Principal's Page

January 31, 2012

Good Evening Pitner Patriots,

Congratulations to Mrs. Ford’s 4^th grade class, our First in Math Team of the Week! Congratulations to Joseph in Mrs. Robinson’s class, our First in Math Player of the Week.

 Please be sure to complete and return the parent surveys that were sent home and use a number 2 pencil to complete them. We use the data from this School Improvement Survey to make decisions about our school. You may also take the survey online using the link on the district’s website.

We need to rebuild our School Council, and we are in need of two parent volunteers and two community business leaders who are also parents in our school. Please contact Mrs. Hill by Wednesday at sherri.hill@cobbk12.org if you are interested in being a part of Pitner’s School Council. We will vote for our Council Members next week. Please review the board policy manual about School Councils or send Mrs. Hill and email to request a copy. http://www.cobbk12.org/centraloffice/adminrules/C_Rules/Rule_CFD.htm

 Mark your calendars for February 29^th Jump Rope for Heart and  March 15^thour Annual Science Fair. Information will be coming home in the next few weeks.  Also, on March 15^th, we will have a Spring Fun Run. Information will come home in mid to late February.

 Information was sent home today about ordering a “Support Cobb Schools” license plate. Initial orders are due to the foundation by Feb. 3^rd, but will be available at the Department of motor Vehicles if the initial order of 1000 plates has been pre-ordered. For more questions, please visit http://cobbschoolsfoundation.org/

 "Sweetheart of a Deal on Discount Cards"

Buy 1 discount card for someone you love and get another discount card for 1/2 price to love yourself!! Pitner Elementary is offering this great deal for a limited time. There are still 7 months to enjoy the savings benefits of this fantastic discount card. Anyone can benefit from carrying this in their wallet when they are out dining and playing. Who doesn't love a deal?! Your sweetheart will thank you!!! Look for a mini-flyer and envelope in your students folder coming home early February. Make checks payable to Pitner PTSA for $22.50/2 cards, or send cash. We will also be offering this deal at the ASP desk. Look for our sign and buy your cards today! Questions please contact Barbara Gorman at fallfundraiser@pitner.ptsamail.com

 Upcoming dates:

Every Monday and Wednesday @ 8am Conversational English with Mr. Pasek, room 007

Every Friday PTSA Chik Fil A biscuit sales $2.50 (in the car lane and in the school)

February 6^th-13^th Valentine Candy grams sold by our 5^th grade PTSA Committee

February 6^th-10^th National School Counseling Week

February 7^th K-2^nd Spring picture day

February 8^th 3^rd-5^th Spring picture day

February 10^th 6pm PTSA Meeting and PTSA Movie Night: Cars 2

December 13, 2011

Good Evening Pitner Patriots,

 Congratulations to Mr. Long’s 5th grade class, our First in Math Team of the week.

The bell rings at 7:45am for school to begin. We continue to have students to be late coming in from the car lane. Please plan accordingly so that our Pitner Patriots arrive to school on time to start their day. When we have over 200 cars to drop off daily, it will get backed up, and when that is added to the traffic trying to get to 75 south, traffic can really be heavy. Think about carpooling, having your child ride the bus or maybe even waiting at the bus stop in the car to help reduce the car lane back up and to help students get to school on time. One thing about the morning bus ride, it only lets students out at school.

Fifth Grade will be selling "Jingle" Grams all next week - Monday - Thursday morning from 7.15-7.45 am in the front hall - $.50 each.

Angel Tree Donations were due today. If you have any last minute items to send, please send them in as soon as possible.

Thank you for making Pitner the best school community in all of Cobb County!!

 

December 5, 2011

Good Evening Pitner Patriots,
Congratulations to Mrs. Miller’s 5th grade class, our First in Math Team of the week.

A big THANK YOU to everyone for coming out and supporting our Breakfast with Santa event last Saturday, it was a huge success! We had nearly 500 attendees! Wow!  THANK YOU to all our volunteers who made it possible!

Congratulations to Gracie M. in Mrs. Miller's 5th grade class who was the lucky winner of the iPod Touch Raffle on Saturday.

Today on the PNN, our Words of Wisdom talked about helping others. Danny Thomas, major contributor to St. Jude’s hospital in Memphis, TN says, “Success in life has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplishments for yourself. It’s what you do for others.” Thank you so much to everyone who donated gifts from our Angel Tree to help our Pitner families have a happy holiday season. Thank you to all of our volunteers who support our school!

