Candidate Bios are due by 2/1/08 Elysian Charter School Newsletter
January 28, 2008
Vol. 3, Issue 20
www.ecsnj.org
Board of Trustees Election – Nominations accepted thru Monday!
Board Election Update!
Thank you to everyone who has stepped up to run for the Board of Trustees. The Slate of candidates will be presented to the current Board at tonight’s Board meeting.
Timeline for Candidates:
Candidate Bios are due by 2/1/08
Ballots mailed on 2/15/08
Candidates meet the Staff: Friday 3/7/08 11:00am-4:00 pm
Meet the Candidates, PTSO Mtg: Tuesday 3/11/08
Annual Meeting 3/18/08 6:00 pm
Mardi Gras Breaks Records
We asked and you delivered. Thank you to the entire Elysian community for supporting our annual Mardi Gras Fundraising Dinner and Auction with such
enthusiasm. The event was another record breaker, raising over $30,000 for the
Elysian scholarships, technology/library resources and facilities fund.
We had all the right fixin’s for a party. Great music, festive food and drink and a crowd that just would not stop dancing to the music provided by John Bauers and his Straight Ahead Mardi Gras Band. We also had big winners --Lois Goldman, Anthony Dimande, Bruce Prussack, Lynne Shapiro, and Tracy Saunders in the paper bag auctions. And, then there were the Bauers and Hartshorn families who won the I-Pods in the mystery bags and Tom, the friend of the Muscimici family, who was crowned King of Mardi Gras 2008 after finding the baby in the cupcake. And, of course all the other winners who walked away with wonderful merchandise from the silent auction.
This event was a shinning example of how Elysian families
come together to make a difference for our children and teachers.
And, there are just so many people we need to thank. So we will begin this week
by thanking our “Friends of Elysian” who donated their time to put on the event
itself and managed the many logistics of the party. Next week we will run a
complete list of our event and auction sponsors and donors.
Please join us in a big Elysian thanks to...
· Donna Olah-Reiken for the sell-out job she did with ticket sales.
· Frances Jennings for her tremendous fundraising abilities and for bringing in so many new sponsors and donations
· John Bauers, Owen Yost and all the band members for music and lively atmosphere.
· Wendy Setzer and Lyn Dexheimer for helping prepare the hall on Friday night
· Dave Furtzaig, Dan Sexton, Lyn Dexheimer, Todd Leong and the Stevens TKE fraternity brothers for decorating the space so quickly and beautifully
· Frances Jennings, Wendy Setzer, Lisa Levy and Susan Chait for setting up the auction tables with such flair
· Kathy Prussack, Frances Jennings, Jean O’Reilly and Laura Foligno for managing the heavy traffic at the cashier’s tables.
· Gene Steinhart, Anthony Dimande and Cathy King for managing the kitchen food service and the bar
· Wendy Oswald, Donna Olah-Reiken for managing the check-in table and greeting guests with good cheer
· Amy Hand for photographing the entire event and donating her wonderful pictures
· Janna Cohen, Lyn Dexheimer, Sonya and Ethan Chazin, Ken Nielsen and Pamela Strell for managing the heavy duty of coat check and selling out our mystery bags
· Rosemary Macleer and Jennifer Hartshorn for helping with the paper bag frenzy at the end of the evening
· Donna Olah-Reiken, Adam Levy, Wendy Setzer, the Stevens Brothers and David Plotka for assisting with breakdown into the wee hours.
Thank, thanks and more thanks! We just can’t say it enough. Your efforts are
helping Elysian stay strong and independent well into the future.
Grace Leong
and Deb Lewis
& our “errand
boys”
Gene Steinhart and Todd Leong
Hear What Your Child is Learning about Writing at Elysian!!
Elysian’s PTSO Presents
Special Guest Speaker
Leah Mermelstein
Elysian staff developer, nationally known author and expert on the writing process.
February 12th at 6:30 pm
During this meeting Leah will first share the wonderful work that is happening at Elysian
in the area of writing. Then she’ll talk about what to expect from your students at different ages. She’ll leave time at the end for questions and comments.
Leah Mermelstein taught both in NYC and Massachusetts before becoming a staff developer at the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University. While there, Leah mentored primary teachers in many schools, providing the demonstration teaching, coaching and study groups necessary to help those teachers establish joyful and rigorous Reading and Writing Workshops.
Today, Leah is a nationally recognized literacy consultant who specializes in primary reading and writing. She works with students, teachers, principals and district leaders, helping them design thoughtful plans for the teaching of reading and writing. She is the author of Launching the Writing Workshop (co-written with Lucy Calkins) (Heinemann), Reading/Writing Connections in the K-2 Classroom: Find the Clarity and Then Blur the Lines (Allyn & Bacon). Her book Don't Forget to Share: The Crucial Last Step in the Writing Workshop (Heinemann, Feb, 2007), focuses on how to make share sessions in the Writing Workshop more instructional.
Alice in Wonderland
After School Residency
Winter/Spring 2008
MONDAYS: 3:30PM-5:00PM
Starting: Monday, February 11
Teaching Artist – Patricia Runcie
This spring we will explore the world of Alice in Wonderland. We’ll each have the challenge of portraying famous characters in a fresh new way. There's Alice, of course, the Cheshire Cat, the White Rabbit, the Queen of Hearts, Tweedle Dee (and Dum!) the Doormouse and many, many more. We will learn how to act with our bodies, voice and hearts.
We meet every Monday at 3:30pm. It’s important, in a theatrical ensemble, that everyone attends every rehearsal... absences should be as few as possible.
I hope that you'll join us after school for this exciting adventure. In class we will enter a world of imagination with no limits. If you can imagine it, you can create it. Together we will uncover our own interpretation of the wonderland characters and Wonderland itself!
For grades three and up only!
Open to After School Program participants first.
Call Lynne Shapiro if you have any questions or want more information, 201 876-0102.
January Events at a Glance
Monday, January 28
· Board of Trustees Meeting, 7PM Rue Bldg.
Tuesday, January 29
· Turn in trip slips for Luna Negra Afterschool Performance at New Vic tomorrow!
Wednesday, January 30
· 6th grade goes to Camp Mason!
· 4:30 Performance of Luna Negra Dance Company at New Victory Theater.
Friday, February 1
· 6th grade returns from Camp Mason.
Thursday, February 7
· New Victory Performance, Traces, 4:30 pm.
Tuesday, February 12
· PTSO Meeting, 6:30 pm, Rue, with special
guest speaker Leah Marmelstein. Topic:
Your child and Writing. See article. Pizza
and child care!
Wednesday, February 13
· Half day of school; 12:30 dismissal for staff professional development. After School program available.
Monday, February 18 – Friday, February 22
· Elysian closed. Mid-winter recess.
Luna Negra Dance Company
After School Performance
WEDNESDAY, 4:30
New Victory Theater
Trip slip is attached!
Return it tomorrow