Pearl S. Buck Elementary

Pizza Bingo will be held tonight in Neshaminy High School's cafeteria, 6-8 PM.

Thanks to our PTO for all of their efforts fulfilling ticket orders and organizing tonight's event. Once at the school, Campus Security will be available to help direct you to the appropriate parking location and building entrance. Since we are near capacity, and to avoid any confusion, tickets will not be available at the door.

The February PTO meeting will be held on Thursday, February 9th, beginning at 7:00 PM. The next 4th grade parent meeting will also be held on February 9th at 7:00 PM.

Science Fair (3rd and 4th grade) - Thursday, February 23rd, 2017, 6:30-7:30 PM at Buck.

PTO Book Fair Family Night will also occur on February 23rd, 6-8 PM.

SWPBS is teaching behavioral expectations in the same manner as any core curriculum subject. Our program was evaluated to determine if use of SWPBS procedures is related to valued change in the safety, social culture, and violent behavior in schools. Buck passed the review, receiving a "Implemented with High Fidelity" rating. The team will be recognized this spring in Hershey, PA at the annual State conference on SWPBS.

"Mr. Jerry" Gaines, one of our recess aides, helps to put a smile on each child's face by creating a message for the doors that lead out to recess. Each week's message provides a twist on the events of the week (like the one below about Pizza Bingo), presents a positive message, or offers a riddle of some sort. Mr. Jerry plans to attend our Pizza Bingo event this evening.

First Grade students make connections to the SuperKids Reading Program. Students created fish bowl puzzles and fish kites to represent the poem, "Today I Got a Gift".

Our Mascot, Pearl the Dragon, visited lunches today to promote our annual "Race for Education" fundraiser. A winner from each grade level will have the chance to throw a whip-cream pie in Mr. Kern's face during our Field Day activities at the end of the year! More information will be sent home from our PTO.

Postcard Update from Mrs. Boyle's class:

"We have received 131 postcards from 37 different states. We even got postcards from Alaska and Hawaii! 13 more states to go! - Wyoming, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Illinois, Arkansas Louisiana, Mississippi, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana."

If your child will be participating in the Science Fair, below are some questions you may want to ask of your young scientist. We will be looking for up to 6 projects to be presented at the STEAM Expo on Thursday, April 20th, at Neshaminy High School. Having great answers to the questions below will help us recommend which projects will be presented at the expo. Parents, it's okay to help develop ideas and assist with the experiment, but be sure your young scientist takes ownership of the final product. This should be a fun, learning experience for everyone!

Where did you get the idea for this project?

Listen for how the presenter determined their project idea would make a good science project. Did they have a question about how something worked? Curiosity about how something would react to certain actions? There's no 'right' answer, but clarity is critical.
What would you do differently next time?

Listen for the presenter to recognize that all projects have limitations and they could always have done better if they had more time, more resources, better equipment, etc.
What would you do next?

Listen for the presenter to propose an example of the next logical experiment.
What was the hardest part?

Listen for the presenter to acknowledge which parts they thought were hard and how they solved the problems that arose.
What research did you do?

Describe any reading (or searching) that was completed before the presenter wrote his or her hypothesis. A variation of this question is: Why did you think that would happen? (Referring to the hypothesis).
What was your control?

Listen for the presenter to identify the need for a control, and identify the independent variable.

Why did you do the experiment more than once?

Listen for the presenter to demonstrate an understanding of the concept of variability and that the more an experiment is repeated, the more confidence we have in the accuracy of the results.
Why are your findings important?

Listen for the presenter to link his or her results to the “bigger picture” including who might be interested in the findings. ("Y'know, you may save a lot of money buying off-brand paper towels because my results showed....")

Who helped you?

This sounds like a trick question because you were supposed to do your own project – right? But no scientist works in isolation (and if they did we wouldn’t know about them because they wouldn’t have communicated their results!). Acknowledge your teachers, parents, friends, and anyone else that gave you an idea, advice, equipment, or assistance.

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.

The safety of our students and staff is a top priority at Neshaminy School District. The following policies and procedures have been established to ensure their safety and keep our community informed should weather or other circumstances warrant changes and/or cancellations to school and activity schedules.

School Closings

Should conditions warrant an inclement weather closure, alerts will be broadcast by the following means:

• Notifications on the district web site and each school's home page
• NSDTV channel (Verizon Fios channel 43, Comcast channel 28)
• Email, text and robo-call alerts (sign up to receive these through Home Access Center)
• Neshaminy mobile app alerts
• Neshaminy District Twitter feed (@neshaminy_sd)
• Neshaminy District Facebook page (neshaminysd)
• Radio: KYW 1060 AM (NSD is code 752), WBCB 1490 AM
• TV: CBS-3, ABC-6, NBC-10, FOX-29

For regular snow / inclement weather days, a determination on school closures will be made by approximately 5:30 am and all alerts will be posted by 6:00 am. Afternoon and evening activities are automatically cancelled when schools are closed due to inclement weather unless specifically noted otherwise.

Delayed Opening

Notification of delayed opening will be made in the same manner as school closings.

Early Dismissal, Activity Cancellation

Parents and the community will be notified as early as possible for early dismissals and afternoon / evening activity cancellations using all the communication means above. See the schedules below for dismissal times.

Inclement Weather Guidelines and Policies

• Please follow the instructions for Neshaminy School District as announced on the NSD web site.
• If private schools served by Neshaminy transportation are open, but Neshaminy School District is closed due to inclement weather, there will be NO TRANSPORTATION provided.
• If Neshaminy is experiencing a weather delay, all nonpublic bus transportation will also be delayed.
• All families should have an inclement weather plan - parents of young children should arrange to have someone at the bus stop to meet their child on early dismissal days.
• Please be patient and expect delays on inclement weather days! Loading, unloading and transporting your children will likely take longer than normal on these days.
• If your child is a bus rider, please allow them to take the bus to and from school on inclement weather days to avoid crowded conditions in school parking lots.
• PLEASE DO NOT CALL OUR SCHOOLS FOR CLOSING INFORMATION. We need to keep the phone lines free and our staff available to manage inclement weather procedures and handle emergencies. Consult the District web site or other communication methods for information about your school.
• When schools are closed for inclement weather, Kids Club will also be closed. Kids Club information for delayed opening / early dismissal days will be posted on the NSD and Kids Club web sites.

Modified Schedules

(all schedules subject to change as conditions warrant)

Early Dismissal Plans

Neshaminy School District will endeavor to provide lunch whenever possible (Schedule A). If weather conditions deteriorate quickly, however, Schedule B can be initiated for an earlier dismissal time.

Schedule A (with lunch)

11:30 am Neshaminy HS

12:15 pm Middle Schools

1:00 pm Elementary Schools

Schedule B (without lunch)

10:00 Neshaminy HS

10:45 am Middle Schools

11:30 am Elementary Schools

Two-Hour Delay Start Times

Neshaminy High School: 9:16 AM

Middle Schools: 9:55 AM

Elementary Schools: 11:10 AM

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.

What gets whiter the dirtier it gets?

Give up?