Haunted House/Boo Bash Haunted House Put on your costumes and join us for the Friday, October 30th 5:00-8:00p.m. From 5:00-6:30 the Haunted House will be lighter and less scary for those who just want a little Boo. After 6:30 until 8:00 the lights will go out and the thrills will begin!

Ghoulish Games: There will be Eyeball Tic Tac Toe, Frankenstein Toss, Ghost Guts, Ghoulish Golf, Fortune Telling and much more! Freaky Photos: Smile! Don’t miss the chance to turn “Count Litwin” into a mummy or Guess the Pumpkin! Plus: Popcorn, Crafts, Food. Come for dinner, Little Caesar’s pizza will be served. Tickets on sale now!

Band is on Monday, October 26 Band students need to bring their instruments on Monday next week. Their band day was switched to accommodate the MIA field trip.

402 Pairs of Feet Will be Warm thanks to over 50 families who donated at the 1st Annual Sock Hop sponsored by PTA's Family Service Committee.  The socks will go to the families served by the ECFE program at McDonough Homes in St. Paul near Lake Phalen.  Thanks for helping neighbors! 

Scholastic Book Fair is coming!  The sale is Thursday, November 12  from 3:00- 8:00 and Friday, November 13 from 8:00 - 3:00, during Teacher/Parent Conferences.   Redeem your voucher from the Read-a-thon (if you raised $ 60 or more!)  

Save the dates and watch for more details about contests with prizes!  To volunteer, please contact Chris Aerts at chrisbillaerts@comcast.net.

A Few Good Questions Looking for a different way to start the conversation about school? Try some of these prompts. Tell me about

• What is something that you had to work hard on today?
• What is something that you had to think about?
• Tell me about a spelling strategy you used today.
• Tell me about something new you learned today (or are looking forward to learning tomorrow.)

Dr. Richard Cash PowerPoint Presentation Dr. Cash’s PowerPoint presentation, “Effective Practices in Gifted/Talented” and "Mindset Questions" will be placed on our website. You will be able to go to the Gifted/Talented page, click on the “How are children served?” sidebar, and check the sidebar on that page.

Free Money for Our School? As the Read-a-Thon PTA fundraiser concludes, the Grants Committee would like to remind you to check with your employer about matching grants. Many companies match employee donations to non-profit 501 3(C) organizations such as Horace Mann School PTA. The Read-a-Thon is the perfect opportunity for matching, as your pledge is a gift to the school with no material goods received. And unlike other sales-based fundraisers, 100% of your donation goes to the school. If you have questions, please contact Danica Linssen (PTA president) at djlinssen@yahoo.com, or Anne Pavlis (treasurer) at anne.pavlis@comcast.net.

More Money for Our School? If you work at a company that has a foundation, please let the grants committee know. Oftentimes corporate foundations prefer to give to organizations supported by their employees, and having an inside contact can help us as we search for new sources of funding for school needs. Contact the grants committee at horace.mann.grants@spps.org.

What do you do if your child is going home a different way? Parents should send or write a note in the planner. Whether the pick-up person is different, your child is going home with another child, or the child is going home on the bus instead of pick-up, please write a note. If there is a playdate, parents of both children should send notes. Believe it or not, sometimes the children set up a playdate with each other and don’t include one or both parents. [

Upcoming Events

Perspectives Submissions If you would like to submit an article, please email it to jim.litwin@spps.org by Thursday at 8:20 a.m.