Dicken Family Newsletter

Dear Families,

Thank you all for your participation and support with our March is Reading Month Read-a-thon! Thanks again to Michelle Loveless for her tireless efforts in coordinating the classroom activities and books for students and teachers!

I'd like to thank the families who have reached out to me and other staff to express support for the current budget crisis the district is in. We appreciate your support and encouragement very much.

Wishing you all a wonderful Spring Break!

Upcoming Dates

• Monday, March 25 - Friday, March 29 - No School - Spring Break

• Monday, April 1 - School Resumes

• Wed. April 3 - Sat. April 6 - Used Book Festival

• Wed. April 10 - Early Release, 1:00 Dismissal

Report Cards

Report Cards are being emailed home today. If you did not receive your child's report letter, please email us a dicken@a2schools.org. Please note that NWEA reports are not shared during the Winter marking period.

Staffing Update

As part of our district's budget cuts, each building will be reducing our building subs by one position. This means that Mr. Doyle will stay on with us past Spring Break, until the end of this school year. The two subs who shared the second position, Ms. Rao and Ms. Yesowitz, will not be returning on a daily basis after Spring Break, however they may both be called to sub occasionaly moving forward.

Middle School Math Testing Out

Please take a look at the Middle School Math Testing Out Website for helpful information. Standards that will be tested are linked to the website, and information describing the testing process. A video is also linked at the bottom of the page with information about middle school acceleration in AAPS. DreamBox is a helpful tool for strengthening skills in math and working beyond a student's current course placement.

Coming Soon: The Solar Eclipse of 2024 !!

On Monday, April 8, Ann Arbor and much of North America will be treated to a special show in our skies. Unless its very cloudy, we will be able to view an almost total solar eclipse where the moon will line up in a way that it blocks almost all of the sun. An eclipse this dramatic doesn’t come along often and we want to make sure students can view it safely. Monday, April 8, 2024 will be an excellent teachable moment opportunity for students to learn about eclipses since we will have an opportunity to view close to a total eclipse.

Everyone needs to know that you should never look at the sun directly without solar viewing glasses, even when it is partially eclipsed. This is a particularly important reminder this year because the primary viewing time for the eclipse will occur near the time students are released from school for the day. The eclipse will last from 1:57 through 4:26, however the maximum eclipse will occur at 3:16.

We recommend conversation with students who walk and ride the bus to remind them about these items:

• They should not looking directly at the sun during the eclipse.
• Expect that the skies will darken during this time, earlier than you might expect this time of year.

In addition to in-school learning opportunities about eclipses, thanks to a very generous donation from Michigan Schools and Government Credit Union, the district will be making solar viewing glasses available to all staff, students and bus drivers to ensure a safe and educational eclipse viewing experience. Students will take their eclipse glasses home for the walk or bus ride.

At Dicken, we plan to gather on the basketball courts behind the school. Families are welcome to join us. Please make contact with your child's teacher before leaving, if you will be taking them home a little early with you (just as we do for the Dicken Dash).

More information about the coming eclipse can be found at: NASA.gov/eclipses.

The Character Effect

This week, students learned about the character strength of "Forgiveness". Here is what was shared by our SLT members on the announcements this week: "Forgiveness is defined as, I believe that everyone deserves a second chance. I am able to let things go. We all make mistakes. It's part of being human. This week, be quick to say you are sorry when you know you have not been at your best and accept an apology from others using your strength of Forgiveness. Notice how it feels to let things go."

All the Best,

Heather

Happy Friday Dolphins,

The PTO would like to thank everyone who has donated to our Read-a-thon so far this month. We are in the final days of fundraising and it has been a very successful event so far, we are so appreciative of this Dicken Dolphin community. Shout out to Ms. Hane (100%!), Mrs. Gargaro's class (83%), and Ms. Brogno's class (79%) who had the most participation in the fundraising efforts.

Once we get back to school in April, we will have many exciting class field trips, the Used Book Festival, and more as we ramp up spring and the last couple months of school. With the uncertainly over budget cuts for the AAPS community, the PTO will be doing everything that we can to support our amazing Dicken teachers and staff.

