Readers as Leaders

Timber Lane Elementary has teamed up with the McLean High School boys basketball team to participate in the Readers Are Leaders program.  Once a week for five weeks, players from the team visited Timber Lane and read with twenty three second grade boys.  Each member of the team read with two boys and had discussions with the boys about the books and school.  The Timber Lane students and McLean students were excited each week to work together.  Watching everyone work together and to see the excitement in the room was amazing.  To celebrate the end of the program, the Timber Lane students will be recognized along with their players at a McLean home basketball game.

 

Welcome

Welcome back to another exciting school year here at Timber Lane.   Our first two weeks of school have been wonderful.  It is great to see all of the smiling faces as I walk through the building each day.   On Wednesday, we had our first assembly of the year.  It was the kick-off to our fall fundraiser which runs from September 14th-30th.  Both of our Back-To- School Nights were a huge success.  It was great to see all of you here for this very important event.   I look forward to a terrific school year at Timber Lane.  I hope to see you at our next PTA meeting on Tuesday, September 20^th at 7:00 in the library.

 

 

Girls on the Run

The Spring 2011 Girls on the Run season was a huge success.  Twenty girls in grades 3-6 participated in the program.  The team met twice a week for ten weeks.  The program teaches the girls healthy eating habits, the importance of exercise, friendship skills, anti-bullying messages and community service.  On Sunday, May 15, the girls ran a 5k race at George Mason University with 3000 other girls.  The girls and buddy runners all finished the race with huge smiles on their faces. 

 

Partners in Print

About 35 families came to celebrate reading with their children on March 16th during our Partners In Print event. The families were able to make butterflies out of celery, cream cheese and pretzels by reading and following a recipe. They also went into the computer lab where they were taught how to keep their children safe on the Internet by going to the FCPS Website and accessing reading databases. Another session was on predicting before reading and during reading. The last session was on quietly praising their child while reading.

We had a wonderful time with all of the children and their parents. Pizza was served ahead of the sessions so we all had full tummies to be able to learn. The PTA kept the Book Fair open and a few books were sold there!

PIP, the Kangaroo (actually Mrs. Culpepper) made an appearance and was well loved by all the students!

Partners In Print is held twice a year for families of Headstart, Preschool, Kindergarten, First and Second Grade Families can come to school and learn together.

The Book Fair is here!

The fall book fair has arrived at Timber Lane.  There are countless selections of books for you to choose from for students of all ages.  All of the students will have an opportunity to visit the book fair with their class so they can preview some of the selections.  Thanks to the hard work of Debbie Buchanan and Kristan Anderson along with all of the volunteers the book fair looks great and I am certain it will be a huge success.  Sharon Frank and Marilyn Harris have also worked very closely with the parents to ensure that our book selection meet the needs of all readers.  All of their dedication and support translates into a wonderful literacy event for the entire school community!

 

I wanted to call your attention to a couple of key events during the book fair:

 

First, the book fair is open every day during school hours.  Parents please feel free to stop in and visit, browse and shop if your schedule allows.  Also, Monday, November 8^th the book fair will be open in the evening from 6:30-8:00.  This is a great time for you to stop by with the whole family.  Our special guest on Monday evening will be Miss Jackie who will be on hand to autograph some of her published books.  If you don’t know, Ms. Jackie is the former librarian at Timber Lane and has published many children books.  We are very excited that she will be able to attend!

 

Second, the theme of this year’s book fair is Heroes and who are better heroes than grandparents.  So Thursday, November 11th is Grandparents Day at the book fair.  Grandparents are invited to join their grandchildren for lunch and then visit the book fair with them during recess time.  We hope many grandparents will be able to attend.

 

Next, all the students were given the option to participate in an essay contest about heroes.  All entries were due today and we are looking forward to reading all of the submissions.

 

Finally, starting next week all students will be asked to donate loose change into a plastic milk jug within their classroom.  The money collected will be used to purchase books from Scholastic for use at Timber Lane.  We are very excited to acquire many new books just by collecting loose change.

 

Thank you for your continued support of Timber Lane and we look forward to seeing many of you at the BOOK FAIR!      

 

Positive Behavior Support (PBS)

Positive Behavior Support (PBS)

Here at Timber Lane we are committed to a school wide approach to ensure positive behaviors are recognized and encouraged on a daily basis.  We know that focusing on the positive helps to build a cohesive community where all students feel safe and respected.

Our school motto is that students are respectful and responsible for themselves, each other and our environment.  Every day we reinforce the importance of being respectful and responsible students.   All staff members are responsible for handing out at least 100 Tiger Tickets every month to students who are making respectful and responsible choices.  Staff members give tickets to any child no matter what the age level.  The students turn their tickets into a grade level box and each week Kim Cook and I pull names and announce students who received tickets for following the school motto.  The students do not receive any prizes for their behaviors because the positive recognition in front of their peers serves as the reward.  We are celebrating making positive choices at Timber Lane.

In addition to Tiger Tickets, every month the teachers recognize 2-3 students as the Citizens of the Month.  These students continuously make positive choices and act in a respectful and responsible manner.  These students receive a certificate, pencil and an Outback kid’s meal coupon for their continued commitment to making positive choices.  All of the students selected during the year, have their photo displayed along the front hallway. 

Thank you for your continued support in reminding students about our school motto and how they can continue to make positive choices every day at school.  We want every student to have a positive learning experience each and every day! 

 

Hello families

It is hard to imagine that we are already half way through our first quarter of school. Interims were sent home this week and this is just one way for teachers to keep students informed about their progress. Please review the interim with your child and have them set goals for the remaining weeks of the first quarter. The first quarter ends on October 29th.

I am looking forward to our PTA meeting next Wednesday, October 13th at 7:00 in the library. We will be approving this years PTA budget and officially signing on the new PTA board. We have many areas that we still need support with this year so we hope you will be able to join us on Wednesday night.

Thank you to all of the families who have supported the school by purchasing/selling items for the Lavender's fundraiser. This is our biggest fundraiser and it is really important to try and sell at least one item from the catalog. We will still be accepting orders next week!

Have a wonderful long holiday weekend with your families,
Jim