TAYLOR ELEMENTARY

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Mark your Calendar!


Upcoming Dates



October 9th – No School


October 10th – PTA Meeting (virtual)


October 10th - Taylor Restaurant Night @ Old Dominion Pizza


October 10th - No Frills Kick Off!


October 13th – SPIRIT DAY – Workout Clothes


October 15th – Taylor Clean Up Day


October 19-20th – Fall Parent Teacher Conferences


October 19th – Early Release


October 20th – No School


October 23rd – 27th – Taylor Book Fair


October 24th – Book Fair Family Shopping Night


October 27th – SPIRIT DAY – Stripes Day


October 29th – Restaurant Fundraiser @ Cowboy Café


October 31st – Halloween Costume Parade

 



WELCOME

In this week's issue:



PTA Meeting


Restaurant Night - Old Dominion Pizza


Hospitality Committee


Facilities Advocacy Group



Taylor Fall Clean Up


Teacher Appreciation Lunch


Before School Foreign Language


Taylor School Store


STEAM at Home


Reflections


Author Visit


Bookfair


Kidsgiving


Join the PTA!


Community News


Taylor Listserv Sign up





HAPPENING AT TAYLOR

PTA Meeting – October 10th @ 7:00 pm

Please join us for our next PTA meeting, which will be held virtually on October 10th @ 7:00 pm. Along with key updates on upcoming Taylor events, Ashley Burt will be presenting on Taylor’s Advanced Academics & Talent Development Program. 

Call in details are below:


Topic: Taylor PTA Meeting

Time: Oct 10, 2023 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/93841093548?pwd=V283bW5ocmhWWXVzRHIyK2ZkZ0IxQT09

Meeting ID: 938 4109 3548

Passcode: 765850


Link to previous meeting minutes for approval at the meeting

Nothing for dinner? Order Old Dominion Pizza and Support the Taylor PTA!


Support the Taylor PTA by dining out at Old Dominion Pizza in the Lee Heights shops on Tuesday, October 10th from 5-8 pm. When placing your order, please remember to tell them that this order is part of the Taylor PTA Fundraiser

Hospitality Committee

 

Being able to engage fully in the Taylor community experience makes a wonderful difference for your child and for your family. If you are new to the Taylor community this year, particularly 1st - 5th grade families, please reach out to Erin Parker, Hospitality Chair at erinmccantsparker@gmail.com. The Hospitality Committee values building relationships and engagement in the Taylor Community and will assist in acclimating to our wonderful school. 

Facilities Advocacy Group


During the September PTA Meeting, School Board Representative and Taylor Liaison, Mary Kadera, attended to answer questions from our community on a variety of topics, including Taylor facilities. Advocating for Taylor facilities improvement is a priority, and our Principal and PTA Board members have created a group to ensure the collective Taylor community voice is heard at important county and school board meetings. A number of items were raised during the PTA Meeting and an internal meeting with Katie Madigan and Jane Wishneff, PTA President, is scheduled as a next step to keep the discussion going. If you were unable to attend the September PTA meeting and have specific items you would like to address about Taylor facilities, please email these to Erin Parker at erinmccantsparker@gmail.com by Wednesday, October 11th. 


autumn_leaves.jpg

Taylor Fall Clean-Up

Welcome to the fall clean-up signup! Please help us get ready for winter by removing debris/trash from the school grounds. The clean-up might involve some raking, depending on how many leaves there are and how damp the grounds are. Please bring any gear such as rakes and gardening gloves. I'll be supplying trash bags and brown bags for composting any leaves. Please call or text me (202-655-9003) or email (heelanm@hotmail.com) if you have any questions! Thanks for helping! Melissa

www.signupgenius.com


Help beautify the Taylor grounds on Oct. 15 from 10:30-12:30 and take a look at our refurbished planters at the back of the school! The gardens and habitat committee will be holding a lottery later in the year for interested families to "adopt" a planter for the 2023-2024 school year to take care of. More info to come!

 

In the meantime, please help out on the 15th!

Before School Foreign Language Registration is OPEN!
Enrollment has begun for the PTA Before School Foreign Language Program. We've partnered with Berlitz again this year to offer Spanish and Mandarin Chinese classes for Taylor students. Instruction will begin the week of October 16 and will take place two mornings a week (either Tues/Thurs or Wed/Fri) from 7:50am to 8:30am at Taylor. 
Interested parents should enroll their students by Thursday, October 14 using this Google Form, which includes program and payment information. Payment is due by Monday, October 16. 

Teacher Appreciation Lunch


We are organizing a Fall Teacher and Staff Appreciation Lunch on October 19th. Please consider contributing to show gratitude to our wonderful teachers and staff at Taylor. They really enjoy this occasion and always appreciate the school community's generosity in putting together this lunch. To volunteer, please sign up through this link. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Carina Nachnani at teacherlunchfall@taylorpta.org.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F044FACA82BA2FE3-44736002-fall

Before School Foreign Language Program


Enrollment has begun for the PTA Before School Foreign Language Program. We've partnered with Berlitz again this year to offer Spanish and Mandarin Chinese classes for Taylor students. Instruction will begin the week of October 16 and will take place two mornings a week (either Tues/Thurs or Wed/Fri) from 7:50am to 8:30am at Taylor. Interested parents should enroll their students by Thursday, October 14 using this Google Form, which includes program and payment information. Payment is due by Monday, October 16. 

