Riverside School PTA Newsletter


Friday, March 31st, 2017
CALENDAR

WEEK OF 4/3 - 4/7

Monday, April 3
Kindergarten Registration
Stepping Stones - Gr. 1
8:00a Rangers Monthly Meeting

Tuesday, April 4
Kindergarten Registration
8:00a Chorus Rehearsal PT. 1
9:00a PTA Exec Meeting

Wednesday, April 5
Kindergarten Registration
8:50a ROPES Photos

Thursday, April 6
8:00a Chorus Rehearsal PT. 2

Friday, April 7
8:00a Advanced Band - Gr. 4 & 5


WEEK OF 4/10 - 4/14

SPRING BREAK

WEEK OF 4/17-4/21

Monday, April 17
8:00a Student Council

Tuesday, April 18
8:00a Chorus Rehearsal PT. 1

Wednesday, April 19
12:15p GSO Trip - Gr. 2 & 3

Thursday, April 20
Orienteering - Gr. 5
8:00a Chorus Rehearsal PT. 2

Friday, April 21
8:00a Advanced Band - Gr. 4 & 5
8:45a Earth Day Celebration
9:00a Tod's Point Beach Clean Up - Gr. 4
QUICK LINKS

To purchase Riverside gear, click  here

Click here to view the lunch menu

Sign up for lunch duty  here

Sign up for safety duty  here

Join the PTA  here

Volunteer for the PTA here

View the Rules of the Road  here

Click here for the Early Morning Program information

PEEK AT THE WEEK

MISSED AN ISSUE?
Access our Peek Archive for past issues

SUBMISSIONS
Have something to add? Email us at: peekweekriv@gmail.com

Deadline for submissions is 3pm
on Wednesday of the school week
COMMUNITY NEWS

Please click here and here for relevant flyers from the GPD regarding recent local burglaries

Register for Town of Greenwich's Spring Youth Programs here.

April 1st, 2pm, "Learning to Look: Family Art Program on Landscape Painting" at Perrot Library.  Click here to learn more.

April 2nd, National Educational Chess Association Tournament.  All students welcome.  Click here for the registration form.

April 2nd 1 - 2:30 at the Audubon, Animal Tail on a Trail: An Outdoor Story Telling Adventure. Click here for more information.

April 6th, election  to fill a vacant RTM position for District 5/Riverside.  For more information, contact Lucy@strategymortgage.com.

May 18th, 19th and 20th, GHS Theater Arts presents Annie  in the GHS Performing Arts Center.  For tickets, call 203-863-8808.

Overtime Athletics Summer Camp at Sono Field House camp information can be found here.

Click  here   to view the community calendar.
 From the Office
Dear Parents,
 
Congratulations again to our students, teachers, staff, and school community on Riverside School being named a "School of Distinction" by the State of Connecticut. You can read a new detailed article about it here.  
 
As mentioned earlier, Riverside School's Earth Day events from last year were highlighted in the national magazine  PTO  Today. Special thanks to our  PTA, parent volunteers, and the town's Conservation Commission for making the event (and article) possible. The magazine arrived at each of the 83,000 K-8 U.S. schools this past week! You can read the article here.  

Starting this Monday we will have an "Oops Table" in the main hallway where any items that parents/caregivers are delivering for their children need to be placed. This would include any forgotten instruments, gym clothing, lunches, iPads, homework, or other school items.
 
Parents/caregivers should no longer give any items to the office but instead just let the office know they dropping off an item on the "Oops Table" and then head back out through the front door. Please make sure your child's name and class are clearly marked on the item.  Students will be told that if they have forgotten something, they can check at the "Oops table" on their way to the activity where the item would be needed (P.E., lunch, lessons, etc.). Thank you. 

Sincerely,
Christopher Weiss
Riverside School Principal
 School News
FOOD SERVICES SURVEY
Lunch bag
REMINDER: The Greenwich Public Schools Food Services Department in partnership with the PTA Council Health & Wellness Committee has  invited you to complete a survey regarding the School Lunch Program  because we are committed to the continuous improvement of the meals served to the students of the Greenwich Public Schools.

Your feedback along with the support of staff, family and community is critical in our efforts to provide healthy food choices.  If you have not done so, please take a moment to complete the survey.  If you have multiple children in school, it would be helpful to complete the survey for each child (even if you have completed it already) as we are trying to capture all the data as it relates to individual behaviors and opinions across all grades and family households. 

The survey can be found here in English and here in Spanish. Please complete the survey by April 7th 2017.

NEW SUPERINTENDENT FOR GPS
Following a comprehensive national search, the Board of Education (BOE) appointed Dr. Jill M. Gildea as the Superintendent of the Greenwich Public Schools (GPS), effective July 1, 2017. See below for more information. Click here for the press release.  Click here  for the bio brief.

