Roaring News

Hello Baldwin Community,

I want to begin this blog by thanking all of the students that participated in our "First" Science Fair at Baldwin. We had over 200 projects that filled up our cafeteria including class projects from our Kinder through third grade classes.  From these 200+ individual projects, 14 were chosen to advance to the next level of competition, which is the Austin Energy Regional Science Fair to be held February 23-26. We are very proud of all of our participants and we wish our 14 students from grades 2-5 that have advanced the best of luck. We can't wait to hear how it goes for them at the regional level. I also want to thank the parents of our students that participated in the science fair. for all of their support and the commitment you made to help your child complete a project this year.

I also want to give a "shout out" to our volunteers for helping us organize this huge endeavor. We had 2 teachers, Mrs. Grance and Mrs. Quiroz, along with two parents that organized our science fair. These ladies then reached out to other parents and friends that helped us set up and take down the projects. We also had volunteers come in and judge the projects for us and we are very grateful to them for giving their time and expertise. We could not have done this without your time, talents and energy.

I would like to take this opportunity to announce Baldwin's 2010-2011 Teacher of the Year: Mrs. Julie Burns. She is one of our third grade teachers. This morning at Morning Assembly we surprised Mrs. Burns with this announcement and with a beautiful flower arrangement. The Baldwin Staff voted for Mrs. Burns as our teacher of the year. We are so proud of her and the work she does everyday with your children! When you are on campus, stop by to see her and tell her congratulations! She ROARS!

This morning we also recognized all of the PTA Reflections participants. We had 50 participants and 14 of these advanced to the Area Level. Two of these students placed at the Area Level. This morning they were given a trophy and/or a medal for their accomplishments. I was so proud to see so many students standing on the stage with their trophies and medals. Thank you parents for encouraging your children to share their talents and gifts with others

I am very proud of Ms. Meixner's Kindergarten class. This morning their class name was drawn  to eat at the "fancy" table and they chose to pass this opportunity on to another class because they had eaten at the fancy table on Tuesday of this week. This gesture of kindness showed others how much they believe that we are a family here at Baldwin and that we should share these opportunities and experiences. Thank you to Ms. Meixner and her Kindergarten class for being so gracious and kind. Because they chose to pass this opportunity on to another class, Ms. LeBlanc's first grade class got to eat at the fancy table today. Ms. LeBlanc and her class then wrote a nice thank letter to Ms. Meixner's class expressing their gratitude. I love the way our children and our teachers take care of each other!

We had a general PTA meeting this past Wednesday and although we had a small turnout for this meeting, I do believe some very important decisions were made.  I encourage you to check out the PTA website to read more about the meeting. I hope we can have a better turnout at the next meeting.

I am going to take this opportunity to make a strong plea for tutors! We need your help with our Roaring Readers Club. We need mentor/tutors to sit with a child (first through fifth grade) for 30 minutes a day to help them increase their reading fluency and comprehension. The resource that we are using is an user friendly program that you would be able to follow. In fact, we have someone that will provide training before you get started. Please consider helping us with our struggling Bobcats. We all need a little help at times! You can sign up for a 30 minute slot by going  to mySignup.com to volunteer now! http://www1.mysignup.com/roaringreader_sclub . For more information contact Tawnya Savoy at tsavoy@austin.rr.com .

We will be having a parent-principal coffee on February 4th at 8:30 in the cafeteria.  I would love to see all of you at the Parent-Principal Coffee. We spend about 45 minutes talking about different concerns and/or sharing ideas on how to make Baldwin the Best School in Austin. I would love to see you at the coffee hour on Friday the 4th.

Roaring with Pride,

Dr. Peña
 

Roaring News

Hello Baldwin Community,

We got off to great start to our second semester at Baldwin! During the first week back from the winter break, the students in grades 3-5 had the pleasure of hearing some live jazz music. We were visited by some players from the Austin Symphony. We heard a vocalist sing some great songs and we saw and heard the following instruments being played: piano, saxophone, flute, drums, and electric guitar. Last week the students in Prekindergarten through second grade had the pleasure of hearing another member of the symphony; they learned and heard about instruments that are part of the percussion family. I could tell the students enjoyed the music because I saw them tapping their feet, moving their shoulders to the beat and even clapping the rhythms. We are grateful to AISD and the Austin Symphony for exposing us to these instruments and these sounds.

This past Friday, the fifth grade students were treated to some special sounds by the Gorzycki MS band, orchestra and choir. The Gorzycki MS Fine Arts department made a special visit to Baldwin to explain some of the great opportunities the students can participate in if they choose this school next year. We applaud the students and the staff from Gorzycki for a great performance. Your fifth grader will soon have to submit his or her choice sheet for next school year, so please help them complete this important form. If you have questions, please talk with Mr. Crowley and Ms. Webber.

Our first Science Fair is just around the corner. Please mark your calendars to come view the science fair projects on January 26 from 6-7 pm. I believe we will also have a special presentation from Mad Science that same night. It will be a fun night for the whole family. I hope to see all of you that night!

Back in November, one of our teachers completed her National Board certification and I believe I failed to announce this to our community. Congratulations to Ms. Brynne Ovalle, our PreK teacher! National Board Certification is a demonstration of accomplished teaching practice as measured against high and rigorous standards. National Board Certification is a means to professional growth and improvement. We are very proud of Ms. Ovalle for completing this amazing feat! When you see her at Baldwin, please take a minute to congratulate her for this great accomplishment!

We look forward to seeing you at Baldwin this spring semester. Thank you for your continuous support!

Roaring with pride,
Dr. Pena