LER Newsletter for June

Principal’s Notes
Dear Families,

Here we are…the last newsletter of the 2008-09 school year! It seems like just yesterday that I was looking at the huge mountains of snow in our playground thinking how far away summer seemed…and here we are…just days away. It has been quite a year for sure! While we celebrate all the learning that our students have experienced this year, there is a bit of sadness as we offer our best wishes to our second graders as they head to new adventures and learning experiences at River View Community School.

Class lists have been finalized, and students will know who their next year’s teachers are on Step Up Day. Next year’s teachers will also be stated on student report cards that will come home on the last day of school.

Second grade will be having a ‘Step-up day” Tuesday, June 16th as part of their Fun Day and will be visiting River View School. Kindergarten and Grade 1 students will have their Step up day on Wednesday, June 17th after our final year school assembly. As always, families are welcome to join us for the assembly. June 17th is also our last day of school, and it is Early Release. Students will be dismissed at 12:30.

I invite you to join our school in expressing appreciation to all our support staff here at LER. We will be demonstrating our appreciation to our ed techs, custodians, cafeteria staff, and Spurwink counselors on June 15th. These individuals are committed to meeting the needs of our students and school building. I am so proud of all their contributions! We truly have a positive, caring school community!

Within this newsletter are also dates for you to mark on your calendars for end of school year events, as well as for the oncoming school year. We will be hosting a second annual “First Day of School Celebration” again on September 2, 2009. We look forward to this day of celebration as we welcome in a new school year!

Thank you so much for a wonderful learning year at Laura Richards School! I hope you all have a restful, fun-filled summer. Enjoy the Maine outdoors and family get-togethers! Be safe, and I look forward to being with you all again for the 2009-10 school year.

Yours in the service of children,
Karen Moody

Upcoming Events

June
8th: Mrs. Carey’s ABC 123 Circus
9th: MSAD #11 Budget Referendum - 8:00 am to 8:00 pm. Be sure to vote at your ward’s polling location!
9th: Last Walking School Bus, 7:50
9th: Mrs. Duquette’s Beach Day at LER
9th: Mrs. Tarrio’s class presents “The Rainbow Fish,” 9:00 & 1:30
10th: Field Day
12th: Pre-K graduation
12th: GEPTA Ice Cream Social, 6:00 - 7:00 pm at LER
15th: Support Staff Appreciation Day 15th: Grade 1 Beach Day at LER
15th: Grade 2 Fun Day at LER
16th: Second graders visit River View
16th: Rain date for Beach & Fun Days
16th: Last day of school for Pre-K
17th: Assembly, 8:45
17th: Step-Up Day for kindergarten & 1st grade, 9:20
17th: Last day of school for K-2, Early Release Day! Students dismissed at 12:30

August
25th: Kindergarten Open House, 5:30 -6:30

September
2nd: First day of school! Welcome back!
2nd: GEPTA First Day of School Celebration: 8:25 - 10:15 at LER, afternoon at River View School
8th: First GEPTA meeting

This is our last newsletter of the school year.
Have a safe & happy summer! See you again on Wednesday, September 2nd!

Walking School Bus
Students and parents are invited to join Mrs. Moody and Mr. Anderson at the Gardiner Common at 7:50 on Tuesday, June 9th for the last Walking School Bus of the school year!

Healthy Snack Help
Donations of healthy snacks for our classrooms are always welcome.

LER School Store
Our school store is open before school on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays in the office. Students can buy pencils, erasers, and other small school supplies. We also have LER T-shirts in youth sizes and a variety of great colors for $12.00.

Early Release Day
The last day of school, Wednesday, June 17th, is an Early Release Day. Elementary school students will be dismissed at 12:30. The last day of school for Pre-K students in Tuesday, June 16th.

Pre-School & Kindergarten Registration
The Four Year Old Program is still accepting applications for the 2009 - 2010 school year. Children must be four years of age on or before October 15, 2009. Please call 582-5346 for more information and for an application.

If you have a child who will be five years of age on or before October 15, 2009, or if you know of one, please contact the school at 582-3612 for kindergarten registration information.

Lost & Found
Be sure to come by and visit our Lost & Found tables soon to locate any items that your child might have lost. All unclaimed items will be donated at the end of the school year.

Recycle Your Gently Used Backpacks
If you have a gently used backpack that your student will no longer be using, we would love to provide a new home for it. Please send it in to school, and we will give it to a child who might need one. Thank you!

Important Information from Your School Nurse
Please note that an adult must pick up any medication your child has at school. Students are not permitted to transport medication, nor can we keep medication in the school building over the summer. Please make arrangements to pick up your child’s medication before the end of the school year.

Box Tops for Education, May Winners
The classes collecting the most BoxTops during May were Mrs. Duquette’s morning Pre-K, Mrs. Grant’s kindergarten, Miss Whitman’s first grade, and Mrs. Webb’s second grade. Congratulations! Continue clipping those Box Tops. They really do add up!

We continue to participate in these ongoing programs which will help us to raise funds for our school. Keep saving over the summer months!

Box Tops for Education - BoxTops are a great fundraiser for our school. Each label is worth 10 cents, which goes directly towards purchasing items for our school. Please take a moment to clip these valuable BoxTop logos and send them in to school.

