School Safety

Dear Baldwin Parents and Community,

 

We are saddened by the tragedy that took place in Connecticut on Friday. I am certain that you are limiting and/or avoiding your child's exposure to the multitude of media coverage of this event. However, your child may begin to hear from other children about this incident. If this is the case and you need support in this area, feel free to contact Patricia Klaras, our school counselor, for assistance.  Here are a few tips that may be helpful to you during this time:

• Acknowledge and validate the child's thoughts, feelings, and reactions. Let them know that you think their questions and concerns are important and appropriate.
• Remember that children tend to personalize situations. For example, they may worry about their own safety or the safety of friends and relatives, especially those who are away at college or even may have fears about the safety of our own school.
• Children learn from watching their parents and teachers. They are very interested in how you respond to local and national events. They also learn from listening to your conversations with other adults.
• Don't let children watch too much television with frightening images. The repetition of such scenes can be disturbing and confusing.

At Baldwin, children's safety is a priority. As you know, we keep all of our school doors locked and everyone is required to check in at the front office before they are allowed to go to any other part of the building. We will continue to reinforce this safety procedure and others every day! Also, as part of our safety routines, we practice the different safety drills throughout the year including the school lock-down drill that would be required for us to follow in any type of threatening situation. With this procedure, Baldwin would be locked-down in seconds! I know that this was a horrific, horrific event; please know that at Baldwin we will always take every measure to keep our children safe! Again, I appreciate you limiting your child's exposure to this event and for continuing to help them know and understand that they are safe at Baldwin.

 

Respectfully,

Dr. Peña

ROARING NEWS

Hello Baldwin Community, 

WOW! we have completed 9 weeks of classes already! Can you believe it? Your children and the Baldwin staff have been extremely busy these first nine weeks of classes. Your children learned about prominent Hispanic figures and their contributions to our world during Hispanic Heritage Month, some students wrote personal narratives and biographies, and others learned about the states of matter at many different levels. Students' work is displayed throughout the building and it is evident that they have been working hard and have been learning some very difficult concepts. One of my favorite things to do everyday, is to walk through the building reading and reviewing the work that is on display. I also love visiting classrooms and hearing your children make connections across the content areas and to their personal experiences. Thank you for continuing to reinforce their learning with the daily homework and home discussions. 

The Baldwin Carnival was so much fun this year. The children were very excited with all of the games and activities. The mechanical bull was new at the carnival and even I attempted to break the record. I was challenged by a fourth grader to stay on longer than him but I didn't do as well as he did. Robert stayed on the bull for 37 seconds and I only stayed on for 7 seconds. Yes, that's right, only 7 seconds. I hope that bull is ready for me next year! During the course of the evening, I had 19 cascarones broken on my head. The students were all very kind and gentle as they cracked the cascarones on me and I had to shake off a few times before I could get all of the confetti out of my hair and clothes. I think I will need to buy a few dozen cascarones next year and be ready to strike back. The food was delicious again this year and the drum band was also very entertaining during the time I sat down to eat. The train was a lot of fun too. I jumped in the train with Gabriel, one of our second graders, and we had so much fun together. I want to thank Erica Macias, the Carnival Coordinator; she started organizing this year's carnival back in early August and she never lost her smile. I also want to thank our PTA President, Kelsey Friedman for working alongside Erica and helping her find the many, many volunteers to help with the preparations, with the booths and with the clean up. I remember seeing many, many parents before, during and after the carnival working to make this event very special for our children. I won't attempt to name everyone I saw because I know I will forget many of you. I do want everyone to know that our annual Carnival would not be possible without all of the efforts each one of our families puts forth. At the end of the night, one of our students came up to me and said, "Dr. Pena , I can't wait for next year's carnival!" You know what, I can't wait either! Thank you again to all of you for making our carnival a special time for all of us but especially for the children. 

The fifth graders went to Camp Champions this past week and they had a blast! As I helped them pack the buses to leave on Wednesday morning you could see the excitement in each of the children. When they arrived back at Baldwin on Thursday afternoon, they were exhausted but yet so excited to tell me all that they did while at camp. One student said, "I had the best time ever! I learned so much and I had such a great time with the other fifth graders." The teachers that attended camp reported that our students were an outstanding representation of Baldwin and that they learned so much in those two days, including what it is to be a team player, show perseverance and have courage. Thank you to our fifth grade teachers and support staff that accompanied our students and thank you parents for allowing them to attend camp. 

Have you heard that we are having a parade at Baldwin this Wednesday? It's true! We are having our first annual "Vocabulary Parade" this Wednesday at 8:15 am. in the front circle of our school. Mrs. Dethlefsen and our teachers have read the book "Miss Alaineus, A Vocabulary Disaster" to all of the students so that they could understand what this parade would be all about. We would like all of our students to select a vocabulary word, which will then become their costume. We would like for them to choose a word that they don't know and learn it with you and then come in a costume that represents their word. The parade will be here soon so put your thinking caps on! How would you show the word adrift? or shortsighted? or Zigzag? Help us make vocabulary building a Parade of Words by having your child participate in the parade. We would love to have parents, grandparents and community members come watch the parade so don't forget it is on Wednesday at 8:15 am. See you then! 

