December Paw Print Press

Welcome to Rogers Park's December Newsletter.
Please email N icole Lien with any suggestions or feedback.

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Hello Rogers Park families and members of our community!

The month of November was a whirlwind. I am looking forward to December, some snow and some normal days here at Rogers Park. Thank you to everyone for all your support and assistance this past month. I hope that everyone is healthy and ready for a great finish of 2019.

Please mark your calendars for Thursday, December 5 for our Parent/Staff Safety Forum from 5:30-7:00. This will be a time to discuss as a community ideas on safety at our school. There will be representation from ASD Elementary Ed, ASD Safety and Security, APD/SROs and Rogers Park staff. It will be a great opportunity to have a productive, positive conversation about safety in our school and community. Please no children at this event.

One of our parents, Moira Smith, organized a fundraiser to pay off Rogers Park’s lunch debt of just over $2,800. I am excited to announce that our ENTIRE lunch debt has been paid off by generous donations from the community. INCREDIBLE! Thank you to all who contributed to this wonderful cause. I am truly humbled by this tremendous act of kindness.

As this year comes to a close and we move on to 2020, I want to remind all families of the importance of staying involved in your child’s school. We all need to work together to continue to make Rogers Park a wonderful place! Our PTA is a hard-working organization that has many dedicated members who work countless hours for our school. I would like to share with you some great reasons to get involved in your child’s school.

First, your child benefits. When parents get connected to the school, children do better. Research shows children whose parents are involved get better grades, do better on tests and have fewer discipline problems at school.
Next, parent volunteers make a difference. We want to create the kind of school community where teachers can do their best work—and so can our children. Providing support for teachers in and out of the classroom, you can provide resources they need and create learning opportunities for all our children.
Another reason, volunteering is fun and you meet others with the same concerns and interests! Volunteer work shouldn’t be drudgery. Parent volunteers accomplish a lot and not everything you do is easy. However, don’t take it too seriously and have fun! Parents all have a common bond, you care about creating the best possible experience for your children.
The final reason to get involved at Rogers Park is that it’s all about parent involvement, not fundraising. In these times of tight budgets, parent groups everywhere are having to fill in the gaps. However, the number one goal is to get more parents connected to the school. More than 300 independent research studies show that building parent involvement in education is the number one thing we can do to create a great school and improve student performance.

Thank you so much and I am wishing everyone a happy and healthy holiday season!

Thank you,
Nuri Johnsen
Principal

Nurse's Notes..

Rogers Park will be hosting an additional flu shot clinic on Friday, December 6 from 2:30-4:30 pm. Permission slips will be coming home this week. If you want your child to receive the immunization that day and you cannot be here with them to give consent, please fill out and return the form to school this week. If your child already received a flu shot this year, or you don't want them to get one, please disregard the permission slip. Immunizations will be available for students/families/community members 6 months of age and older.

Just a friendly reminder with all of those coughs and colds going around, that any medication (even over-the-counter) requires paperwork to be filed in my office. I have forms available for you to sign for cough medicine, cough drops, Tylenol, and Advil you can also find these forms on the Rogers Park website. In a pinch, I can call you for permission, but if it’s something that will be regularly used or over the course of several days, the form is the way to go.

Thank you and stay warm out there!

Therese Brennan, RN
Rogers Park School Nurse
Phone: 742-4801
Fax: 742-4815

Up-Coming Concerts

Choir Concert:
December 11 at 6:30 PM.

Band and Orchestra Concert:
December 17 at 12:00 PM.

Come and hear our talented and musical students in these wonderful concerts!

Student Council....

The Rogers Park student council is excited to be working with your students and their teachers to make Rogers Park a better, more fun, and an overall safer place to be.

We have been working on many things to make learning fun here at this awesome school. We have been brainstorming ideas for clubs and creating a school newspaper to keep your students updated on current events like movie nights, spirit days, and fundraisers. We have also helped to advertise Multicultural Night, and hope to help out with more events in the future.

Thank you for supporting Rogers Park Student Council.

PTA News.....

Multicultural Potluck
We were so disappointed to cancel the November Multi-cultural Potluck due to widespread illness at Rogers Park, but please stay tuned, as we will attempt to reschedule this community event later this winter.

Our December PTA meeting will be on Thursday, December 12 from 8:00-8:50 am, please join us in the library! Having one in December was due to the November meeting getting canceled.

Support the PTA
The PTA has many types of opportunities to volunteer! Join the PTA or Renew Your Membership through our Square store at https://squareup.com/store/RogersParkPTA/. Please include your email address and phone number in the notes with your payment.

You may also consider supporting PTA in the following ways:

Holiday Shopping
Support Rogers Park Elementary PTA when you shop on Amazon! Amazon donates 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to the charitable organization of your choice. Visit this link to learn more: https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-3194132

BOX TOPS FOR EDUCATION
Box Tops for Education® is one of the nation’s largest school fundraising loyalty programs and has been helping schools succeed since 1996. With over 250 participating products, it’s an easy way for schools to earn cash for the things they need.

· Over 80,000 K-8 schools participate nationwide

· Each Box Tops coupon is worth 10¢ and they add up fast!

· Schools can use their Box Tops cash to buy whatever they need most, from books to field trips to playgrounds.

