QUINCY UPDATE

FAMILY READING NIGHT

Save the date! On Tuesday, April 17th from 4:30-6:30 pm we will have a Quincy Family Reading Night! You won’t want to miss this event. The book fair will be open, we will have teachers reading books throughout the building, we will share read-aloud strategies to use at home, snacks, and bookmark-making. Join us for the whole two hours or just pop in for part of the time.

BOOK FAIR

Our Spring BOGO book fair will be April 16-20. Teachers will let you know what day and time your child’s class is shopping. You are welcome to join them! We will also have the book fair open until 4pm on Wednesday & Thursday for parents that wish to shop right after school. If you are able to volunteer please sign up through the link or email amckee@zps.org. Thank you!

TEACHER APPRECIATION DAY WILL BE CELEBRATED ON MAY 8TH AT QUINCY!

Here is a quick and easy way to tell a teacher “thank you” for the impact they have had on your child. Share a specific story, tell the teacher what you love about him/her, or write a simple thank you message. This link will stay open Friday, April 27th. We will share these messages with teachers.

Thank you so much for helping us celebrate the amazing Quincy teachers!

Click on this link: https://goo.gl/forms/kSTsHq9P9cUtH7RD2

EARTH DAY

We will celebrate Earth Day on Friday, April 20th. Students can wear green or t-shirts featuring our precious planet!

HEALTH DEPARTMENT HEARING/VISION SCREENINGS

Our local health department screens our KG-5th grade students hearing and vision. KG, 2nd and 4th grade students will have their hearing screened. 1st, 3rd and 5th will have their vision screened. This will happen in the next few weeks.

DAY OF THE YOUNG CHILD

 

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QUINCY UPDATE

Too Much Fun for March is Reading Month!

We have been having so much fun at the Q celebrating reading this month with our “Read to the Greatest Show” theme. We have been enjoying our special events and we are SO EXCITED for the staff vs. fifth grade basketball game and half-time show on Thursday. We will share the special event with you with a video, of course, and your students will come home talking about the great time they had, guaranteed!

“HAT DAY” AT QUINCY

We will have a “Hat Day” on Friday, April 13! Students can wear a hat and bring in a $1.00 donation for the Children’s Advocacy Center. The money will go toward child abuse prevention programs.

SPRING BREAK

Spring Break begins next week. Our last day of school is Thursday, March 29. We do not have school Friday or the following week. School resumes on Monday, April 9. Have a wonderful week! We will miss you and we are looking forward to our last months of the school year.

WHITECAPS READING CALENDARS

Make sure you are filling out your Whitecaps reading forms! Remember, you can earn 2 free Whitecaps tickets for April 28 at 4pm by reading all month. Completed calendars and pink ticket forms are due Monday, April 9th! If you wish to purchase additional tickets, payment is due April 9th as well.

QUINCY BOOK FAIR

Our Spring BOGO book fair will be April 16-20. Teachers will let you know what day and time your child’s class is shopping. You are welcome to join them! We will also have the book fair open until 4pm on Wednesday & Thursday for parents that wish to shop right after school. If you are able to volunteer please sign up through the link  or email amckee@zps.org.  Thank you!

Save the date! On Tuesday, April 17th from 4:30-6:30 pm we will have a Quincy Family Reading Night! You won’t want to miss this event. The book fair will be open, we will have teachers reading books throughout the building, we will share read-aloud strategies to use at home, snacks, and bookmark-making. Join us for the whole two hours or just pop in for part of the time.

KINDERGARTEN GRANDPARENTS DAY

Kindergarten Grandparents Day is Friday, April 20 at 1:45 pm. Because of limited parking, car pooling is encouraged. Another option to consider is parking at Helder Park and riding with other grandparents to Quincy to help with parking.

STUDENT PLACEMENT INFORMATION

An important responsibility of the school staff is to assign students to classes for the next year. Later this spring, the Quincy Elementary staff will meet to determine student placements for the 2018-19 school year. Our goal is to develop balanced classrooms of children and we take class size, gender, learning styles, achievement levels, interpersonal dynamics, and social needs of our students into consideration when doing so. Each classroom is a small community and we work hard to set up each child for success.

Parent input is a consideration in this process. If you wish to include unique information about your child’s needs that you would like us to consider in the placement process, please complete the form that will available in the office after Spring Break. We will review parent input carefully before making any placement decisions.

