The evening was a great success as a result of the many people who came together! Because of all your help, the ENCHANTED EVENING was a fantastic time for fathers and daughters to spend time together. 
If you would like to read the minutes from the most recent Hudsonville Public School’s Board of Education Meeting, click the link below.
February Summary
When I think of Valentine’s day I think of cards, flowers, chocolate and candy hearts…and of course elementary school parties! Did you know that nearly 150 million cards are exchanged each Valentine’s Day? Or that more than 40,000 American are employed at chocolate companies? (Source: HISTORY.COM)
Did you know that there are many different theories about the beginnings of the Valentine’s day celebrations in the United States and other parts of the world? The History Channel website is my go to source for all things historical and they have an excellent post about this holiday origins.
If you attend your child’s Valentine Party today, be sure to check out the creative
mailboxes designed by each child to hold those special cards. Also, while walking through the hallways, I would like to invite you to take time to enjoy the art work that is posted all about the school. Parent volunteers assist Mrs. Brouwer with this important work of showcasing student artwork throughout the year. The work your young artists create in art class is absolutely top notch.
Thank you for ALL you do to support the work we do at school in learning (fine arts and academics) and social/emotional growth (playing, socializing and collaborating together). We would be the school we are without outstanding parents like you.
Below is my Valentine’s card to all of you created with red bell peppers. I hope you have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!
We begin the week with Valentine’s Day and end with Winter Break! Squeezed in between we have Marco’s Pizza Night and Donut Delivery Day. Could the week get any better than this?
Here is a snapshot of the events for the week ahead.
Remember: No School on Friday (Teacher Record’s Day) and Monday (Winter Break Day for teachers and students).
Mrs. Reagan
你知道，我们的三年级学生一讲两种语言？范登堡夫人莉娅在弗洛里的阶级，她是从去年春天在中国孤儿院通过。
因为在2010年3月抵达利亚生活已经改变了最引人注目和令人惊讶的方式。她已经在与数百名儿童和她收养家庭在生活中杰尼森美好的家园建设生活。利亚已经从一种语言来说，汉语说英语和汉语。她已经调整到新的美食，度假的，日常工作，乘坐一辆汽车，校车学校，大括号，和这么多，我不能捕捉到这个博客帖子。
一天，她的学校在英国的家庭生活。我经常看利亚，而她学习，并认为她必须回家精疲力竭。我说一种语言。之一。我也尝试学习其他语言，但是没有成功….我不得不选择退出我的研究。
利亚已别无选择。为了生存，我们的英语世界，她必须学习我们的语言。利亚都取得了惊人的进展，使今年以来！
为了展示她的学习，她解释说，农历新年对她的同班同学。这个假期1月6日发生在地方，有许多顺应春节沿丰富的传统欢迎。利亚解释她的同学们，这是兔子的一年。中国人民庆祝的特殊食物，庆典和装饰这个节日。
利亚做了非常出色！我们学到尽可能多的她，因为她离我们学习。
How did you do with reading about the Chinese New Year in Chinese? Would you be willing to live in China for 10 months with the goal of learning how to read and speak Chinese so that you could work successfully in school, at your job, grocery shop and more? It makes my brain hurt to think about this.
The Chinese text tells this story in our language, English. Read on:
Did you know that one of our third grade students speaks two languages? Leah Vandenberg is in Mrs. Flory’s class and she was adopted from an orphanage in China last spring.
Since arriving on May 31, 2010, Leah life has changed in the most dramatic and amazing ways. She has gone to living in a building with hundreds of children to a living with her adoptive family in a wonderful home in Jenison. Leah has gone from speaking one language, Chinese to speaking English and Chinese. She has adjusted to new cuisine, holiday’s, daily routines, school, riding in a car and school bus, braces, and so much more I can’t capture in this blog post.
Her school day and home life is in English. I often watch Leah while she is learning and think that she must go home exhausted. I speak ONE language. ONE. I’ve attempted to learn other languages, but not successfully….and I had the choice to quit my studies.
