Principal's Bulletin

Dear Families,

The Bulletin is being shared early this week as we prepare to head out into Spring Break.

TEST TO RETURN: Please remember ALL students are required to test to return before returning to school from break. Please check your student's backpack for the test kit to use on Monday, April 18 for return to school on Tuesday, April 19. Please upload your results on the Reopen Strong Website

https://dcpsreopenstrong.com/testing/

Please submit your ENROLLMENT forms before heading out for Spring Break. If your child is not returning to Ross, please me know.

We look forward to seeing you at Bingo tonight and to welcoming families of Grades 2-5 students into classes at 9:00am on Friday, April 8 for our Learning Celebration.

I hope everyone has a safe and healthy Spring break!

Warm Regards,

Holly Searl, Principal

holly.searl@k12.dc.gov

April is National Poetry and School Library month and to celebrate students will be participating in a variety of activities. They will be authoring poems about cherry blossoms and creating cherry blossom art to accompany their written pieces. The creations will be displayed on the main bulletin board coming up to the first floor. I will also submit haikus on behalf of those students who wish to submit their piece to the DCPL Golden Haiku Contest. Read more about it here: https://dclibrary.libnet.info/event/6346750

Our new library is a favorite among many students and April is the month they will have the chance to let their feelings be known. I will be taking videos of kids talking about the library and posting them on my Instagram page www.instagram/ljuriga_library. Follow me to see photos of what is happening daily in the library.

Library Visiting Hours: The library is open to ALL on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 8:15-8:40. Parents are welcome to visit and check books out too.

LIVE Bedtime Story with Mrs. Juriga on Tuesday, April 26th at 7:00. If you show me some love by showing up, it could become a monthly tradition! I will share a link and the title of the night’s story closer to the date.

The Ross Auction is right around the corner! I have offered Cooking with Cats (view my cats on my Library page on the NEW Ross website found here: rosselementary.org). There will also be the chance to have Waffles in the Library with Principal Searl and myself! Finally, my husband is baking TWO loaves of his rosemary sourdough bread-YUM!

District of Columbia Public Library has a program that allows a parent to sign your child up to receive a free book each month until they reach the age of eight. Click on the link to find out how you can start or add to your child’s home library. https://www.dclibrary.org/beyondthebook. You can also visit our West End Library where our neighbor librarian, Miss Julie works as the children’s librarian. She will be back at Ross for another monthly visit, this time to celebrate poetry. If you drop by West End, be sure to stop by her desk to say hello.

Our Battle of the Books teams (grades 4 & 5) will begin meeting on April 7 during their recess and lunch times. There are two teams- one fourth grade and one fifth grade. They will all read a total of seven books in preparation for a trivia style online competition in June.

PreK: Students continue to explore their voices and the musical concepts of soft and loud. They are practicing keeping a steady beat and reading rhythms using iconic notation.

K/1: Students have developed solid skills in reading and decoding simple rhythms consisting quarter notes, eighth notes, and quarter rests. They will continue to apply this knowledge in creating their own rhythm patterns using different instruments. They will also explore instrument timbre and the science of sound in tandem with their STEM unit.

2nd: Students are putting the finishing touches on their opera story based on "Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters," facilitated by Kennedy Center artist Ms. Mary. Over the next few weeks, they will be rehearsing and memorizing the opera. Students are encouraged to practice at home using the provided libretto and audio practice files. Mark your calendars for our Opera Performance on May 4. Details coming soon!

3rd: Students are hard at work on their opera story based on "Strega Nona," facilitated by Kennedy Center artist Ms. Mary. The libretto and staging are complete, and the next few weeks will be spent running and memorizing the show. Students are encouraged to practice at home using the provided libretto and audio practice files. Mark your calendars for our Opera Performance on May 4. Details coming soon!

4th and 5th: Students will continue their collaboration with Kennedy Center artist Ms. Imani. Having explored the roots of jazz and blues, students will engage in a writer's workshop to develop their own blues song. The process will include formulating ideas, drafting, and revising--all while adhering to the criteria for an authentic blues composition.

