BOWMAN WOODS BULLETIN

February 2017

Dear Parents, Welcome to February. It does not seem possible that the year is more than half over. I hope you know how much we appreciate you as our parent and guardian partners. It is obvious that our students clearly understand the importance of school. That is due to your support. We are grateful for the extra work you do with your child(ren) outside of the school. Listening to your child read or reading to your child are incredible ways to build literacy skills. Anything you can do to get your child in text makes a huge difference. Our library has an amazing collection of books for our students. Thank you for your help with our Kindness Challenge last week. We had a large number of students successfully complete each challenge on the list. I personally loved the sweet notes I received as did other staff members. So thoughtful. There is a decorated box outside of the office for students or parents to leave a “high five” for any staff member. There are paper hands near the box to use for the notes. This is optional of course, but wanted to make you aware. February is also a time of friendship and caring. This is a special time for our students. We have plenty of Valentines here at school. Please feel free to have your child stop by the office and select a box of Valentines to hand out on Valentine’s Day.

Please mark your calendars for our second set of conferences that will take place at the end of the month. Our face-to-face conferences are the perfect time to review your child’s progress for the year as well as provide you an opportunity to ask questions and share reflections. A conference scheduler instruction sheet will be coming home with your student next Thursday, February 9th. Our common conference nights are Tuesday, February 28th and Thursday, March 1st. We will send additional information out with the scheduler. Thanks! We are so lucky to have such a warm and caring community here. Thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely, Tina March, Principal

Kindergarten Round-Up (Parent Meeting)

February 9th

If you have a child that will be 5 years old by September 15th, they are eligible to

enter one of our kindergarten programs this fall. Verification of birth date must be

presented. For families who are new to the district, we will also need to see proof of

residency. Please bring required documentation and completed forms to the parent

meeting on the 9th.

Doors open up at 6 PM and the meeting will begin at 6:30 PM.

If you HAVE NOT preregistered, please do so by calling Mrs. Kack @ 447-3240.

MISSING ITEMS at

HOME? Check

Lost/Found!!!!

BOWMAN WOODS’ MEMORIES! Order your yearbook now to keep all those memories from the

2016 – 2017 school year.

Add 2 custom pages to your yearbook if you choose!

To Order go to www.treering.com/validate

School’s passcode: 1014576276104991

Cost = $17.85 Order deadline is April 2nd.

Conferences are

coming!!

Watch for important

instructions to come home

with your student(s) so that

you can sign up for your

parent/teacher conference.

Conferences are the week of

February 27th. Common night

conferences are February

28th

and March 2nd.

News from the Orchestra Director Mrs. Vieth

The 5th Grade Orchestra students have been working very hard on new notes and rhythms in preparation for the Winter Orchestra Concert on Tuesday,

February 7th. Students will be meeting in the High School Auditorium for the Dress Rehearsal before school that morning at 7:35 AM. They will ride the bus back to their building afterwards. The concert begins that evening at 7:00 PM.

All are welcome to attend and support our 5th Grade Orchestra!!

Notes from Music

Miss Morosky

CEDAR RAPIDS OPERA THEATRE: Bravo to our 4th and 5th grade singers who performed in

the CR Opera Theater productions of Cavalleria Rusticiana and Pagliacci! They were fabulous

listeners, singers, and performers. The directors thoroughly enjoyed working with our singers from

Bowman Woods!

5th GRADE CONCERT: On Thursday, February 23rd at 6:30 p.m. 5th graders will be presenting

“General Music Show Stoppers.” Instead of a musical, these musicians will be displaying their

instrumental, movement, and vocal talents through a combination of songs that represent their

musical growth throughout their 6 years of general music education. Students are asked to report to

the music room by 6:15 p.m. in their “picture day” concert clothing.

ICDA HONOR CHOIR: Eight 5th grade singers were selected to perform in the ICDA Honor

Choir event on January 27, 2017. They learned five difficult pieces and performed them with other

selected singers from across Eastern Iowa. Our own Jennifer Walker from Novak Elementary was

the director this year. We were very proud of our BW students who performed at Coe College that

evening.

