principal's coffee patch elementary school stallion news spelling bee

PATCH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STALLION NEWS
Friday, February 5, 2010 Issue 19
MISSION STATEMENT
To provide an exemplary education that inspires and prepares all DoDEA
students for success in a dynamic, global environment.
Contents
Principal’s Coffee 1
Spelling Bee 1
Awards Assembly 2
PTA News 3
Outdoor Games Club 3
Special Education 3
Spotlight on Literacy 3
Child Find Screening 3
Important Dates 4
Kids With Character 4
Monthly Calendar 5
Don't be
discouraged.
It's often
the last key
in the bunch
that opens
the lock.
PRINCIPAL’S COFFEE
Are you new to our school or do you have a question or concern about
any aspect of the school program? If so, then you are encouraged to
attend the February Principal’s Coffee. Bring your questions and
concerns to our school Principal, Dr. Robert Allen, for an informal
question and answer session. We will meet on Monday, February 8 at
8:10 in the school office. Our PTA will provide delicious refreshments,
so please come join us.
SPELLING BEE
Spelling Bees for Kindergarten through 2 nd Grade will be held the
last week in February. All bees will be held in the school lobby at 8:50
a.m. Kindergarten will take place on Monday, February 22, 2 nd Grade
on Thursday, February 25, and 1 st Grade on Friday, February 26. The
bees will be informal and any student who is interested will get a
chance to participate in the class or grade level bee. Kindergarten and
1st grade will begin with the Dolch 220 sight words then go on to
the official spelling bee list, if needed. The word list can be found at
www.dolch-words.com. The second grade will begin with the official
spelling bee list that is attached at the end of this newsletter. You may
contact AD with any questions.
AWARDS ASSEMBLY
On Friday, February 12 we will recognize our Honor Roll and Principal’s
Honor Roll Students in grades 4 and 5 at an assembly to be held in the
Multi-Purpose Room at 8:05 a.m. You are welcome to join us as we
congratulate these exceptional students.

Page 2 of 4
School Newsletter
PTA NEWS
USED BOOK FAIR
SCHOOL T-SHIRT
SALES
Did you know that every Friday is Spirit Day?
Why not show your school spirit with a school T-
shirt? A PTA Representative will be selling t-shirts
in the lobby on Thursday, February 11 from 2:15-
2:45 and on Tuesday, February 16 during the first
thirty minutes of the AR Night starting at 6:00 p.m.
Thank you for supporting student spirit in our
school!
BOX TOPS FOR
EDUCATION
It's time once again to cut Box Top coupons and turn
them in to your child's teacher. Your PTA is
sponsoring a competition to see which classroom
can collect the most Box Tops. The winning
classroom will earn a pizza party! The competition
ends on Friday, February 19. Volunteers are
needed to help with this fundraiser. If you are
interested, please contact DS.
Every year our PTA sponsors a Used Book Fair in order to
give parents and children the opportunity to purchase
slightly used books at a reduced cost. This year’s event is
scheduled for the end of March, and we need your help!
During your spring-cleaning, please take a few minutes to
sort through your bookshelves for anything your child has
outgrown. Bring the books to school and place them in
one of the plastic bins that will be placed throughout the
school. Your donations will help the PTA raise funds for
many programs that will benefit all our students. We also
need volunteers to accept money, answer questions and
help the children make selections. If you can help
volunteer or you need more information please contact JH.
PTA MEETING
The next PTA meeting will be held on Monday, February
8 at 11:30 in the Information Center. If you have any
questions about the PTA, you may e-mail PTA President
CR.
YEARBOOKS ON SALE!
It’s time to order your 2009-10 Patch Elementary School Yearbook!
The cost of the yearbook is $20 per copy, and orders will only be taken February 8-19. You will find an order form
attached to this newsletter, as well as in the school office. Completed order forms can be turned in to the school
office.
This will be the ONLY time we are offering yearbook pre-sales. If there are any extra copies after distribution in June,
they will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis. No orders will be taken after February 19.
Make sure your child receives a yearbook….order TODAY!