ATTENTION 5TH GRADERS

Did you know that Zeeland West has both a middle and a high school equestrian team? Students in 5th grade are also able to participate in the Middle School Equestrian Team. If you are interested in participating, or if you have questions about the team, please contact Elisa Machiele at (616.298.5039).

QUINCY UPDATE

SPRING FLING

Quincy’s Annual Spring Fling is Friday, March 16 from 5:30-7:30 pm. Please come and spend an evening of fun with us! Flyers to order tickets for the evening and for basket raffle were sent home last week. If you need another one, please contact the office.

Here is a sample of the amazing baskets that parents have donated!

MARCH IS READING MONTH

We are so excited for our March is Reading Month (MIRM) activities and theme! Throughout the month, we will have fun activities in school and students will be reading every night at home. Our MIRM theme this year is “Read Your Way to the Greatest Show on Earth”. We are even sending home clown noses so students can “pop their noses into a good book” all month long!

We kicked off the excitement of MIRM last Friday with a special assembly. Click here to see our video of the assembly! It was thrilling to give away two sets of four tickets to the 88th Annual Saladin Shrine Circus, generously donated by the DeltaPlex in Grand Rapids. Dakota Glennie and Bentley Haveman won four tickets each. If your family is interested in attending the circus this coming weekend, here is a link for you to purchase tickets: http://deltaplex.com/event/88th-annual-saladin-shrine-circus-thurs-700pm/

Beginning this week, students will bring home a sheet of “popcorn” each week. Please have your child read the designated number of minutes each night and then initial one line on the popcorn. The popcorn reading recording sheet will go home on Monday and is to be returned on Friday. After all four sections are filled in, your child will bring the popcorn to school to help his/her class “Read Your Way to the Greatest Show on Earth”. If your child does extra reading, you can send the popcorn in early and get a new one to bring home–some students might even fill two or more kernels a week!

We are going to have a fantastic culminating show on Thursday, March 29th, and classes will be earning different circus acts to add to the show by reading at home. The acts will be performed by none other than the Amazing Quincy Staff during half-time of our 5th grade vs. Staff basketball game. It will be “The Greatest Show on Earth”!

As an added incentive, the lower elementary (Y5-2) class and the upper elementary (3-5) class that reads the most will receive one of the best circus treats around–a bag of cotton candy! So…”pop” those noses into some good books and Happy March is Reading Month! We are giddy with excitement!

Special notes:
For our littlest friends, being “read to” also counts.
Minutes read for the popcorn can also count toward the WhiteCaps challenge.

 

 

QUINCY UPDATE

MUSIC NEWS

Please Visit the Music Website! www.zpsmakesmusic.weebly.com
The “We are Learning” Tab lists focus areas for first through fifth grade music classes each month. The site is updated at the end of each month. Follow along to see what’s happening in music class!

Third Grade Folk Dance Night! We are excited to teach a few fun dances to our special guests on Thursday, February 22nd! A note about this event was sent home the week of January 22. Information is also posted on the website above. See the “Special Music Events” page.

Please arrive by 6:20pm to allow time to stow coats and boots and make a name tag.

Bring comfortable shoes! We’ll begin in the gym at 6:30 pm. The evening will wrap up by 7:30 pm.

Fifth Grade will Travel to Hear the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra in February!

The GRSO generously offers an opportunity to area fifth graders to attend a free concert. We will travel on Tuesday, February 27th. Fifth grade students have been studying the instruments of the orchestra and learning about the composers and music to be featured on this concert. We are really looking forward to hearing these professional musicians perform. Thanks to the Michigan Youth Arts “Arts and Culture Trek Grant” for providing money for bussing to this event.

Please click this link to view the Quincy Elementary Music News for February.

SPRING FLING

Spring is just around the corner. The PTO is excited to host the annual Spring Fling on Friday, March 16th from 5:30-7:30 pm here at Quincy Elementary. Please keep an eye out for a letter coming home letting you know what theme your kids class raffle basket will be. We are always looking for extra help/volunteers for this event, so please let your kids teacher know.

