Dear Parents:
This is a short week, and therefore, a short blog! Students are off on Monday the 18th and will be off for half a day on Thursday the 21st. . I am sure you are all asking why we have half days. Central Office has allowed several half days built into the calendar so that teachers can be afforded the opportunity for staff development to keep them current with new educational trends. This month at Blair we will be doing a staff development on the "Fish" Philosophy, a way to boost morale, improve results and help make our students and faculty more positive and self assuring.
On Wednesday, we will be having a panel of judges for our school Science Fair. It should be quite interesting and a lot of fun. Grades 1 and 2 will also be going to the Pied Piper performance. Our School Improvement Team will meet after school and it is open to the parents if they wish to attend. It will be in our Media Center at 2:45 pm.
Have a wonderful week, enjoy the warmer weather to come, and enjoy your children.
Yours in Education,
Barbara Stock, Principal
Friday, January 15, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Week of January 11, 2010
Dear Parents:
Happy New Year!!! Hope everyone had a terrific holiday season. Our teachers all look very well rested and are revitalized and ready to continue teaching all our Blair students. Hope your students are happy to be back as well.
Friday was a 2-hour delay morning, but all went well and our students were excited at the thought of snow. That is something we don't see here very often. From an old northerner originally from the Lake Erie area of Cleveland, Ohio, believe me when I tell you the snow is over-rated!
This coming week includes the following events, suggestions and notes:
1. As long as the weather is not freezing, raining or heavy winds, we generally do go outside for recess, even if it is for 10 minutes. Studies show fresh air is good for all of us, moves our blood and oxygen levels around and helps us focus better the rest of the day. We decide on a day-by-day basis whether students will go outside. Even if we have inside recess, students still have to bundle up to move to electives and lunch in the cafeteria. All this being said, please be sure your students have hats and gloves and an appropriate coat for the weather. If you are in need of any heavy winter clothing items, please feel free to contact me or Ms. Bass, our counselor. Of course, it will be kept confidential. We have given out over 40 pair of gloves just this last week!
2. On Tuesday, we will have a Family Math Nite at the Food Lion at Market and Gordon Roads. The idea is to have the family help students work on real-life math problems in the grocery store. Food Lion will provide worksheets where students find items in the food aisles and solve mathematical problems from the grocery shelf items. No purchases needed! Please join us from 5-7 pm. We are hoping that this will be a yearly activity we can provide our students.
3. The uniform survey results showed that 60% of parents surveyed were NOT in favor of uniforms for students at this time. Therefore, we will not pursue the issue for the 2010-11 school year.
4. On Wednesday our faculty will be honing in on assessment testings of your students. Our K-2 teachers will be sharing Dibel data and Grades 3-5 teachers will be sharing ClassScape Assessment data with each other. This exercise will help teachers with strategies to improve student learning, share positive results and help teachers assess where we are and where we all need to be to ensure successful students for the 21st Century.
5. On Wednesday morning, I will also be having a "Coffee with the Principal" and invite all of you to join us for questions and issues you might like to discuss in an open forum. An invitation will be sent out on Monday. We ask that you return it if you plan to join us, as we need to purchase coffee and a light breakfast we would like to share with you. We will begin at 8:00 a.m. We would love to have you there. In April, we will do a "Coffee with the Principal" in the evening for working parents who cannot attend in the morning.
6. On Thursday, our PTA is offering a fun activity for your children. We are offering Skate Nite at JellyBeans on Oleander Road for our Blair students. The admission is $6.00 per student and if parents do not want to skate, admission is free to just watch. Skate Nite is from 6-8 pm. Hope to see you there!
Stay warm and have a wonderful week!
Yours in Education,
Barbara Stock, Principal
Happy New Year!!! Hope everyone had a terrific holiday season. Our teachers all look very well rested and are revitalized and ready to continue teaching all our Blair students. Hope your students are happy to be back as well.
Friday was a 2-hour delay morning, but all went well and our students were excited at the thought of snow. That is something we don't see here very often. From an old northerner originally from the Lake Erie area of Cleveland, Ohio, believe me when I tell you the snow is over-rated!
This coming week includes the following events, suggestions and notes:
1. As long as the weather is not freezing, raining or heavy winds, we generally do go outside for recess, even if it is for 10 minutes. Studies show fresh air is good for all of us, moves our blood and oxygen levels around and helps us focus better the rest of the day. We decide on a day-by-day basis whether students will go outside. Even if we have inside recess, students still have to bundle up to move to electives and lunch in the cafeteria. All this being said, please be sure your students have hats and gloves and an appropriate coat for the weather. If you are in need of any heavy winter clothing items, please feel free to contact me or Ms. Bass, our counselor. Of course, it will be kept confidential. We have given out over 40 pair of gloves just this last week!
