4-2-17
Good afternoon!
I hope everyone is doing well! It is hard to believe that we are in April...Wow, where does time go? I am sure you are familiar with the saying: "time flies when you are having fun!" There is no doubt that among all of the learning that occurs at Columbia Elementary, we are also having lots of fun. As the next 6.5 weeks of school are going to pass quickly, I am going to attempt to keep you as current as possible with all of the events and activities that have and will occur. This will allow you to be more prepared.
Please enjoy your weekly updates below:
Third Nine Weeks Awards Assemblies:
On Monday, we really enjoyed highlighting the achievements of our students for the Third Nine Weeks. As we are proud of each of these students, we are counting on each of them to finish the school year strong.
Please enjoy the pictures below:
MAJOR NEWS UPDATE:
For many years at Columbia Elementary it has been a desire to improve our playground facilities for both our students and community. After a lot of discussion over the years, this year The Columbia Elementary PTO & Mount Vernon City School District together have lead the charge to focus in on these efforts. It was agreed upon to take these desires and put them into a focused action plan.
The goals of this action plan have been simple this year for The Columbia Elementary PTO and Mount Vernon City School District: With the focus on integrating Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math better into our K-5 classrooms, we focused on building an Outdoor Learning Pavilion for our students to use during the school day. This pavilion would also be available for our community and visitors of Ariel Foundation Park to use after hours having quality family time together. This pavilion would be constructed by Mr. Logan Kaufman (MVMS 8th Grade) and his crew for his Eagle Scout Project. In addition, our second goal has been to improve our playground facilities for our students, the community, and the families that visit The Ariel Foundation Park. While we began this asserted focus at the beginning of the 2016-17 school year, we wanted to complete these goals as soon as possible for everyone involved. The estimated cost of constructing an Outdoor Learning Pavilion and our planned Phase I improvements to our playground would be $75,000.
With the estimated cost of our playground improvements (Phase I) and an Outdoor Learning Pavilion being $75,000, our school district and PTO focused on fundraising and grant writing during this school year. It gives me great pleasure to announce our current status towards attaining this $75,000: 1) Our PTO has raised $13,000 through fundraising, donations, and Awarding of The Energy Cooperative Grant. 2) The Knox County and Mount Vernon Community Foundation has awarded Columbia Elementary a Grant of $30,000 3) The Ariel Foundation has approved Columbia Elementary a Grant of $32,000. With great gratitude and humbleness of this type of generosity, we are pleased to announce we will be constructing an Outdoor Learning Pavilion and installing Phase I of our Playground Renovations during the Summer of 2017.
As we continue throughout this process, we are continuing efforts to add to our current playground renovations by adding more playground equipment to these plans. Playground equipment is not cheap and it is very easy to spend $100,000 quickly. With this being said we are continuing a few efforts to complete a Phase II of these Playground Renovation Efforts: 1) Current PTO Flower Sale 2) McTeacher Night on April 4th at Newark Road McDonald’s Location (5-7pm) 3) Grant Writing, Accepting Donations, and Accepting Discounts to Building Supplies for Pavilion 4) Annual Ariel Foundation and Columbia Elementary PTO 5K on May 19th. Funds raised by these efforts from The Columbia Elementary PTO and/or Columbia Elementary will be directed to additional playground equipment for our students, community, and visitors of The Ariel Foundation Park.
The words “thank you” cannot truly represent the amount of appreciation that the students, staff, parents, and I have for the number of individuals that have contributed to building an Outdoor Learning Pavilion and renovating our outdated playground at Columbia Elementary: 1) Foundations like The Ariel Foundation and The Knox County and Mount Vernon Community Foundation have been great partners in education for the Mount Vernon City School District. I would misspeak by not mentioning that these foundations have made great efforts to improve the lives of all students, not just the students at Columbia Elementary (i.e. Fast ForWord Reading Intervention, MVCSD 5th Grade Camp, 8th Grade Washington D.C. Trip, and etc). I have been blessed to be a part of these overall great efforts by these foundations. 2) The Energy Cooperative has also been a great partner to Columbia Elementary. The Energy Cooperative continues to add value to the lives of Columbia Elementary Students through multiple grants being awarded to our school for both The Outdoor Learning Pavilion and other instructional efforts. 3) The parents and other family members of Columbia Elementary students continue to support our focused fundraising efforts for improving the lives of our students. 4) Students and former students of Columbia Elementary like Mr. Logan Kaufman for giving their input and guidance on these efforts. 5) Many other individuals not directly mentioned above.
The coordination of these efforts for our students and community exemplify the outstanding dedication and focus of our community for our students and the children of Mount Vernon. As a result of these efforts, we are humbled and grateful.
Blueprints of The Columbia Elementary Outdoor Learning Pavilion
Future Phase I Development of The Columbia Elementary Playground:
Becoming a Columbia Tiger Night:
I want to extend our appreciation for the nearly 50 people that came to Columbia Elementary this past Monday night for our first ever, Becoming a Columbia Tiger Night. This night was a product of our PTO conversations to reach out to parents and students in Knox and surrounding counties. Please know that if you attended this evening and continue to have questions or concerns, you may contact me at anytime in person, via e-mail (mdill@mvcsd.us), or contact me at 1-740-393-5975.
Please feel free to enjoy and share our Updated Columbia Elementary Experience Video below:
McTeacher Night This Tuesday Night-4/4 from 5-7pm
(111 Newark Road Location-Closest to School)
20% of Sales Go To MORE PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT
You Are Invited:
Donuts with Parents-This Friday-4/7 at 8:30am
Be sure to bring your student of Columbia Elementary to our Semi-Annual Donuts with Parents Event this Friday morning at 8:30am. We are excited to have your fellowship on this morning with our students. Donuts and drinks are FREE! Hope to see you there!
IMPORTANT DATES:
4/3-PTO Meeting-6pm in Library
4/4-McTeacher Night (Newark RD)-5-7pm
4/6-All Flower Orders Due
4/7-Donuts with Parents-8:30am in Gym-Please us help serve our parents.
4/7-Student of the Month Pizza Party with Matt
4/10-4/17-Spring Break
4/18-Students Return from Spring Break
4/18-Loving Solutions Parent Class begins at Columbia (for 10 wks every Tuesday)@6:30pm
4/20-Senior Citizen Luncheon at MVHS
4/24-”Hidden In Plain Sight” Meeting for Parents-6:30-7:30pm in Gym/Library/Classroom (depending on numbers)
4/26/17-PTO Flower Delivery-Volunteers Needed
4/28--Interims Go Home
4/28-5th Grade going to HS/MS Band Concert @12:30ish
5/5-2nd Grade Field Trip
5/8-5/10-5th Grade Camp
5/9-4th Grade AG Day
5/12-Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast-Library @8am
5/18-Field Day (AM) and Water Day (PM)
5/19-Columbia Senior Lunch and Clap Out-11ish? TBA
5/22-KDG Registration at Columbia Elementary by Appointment
5/24-Last Day-AM - Last Nine Weeks Awards and 5th Grade Graduation
Assemblies
5/24-2 Hour Early Dismissal
5/30-Blood Drive at Columbia Elementary by Appointment
Columbia Elementary State Testing Dates 2016-17Thank you for allowing us to serve your children! Tiger Up!
Matt
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