STUDENT COUNCIL'S PENNIES FOR PATIENTS
Student Council is pleased to report that as of Monday this week, we have raised $2,370 toward our goal of $3,000 for Pennies for Patients. The fundraising project to help provide funds for research on blood cancers ends today, March 31st, but we won't be tallying final totals until Monday, April 3rd, so you can still bring in extra change Monday.  Monday .

Thank you for all your support of this great cause!
TRAVELING ART
For the past three weeks, Kindergarten, 3rd, and 5th grade students received a visit from the Traveling Art docents who shared a very interesting view on how to look at and analyze art. Students had the opportunity to ask questions, make guesses and enjoy the work of artists from different eras who worked with a variety of painting styles and techniques.  Each grade studied a different genre of art with kindergarten looking at paintings of animals, 3rd grade viewed portraits and 5th grade studied outdoor sculptures.
MRS. MOZER'S NEW NOVEL
Join Mrs. Mozer her at the Cos Cob Library on Saturday, April 1st
from 3-4pm for a book reading, games, and a writing activity that will get you in the mood for summer.  Books will be available for sale and signing. 

On Sunday, June 4th , Mrs. Mozer will also be signing books at the Stamford Barnes & Noble. Some of the proceeds from that event will be donated to Riverside School. More details to follow.
 PTA News
PTAC ESSENCE AWARD 2017
The PTAC Essence Award recognizes an outstanding PTA member of the Greenwich Public School system who, through exemplary achievement, has inspired others, demonstrated selfless spirit and made a significant difference in our school community (individual school or district wide). Parents,  teachers, staff, students, principals, administrators or  members of the Greenwich community may submit nominations. There are so many amazing volunteers in our school system and we hope you will take the time to nominate them so they can be recognized for their contributions. The application consists of an essay of no more than 500 words. Click here  for more information and here f or the application. Application deadline is April 28th.

The award ceremony will take place on May 31st and 10am  at the Board of Education Building.
ARTS IN EDUCATION
Last Friday,  the Kindergarten classes were treated to storytelling by professional storyteller,  Laconia Therrio.  Laconia shares stories from across the globe, believing that stories remind us more of our commonalities than our differences.  His repertoire includes stories from the Americas, the African continent, Europe and Asia. Laconia's storytelling inspires students to tell their own stories and  to find their own voice .

This program is sponsored by the Riverside PTA.
HIGH TOUCH HIGH TECH
This week, the first grade took part in the high touch high tech program " Smarty Plants".  They discovered how plants make food and oxygen and learned how plants can transport water by turning their very own carnations blue!  They also got a chance to read tree rings and got the "seedy facts about germination". 

SCREENAGERS MOVIE COMES TO NMS
Please join us on Wednesday, April 5th at 7pm in the gym for a free viewing of the award winning movie Screenagers!  Parents from NMS, ISD, OG, and Riverside are all invited to see this amazing movie and take  a personal look at how families are coping with kids and screen time and how being connected to devices is affecting relationships and child development. The film was directed by Delaney Ruston, a Seattle filmmaker and physician who uses her own experience with her children as the central storyline. 

 For more information on the film please click here.

VOLUNTEER FOR THE PTA NEXT YEAR!
PTA
The Riverside PTA has a number of open positions for next year! We are a vibrant, active organization that ensures that our children receive all the enrichment programs and social events that we can provide.  Every position on our roster has a direct benefit to the children and our school and there is something for everyone!  Please consider investing some of your time to benefit your child's elementary school experience.
 
Click here to view our openings and nominate yourself or someone you know.  Questions? Email dinamurphy73@gmail.com.
RIVERSIDE RUN -- REGISTER NOW!
Calling all runners! Don't forget to sign up for the Riverside Run! The temperature is rising and it's a perfect time to get outside and enjoy it. Race Day is Saturday, May 13th 8:30am with a Kids Fun Run at 9:30am.  Kids K-5 can participate in the Grade Level Challenge with a prize for the grade with the highest percentage of runners registered. Register before April 21st  and have your name printed on your race bib. Register  here .
GREEN TIP OF THE WEEK
The three Rs: Reduce, Reuse, RECYCLE
The last of the three R's is easy!  This is especially true since Greenwich converted to single stream recycling (known as SSR) in August 2011.  In the first year since the conversion to SSR Greenwich residents recycled 73.2% more materials than they did in the previous year and saved over $1.5 million dollars. Make an effort to put less in the trash this week!  Click here  for some commonly asked questions about SSR here in Greenwich.
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email us at riversideschoolpta@gmail.com.

Sincerely,
Dina Murphy and Jenn Wolfe
Co-Presidents Riverside School PTA

 Office: 203-637-1440   -   www.greenwichschools.org/rs