I want to take this time to remind parents about the school policy regarding visitors during lunch time. We love having visitors at our school throughout the day and we want you to keep coming. However, during lunch time, if you decide to come eat with your child, we ask that you have your child eat with you at the parent/visitor tables. This is time that you have set aside to eat with your child and we want you to enjoy it with him/her. It is not acceptable to eat at the table that is assigned to the class with all of the other children and it is not ok for your child to invite a friend to the parent/visitor table either. If you come to the school to eat with your child, we ask that you eat at the parent/visitor table with your child only. This policy has been in effect since we opened Baldwin three years ago and we are making sure that everyone is following our school policy. Thank you for your support in following this school rule. 

Don't forget that the deadline to sign up to participate in the HEB gift card program is this Wednesday, October 31st. The funds that were raised last year by the PTA through the HEB gift card program helped us fund a part time technology specialist. Ms. Trevino started with us this week and she is already working in the computer lab assisting teachers and students and helping us throughout the building with troubleshooting. The more participants we have in this program, the more money that is then given back to Baldwin. Also, this year, the PTA is giving an Ice Cream party to the class that has the most participants sign up for this program. I heard on Friday, that Mrs. Lengle's class was ahead. Let's see if we get any more participants in other classes. Thanks for your support!

I look forward to these next nine weeks of learning and I look forward to seeing you at Baldwin!

 

Roaring with Pride, 
Dr. Peña

ROARING NEWS!

Hello Baldwin Community, 

It is hard to believe that we have completed 5 weeks of the 2012-2013 school year! Your children have been amazing Bobcats and have been working extremely hard every single day. As I make my daily rounds into classrooms, I hear children and teachers having meaningful conversations about the learning objectives in all subject areas. I see amazing student work hanging in the hallways that shows me that children are making connections within the discipline areas and with their own lives and experiences. 

Our student council is gearing up for student council elections and our students that are running for one of the officer positions have taken over any empty wall space in the main building areas to hang their campaign posters. I have to admit that this year's campaign posters are even more creative than last year's. Our students have put in a lot of time and effort to getting elected. They will be recording their speeches soon and the rest of the student body will watch these with their classes and vote for the candidate of their choice. When you walk into the building you can feel the sense of pride that our children are feeling as they campaign and get ready for election day. I am so proud of each and every one of them. I also want to thank you, the parents, for helping your child through this experience. I look forward to working with this year's student council. 

I also want to take this opportunity to thank all of the Baldwin parents for the kindness and generosity you showed to all of the Baldwin support staff during Staff Appreciation Week. I personally received many beautiful handmade cards, class books, a beautiful flower arrangement and an extremely generous gift card to my favorite restaurant from children in Mrs. Hook's class and from Ms. Brady's class. I have re-read my cards and books several times this past weekend and am so touched every time I read them. Thank you so much for the contributions made to the PTA, which in turn gave each of us an overly- generous gift card. I can proudly say, that each of us loves working with your children and being a part of the Baldwin Learning Community!! 

I want to remind everyone to read the Baldwin Weekly ROAR because it contains so much information about upcoming events and volunteer opportunities. There are also many event dates in the ROAR that we need your assistance with, such as the upcoming Baldwin Carnival, the Roaring Readers Club, Red Ribbon Week and many more. Be sure to mark October 31st on your calendars so that you can join us for our first annual "Vocabulary Parade." The ROAR has more information about this fun event. 

Once again, on behalf of the Baldwin Staff, I thank you for sharing your time, talents and treasures with all of us. I look forward to seeing you at Baldwin! 

Roaring with Pride, 
Dr. Peña

Roaring News!

Dear Baldwin Community, 

We had a fantastic second week of classes! Your children are amazing and are already showing great strides. I want to thank everyone that came out to our Back to School Night events last week. Our cafeteria was packed both nights and it was a beautiful sight. Below are some pictures of teachers and parents in the classrooms. 


Mrs. Cruz in her fourth grade classroom explaining some of the grade level expectations to her students' parents. 



Parents of one of our third graders in Mrs. Lee's class. The students in this class left their parents a journal entry and the parents took the time to reply to their child. These proud parents left their son a beautiful and encouraging reply. 


Mrs. Grance's explained the third grade curriculum to her students' parents. 

Fifth Grade teachers enjoying the Gorzycki Steel Drum Band performance at Baldwin at Back to School Night.

Our fifth graders prepared some amazing self portraits for back to school night. Every fifth grader created a self portrait that sat at his/her desk representing themselves to their parents that evening. The self portrait was a series of directions that included mathematical terms and vocabulary that they reviewed the first few days of classes. Along with their self portraits, the students wrote a poem about themselves. The poem was part of the learning that took place during language arts class during these first two weeks of school. I was so impressed with their work that I wanted to share it with everyone. Below is a small sample of the great work by our fifth graders. 

I think the self portraits look just like the children. 

With the start of the new school year, here are some ideas that you may want to implement with your children that could help them with their learning and growing. 

1. Ticket Please-This is for parents that need ideas to limit their youngster's TV time. Every week, give him/her seven slips of paper. Each is good for an hour of television. Remind him/her to plan ahead. For example, if he/she want to watch a two-hour movie on Saturday, he'll/she'll need to save an extra ticket during the week. 