In last night's PTO meeting, we also spoke about next year's PTO board - there will be openings for President-elect (PTO President for the '25-26 and '26-27 school years), Treasurer-elect (PTO treasurer for the 25-26 and 26-27 school years), Fundraising chairs, Hospitality chairs, Enrichment chairs and Secretary. We will be giving more details about all of these roles after spring break, but if you are interested in joining the PTO next year or learning more about these openings please reach out!

I hope that you and your family enjoy the week away from the classroom and have a wonderful spring break!

Hallie

—Hallie Jewell, Dicken PTO President

dickenptopresident@gmail.com

Want to connect with other parents and caregivers outside of school?

Click here for the Dicken Elementary Parents Facebook group.

Find information about events, meeting minutes, and more on the PTO website at www.dickenpto.com

All PTO Meetings take place on the third Thursday of each month from 7 - 8:30 pm via Zoom.

All Dicken community members are welcome to attend PTO meetings.

Click here for the Zoom link.

Thursday, April 18

Thursday, May 16

Thursday, June 20

More Helpful Links:

Dicken Student and Staff Directory

Dicken PTO Google Calendar

AAPS School Calendar

Yesterday, our incredible community, not only met, but exceeded, our fundraiser goal of $12,000. Thank you for your support, contribution, and efforts! 99Pledges will remain open through Sunday.

We received 77 completed bingo cards and beautifully-designed book covers to date! Each one was entered into a random drawing for one of twenty $10 gift card to Schuler bookstore. We will collect book cover art and bingo through Friday, April 5, so students can continue to celebrate March is Reading Month throughout spring break!

Fifteen names have been drawn for the gift card; additional 5 will be drawn after April 5. First 15 gift card recipients are listed below – we will have gift cards in the office for pick-up beginning on Monday, April 1. Well done, Dolphins!

Addy C. - 5th / Hane

Allison G-C. - 2nd / Van Oyen

Ben D-B. - 2nd / Posey

Ele J. - 4th / Brann

Simon L. - K / Kairys

Everett P. - K / Harris

Cooper D. - 4th / Miller

Heather U. - 4th / Brann

Isa H. - K / Gargaro

Luca C. - 2nd / Van Oyen

Malak A. - 4th / Brann

Olivia F. - 5th / Hane

Rory B. - 4th / Miller

Sophia G. - Y5 / Brogno

Tayvion S. - 5th / Hane

The University of Michigan Kelsey Museum of Archaeology is hosting a Spring Family Day on Saturday, March 23, 2024, from 12pm-3pm. The event lends itself to Young 5's through 4th graders. Event Information listed here

Be ready to shop at the Dicken Used Book Festival--The Week After Spring Break! April 3rd-6th! Just a reminder that every Dolphin can take home one book for free. Each additional kids' book is 25cents. If your Dolphin is bringing extra money to shop, please send small monetary amounts to help out our volunteers!

Community Day is Saturday, April 6th from 11-3! Bring the whole family to shop!

We are officially asking for volunteer help for this event. Please see the Dicken Used Book Festival Sign Up Genius See schedule to volunteer when your dolphin is shopping!

AND it's not too late to donate your old books! Book donations can be dropped off at 1737 Sanford Pl through Spring Break! THANK YOU to all the families that have already donated books!

We’re kicking off Spring Running Club on Wednesday, April 10th. If you’re a seasoned running club veteran or a never-run-before newbie, we’d love to have you join us for another season of fun. Running Club meets from 4pm to 5pm on Mondays and Wednesdays through June 3rd. We wrap up the season with a fun 4k race on June 5th.

Sign up on our form to participate!

Support our Fundraiser - Dicken Elementary PTO

Buy Mabel's Labels waterproof, durable labels to help reduce classroom mix-ups and keep your items coming home!

Use code: BTS10 for 10% off your purchase

Search Dicken Elementary PTO (Ann Arbor) on the Mabel's Labels website for a portion of your purchase to go directly toward our school!