OB Weekly News 9-20

September
24- Kindergarten Social, 6:30p.m.
25- Walk in the Park (during PE)
26- Mandarin After-School Class begins 
27- Quarterly Newsletter goes home
October
1- First Grade Social, 7-8p.m. 
1- After-School Classes begin! 
4- Field Day, 1-3:15p.m.
Announcements:
•After-School Class Sign-ups-Don’t forget to sign your child up for After- School classes. Spaces are filling up fast, and we don’t want your child to miss out! Extra sign-up forms are available in the office. Questions, or interested in being a parent volunteer to get a free class? Contact Olga Rynkiewicz @ olgairy@yahoo.com

•thank you- A BIG thank you to Sherri Connors for chairing the Entertainment Book fundraiser this year. Also thanks to her committee and helpers: Jamie Steinbach, Katrin Mulligan, Marianne Wolken, Novita Gan, Lisa Hirshberg, Craig Tatham, Samantha Loeffelman, Laura Silver, and Susanne Sewell.

•Lost & Found- As the weather turns chillier, just a reminder for parents to be sure to label their child’s personal belongings. We are already seeing a lot of jackets with no name in them. Be sure to stop by the Lost and Found if you are missing anything!

•Folk Tales for Fun- The LHWHS Fall Play is a great opportunity to introduce even your youngest children to the joy of live theatre. Folk Tales for Fun is a collection of multicultural folk tales- complete with talking animals, short, easy to understand scenes and tons of audience interaction. Performances are on Friday, November 1 at 4:30p.m. and 7p.m. in the High School Black Box Theater. Tickets are $5 (children 3 and under are free). For reserved tickets or questions call (314)993-3900 ext.5935. Leave your name and phone number along with how many tickets you will need. Tickets can then be picked up or purchased at the box office the afternoon of the show.

•Coming Soon...Field Day- An Adventure through Africa!! Friday afternoon, Oct. 4th. Please see the attached document for details and for information on signing up to help. Asante, Asante sana. Thank you!

•Spirit Wear- Blue 84 Spirit Wear is closed for orders. If you have not placed an on-line order or turned your form into the office by now, you will not receive a shipment. All hard copy orders have been received by Blue 84. They will combine these orders with on-line orders and begin to print this week. All orders will be shipped directly to OB. Volunteers will hand out orders to students at school. We anticipate this to occur the week of September 30. Just in time for cool weather to hit! If you would like to volunteer to distribute Spirit Wear when it arrives or have any questions contact Stephanie Kinney at gaksmk@mac.com. Thanks for your participation! 

OB Weekly News 9-13

September

13- Early Dismissal, 1:15p.m.
17- Room Parent Mtg., 7p.m.
17- Chess Club Begins, 3:55-4:55p.m. 20- Picture Day!
25- Walk in the Park (during PE) 27- Quarterly Newsletter goes home

Announcements:

•Tardies- As everyone settles into the school year we’ve noticed that the number of tardies is increasing even with starting 10 minutes later this year, so I want to share some Tardy Tidbits

that you may not know...

Did you know...?

1. Tardies accumulate as minutes and when the minutes account for a full day, the student’s record shows as an absence.
   
2. School districts receive state money based on attendance and our attendance records are considered legal documents for that reason which means accuracy is important.
   
3. Staff coverage is provided at 8:30 and students are let into the building at 8:45 before school to provide enough time for students to make it to class.
   
4. Students are considered tardy when they are not in their classroom by the 8:55 bell since the classroom is where attendance is taken.
   
5. If a student is in the school but not in their classroom, they must go to the office for a tardy slip. We really hate to send students to the office when the bell rings but it has been the only way to provide consistency across the building and not take time from the teachers at the start of the day who might end up changing their official attendance records for up to 10 minutes as tardy students arrive.
   
6. Depending upon how many other students are also tardy they might even have to wait in line.
   
7. Our students have many great educational experiences during the day including daily PE and Spanish as well as other special classes. Classroom teachers are challenged to use every other available minute of the day for instruction on core content.
   
8. We have special classes that begin at 9a.m. for some grade levels so those classes have only 5 minutes to take care of attendance, lunch count, and get to their special class.
   

•Traffic Safety- If the upper parking lot is full at student drop-off or pick-up, do not try to pull in anyway. Cars should not block the crosswalk because the crossing guard is unable to cross students safely. Thank you for your cooperation.

•Character Plus Workshop- The Ladue School District is a CharacterPlus member. One benefit of being a member district is that our staff and parents can attend their workshops for free. Workshop topics include learning more about bully prevention, service learning, becoming character education certified, and much more. Stan Davis, an international authority on bully prevention, will be presenting Bully Prevention I and II on October 15 and 16. Please visit this website to register for this or other upcoming workshops http://characterplus.org/events.asp?page=162.

•Entertainment book- Last call....The entertainment book sale has ended. If you have not already done so, please turn in your check for $30 or your book. Have your child drop off your money or book in the office. For questions
contact sherriconnors@me.com. Thanks for supporting the OBPTO!

•Nurse Notes- The Clinic is in need of the following clothing please: underwear for boys and girls sizes 5, 6, and 7, elastic waist shorts or pants in sizes 5,6, and 7 too.

