Pearl S. Buck Elementary

March 17-20 - Due to planned upgrades, the entire website for the Neshaminy School District will be unavailable from approximately 2 pm Friday, March 17, until 8:00 AM Monday, March 20th.

PSSA Testing Dates for 3rd and 4th Grades:

• Monday, April 3rd, through Thursday, April 6th (ELA)
  
• Monday, April 24th, through Wednesday, April 26th (Math)
• Tuesday/Wednesday, May 2nd & 3rd (Science - 4th grade only)

Testing will occur throughout the morning of each testing date. Please do not schedule appointments or vacations for your child on testing dates.

April 20th - STEAM Expo at Neshaminy High School. Click here for more information about the STEAM Expo.

We are looking for volunteers for our community outreach program. Please consider donating an hour of time next Saturday, March 18th, at Raymour and Flanigan. You can confirm a time by going to our Sign Up Genius. Thank you!

Local musician Jonathan Sprout is a Grammy nominated recording artist who performed at Pearl Buck on Friday. Mr. Sprout has recorded 11 CD's, with all of his songs focusing on various heroes throughout American History. Pictured below, Mr. Sprout performs with Pearl Buck students, singing one of his original compositions, "Washington's Hat".

Just a reminder that notes from parents/guardians are needed for the following reasons:

- Upon a child's return from an absence.

- A change to your child's routine.

• This includes going home with a friend. If your son or daughter is going home with a friend, please ensure the respective homeroom teachers are notified in writing. Notes from both the sending and receiving parents should be provided. Please include your child's name, as well as the friend's name. This helps us to cross-reference in cases of confusion.
• If your son or daughter is going home with a friend who rides a different bus, or departs the bus at a different stop, a note is needed so we can inform the driver.

Our K-2 reading program engages children through the introduction of the Superkids characters. Each character has a unique personality and interests. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Superkid "Cass" (the baker) came to visit our K-2 students. Cass took time to talk to the students about their interests, what they knew about her Superkid friends and the different Superkids stories they had read. Students and staff welcomed Cass by dressing up as a favorite Superkid.

Thank you for your outstanding support of the PTO's 'Race for Education'. Our celebratory event will occur in May. However, we thought we would share the success of our most recent fundraiser.

• Students brought in 3, 440 addresses this year.
• We used 7 reams of paper to copy a letter for each address.
• We needed 172 books of stamps to mail all those letters.
• 97 students sent in donations to cover that postage. Their names will be entered into a drawing for a movie gift card.
• Sixteen classes won Castle Knock Down Games for bringing in an average of 5 addresses per student. Games will be scheduled soon!
• Two classes won snack coupons from the cafeteria for bringing in an average of 10 addresses each.
• 245 students will have their names entered into a drawing for Toys R Us gift cards for every 10 addresses they brought in.
• Letters were mailed last Thursday, and by Sunday, donations were already arriving via PayPal!
  

Students continued with challenge activities during Physical Education this past week, playing a live version of the board game "Hungry, Hungry Hippos". If you think it looks like fun, it was! In addition to attempting to capture the balls with a bucket, the teams needed to coordinate their efforts pushing and pulling the person on the rolling carts. Push too hard and they might slide off! Too soft, and they'll miss their chance!

The students in Mrs. Junod’s class have been working on “How to” informational writing. As a wrap-up for the unit, each student was asked to demonstrate in front of the class how to do something that would take between 3-5 minutes. The students loved being the teacher, showing how to properly hold and dribble a basketball, show density of liquids, perform the Macarena, and demonstrate the martial art of Jiu Jitsu, just to name a few. Watch out world, we have some future teachers among us!

Here's a short video about the First-Grade Zoo from last week.

https://www.facebook.com/neshaminysd/videos/1323988797671007/

Thanks again to our teachers, students and parents for a wonderful event!

Mad Science classes begin next week (March 13th). If you have registered for one of the classes, please be sure to remind your child - and yourself - which day they will be attending.

Recently, Radioactive Rick of Mad Science (pictured below) presented some science fun to the students at Pearl Buck!

Please remember to bring I.D. with you when picking up your child. If someone else routinely picks-up your child, please make sure to list them as an emergency contact AND remind them to have proper I.D. when they arrive.

Please be sure to write your child's teacher a note regarding ANY changes to your child's afternoon routines. For last-minute changes, please call the school office at 215-809-6300 and speak with one of our secretaries.

Our lost and found is growing. It is full of coats, fleece jackets, hats, scarves, etc. Please have your child check for lost personal items. Parents may also visit the lost and found. Please check-in at the office first.

Due to varied allergy and dietary needs, please contact your child's teacher before sending in food for students other than your child (e.g. for birthday celebrations, class parties). Do not send in any items until the teacher has responded and confirmed the appropriateness of your request. Also, students should not share food at any time during school - even with a close friend. A seemingly harmless food item may unexpectedly contain allergens, or interact with other medical conditions. Depending on the health needs in the classroom, teachers may choose to avoid food-oriented experiences altogether.

Please see our guidelines for more information.

Atom #1 - "I think I lost an electron!"

Atom #2 - "Are you positive?"

Q: If Ag is the symbol for the element silver, and Al is the symbol for aluminum, what is Ah?

A: The element of surprise.

Q: Why are chemists great for solving problems?

A: They have all the solutions.