December 10 - 21

A Note From Mr. Witherspoon:

I, on behalf of the entire Cleveland Staff, would like to take this time to wish you and your family a very Happy Holiday Season!  We are grateful for each member of the Cleveland family and look forward to a great new year ahead!

Report cards came home last Friday via backpacks.  Please celebrate your child's hard work thus far and set some goals for them for the 2nd Trimester.  Conversations with your children can help develop a deeper understanding of each objective that they are learning in the classroom.  Questioning them (though you may know the answers) on the facts and processes of what they are learning is another way to reinforce their learning!  Please keep in close contact with your child's teacher during this semester as things will begin to speed up. 

The students will be working hard this week on taking the 2nd diagnostic test of I-Ready Reading and Math Assessment (Kinders this will be their 1st time).  The I-Ready Diagnostic is a computer adaptive assessment that will allow us to monitor the learning progress and, more efficiently, diagnose each student's academic strengths and challenges. 

The students will continue their routines at Cleveland on January 7, 2019!  Please take this time to do some learning at home with your children!  The following links will give you some ideas of what you could do with your children over the break: 

Top Free Things to do With your Kid in Detroit

Top 10 Places to take your Kid in the Ann Arbor-Detroit Area

Michigan DNR Outdoor Activity Center

Please, as always, give me a call or email if you have any questions/concerns/compliments regarding Cleveland!!!!  

Stay Awesome and Keep SOARing Eagles!!!!

What is my child's report card telling me?

The exciting time has come for you to see the progress your little Eagle is making in school!  Report cards for the 1st Trimester will be coming home today via backpacks.  Please take some time to celebrate the successes and hard work that your child has put in thus far!  It is also a good time to work with your child to set some goals for the 2nd trimester. 

The following link will give you some more information on the new Standards-Based Reporting System:  December 2018.pdf

Attendance Matters:

Attendance is one of the ways that we can help our students maximize their learning potential. Students that are chronically absent or tardy are less likely to meet that potential and will experience more difficultly in school. The following link will give you some valuable information regarding the research that has been done surrounding this topic, Attendance in the Early Grades: Why it Matters for Reading. The important thing is to keep in mind is that these effects can be reversed with appropriate interventions and an increased attendance rate.


Winter Outside Recess:

Now that the weather is changing, it is very important that your child is dressed appropriately for recess. Please remember that when it snows, your child must have both winter boots, snow pants, and gloves to be able to play in the snow. They will be able to go outside if they don't have those items, but the will have to play on the blacktop. We don't call home for wet clothes from recess, so this will ensure that your child stays dry.

Snow Days/Inclement Weather :

Please click on the following link to see the process that Livonia Public School's using in determining these days: Snow Days: How are they decided?

Upcoming Events:

December:

4      - Mentor Meetings: "Empathy"
10    - I-Ready Diagnostic Window begins
6-11 - Vision Screeening -  
7      - Report Cards go home (backpack)

24    - Winter Break Begins

January:

7 -  Classes resume 

PTA Updates:

Shoparoo Contest:
The PTA is having our first Shoparoo Contest! If the school meets our goal of 120 supporters AND 50,000 Roo points, the whole school will receive a Pajama Day! See details in the attached flyer.  Shoparoo Contest.pdf

MOD Pizza Night:
Wednesday December 12th is MOD Pizza Night from 4pm -10pm. Come enjoy a yummy dinner while supporting ClevelandPTA! Bring your MOD voucher or just tell them you want your purchase to go towards Cleveland! We hope to see you there!

Total Sports Fundraiser:
Total Sports Farmington is hosting a fundraiser for Cleveland on Saturday December 15th from 1pm -3pm. $7 per child with a max of $15 per family. Enjoy soccer, kickball, knockerball, Bounce houses, and much more! 20% of proceeds go back toCleveland! Ages 5-12 only. A waiver must be completed in order to participate. This IS NOT a drop off event. 
Total Sports ClevelandFundraiser2018.pdf

Preview attachment Total Sports Waiver.pdf

Livonia PTSA Council Chili Cook Off:
It's the 5th Annual Chili Cook Off on Saturday January 19th from 11am - 2pm, and the PTA is in need of dads, grandpas, uncles, etc to participate! Entry fee is $10 per chili. Entrants must be a PTA member. If you think your chili has what it takes to win, please register! The grand prize is $500 for the winning school! We've only had a maximum of 2 entrants in the past,  let's get some more male members to participate!  All families are welcome to come and taste and support their school's entrants. It's $5 for admission, which comes with refreshments, and unlimited samples of chili!   Chili_Cook_Off-5th.pdf

Next Meeting:  January 9, 2019 @ 6 PM in the LMC

Toy Drive:

Cleveland Elementary School is partnering with Livonia Goodfellows to collect new, unwrapped toys to help provide families with gifts for their children this holiday season.   A drop box is in the front office; toys will be collected until December 13, 2018. Please fill out a commitment form if your child participates!

The following link will give you some more information about this program: Livonia Goodfellows: No Child Without a Christmas

"Not everyone can be famous but everybody can be great, because greatness is determined by service." -Martin Luther King Jr.