2008-2009 PTA Executive Board - Greenville County School District

mark your
calendar
Mar. 8
Daylight Savings Time
begins/Spring Forward
Mar. 10-11
PASS Testing,
Grades 3-5, Writing
Mar. 16-20
Spring Book Fair
Mar. 23
Snow Makeup Day/
No school if not needed
Mar. 30-Apr. 1
Fifth grade trip
to Barrier Island
Apr. 2
Report Cards
Apr. 6-10
Spring Break
The
scoop
STONE ACADEMY OF COMMUNICATION ARTS
115 Randall Street, Greenville, SC 29609 864-355-8400
Edward P. Holliday, Principal www.greenville.k12.sc.us/stone
March 2009 Volume XVI, No. 6
Spring Book Fair
March 16-20
Come browse the great selection of Scholastic books.
You’ll find fun books to read over Spring Break, the latest
chapter books, beautifully illustrated picture books, easy
readers, and more. The book fair has books for everyone in
the family, from toddler board books to adult bestsellers.
Families are welcome to visit anytime.
After-school Special: 3-4 p.m. Monday-Thursday
Featuring refreshments, contests, drawings,
and $2 coupons (Monday).
All profits
support our
Stone Academy
library.
Hours
Monday-Thursday
8am-4pm
Friday
8am-11am

Dear Parents,
You received our School and District Report Cards that were recently released by the State
Department of Education. For 2007-08,Stone Academy achieved an Absolute Rating of
GOOD and a Growth Rating of Below Average. Of Greenville County’s 48 elementary schools
(including Charles Townes Center), 2 had an absolute rating of Excellent and 10 had Good.
• The Absolute Rating is based on Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test (PACT) results
for 2007-08 measured against target levels of performance. Target levels increase
every year. This means that it is more difficult for a school to achieve an Excellent,
Good or Average rating. The impact of the higher scoring requirements is cumulative
over time. Also, a school’s Absolute Rating is dropped one rating if the school has an
Excellent or Good Absolute Rating and does not meet its AYP performance target for
All Students for either math or English/Language Arts. Our school’s Absolute rating
was no t
impacted by our AYP rating.
• The Growth Rating indicates the progress of achievement scores for the same
students from one year to the next.
• Report Cards include our status toward meeting the Federal requirements of
Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) as defined by the No Child Left Behind Act. The
South Carolina School Report Card and AYP results can be confusing because a
school or school district can score well on the Report Card and not achieve AYP.
Why? Absolute and Growth ratings, established by the State, are based on student
achievement at all levels (Below Basic or 1 through Advanced or 5). AYP is based on
student achievement at the two highest levels - Proficient and Advanced. AYP targets
for percentages of students scoring Proficient or Advanced in each content area are
established by the state and increase every three years through the year 2014 when
100 percent of students are expected to score Proficient or above. South Carolina’s
standards are among the toughest in the nation. If just one student group in a school
or school district fails to meet one objective in a given year, the school or district
fails to meet AYP.
I encourage you to study the School and District Report Cards and to use their release as
an opportunity to be more involved with your child’s education and our school. If you have
questions, please do not hesitate to call me. I look
forward to working with you to ensure that our school
continues to improve.
Sincerely,
Ed Holliday

From the PTA Presidents...
Dear Friends,
Spring is in sight! Signs of the earth’s renewal are everywhere, from the buds on the trees to the faint
greening of lawns. At Stone, the Secret Garden is coming to life, the Spring Production is a pleasant
memory, and Arts Alive looms large on the horizon.
Your PTA is in the process of its own yearly renewal. Members of our Nominating Committee are
working hard to find leadership for next year’s PTA executive board. As you know, the Greenville
County School District is facing sharp budget cuts for the upcoming year. These cuts make the
efforts of our organization more vital to our school than ever before. The money we raise purchases
important educational tools for all of our children, and PTA volunteers assist our teachers in making
the most of valuable instructional time. We need your help to continue moving forward despite the
difficulties that lie ahead.
A strong leadership team is needed to make the most of the resources available to the PTA, and we
ask your help in filling these Executive Board positions. PTA is truly a team effort, and our children
are the ultimate winners when our team is strong. If you are interested in being an integral part of
Stone’s continued success, please contact a member of our Nominating Committee. They are Missy
Latham, Deirdre Jones, Angela Mozie, Amy King, and Jill Pearce. If you are curious about the duties
of any board or committee position, please contact this year’s chairperson, one of us, or a member of
the Nominating Committee. We will be happy to answer your questions.
Meanwhile, put up your sweaters and pull out your shorts! Spring Break is the first full week of April,
and Arts Alive is only a few days after that. We are excited about our first-ever Restaurant Raffle and
the many wonderful Silent Auction items that have already arrived. Class Treasures are in full swing;
be sure to ask your child what his or her class has created for this very popular and competitive part
of the Silent Auction. Arts Alive is our largest fundraiser, and the money we make this spring will
stretch far to help our teachers next fall.
Thank you for your continued support.
Kate Combs Anna Foster
Co-President Co-President
nealkate6@bellsouth.net Rfoster251@aol.com
288-2949 286-8007
Don’t miss out! Reserve your 2009 School Yearbook by the end of
March for $10.00. If you don’t reserve a copy you may not get one. So
remember! Turn in yearbook money to your child’s teacher.