Page 3 of 4
OUTDOOR GAMES CLUB
It is time for Outdoor Games Club to begin! This club
is for students in grades K-2 who want to learn new
games to play on the playground, usually with limited
equipment. Club members will also learn about
sportsmanship and working together. The first forty
students who return a permission slip will be allowed
to participate. In order to maximize playing time,
these forty students will be separated into two groups
of twenty, each, that will play on either Tuesday or
Thursday from 2:45-3:45. An e-mail will be sent
home informing you which day your child will be
assigned. The first meeting dates will be Tuesday,
February 16 and Thursday, February 18. Please
return the attached permission slip to your child’s
teacher by Wednesday, February 10. If you need
more information please e-mail Ms. B.
SPECIAL EDUCATION
SPECIALISTS
Patch Elementary School provides Special Education
services for children with mild to severe disabilities.
Preschool children ages 3-5 having developmental
delays are enrolled in the PSCD program. Three
learning impaired specialists and two speech/language
pathologists support kindergarteners through fifth
graders with learning and speech/language
impairments. A vision specialist is new to our staff
this year to assist with vision needs. For children with
mild to moderate hearing needs, an itinerant special
educator visits the school to provide evaluation and
consultation.
School Newsletter
FOREIGN LANGUAGE
In the
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
FLES is off to a great start in the third quarter.
Kindergarten and second grades are currently learning
how to express their feelings in Spanish and learning how
to identify and name opposites. The students are
enjoying mastering these simple words and phrases in
rhyme and with songs. We have also incorporated our
new Smartboards into our lesson plans. Utilizing this
wonderful piece of technology will help to encompass
different teaching styles and create an environment
conducive to more learning styles.
In third grade we have encountered aliens! The
students have just completed a unit on body parts.
Students can now give a description of themselves, their
friends, and any outer space beings they may encounter!
They are also able to read the description of a person in
Spanish and draw a picture of what the person may look
like based on what they read.
Fourth grade and Multi-Age students are engaged in a
friendly competition to see which class can achieve the
highest average test scores in Spanish. The class with the
highest test average will be the recipient of the Spanish
Class Party! The winners for the “El Cuerpo” test goes
to Sra. Palladino’s Multi-Age Class.
CHILD FIND SCREENING
Department of Defense Education Activity schools
provide an ongoing Child Find program to identify
children with special needs. If you have concerns about
your child’s development in the areas of language, speech,
self-help skills, social skills, thinking skills or motor
coordination, and he or she is 3 to 5 years old, you may
want to have your child screened for possible delays. To
make an appointment for the screening, please contact SB
by calling 0711-680-5200. If your child is school-aged,
please contact your child’s teacher for information.
THE FASCHING SEASON IN GERMANY
In Host Nation classes our students have learned about Fasching (carnival). Appropriate to their age, the students
made masks, sang Fasching songs and studied the historical background of Fasching.
On Sunday, February 14 at 2:00 p.m. there will be a 90-minute Fasching parade in the center of Weil Der Stadt.
This would be a great opportunity for families to experience the German Fasching tradition.

Page 4 of 4
School Newsletter
KIDS WITH CHARACTER
Feb. 8
Feb. 8
Feb. 12
Feb. 15
Feb. 16
IMPORTANT DATES
Principal’s Coffee, 8:10 a.m.
School Office
PTA Meeting, 11:30 a.m.
Information Center
Awards Assembly for 4 th and 5 th Grade
8:05 a.m., Multi-Purpose Room
Presidents’ Day Holiday
School Closed
AR Night, 6:00-7:30 p.m.
Information Center
Feb. 19 Dental Screening, 8:00-2:30
School Lobby
Feb. 22 Kindergarten Spelling Bee, 8:50
School Lobby
FEBRUARY:
SELF DISCIPLINE
School Newsletter
Each week, your PES Guidance & Counseling
Program highlights a student from each class who
demonstrates the character trait of the month. The
character trait for this month is Self-Discipline. Do
you control your anger? Do you resolve conflicts?
Do you set goals? Are you self-confident? Are you a
good listener? Self-Discipline is doing things that
have to be done without being told and without
fussing. You show self-discipline when you do the
right thing, use good manners and are considerate,
follow rules, take care of yourself, and do nothing
that is dangerous. Congratulations to the following
students who show self-discipline!
Award Recipients for the
Week of February 1-5
Feb. 23 Dental Screening, 8:00-2:30
School Lobby
Feb. 24 Dental Screening, 8:00-2:30
School Lobby
Feb. 25 2 nd Grade Spelling Bee, 8:50
School Lobby
Feb. 25
Black History Month Assemblies,
1:00, 1:45, Multi-Purpose Room
Feb. 26 1 st Grade Spelling Bee, 8:50
School Lobby
Robert Allen, Principal
Ron Lathrop, Assistant Principal
Telephone: 0711-680-5200
430-5200 (DSN)
www.patch-es.eu.dodea.edu
Frank Roehl
Heidelberg District Superintendent
Telephone: 06221-7590-2312
388-9383 (DSN)
Also congratulations to Sarah and Conner for being
recognized for the January Character Trait,
“Perseverance”. Their names were inadvertently left
off the last newsletter.