAY SCHOOL, 11:45am dismissal

29/30

31

For current updates, please see: http://blog.dearbornschools.org/maleyko/duvall-calendar/

DuVall Elementary School Calendar