2. On Tuesday, we will have a Family Math Nite at the Food Lion at Market and Gordon Roads. The idea is to have the family help students work on real-life math problems in the grocery store. Food Lion will provide worksheets where students find items in the food aisles and solve mathematical problems from the grocery shelf items. No purchases needed! Please join us from 5-7 pm. We are hoping that this will be a yearly activity we can provide our students.
3. The uniform survey results showed that 60% of parents surveyed were NOT in favor of uniforms for students at this time. Therefore, we will not pursue the issue for the 2010-11 school year.
4. On Wednesday our faculty will be honing in on assessment testings of your students. Our K-2 teachers will be sharing Dibel data and Grades 3-5 teachers will be sharing ClassScape Assessment data with each other. This exercise will help teachers with strategies to improve student learning, share positive results and help teachers assess where we are and where we all need to be to ensure successful students for the 21st Century.
5. On Wednesday morning, I will also be having a "Coffee with the Principal" and invite all of you to join us for questions and issues you might like to discuss in an open forum. An invitation will be sent out on Monday. We ask that you return it if you plan to join us, as we need to purchase coffee and a light breakfast we would like to share with you. We will begin at 8:00 a.m. We would love to have you there. In April, we will do a "Coffee with the Principal" in the evening for working parents who cannot attend in the morning.
6. On Thursday, our PTA is offering a fun activity for your children. We are offering Skate Nite at JellyBeans on Oleander Road for our Blair students. The admission is $6.00 per student and if parents do not want to skate, admission is free to just watch. Skate Nite is from 6-8 pm. Hope to see you there!
Stay warm and have a wonderful week!
Yours in Education,
Barbara Stock, Principal
Friday, December 11, 2009
Week of December 14, 2009
Dear Families: We sure are getting closer to the holiday season. Just a reminder (my teachers insisted I write this!!!) that the students' last day is December 18. Return date is January 4, 2010. We hope you all have a fun filled and happy holiday...
We have a request from PTA: They are collecting 600 milk/sweet tea jugs for an earth day project. If you would send them to school, we will pass them on to the PTA.
Please make plans to join us for our Fifth grade Chorus this Tuesday night. The singing will begin at 6:30 and a little birdie told me we may all be asked to sing a song together for the holidays!! PTA will be serving yummy desserts afterwards. This would be a great time to have fellowship with our students, their friends and families. Please try to join us for this special event.
The cafeteria asked us to explain to you that we do not bill overdue lunches until they reach $10.00. Those accounts that eventually turn into free and reduced lunches still owe the prior balance. Our cafeteria is down $1200.00 from overdue lunches not paid just so far this year.
And a final reminder that if you are able, please see Miss Elaine in the front office to help with the Angel Tree. The family child you pick will only be known to our Guidance team. If you and your family can provide a gift or clothing for a child who is not so fortunate, please think about a doing the Angel Tree at Blair. All gifts and proceeds benefit Blair students 100%. We thank you for your generosity and kindness in advance.
We hope you all have a wonderful holiday season. We are secretly hoping for just a sprinkle of snow one morning....Be warm, be safe, be happy!
Yours in education,
Barbara Stock
Principal
We have a request from PTA: They are collecting 600 milk/sweet tea jugs for an earth day project. If you would send them to school, we will pass them on to the PTA.
Please make plans to join us for our Fifth grade Chorus this Tuesday night. The singing will begin at 6:30 and a little birdie told me we may all be asked to sing a song together for the holidays!! PTA will be serving yummy desserts afterwards. This would be a great time to have fellowship with our students, their friends and families. Please try to join us for this special event.
The cafeteria asked us to explain to you that we do not bill overdue lunches until they reach $10.00. Those accounts that eventually turn into free and reduced lunches still owe the prior balance. Our cafeteria is down $1200.00 from overdue lunches not paid just so far this year.
And a final reminder that if you are able, please see Miss Elaine in the front office to help with the Angel Tree. The family child you pick will only be known to our Guidance team. If you and your family can provide a gift or clothing for a child who is not so fortunate, please think about a doing the Angel Tree at Blair. All gifts and proceeds benefit Blair students 100%. We thank you for your generosity and kindness in advance.
We hope you all have a wonderful holiday season. We are secretly hoping for just a sprinkle of snow one morning....Be warm, be safe, be happy!
Yours in education,
Barbara Stock
Principal
Friday, December 4, 2009
Week of December 7, 2009
Dear Parents:
We will be publishing our School Improvement Team notes on line. If you are interested in what we discuss and what decisions we make for the good of our students, please follow the link on our Blair web page.