Leah has no choice. In order to survive in our English speaking world, she must learn our language. Leah has made amazing progress so far this year!
To showcase her learning, she explained the Chinese New Year to her classmates. This holiday took place on January 22 and there are many rich traditions that go along with the welcoming of the Chinese New Year. Leah explained to her classmates that this is year of the rabbit. The Chinese people celebrate this holiday with special foods, celebrations, and decorations.
Leah did a wonderful job! We learn as much from her as she learns from us. She ended her talk by showing her classmates how to make Chinese lanterns! Part of the Chinese tradition is to launch lit lanterns at night during a special lantern festival. This collage below is a collection of the best parts of her presentation.
Mrs. VanderPloeg, one of our ECSE teachers, had a baby girl in January. Briana is beautiful and enjoying her time at home with her two older brothers. Here are photos of the happy mom and baby!
If you have been following the 2010-11 Georgetown Staff babies, in December we welcomed Madisson Thurkettle. We are anticipating the arrival of Mrs. Boes’ baby in late February, early March and Mrs. Iwema’s baby in June!
HAPPY FRIDAY GEORGETOWN PARENTS! 
NEWS FROM THE OFFICE….. Well we are that much closer to our wonderful winter break!! Hopefully your students told you about the really cool math assembly that we had here at Georgetown on Thursday. I think the students really liked this!
We want to inform the parents of Georgetown on how our OUTDOOR recess policy works. We know that many of you have been watching the weather lately and keeping track of the air and windchill temperatures. We want you to rest at ease that we do check the air AND windchill temperatures in the morning before school AND at recess times. We are able to get the ACTUAL temperature and the windchill factor right HERE at Georgetown. We have a “Weatherbug” device attached to the school and we log into this and it gives us the temperature and windchill temperature. The RULE we use here at school is that IF the AIR temperature OR the WINDCHILL is BELOW ZERO we let them in before school and will keep them in at recess time. Thanks for understanding this policy and remember the students DO NEED to get out and get some fresh air and be able to run around, so therefor, make sure they are prepared for outside recess! Thank you! : )
KINDERGARTEN INFO……. Kindergarten Round-Up will be held on Tuesday, March 8 at 7pm. Please feel free to click the following links for the k registration and the health appraisal.
You may download this and fill them out and return them to Georgetown or you may stop in the office starting on Monday, January 24 to pick these up. We DO ask however, that when dropping off the filled out registrations that you bring in the child’s original birth certificate. If we do not receive the birth certificate along with the registration your kindergarten student will not be added to a classlist until we receive the birth certificate.
5th Grade News……. We just wanted to inform you of some important information that was passed along from the Middle Schools. MARCH 24 our 5th grade students get to visit the Middle School for a tour, they will hear music performances from the 6th grade band/choir/orchestra and they will get to have lunch there. (Most of the students think this is the BEST part!). APRIL 12 will be instrument fittings for all 5th graders here at Georgetown in the afternoon. (All students have the opportunity to try out different instruments to see what might work for them). APRIL 20 (Baldwin Middle) and APRIL 21 (Riley Middle) will be Parent Informational Meetings at the Middle Schools. The meetings are IDENTICAL so you may attend either meeting.
PTC NEWS…… Just a quick note about one of our families here at school. Probably most of you have received something through School Messenger or read about this on the Georgetown Blog. The Grooms/DeRouin home caught fire last Friday afternoon. We are accepting monetary donations for our family here at school and you may send this to school in an envelope marked “Family Donation”. We will be collecting these in the office until Monday, February 28.
BOX TOP INFO……. Our next Box Top competition ends February 17th! The classroom from each wing with the most Box Tops will win a movie afternoon with a special Box Tops product snack! Earn 70 bonus Box Tops when you purchase 10 Box Tops products at Meijer through February 9th! As with all Box Tops, they must be submitted before their expiration date, so please get them turned in asap! Shop at the Box Tops Marketplace to earn even more money for Georgetown, visit www.btfe.com and sign up! Georgetown also wants your Campbell’s labels and Spartan UPC codes!
