Dear Baldwin Community,
Our fifth graders had a roaring time at camp this year! They refined their team work and leadership skills while they were out there completing their daily tasks and covering the curriculum. The students returned with so much more energy and have been able to apply their learning from camp to their daily classroom learning. I am very proud of our fifth graders and their commitment to learning. I want to thank our fifth grade parents for allowing your children to go on this overnight camping trip with our teachers. It is such a great way for our children to get to know each other better and to continue building on their leadership skills.
Speaking of leadership skills, we are getting ready to start up our "first" Baldwin Student Council. We will have elections in each of the third, fourth, and fifth grade classrooms on November 8th. Along with the Student Council we will be incorporating the leadership program through the Rotary Club. We have some Rotary Club representatives that will meet with our student council and the sponsors to help the children develop their leadership skills. The student council members will also be the representatives for the Prek, Kinder, 1st and 2nd grade classes. I am looking forward to working with our Student Council to hear what the students feel we should focus on at Baldwin to make it an outstanding school!
The Coats for Kids Campaign started off with a bang and we have collected a box full of coats and scarves. We had a group of choir members that put on a short skit to kick off the campaign and then we had the Daisy Troop that presented the scarves they made to the coats for kids drive. Thank you to everyone that has contributed thus far. The collection ends on November 3rd so do some spring cleaning now and go through your closets so that you can donate any coats that no longer fit you. There will be someone that will use your donated coat this fall and winter. Your donations are greatly appreciated.
The PTA Reflections program will come to an end on Friday, November 4th so don't forget to submit your work by that date. This program is a perfect way for our children to demonstrate their creativity and skills around the theme of Diversity. We have a few entries and we sure would like to see more. We know our Baldwin Bobcats are very talented and what a better way to showcase this talent. The guidelines and information for each type of entry can be found in the foyer of the school in front of the office. Please talk with your children about this wonderful program and encourage them to participate.
We had another successful Baldwin Carnival this year! It was two weeks ago and the children are still talking about all of the fun they had and the good food they got to eat. I had about a dozen and 1/2 cascarones cracked on my head. I had a blast trying to escape those that were after me for that purpose. I want to tell all of the carnival volunteers that our event was a great success because of them. It was their hard work and commitment that made this event so memorable!! Thank you again to Mrs. Kelsey Friedman, Carnival Coordinator, and all of those that worked behind the scenes to get all of the booths ready and to those that worked tirelessly on that day and night. You all are amazing supporters of our children and Baldwin. I am looking forward to next year's carnival.
As we enter the month of November, we will also begin our collection for holiday support for our families in need. This year, we will have a Turkey with feathers that will display the needs of our Baldwin community. Please keep an eye out for the turkey and the procedures we will follow to help those in need. In advance, I thank you for being such a supportive community!
The Accelerated Reader cut-off date for this month is this Friday, November 4th. Please check with your child to see how many points they have earned and perhaps they can do some extra reading to complete a few more tests before Friday. We will recognize our next Rainbow Readers on November 10th. We will hold this recognition on that Thursday because the children don't have classes on November 11th.
Tomorrow, Monday, is Halloween and it is not appropriate for our children to come to school in their Halloween Costumes. However, it is "Crazy Hat" day so help your child get their hats ready to wear on Monday. We will also be celebrating the 50th day of school by dressing up in our 50s outfits on Tuesday, November 1st. We sure do like to have fun at Baldwin!
For more information on upcoming events, check the Baldwin Weekly Roar!!
I want to congratulate the third graders because they have been working very hard to learn all about multiplication and division. They have also been learning their multiplication facts to 12. Keep up the good work. I am also very proud of our fourth graders. This past week they shared their personal compositions during their writing celebration in the library. Their stories were well written and they showed so much pride in their work. Thank you to our children for being outstanding Bobcats!!
Roaring with Pride,
Dr. Peña
Dr. Peña