Congratulations to Sean H. from Mr. Bells’ class who is one of the AJC’s 14 Heroes in community service. We will be collecting new or gently used clean blankets for Sean to donate to various homeless shelters. Please send blanket donations this week if you can.

The bell rings at 7:45am for school to begin.  We continue to have students late coming in from the car lane. Please plan accordingly so that our Pitner Patriots arrive to school on time to start their day. When we have over 200 cars to drop off daily, it will get backed up, and when that is added to the traffic trying to get to 75 south, traffic can really be heavy. Think about carpooling, having your child ride the bus or maybe even waiting at the bus stop in the car to help reduce the car lane back up and to help students get to school on time. One thing about the morning bus ride, it only lets students out at school.

Upcoming dates:
Every Monday @ 8am Conversational English with Mr. Pasek, room 007
Every Wednesday @ 4pm Conversational English with Mr. Pasek, room 007
Every Friday PTSA Chik Fil A biscuit sales $2.50 (in the car lane and in the school)
November 28th-December 13th Angel Tree Donations
December 7th Holiday Luncheon for students (Pitner café)
December 8th PTSA Teacher Holiday Luncheon
December 13th-15th 1st-5th grades Checkpoint Assessments
December 20th PTSA Student of the Month breakfast
December 20th PTSA Stevie B’s night: Woodstock and 92 (10% of sales come back to our school)
December 22nd End of 2nd 9 weeks

November 28, 2011

Good Evening Pitner Patriots,
Congratulations to Mrs. Ford's 4^th grade class, our First in Math Team of the week. We will announce our grade level First in Math and Accelerated Reader leaders this Thursday. Wednesday is the end of the month so keep reading and working on First in Math.

Lost and found items are in the front hallway this week and the week after the holiday. Please pick up lost items. Items not retrieved by December 3rd will be donated.

Breakfast With Santa
December 3rd, 9am - noon
Admission $3 per person in advance. Please submit pre-sale ticket as soon as possible.
Admission includes:
(assorted pastries, juice, coffee, hot cocoa)
Food Served till 11am
CHICK-FIL-A CHICKEN BISCUITS
($2.50 each, 9:00-10:30am only)
also included
PHOTO WITH SANTA
(Photos will be available to download online after the event.)
HOLIDAY ACTIVITIES AND CRAFTS, SPECIAL HOLIDAY MUSIC PROGRAM (Featuring Pitner Elementary 5th Graders)

MORE HOLIDAY FUN!!
The Holiday Shoppe, many local vendors, Demo Teams, 5th Grade candy grams, Chick-Fil-A Calendars, and lots more !!! The 5^th grade PTSA Committee will also have eh drawing for the ipod touch!

The Holiday Shoppe will be open on Friday from 7:30am-1pm. Volunteers are needed to help with Breakfast with Santa, The Holiday Shoppe and the Teacher Luncheon. Please respond to the volunteer requests PTSA sends if you are able to help.

The Pitner School Counseling department & the PTSA Community Outreach Committee have provided this tree with holiday ornaments with wishes on them for families in need. Each ornament will have a wish request that has been specified for a family needing assistance. Please help a Pitner Family in need by taking an ornament from our Angel Tree and purchasing the requested item. Gifts are due December 13^th.

Upcoming dates:
Every Monday @ 8am Conversational English with Mr. Pasek, room 007
Every Wednesday @ 4pm Conversational English with Mr. Pasek, room 007
Every Friday PTSA Chik Fil A biscuit sales $2.50 (in the car lane and in the school)
November 28th-December 13^th Angel Tree Donations

November 29th PTSA Student of the Month Breakfast

December 2nd PTSA Holiday Shoppe preview

December 3rd PTSA Breakfast with Santa at 9am

December 8^th- PTSA Teacher Holiday Luncheon

December 13^th-15^th Checkpoint Testing for 1^st -5^th grades

December 20^th PTSA Student of the Month Breakfast

December 20^th Stevie B’s Night

December 22^nd End of 2^nd 9 weeks

December 23^rd – January 9^th Winter Break

January 13^th PTSA 5^th  grade Committee Hat Day

January 13^th Report cards distributed

 

 

November 7, 2011

Good Evening Pitner Patriots,

Congratulations to Mrs. Ford’s 4th grade class, our First in Math Team of the week again this week! We are number 3 in the district and number 8 in the state. Parents and older siblings can also utilize First in Math through the family link. The stickers do not count to the students’ total or the team total, but it does count towards the family total.

