Middle Gate Elementary School
schoolhouse-pic
7 Cold Spring Road, Newtown, CT 06470
Middle Gate Minute
A Bi-Weekly eNewsletter
Edition: Mar 20, 2018

Parent Teacher Association 
PTA Comments or Suggestions?  
Important Notes: Notes
My Place Restaurant Fundraiser Tonight!! Flyer below
(some dates are tentative and subject to change)
 
Mar 23 
Student Council Sponsored 
Rockin' Jump

Apr 6
Parents' Night Out 
 
Apr 10
General PTA Meeting
 
 
Apr 24 - 26 
Used Book Sale

Apr 25 - 27 
Breakfast with Buddies 
 
May 7
4th Grade Chorus Concert  

May 18
 
Middle Gate Madness with
Talent Show

June 15 
Sock Up 
  
 
Downloads:
(updated every newsletter) 
 
Quick Links  QuickLinks 
Contact us :
PTA Phone: (860) 532-0464
 
2017/18 PTA Board of Directors
President:  
Vice President
Secretary:
Corresponding Secretary:
1st Treasurer:
Emily Howard
2nd Treasurer:
Stacy Liparidis
Assistant Treasurer
Meredith Britton  
Yearbook Chair:
MY PLACE RESTAURANT FUNDRAISER - TUE MAR 20MYPLACE 
Don't know what to do for dinner tonight? Here is an easy solution...

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STUDENT COUNCIL - ROCKIN' JUMP - MAR 23ROCKINJUMP 
STUDENT COUNCIL is sponsoring
MGS Night at Rockin' Jump

When: Friday, March 23rd  
Time: 5:00pm - 8:00pm
Where:  Rockin' Jump, 25 Trefoil Drive, Trumbull 
Cost : $15.00 per 1 per jumper for a 1-hour pass (socks $3.00)

Student Council will receive $5.00 for every ticket sold.  We are grateful for your support.

How to order: Fill out form below and detach with a check made payable to MGS. You  will receive an email confirmation of your order and tickets will be sent  home via student backpack (with oldest student if applicable) on  Wednesday 3/21/18.   

IF IT SNOWS or your child gets sick and cannot attend the ticket does not  expire and can be used at your convenience.

 
PENNIES FOR PATIENTSPennies
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Middle Gate is proud to participate in Newtown Public's School collection campaign to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's "Pennies for Patients" campaign over the next few weeks. Students will be asked to collect spare change to donate in collection jars in the classroom. Please consider making an online donation here: http://events.lls.org/pages/ctwhv/MiddleGateElementarySchool-2018 

Collections run through March 30
PARENTS' NIGHT OUT - FRI APR 6PNO
Parents' Night Out is Friday, April 6th!
Includes Silent Auction

There is still time to get your tickets! Don't miss out on this fun evening!
Click the invitation below or here

DONATIONS NEEDED FOR SILENT AUCTION
We are looking to our MG families who have goods or services to donate; let's get creative for our kiddos! Message or email us at MGSpno@gmail.com for ideas.

SAVE THE DATE AND COLLECT BOOKS - USED BOOK FAIRusedbook
Save the Date for the Used Book Fair
Used Book Collection: Week of Apr 9
Used Book Sale: Apr 24 - 26

Please start collecting your gently used Books, magazines and DVD's! We will start collecting these items the week of April 9th.  The Used Book Fair will run Tuesday April 24th to Thursday April 26th.  All classrooms will have a chance to shop this fair favorite! Details to follow.
VOLUNTEERS FOR INCOMING KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATIONKINDER 
Parent Volunteers needed to help with Incoming Kindergarten Registration

Believe it or not, it's time to start thinking about incoming kindergarten registration for the 2018/19 school year. If you have a morning or afternoon preference or can help more than one day/time, please sign up through Volunteer spot at http://signup.com/go/VyFCxQV

We need volunteers to assist with the registration process. You will be collecting paperwork from incoming kindergarten fa milies and giving a tour of Middle Gate. This is a super fun event. You will have a chance to meet our newest "Middle Gaters" and their families and show them what a great school community we have here at Middle Gate. Registration will take place over 3 days. April 4th, April 5th and April 6th. We will break the day up into two sessions 9-12 and 1-3.

I will need 2 additional people per session (except on April 4th, that's a delayed opening day and we will only run 1 session from 11:30-3:00)


If you have questions, feel free to call me anytime, 203/304-1712 or text: 203/240-6038

Thank you,
Jennifer Chaudhary
VOLUNTEERS FOR SCHOLARSHIP COMMITTEESCHOLARSHIP 
Looking for a few volunteers for the Middle Gate PTA Scholarship committee to review applications and select this year's recipients.