Kindergarten News
Spring is almost here! Our kindergarteners are
reading, writing and learning about animals.
They are excited about our upcoming Easter egg
hunt and the warm weather to come!
Box Tops for Education
The Box Tops program has
been quite a success so
far this school year as we
have now raised over
$775 for Stone since
August 2008! Thanks
so much for
supporting our school! Keep sending
in those Box Tops – even if you have just a few,
they add up quickly. Please remember to check
the expiration dates and to only send in Box
Tops labels (not Campbell’s Soup labels). Mrs.
Knight’s First Grade Class collected the most
box tops this month and will celebrate with ice
cream treats. Congratulations!
Spring Book Fair Goal
A portion of the fall book fair profit has been
used to purchase library books, magazine and
newspaper subscriptions, and shelf markers for
all students. We hope to use the remainder of this
year’s total book fair profit for the purchase of a
Promethean Board for the library. The board will
be used for instruction at all grade levels as well
as for faculty training. Your book fair support is
appreciated!
Great Scot! Young Writers Contest
The organizers of the Greenville Scottish Games
invites all students in grades 1-12 to learn about
Scotland and submit poems or prose about what
they learned. Winners will receive US savings
bonds and may be asked to read their entry on
stage during the games. For more information,
see http://www.greenvillegames.org/Young_
Writers_Entry_Form.pdf.
PTA Nominating Committee
Missy Latham, Deirdre Jones, Angela Mozie, Amy
King, and Jill Pearce. If you are interested in
serving on the PTA board next year, or if you
know someone who might, please contact one of
the parents listed above.
Announcing a way to recycle
#5 rigid plastic containers:
A partnership between Preserve, Organic Valley
and Stonyfield Farm reflects the three companies’
shared commitment to protecting the environment
by recycling #5 plastics. The program is called
Gimme 5.
Common #5 plastics include packaging for yogurt,
cottage cheese, cream cheese, ricotta cheese,
margarine and hummus containers; medicine
bottles; some plastic ice cream containers; and
food storage and take-out containers. The number
5 should be plainly marked on the bottom of the
container.
Additionally, the Preserve Gimme 5 program
accepts Brita® water pitcher filters for recycling.
Instructions for drying and submitting these filters
can be found at www.preserveproducts.com.
Gimme 5 does not currently have drop off bins in
our area, but plans to add them in the future. For
now you can send your #5s by ground shipping
to the address below. Make sure to include your
return address on the box and add your name and
email address inside the box.
Send Gimme 5 shipments to:
Preserve Gimme 5
823 NYS Rte 13
Cortland, NY 13045
Compass Learning
Parents, did you know that your child can access
Compass Learning from home? Just go to the Stone
home page (www.greenville.k12.sc.us/stone
) and click on the compass icon at
the top left.
As long a student
knows his user
name, he can
use Compass
Learning. If
you have any
questions,
please contact
Charlie Slate at
cslate@greenville.
k12.sc.us.

