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

Borlaug Bulletin - September 10th

Hello Borlaug Families and Staff,

Below is the link to our new Borlaug Bulletin for September 10^th.  http://www.edline.net/files/_gKLtI_/a0a2bacfefa550293745a49013852ec4/Borlaug_Bulletin_9.10.12.pdf
 

On the second page of the newsletter you will find details about our upcoming Borlaug Dedication Day on Thursday, September 20^th at 9:30am to 10:00am.  We will celebrate the opening of Borlaug Elementary and the humanitarian for which we are named, Dr. Norman Borlaug.  We will welcome Dr. Borlaug’s daughter and a representative from the Norman Borlaug Heritage Foundation.  We hope you will be able to join us for our special celebration.

Tomorrow night, Tuesday, September 11^th at 6:30, we will have our Borlaug PTO meeting.  We will meet in the Borlaug library.  We hope you can join us as we continue to plan for our school.

Thank you,

Celeste Shoppa, Principal

A Borlaug Update & Back-to-School Night Information

We will have our first Back-to School Night this Thursday, September the 6^th from 5:30 to 6:30 for our 3^rd and 4^th Graders and from 6:30- 7:30 for 5^th and 6^th Graders. In addition for our 6^th graders there will be a School of the Wild meeting directly following their Back-to School Night this Thursday.  Each grade level will have a presentation from the teachers and then a time in the classroom for your student to give a tour.  Please see the information below in regard to where you and your child start your evening. 

5:30 – 5:55 –    3^rd Grade Presentation with 3^rd grade teachers in Borlaug Multi-Purpose Rm

-          4^th  Grade families to classrooms for classroom tours

6:05-6:30    –    4^th Grade Presentation with 4^th grade teachers in Borlaug Multi-Purpose Rm

-          3^rd  Grade families to classrooms for classroom tours

6:30 – 6:55 –    5^th Grade Presentation with 5^th grade teachers in Borlaug Team 4 Commons

-          6^th  Grade families to classroom for classroom tour

7:05-7:30    –    6^th Grade Presentation with 6^th grade teacher in Mrs. Saunders’ Room

-          5^th  Grade families to classrooms for classroom tours

           7:30  -     6^th Grade Meeting for School of the Wild in Mrs. Saunders’ Room

Our Team 1 and 2 Back-to School Night will be Thursday, September 20^th.  Our kindergartener students’ time is from 5:30-6:30 and for our 1^st and 2^nd graders’ time is from 6:30-7:30.  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 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

We want to thank our Borlaug Community for your support in our PTO’s Innisbrook fundraiser.  It is not too late to still go online and submit an order.

I want to remind our families of our 8:25 bell that starts our academic day.  The teachers are outside supervising students from 8:10-8:25 and then escorting them into the building using our educational wing doors.  If you and your child arrive later than 8:25, please use our front entrance which is unlocked until 8:35, when our tardy bell rings.  After 8:35 we need students to stop in the office for a tardy slip. 

I cannot thank you enough for all of the outstanding support this school year.  From the positive comments about our secure building for safety of our students to the kind comments about our fabulous staff, it means so much in building our culture of caring at Borlaug.

Thank you and have a wonderful evening.

Celeste Shoppa, Principal

First Borlaug Bulletin, August 27th

Hello Borlaug Families,

This is Principal Shoppa with a Borlaug update.  Attached to an email you will find our first Borlaug Bulletin with information from Borlaug, the Iowa City Community School District, and our Borlaug PTO.  If you need to have the Borlaug Bulletin send home in hard copy, please contact our office at 688-1155.

I wanted to share a few reminders as well.  I am excited to report that Girl Scouts will be visiting Borlaug tonight, Monday, August 27, 7:00pm, in the multi-purpose room. Students received colorful stickers promoting tonight’s meeting.

Our PTO Innisbrook Fundraiser continues through September 4^th.  We greatly appreciate your support as we work to raise money for PTO start-up needs to support our students and staff.