PTSA Bingo Night is this Friday, November 11^th from 6-8pm. Pre-order pizza for $9 per pizza by this Wednesday. Candy and drinks will also be served. Dinner will be form 6-6:30pm with bingo starting at 6:30pm. Present your PTSA cards at the door and receive 2 free bingo cards. Additional cards will be on sale at $1 each. Winners will receive prizes throughout the night.

New gym floor expectations:

The only shoes that are allowed on the new gym floor are tennis/athletic shoes

 No hard soled shoes/ boots/ crocs/ heels etc.

These will cause damage to our new floor.

Students have to wear appropriate shoes in order to participate in PE if they do not have the appropriate they will not be allowed to participate in class ......This also applies to ASP

Please check Coach Z’s and Coach Jefferson’s blog for more detailed information about the gym floor.

 

Pitner Book Fair, PTSA meeting, Principal's Perspective and Storyteller

Good Evening Pitner Patriots,

We have a fun night set up for tomorrow. Our book fair will be open until 6pm and, then we have a FABULOUS Storyteller for our students at 6pm!!! Students are invited to bring their blanket and pillow and come listen to the Storyteller.

Parents, we will have a very brief PTSA meeting at 6pm, followed by the Principal's Perspective. Mrs. Hill will share school data and provide resources to parents. Then, parents will be able to join the students and the Storyteller. Also, Parents, will be able to see our AMAZING new gym floor!!!

Every student who attends will receive a special treat and all parents who attend the PTSA meeting and Principal's Perspective will be entered into a raffle drawing.

We anticipate being finished by 7:30. It won't be a late night, but it will be a great night!!!! Hope to see you tomorrow!!

11.01.2011

Good Evening Pitner Patriots,

Congratulations to Mrs. Ford’s 4th grade class, our First in Math Team of the week! We are number three in the district out of the 15 schools playing First in Math. 

 Our First in Math Teams of the Month are as follows:

1^st grade Mrs. Black

2^nd grade Mrs. Baker

3^rd grade Mrs. Schmitt

4^th grade Mrs. Ford

5^th grade Ms. Corcoran

 Our Accelerated Reader Teams of the Month are as follows:

1^st grade Mrs. Lanier

2^nd grade Mrs. Finn

3^rd grade Mrs. Carter

4^th grade Mrs. Jackson

5^th grade Mrs. Corcoran

 This Thursday is the late night for our Book fair, 2:45pm-6pm, and at 6pm, we will have a Storyteller. Students please bring your blanket and pillow and come listen to the Storyteller. Every student who attends will receive a special treat. Also, Parents, we will have a brief PTSA meeting at 6pm and Mrs. Hill will host the Principal’ Perspective, a session about our school’s academic achievement and resources for home. Parents who attend will have their names in a raffle for special prizes.

Our new gym floor will be completed tomorrow. Also on Thursday, parents will have an opportunity to check out the new floor. This is just another example of your SPLOST dollars at work.

 Upcoming dates:

Every Monday @ 8am Conversational English with Mr. Pasek, room 007

Every Wednesday @ 4pm Conversational English with Mr. Pasek, room 007

Every Friday PTSA Chik Fil A biscuit sales $2.50 (in the car lane and in the school)

November 1^st-7^th Book Fair

November 3^rd PTSA Meeting, Principal’s Perspective and Storytime for Pitner students. The Book Fair will be open from 3-6pm. (Every student who attends will receive a special surprise and be entered into a special drawing.)

November 8^th No School

November 11^th PTSA Bingo Night 6-8pm

Pitner Updates 10.17.2011

Good Evening Pitner Patriots,

Congratulations to Mrs. Jackson’s 4th grade class, our First in Math Team of the week! Mrs. Poulos will post information to the web out the Family link for First in Math. Please check it out.

 Students and faculty, our Fall Fundraiser Discount Card sales have been extended! We still have cards left to sell. If you need more order forms contact Barbara Gorman at fallfundraiser@pitner.ptsamail.com.  Good Luck and happy selling!!! 

While we welcome people to walk on the track, we do not welcome dog droppings. Please refrain from bringing animals onto the field or the track. We already have the geese who visit, and we do not have personnel available to clean up dog droppings. We are in the process of ordering signs to relay this message to people who use the track. There is a sign on the fence, but we know it is rather faded. Thank you for your support.