DONUTS WITH DAD

It’s Donuts with Dad time for all our 1st and 2nd grade students. Quincy PTO will be serving free Donuts, coffee and milk in the cafeteria. The 1st grade Donuts with dad will be held Feb 26th from 8:00-8:30 and 2nd grade will be help Feb 27th 8:00-8:30.

WACKY WEDNESDAY SPIRIT DAY FEBRUARY 21

On Wednesday, February 21 our Spirit Day is Rainbow Day. Each grade level is wearing a specific color.  5th grade – green, 4th grade – blue,  3rd grade – purple,  2nd grade – yellow, 1st grade -orange, Kindergarten – red, Young Fives – lime.

MAKERSPACE

QUINCY UPDATE

WORLD READ ALOUD DAY

Let’s celebrate World Read Aloud Day by having a Facebook LIVE Read Aloud with Mrs. Apsey on Wednesday, January 31st at 7pm. Mrs. Apsey will share read aloud strategies for you to use at home. You can use the strategies when you celebrate World Read Aloud Day with your children on Thursday, February 1st.

PARENT SURVEY LINK

Parents, as part of our school improvement process we need feedback from you on a yearly basis to help us identify areas we can improve in as a school. We are hoping you will take a few minutes to fill this out. If you have multiple students, please fill out a separate one for each student so that we can more analyze the data by grade level. Students and staff are also surveyed so we have input from all three different groups. Thanks so much for your feedback!

https://goo.gl/forms/tVHopCEnUzndsLot2

ROLLER SKATING PARTY ON FEBRUARY 13!

Quincy Family Fun Alert! Our PTO has arranged an event for us. Please join Quincy families at Home Roller Rink located at 12521 James Street in Holland! Skate times are 6:00-8:00 pm. Cost is $5 and $1 for roller blades.

ZEELAND WEST HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL NIGHT

KINDERGARTEN/YOUNG FIVES REGISTRATION AND 

KINDERGARTEN/YOUNG FIVES INFORMATIONAL MEETINGS

 

 

QUINCY UPDATE

NOTE FROM MRS. APSEY

In many ways, this is the most important time of the year as we enter a several week stretch of solid learning! We are so excited about the progress students have made up to this point and cannot wait to see their achievement over the rest of the year.

Z-KIDS

If you are interested in Before and/or After School Z-KIDS, please be aware that registration for 18/19 school year begins February 1st. A $50 Non Refundable registration fee is due at time of registration. You can register online by going to the ZPS webpage, under About Us you will find Z-KIDS Childcare registration link. Or, simply click HERE.

MRS. DERUSHA ANDERLE, SPANISH TEACHER

Mrs. Anderle has began her maternity leave a little earlier than expected. Her substitute teacher is Sarah Vasquez (svasquez@zps.org) and she began January 8. She spent the first couple months of the school year as a long term substitute for Spanish immersion Kindergarten at New Groningen. She also has past experience working at Holland Public Schools & Zeeland Christian, and even taught English in Mexico for TEN years! She’s wonderful and she’ll be a great fit for our students.

We wish Mrs. Anderle all the best as she waits for the arrival of her child!

BOX TOPS COMPETITION WINNERS!

The class that collected the most Box Tops was Mrs. Dykstra’s 3rd grade class! They will be enjoying an ice cream sundae treat this week. We will have another competition this Spring, so keep looking at our updates for the announcement.

KINDERGARTEN/YOUNG FIVES REGISTRATION AND

KINDERGARTEN/YOUNG FIVES INFORMATIONAL MEETINGS

QUINCY UPDATE

OUR CHRISTMAS CARD TO YOU!

Quincy students and staff prepared a video Christmas card for our families. Please enjoy “All I want for Christmas is…Q!” We love you and wish you a wonderful holiday season with your loved ones.

FACEBOOK LIVE STORYTIME

Mrs. Apsey will host a Facebook LIVE Storytime for Quincy students again! This time we will read a New Year’s Resolution story just in time to head back to school after the holiday break. Please follow Mrs. Apsey on Facebook (@allysonapsey) and join her at 7:00pm on January 2nd.

LUNCHROOM/PLAYGROUND HELP

Are you looking for a fun way to make a little extra money while having fun with our terrific Quincy students? We have the perfect job for you! We are in need of a lunch/recess supervisor.

The hours are 11:45am-1:15pm, Monday through Friday. If you are interested, please email Allyson Apsey at aapsey@zps.org. Thank you!

