HAPPENING AT TAYLOR

READING UNDER THE STARS IS TOMORROW



The Reading Under the Stars Fall Social is TOMORROW, October 24 from 5:30-7:30pm by the first grade playground. Many of Taylor’s favorite teachers are planning to read to the kids, plus we have evening book fair shopping too!

We will have pizza for sale, plus popcorn and donuts for everyone! To help keep lines moving, we strongly suggest bringing cash for payment, it would be a big help!! 

We could still use volunteers to help or to donate some water or outdoor lighting, please see the signup genius: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050B4EA8AB23A13-44855956-taylor

SPIRIT WEAR FOR SALE AT READING UNDER THE STARS

We'll be selling Taylor spirit wear at Read Under the Stars! We'll have youth t-shirts, magnets, water bottles, and FLASHLIGHTS! And stay tuned because our spirit wear shop is opening very soon! 

TAYLOR BOOK FAIR

The book fair is open for shopping! The Taylor Book Fair is this week October 24-27th! Take a look at our online shop to preview the wonderful titles you can buy this week. Families can shop after school Monday- Thursday until 5:30; at our Read Under the Stars Family Night on October 24th from 5:30-7:30; and Friday morning starting at 8am. 

The book fair team still needs a lot of volunteers to make this event a success. Please take a look at the sign up and help if you can: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A084CAAA92DA0F85-taylor2#/

This Sunday is our first Sunday FUNDDay! Help support the Taylor PTA by dining in or ordering take out from Cowboy Cafe on Sunday, October 29 from 11 am - 10 pm. Alcohol sales are included in the fundraiser!

You must mention Taylor PTA for the order to count. Take out orders must be placed directly through Cowboy Cafe, not third party companies (doordash, ubereats, etc)

Enjoy watching some football, eating some wings and supporting Taylor!

The annual Taylor “No Frills” Fundraiser is upon us

and we need your support!

Please stop by the No Frills Fundraiser table at Reading Under the Stars this Tuesday October 24 from 5:30-7:30, make your donation in person and enjoy a little Halloween treat! 

This campaign is our major fundraising event of the year

and is designed to keep things simple for busy families.

You will not be asked to buy or sell anything.

Our goal is 100% participation from Taylor families.

No amount is too small!

100% of your donation is tax-deductible and supports programs

for all the children, such as STEAM programs, field trips, Art in the Classroom and more.  

For the 2023-2024 school year, we are focusing these funds on new and durable recess equipment, 

flexible seating for our pod classrooms, and cosmetic and acoustic updates to the cafeteria. 

If we meet or exceed our goal of raising $30,000, we will be having

a school wide ice cream social for Taylor students!!

To make a donation, we are offering three convenient options:

1. Click or Scan the QR Code below. 

2. Online via Taylor PTA Website

3. Write a check! Checks can be made payable to Taylor PTA. Please mail checks to Taylor PTA No Frills @ 2600 N. Stuart Street Arlington, VA 22207.

Taylor MS Boundaries Committee Update



As many of you are aware, the middle school boundaries proposal was paused in September until Fall 2024. Prior to the new proposal, the school board is revising their Boundaries Policy, B-2.1. The current policy weighs six considerations during a boundary change, with no specific priority: Efficiency, Proximity, Stability, Alignment, Demographics, and Contiguity. The school board is collecting comments on the current policy, prior to drafting the new policy. To comment visit the Arlington School Board's Policy Public Comment Process, the deadline is November 1st. School board office hours are another way to get your voice heard. The first in-person office hours are tonight, from 6-8pm at Central Library with Mary Kadera and Bethany Zecher Sutton. If you are interested in getting involved, please reach out to Caroline Simms, chbsimms@gmail.com.

PTA Taylor Facilities Advocacy Group

There are several news items for our community regarding Taylor Facilities this week:

•  Advocacy Group Update: A kick-off meeting between Katie Madigan, Principal, Jane Wishneff, PTA President, and Erin Parker, Chair of the Taylor Facilities Advocacy Group was held on October 12th. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss strategic planning and critical priorities to improve Taylor's facilities. Key topics included overall building safety and security, immediate facilities improvement needs, and next steps for advocacy at the County level.
• How to Get Involved: Interested in helping advocate for Taylor's needs? There are several ways to make an impact:
• Contact Erin Parker at erinmccantsparker@gmail.com or at 703-989-6708 to share specific items or areas of concern. Please also contact Erin if you are interesting in joining the Advocacy Group.
• Participate in upcoming meetings of Arlington County's Joint Facilities Advisory Commission (JFAC), an advisory body jointly appointed by the County Board and the School Board. The mission of the JFAC is to provide input to the Boards on capital facilities needs assessment, capital improvement plans and long range facility planning for both the Arlington County Government and Arlington Public Schools. The next JFAC meeting is being held virtually on October 25th from 7-9p via Microsoft Teams or Phone:
• Join the meeting via Teams
• To join by phone, dial +1 347-973-6905
• Phone conference ID: 652 350 793#
• Friendly Reminder About Furry Family Members: In the spirit of both hospitality and clean facilities, please kindly clean up your furry family member's mess on school sidewalks and areas leading to the Taylor facilities. Please respect school property and policy where no dogs allowed signs are posted. While many love our furry family members, we as a community must remember that we need to provide the opportunity for students to avoid them for a variety of reasons. If you spot a neighbor or passerby not cleaning up after their pet, gently say something or contact the Facilities Advocacy Group. 

ACTL UPDATE

What is ACTL? The Advisory Council on Teaching and Learning (ACTL) is an advisory group to the School Board. ACTL includes parent reps from each school. ACTL meets monthly with leadership from the APS Office of Academics. 

Elementary Literacy: APS is in the second year of using the Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) curriculum as part of the shift towards the “Science of Reading” approach in elementary school. This year they have added additional writing lessons for grades K, 1, 3, and 5 and have added explicit writing instruction for K-2 on mechanics, grammar, and punctuation. They've also added end of unit quick checks for grades 3-5 to give teachers immediate data that they can use to support student learning and intervention. See attached slide 3. Please provide feedback here by November 30, 2023. 

Boundaries policy revision

APS reviews its policies every five years. Policy B-2.1 Boundaries has just entered the first stage of the review process, which is the opportunity to give input on the existing policy. School Board Member Mary Kadera recently discussed these issues at the September PTA meeting. 

ACTL is considering an input statement that "supporting the Instructional Vision" or a similar phrase should be included in the policy. Please share your thoughts with Taylor’s MS Boundary Committee Chair, Caroline Simms (at chbsimms@gmail.com) and Katie Sunderland (at katherine.a.sunderland@gmail.com), Taylor’s ACTL. The presentation can be viewed here.

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:

• Review the Participation Guidelines (you do not need to submit the guideline form back; just your student entry form)
• Get to creating!
• Submit your entry before 11/29/2023. Approximately 2 weeks prior to the deadline, a small bin will be located in the lobby for students to drop off their original work, and student entry form. 

All documents can be found here.

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

Taylor Elementary is excited to welcome Ellen Oh for a visit with our 4^th and 5^th 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.

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

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!