This is the month of our Angel tree. If you are able and this is optional, we would appreciate if you stop in the front office and pick an angel off our tree. It has a number that will identify a student in need. We have asked the parents to identify three items each child needs and one toy item. You may pick whichever angel off the tree you would like. Buy the requested gift, wrap it, and return it with the Angel. We will then have families pick up holiday items before our Christmas break time. This will ensure that all students will enjoy the holidays with some types of gifts.
On Wednesday, our PTA is sponsoring a night out at ON THE BORDER at Mayfaire. Dinner inside will be served from 5-9 pm and some proceeds will be given to our PTA. Please help us show our support for the PTA. Also, if you have not joined yet, please do so by the first of the year. We truly appreciate all your support. This is an easy fundraiser-shop Mayfair for Christmas and stop in for dinner, then continue shopping!!!
Upcoming events:
December 15: PTA Chorus presentation and dessert fellowship night @ 7:00 pm.
December 18-last day for students before the new year.
Have a wonderful week. If there is anything you need, need to know or want to ask, please feel free to contact me at 350-2045 or barbara.stock@nhcs.local We will be happy to help you with whatever you need to know!!
Have a great week.
Yours in Education
Barbara Stock, Principal
We will be publishing our School Improvement Team notes on line. If you are interested in what we discuss and what decisions we make for the good of our students, please follow the link on our Blair web page.
This is the month of our Angel tree. If you are able and this is optional, we would appreciate if you stop in the front office and pick an angel off our tree. It has a number that will identify a student in need. We have asked the parents to identify three items each child needs and one toy item. You may pick whichever angel off the tree you would like. Buy the requested gift, wrap it, and return it with the Angel. We will then have families pick up holiday items before our Christmas break time. This will ensure that all students will enjoy the holidays with some types of gifts.
On Wednesday, our PTA is sponsoring a night out at ON THE BORDER at Mayfaire. Dinner inside will be served from 5-9 pm and some proceeds will be given to our PTA. Please help us show our support for the PTA. Also, if you have not joined yet, please do so by the first of the year. We truly appreciate all your support. This is an easy fundraiser-shop Mayfair for Christmas and stop in for dinner, then continue shopping!!!
Upcoming events:
December 15: PTA Chorus presentation and dessert fellowship night @ 7:00 pm.
December 18-last day for students before the new year.
Have a wonderful week. If there is anything you need, need to know or want to ask, please feel free to contact me at 350-2045 or barbara.stock@nhcs.local We will be happy to help you with whatever you need to know!!
Have a great week.
Yours in Education
Barbara Stock, Principal
Friday, November 20, 2009
Week of November 23, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Please be aware that we only have your darling students this week for Monday and Tuesday. Please enjoy them on Wednesday through Sunday! Send them back full and happy next Monday morning! We are all anxious to give thanks for all we have this week and to spend time with family and friends and relax a little before the busy holiday season that will soon be upon us.
Here's what's happening in our neck of the woods this week:
Monday, November 23:
School Improvement Team at 2:45 p.m. in the Media Center. Our SIT group is composed of teachers, assistants, parents, PTA and community who come together every other month to help make decisions for Blair's best interest. If you have anything you would like to discuss, please let me know and we can place it on the agenda. One thing we will be discussing is the possibility of uniforms next year. We will begin thinking about a survey that we would like to send out before the Christmas holidays begin.
Tuesday, November 24: We will be having harvest celebrations in many classrooms today. Please check with your child's teacher to see when each class will be giving thanks. We will also be celebrating our schoolwide PBS (Positive Behavior Support) assemblies. Grades K-2 will be at 8:15 a.m. in the cafeteria and Grades 3-5 will be recognized at 8:55 a.m. in the cafeteria. Please be sure to stop in the front office first, sign in and get a green sticker. We hope you can join us for the assemblies.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. We are thankful for your children here at Blair. They make us smile every day. I am sincerely wishing you a wonderful weekend of fun, good food, happy family times and relaxation.
Yours in Education,
Barbara Stock, Principal
Please be aware that we only have your darling students this week for Monday and Tuesday. Please enjoy them on Wednesday through Sunday! Send them back full and happy next Monday morning! We are all anxious to give thanks for all we have this week and to spend time with family and friends and relax a little before the busy holiday season that will soon be upon us.
Here's what's happening in our neck of the woods this week:
Monday, November 23:
School Improvement Team at 2:45 p.m. in the Media Center. Our SIT group is composed of teachers, assistants, parents, PTA and community who come together every other month to help make decisions for Blair's best interest. If you have anything you would like to discuss, please let me know and we can place it on the agenda. One thing we will be discussing is the possibility of uniforms next year. We will begin thinking about a survey that we would like to send out before the Christmas holidays begin.