Singers who represented Bowman Woods: Kacie Egbert, Lauren Greenwaldt, Alexa Holzwarth,

Sophia Johnson, Frances Lausen, Evan Shanley, Josianna Toingar, and Kaleb Wesselink

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

January BW Volunteers

Lunchroom Helpers – Danean Kirchner, Mary Schroeder, Kathy Turner, Angie Krueger, Russ Gerst, Camille Lindsay, Linda Hasson; Volunteer Workshop - Ruth Schroeder, Stephanie Kathmann, Anne Bass, Sherry Stark, Aimee Noehren, Angie Krueger, Craig Hansen, Camille Lindsay, Beth Morrissey; 5th Grade Pig Heart Dissection Volunteers – Kristin Getz, Donna Buehler, Kathy Turner, Christie Greenwaldt, Jason Greenwaldt, Quinn Harrington, Laura Irvin, Anna Miglia, Julie Wesselink, Christine Hanson, Craig Hanson, Julie Klaren, Tim Lamb, Scott Kass; PTO NFL Play 60 Night Helpers – Parents Kristi Whitham, Dave Whitman, Lori Sipper, Kristina Messenger, Terri Fritcher, Dixie Albertson, Christine Lehman-Engledow, Mary Schroeder, Kristin Poling, Kid Volunteers- Jason Sipper, Jace Whitham (created the music list and did all the tech work), Brock Whitham,Cheereleading Volunteers - Paige Lawrence, Emma Westfall, Football Players Volunteering -Trent Roling, Cevan Walton, Cole Wright, Tyler Hungate, Keegan Harris, Ethan Henrichs, Trot Carey, Rob Read, Drew Martin, Isaiah Garman, Noah Neff, Evan Nash, Chili Contestants – John Sklarsky, Heather Lampe, Andrea Schoenbeck, Becky Streff, Camille Lindsay, Winner of the Chili Contest – Dawn Ovel, Donated Supplies – Mary Schroeder, Andrea Schoenbeck, JoAnn Carstensen, Courtney East, Kristina Messenger, Sally Sklarsky, Becky Streff, Fuel Up for 60 Dietitian – Molly Webb; Hearing Tests – Beth Morrissey and Aimee Noehren; Super Staff Tailgaiting Party Providers – Becky Decious, Carey Buresh, Megan Rieck, Tracy Berta, Tara Rodman, Lori Haro, Madhavi Mungala, Danean Kirchner, Michele Strauss, Andrea Schoenbeck, Tara Erickson, Misty Holzwarth, Jennifer Roberts, Amanda Johanson, Beth Morrissey, Brianna Peterson, Kim Carney, Becky Bolsinger, Jill Groezinger, Dawn Ovel, Angie Krueger, Denise Jones, Laura Bantz, Roy Luo, Renee Wood; Box Tops/HyVee Receipts – Laura Nordine

Exciting news: Bowman Woods leads the district in volunteer hours. Thank you all for

making this happen!

Just a reminder on Inclement Weather….

If severe weather, including fog, forces a late arrival, early dismissal, or cancellation of school for the entire day, announcements will be made on:

District Facebook page as status update (“like” Linn-Mar Community Schools on

Facebook) Txtwire – click on LM Emergency Notifications at the bottom of the LM webpage

to register

TV Stations: KCRG, KFXA, KGAN, KWWL Radio Stations: KCCK, KHAK, KKRQ, KMRY, KZIA, WMT

Unless you see an announcement, assume school is running as usual.

If we have a late arrival: - Watch for our sign out front!

School will start at 10:30a.m. All before school activities are cancelled

Reaches Out

During the month of February, we are reaching out by providing diapers & baby

wipes to the Salvation Army & Young Parents’ Network. These are items seldom

donated to these agencies. If you would like to bring in these items, they can be

placed in the yellow cart in the front foyer entrance. Thank you for helping

throughout the year. These donations are always optional.

A few gentle reminders…

We are a Blue Zone designated school. Because of this, and to follow district policy, we continue to discourage bringing sugary treats for birthday celebrations. Thank you for helping us follow this protocol. We want to be fair to all students and parents who are following these guidelines. There are many other special ways to recognize birthdays. We also encourage healthy daily snacks. It does not need to be a lot. A handful of pretzels, an apple, a few saltines, a small baggie of popcorn or cereal are all sufficient. Please help us by not sending cookies, Doritos or other fried chips. It is greatly appreciated.

The transportation director has had to email us several times lately about parents and students walking behind the busses before and after school. Please understand that we have four busses who need to have our front area be safe for all students. Please do not cross into the parking lot behind the busses. If you are parked and go to pick up students, please wait with your children until the busses have left or walk around to our front entrance and cross where there are no busses. Thank you so much for helping with this.

Lastly, we are seeing a variety of bright and unnatural hair dyes at school. While we respect this is a trend, we will follow state guidelines on hair and clothing. This means, if it causes a substantial disruption in the school or educational environment, it will be addressed. An example would be students coming in with a complete head of fluorescent colored hair. Thank you for helping us navigate these tricky waters.

Linn-Mar School Foundation Funding in Action!