 We are looking for volunteers to help out in the computer lab in the mornings from 7:15-7:45am. We have students who do not have online computer access at home, and we want to provide them with an opportunity to work on their math skills via First in Math or other math programs we have available at school. We will train parents on the program. We will have a sign up genius sent out by next week, and we hope to start with our volunteers October 17^th Computer lab sign up

www.SignUpGenius.com/go/computer268/472452

Bus Driver Appreciation Week is October 17^th-21^st; please consider having your Pitner Patriot write a note to their bus driver!

 Jeff Dess, Cobb County Prevention Intervention Specialist, will be our Lunch and Learn speaker on October 20^th. Mr. Dess provides parents with steps to respect strategies that include bullying prevention information. Mr. Dess was our guest speaker last year at a PTSA Lunch and Learn and a PTSA Dinner and Dialogue. The parents who heard the session felt like they had a better understanding of the district’s bullying protocol. Please rsvp using the forma that was sent home so that we have enough lunch prepared.

Upcoming dates:

Every Monday @ 8am Conversational English with Mr. Pasek, room 007

Every Wednesday @ 4pm Conversational English with Mr. Pasek, room 007

Every Friday PTSA Chik Fil A biscuit sales $2.50 (in the car lane and in the school)

October 17^th-21^st Bus Driver Appreciation Week

October 18^th Picture Day make-ups

October 20^th PTSA Lunch and Learn @12pm Back by Popular demand-Jeff Dess will discuss Steps to respect and Bullying Prevention

October 21^st 8:30am Reflections Reception

October 21^st 5^th grade Committee Fundraiser: Hat Day (Funds collected will help support 5^th grade end of the year activities)

October 24^th- 28^th Conference Week 12:15 dismissal

October 24^th-28^th Red Ribbon Week

October 24^th-28^th 5^th grade Autumn candy grams

October 25^th PTSA Student of the Month Breakfast

October 25^th PTSA Stevie B’s night: In Woodstock on Hwy 92 in the Ingels shopping plaza (10% of sales come back to our school)  All who attend will be included in a raffle.

October 28^th Drama Club Production; Go Fish, The Musical @ 7pm

October 10, 2011

Good Evening Pitner Patriots,

Congratulations to Mrs. Miller’s 5th grade class, our First in Math Team of the week! Mrs. Poulos will post information to the web out the Family link for First in Math. Please check it out.

The FABULOUS Fall Festival is Saturday, Oct. 15th from 10am-2pm with an Old West theme.  We're desperate for volunteers and will need to shut down games or rides without adult supervision.  We really need folks to come out and have fun.  We've got: a costume contest (make sure your costumes won't tear the inflatables), a coloring contest, demo teams, a basket raffle (please send in class donations to your room mom), lots of games and prizes, inflatables, a mechanical bull, a horse-drawn stagecoach, line dancing with the DJ, pony rides, petting zoo, rock wall, dunk tank with your favorite teachers, a merchant's walk, food from the Publix grill, and lots of fun!  We hope to see everyone there.  And PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE consider volunteering for at least an hour during the festival  The signup genius link is on the Pitner website (scroll down near the bottom) and the Pitner PTSA website to sign up for a time/activity.  All volunteers who work 4 hours or more get a free lunch. 

Pitner will be participating in the big thank you to our troops. The Bert Show is trying to collect 400,000 letters for our troops. Dr. John Barge, State School Superintendent, has encouraged schools to participate. Pitner will have a collection box and will collect letters until October 17^th. The rules are as follows: All letters must be on 8.5” x 11” paper or smaller.  Do not use glue, tape, staples, cardboard, glitter or otherwise attach anything to the paper.  Decorate using crayons, pencil, etc.  Use both sides if you like, but use one page per letter only.  Do not send cards or photographs.

We are still collecting names for Thanksgiving and/or Holiday Help. Families who are in need of holiday assistance, contact one of the School counselors at 678-594-8320 or the School Social Worker, Mrs. Barnes at 770-402-5692 by Oct. 14th & all request are kept confidential. Thank you.

 Students and faculty, our Fall Fundraiser Discount Card sales have been extended! We still have cards left to sell. If you need more order forms contact Barbara Gorman at fallfundraiser@pitner.ptsamail.com.  Good Luck and happy selling!!! 

 While we welcome people to walk on the track, we do not welcome dog droppings. Please refrain from bringing animals onto the field or the track. We already have the geese who visit, and we do not have personnel available to clean up dog droppings. We are in the process of ordering signs to relay this message to people who use the track. There is a sign on the fence, but we know it is rather faded. Thank you for your support.

