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M a g n o l i a Tr a c e E l e m e n t a r y
1405 Hwy. 1088 • Mandeville, LA 70448 • 985 -626-8238
www.magnoliatraceelementary.stpsb.org
News Hound
PTA N E W S L ET TE R
APR IL 2015
In this Issue
Wow, this year is quickly nearing the end! We have
been busy planning the end of the year events.
This is the time of year to start filling the PTA board
for next year! Please check your child's folder for
more information to be sent home about the different positions that will be available!
Please come out to attend the PTA General Meeting
Tuesday, March 10th and watch our Maggie Pups
Perform a Jazz Musical.
Cultural Arts Day is April 10th. Our students will
experience music, art, food, language and activities
that teach them about Japan. We will need many
volunteers to help make this day a success. There
is so much preparation work that needs to be done
to help this day run smoothly, such as decorations,
props and preparing each station. If you have anything related to Japan that we may use to display
please contact me, Amanda Tresch at amandatresch@yahoo.com.
 April Calendar
2
 Principal’s Message
3
 Grade Level Updates
4
 Library News / Coach’s
corner
5
 Counselor’s Corner
6
 MTE Sponsors
7
 MTE Sponsors
8
 Lake Harbor
9
 May Calendar
10
Dates to Remember
April 6th NO School
April 7th School Re-opens
April 13th 4pm Lego League
April 14-16th ILeap
April 20-24 Teacher Appreciation
April 21st PTA
April 22nd Spring Pictures
As always, if you have any questions as to where
you can volunteer here at MTE, please contact me.
With kindest regards,
Amanda Tresch
MTE PTA President
April 24th PTA Snack
April 27th K Kids
AApril
2014
April 2014
pril 2014
SUN
MON
MON
TUE
TUE
WED
WED
11
THU
THU
22
FRI
FRI
SAT
SAT
4
3
EASTER HOLIDAY
5
6
7
NO SCHOOL
SCHOOL
REOPENS
8
9
10
16
11
EASTER
HOLIDAY
12
19
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4PM LEGO
ILEAP
ILEAP
20
21
22
930– PTA
BOARD
SPRING
DRESS PICS
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18
24
25
ILEAP
MAKEUPS
23
INTERIMS GO
HOME
PTA SNACK
DAY
TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK
26
27
28
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30
From the Principal’s Desk
Dear Parents,
PARCC Testing week was a breeze thanks to our teachers’ hard work and dedication to
preparing our students, and your diligence in ensuring a good night’s sleep, healthy breakfasts,
and timely arrivals at school. We are positive that once again our students will be among the
brightest to shine in academic aptitude.
Mrs. Frazier did another outstanding job leading students in hand-on science activities in
our outdoor classroom. Students observed and charted the various species of birds nesting on
our property using binoculars. They used clay to replicate the nesting habits of the purple
finches living in our bus ramp. In art class, Mrs. Frazier had students create and paint clay eggs,
while also weaving straw nests; just in time for spring holiday.
K-Kids have spent the year volunteering to support several organizations near and far,
such as: Toys-4-Tots, STARC, Coats 4 Kids, Ronald McDonald House, Medical Missions to Belize, and Volunteers for America. This month K-Kids volunteered to serve our own learning
community by serving in and around our school. K-Kid students helped teachers label their A.R.
libraries, cleaned the outdoor classroom, painted the shed and new herb garden, and completed
several other service projects around Magnolia Trace. We are so appreciative to have young students who not only believe they can make a difference in this world, but actually join together to
make those beliefs a reality. K-Kids ROCK!
Another organization at Magnolia Trace that is doing a fabulous job is our cafeteria staff!
They were recently awarded the nation’s highest honor, Healthier US School Challenge – Gold
Award of Distinction, by the USDA. There are only 370 schools in the country that have
achieved this level and 25 of those schools are from St. Tammany Parish. We typically try not to
brag too much, but we feel it’s prudent to point out that Magnolia Trace is the only school in
Mandeville to receive this prestigious award which recognizes the promotion of nutrition and
physical activity in schools. So, you can rest assured that your children are not only well educated cognitively and physically, but well fed also.
As the school year reaches its final months of operation, it is extremely important that all
families close out their children’s lunch accounts as soon as possible. Every year the cafeteria manager and administrators have to make numerous phone calls and send out several reminder letters to motivate parents to pay hundreds of dollars in monthly rollover charges for
breakfasts and lunches. We understand that holiday seasons can put a financial strain on family
budgets; therefore we don’t fret over a one month rollover from time to time. However, when
lunch accounts go unpaid at the end of the year, the money has to come out of the school’s instructional fund. Unfortunately, this takes money away from all of the children in our classrooms. We ask that all families be cognizant of their child’s lunch bills and pay them in a timely
manner via checks to the MTE cafeteria or online at www.mypaymentsplus.com.
Thanks for your cooperation,
Denise McCormick
April 2015
Page 3
What’s Going On
Second Grade
Welcome back! We hope you had a nice, relaxing, and safe Spring Break. It’s hard to believe the 2014-2015 school year
is almost over. We only have two months to go! In April, we have some great activities planned for our students. Several
classes will be taking a field trip to Liuzza Land, a strawberry farm, on April 8th. We are also looking forward to Cultural
Arts Day to be held on April 10th. In addition, we will take our spring pictures on April 22 nd. In math, the students will
continue to practice addition and subtraction strategies within 100 and problem-solving skills as they learn to work with
various types of units within the contexts of length, money, and data. They will represent data using picture graphs, bar
graphs, and line plots. In ELA, students will learn about the water cycle and the role of water in nature. Students will
come to appreciate the importance of water and the need to maintain its sustainability for generations to come. It has been
such a pleasure to watch the children grow this year, both socially and academically. We still have so much to learn.
