Tuesday, October 27, 2009

October 26, 2009

It's hard to believe it's the end of October already, and my what a busy month it has been. Two weeks ago, members of the Macon Rural Fire Department came out to our school to present a program on Fire Safety and Prevention. It was an exciting time to learn from the firemen and see the trucks up close. Thank you to the members of Macon Rural Fire Department who took time out of their busy schedules to come out and present this program to us.

Last Tuesday, we had our first Family Reading Night of the school-year. We had a great turn-out. There were 44 students present with a parent or other adult who read and then took Accelerated Reader tests. Thank you to all the parents who came out and supported your children in this way. Our next Family Reading Night will be held in January.

Last Thursday, we were privileged to be visited by the Mike Hagan Strength Team. We enjoyed watching as Warren Alford and Jeremy Baker performed amazing feats of strength like breaking a baseball bat over their thighs. These world class athletes then presented a program about building strength of character, believing in yourself and working towards goals. Thank you to the anonymous supporters that made this visit possible!

Last Friday our Kindergarten students went to Hill Ridge Farms on a field trip to learn about Pumpkin Farming. It was an exciting time for them to play games an enjoy the many activities of the day! A special thanks is extended to all the parents who went as chaperones. We could not do what we do without your help.

Last week students began taking their First Nine weeks Benchmark Tests. Since Third through Fifth Grades are taking their benchmarks online, the time-frame is extended over a two week period, so benchmarks will continue throughout this week as well.

The next few weeks are a very busy time at our school. Tomorrow night we will be holding our Fall Festival from 5:00 P.M. To 7:30 P.M. A hotdog supper with chips and a drink will be available for $3.50. We will have many games and activities and look forward to seeing many of you there. Don't forget about our two raffles. Students have been selling tickets for our school-wide raffle for several weeks now. Prizes are: First Place - $200, Second Place - $150, Third Place - $125, Fourth Place - $75, and Fifth Place – a $50 gift certificate to Wildwood Nursery. Tickets will be available until 7 P.M., so stop by and buy some tickets for your chance to win some cash. Our second raffle is for a child's bicycle. Tickets are available each morning in the school lobby and at the Fall Festival as well.

Next week Vaughan Elementary will be holding Parent-Teacher Conferences on Thursday, November 5, from 1:30 P.M. To 7:00 P.M. If you have not already set up a time to meet with your child's teacher, please do so. This is a good time to check in on the progress that your child is making and see if there are any areas for concern. Because of Parent Conferences, school will be dismissed at 1:00 P.M. On both Thursday, November 5, and Friday, November 6. Please make arrangements for your children for these two days.

In addition, there has been a change in our normal schedule of events. Our Fall Bookfair has been moved to December 2-9. We normally hold this event during Parent Conferences, but due to other events, a change had to be made. Please mark your calendars for this event and come out to look over an buy some of the great reading material we will have available.


Upcoming Events
October 30, 2009 Teacher Workday – Preparation of Report Cards
November 5, 2009 Early Release – 1 P.M.
November 6, 2009 Early Release – 1P.M.
November 11, 2009 Veteran's Day Holiday – No School

October 5, 2009

We had a wonderful week last week with some exciting things happening on our campus! On Saturday, October 3, we had a Outdoor Work Day. We were awarded 50 azaleas from a grant from NC Beautiful and WRAL TV-5. We had over 30 parents and students come out to help us get them planted as well as do some other beautification and clean up around our school. Words cannot express how much we appreciate all of you who came out and helped! There are too many to name, but a special thanks is extended to the following: Mike Diacont of Wildwood Nursery for donating compost and coming out to help direct where each azalea should be placed, as well as donating two camellias, High and High Brothers for donating mulch, John Ross for bringing his tractor, Matt Moriarty for bringing hole diggers, James Paynter for going to pick up the azaleas and Don Mizelle for for bringing a tiller and a host of other tools.

We also had a beautiful Crape Myrtle tree donated to our school by Delta Kappa Gamma Society in memory of Mrs. Geraldine Spraggins. Members of Delta Kappa Gamma as well as members of the Spraggins family came out for a Dedication Ceremony. Our campus is really shaping up and we are so excited about seeing our blooming beauties in the spring.

This week Macon Rural Fire Department will be visiting us on Friday, October 9, at 9 a. m. to present a program for Fire Prevention and Safety week. Ident-a-Kid pictures will also be offered on Friday. If you would like for your child to take a picture to be made into an ID for emergency use, please send your form with payment on Friday.

Upcoming Events
October 13, 2009 7pm PTA/4th and 5th Grade Concert

Thursday, October 1, 2009

September 28, 2009

It's hard to believe that it is almost October! The school-year is rolling right along and things are going very well at Vaughan Elementary. We are excited to announce that a beautification project for our school has been selected as a winner in the 24th annual Azalea Celebration from NC Beautiful and Capitol Broadcasting Company. We want to take this opportunity to thank High and High, Inc., for donating the mulch for our project and Southern States Farm and Garden for donating fertilizer. We would like to invite any interested volunteers to come out and help us in planting and mulching these beauties. We will be meeting at school at 10 a. m. on Saturday, October 3 to get started. We hope to see you there!

Parents of Pre-Kindergarten students, please be reminded that there will be no school for your children on this Thursday and Friday, October 1 and 2. This only applies to our Pre-K students.

We currently have two fundraisers going on simultaneously. Some of you may have received letters asking you to purchase magazine subscriptions. This is part of a program called Computers for Education. Money that is raised through this effort helps us purchase badly needed computers for our school. Students also have order forms from Cherrydale for various products. This is our annual fundraising program sponsored by the PTA which allows us to raise funds for various supplies needed at our school. These order forms need to be turned in on Tuesday, October 6. Thank you for your support in these efforts. We could not do all the things we do here without it!

We have some great things happening in the weeks ahead. We invite all of our parents out to our first PTA meeting of the school year to be held on October 13, at 7 p. m. The Fourth and Fifth grade students will be presenting a concert that we know everyone will want to see. Also, we would like to invite our parents and students out for our first Family Reading Night of the school year to be held on October 20, from 6:00 to 7:30 p. m. Family Reading Nights are designed to allow parents the opportunity to read with their children, then watch as students take Accelerated Reader tests. It is a great way for parents to see this program in action and encourage your children to read at the same time. We look forward to seeing you at these two events!