A Note From The Gym
Field Day
Mark you calendar, field day will be on Wednesday, May 27 th . Many volunteers are needed to make the
day a success. Volunteer and t-shirt order forms will be coming home with students in April.
Mile Club is still going on…
The “Mile Club” is an incentive program that promotes physical fitness at home. In order to
participate, students are asked to walk or run a predetermined distance within their neighborhoods.
Students should keep a log with the date and distance in which they ran/walked. Parents/guardians
will need to help by making sure the distance traveled is accurate; I simply drive the route in my
vehicle to record the distance. Keep in mind that safety comes first. I do not recommend high traffic
areas for this activity. Also, an adult living with the student must sign the mile log prior to turning it
in. Every ten miles, students will receive a foot that can be worn on their shoelaces. Once a child has
reach 100 miles, his or her name will go a Mile Club board permanently mounted on the gym wall.
Keep in mind:
• Students must participate in this activity outside, so treadmill walking will not count.
• Skateboarding, skating, rollerblading, scooters and bicycling do not count for distances. Only
walking or running. Students are participating in this activity on an honor system. I ask that
parents not sign a students log if they are not 100% sure he or she has traveled the said distance.
The Great Amazing Race Across South Carolina
3 rd Grade Classes have begun The Great Amazing Race Across South Carolina. Each class will need to
acquire 370 miles to get their team across South Carolina. Please check the gym wall to see how each
class is doing. Student may walk or run during recess or at home to advance their team. If walking/
running at home, parents will need to sign the mileage log prior to sending it in. Good Luck!
March comes roaring like a lion most years and
this year is no exception. The counselor’s office
will be roaring through the month with little
expectation of leaving like a lamb. PASS (Palmetto
Assessment of State Standards) will take place for
3rd, 4th, and 5th grades on March 10 & 11. This
will be the writing portion of the test. The rest of
PASS will be administered in May.
Please look for volunteer requests for monitoring
these test dates. We really need and value your
volunteerism during testing. Without it, we will
have to cancel many related arts programs to
cover monitors for these tests. Mrs. Deirdre Jones
is the volunteer coordinator and will be sending
you information soon about how you can help.
Remember to schedule appointments on these
days for lunch time or later in the afternoon.
Please make sure your child gets plenty of rest the
night before testing and eats a good breakfast the
day of testing. Your example of being prepared
will help your child in life by helping them get
ready for testing.
Testing Schedule for Stone Academy
The School District made several changes to the
testing schedule. The revised dates are listed
below.
If you would like to volunteer to help monitor a
classroom during testing, please contact Deirdre
Jones who will coordinate volunteers during
testing. We really appreciate your help and could
not do this without your help.
March 10, 2009 – PASS (Palmetto Assessment of
State Standards) Grades 3-5 Writing section of ELA
March 2009 – MAP testing for Grade 1-5 on a
variable schedule throughout the month. Talk
to your teacher concerning days scheduled for
testing.
May 12-19, 2009 – PASS, Grades 3-5 for ELA,
Math, Science, Social Studies, and Field testing.

Letter to the Editor of The Greenville News...
As a parent of two children who attend Stone Academy (a magnet school for the Communication
Arts) and a resident of the North Main area, I am very concerned that our children have to share
a playground with the city. I wonder how many parents and neighbors realize that Croft Park is
contracted out from the City of Greenville for us to use during school hours. Probably very few. There
is no signage anywhere that states it is exclusively ours during school and aftercare hours. Although,
most of the general community has been polite enough to not intrude when our children are present,
we don’t have much of a leg to stand on if someone outside the school insists on their right to use the
park during Stone’s hours of operation. Every so many years the contract between Stone Academy and
the City of Greenville must be re-signed and updated. I think at the very least it should be updated
to include a sign stating to the general community, that during the hours of 7:30 am to 5:30 pm, it is
only to be used by Stone Academy students, faculty and parents.
Stone Academy is the only elementary school in Greenville County that does not have its very own
playground – owned, operated & secured by the School District. It has recently come to my attention,
that there are a couple of properties adjacent to our campus that could be purchased by the School
District for Stone Academy’s playground. I invite parents and neighbors to come to our next Stone
Academy PTA meeting so that we can further explore our options. Stone Academy students deserve
their very own playground. It’s time the School Board addresses this issue with our children’s safety,
physical education and well being in mind.
Sincerely,
Missy Latham
Stone Academy PTA Vice President of Communications & Hospitality
A petition urging the School District to provide a playground for Stone Academy is in the
school office. Please make a point of signing it the next time you are at school.

