Georgetown Elementary School

This past week, we celebrated two kinds of artists:  creative and writing! Mrs. Brouwer celebrated artists in grades PK through 5 during the Hudsonville Public Schools Art Show on Wednesday night at Park Elementary.  And, Mrs. Heerema, our Gifted and Talent Consultant, help us kick off our writing celebration by taking us to Calvin College’s Young Authors Conference.  To view our creative artists, visit Mrs. Brouwer’s Art Blog. Our writing artists are featured on this slide show.

In light of the current Swine Influenza Alert, I am providing you with some information and resources.  The Allegan and Ottawa County Health Departments are intensely monitoring the reports of swine influenza. One suspected case has been reported in Michigan at this time, however this has not been confirmed.  The symptoms of swine flu in people are similar to the symptoms of regular human seasonal influenza and include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite and coughing. Some people with swine flu also have reported runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.  While there is no cause for alarm, prevention is important.  A one page fact sheet for schools from the Ottawa County Health Department is attached.  Both health departments recommend the following prevention strategies:
1.  Covering your mouth and nose with a tissue or your inner elbow when coughing or sneezing.  It may prevent those around
you from getting sick.
2.  Washing your hands often with soap and water will help protect you from germs. While not a substitution for proper hand washing,
you can also use an alcohol- based hand sanitizers if needed.
3.  Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth.  Germs are often spread when a person touches something that is contaminated with germs and then touches his or her eyes, nose or mouth.
4.  Keep your distance: Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
5.  Stay home from work, school and errands when you are sick. You will help prevent others from catching your illness.

A flyer from the Ottawa County Health Department is also available for you to read:  school-swine-info

If your child spends a lot of time playing video games, you may want to check out this recent article featured in the Washington Post.  This new study notes that children addicted to games had trouble playing attention in class, skipping homeowrk and lying about how much they play.  VIDEO GAMES

From our Superintendent, Roxanne DeWeerd:  Pre-Kindergarten Reinstated

Hudsonville Public Schools will offer the same pre-kindergarten program next school
year as has been offered in the past.  Because of a significant change in the state funding
formula for pre-kindergarten that was to go into effect next school year, the program was
going to be dropped.  However, it now appears that the State will either delay the funding changes for two years or, hopefully, eliminate the changes completely.  Given that potential, pre-kindergarten will be reinstated for next school year.

Your building principal will be contacting all parents who had their children screened for kindergarten this spring.  If your child qualified for pre-kindergarten, you will be given the option to enroll your child in this program.  At Georgetown, Mrs. Giovanna Estefan will be teaching pre-kindergarten on the Monday/Wednesday full day rotation schedule.   Any open spots in this Pre-K class will be then be filled with  children who did not qualify but parents desire to have Pre-K over K.  Please be patient while we contact all parents.  This may take 3-5 school days to sort through.

The intermediate school districts of Ottawa and Kent have compiled MEAP scores for 31 districts they serve.  As  you look at this ranking, you will see that Hudsonville consistently posts scores in the 90’s.  Our students and teachers continue work exceptionally hard to master the curriculum and show this understanding on district and state assessments.  We are very proud of the results!  If you are interested in finding out more about the MEAP assessments, check the MDE website.  To view our scores, click: MEAP county-scores

Got Talent?  If so, consider trying out for the…GEORGETOWN TALENT SHOW!!

Can you juggle?
Play an instrument?
Perform magic tricks?
Do trick jump roping?
Gymnastics?
Play a song on the recorder?

Then Georgetown wants to see YOU!
We will soon be hosting our 3rd annual Georgetown Talent Show! This year, our show will be on Thursday, May 14 in both the morning and afternoon (specific times will be posted later).

If your child is interested in being a performer or an MC for the talent show, they will need to be aware of the following rules:

1) Performers must be in grades 3rd – 5th.
2) Acts must be 2 minutes or less in length.
3) There will only be 8 spots for “solo” performers, all other performers must be in groups of at least 2.
4) All acts must be appropriate. Acts with suggestive or questionable lyrics, movements or costumes will not be allowed to perform.

There will also be (2) student MC’s for each show chosen. If your child would be interested in MCing, they need to also fill out a Talent Show sign up sheet and prepare one short joke for their audition.

Official Talent Show sign up sheets will be available outside of the music room on Tuesday, April 28. These need to be returned to Mrs. Bretz (an envelope will be outside the music room door to return them) by FRIDAY, MAY 1. Auditions will begin next week and exact audition times will be posted on Monday morning. Acts must be prepared and “performance” ready for the audition. So get practicing!!

Parents: If you would be interested in helping with the talent show, there are many behind the scenes jobs that require volunteers. Please contact the Talent Show Committee (Mrs. Bretz, Mrs. Brouwer, or Mrs. Bouwens) if you would be willing to help. Thanks!

Ashley Tiesman, a fourth grader in Mrs. Jurewicz’s class is hosting PINK WEEK. This service project is being done to honor breast cancer survivors and to raise money for research to prevent cancer.  You can support this cause by buying a Susan G. Komen product and wearing PINK on Friday, May 1.  To find out more, visit this link:  PINK

We have many events scheduled this week–and most of them are not on this list.  This is an overview of school events, so please visit your child’s class blog for event details that pertain to that grade or class.  Mrs. Nurenberg does an outstanding job updating the google school calendar to the right.  Please check this for event details as well.  Please note:  The recess games have taken the place of our All School Field Day.  Grades 4/5 will have their field day on June 2 at the BMS stadium.  PK and K teachers will also be holding their own very special field days the final week of school.  Details can be found on their blogs.

Mon 4/27  Day 3                                                                                                                                         Happy Monday!                                                                                                                                      Mileage Club Continues
Tues 4/28  Day 1
Recess Game Training-TTH K Classes
Music Therapy:  ECSE, CI in MPR 1:30-3:00 pm

Wed  4/29  Day 2
ART SHOW Georgetown Reception at Park (5:30-7:30 pm)

Thurs 4/30 Day 3
Young Author’s Day-Calvin College

Friday 5/1  Day 1
MW PreK/K
Poetry Academy:  1 pm with Mrs. Bast and some incredible 3rd Graders
HAPPY PINK FRIDAY!

We were featured as a “writing school” to check out by Peter Pappas, a national educational consultant. Mr. Pappas left a comment on our school blog about our fabulous student writers and also highlighted us on his blog as a school that publishes student writing!  This was exciting and flattering news to receive on the eve of our upcoming JUST WRITE celebration, May 4-8.

You can check our Mr. Pappa’s post at:  COPY PASTE