Please encourage your child to read for 20 minutes every night.
Third Grade
Third graders have been busy preparing for the ILEAP science and social studies test. It is scheduled for April 14
and 15. Please remember to have your child at school on time during testing. Students need a restful night’s sleep and a
nutritious breakfast to be energized for testing. Visitors and volunteers will not be allowed at school during testing.
We are looking forward to visiting Japan on Cultural Arts Day, April 10. Please volunteer your time and talents
for this exciting event. Third graders will participate in a social studies project on April 17. Students will be engaged in a
real life exploration of how our economy works. Spring Pictures will be taken on April 22, so put on your best smile. All
volunteers are invited to the MTE Volunteer Tea on April 30. We would like to express our sincere thanks for your dedication to our school.
Music Notes
This month we are investigating different rhythms and playing on our many varied
drums. Our students are also working on drum circles which take a lot of cooperation with their classmates. Also, our Jazz
musical is going great and I know it’s going to be a great show!
Loving my job,
Norma Ganucheau
Page 4
News Hound
Library
News
**Our Spring Book Fair was a great success! **
Thank you for helping us reach our goal of $7,000 in total sales. Scholastic gets a good portion
of that and the leftover we get to spend on:
*books that our students request for our library that we may not own yet.
*also money for BOOKFLIX which you can find on our school website. This is a great free
feature for your student to use at home or as school.
*Scholastic pairs a fiction and non-fiction book on a similar topic.
BOOKFLIX also has fun comprehension games, author information, and cool websites to learn
more. CHECK IT OUT!
Accelerated Reader is still going on. Please continue to encourage your child to not only read
an AR book but to also take the QUIZ on the book. Our school goal is 20,000 points and we
are over 19,000 points! Students still have opportunities for Individual Goals and Club Prizes.
Happy Reading,
Denise Cortez,
MTE Librarian
Coach’s Corner
Some people who started the New Year with a good workout routine begin to find themselves
missing more and more of their workouts. The main problem is boredom. If you get bored
with your workout, you begin to lose the momentum you had from the beginning of the year.
The trick to keeping things interesting is varying your workout. Switching to various exercises
and activities makes it more fun and engages your body in different ways.
Coach Dusang
April 2015
Page 5
Counselor’s Corner
Kindness is Contagious!
Children often describe kindness as being ‘nice’ to others. While that is certainly a big
part of it, true kindness involves so much more. We need to use every opportunity we
have to define and demonstrate kindness for little ones now, because they are watching
and learning from us. The desire to help others and look out for each other is innate.
That is a beautiful thing! Let us do what we can to build on that with our kids.
Here are just a few ways to spotlight kindness:
Be helpful at home. Make helping a family business and model teamwork.
Reward effort and respect input. Avoid criticism and encourage trying again.
Give kids the opportunity to wear rose-colored glasses. Seek out and talk about the
good stuff going on.
Be a good citizen. Recycle. Donate. Recognize. Repeat.
Be a cheerleader for somebody who needs it.
Take responsibility for your words and actions (good and bad). Kindness is about intentions, not perfection.
Kindness IS contagious…in the best of ways possible! It is so very special to help children experience the rewards of “catching” it.
Happy Parenting,
Tobin Keeth
School Counselor
*Ideas collected from www.parents.com
MTE SPONSORS
985-727-9924
The MTE PTA would like to give a big “Thank You” to
Rob Furman, CPA, of Griffin and Co. for donating his
time and tax services toward completion of the MTE
PTA tax return. Please keep Griffin & Co. in mind if
you are in need of accounting or tax assistance through-
Lake Harbor Middle School
Placement letter for 2015-2016 School Year
We will soon begin the process of assigning students to classrooms
for next year. It is important that you are aware of the procedures
that we will follow in assigning students. Placement is made on a
random basis, and classes are balanced in regard to race, gender,
behavior, ability level, special education needs, and regular education
accommodations. We do get input from your child’s 3rd grade teachers as well. Before assignments are made in May, parents are welcome to send a letter by mail, email or hold a telephone conference
with an administrator to discuss the special needs of their child. We
do NOT accept requests for specific teachers. If you would like to
communicate any concerns to a LHM administrator, Mrs. Patin will be
handling placement of all 4th grade students. Please communicate
this information to her by Friday, May 8th. Her email is
Susan.patin@stpsb.org.
It is always helpful to know any special concerns or needs you
have regarding your child's placement. As administrators, we feel
that you know your child better than we do, and we know the teachers better than you do. Working together, we can find the best
match for your child and his/her teacher. We appreciate your input
into this process!
Magnolia Trace
News Hound
May 2015
SUN
MON
TUE
WED
THU
FRI
1
SAT
2
3rd Grade Visits
Middle School
3
4
5
4PM Lego
League
6
7
8
9
PARCC TESTING PHASE 2, ELA & MATH
11
10
12
Board
1st Grade Visits PTA
Luncheon
MTE 9&2
4p PBIS TEAM
6p New Parents 6PM
PTA/Musical
ART NIGHT
17
18
19
25
26
16
21
22
23
Yearbook
signing
HALF DAY
LAST DAY OF
SCHOOL!
14
10AM Lego
Expo
2PM Musical
20
AR DAY, AM
PBIS DAY PM
24
15
13
27
28
29
30