THANK YOU FOR THE MITTEN DONATIONS!

Quincy families were generous as usual! We are so excited package up the mittens and gloves to send off to Hand2Hand. They will be distributed to ZPS students in need. Thank you so much!

PESKY CRITTERS

Please encourage your child not to share their hat with other students. The best defense against unwanted critters in your student’s hair is to check his/her head weekly. Head lice is a common problem during the colder weather in Michigan. Catching it early is our best defense against lice. The link below will lead you to a publication that the State of Michigan published about Head Lice.

What Families Can Do

MRS. JOHNSON’S MAKERSPACE CLUB FOR 3RD, 4TH & 5TH GRADERS!

Makerspace Mondays second session will be January 8-February 12. Sessions will be in the computer lab from 3:50-5:00 on Mondays. Please visit her Facebook page to sign up. There is a limit of 15 students. You can also sign up using this google form.  Information about the club is on the Buncee poster. 

LOST AND FOUND

Our lost and found is overflowing! Please stop by the school to check out the table that is holding the items. All items remaining will be donated to charity by January 12.

QUINCY UPDATE

MITTEN DRIVE

The Quincy Student Leadership Team needs your help. These fourth and fifth graders want to show the Quincy spirit during this holiday season by gathering new mittens and gloves to distribute to local students in need through Hand2Hand.

We are collecting new mittens and gloves through Thursday, December 21st!

WINTER WEAR

Now that colder weather is upon us, it sure can get cold on the Quincy playgrounds! Students benefit from time outside, even when it is chilly. Our students go outside for recess unless the temperature is below an actual 10 or the wind chill is less than -10. Please be sure to send your student with a warm winter coat, hat, boots and gloves. When snow arrives, snow pants will be needed. Avoid searching through the “Lost & Found” by remembering to label everything!

LIBRARY VOLUNTEER SIGN-UP

Our library needs YOU! Even if you just have an hour or two, we would love your help. Come have fun and keep our library nice and organized.

Please click to sign up and help in our library! 

ATTENTION SKIERS

Attention Skiers and snowboarders!!! Bittersweet Ski Area Discount Card registration forms for students and adults are available in the school office. Stop in and pick one up or call and have one sent home!! Don’t miss out on an opportunity to save money on downhill skiing and snowboarding at Bittersweet. Return the completed form(s) to the school office by December 13th. The cards will come home before Christmas vacation. Any questions please contact Lauri Bright, lbright@zps.org.

EXXON/MOBIL GRANT

Thank you to ExxonMobil for the $500 grant we received to support math/science programs at Quincy! A special thanks to our local service station, Venema Mobil Service on Washington in Zeeland for securing the grant on our behalf!

THANK YOU!

Thank you to Girl Scout Troop #4523 for a generous donation to Quincy Elementary! We are hoping to use the money to install a Buddy Bench on our playground.

Girl Scout Troop #4523

QUINCY UPDATE

QUINCY’S ALL SCHOOL ART PROJECT

Quincy students are SO PROUD of the sculpture in the rotunda!

The whole school participated in creating a beautiful sculpture that we just installed in Quincy’s rotunda. The sculpture is inspired by Dale Chulily’s world-famous blown-glass sculptures. Special thanks to the hard work of our art teacher Mrs. Holly Arens and a very special thank you to Mr. Arens for his work in building the sculpture base.

Check out this Facebook LIVE video featuring the sculpture and Mrs. Arens explaining it.

MRS. JOHNSON’S MAKERSPACE CLUB FOR 3RD, 4TH & 5TH GRADERS!

Makerspace Mondays will begin on November 20. Sessions will be in the computer lab from 3:50-5:00 on Mondays.  Please visit her Facebook page to sign up. There is a limit of 15 students.

BOX TOPS CLASSROOM COMPETITION

Collect your box tops for Quincy! We are collecting them by classroom until December 1. The classroom that collects the most will earn an ice cream party!

CHIX CRAFT MARKET

Support the Class of 2018 by shopping at the Chix Vendor and Craft Market this Saturday, November 11 from 9am-3pm at Zeeland East High School! There will be 107 vendors in the small gym and the cafeteria~something for everyone! Come shop!