2. Be There! Regular Attendance in elementary school sets up a good pattern for your child's entire school career. Show him/her that school comes first by trying to keep days off for illnesses and family emergencies. Also, schedule routine doctor and dentist appointments for after school or over school breaks. 

3. Better Concentration-Looking for a fun way to improve your youngster's concentration? Try this quick game. The first player makes one motion, like clapping or spinning around. The second person copies him/her and adds another movement. Continue adding new motions until someone forgets the sequence. The last player to get it right starts a new game. 

4. After-school chats-"What's in your backpack?" Greet your child with this question, and you'll discover a lot about what he/she does in class. 

Set aside time each day to go through his/her papers. Try to do it first thing after school when his/her day is fresh in his/her mind. 

Look over your youngster's work together. Help hi/her feel proud by making a specific comment about something he/she has done. For instance, if he/she shows you a pictures he/she drew in art class you might say, "The gray sky and big waves look just like our rainy day a the beach." 

Have him/her talk through math problems or science experiments to show you what he/she has learned. He/She might explain how he/she finds the     perimeter of a triangle or why ants dig tunnels, for example. 

I hope these examples spark other ideas for you to implement with your child throughout this school year. As the school year unfolds, we will continue to make home and school connections so that we are working together for school success. 

I highly recommend that you read over the Baldwin ROAR for upcoming events and volunteer opportunities. We are always looking for great help! I am looking forward to another great week at Baldwin. 

Roaring with Pride,

Dr. Peña

Roaring News!

Roaring with Pride,
Dr. Peña

ROARING NEWS

Dear Baldwin Community,

 

We had a fantastic first week of classes for the 2012-2013 school year! All of the children were very excited about learning and being with their new classmates. As I visited classrooms this week, I observed all of our students engaged in learning and interacting with their teachers and peers. The students learned their class routines and procedures, which will help them everyday with their learning. 

In Kindergarten, the students were learning the routines of being in school and about the different components of their learning day.

The students were also given the opportunity and responsibility of creating these expectations with their teacher and peers. They reviewed each of the expectations for each of their learning centers, recess, walking in line and eating in the cafeteria. Please ask your kindergartener to tell you all about his/her first week and you will see how much they already learned. I can't wait to see the growth they will make in this foundational year of Kindergarten. Be sure to check in with your child's teacher to see how you can support your child's learning at home and how you can help in the classroom. 

In the first grade classes, I saw and heard children practicing and building their independent reading times and reading with partners. The teachers modeled for them and then the children were able to show that they understood how and why these are important parts to the reading process. Way to go First Grade Teachers and Students!

Our second graders seem to be happy to be in the portable classrooms. The teachers in those rooms have done an outstanding job of creating such inviting learning environments. When I visited their classrooms, the students were exploring mathematical tools and explaining to each other how they could use these during math learning. They were having very high level conversations and were not afraid to share their thoughts. I'm proud of our second graders for showing resiliency and pride. 

In the third grade classrooms, students were interviewing a partner to learn more about each other. The questions they asked prompted great conversations and the students seemed to enjoy learning about each other. I also observed third graders explaining their thinking in mathematics. They were at the board sharing their strategies and explaining how they got to the right answer. Keep up the great work third grade!

Our fourth graders were busy at work in reading, writing, math and science. I observed the students in this grade expressing their thoughts in written form about a book they are currently reading. This type of writing allows the students to show comprehension for their reading and gives them an avenue to express their thoughts. I also saw classes with students reading with partners and making connections to the reading or writing down "wonderings" about their reading. The fourth graders were also practicing place value and reading and writing whole numbers. In the next three weeks, in mathematics you will see that your child will be learning more about place value including estimation and points on a number line as they are related to place value. I also observed students making some great connections to their world. In a discussion with the teacher about taking data and creating a graph with that data, one student shared that his father uses data everyday to decide if it is the right time to purchase stock. He said, "my dad uses graphs everyday. It helps him decide if it is a good company." His teacher told him, "can you believe your father is still using what he learned in fourth grade and you will too." Wow, this is exactly how we want our students to see their learning; that it is learning beyond the classroom and that they will use it in their daily lives in some form or fashion. Looks like fourth grade is off to a great start!

In the fifth grade classrooms, the students had already completed a science lab and were making connections with that learning. They were also reading, comparing and ordering whole numbers through 999,999,999,999. All of the students seem to be very comfortable doing this work and were not afraid to share their thinking. I also observed fifth graders creating a self-portrait that they will have for parents to see on back to school night. I also noticed that we have so many leaders in fifth grade. All of the students were so poised and focused during the learning times and were being respectful with each other. We will expect our fifth graders to be role models for the rest of our student body everywhere in our school. Please keep encouraging them to do their best at all times!

In the Music, PE and Art classes the students were well on their way to creating beautiful art, songs and movement. The students were being challenged in the PE classes to show that they were ready for a year of healthy choices and getting fit. Our students at Baldwin are committed to do their best in the fine arts and it was evident in our first week of classes. They were having fun and giving it 100% in all classes.

