Learning Standards Booklets For Families Saint Paul Public Schools created Learning Standards booklets to summarize what children are supposed to learn or be able to do. Each grade, Kindergarten, 1^st and 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th, and 5^th and 6^th Grade, has their own booklet. The documents are for families to better understand the expectations for our students in tested subject areas (literacy, math, and science) in each grade. They also offer suggestions for how families can support learning at home. The materials were developed collaboratively by the Office of Academics, Office of Accountability, and the Office of Community Relations.  Funding was provided by Title I.

Every family should have received copies at each child’s Family Information Night or a copy may have been brought home in the backpack. Please let me know if you need another copy. They are available in English, Spanish, Hmong, and Somali. One page summaries are available to online in PDF format for your use. You can go to http://www.title1.spps.org/Learning_Standards.html.

Please Help with Morning Drop Off (correction in italics) Students cannot enter in the Kenneth door before 8:05 a.m.,, but they can walk around the school to the Eleanor entry and enter with a parent..

"Kids Helping Kids" Family Service Committee  How can we connect with our kids to make the world a better place? You are invited to attend the first Family Service Committee meeting this year on Thursday, 9/25 at 6:30 pm in the library.  We will:

·        Make plans for the 2nd Family Service Night on Friday, November 21^st- Family Service Night is a fun evening at the school where families can work together on 4-6 different service projects that benefit others in our community.

·        Hear about NEW service projects.

·        Share our enthusiasm and interest in supporting the Horace Mann community.

All are welcome – come and learn more! Any questions, please email Sarah Johnson at smillerjohnson@hotmail.com or Chris Aerts at chrisbillaerts@comcast.net.

Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) Program Slated to Start Soon A book will be given to your child from the RIF program on either October 8 or 9, 2008.  This is a book which they can own and enjoy.  The choice of books is entirely up to the children. Your child is free to pick whichever of the RIF books appeals to him or her from the selection provided.  This year, as a promotional event for RIF, Judi Connell, RIF Coordinator, invites our families to participate in a poster campaign to promote their child's favorite book. The idea for this comes from the Education World Resource.

The 'Best Books' Campaign! What are your favorite books to read together? We would like each family to contribute a poster to our "best books" election campaign. The poster should encourage others to read your favorite book. We will display the posters around the school and in the library. Then students will vote for their favorites.

For example: If your favorite family book is a book of Mother Goose rhymes, your poster might depict Mother Goose flying in front of the White House. Your headline might read:

VOTE for MOTHER GOOSE! Bring rhyme -- and reason --- back to the White House!

Then use that design to create a poster that is 12 inches by 18 inches in size!

Change for Fall/Spring Conferences We’ve always tried very hard to accommodate separated or divorced families during conferences. This year it will be much more difficult. We only have a set amount of time to conference. We have far more students and families. There are two possible ways to handle the situation. In the first, each family would have 20 minutes for their conference. If parents were not able to conference together, then each would get 10 minutes. The second solution is that we would only offer one conference and parents would conference together. If your family would be impacted by this change, please contact me (jim.litwin@spps.org or 651-293-8965 x3059) with your input. Thank you.

September is SightNight Month The St Paul Midway Lions Club collects eyeglasses for use in 3^rd World Countries. In the 10 years of this program worldwide, students have brought in over one million glasses, and almost that number of the world’s poor have received sight for the first time.

Our school will be collecting eyewear for people in developing countries. We have a collection box in the office under the counter.The Lions will gather what we collect on November 3.

Families that participate in Halloween sometimes trick-or-treat for used eyewear. It’s called SightNight. The eyewear collected by volunteers on SightNight will be cleaned, repaired, classified by prescription and hand-delivered to people who need eyewear. Our local contact is Paul Smrekar, retired custodian, and he can be reached at 651-646-4733.

Have a PreSchooler or Know Someone Who Does? Check out a new great resource developed by Saint Paul Public Schools, the City of Saint Paul, Ramsey County Libraries, and the United Way. It’s called Saint Paul Blast Off to Kindergarten. The website is http://www.blastofftok.org. You’ll find month-by-month family learning activities, fun books for you and your child to read, and useful information to help your child get ready to learn in kindergarten. There’s also a flyer on the endtable in the office at Horace Mann.

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