· So far, America’s schools have earned over $525 million from Box Tops…and counting.

Thank you,
Rogers Park PTA

Rogers Park Elementary- Where awesome meets education!
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/RogersParkPta/?fref=ts
Check out our website: http://rogersparkpta.weebly.com/
Shop Amazon Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-3194132

Notes from the Health Teacher....

In Health classes this month we will discuss Nutrition. See below for the link to online Great Body Shop Family Bulletins where you can view more specific information about your student’s grade level topics. Just right click to open it.

Monthly Theme: Nutrition

Also, during the weeks of November 25th – Dec. 13th, we will again be covering the ASD mandated Personal Safety Lessons. We will continue to talk about how to keep our bodies safe and what to do in unsafe situations. We will be incorporating these lessons into Health classes once every quarter.

If you have any questions, please contact me.

Susie Howard
Howard_Susie@asdk12.org

Yearbooks

YAY! Yearbooks are for sale!!

Get your full color yearbooks for only $20.

You can pay with cash or a check made out to Rogers Park PTA here at the school or online at: ybpay.lifetouch.com then just enter our Yearbook ID Code: 1798820.

Calendar

12/3
Garden Club 12:30-1:00 pm

12/4
Readers Pack Reading
Logs Due

12/5
Parent/Staff Safety Forum
5:30-7:00 pm

12/10
Garden Club 12:30-1:00 pm
Choir Dress Rehearsal 3:30-5:00 pm

12/11
Choir Concert at 2:00 & 6:30 pm

12/12
PTA Meeting at 8:00- 8:50 am

12/17
Band and Orchestra Concert
at 12:00 pm

12/20
No School
Teacher In-Service Day

12/23 - 1/3
Winter Break
No School

1/6
Start of the 3rd quarter
Students Back to School

Student Council:
Every Wednesday
12:30-1:00 pm

Choir:
1 - 3 grades
Tuesday's 3:30-5:00

4-6 grades
Thursday's 3:30-5:00

MathCounts Practice:
Every Friday 3:30 - 4:45 pm

Please come by and check out our Lost and Found!

We get a lot of items turned in here, come on by and see if any of them are your children's.

Also we have lost eye glasses located in the office.

All items not claimed by December 20 will be donated to a local donation center.

Rogers Park Dismissal Procedures

Kindergarten parents pick up students at their teacher’s outside door.
Students in grades 1-3 meet at their pick-up sign. (South side of building)
Students in grades 4-6 meet at their pick-up sign. (North side of building)
4-6 grade students will meet younger siblings at 1-3 pick-up sign.

To read more about these dismissal procedures right click on this link: Dismissal Procedures

Fred Meyer Community Rewards

Did you know that you can help us get donations from Fred Meyers just by shopping at their stores. All you have to do is register your rewards card here. and pick Rogers Park Elementary as your favorite non-profit.

You will still receive all your reward points, rebates and fuel points while helping us earn money to put back into the school for the students. To read more about this awesome opportunity just go to:
https://www.fredmeyer.com/topic/community-rewards-4

Birthday treats!

It is exciting when it is your child's birthday and we want to make sure it is a great day for your child and everyone else.

Please contact your child's teacher before your child's big day so they can work with you if you plan on bringing in treats. In addition, they can let you know of any allergies. All treats need to be nut free.

The Rogers Park Readers Pack

This is a program based on recreational reading.

Students track their minutes on a log and the minutes accumulate from the first day enrolled and continue throughout their time at Rogers Park.

Download the log here .

Click here to open up a sheet filled with tips for making reading successful.

Volunteer Drivers:

Please turn in your driver form at least two weeks before the first time you drive for a field trip.

The office needs copies of current license, registration, and the insurance declarations page with the amount of coverage. Beat the rush and bring in your forms now. Here is this year's Volunteer Driver Form.

Be a Good Neighbor

People should not be turning into individual families' private driveways along Zarvis to turn around, please be thoughtful and respectful of those that live in our community right around the school grounds.

Please do not park in front of the private driveways during pick up, drop off and other times during school meetings and functions.
This can impede homeowners from getting in and out of their own driveways.

Bus Rider?

Please make note of the three dispatch numbers for when the bus is late.

2-digit bus numbers: 742-1207
3-digit bus numbers: 278-4287

Eagle River buses
(700-numbers): 696-4287

Important Links and Numbers

Rogers Park Website
Teachers' Emails and Websites

Attendance Line: 566-1407
School Fax: 742-4815

ASD Bus Dispatch:
742-1207 (1- and 2-digit bus numbers)
Reliant Bus Dispatch:
278-4287 (3-digit bus numbers)

Rogers Park School
Business Partners

Denali Pediatric Dentistry
Raven Electric
David Green Master Furrier
Bagoys Florist
Denali Federal Credit Union
Village Inn Pancake House-Northern Lights

Moose's Tooth Pub & Pizzeria
Kaladi Brothers

For more information regarding the SBP program please see the ASD website.

Anchorage School Board

Starr Marsett, President

Alisha Hilde, Vice-President
Elisa Vakalis, Treasurer
Margo Bellamy, Clerk
Deena Mitchell
Dave Donley
Andy Holleman

Dr. Deena Bishop,
Superintendent