•Parent Presentation- Dr. Tim Jordan, a leading expert on girls, is offering a parent presentation in our community to all who are interested in learning more about preteen and teenage girls. The presentation is called DO THIS, NOT THAT....Advice for Parents of Adolescent Girls and will be held on Tuesday evening, October 1st @ 7:00 p.m. at the West County YMCA Auditorium. Cost is just $10 per person.

•School Board Briefs- Following is the link to the Board Briefs from the Ladue Schools Board of Education Work Session on September 9, 2013. Please feel free to share this link with interested family, friends and community members. http://boardbriefs.blogspot.com/

OB WEEKLY NEWS 9-6

September
11- OBPTO Mtg.- Cafeteria, 9:15a.m. 
13- Early Dismissal, 1:15p.m.
17- Room Parent Mtg., 7p.m.
17- Chess Club Begins, 3:55-4:55p.m. 
20- Picture Day!

Announcements:
•Breakfast at Old Bonhomme- Don’t forget that Old Bonhomme offers breakfast for our students starting at 8:25 each morning. Start your child’s day off right with a healthy breakfast provided right here at school! The cost is $1.55, look on the back of your Lunch Menu to see all the great breakfast choices!
•PTO NOTES- Thank you to everyone that signed up to be on a PTO committee. The committee chair should be contacting you in the near future. Thank you also to everyone that has paid their PTO dues. The forms are due Monday, September 9. We welcome all parents to join us at the first all-school PTO meeting of the year. Please meet us in the cafeteria on Wednesday, September 11, at 9:15a.m. to learn about the PTO, what we have done and our plans for the year.
•PBIS Student Report Focus Group Update-Last May, parents were invited to attend a PBIS Student Report Focus Group meeting to learn more about our reporting system and give advice for improving the process. One suggestion was to better inform the parents about the Student Report Form and its purpose. This week, Mrs. Arnold, our school counselor, has been reading the book The Juice Box Bully to the students and reviewing the report form and problem solving process. Information was sent home for you to review with your child. Contact Mrs. Arnold at 314-983-5546 or harnold@ladueschools.net with any questions, concerns, or celebrations.
•OB's Got Character!- September's Character Word of the Month at OB is RESPECT. Teachers will be talking about what respect looks like among students and staff in our school, and in our community. Consider talking about what respect looks like in your family at home. Need some talking points? Check out the websites below with your children:
video about respect: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMNgSipjEPg song about respect: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Euwi0SAn970

• Boy Scouts of America- Join us on Tuesday, September 10 @ 6:30p.m. in the Old Bonhomme Cafeteria to learn more about the new Cub Scout Pack 663. A Scouting Program will be available for new Scouts (Boys First through Fifth Grade), and a parent organizational meeting will start promptly at 6:45p.m. Sponsored by the OBPTO. Questions? Contact Joshua Stockstill at Joshua.Stockstill@scouting.org or 314.256.3104
• August/September SOAR Recognition Day- Our first SOAR Recognition Day is scheduled for Friday 9/27, with a rain date of Monday 9/30. Students in grades 1-4 will have the opportunity to exchange 10 SOAR tickets to have their regularly scheduled recess at Stacy Park. For those children choosing to participate, a permission slip will be sent home the week of the event. The permission slip must be signed and returned for students to be able to participate. We would like to have a minimum of 2 parent volunteers for each scheduled recess time. If you are available to help supervise students at Stacy Park on the date of the event/rain date, please email Lori Humphrey at lhumphrey@ladueschools.net with the time(s) you are available (please see recess times listed below).
First - 12:20-12:40 Second - 11:55 - 12:15 Third- 11:40-12:00 Fourth - 12:45-1:05
As we continue to randomly pass out SOAR tickets to students exhibiting SOARing behaviors, we appreciate your continued support in reinforcing the importance of making good choices at school by being in control of our body, being in control of our voice and doing our work.
Got a Kindergartener? During the months of August and September, Kindergarteners are turning in their SOAR tickets to the box in the front of the school for an opportunity to have their ticket drawn for a special prize each Friday during September. We look forward to Kindergartners having the opportunity to exchange their SOAR tickets for participation in OB's October SOAR Recognition Day, to be announced at the beginning of October.
•Entertainment Book- The entertainment book sale has ended. If you have not already done so, please turn in your check for $30 or your entertainment book to the office. For questions contact sherriconnors@me.com Thank you for supporting the OBPTO!
Cardinals’ Bullying Prevention Night- September 10- Join other Ladue families at the ballpark for a Cardinals’ game. If you wish to attend, please purchase tickets at the link below. There will be no organized Ladue or Old Bonhomme entry in the before-game activities. Tuesday, Sept.10 at 7:15; Cardinals vs. Brewers @Busch Stadium. Loge Level Tickets are $11 each. http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/stl/ticketing/group_theme.jsp?loc=bullyingprevention

The Ladue School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, socioeconomic status, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, disability, age or any other characteristic protected by law in its programs or activities. Inquiries related to the district’s employment practices may be directed to Ken Rossics, Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources. Inquiries related to district student programs may be directed to Dr. Laura Brock, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction. Both administrators can be reached at Ladue Schools Administrative Center, 9703 Conway Road, Saint Louis, MO 63124; 314-994-7080.