“Minute to Win It!” Celebration

I want to thank our Borlaug Positive Behavior Supports & Intervention (PBIS) Team who created an outstanding school-wide reward, “Minute to Win It!”

On Tuesday, November 20^th,  Borlaug Elementary celebrated reaching 15,000 tickets for being respectful, responsible, and safe.  The creative teaching staff brainstormed a hilarious hour of fun.   We presented our very first and very own version of “Minute to Win It!”   Each grade level had students chosen to play out a challenge in front of the entire Borlaug community.   The Borlaug students and staff cheered on the participants, creating an environment of positive sportsmanship. It was great to see so many parents join us in celebrating our PBIS accomplishment as well!

Happy Thanksgiving,

Celeste Shoppa, Principal

Borlaug's Stuffed Animal Day & Minute to Win It Reward

Hello Borlaug Families and Staff,

This is Principal Shoppa with a few reminders.  Our Borlaug Student Council is sponsoring Stuffed Animal Day, which is this Friday, November 16^th. Your student may choose to bring a stuff animal to share in a day at Borlaug.  Please be sure the stuffed animal is no larger than what can fit in a backpack.

On Tuesday, November 20^th Borlaug Elementary will celebrate reaching 15,000 tickets for being respectful, responsible, and safe.  The creative teaching staff has brainstormed an hilarious afternoon of fun.   We present to you, our very first and very own version of “Minute to Win It!”   Each grade level will have students chosen to play out a challenge in front of the entire Borlaug community.   Feel free to join us on Tuesday, November 20, at 2 pm in the gymnasium.   It might be fun to have a parent or two join in the festivities!! 

One last reminder is that next week only a two day week due to Thanksgiving break starting on Wednesday, November 21^st. 

Thank you for all of your support as it is greatly appreciated by all!

Sincerely,

Celeste Shoppa, Principal

Borlaug November News

Hello Borlaug Families and Staff,

Below is the link to our Borlaug Bulletin for November 5, 2012. 

http://www.edline.net/pages/Borlaug_Elementary_School/News/Borlaug_Bulletin_11_5_12

We hope you enjoy this link to a slide show of Borlaug Halloween photos. http://www.edline.net/pages/Borlaug_Elementary_School/About_Our_School/Halloween_Parade

You will find on our Borlaug Website two new flyers:

1.      BOOST  - Building Opportunities Outside of School Time:

·         BOOST is an after school tutoring program for K-4th graders from Borlaug Elementary. It will be held on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at the Pheasant Ridge Neighborhood Center.  One-on-one homework help and tutoring is provided as well as educational field trips!

2.      Project Holiday:

·         A special service provided each year by The Crisis Center Food Bank to distribute foods for Johnson County families in need to prepare their traditional holiday meal in December. The Food Bank provides a variety of food options and clients will be able to choose the best items for their family.

Thank you,

Celeste Shoppa, Principal

Borlaug will celebrate its first Spirit Day!

On Friday, October 26, Borlaug will celebrate its first Spirit Day.  We are inviting all students and staff to wear our school colors, black and gold!   Won’t it be fun to see our entire school decked out in our favorite Bulldog colors?  Go Bulldogs!  So, clean out those closets and dig up the black and gold!  Woof!  Woof!

We want to remind our Borlaug Community that this week, Oct. 22-26, we are participating in “Stock the Pantry Johnson County” as part of Make a Difference Day. A flyer came home last week explaining this is a community wide food drive, and Borlaug classrooms will have donation areas for the students to bring non-perishable food items.   We thank you for your generosity.

Stock the Pantry Johnson County Project

Borlaug Elementary is participating in the Stock the Pantry Johnson County project as part of Make a Difference Day.  To participate, have your student bring non-perishable food items to school anytime between October 22 and 26th.  Each classroom will have a collection site.  Stock the Pantry Johnson County is a community food drive that will benefit the three local food pantry's,  the Crisis Center, North Liberty Pantry and the Coralville Ecumenical Food Pantry.  This is a community wide food drive that has set an ambitious goal of 100,000 pounds of food, which will supply the three pantry’s for one month during their busiest time.