The next few months are exciting for the K-5 students in our building! The Linn-Mar Foundation is bringing three very special programs to our elementary students across the district. Over 3500 students will receive these enrichment opportunities treasured by staff and students alike.

February - Opera Iowa returns to Linn-Mar for a fun, interactive full opera performance of Jack & the Beanstalk courtesy of our Foundation. Students will be engaged, entertained and educated by the touring performance group Opera Iowa! Thank you to the Linn-Mar Foundation and community partner Farmers State Bank for supporting music in our schools.

Bowman

Woods

March - Orchestra Iowa will be bringing in brass, string and woodwind ensembles to our district 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade students. Both educational and entertaining, Orchestra Iowa performers bring music to life for our students!

April - Stories Alive, a 27 year tradition at Linn-Mar is made possible by the Linn-Mar School Foundation and community partner Hills Bank & Trust. National author Betsy Lewin, children's author & illustrator, will meet and visit with all district elementary students. Our students will go on exciting journeys as she takes them from her studios to far-flung reaches of the world, and back again - with stories to tell! Mountain gorillas in Africa! Tigers in India! Camels and elephants and bears. Oh my!

The Stories Alive program encourages and inspires our young Linn-Mar readers!

Save the Date! Friday, March 24th, 6:00 p.m. Reserve Your Tickets Here!

Mark your calendars for Friday, March 24th! Join the Linn-Mar School Foundation for a ROARING good time at the Annual Mane Event dinner and auction. This signature fundraiser will feature a Roaring 20's theme, mobile bidding, a fun Escape Room, Speakeasy, Casino games, Roaring Improv dinner show, photo booth, auctions and more. Ticket reservations available now. Plan your table now and get ready for an amazing night to benefit our Linn-Mar students.

Part-Time position available

The Linn-Mar Foundation has a non-exempt part-time accounting and administrative assistant position available. If you are looking for flexibility and working for an organization that supports education, this might be for you! Click here for a job description. Interested applicants should forward their resume electronically to the Foundation by February 15th.

Winter Band Concert

The 5th Grade Band Winter Concert will be held on Thursday, February 2nd, 2017 in the HS Auditorium. Concert time is 6:15 PM, and monetary donations will be accepted. Band students from all 7 buildings will be performing together!

All fifth grade band students should arrive at the High School between 5:45 and 6:00 PM and be in the Little Theatre ready to warm-up NO LATER than 6:05 PM. Please park in the North lot again. Coats and cases can be left in the Little Theatre. Students will need to bring their instrument, and band music from home. Tubas, baritones, and all percussion instruments will already be at the HS. Please have students wear nice dress clothes for this MAJOR concert (no jeans or tennis shoes please). During the concert, we will be having a group photo taken by Hall’s Photo. 8 x 10 color photographs can be ordered for $10.00. Order forms will be sent home with students that day will also be available at the concert.

In preparation for the concert we will be practicing together THAT morning BEFORE school (7:30 am – 8:30 am) in the HS Auditorium. Please drop your student off at the HS NORTH main entrance between 7:15 and 7:20 am. All students will be transported from the HS to their building after our rehearsal. Because this is our only chance to rehearse with all 175 students together, it is VERY important that every Band student attend this rehearsal! The students have been working extremely hard to prepare for this big concert. We hope you will attend. Kevin Makinster, Director of 5th Grade Bands Kmakinster@linnmar.k12.ia.us

2016-17 District Invention Convention Winners

Dylan Koepnick – Magnetic Cargo Containers

Anna Nordine – You’ve Got Mail Detector

Congratulations, Anna and Dylan

All of the projects were fantastic. Our BW students represented us so well at the

district competition.

CONFERENCE SIGN UP

Parent On-line Conference sign up opens on

Wednesday, February 15th at 7:00 a.m. and closes on

Thursday, February 23rd at 10:00 p.m.

Library News

Makerspace

What is a makerspace and why do we have one? It all began about 5 years ago

when I saw younger students acting less engaged in the library when it came to

books, but most interested in any time I could offer with technology or thinking

games. I began to rearrange, collect stuff and clean my basement of items my own

kids were not playing with and called the area the Think Tank. I wanted students to

feel like they had another place at school to go to create, invent, dream, and study

whatever they wanted to think about. I had heard about the Makerspace movement

and when I read what others have to say about it, I thought, “that is exactly what I

want to create for students- a place for playing, sharing, collaborating, problem

solving, creating, and excitement for learning.”

Currently, the Linn-Mar Foundation has funded the Think Tank makerspace

with $2,800 for iPads, robots, and problem solving games. The newest additions are

three mini iPads that will be used with the Sphero, Dot and Dash robots. Students

have so many options and they are engaged with learning and each other.