The Middle Gate PTA Scholarship is a merit-based award of $1500 that is given each year to two students who are graduating from Newtown High School and who have previously attended Middle Gate School. While academic performance is factored strongly into the decision-making process, the recipients of this scholarship will also e xcel in other areas that demonstrate the Newtown Public Schools' Core Attributes of perseverance, citizenship, caring, trustworthiness, respect, and responsibility, in addition to demonstrating leadership and a commitment to our community.

Our work will begin in early April. Volunteers will be asked to review and rate applications through shared Google docs/sheets. There will be a fairly quick turnaround time as the final decision needs to be made by early May. I have been involved in this process for years and find the work to be incredibly inspiring and heartwarming as you see the hard work, leadership, and community service evidenced by these students. Please let me know if I can answer any other questions about the process.

If you are interested in participating, please comment here or email me at bonnie382@gmail.com Thank you!
AN EMAIL FROM THE SUPERINTENDENTSUPER 
March 19, 2018
Dear Parents and Guardians,

I wanted to provide you with some thinking regarding our current calendar and the impact of snow days. As you know, this has been an unpredictable winter season with Nor'easters. Like many districts, we have had to make decisions based on the safety of bus travel (either a.m. or p.m.), or the potential for dangerous conditions.

We have now gone beyond our June 20th last day of school based on current calendar projections and allotted snow days. Our practice has been not to exceed the final projected date on the calendar and to begin to take from the April break (starting with the Friday of that week). The rationale for this has been so we are out before the hotter weather, which impacts non-air conditioned classrooms in some buildings.

That being said, because of the late-season storms, those who have plans for April break are left with difficult decisions. I plan to begin a dialogue with the Board of Education regarding this year's calendar, the impact snow days will have on the remainder of this school year, and any options we might have that address taking time from April break.

Additionally, there have been requests to set the graduation date now. Please understand that we request dates (1st, 2nd, and 3rd choice options), and these are negotiated with other high schools who also use the WestConn O'Neill Center as their graduation venue. Many districts are in the same position as Newtown, waiting to secure dates that will coincide with changes to their calendar. This is the primary reason we do not set a final graduation date until after April 1.

I promise to keep you updated as discussions continue this week.
Spring cannot come soon enough!

Respectfully,
Dr. Lorrie Rodrigue
Superintendent
RAISE REAL ESTATE FUNDRAISERRAISE  
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SOCK HOP - RESCHEDULED FOR FRI JUN 15SOCKHOP 
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New Sock Hop date!!!!

Friday, June 15th        

It's going to be a party!!!
BREAKFAST WITH BUDDIES - APR 25 - 27BREAKFAST 
Save the Date for Breakfast with Buddies (formerly known as Muffins with Mom)

This is a chance for students to invite a special guest to join them for breakfast, before school, in the cafeteria.  Breakfast with Buddies will run Wed April 25th to Friday April 27th

Details to follow
MG MADNESS AND TALENT SHOW - FRI MAY 18MGMadness 
SAVE THE DATE for Middle Gate Madness and our 2nd Talent Show!
Friday, May 18th from 5:00-8:00 pm.

Middle Gate Madness, one of our largest fundraisers, is an evening of fun for the entire family! There are games, hands-on activities, touch-a-truck, a dunk tank with some familiar faces, food and more!! Last year we introduced our first talent show to Middle Gate Madness which featured our very own children (along with some parents) and, WOW, what talent! There were solos, duets and small groups performing acts like dance, music, skateboard tricks and magic to name a few! It was such a special addition to this extraordinary night that we are doing it again. So, start brainstorming!! Forms for sign up will be coming out before April break. 
UPCOMING PARENT UNIVERSITY SPEAKER TOPICSPARENTUNIV
Please see this flyer for the upcoming Parent University includes terrific speakers on truly relevant topics - see attached details - this is a very timely opportunity for parents/families!

YEARBOOK PHOTOSYearbook 
Send Yearbook Photos To: Kelley Michael

PICTAVO IS BACK UP AND RUNNING FOR iOS!
Please upload any pics you'd like to see in the yearbook!
-first day of school
-ice cream social
-fall celebrations/Halloween
- Veterans Day
-movie nights
-sports
-scouts
-etc
***4th Grade parents*** you can upload your child's baby pic there too! Use the 4th Grade Baby Pics folder.

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Or send pictures for the Year book to Kelley Michael: