News Archive: March, 2007

March 28, 2007 All Avon Grove schools will dismiss early on Friday, March 30.  AGIS dismissal will be at 1:05 PM.  Lunches will be served on an adjusted schedule. There will be no school from Monday, April 2, through Monday, April 9, for spring break.  School will resume on Tuesday, April 10.

March 28, 2007 The PSSA science field test will be administered to all of our fourth grade students on Monday, April 23.  Please do not schedule any appointments or trips for this day.

March 28, 2007Parents driving students to school in the morning are to simply drop them off at the curb.  Please do not turn on your hazard lights and leave your car to come into the building.  You are blocking the flow of traffic in the drop off zone.  If you must come in with your student, please park your car in the parking lot.

March 28, 2007 Thursday, April 26, is Take Your Child to Work Day.  If you plan to take your child to work with you that day, you must send a note in prior to April 26 in order for the day to be considered a field trip and not an absence.  If a note is received after the day, it will be counted as a day absent, but excused.

March 28, 2007 As stated in AG School District Policy “Students may possess cell phones for use before and after school, but their use during the school day is strictly prohibited.  Use is interpreted as using any cell phone function or feature, not just sending or receiving telephone calls.  Cell phones must be turned off upon entering the school building and may not be turned on again until the end of the school day.  Cell phones must be kept out of sight, and the student bears total responsibility for safeguarding this and any other device in his/her possession.” For more information on policy #237, visit our district website.

March 28, 2007 Local brick sculptor, Bernie Felch, has begun his work in the AGIS cafeteria.  Mr. Felch lives in Landenberg and is known for his brick sculpturing.  He will be here for the next month and welcomes interactions with and questions from the students, staff, and visitors.

Mr. Felch will be creating a relief sculpture from 12x12 inch wet brick that he purchases from a local brickyard. In an informal discussion group he had with a group of sixth graders, he told students that his inspiration for this particular method of working came from viewing the sculpted brick striding lions from ancient Babylon that are on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Bernie Felch has a rich background in teaching that includes Washington College, the University of Delaware, Lincoln University, where he was the chairman of the Fine Arts Department, and West Chester University. Installations of his art work can be seen at many private and public sites including: the Bank of Delaware, Diamond State Telephone Co., the Spencer Laboratory at the University of Delaware, the Delaware Art Museum, and Fairmount Park in Philadelphia. The AGIS PTA sponsors this residency.

March 28, 2007 Three teams from Mrs. Fenza’s MATHCOUNTS class at AGIS competed in the Chester County Sixth Grade MATHCOUNTS competition on March 3.  All three teams from AGIS placed in the top half of the 31 competing teams, finishing in 8th, 12th, and 14th place.  Avon Grove’s top-ranked student was Devin E., from Mrs. Vaughn’s math class, who placed 10th out of 124 students and competed in the exciting live knockdown round. 

Other mathletes participating included Colin B., Sean C., Ryan C., Alyssa F., Matt J., Connor L., Annie L., Dylan M., Tori M., Luke T., and Joseph T.

The mission of MATHCOUNTS is to increase enthusiasm for and enhance achievement in middle school mathematics in the United States.  The sixth grade competition was organized by Chester County MATHCOUNTS coordinator Bill Gorman, and was held at Great Valley Middle School.  This year’s winning team was from Valley Forge Middle School.

March 28, 2007 AGIS’s first Youth Art Month contest was a success.  Winners were announced on Friday, March 23, and received certificates and prizes.  Art supplies were donated by Ragan Engineering and Associates as prizes.  All artists who participated did a great job.  We plan on doing the art contest again next March. See our school newsletter for a list of winners!

March 23, 2007 The Avon Grove School District has submitted an annual Title III application which provides supplemental funds for programs designed to support English language learners in their development of English language proficiency and content area knowledge.  The Avon Grove School District will be implementing this application and evaluating the success of the implementation plan throughout the 2006-2007 school year.  If you have any questions regarding this program and the services offered, please contact Peg O’Grady, Supervisor of Pupil Services, at 484-667-4441.

March 22, 2007 76ers Game Voucher possibile for AG community: 
Any families or students who bought tickets but were unable to attend the game due to the weather should write a letter stating why your family could not make it out to the stadium that night.  Obviously, many of the folks from the Avon Grove Community that evening were completely snowed in.  Those are the types of points you will want to make in your brief letter.  Make sure to tell them that your tickets were part of a group sales fundraiser for the 3/16 game. 

Send the letter to:

Sixers Box Office
3601 South Broad St.
Philadelphia, PA 19148

March 16, 2007 Due to the inclement weather today, March 16, 2007, Avon Grove School District will have an early dismissal. Secondary schools will dismiss at 12:30 PM. Elementary schools will dismiss at 1:15 PM. There will be no afternoon Kindergarten.

March 16, 2007 The Food Service Department of Avon Grove School District announces the implementation of MealpayPlus.  This system offers you the ability to view your child’s account balance and a 30 day purchase history on line through the MealpayPlus.com website. 

            Additionally, you may choose to make prepayments to your child’s account using a check or credit card.  You no longer have to worry about forgetting to give your child lunch money or worry about them losing it! Money deposited using MealpayPlus.com will usually arrive at the school site within a matter of hours.  For this added benefit, a convenience fee will be added to the total payment amount of your transaction.  This fee is solely a processing fee by MealpayPlus and is not received by the Avon Grove School District. 

            It is fast, secure and convenient!  Simply log onto www.mealpayplus.com and register your child(ren) using their district student ID number.  For your convenience we have also placed a link on our website, www.avongrove.org/district/foodservice.html, that will direct you to MealpayPlus. When registering you may also elect to receive balance reminders via email or set an auto prepayment using a credit card. 

             If you have any questions regarding this program, please contact the food service office at (484) 667-4445.  If you have any questions regarding payment processing, you may contact Mealpay at (800) 859-6508 between the hours of 9:00 am and 6:00 pm EST

»Parent Letter (pdf)
»Flyer (pdf)

 

March 16, 2007 The AGIS PTA is excited about bringing author Nancy Carol Willis (http://www.nancycarolwillis.com ) to AGIS to conduct a non-fiction writing workshop for fourth graders this spring. Nancy did a wonderful job as author-in-residence a few years ago at Penn London, where she focused on her role as a nature writer and illustrator.

This year the writing workshop will be available to all the fourth grade students. Nancy will do one-hour presentations to each of the 4th grade classes over a four-day period: April 16 and 17 and May 7 and 8. We will ask teachers to prepare students to bring a one-page non-fiction writing sample to the presentation. A select group of students will read their sample and Nancy’s presentation will incorporate these samples into her discussion of how to improve non-fiction writing.

Questions about this program can be directed to Eileen Sparling, eileensparling@comcast.net or to Lucy Rosen, lrosen@avongrove.org.

»Flyer (pdf)

March 15, 2007We are looking for volunteers to share their careers and educational experiences with the students. Each School House will be holding a separate Career Day so many presenters are needed.

Blue School House – May 10 from 12:00-3:00, Please call Susan Gill, Blue Counselor at 610-869-2010 ext. 5209
Red School House - May 11 from 12:00-3:00, please call Lauren Hessan, Red Counselor at 610-869-2010 ext. 5207
Purple School House - May 23 from 8:30- 11:30, please call Kristy Brown, Purple Counselor at 610-869-2010 ext. 5206.
Orange School House - May 24 from 8:30-11:30, please call Deb Burns, Orange Counselor at 610-869-2010 ext. 5208

March 15, 2007 Penn London and Avon Grove Intermediate School will dismiss students at 1:05 on Friday, March 30. There will be NO SCHOOL April 2-9 for Spring Break.

March 15, 2007) AGIS’s annual roller skating party will be held this Saturday evening, March 17, from 5:15 to 7:15 p.m. at the Christiana Skating Center.  Tickets previously ordered have been sent home in backpack mail. Tickets may also be purchased at the door:  $2 for children and $3 for adults.  Questions?  Call Debbie Barrow.

March 15, 2007 The Avon Grove School District Technology Fair and an exhibit of all Avon Grove entries from the Southern Chester County Science Fair are scheduled from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. at Avon Grove Intermediate School on April 12.

     Students, parents, staff, and community members are invited to attend.  Technology used in Avon Grove schools and classrooms will be demonstrated and student science fair projects will be on display.

March 15, 2007 Congratulations to the winners of our Science Fair.  The following students make up our team of winners who will be attending the Chester County Science Fair in Phoenixville on Saturday, March 24.

1st place-Ryan B.
2nd place-Micaela C.
3rd place-Emma E.
Honorable Mention-Alexi F.
Honorable Mention-Mikaela A.

Good Luck!

March 15, 2007 Congratulations to the National PTA Reflections Program 2006-07 District One winners!  Students submitted original works of art in four categories, reflecting this year’s theme “My Favorite Place.”   The following winners had their entries sent on to compete with other schools at the state level:

Visual Arts: Lynden G, Emily H., Annie L., Megan L., Allison R.
Literature: John K., Annie L., Gabrielle S.
Photography: Mikaela A., Ruby G., Justin L., Ariel P., Aubrey S.
Music: Annie L., Christopher N.

Congratulations and good luck! These students and their families are invited to an awards breakfast in April.

March 15, 2007 On Monday, March 26, photographers will be here to take spring pictures of each of our students,

as well as group pictures of our sixth graders.  Flyers will be sent home on Monday, March 19, with more information.  No money is required on picture day.  In April each student will receive a standard portrait package with a price list and instructions.  You will be asked to send in payment for the pictures you choose to keep and/or return any unwanted pictures within ten days.

March 14, 2007 The middle school guidance team will soon begin the placement process for the 2007-2008 school year.  This involves testing, review of grades, and teacher recommendation.  A middle school math placement test is scheduled for Thursday, May 3rd.  It will be administered in the sixth grade classrooms.

The middle school welcomes parental input regarding the educational needs of each student.  Parents are invited to contact the middle school guidance office if they wish to discuss placement concerns.  Deadline for all parental input is May 1, 2007.

March 1 , 2007 Conferences are coming up next week, March 7 to March 9.  Conference appointments were sent home on Monday, February 26.  Report cards will go home on Monday, March 5. Penn London Elementary and the Intermediate School dismiss early on March 7, 8, & 9 at 1:05 PM.  Lunches will be served on an earlier schedule and the salad bar will not be available.

     If you are not able to come for your scheduled conference, please notify the teacher or the school as soon as possible.

March 1 , 2007Bus 4 is no longer able to accept bus passes due to being at capacity.  Please do not request a bus pass for your child to ride bus 4, as well as busses 81 and 102 that have been full all year, until further notice.

March 1, 2007 Congratulations to the 1st place winner of the AGIS 2007 Spelling Bee held last Wednesday, February 21.  Steve L., from Ms. Daniels’ 6th grade blue house classroom, will represent AGIS at the Chester County Spelling Bee on March 8 in Downingtown. If Steve is unable to attend the county spelling bee, Daniel M., our 2nd place winner from Mrs. Goldovich’s 6th grade red house class, will represent us. Congratulations to Steve and Daniel, and to all the house winners.

March 1 , 2007 March is Youth Art Month (YAM.)  In honor of YAM the Art Department is holding the first annual art contest themed “Why Is Art Important?”  Students may create themed artworks of any medium on paper 8.5x11 or larger and turn them in to Miss Ragan in art room 270 by March 6.  Entries will be hung over conferences and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners will be named for each grade by March 23.  Winners will win art supplies.  Please encourage your young artist this month, and visit the art wing to see all the work on display during conferences.

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