Bowman Woods Highlights (BWH)

Small groups of 5th graders, who volunteered, have been collaborating on the

creation of news editions called Bowman Woods Highlights. Students are able to

create script, interview questions, commercials, announcements, props and videos.

Students come to the library during their lunch recess or at any other times that work

with the classroom schedule. Currently, all 4th and 5th graders are learning to use

Movie Maker, the program used to pull an episode of BWH together. If you are

interested in watching an episode, these are all public on YouTube if you search

BWH 1 (all caps and space before the number of episode). There are now eight

episodes.

Bowman Woods Night at Barnes and Noble

Thanks to everyone who trekked to Barnes and

Noble on December 2 to support our orchestra, Early

Bird singers and the library. The percentage of purchases

that “Support Bowman Woods” came out to be $484.85.

This purchased 45 new books for the library.

WONDERING WHAT IS GOING ON

IN THE DISTRICT???

LOG ONTO THE URL ADDRESS:

http://www.linnmar.k12.ia.us/

This address will direct you to the DISTRICT Full Event Calendar. Filter

“Bowman Woods” if you just want to see what is happening at OUR GREAT

SCHOOL!

EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS ___________________ _ The Linn-Mar Community School District offers programs for three, four and five year old children. The number of sections, the location sites, and daily

schedules for these programs will be determined by the district after schools have collected the data needed for making these decisions.

Online registration will be held Wednesday February 22nd, 2017 at noon. Registration and preschool information can be located at

http://tinyurl.com/EarlyChildhoodLM . Computers will be available at the LRC building at 2999 North 10th Street in Marion for those

needing assistance for registering their three or four year old children.

Priority enrollment will be given to families that live in the Linn-Mar School District and 20% of the enrollment

for the four year old placements will be reserved for families that qualify as low-income.

Children age 5 on or by September 15, 2017, may be served in one of two program models:

Screening dates are February 27, 2017 and March 6, 2017. If you plan on having your child screened, please contact

Dianne Van Praag at 447-3015 to set up an appointment.

Even if you are having your child screened, please plan on attending the Kindergarten Information Night at your

neighborhood school.

For more information, go to http://tinyurl.com/EarlyChildhoodLM

E A R L Y C H I L D H O O D P R O G R A M S

Preschool for Three Year Olds

Age 3 on or by September 15,2017

$200 Monthly tuition

Half day, Four days a week

Preschool for Four Year Olds

Age 4 on or by September 15,2017

No cost due to Linn-Mar being a part of the Statewide Voluntary Preschool Program

Half day, Four days a week

Kindergarten

Contact your neighborhood school for dates and time of the kindergarten night for parents that is held in February.

Early Childhood Blended Program

If you are unsure if your child is ready for kindergarten, Linn-Mar’s Early Childhood Blended Program may be an option. This program is an all-day program for children that qualify through a screening process.

To enjoy the full newsletter, go to Tinyurl.com/bowmannews

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

1(3)

Early Birds

AM

2(4)

Art Club – 7:30AM Band AM

Orchestra PM

3(5)

Early Birds AM

5th Gr. Winter Band Concert @

6:15 pm HS

6(6)

7(7)

Orch. AM

Chess Club 3:15-

4

5th Grade Orchestra

Concert @ 7 pm

H.S. Audit.

8(8)

Early Birds

AM

K & 2 Dental

Screening

9(1) Art Club – 7:30AM

Band AM

Orch PM

3rd Grade – Dr Petersen

K Round up 6:30

10(2)

Early Birds AM

13(3) 14(4) 15(5) 16(6) 17

Orch. AM

Friendship

Parties -2:30 Vol Workshop

8:45am

Chess Club 3:15-4

PTO Meeting @ 6

Early Birds

AM

Parent Online

Conference

Sign Up

Opens At 7

am

Art Club – 7:30 AM

Band AM

Orch PM

NO SCHOOL

Teacher Work

Day

20 21(7) 22(8) 23(1) 24(2)

NO SCHOOL

Prof. Learning

Early Birds

AM Art Club – 7:30 AM

Band AM Early Birds AM

Orch AM

Chess Club

3:15-4

Online

Preschool

Registration

Begins @ noon

Parent Online Conf. Sign Up

Closes At 10 pm

Orch PM

5th gr. Musical @

6:30 pm

Report Cards

Go Home

Pride Day Sock Hop

6-8

27(3)

Conference Week

28(4)

Orch AM

Chess Club

3:15-4 Late night common

conferences