I want to thank all of your for helping us with our morning routines and getting the children to their assigned areas by 7:35. I do want everyone to know that we are being vigilant with all of our children at all times including the drop off time. Your children are supervised at all times so please don't worry about the time they have to wait in the mornings prior to their teacher picking up their class. We have staff that is on duty during that time keeping a close watch on all of the children. We will continue to ask all of you to give us the space we need in the cafeteria and ask that you drop your child off at their designated area and move to the back of the gym if you choose to wait for the teacher to pick up the class. This procedure will continue to improve as we progress through the year. Thank you for your help this. 

Dismissal also improved as the week progressed. I promise it will get better every day. I do want to remind any parent that picks up children at the school that there are designated areas for pick up and procedures that we must all follow. Only car riders will be waiting in front of the school. If you are a car pick up, please stay in your vehicle and your child will be brought to you. 

If you are walking up to pick up your children on the Meridian side of the school, your child will be waiting in the gym or on the blacktop. Please do not walk behind the gym/cafeteria or in front of the portable buildings before or after school. It is not safe during this time due to staff coming to work in the mornings and the buses and day care vans in the afternoon. Let's do our part to keep everyone safe! 

If you meet your child on the Espina exit, your child will not be dismissed until all of the buses have left and we feel it is safe to let them walk out of the building. If you are waiting for your child on the Espina side of the school, parents are to wait in the landscaped area between Espina Drive and the Bus Drive. You will be given a signal to walk up to the back doors to meet your child once the buses have cleared away from the school and the street. Thanks for your help with dismissal! 

I want to cordially invite all of you to attend your child's back to school night. We will have two nights for parents to meet with their child's teacher to learn more about the curriculum and learning expectations for this new year. These two night events are for adults only. We will meet in the cafeteria for some brief introductions and announcements and then move to your child's classroom. On Wednesday, September 5, we invite PreK, Kinder, First and Second Grade parents to join us for their special night and On Thursday, September 6, we invite all parents of Third, Fourth and Fifth grade students to come learn about your child's grade level. I am looking forward to seeing all of you on those two nights. 

There will also be two Gifted and Talented informational meetings prior to the Back to School Night events. We will be sharing information regarding our district's Gifted and Talented program to our Kinder, First and Second Grade parents on Wednesday and for our Third, Fourth and Fifth Grade parents on Thursday. Both meetings will be at 5:30 in the library. Please join us for one of these meetings if you want to learn more about the Gifted and Talented program. 

I want to thank everyone for making our first week a successful one! We can only make this work if we all do our part. Thank you for being supportive with all that we want to accomplish this year at Baldwin. 

Enjoy the extra day off this week and we will see everyone back at school on Tuesday. 

Roaring with Pride, 
Dr. Peña

Roaring News!

Hello Baldwin Community, 

Welcome to the 2012-2013 school year! It was so exciting seeing so many of our Baldwin students and families at the "Meet the Teacher" event Friday afternoon. The children were a little hesitant as they entered the building but by the time they made it through the hallways to their classrooms and met up with some of their friends, you could see and hear the excitement in their faces. I know they are looking forward to another great year at Baldwin. 

As many of you know and saw on Friday, we are growing at Baldwin! Our enrollment is over 720 students and we added 3 full portables, which is 6 classrooms. All of our teachers, but especially the teachers that are in the portables, worked every day this past week from early in the morning until very late in the evenings to get ready for the new school year. I am very proud to work with such a dedicated and professional staff. All of the classrooms inside and outside of the building look splendid and are ready for children to come on Monday to begin their learning for this year. 

We have made a few changes for this school year. To best meet the needs of our students, we had to move a few teachers from one hallway to another and we had to add a few new classes. The biggest change for the children and our community this year will be morning assembly. After much discussion and reflection, we decided to have morning assembly only on Fridays. The children will still come into the cafeteria everyday and sit in their designated places in the mornings between 7:10 and 7:35 a.m. except that on Mondays through Thursdays, their teachers will come to the cafeteria at 7:35 to walk the students to their classrooms. On Fridays, we will remain in the cafeteria for our Friday Assembly, which will cover celebrations, recognitions, and/or Fitness Friday movements. Although the start time for elementary students in our district is 7:45 a.m., at Baldwin we will begin walking to our classrooms at 7:35 a.m. so that we can get a headstart on the classroom morning rituals and routines and begin instruction immediately at 7:45 a.m. We ask that you have your child at school no later than 7:35 so that they can be ready to begin learning at 7:45 a.m. The drop off line in the morning gets long and backs up at times, so please leave your house early so that your child can get to class on time. In advance, we thank you for your support with this effort. 

Here are a few reminders for Dismissal: we will dismiss our children like we did last year. Teachers walk their students to their designated areas. We ask ALL parents to wait in the designated areas. We will not allow anyone to enter the building as we dismiss our students. The designated areas allow us to keep all of our children safe until a parent or child-care provider picks them up. 