BOOK FAIR

Our students LOVE to read and the Book Fair is one of their favorite times of the year! Our Book Fair is November 14 & 15. If you would like to volunteer please visit the scholastic link to sign up. Parent night is Tuesday, November 14 from 3:45-6:00PM.

WINTER WEAR

Now that colder weather is upon us, it sure can get cold on the Quincy playgrounds! Students benefit from time outside, even when it is chilly. Our students go outside for recess unless the temperature is below an actual 10 or the wind chill is less than -10. Please be sure to send your student with a warm winter coat, hat, boots and gloves. When snow arrives, snow pants will be needed. Avoid searching through the “Lost & Found” by remembering to label everything!

BITTERSWEET SKI CARDS

Attention skiers and snowboarders! Bittersweet Ski Area Discount Card registration forms for students and adults are available in the school office. Stop in and pick one up or call and have one sent home. Don’t miss out on an opportunity to save money on downhill skiing and snowboarding at Bittersweet. The cards will come home before Christmas vacation. Any questions please contact Lauri Bright, lbright@zps.org.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

We hope you have a safe and wonderful break with your family during the Thanksgiving holiday November 22-24!

Quincy Update

DUX PRIDE

We had a great week at the Q! We concluded our week by showing our DUX pride! Go DUX!

MUSIC NEWS

Third grade families – PLEASE SAVE THE DATE!

Thursday, February, 22, 2018, 6:30 pm at Quincy Elementary

This year’s music event will be a folk dance festival for Quincy’s third grade students and a special guest. We will beat the winter blues by dancing the night away! Students will spend the evening teaching their guest the steps to our favorite folk dances. More information will come home with third grade students in January.

Planning ahead for Middle School Band

Thinking ahead to middle school percussion? If so, please know that students need to have two solid years of piano instruction before auditioning for middle school percussion at the end of fifth grade. For all other band or orchestra instruments, no other prior experience is necessary. Questions? Contact Mrs. Bier at nbier@zps.org

TECHNOLOGY NEWS!

Mrs. Johnson has started a Technology Facebook page for parents who are interested to see the work classes do digitally. The address is https://www.facebook.com/LoggedinWithMrsJohnson/

BOOK FAIR

Mark your calendars! Our book fair is November 13-16. Watch for an email next week to sign up to volunteer.

PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES

Parent/Teacher conferences are November 7, 8 & 9.  The link to sign up is on our website and here!  Once you register your email address you will be sent an email to sign up for the conference time that works best for you.

You may call the office (616-748-4700) if you are unable to schedule your conference online.

For the benefit of your child, if they are part of more than one household, we ask that you schedule only one conference together.

HALLOWEEN PARADE FOR 1ST-5TH GRADE

Our parade will be on Tuesday, October 31 at 2:15 pm. We are hoping to have the parade outside if weather allows. Parents will stand along the upper elementary playground and the bus loop. If it is raining, we will have the parade indoors and parents can watch either in the multipurpose room or the gym. Please note that kindergarten or Young Fives will not participate in the parade.

Individual classrooms may be planning a few events in the afternoon. The events are left to the discretion of the classroom teacher. Teachers are encouraged to engage in some fun, traditional types of games and activities.

Our costume parade will begin at 2:15 p.m. Students are not required to wear a costume for the parade. We ask that costumes not be worn during the morning so that classroom teachers are able to maintain as normal a morning as possible.

Let’s get creative! Self-created costumes are encouraged.

Things to avoid:

• Any type of aerosol containers (silly string, hair coloring, etc.) or weapon type items
• No scary costumes, bloody, gory, devilish or monster-type of costume.

Any parents who prefer that their children do not participate in any of these celebrations may have their child/ren excused from the activities or take them home for the afternoon. We will make the library available in the afternoon for quiet activities or reading.

CLOTHING NEEDED 

Our clothing closet for occasional student accidents is very low. The items most needed are sweatpants for both boys and girls and leggings for girls in sizes small, medium, large and XL. If you have extras of these laying around the house that you would like to donate, we would love to accept them! Thank you so much!

READING MARATHON WINNERS

Thank you again for your tremendous support of our Reading Marathon! Our top three money earners for the Reading Marathon are:

1. Brailee Bursely
2. Kaleb German
3. Adrianna Lacey

The top earning classes were Mr. Goers’ class and Mrs. Lubben’s class!