Tuesday, November 24: We will be having harvest celebrations in many classrooms today. Please check with your child's teacher to see when each class will be giving thanks. We will also be celebrating our schoolwide PBS (Positive Behavior Support) assemblies. Grades K-2 will be at 8:15 a.m. in the cafeteria and Grades 3-5 will be recognized at 8:55 a.m. in the cafeteria. Please be sure to stop in the front office first, sign in and get a green sticker. We hope you can join us for the assemblies.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. We are thankful for your children here at Blair. They make us smile every day. I am sincerely wishing you a wonderful weekend of fun, good food, happy family times and relaxation.
Yours in Education,
Barbara Stock, Principal
Friday, November 13, 2009
Week of November 16, 2009
Dear Parents:
The weather has gotten colder and colder. If you know of any children in your neighborhoods or churches who need a coat, let us know. Our PTA has been doing a Coat Drive and we probably have 50 coats left over. We would love for them to go to a nice home and be used.
We are finally doing better with the flu spreading a little less (fewer students being sent home!) We have been washing hands, disinfecting desks and counters and bathrooms and have been coughing and sneezing the proper ways as not to spread germs. We are so glad the children and faculty are feeling better.
Blair Elementary will have our first evaluation process on Wednesday. Mrs. Stock will be showing documentation for professional development, communication (like this blog), community involvement, testing data and working conditions. We feel it will be all good!!!
Grade 5 will celebrate on Friday at 8:30 a.m. for graduating from the DARE Drug Program. We will have select students read their stories about how to say NO to drugs, then have a little party (celebration) in honor of the pledge that students will take.
We will have our School Improvement Team meeting on Monday the 23rd at 2:45 p.m. Any parent is welcome to come and speak, ask or tell whatever is on their mind about Blair.
Blair will be closed for the Thanksgiving holidays on Wednesday the 25th, Thursday the 26th and Friday the 27th.
Have a warm and happy week.
Yours in Education,
Barbara Stock, Principal
The weather has gotten colder and colder. If you know of any children in your neighborhoods or churches who need a coat, let us know. Our PTA has been doing a Coat Drive and we probably have 50 coats left over. We would love for them to go to a nice home and be used.
We are finally doing better with the flu spreading a little less (fewer students being sent home!) We have been washing hands, disinfecting desks and counters and bathrooms and have been coughing and sneezing the proper ways as not to spread germs. We are so glad the children and faculty are feeling better.
Blair Elementary will have our first evaluation process on Wednesday. Mrs. Stock will be showing documentation for professional development, communication (like this blog), community involvement, testing data and working conditions. We feel it will be all good!!!
Grade 5 will celebrate on Friday at 8:30 a.m. for graduating from the DARE Drug Program. We will have select students read their stories about how to say NO to drugs, then have a little party (celebration) in honor of the pledge that students will take.
We will have our School Improvement Team meeting on Monday the 23rd at 2:45 p.m. Any parent is welcome to come and speak, ask or tell whatever is on their mind about Blair.
Blair will be closed for the Thanksgiving holidays on Wednesday the 25th, Thursday the 26th and Friday the 27th.
Have a warm and happy week.
Yours in Education,
Barbara Stock, Principal
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Week of November 9, 2009
Dear Parents: The weather is finally turning colder, so be sure your child has an extra jacket at school. We have PE and recess even in chillier weather (it never bothers the children, just us adults standing around supervising!!) If the weather gets very very cold, PE and recess will be in individual classrooms with appropriate activities provided.
On Tuesday, our Fourth grade students will be engaged in their first writing prompt for their grade level. We are sure the students will each have a great time writing about the topic that will be chosen. They are all so creative and expressive and we truly enjoy reading all of them.
Wednesday is Veteran's Day and it is a holiday for all New Hanover County Schools. Sleep in, have a big breakfast, lounge around and even take a nap...have a great day off!!
The rest of the week will be spent learning all the things students learn in their paced curriculums. We promise to challenge the students as we look forward to the next several months ahead.
Have a great week.
Yours in Education,
Barbara Stock
On Tuesday, our Fourth grade students will be engaged in their first writing prompt for their grade level. We are sure the students will each have a great time writing about the topic that will be chosen. They are all so creative and expressive and we truly enjoy reading all of them.
Wednesday is Veteran's Day and it is a holiday for all New Hanover County Schools. Sleep in, have a big breakfast, lounge around and even take a nap...have a great day off!!
The rest of the week will be spent learning all the things students learn in their paced curriculums. We promise to challenge the students as we look forward to the next several months ahead.
Have a great week.
Yours in Education,
Barbara Stock
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