Car Pick UP: If you are picking up your child by automobile, you must REMAIN in the car pick up line in the front circle of the school. Parents should stay in their vehicle and the child will be brought to the car by an adult and/or a safety patrol member. Parents in the pick up lane should display their car placard with their child's name on it for the staff member to read the name and have your child brought to your car.  If you need a car placard, stop by the front office and/or ask your child's teacher. Again, do not get out of your car while in the pick up lane in front of the school. Vehicles should not be left unattended in the pickup lane. Also, turn off your cell phones in the school zone areas and campus driveways. Unless you have a hands-free system, the same cell phone safety measures apply (especially during arrival and dismissal). 

Walkers: If you walk or park your vehicle to pick up your child, you will pick up your child or children in the gym or the blacktop in the back of the gym. Kinder, 1st and 2nd graders wait in the gym and 3rd-5th graders wait on the blacktop in back of the gym. If you have children in multiple grade levels, the older child will be with the younger sibling. Students sit by grade level and parents are allowed a few at at time to walk into the gym to pick up their children. Please do not arrive until 2:45 because we will not begin dismissal until that time. 

Older children are allowed to walk home on their own or with younger siblings. Espina walkers are dismissed after the buses have left the school grounds and Meridian walkers are walked out of the building and dismissed by their teachers at 2:45.

We now have portable classrooms that are located on the west side of the main building so please DO NOT park on the back of the school by the blacktop, or behind the gym and cafeteria because our students and teachers will be crossing that parking lot to get to their designated places. 

We are looking forward to our 3rd year together as a Baldwin Learning Community. As man of you all already know, we rely on our students' parents and partners to help us reach our school goals. We cannot do this difficult and important work without you! We will continue to focus on providing rigorous instruction in all academic areas and holding each child to high expectations. When parents get involved in their children's education, the children do better in school, are better behaved, have more positive attitudes toward school and grow up to be more successful in life. Helping with homework can be a way for families to learn more about what their children are learning in school and an opportunity for them to communicate both with their children and with teachers and principals. Helping children become-and remain-readers is the single most important thing that parents and families can do to help their children succeed in school and life, so please read to your child everyday! Also, attendance is directly tied to high achievement and success, so please do everything possible to have your child at school everyday and on time. 

Please invite your friends to read the Baldwin Weekly Roar, the Baldwin Website and this blog for continuous updates on events and school information. 

Again, I am excited about another year with you at Baldwin and am looking forward to great accomplishments!

Roaring with Pride, 
Dr. Peña

ROARING NEWS

Hello Baldwin Community, 

The month of April was a busy one at Baldwin and even though May just began, it has not fallen short of activities and events that have kept all of us busy. 

In April, we celebrated spring with the PTA Family Movie Night. It turned out to be a beautiful evening and many of our families came out to the Baldwin field to watch a movie together. What an awesome way to celebrate as a learning community! Thank you to the Baldwin PTA for organizing and sponsoring such a fun event. Also in April, our third, fourth and fifth graders made it through the State Assessments, (STAAR), with lots of confidence and poise. I am very proud of the children in these grades for giving it their all on these testing days. I am also very proud of our teachers and staff for preparing our children with knowledge and strategies and for making sure the testing days went as smooth as possible. 

At the end of April, our PTA sponsored the first annual Baldwin Bash and silent auction event and it was an enormous success! The evening of the Bash was absolutely beautiful and we had a wonderful time. The venue was decorated with lots of lights and beautiful table settings, which made the evening even more special. The best part of the evening for me was the bidding on the auction items, the food, the music and especially the opportunities to talk with so many of you in such a relaxed and fun atmosphere. I loved learning more about each of you and watching everyone have a wonderful time knowing that all of this was for our Baldwin children! Thank you for coming out to the Bash and for participating in the silent auction! I hope to see many more parents and staff at next year's Bash! Thank you to all of the silent auction sponsors and to the PTA for putting on such a fantastic event!!

During the last few weeks of April, we also completed the Gifts of Time auction items. These auction items are all sponsored by our teachers and staff members. They have all volunteered their time and talents to spend time with your children and we appreciate you bidding on the items. This was also a huge success and we couldn't have done it without our PTA and you, the parents. We, the teachers and staff at Baldwin, are looking forward to all of the fun events we planned with the children. On May 17th, we will have the first Kickball game of Baldwin staff vs. Baldwin 3rd, 4th and 5th graders and on May 21st, we will host the Prek, Kinder, 1st and 2nd graders vs. Baldwin staff game. Both games will be at 9:00 a.m. on the Baldwin field and we invite all of you to come and support your favorite team. See you then.

As I stated earlier, May got here very fast and this past week was a busy first week of May for all of us at Baldwin. We had field days this week with our 3rd, 4th and 5th graders participating in all of the field events on Thursday and our Prek, Kinder, first and second grade classes enjoying the fun events on Friday. Coach Grumbles along with his helpers Coach Shaw, Mrs. Stevens, Mr. Mader, Ms. Schawrz and Mr. Shaddock organized some exciting events for all ability levels. I was even able to jump the hurdles, jump the long jump (sort of..) and complete a few of the soccer exercises. Both days were so much fun and all of the children were such great sports showing outstanding sportsmanship and team work. We also had many community sports organizations that gave their time to be a part of the field day events and taught the children so many skills. So to all of them, I say thank you and I send out a big Baldwin ROAR for their willingness to share their time and talents with all of our children. 