y Connie Buto
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is
sponsoring an illustrated haiku contest for
students in grades Kindergarten through 12 th
grade as part of their Chemists Celebrate Earth
Day celebration. The theme for the Illustrated
Haiku Contest is “Air – The Sky’s the Limit”. Dr.
John Kaup is the coordinator for this contest.
(jgkaup@clemson.edu) This will also be the
theme for the March Written in Stone contest and
winners from each grade category will be sent
into this Earth Day Contest. Entries are due March
27, 2009.
Congratulations to the following Written in Stone
winners for the month of January.
Written in Stone, January 2009
District Writing Prompt
1st Grade
First Place
Emma Mecklenburg,
Ms. Knight
Zoe Ward, Ms. Whitmire
Honorable Mention
Ashley Duncan,
Ms. Knight
Dylan Hardwick,
Ms. Sandzen
Tenison Stokes,
Ms. Sandzen
Ashlyn Cadenhead,
Ms. Sandzen
Daniel Axmann,
Ms. Dodson
Kaylen Beemer,
Ms. Dodson
Hall of Fame
Holly Bruccoliere,
Ms. Knight
Julianne Bouknight,
Ms. Sandzen
2nd Grade
First Place
Alli Cooper, Ms. Metcalf
Will Harris, Ms. Proffitt
Amber Magnuson,
Ms. Dear
Zoe Massey, Ms. Proffitt
Gracie Wells,
Ms. Proffitt
Honorable Mention
Catherine Dowdy,
Ms. Merrill
CJ Waldrop, Ms. Dear
Hall of Fame
Mary Gilden,
Ms. Proffitt
Rowan Brown,
Ms. Merrill
Mary Camilla Kennedy,
Ms. Dear
Hali Knight, Ms. Proffitt
3rd Grade
First Place
Kaitlyn Harris,
Ms. Ingram
Aidan Forster,
Ms. Watson
Honorable Mention
Isabel Spinelli,
Ms. Moore
Hall of Fame
Lillian Hart, Ms. Ingram
4th Grade
First Place
Lindsey Wise,
Ms. Nilsson
Abi Thomas,
Ms. Nilsson
Lindsey Duncan,
Ms. Nilsson
Honorable Mention
Josh Axmann,
Ms. Nilsson
Yusef Robinson,
Ms. Nilsson
Dyamond Douglas,
Ms. Nilsson
Hall of Fame
Davis Crews,
Ms. Stucky
5th Grade
First Place
Elizabeth Watkins,
Ms. Grimsley
Grace Mozie,
Ms. McClain
Robert Hunter,
Ms. McClain
Honorable Mention
Anna Redderson,
Ms. Grimsley
Carrie Mendelsohn,
Ms. Gilstrap
Virginia Britt, Ms.
McClain
Hall of Fame
Anna Combs,
Ms. Grimsley
Arts Alive
April 24, 2009
It’s almost that time of year again. Arts Alive is
just around the corner and we need your help.
Please consider donating one or more of the
following items. Items can be brought to the next
PTA night, dropped off in the office, or sent in with
your student. Please mark the items “Arts Alive”.
Thank you for your generosity and support.
Craft Items
Tempera paint in all colors
Colored hair paint
White t-shirts (all sizes)
White shoelaces
RIT dye/fabric paint
Miscellaneous
Silly string
Clear packing tape
Sharpies
Balloons
Temporary tattoos
Disposable gloves
Rope/string
Plastic tablecloths
Gauze, band aids, etc…
Wet wipes
Grocery/Food Items
12 oz. sodas (bottles)
Sports drinks (bottles)
Sugar cookies
Sprinkles, icing, etc…
Styrofoam cups
Plastic spoons
Napkins
Snow cone syrup
Paper Towels
Ziplock bags
(gallon and quart)
Brown lunch bags
Flour
Plastic plates
M&Ms (chocolate)

2008-2009 PTA Executive Board
Co-President Kate Combs 288-2949 nealkate6@bellsouth.net
Co-President Anna Foster 286-8007 rfoster251@aol.com
Co-VP, Ways & Means Karen Boone 239-0418 sboone2@charter.net
Co-VP, Ways & Means Tina Matheny 235-0590 tinamatheny@bellsouth.net
VP, Serv, & Enrich. Missy Latham 250-0158 missylatham@yahoo.com
VP, Comm & Hops. Leora Riordan 268-9069 leordan@bellsouth.net
Treasurer Mel Champlin 609-5530 mcgchamplin@juno.com
Asst. Treasurer Amy King 298-0346 amy_king@chater.net
Secretary Betsy Baumgardner
Teacher Rep. Kristen Mostoller 355-8439 kduvall@greenville.k12.sc.us
District 1 Southwest Council President,
Dede Leftwich
dleftwich@charter.net
National PTA
541 Fairbanks Ct., Ste. 1300
Chicago, IL 60611-3396
800-307-4PTA (4782)
www.pta.org
District 1 PTA President,
Tracy Moore
tracy.moore@att.net
South Carolina PTA
1826 Henderson St.
Columbia, SC 29201
800-743-3782
www.scpta.org
Stone Scoop is a publication of the Stone Academy PTA. Kate Combs and Anna Foster, Co-Presidents; Helen Graben, Editor