With the fog this morning, it was brought to my attention that our students on bikes were difficult to be seen.  Please review with your bike rider safety precautions in such weather conditions as well as bike safety rules.  Our Borlaug Bulldog bikers have been so responsible with walking their bikes while on campus. Thank you!

I hope you have a wonderful week.

Sincerely,

Celeste Shoppa

PTO Fundraiser with Innisbrook

Hello Borlaug Families and Staff,

The Borlaug PTO is excited to announce that on Monday, August 20^th,  our students will be coming home with an outstanding fundraising opportunity.  Each student will have a packet from Innisbrook and in this packet there will be a catalog offering premium gift wrap, chocolates, and other wonderful gift items.  The packet will also include easy instructions on how to place your orders as well as a toll free customer service number to help with any questions you may have.  Our sale will run from Monday, August 20th through Tuesday, September 4th.  We appreciate your support as we try and reach our fundraising goal of $3,000.

We have noticed that some Borlaug students are arriving before 8:10 in the morning.  We want our children safe and since we do not have supervision until 8:10, please arrive no earlier than 8:10.  Thank you also to the families who have created last name signs for their cars during carline at dismissal time.  It is a great help to those staff members on carline duty.

We are looking forward to another wonderful week of learning at Borlaug!

Principal Shoppa

Borlaug Elementary's First Day!

What fabulous first day at Borlaug Elementary!   We had so many excited and smiling faces both from the children and the staff.  We ended our day with our whole school photo, wearing our Borlaug t-shirts.  We hope you enjoyed seeing your child come home proudly wearing Norm, our bulldog mascot.

When looking at our end of the day dismissal procedures we want to share a few reminders with our families.  Tomorrow is again a 1:55 dismissal day for all Iowa City schools – just like today.  Be sure to review with your child daily how he/she will get home.  If there is a change in the regular routine, please send a note to school for your child’s teacher.  This keeps us all well-informed so we know how to help your child at the end of the school day. All of our students will be escorted to their dismissal destinations each day, so older students will need to meet up with younger siblings at these locations, not at classrooms.  We have staff members for every grade level who will walk our bus students, carline students, walking students, and BASP students to their dismissal destinations. 

We want to remind our car line families to be sure to have a sign in your front window showing the last name of your children for pick-up.  Be sure it is large enough for the carline staff to see easily.  This will help us speed up the carline process.

For our students who are walking home, we will have them meet parents at the east playground gate.  This will elevate the congestion by the front entry, as we have students being escorted to their dismissal destinations by staff. 

Thank you so much for your support, as we are off to a great start!

Celeste Shoppa, Principal

Ice Cream Social and the 1st Day of School!

Borlaug’s Ice Cream Social is Tuesday, August 14th.  It will begin at 6:15 pm with families gathering outside on the eastside playground, before entering the building.  We will gather to begin our evening together and to dedicate our new playground.  Teachers will then enter the building to be to their classrooms in time to greet their students and families.  Class lists will be displayed in the front hallway and in the library on the second floor.

We still need many Borlaug families to update their E-Registration accounts.  Please call us at 688-1155 if you need any assistance.  We are currently at about 70% of our families updated.  We want to have 100% updated, so we are sure we have the most current information for contact purposes.

We will have early release on both the first and second day of school.  This means we will dismiss at 1:55 on Thursday, August 16^th and at 1:55 on Friday, August 17^th.  We want to remind our preschool families that preschool begins on Monday, August 20^th.

On the first day of school, we will have a school-wide photo taken with our Borlaug students and staff in their new Borlaug t-shirts.  These are t-shirts that were purchased for us by Hills Bank, as a welcome to the Coralville Community. Your child will bring home his/her shirt on the first day of school so you have it for future sprit days at Borlaug.  We thank Hills Bank for their generosity!

We look forward to seeing you on the 14^th!