CLASSROOM BASKETS…… We are asking for everyone’s help with this! This is a great way to help raise money for Georgetown and it is fun for the students also! Your student’s teacher will be notifying you of the theme they have selected for their classroom basket. The PTC is asking for the students to make a donation to their classroom basket by FEBRUARY 17. The raffle tickets for these baskets will be on sale during lunch hours and conference times from February 28 through March 2. The drawing will be held for the baskets on Thursday, March 3. If you have any questions, or would be interested in helping to assemble the baskets and or sell raffle tickets, please contact Staci Nieboer at jns92@prodigy.net or at 669-1923.
SPRING BOOK FAIR…….. The PTC is looking for a Book Fair C0 Chair. The spring book fair will be held the week of March 14 through 18. This is a wonderful experience for the students here at Georgetown, shopping at the book fair. If this is something that you think you might be interested in, please contact Cindy Roerig at 669-1285 or via email at cmroerig@yahoo.com .
COMMUNITY ED NEWS…….. We have two new activities listed this week for Community Ed. Please read the following fliers in regards to the new activities. Boys Wrestling Clinic Wrestform2011 and Cooking For Kids Cooking2011 . Feel free to contact Community Ed directly at 669-7747, ext #3 with any questions you may have. You may also register online by visiting http://commed01.hudsonville.k12.mi.us/Default.aspx .
COMMUNITY NEWS……… Hudsonville Little League Registration Information. Registration info is at www.hudsonvillelittleleague.com for AGES 4-18. We also have a Challenger Division for disadvantaged kids.
Now Enrolling for Hudsonville Public School – Preschool, Kindergarten Care, Before and After School Care, and Summer Programs
Registration information can be found at the Hudsonville Public School website, www.hudsonville.k12.mi.us under Early Childhood Programs or call 616-797-0842.
Free 4 year old Preschool (child must turn four by Dec. 1, 2011)
GSRP (Great Start Readiness Preschool) is a FREE state-funded preschool program for Hudsonville four year olds who meet certain criteria. This program allows children who qualify an opportunity to receive a high-quality preschool experience who may not otherwise have the chance. Parent/Guardian’s must provide transportation to and from the program. Children meeting at least two of the 25 criteria listed on the application can qualify.
Some examples of the criteria include: household income, single parent, unemployed parent, and many others.
The Hudsonville Public Schools’ GSRP program has openings as long as state budget allocations allow. Families who show the greatest need will be enrolled first. Registration begins January 10, 2011. Registration information can be found at the Hudsonville Public School website, www.hudsonville.k12.mi.us under Early Childhood Programs or call 616-797-0842.
UPCOMING EVENTS: 
2/12 Father/Daughter Evening 6p to 8p
2/14 Valentine’s Parties
2/16 Marco’s Pizza Night
2/18 AND 2/21 NO SCHOOL……..WINTER BREAK : )
2/25 M/W Kindergarten
2/28 thru 3/2 Parent teacher conferences
Have a great day,
Mrs. Nurenberg : )
Dear Georgetown Families:
As many of you are aware, one of our own, The Grooms/DeRouin family experienced a tragedy. Their home was badly damaged by a fire on Friday. Thankfully, everyone is safe.
Many of you have expressed a desire to help the Grooms/DeRouin family. They are a wonderful family, with three children and a baby due anyday!!! : )
The Georgetown PTC will be accepting monetary donations. If you would like to contribute, please send either cash or check (payable to: Georgetown PTC) in an envelope marked: “Family Donation”.
Any amount will be more than welcome! We are asking for the donations to be in the office by Monday, February 28th in hopes of the family to receive it soon for their needs.
We will inform everyone of the final dollar amount raised for our family.
Thank you, as always for your continued support of our school and community.
Georgetown PTC