This past Thursday, our second grade classes learned about the history of Mexico and the meaning of Cinco de mayo by sharing in some Mexican cultural traditions which included some arts and crafts and games. If your child is in second grade be sure to ask him or her what they learned last week. 

This past Saturday our fourth and fifth grade Math Pentathletes competed in their division. The team did very well bringing home, 4 Honorable Mentions, 3 Bronze Medals, 4 Silver Medals, 1 Gold Medal and Hall of Fame Award. These math pentathletes will be recognized this Friday, May 11th at our morning assembly. Congratulations to all of these pentathletes and their coaches!

We have 17 school days left in this school year. Yes, only 17 days left!! It is unbelievable that our school year is almost over. There will be many more fun events and celebrations in these last few weeks so I ask that you continue to check your child's agenda/planner and to read the Weekly ROAR for updates and information. 

On May 10th, I invite all of you to come join us for some fun activities at our 2nd Annual Family Fitness Night. It will be held in the cafeteria and the gym and it will be from 6:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m. I know this is a very busy time for families but I hope you can make some time to join in on the fun at Baldwin this Thursday. This will be an evening for you to participate in some active movement with your children and learn more about ways to stay fit and healthy. See you then. 

Here are a few other events we will have in May that you will not want to miss: May 25-AR Recognitions; May 29-Arts Fest-all day at Baldwin and May 30-5th Grade Completion Ceremony at 8:30 a.m.

Thank you again for helping us make Baldwin such a special place to learn and grow. I look forward to seeing you around the campus at some of our May events. 

Roaring with Pride, 

Dr. Peña

ROARING NEWS!

Dear Baldwin Community,

 

Our second annual March Mathness was a HUGE success! We had parents, grandparents, student teachers and community members teaching our children many different math concepts through real life experiences and fun. Our volunteers made math come alive at Baldwin! A second grade student in Ms. Brady's class said to me, "Dr. Peña, I don't know who thought of March Mathness, but this a great thing for us to have. Every station has been so much fun especially the one where I ordered the food I wanted with the money I was given." I heard these type of comments every in every class I visited yesterday. 

We had different lessons and math centers happening at all grade levels. Our PreK children played a variety of math games with parents and teachers in their classrooms. I peeked in their rooms and they didn't even notice me. They were so engaged in the activities and having such a great time. In Kindergarten, we had children working with fractions creating their own "Equal Willy" caterpillar. In another  class, I saw children working with money, measuring their heart rates and playing a doubles game. The third graders experienced the olympics through different math olympic games. The older students learned more math skills through a scavenger hunt, balancing a check book and measuring the circumference of different circles. I saw some fifth graders writing out checks, so parents beware!

 

This type of learning and fun makes Baldwin a special place to learn and grow. Thank you to our teachers for organizing this year's March Mathness and thank you to all of the volunteers who came out to celebrate Math learning with us! We appreciate everyone sharing their talents and expertise.

 

Have a restful and fun Spring Break. I will see everyone back on March 19th!

 

Roaring with Pride,
Dr. Peña

ROARING NEWS

Dear Baldwin Community,

It has been a few weeks since my last blog communication. Throughout the month of February, we were extremely busy at Baldwin!


As I walk through classrooms and see what children are learning and experiencing and review the work that is posted in the hallways, I can confidently tell you that all of our Bobcats have been focused on learning. The students' writing that is posted demonstrates their commitment to high levels of learning. They have been sharing math strategies and writing skills through research and creative writing. The students in 2nd grade presented some outstanding research projects on Presidents, which included creative presentation skills and knowledge. The students in 1st and 3rd grades shared their learning and love of poetry by creating some original poems that are displayed throughout the yellow, blue and orange hallways. Our Kindergarten students continue to build their math skills with new knowledge about fractions and 2 and 3 dimensional shapes. Our fourth graders are displaying some "smarty pants" writing. They wrote compositions about a time they felt smart. Stop by and read them; the compositions are hanging in the green wing.  I love going into classrooms and hearing your children share their learning and their ideas.


This past Friday, we celebrated Dr. Seuss' Birthday with pajama day and by having some of our students' fathers read to their children's classes. It was absolutely a beautiful experience to see and hear our dads reading to our children. We also had some classes cook up green eggs and ham, which were delicious. Thanks for helping us continue to develop the love of reading through these fun events. On Friday, in the third and fourth grade classes, we also celebrated Texas Independence Day. The fourth graders transformed themselves into cowboys and cowgirls to add to the learning fun. They also read and discussed the Texas Declaration of Independence, which was signed on March 2, 1836.


On February 24, a chicken showed up during morning assembly and led the chicken dance for the whole student body. The chicken went around the school cafeteria dancing with children, staff and parents. The chicken showed up to tell the children and parents thank you for contributing to the "Love Your School Campaign" and for helping the PTA meet this year's goal. It was an awesome celebration of great fun and dancing. I here the chicken had so much fun that it wants to come back!! Let's see how we can make that happen!  

I would like to invite all of you to stop by this Friday, March 9 to celebrate March "Mathness" with us. We will begin our math rotations at around 8:00 a.m. and continue until about 10:30-11:00 depending on the grade level. For most grade levels, we have parent volunteers that will be conducting math lessons with our students. If you are available, we still need a few volunteers for fourth and fifth grade. Please let the fourth or fifth grade teachers know if you can teach a math lesson on Friday. We are looking forward to a fun filled day of mathematics!



