Dear Parents, December is flying by and we're busy here at school trying to wrap up our activities for the 2nd quarter. I know that each family is busy with holiday activities and preparations as well. For that reason, I will not assign homework the last week of school except for reading and recording it on the December reading log. This is a great time to share holiday stories and prepare to keep the habit of reading going during our holiday break. Please help me to maintain as much routine as possible during this last week. We will be doing end of the quarter benchmark assessments on Monday and Tuesday. Remind your student of the need to "show what they know" by giving thier personal best effort on these assessments. These assessments will be shared at our upcoming conference Jan. 25-29. Welcome to Julius W. and his family. We're glad that you have joined our class and know that you will love being a part of the Sope Creek family! Congratualtions to our November reading winners--Aidan (1,132 minutes!) and Natalie ( 1,005 minutes!). Way to go! Thanks to the Childs family for providing gift cards as reading prizes! I appreciate all the help provided by our classroom volunteers, story parents, and party organizers. The Hedgehogs love the activities which you help plan and provide. Thanks for all you do! Our class party will be on Thursday after lunch and we look forward to the in- school field trip, Force, of Course on Friday. Please remember to send in donations for our December service project by Thursday. The little children at Our House will all have happier days because of your thoughtfulness and generousity. Some reminders: On Monday Dec.14 and Tuesday Dec. 15, we will be collecting money for the traditional "love gift" for the Sope Creek custodians and lunch room personnel (a total of 15 people). This is our opportunity to show our thanks for the many special things they do to make Sope Creek a better place for our children. Donations will be collected as the children enter the cafeteria on both days. Tuesday Dec. 15 Box Tops Due This is a great way to support our school one dime at a time. As a reminder, please tape or glue the box tops to a sheet of paper (10 box tops per sheet). Be sure to include your child's name and his/her teacher's name. Turn in everything to the Box Top basket in the front office, or in the bins located throughout the school. Please contact Ashley Hill, ashleybhill@comcast.net, or Cindy Davis, cindyadavis@bellsouth.net, with any questions. Wednesday Dec. 16 Join us 7:20am in the Media Center for Birthday Book Club. Questions? Please contact Joy Nissley, joyniss@bellsouth.net, or Jerry Shockley, jerry@shockleynet.com. Mark your calendars - the first annual Sope Creek International Festival will be held in January. The Diversity & Inclusion Committee is recruiting volunteers to help with this festival. Follow the link below to find out about our International Festival volunteer opportunities and let us know how you'd like to contribute! Please contact Wendy Stewart, wendywstewart@gmail.com, or Megan Barr, meganbarr@hotmail.com with any questions. http://www.eSurveysPro.com/Survey.aspx?id=9e739b90-478d-426a-9a09- 5f9ed314e85e **Please use the template for Transportation Changes or Absence/Tardy Excuses posted on the front page of the Sope Creek Blog. Check http://sopecreeklibrary.typepad.com/blogs and http://sopecreeklibrary.typepad.com/pta often for the most current information or detailed information about school happenings! Happy Holidays! Karen