 

Taylor School Store

The Taylor School Store is now open! Items will be sold inside the school at the school

store door from 8:40-9am. Your student should go to their normal arrival spot in the

morning and get a school store pass from an adult in order to go to the store. We take

coins and dollars and can make change! 

Shopping days are as follows: Mondays = Kindergarten and 3rd grade can shop,

Wednesdays = 1st grade and 5th grade can shop, Fridays = 2nd grade and 4th grade

can shop. Pre-K and MIPA students can shop any day!

STEAM at Home

THE TAYLOR ACORN PROJECT

The Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) needs your help to continue producing quality seedlings for Virginia landowners. Collect and donate acorns to VDOF this fall! Taylor's favorite Scientist in the Classroom Dr. A (Aizenman) has brought this project to our attention and even created a very informative PowerPoint to share with families.



DO: View the PowerPoint to learn global warming and the VDOF Acorn Project.

DO: Check out the VDOF information site with further details. Learn about types of acorns needed.

DO: Start identifying and collecting acorns but don't forget to follow VDOF instructions - don't mix nuts, place in a paper bag labeled with type and location, store in a cool, dry place.

DO: Drop your labeled acorns in the bin to the left of the Taylor front door. We will get your acorns to VDOF.

DO: Have fun!

Calling all Student Artists - Explore the Arts, and Express Yourself!


Taylor is proud to be participating in the National PTA Reflections program this year and supports our school’s long-standing commitment to arts education. The Reflections program provides opportunities for recognition and access to the arts which boost student confidence and success in the arts and in life. Each year, over 300,000 students in Pre-K through Grade 12 create original works of art in response to a student-selected theme. This 50+ year-old program helps them explore their own thoughts, feelings and ideas, develop artistic literacy, increase confidence and find a love for learning that will help them become more successful in school and in life.


This year’s theme is I am Hopeful Because

How to Participate:



All documents can be found here.



Taylor Book Fair


The Book Fair committee is looking for volunteers to help students navigate the book fair during the school day and cashiers outside of school hours. Helping with the fair is a great opportunity to interact with many students and teachers while also helping get books into the hands of kids in our school and throughout our community!

https://bit.ly/TaylorVol2023

Author Visit – Ellen Oh visiting Taylor 4th and 5th graders on November 2


Taylor Elementary is excited to welcome Ellen Oh for a visit with our 4th and 5th graders on November 2, 2023!


Ms. Oh is the author of the middle grade novels Finding Junie Kim, The Dragon Egg Princess, and The Spirit Hunters trilogy (Spirit Hunters, Island of Monsters, and Something Wicked). She is the editor of the middle grade anthology Flying Lessons and Other Stories, and she is also a founding member of We Need Diverse Books (WNDB), a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing diversity in children’s literature


As part of the author visit, Ms. Oh will be signing books.  You can order books through READ for the upcoming author visit at the following site: https://www.readbooknook.org/author-visit-ellen-oh.  Please follow the ordering instructions to provide us with information required to get your books signed and delivered.


There will also be Ellen Oh books available for purchase at the Taylor Book Fair.  Students may leave books purchased at the book fair with the Taylor Library staff for signature by the author.  We will have additional details and instructions at the book fair.

 

Kidgiving


Taylor KidsGiving is supporting Clothesline for Arlington Kids in October! We are hosting a clothing drive to collect fall and winter clothing for low-income school age children in Arlington. Donation bins will be available in the Taylor lobby beginning Tuesday, October 10th through Tuesday, October 17th.

 

All donations should be appropriate for fall and winter, in new or clean, EXCELLENT condition in sizes 4T to adult (teen styles only). Please ensure all clothes are sorted by size and gender and labeled in bagsClick here to see Clothesline's flyer with specific clothing donation details. This is the perfect time to donate those new or excellent condition warm clothes, pajamas, snow boots, coats and winter gear as we start to change out our kids' wardrobe for cooler temperatures! Clothesline will also gladly accept new in package socks and underwear, which you can drop off in the donation bins as well. 

Join the Taylor PTA

Membership for the 2023-24 school is now open! Visit https://www.taylorpta.org/join to join online. $20 for the year for a family/$10 for individuals/$5 for teachers

Sign up for Taylor Listserv

Sign up here to connect with other parents on topics surrounding APS, Taylor curriculum, extracurriculur activities and much more!

Stay engaged with the Taylor PTA! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and remember to join the Taylor Facebook group.

COMMUNITY NEWS

Marine Corps Marathon
Taylor Tigers you are invited to participate in the Marine Corps Marathon Kids Run on October 28th, 2023. Taylor has a Group Registration for Wave 6-Orange that will Run at 11 AM on Saturday October 28th.
Registration is $15 per participant.
Taylor Group Registration closes on October 12th.
Please use QR Code to register

Stay engaged with the Taylor PTA! 


Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and remember to join the Taylor Facebook group.


Please check the Taylor PTA website for more information!

 

TAYLOR ELEMENTARY

PRINCIPAL KATIE MADIGAN

703-228-6275

REPORT ABSENCES THROUGH PARENTVUE

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