Reading to our Children

"Children are made readers on the laps of their parents."  Emilie Buchwald

Thanks Kambria and the wellness committee for such a great event!

Thanks to Kim Ritzenthaler for these fun photos:

No Joke--Potluck at Lindsley Park, April 1 @6:00

Start the weekend out with a casual and fun picnic in the park.

It's potluck, so bring something yummy...

Little Johnny and his family lived in the country, 

and as a result seldom had guests. 

He was eager to help his mother after his father 

appeared with two dinner guests from the office. 

When the dinner was nearly over,

Little Johnny went to the kitchen 

and proudly carried in the first piece of apple pie, 

giving it to his father who passed it to a guest. 

Little Johnny came in with a second piece of pie

and gave it to his father, 

who again gave it to a guest. 

This was too much for Little Johnny, who said, 

"It's no use, Dad. The pieces are all the same size." 

PARENT WORKDAY, MARCH 26 9:00 AM

Help is needed to finish up the garden project and tidy up the school grounds.  

We will need to clean up the grounds, work on the building, and wash windows.  Bring the family and receive twice or triple volunteer hours for each member that comes to work.  Parent Workdays are usually over by noon.  Please mark it on your calendar.

As a reminder,  log in your volunteer hours in the big, blue book located in the office.

"The youth gets together his materials to 

build a bridge to the moon, 

or, perchance, a palace or temple on the earth, and, 

at length, the middle-aged man concludes to

 build a woodshed with them."

Henry David Thoreau

Bike Safety Day--Friday, March 25 @3:00

Bike riding is a great way to get exercise and fresh air and share time as a family. But before you and the kids rush out and start pedaling, there's an important factor that you need to consider — safety.

Please come out this Friday in support of Bike Safety.  Everyone is invited, so bring your neighbors to Lindsley Park for great reminders and perhaps further instruction on how to keep our children safe.

For you own information, the following site is very helpful:
http://bicyclesafe.com/

See You There!

Any Further Questions?  Please call or email, Kambria Kennedy 

@214-770-5335  kambriakennedy@yahoo.com

So Many Seeds...So Little Time

Spring is Here (or just around the corner)!

The LPCS Teachers recently met with Texas Discovery Garden's very own Erin and Randy who gave them each valuable instruction on the caring for the LPCS Garden.  Additionally, they also sent each teacher back with some beautiful starter plants.  Partnering with Texas Discovery Garden is the beginning of a wonderful relationship that everyone is very excited about!

We are hoping that the enthusiasm continues to spread and brings us all under the gardening spell.  The teachers need our assistance to help their classes make the garden special and their very own.  Please contact your child's teacher and let them know that you are available to help!

Flower gardens reflect the kind of care they get and we so want for the LPCS Garden to thrive...

http://texasdiscoverygardens.org/

Raising a Secure Child with Alicia F. Lieberman, PhD

If interested in attending, be sure to RSVP.

The Garden Project Continues

Volunteers are needed for This Friday to help move mulch from East Dallas Community School to our new garden spot at LPCS.  Volunteers need to be at EDCS at 8:30 a.m., this Friday, February 18th.  If you have a big shovel, please bring it with you.  Thank you so much.

Bake Sale Big Success

The Parent Organization would like to thank all those who helped with the Bake Sale.  The money raised will help provide the funds for the elementary children to attend the symphony later this month.  The bake sale is the largest fundraiser for the year and we truly appreciate the generous offerings of time, talents and treats by our school community.  Thanks again!

School closed

LPCS is closed today, Wednesday February 9th due to ice and snow.

Bake Sale is Now On February 14

The Annual Bake Sale has been changed to Monday, February 14.  It will be from 2:45-4:00.  Please bring your yummiest baked goods to be placed on the table and sold for a wonderful cause--Our School.  If you are available to help set up and/or take down, please email
lpcsparentorganization@gmail.com.

If you are bringing baked goods, please remember to bring them before the event begins, and wrap your items individually (items can be dropped off anytime before 2:30 in the teachers lounge).  Spread the word around the neighborhood.

We look forward to having another great event!

Anyone have any fun snow photos to share?

GET ON THE BUS!--canceled due to ice and snow in Dallas

Texas Charter Schools Parent Rally
South Steps of the Capitol, Austin
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
1:00-2:00pm

Join TCSA and over 1,500 charter school parents from across the state on the south steps of the Texas Capitol.  The gathering will be the largest show of charter parent support in state history.

Take a stand for your school by rallying with other charter school parents and supporters!  Together, let's show lawmakers how important charter schools are to Texas families.

This event is FREE for Texas Charter School Parents and Supporters!

GET ON THE BUS!

School Contact:  David Pryor
Email:  davidmpryor@yahoo.com & david.bnsf.com
Phone:  214-826-9291
Bus Pick Up Time:  LPCS--7:30 am
Location:  LPCS

Garden day hooray!

Tuesday’s garden kick-off party was a huge success. The Parent Organization would like to thank all those who came to help and join in the fun. We also want to offer a special thank you to Mark Ingraham and Leigh Ann Romack, our garden committee chairs, for their tremendous efforts as well as Mr. Loew and Mr. Gordon for the many arrangements they made to make this happen. Carolyn Perna arranged for the beautifully rich dirt to be donated and the neighbor association of Hollywood Heights also made a large donation that made the purchase of the untreated cedar wood for the beds possible. Thanks again to all those that played a part. It was very rewarding to watch the children of LPCS enthusiastically fill their buckets and move all the dirt needed to fill our fine garden boxes. Oh the happiness...well done everyone!

