Upcoming Dates
Saturday, Feb. 24 Whiteboard Installation Day
Friday, March 2 Parent-Teacher Conference/NO SCHOOL and Auction Set-up day
Saturday, March 3, The Sky’s the Limit Murch Auction, 6:30-10:00 pm
CO-PRESIDENTS’ NEWS by Michelle Cochran & Martha Saccocio
The auction catalog is en route to the press – thanks to Brenda Barbour for doing a lion’s share of work with the database and catalog production.Thanks also to Jenifer Sessums, Kerry Koritsas, Elizabeth Arrott, Gayle Hager, and Pamela Garlick. Thee catalog should be coming home today, in your oldest child's backpack. Please take a good look before March 3rd. Remember to bring the catalog with you to make your bidding and browsing more efficient!
Auction Parking and Metro Directions:
First Baptist Church: The first 40 cars to arrive at the Auction may park for free at The First Baptist Church of Washington, D.C., located at 1328 16th St, NW. The parking lot is behind/adjacent to the church, at 17th and “O” Streets, NW. A map and driving directions can be found at www.firstbaptistdc.org. Once you reach the church parking lot, an attendant will be there to guide parking until the lot reaches capacity. We expect this lot to fill before 6:15, so arrive early for a free spot. We extend a hearty thank you to The Reverend Doctor (Pastor) and Mrs. James Somerville (Murch Pre-K Teacher) of the First Baptist Church, for making this parking arrangement available to us.
Colonial Parking Garage: If you arrive once the Baptist Church lot is full, make your way to the Colonial Parking Garage, located a half block from the Carnegie Institute for Science, at 1616 P Street. It is between 16th and 17th Streets, NW. This underground parking garage has agreed to provide Murch Auction attendees a discounted rate of $4 per car, and is open from 12 pm to 12 am. In order to receive your discounted rate, please make sure to mention that you are attending the Murch Auction.
Street Parking: If you prefer, street parking is available surrounding the Carnegie. Please be aware of parking restrictions and remember to feed the meters if necessary.
Metro: Take the Red Line to Dupont Circle, and follow P St. until you reach The Carnegie Institute, at the corner of 16th and P Streets, NW. We look forward to seeing you!
Michelle Cochran Martha Saccocio
MichelleCochran@starpower.net MarthaNS@aol.com
237.6617 237.6967
TICKETS, TICKETS, TICKETS. If you have not already done so, please buy your auction tickets NOW. The cut-off for pre-auction purchases is Tuesday, February 27th. We need time to enter the names into the database, assign bid numbers and make bid paddles. Teachers and staff, we greatly appreciate if you pre-register also. There are extra copies of the reply cards on the HSA table. Please do not put replies in the mail after Saturday – there is not guarantee that they will arrive in Tuesday's mail. The replies may be dropped in the reply box on the HSA table or mailed/delivered to 3718 Chesapeake St., NW (between Reno and Nebraska). Tickets may also be purchased on-line at www.murchschool.org. Tickets purchased by Tues. are $35 per person, the price rises to $40 at the door. Questions? Anne Morin, ahmorin@aol.com
Murch Chinese Club is hosting a special cultural event to celebrate Chinese New Year on Wed., Feb. 21 from 3:30-4:30 pm in the Library. All Murch students and parents are invited to celebrate Chinese New Year with Chinese character paper cutting performances, and traditional Chinese refreshments.
Michelle Cochran Martha Saccocio
MichelleCochran@starpower.net MarthaNS@aol.com
237.6617 237.6967
Principal’s Corner by Carolyne Albert-Garvey
INFO from the Superintendent’s Office
An aggressive program that will test for lead in the water will be conducted by OFM beginning the week of February 21. As a precaution, arrangements have been made for water to be sent to Murch until the quality of the water can be determined safe to drink. If you have concerns about testing your children for lead, email concerns to test4lead@k12.dc.us
Press Release
Kempthorne, D.C. Students Join 20 Million Visitors for Electronic Field Trip to National Park
WASHINGTON -- Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne joined a 5th Grade class of students from the District of Columbia today on a visit to Manzanar National Historic Site in California – via an Electronic Field Trip.
“Electronic Field Trips are an exciting way to connect students and adults alike to our national parks,” Kempthorne said. “These special places not only protect our wildlife and preserve our majestic landscapes but also help us learn about our history as a nation.”