I want to thank everyone for their continuous support of the learning at Baldwin. Don't forget we will be off for spring break beginning March 10 and we will return for the last ten weeks of classes beginning March 19. Enjoy your spring break and I look forward to seeing everyone on March 19th.


Roaring with Pride,
Dr. Peña

ROARING NEWS

Dear Baldwin Community, 

As the "Love your School" Campaign gets started I wanted everyone to know how much the Baldwin PTA has supported all of the learning at Baldwin for the past two years. Due to the district budget cuts and the way schools are funded, we don't receive sufficient funds to cover the many expenses that take place on a day to day basis at our school. For the past two years, the PTA has listened to our many requests and has been able to provide us the extra support in so many different ways. Did you know that the PTA purchased or will be providing the following to our school by the end of this school year?

$10,000 worth of books for Classrooms and the Literacy Library
Teaching Gardens
Funds have been designated for a school Marquee
Gaga Pit (the children love playing in the Gaga Pit!!)
Storage Shed (with Door)
Backpack hooks throughout the school
Solar Shed for science learning
12+ Lego Robots for use in the classrooms and First Lego League
19 Flip Cameras for use in the classrooms
75+ Net-book Headphones
2 outdoor benches and trashcans
2 sets of Math Pentathlon Games for teachers to checkout from the library to use in their math centers
Set of 5th grade student books for Social Studies (Social Studies Alive, supplemental text used in classrooms)
STAAR Materials
Large die cut machine
Bookshelves

1 hour Planetarium School Visit

Mobile Science Lab 

Science lab equipment  such as: prisms, magnifying glasses, magnets, density cubes, geometric shapes, meter sticks, photo-reactive paper, thermometers, 60 pocket microscopes etc.

2 high end digital microscopes
A skeleton
$2,000 in professional development funds for teacher training

WOW! our school has only been open for two school years, and our PTA has been able to support the learning in so many different ways!!

This year's Love Your School No Hassle Giving Campaign kicks off tomorrow, February 8th. Instead of having to sell cookie dough or magazines, the PTA has decided to ask for your support in this way. The proceeds benefit your children with worthwhile enrichment programs, books, materials, and technology improvements that we would not be able to fund with the annual budget the district provides to our school. This year's goal is to raise at least "$10, 000 and each expression of support, regardless of the amount is important. All donations go into the PTA general fund and any expenditures must be voted on by the PTA general membership. 

I ask that you consider supporting all of the teaching and learning at Baldwin by contributing to this year's Love Your School Campaign. Your tax deductible contributions can be made any time between February 8th through the 16th. Remember, when you give to the PTA, you are giving to your child! 

In advance, I want to thank you for your consideration in participating in the Love Your School Campaign and for your continuous support! 

Roaring with Pride, 

Dr. Peña

ROARING NEWS

Dear Baldwin Community,

I have some GREAT NEWS to share with you!

This morning at morning assembly, we announced the 2011-2012 Baldwin Teacher of the Year- Mrs. Gayle Grance.





Mrs. Grance has worked for Austin ISD for 16 years and previous to this, she worked in Ohio and Pennsylvania for another 14 years. Mrs. Grance provides "hands-on" experiences that become the cement to connect lessons to real life situations. She enjoys watching children have "ah-ha" moments as they discover answers and make connections. She also believes that all children have gifts and talents and she tries to offer opportunities for each child to share their gifts. Mrs. Grance has been instrumental at Baldwin. She was one of Baldwin's founding teachers and has worked tirelessly to organize science equipment and materials for teachers to check out for use in their classrooms.  She was also a leader in finding volunteers to build us a solar shed and teaching gardens. Mrs. Grance has helped us enrich our curriculum in so many different ways. She is a team player and contributes to all aspects of our learning community.

Mrs. Grance inspires a love of learning in students of all backgrounds and abilities. She provides a high-quality, well-rounded educational experience to all students that is rigorous, culturally relevant, healthful and engaging. Mrs. Grance is well respected by her colleagues, parents and most importantly her students. She plays an active and useful role in the community as well as in our school. Mrs. Grance is poised, articulate, and possesses the energy to withstand a taxing schedule.

Previously, Mrs. Grance was Teacher of the Year at Kiker Elementary in 2000 and 2004. We are so lucky to have such a talented and dedicated teacher working with us at Baldwin!

Roaring with Pride,
Dr. Peña

ROARING NEWS

Dear Baldwin Community,

This Wednesday, February 1st, will be the 100th day of classes which is unbelievable!! This morning as I walked through classrooms, I saw all of the children focused on learning and sharing their thinking. I observed three students in Ms. Seitz's class, Jaxon, Joopsy and Joey, sharing the 100 charts they created at home. Two of the students explained that their 100 charts included 10 groups of 10 which equaled 100. The other student explained that she drew a tree trunk and added 100 leaves to it. All three students received a round of applause for their good work and for their explanations. Thank you parents for helping our students complete their displays of 100 and for continuing to enhance their understanding of number sense. 