Campbell's Labels for Education - Collect UPC codes and logos (instead of front labels) from Campbell's products as well as many other products with the “Labels for Education” logo. Please note that Campbell’s is now accepting ONLY THE UPC CODE AND LOGO for redemption. Please do not send the front labels to school.

Printer & Toner Cartridges - We participate in two different programs to collect printer cartridges and toner cartridges of all types and sizes, which are redeemed for cash. Please send your empty cartridges to school.

Yogurt Containers - Please send in your CLEAN empty yogurt containers for recycling - and cash for the GEPTA! Only carefully washed, traditional shaped containers please - we cannot redeem smoothie bottles or Yoplait containers.

Star Students
Every week, we recognize a Star Student from each classroom. Teachers choose a student who has demonstrated the character skill of the month. Each Star Student receives a certificate, a special pencil, and has his or her picture taken! The character skill for May was citizenship. Congratulations to our Star Students!

GEPTA News
We would like to thank all the children, parents, principals, teachers and office staff for their support and enthusiasm throughout the year with all our activities! Together we have accomplished so much and had some fun along the way! We started the year off with a First Day Celebration and will close with an Ice Cream Social on June 12th. We were able to help install a new playground at River View School (a big thank you to Allison and Jeff Wells) and bring different programs to the schools.

We would like to personally thank the GEPTA Officers; Ellen McGuire, Veronica Babcock, Tony Theberge, and Tony Veit and the committee chairs; Katherine Kollman, Paula Bourque, Liz Brodie and Jill Jamison.

Please join us to welcome the new co-presidents for next year, Katherine Kollman and Ellen McGuire, and co-vice presidents Veronicca Babcock and Liz Brodie.

We hope you have wonderful summer, and look forward to seeing you in September.
It has been our pleasure to serve the GEPTA.

Helen Wright and Karen Montell

Ice Cream Social - Please join us for the last GEPTA Family Fun Night of the year, June 12th from 6:00 - 7:00 in the LER gym. There is no charge for the event, but please RSVP with the lavender sheet that was sent home with your student, or by sending a note to school!

Meeting Date Change - Starting in the fall, the GEPTA meetings will be held on the 2nd Tuesday of the month. The first meeting will be September 8th. Please contact GEPTAnews@gmail.com for any questions or comments.

E-Mail Mailing List - If you would like to be put on the GEPTA's private email list for updates on free family activities in our school and local area, please send your e-mail address to GEPTAnews@gmail.com

Thank You to Our Very Special LER Volunteers!
We would like to thank our loyal volunteers for the time, talent, and energy that they have given to our school during this school year. We appreciate the many hands of our volunteers, which provide so much enrichment for our children!

Calling all Parent & Guardians
You are invited to a
First Day of School Celebration!
Sponsored by Gardiner Elementary PTA

Come celebrate the beginning of a brand new school year on Wednesday, September 2nd from 8:25 - 10:15 at The Laura E. Richards School. (River View School will begin their celebration at noon. More information will be sent home for our second grade families.)

Come with your child (or see her/him to the bus) then join us in the school gym for a special celebration of education and community. We will have refreshments, information, activities, door prizes, and special guests from our community! Then join with the LER students for a parade of classes, a special First Day story time and the first school assembly of the year!

Help us celebrate the beginning of an
exciting year of learning - together! For more information, please contact Katherine at 582-8250 or geptanews@gmail.com

GEPTA’s Summer Story Time
Mondays, June 29th through August 24th,
at 11:00 am in the
Gardiner Public Library Children’s Section
This weekly event is held in collaboration with the Gardiner Public Library’s Summer Reading Program.
Join us for stories, songs & crafts!
Please call 582-8250 or email geptanews@gmail.com for questions, or to volunteer as a guest reader!

MSAD11 Summer Music Program
July 27th to August 6th
For more information, visit
web.me.com/bpackales1/Summer/Home.html
Theater at Monmouth Summer Program
If your child enjoyed Monmouth Theater’s presentation of the Three Little Pigs at LER, be sure to visit www.theateratmonmouth.org and check out their summer programs! The Wind in the Willows will be presented from August 4th - 21st.

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FIELD HOCKEY CLINICS
at Gardiner Area High School
Saturday, July 11th
Grades 2-4, 9:00 - 12:00
Grades 5-8, 1:00 - 3:00

Central Maine
GIRLS LACROSSE CLINIC
at Capital Park in Augusta
July 13th - 17th
8:30 am - 11:30 am
Grades 3-8

Gardiner Boys Summer Basketball Clinic
at Gardiner Area High School
July 13-16
grades 3-5. 8:00 - 11:30
grades 6-9, 12:00 - 3:30

Gardiner Girls Summer Basketball Clinic
at Gardiner Area High School
July 20-23
grades 3-5 8:00 - 11:30
grades 6-8, 12:00 - 3:30

Capital Area Soccer Club
looking for players for fall travel teams to play throughout Central Maine. Please contact Matt Backus at 582-6802

More information on these events available
in the LER office.
(The above are not MSAD#11 events)
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MSAD 11 2009-2010 Budget Vote
Please mark your calendar for
Tuesday, June 9th, 8:00 am to 8:00 pm
MSAD 11 residents visit their local polling places to cast their ballots. Please vote!