Mercer Mailbox
Mercer Mailbox is a weekly publication of the Mercer PTO.  
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Mercer Weekly Calendar  
Upcoming Dates to Remember

Jan 9-19           Used Book Fair Collection
Jan 16              No school, MLK Day - Register for a family volunteering event
Jan 18              PTO meeting, 7 p.m.
Jan 20              No school
Jan 23              Winter Book Fair Reading Night, 6:30 p.m.
Jan 23-27         Winter Book Fair

Visit the  Online Calendar  and filter by Mercer for more upcoming events.
From Mr. Florence

Welcome Back and Happy New Year! I hope you all had an enjoyable and restful winter break. Mercer students transitioned back to school seamlessly, as if they had not missed a day!  Teachers and students also had a wonderfully productive week reacquainting themselves with each other. As always, our classrooms are overflowing with the excitement of learning!  

We are currently in our winter assessment period. All Mercer students will take a number of small assessments ranging from three to eight minutes. A short MAP computer test consisting of 20 questions will be administered to our 3rd and 4th graders. These evaluations allow Mercer teachers and staff to further measure student growth and help guide present and future instruction.  

Please be certain to notify the Mercer office (216-295-4070) if there is a change in any of your contact information, including your email address. This allows us to have current contacts for student health, safety and school communications. Address changes must be made in person with the Office of the Registrar at the Administration Building. Contact Mrs. Glorina Morris at 216-295-4321 with questions or to schedule an appointment. Thank you.  

Cold weather returned to smile on us over the last three days. Please make sure your children have appropriate outerwear to enjoy recess.  We will go outside on most days when the temperature is 10 degrees F. or above with the wind chill.

Mercer News
MERCER PTO VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
Please consider offering your time as a Mercer volunteer - it is a great way to be part of something with your child/children in a way that works for you!  If you have not yet had the chance to see all of the volunteer opportunities, you can visit http://www.shaker.org/VolunteerOpportunities.aspx .   

Upcoming Volunteer Opportunities 1/9-19: Used Book Collection
Collect, count, and organize donated books (contact [email protected] or [email protected] )  AND   1/23-27: Winter Book Fair : Set up and/or help during class visits to the book fair to help children select books.  You can volunteer during your child's class visit. (Contact [email protected] or [email protected] ).  

Mercer PTO Happy 2017! Welcome Back
The PTO supports and sponsors many activities and events throughout the school year benefitting all Mercer students. It is because of the numerous volunteers this is possible. If you have any questions about volunteer opportunities, ideas to share or would like to learn more about the PTO, please contact Leslie Moore ( [email protected] )   

PTO Did You Know?
It is nearly time to begin working on next school year’s PTO roster. Many volunteers are needed to coordinate and organize all the wonderful PTO sponsored activities and events at Mercer. If you are interested in co-chairing an activity or event next school year or would like to learn more about executive board positions, please contact Leslie Moore ( [email protected] )  

Family Volunteering Opportunity - MLK Day (1/16/17) - REGISTER NOW
All Shaker families are invited to join Shaker PTO's Community Builders for a day of service to honor Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday 1/16/17 from 10am-12pm, at Shaker Heights High School. Students in grades K-4 and their families will be making fleece tie blankets for the homeless community in Northeast Ohio.  We are also excited to have Game On! Sports 4 Girls supporting this special event in leading all participants in a variety of team and community building activities. You will find them getting the kids active in the large auditorium. Join them when you are done making blankets. Go to https://goo.gl/forms/GQXA6H3BhoRJtqKb2 to register. Please contact Jen Bordeaux at [email protected] or Hannah Mendelsohn at [email protected] for more information or to volunteer.

4th Grade Photos Needed!
Calling all 4th grade parents! We are working on the memory book for the fourth graders and we need your help to gather candid shots of the students throughout their years at Mercer.  Please email photos to [email protected] and include names of students in the pictures, grade/year of the picture, and event. If the photos are hard copy send them to school in an envelope labeled "4th Grade Memory Book". Photos must be from Mercer or a Mercer event - close-up shots of faces work best in the yearbook collage format. To be included in the yearbook, photos must be received by January 27th. Please contact Jen Bordeaux at [email protected] if you have questions.    

4th Graders Logo Design Contest  
Fourth graders, don't forget to submit your designs for the class t-shirt and yearbook cover! Designs should be submitted on a full page of plain white paper and include a tagline, graphic and IB attributes. More details can be found on the flyer sent home before winter break or email questions to Jen Bordeaux at  [email protected] . Submissions are due by Jan. 24. Please include your name and class on BACK SIDE ONLY.  

The Used Book Fair and Scholastic Book is coming and we need your books for the Used Book Fair!
Starting Monday, January 9 - 19, please send your gently-used age appropriate books for kids Kindergarten through 4th for the Used Book Fair, which starts on January 23. We would appreciate it if kids brought the books in bags that we can use at the book fair for purchases. Parents you are welcome to bring in the books if it helps your child. If you are not able to drop off the books yourself, please contact Erica Harrington at [email protected] and she can assist. Our Used Book fair ensures that EVERY child at Mercer goes home with multiple books.  To volunteer for the Used Book Fair or Scholastic Book Fair please contact kmmoody@ me.com  or go to  http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0d4cabab2da1fb6-scholastic/ . The classrooms will visit the book fair at the following times if you would like to volunteer:

Tuesday 1/24                   
9:30-Campbell, 10-Leibovich, 10:30-Richards, 11-Schlein, 2-Martin, 2:30-Morris

Wednesday 1/25            
9:30-Hardimann, 10-Beney/Mulligan, 10:30-Feinstein, 11-Eakin, 2-Nosse,                 2:30-Gerstenberger

Thursday 1/26                  
9:30-Skandal, 10-Smith, 10:30-DiScenna, 11-Lesek, 2-Rose, 2:30-White



Mercer Mailbox is a publication of Mercer Elementary. The submission deadline is Noon Wednesday to Sharon Galin at [email protected] .

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