Thank you,

Celeste Shoppa, Principal

October Update

September 20^th was a very memorable day as we celebrated the opening of Borlaug Elementary and the humanitarian for which we are named, Dr. Norman Borlaug.  We celebrated our school through song and presentation about Dr. Borlaug and his life’s accomplishments and philosophy.  Dr. Borlaug’s daughter, Jeanie Borlaug Laube, and his first cousin, Allen Borlaug, were impressed by the building but more importantly by our students.  I want to thank all who were able to attend and to those who made the day such a success!

During the months of September and October, your child(ren) have and will be participating in a variety of assessments. The assessments assist teachers in identifying areas of strengths, areas for growth, and ultimately the information will result in guiding instruction. In September, district reading tests were administered. During October 15-19, students in grades 3-6 will take the Iowa Assessments, formally known as ITBS. This test covers Reading, Language and Writing, Math, Science, and Social Studies. During the final week of October, students in sixth grade will take the Iowa Youth Survey.

Parent teacher conferences will soon be approaching.  It is our goal to have 100% participation in our fall and spring conferences.  If you haven’t had a chance to sign up for a conference time, please contact your child’s teacher to set a time and date.  We have two night conference dates, November 1^st and 8^th, and we have conferences all day on November 9^th. Thank you for your participation in this process and for supporting your child’s education.

Borlaug Update - September 17, 2012

Today our Borlaug PTO sent out an email to our families with our Borlaug Student Directory attached.  It was attached in two versions – one is alphabetical order as a school and the other by homerooms.  The directory is not a complete listing of all Borlaug students.  According to what parents marked in their E-Registration through Power School, we have 47 students whose families marked not to be included in the school directory.  Additionally, we have 27 students whose families marked not to provide parent contact information, such as email addresses, to the PTO.  Please keep this in mind if you are using the list to contact your child's whole class. If you need a hard copy of the student directory please call the Borlaug office at 688-1155.

Parents are now able to follow what is happening with the Borlaug Chess club at http://borlaugchess.blogspot.com/.   Check back weekly for updates to the chess ladder!

We are very excited for Thursday, September 20^th which is our Borlaug Dedication Day at 9:30am.  All are welcome to join us in the gym to celebrate the opening of Borlaug Elementary and the humanitarian for which we are named, Dr. Norman Borlaug.  We will have Borlaug family members joining us as well as an executive officer from the Borlaug Heritage Foundation.  The children will be leading us in song and in a power point presentation of Dr. Borlaug’s life. If possible, please send your child to school on the 20^th in his/her Opening Day Borlaug t-shirt.

We will continue celebrating at lunchtime on the 20^th by having team level picnics on the front lawn of Borlaug. The students reached our school-wide goal of 50,000 Borlaug Bulldog tickets from our PBIS program, earning this special event. 

Our Team 1 and 2 Back-to School Night will be Thursday, September 20^th as well.  Our kindergartener students’ time is from 5:30-6:30pm and for our 1^st and 2^nd graders’ time is from 6:30-7:30pm.  For this evening we will have childcare provided during the teacher presentation portion of the evening. Please see the information below in regard to where you and your child will start your evening. 

5:30- 6:00 –      Kindergarten Presentation for parents with kindergarten teachers

-          Childcare provided in the Team 2 Commons area at the end of the Team 2 wing

6:00- 6:30 –      All Kindergarten families and teachers move to their classrooms

6:30 – 6:55 –    1^st Grade Presentation for parents with 1^st grade teachers

-          1^st Grade childcare provided in the Team 2 Commons area at the end of the Team 2 wing

-          2^nd Grade families to classrooms for classroom tours

7:05-7:30 –       2^nd Grade Presentation for parents with 2^nd grade teachers

-          2^nd Grade childcare provided in the Team 2 Commons area at the end of the Team 2 wing

-          1^st  Grade families to classrooms for classroom tours

Thank you for all of your support!

Celeste Shoppa, Principal