PK4: Students will practice describing object by size “grande” vs “pequeño”. Students will continue to reinforce class commands in the target language (TL)

K1 · Students will learn about basic emotions in Spanish. Students will recognize and name the emotions; students will practice their reading/writing skills while naming each emotion in Spanish.

2nd grade · Students will be learning the basic sentence structure in Spanish. With the help of the teacher, students will write down simple sentences in Spanish. Student will recognize the parts of a simple sentence in Spanish while writing letters to their pen pals in Seaton ES.

3rd grade · After completing their oral presentations, students will continue to learn about different Mesoamerica civilizations. Students will get to appreciate how organized these civilizations were and their cultural legacy in Latin American countries.

4th grade · Students will work on completing their “Cambio Climatico” projects. Students will film a video talking about a climate change issue in Latin America. Students will act as experts in the video and will provide the information in Spanish.

5th grade · Students will get to learn about gender in Latin America. Students will be introduce to the topic by learning the story of “Las cholitas escaladoras” a group of female climbers that overcome many challenges in order to climb “El alto”, o

Students have been working on the Enchanted City Unit. In this unit, students are learning about city planning as well as architecture. For their project, students are working individually or as team to use recycled materials to create a model building/space in the categories of residential, commercial, institutional, public space/park, or industrial. Some buildings will be brought to the Hirshhorn Musuem for a culminating city-wide event called "Build Day" at the end of April. More information will be coming out soon pertaining to this event.

Pre K 4- Students have started their soccer dribbling Unit where they will learn how different parts of the foot will allow them to stay in control while moving the soccer ball around the field.

K/1 PE- Students are learning how to dribble a ball with their hands using the correct critical elements.

K/1 Health- Students will have a three lesson unit on home and school safety

2nd Grade PE- Students are participating in their fitness unit. They are identifying the signs and symptoms of moderate to vigorous exercise as well as figuring out what life-long activities they enjoy doing when they are not in school.

2nd Grade Health- Students are beginning their nutrition unit. They will be learning about the different food groups and the vitamins and nutrients they can obtain by eating a healthy diet. We will also go over what these vitamins and nutrients do for the body.

3rd Grade PE- Students are engaged in their fitness unit. We are learning about the 5 fitness components and participating in activities that strengthen one or more of the components

3rd Grade Health- Students are learning about the systems of the body and the affect that exercise has on each system.

4th Grade PE- Students will be starting their striking unit. They will learn how to strike objects with different manipulatives while playing a variety of different striking games

4th Grade Health- Students are starting their nutrition unit where they will learn about nutrients and vitamins and how they help the bodies growth and development. They will also learn about eating locally grown foods, as well as composting and recycling.

5th PE- Students will be starting their striking unit. They will learn how to strike objects with different manipulatives while playing a variety of different striking games

5th Grade Health- Students are about to complete their 3 Rs Health Unit.

April is School Library Month and Poetry Month

April 7: BINGO night, 6:00pm at Foundry United Methodist Church

Friday, April 8: Learning Celebration for Grades 2-5, 9:00am (in your child's classroom)

April 11-18: Spring Break

Tuesday, April 19: Return to school from Spring Break (Test to Return for ALL students)

Friday, April 22: Learning Celebration for PK4 and K-1, 9:00am (in your child's classroom)

Saturday, April 23: Enrollment Saturday and Open House 9:00am-noon;

14th Annual Ross Auction

Friday, April 29: Parent Meeting (Grades 3-5) for PARCC Testing; 8:00am in Room 204

April 30-May 2: Mother's/Father's Day Book Sale for Library

May 2-6: Staff Appreciation Week

Saturday, May 21: DC United Soccer Game with Ross families, 4:00pm, details forthcoming from PTA

Friday, June 3: Field Day!

Wednesday, June 22: 5th Grade Promotion, 10:00am at Sumner School

Friday, June 24: Last Day of School for Students

Email: holly.searl@k12.dc.gov
Website: http://rosselementary.org/
Location: 1730 R Street Northwest, Washington, DC, USA
Phone: (206)-673-7200
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RossElementarySchool/
Twitter: @rossesdc