Here’s a recap of the day…

Many handy and even the not-so-handy parents came out early to construct the beds.

The whole school gathered and braved the cold for the garden ceremony.

Rudy, a 3rd grader, shared a garden poem. 

Ms. Sandya's class sang a few garden songs.

Three children from each class came and filled a bucket full of dirt for the ceremonial first dirt drop into the garden boxes.

 

After the first dirt drop all the children returned to their classes and then throughout the day each class returned to the garden and spent some time filling buckets and moving dirt until...

the boxes were...

all full.

Bravo! 

Here are LPCS we believe in child labor, especially the joyful kind.

 

What's next in the garden process? 

So glad you asked...
The teachers will be meeting with Texas Discovery Gardens next Thursday, February 3rd to discuss the planting and curriculum plans.


What can the parents do?

Even better question!...Please talk to your teacher or your room parent and make sure they know of your support and availability to help. Each teacher will have different needs for their classroom garden that will be determined by the teacher. It is important that our teachers know what parents are available for assistance so they can request help as they need it. This is a proactive effort we need from our parents.

Additionally for the Garden Party

Approximately from 8:00-9:30, Parent Volunteers are needed to build 6 small garden beds from wood.  Please bring any tools that might help--like drills or saws.

If you have questions, contact Leigh Ann Romack @214-394-9948.

Garden Kick-Off Party--Tuesday, January 25th.

Lindsley Park Community School is very excited to announce the creation of our school garden! Tuesday January 25th, all parents are invited to participate in creating the garden space with their child at the first LPCS Garden Party.  Gardening is an important aspect of Montessori education and is meant to enrich our children's lives and inspire them as well as others in the community.  This is an exciting time for the school and all of our children!

Whether you are a master gardener or simply a novice, help is needed to encourage and support not only the students but the staff as well.  On Tuesday the 25th, parents will be preparing the grounds and filling garden boxes with each child's respective class. Please bring rakes, shovels, buckets, gloves, wheel barrows, newspapers,  and anything else that will assist in the process.  And anyone wanting to photograph this fun event, please bring your camera.

Here is the schedule for Tuesday, please come to help your child's class according to the following times :

10:00 am--If you have children in Ms. Kim's or Michelle's class
10:30 am--If you have children in Ms. Hafel's or Ms. Betsy's class
1:00 pm--If you have children in Ms. Loew's, Ms. Toni's or Ms. Sandya's class

Please don't forget, if you can help with the continued maintenance in your child's classroom garden in the coming months, talk to your teacher or your room parent and make sure they know of your support and availability to help. Each teacher will have different needs for their classroom garden that will be determined by the teacher. It is important that our teachers know what parents are available for assistance so they can request help as they need it.

Below, are sketches of what the Lindsley Park Community School Garden may ultimately look like. We plan to create an outdoor classroom space close to the garden using tree stumps as seats for the children. If you have any tree stumps large and sturdy enough to sit on, please bring them to the school anytime.

See you Tuesday!

Ode to a cool school

Congratulations Lindsley Park

East Dallas Community Schools' Lindsley Park campus has been awarded the 2011 Educational Achievement Award from the American Psychoanalytic Association.

"I cannot think of any award that I am more proud of than this one, which recognizes our work in supporting children's emotional well-being," said Terry Ford, executive director. "Since its founding in 1978, a founding principle of EDCS has been that emotional well-being is the key to providing our students with a foundation for success."

The national award is given to schools that further "psychoanalytically informed" work with pre-K through 12th grade educators, schools and students. East Dallas Community Schools offer free play-therapy sessions to children dealing with emotional or behavioral problems.

"Children may not be able to talk about their worries, so they communicate them through their play," said Carol Wolfe, a licensed counselor who leads the play-therapy sessions. "In the presence of an accepting adult and through the children's play, youngsters can come to face and master previously debilitating anxieties and fears. Then a child is better able to learn and work cooperatively in the classroom."

Child psychoanalysts B. James Bennett and Sarah Rabb Bennett also provide pro bono consultations with teachers to help them understand children dealing with emotional or behavioral problems.

East Dallas Community Schools operate in mostly low-income neighborhoods and use the Montessori approach to education, which is based on a child's natural instinct to learn.

In 2010, the Lindsley Park campus scored higher on the TAKS test in math and reading than the same grade level in Dallas ISD, and the campus is in the top 17 percent of Texas schools that were rated exemplary.

Representatives from East Dallas Community Schools and Lindsley Parkwill accept the award Jan. 13 in New York.

Copyright (c) 2011, The Dallas Morning News

Wednesday notes

Click on the Wednesday note to enlarge for reading.

Cultural Festival

The Cultural Festival was a wonderful part of our holiday season this year.  Ms. Sandya's class enthusiastically presented the school with a multi-cultural program honoring celebrations from all over the world.  The class sang and danced with such heart, we were all entertained and educated immensely.  Thank you Ms. Sandya and Ms. Elizabeth for all of your hard work.  It is much appreciated and admired.