As I walked through the 1st and 2nd grade hallways, I noticed some excellent work on the bulletin boards and in the classrooms. In the early weeks of January, the first and second graders honored Martin Luther King by learning about the importance of his dream and understanding that words have power. 

Some of the second graders wrote their own dreams and it was evident that they have BIG dreams. The children learned how historical figures and good citizens help shape the country and the state by their contributions.

Our third graders learned that the earth consists of Natural Resources and that its surface is constantly changing. They learned this by creating models of the 3 types of rocks found on the earth: metamorphic, igneous and sedimentary. The children will now be using this information to identify and compare different landforms, including mountains, hills, valleys and plains. In the orange wing, I also saw third grade work where the students created their own number lines naming points using whole numbers and fractions, including halves and fourths. 

In the green wing, our fourth and fifth graders have been working extremely hard in all academic areas. I know these students are relieved that science fair is behind them and I want to congratulate them for their great work and perseverance to get it done! I learned so much from their projects and I thank the parents for helping them get through this phase of their learning. I spent quite a bit of time in the green wing today reading the fourth graders narrative and expository compositions. They are such creative writers and they are doing such a great job using their learning within their writing. In the same way, the fifth graders had some excellent work displayed in the hallway. Their work showed that they are able to use a flexible range of metacognitive reading skills in both assigned and independent reading to understand an author's message. Today, as I walked through the fifth grade reading class, the students were beginning their study of poetry learning about poetic techniques such as alliteration and onomatopoeia, figurative language and graphic elements. Be on the lookout for your child's creative, poetic side.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of the parents and grandparents that heard our plea for more reading volunteers. This week alone, I saw an increase in volunteers coming in to help our first graders improve their reading skills through our Great Leaps Reading program. We still have space for more volunteers so please checkout the Baldwin PTA website for other volunteer opportunities. Thank you again for all of your support!

I look forward to reporting more on your children's learning later this week.

Roaring with Pride,

Dr. Peña

ROARING NEWS

Hello Baldwin Community, 

Happy New Year and Welcome Back! The past seven days have been busy ones at Baldwin. The children returned from winter break full of energy and excitement. During morning assembly, I have been reminding the students that January is a good time to reflect on the fall semester and set goals for the spring semester. I explained to them that their goals could be focused on improving their reading levels, earning more points in the AR program or learning more of their math facts. I also told them that it is important to reflect on their personal skills such as being more responsible by returning their homework everyday and completing all of their classwork on time. We also talked about being better friends by sharing, talking nicely to each other, and respecting each other's space. Perhaps you can have a conversation with your child to see what goals he/she will be working on during this second part of the school year. As I visit classrooms, I will be asking the children what goals they have set and how they expect to achieve their goals.

I have been hearing all of the "ROAR" about science fair! The children are very excited about sharing what they have learned through this process and I can't wait to see their work. Don't forget the deadline to submit science fair projects is this Tuesday, January 17th. Please help your child finish their project this weekend. You have an extra day since Monday is a holiday. Students will first share their projects with their class and their teacher before they can go to the next level of judging. Those projects that make it to the next level will be judged on January 26th and you will have the opportunity to come and see all of the great projects that evening from 6:30-7:30. Thanks so much for supporting our Baldwin scientists and their efforts! (We also need volunteers to help us organize all of the projects, set them up in the cafeteria and lead the children's tours. Please consider helping us with this event. It will make a HUGE impact since the children are very excited about science and learning!)

Speaking of volunteers, I want to personally thank all of those that have been coming to help some of our first graders improve their reading skills through the Great Leaps program. Because of the efforts of our volunteers, some of our students are showing great improvements. Since the volunteers started working with our students, these first graders have increased several DRA reading levels. What does that really mean? Well, we have some students that have improved from a DRA reading level 3, which is a beginning Kindergarten level, to a DRA 12, almost a mid-year first grade level. Those are some tremendous gains! These volunteer efforts have definitely been paying off; however WE NEED MORE VOLUNTEERS because some of the first grade classes do not have enough volunteers to meet the needs of our children! Please consider helping our first graders reach their reading goals. Being a better reader will help the children gain more confidence and help them be better prepared for learning in all academic areas. Again, I am sending a loud, strong ROAR for more volunteers. Please help us in these efforts by contacting Tawnya Savoy at tsavoy@austin.rr.com. I guarantee that your volunteer efforts will make a HUGE impact on our children and our school. 

At this time, I want to congratulate the following four students for advancing to the State Level in the Reflections competition:

Zoey in Mrs. Magana's first grade class; Vivian in Ms. Brady's second grade class; Hannah in Mrs. Reaves' fourth grade class and Catherine in Mrs. Beeler's fifth grade class. 

Additionally, I want to congratulate Jason in Ms. Murphy's second grade class and Ivey in Mrs. Lee's third grade class for receiving an Honorable Mention at the Area Level of the Reflections Competition.

I am very proud of these six students for advancing in the Reflections Competition but mostly for being courageous Bobcats and participating in this program. Thank you to these six students for representing Baldwin in such creative ways!

I hope you enjoy the long weekend and I look forward to seeing your children and you at Baldwin next week!

Roaring with Pride,

Dr. Peña