About 25 students from Murch Elementary School participated in the event via live broadcast, which featured online and interactive activities from classrooms across the country. Participants heard reports and asked questions of other school children, park rangers and Japanese Americans in California.
Entitled “Desert Diamonds Behind Barbed Wire; Baseball in the Japanese American Internment Camps”, the 60-minute program told the story of Japanese Americans detained in internment camps during World War II and the role of baseball as America’s Pastime in these camps. An estimated 20 million viewers at schools, homes and community centers around the nation watched the program.
Kempthorne was a special guest of the class and spoke about the value of virtual tours for connecting the younger generation with their national parks and the President’s Centennial Challenge Initiative to improve national parks for the 100 birthday of the National Park Service in 2016. Japanese American World War II veterans, Joseph Ichiuji and Grant Hirobayashi, shared their experiences with the Murch students.
Murch Principal Carolyne Albert-Garvey and 5th Grade teachers also joined the virtual tour activities. Following the program, Kempthorne administered the Junior Ranger pledge to the Murch students.
Electronic Field Trips are a program of Ball State University. “Desert Diamonds” was made possible by funding and support from The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y. This is the 5th National Park Electronic Field Trip created through a partnership between Ball State University and the National Park Foundation with assistance from the National Park Service and the Best Buy Children’s Foundation.
The Electronic Field Trip was carried live on select PBS/cable networks across the country and on the Internet viawww.bsu.edu/eft.
It can also be viewed at http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/story.php?itemID=9721
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Special thanks to Ms. Otten and Mr. Kyles for preparing the students and for facilitating the electronic field trip activities! Our participating 5th graders were SUPERSTARS! They did such a nice job. Secretary Kempthorne was so impressed that he’s going to try and go on a non-virtual fieldtrip with all 5th graders in the late spring. I would also like to thank Ms. Robinson and Ms. Franklin for their flexibility and Mr. Webber for giving up his library for an entire day.
PRE-K LOTTERY for in-boundary families
We have over 40 in-boundary early bird registrations. Consequently, we will have to have a lottery. I requested that I publicly conduct the lottery at Murch but I am waiting for a response from DCPS. Please note that all in-boundary siblings will be accepted and a lottery will be conducted for the remaining in-boundary students. DCPS handles the out-of-boundary lottery. Unfortunately, it is unlikely we will have space for out-of-boundary pre-k students for fall 2007. EARLY BIRD registration for in-boundary students ends Friday, Feb. 16, 2007.
Hands On Science Adult Leaders Needed. Don’t fret about lessons and materials! HOS does everything for you. The kits come packed with everything you need (except scissors and rulers) and the lesson book is very detailed in how to run the class. It is so easy and user-friendly. It is not like you are going spend hours coming up with earth science lesson plans – it’s already done for you! Training for Adult leaders takes about 3 hours; it is a one-time deal. Once you are trained as an Adult leader, you don’t need to do another training session. If you commit to teaching a class, your child is automatically enrolled in that session. You still have to pay the fee, but your child/children automatically get in because of your commitment and time! If you are interested, the Adult leader training will be held here at my house (across from Murch at 3710 Davenport St, NW). If you are interested, contact Alma Hale Paty ASAP at 966.9462 or cell 258.5885.
Community News & Classified
GIRL SCOUT COOKIE SALE. Please come out and support your own Murch Girl Scout troop who will be selling cookies after school on Thursday, March 8 and March 15. GET THEM NOW BEFORE THEY ARE GONE TILL NEXT YEAR!!!!!!
Wilson High School Book Fair at Politics and Prose, Saturday, March 3 and Sunday, March 4. 20% of all purchases support Wilson PTSA
Murch Extended Day Registration for SY 2007 – 08: April 10–April 30: Registration for current Extended Day families.
May 1: Open registration for all Murch and prospective Murch families begins. May 25: All deposit fees and complete applications are due, and all requests for financial aide are due. June 1: Completed financial aide forms are due. June 15: Contact to families requesting financial aide or those placed on wait list are complete.
Si usted llegara o necesita alguna ayuda para traducir algo al espanol contacteme. Sara Villeda: telefono 202.244.7493/email savll@aol.com.
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: The newsletter is sponsored by the HSA, whose purpose is to serve the best interests of the pupils of Murch Elementary School. Members of the Murch community may submit classifieds and announcements, consistent with this mission, to newsletter@murchschool.org, with “Murch Newsletter” on the subject line. Submissions on behalf of for-profit enterprises will not be considered for publication.
February 23 2007