 We are looking for volunteers to help out in the computer lab in the mornings from 7:15-7:45am. We have students who do not have online computer access at home, and we want to provide them with an opportunity to work on their math skills via First in Math or other math programs we have available at school. We will train parents on the program. We will have a sign up genius sent out by next week, and we hope to start with our volunteers October 17^th Computer lab sign up

www.SignUpGenius.com/go/computer268/472452

Bus Driver Appreciation Week is October 17^th-21^st; please consider having your Pitner Patriot write a note to their bus driver!

 Jeff Dess, Cobb County Prevention Intervention Specialist, will be our Lunch and Learn speaker on October 20^th. Mr. Dess provides parents with steps to respect strategies that include bullying prevention information. Mr. Dess was our guest speaker last year at a PTSA Lunch and Learn and a PTSA Dinner and Dialogue. The parents who heard the session felt like they had a better understanding of the district’s bullying protocol. Please rsvp using the forma that was sent home so that we have enough lunch prepared.

Students are no longer be allowed to ride a different bus other than their assigned bus.  In the past students have been allowed to ride a different bus to go home with a friend or for child-care purposes.  This year, due to a reduced number of bus routes, the buses are filled to capacity and CCSD can no longer transport children who are not assigned to that particular bus.  Parents may still submit a Student Bus Pass requesting their child be allowed to get off at a different stop on their assigned bus route.  As this change has come from the Transportation Department, please direct all questions or concerns to them at 678-594-8000.  Thank you. 

 Upcoming dates:

Every Monday @ 8am Conversational English with Mr. Pasek, room 007

Every Wednesday @ 4pm Conversational English with Mr. Pasek, room 007

Every Friday PTSA Chik Fil A biscuit sales $2.50 (in the car lane and in the school)

October 10^th-14^th ITBS Testing (Iowa Test of Basic Skills) for 3^rd and 5^th grades

October 11^th 8am PTSA Executive Board meeting and 9am PTSA Board of Directors

October 15^th Fall Festival 10am-2pm

October 17^th Letters to Our Troops due

October 17^th-21^st Bus Driver Appreciation Week

October 18^th Picture Day make-ups

October 20^th PTSA Lunch and Learn @12pm Back by Popular demand-Jeff Dess will discuss Steps to respect and Bullying Prevention

October 21^st 8:30am Reflections Reception

October 21^st 5^th grade Committee Fundraiser: Hat Day (Funds collected will help support 5^th grade end of the year activities)

Pitner Updates 10.03.2011

Good Evening Pitner Patriots,

Congratulations to Ms. Ongtingco’s 5^th grade class, our First in Math Team of the week! Our First in Math grade level Teams of the Month are as follows:

5^th grade- Mr. James

4^th grade Ms. Curti

3^rd grade- Ms. Perry

2^nd grade- Ms. Baker

1^st grade- Ms. Black

Go Pitner Patriots! As of October 1^st, Pitner students have over 200, 000 stickers, have solved over 700,000 math problems, are number 8 in the district out of the 12 schools playing First in Math, and we are number 24 in the state out of the 95 schools playing First in Math.

 

Accelerated Reader is off to a great start, too! Our Accelerated Reader Teams of the Month are as follows:

K- Ms. Madrid

1^st - Ms. Lanier

2^nd -Ms. Snyder

3^{rd  -}Ms. Schmitt

4^th – Ms. Jackson

5^th – Ms. Corcoran

Keep reading Patriots! The goal of these programs is to encourage our students to read and work on their math facts in their spare time. We want our students to be proficient readers and proficient at math. Thank you for your continued support at home!

 

Diversity Means is…” is the theme for the PTA Reflections program for the 2011-2012 school year.  Reflections is a program that invites students to create works of art for fun and recognition based on an annual theme.  The Reflections categories are: Literature, Musical Composition, Photography, Visual Arts, Dance Choreography, and Film/Video Production. All Pitner students are invited to participate in the Reflections program.  Interest forms were distributed to students during the week of September 12th.  Artwork entries will be due on Thursday, October 6th from 7:15-8:00 in the Media Center.  We have so many innovative and talented students at Pitner.  We cannot wait to see what our Pitner Patriots create!

Pitner will be participating in the big thank you to our troops. The Bert Show is trying to collect 400,000 letters for our troops. Dr. John Barge, State School Superintendent, has encouraged schools to participate. Pitner will have a collection box and will collect letters until October 21^st. The rules are as follows: All letters must be on 8.5” x 11” paper or smaller.  Do not use glue, tape, staples, cardboard, glitter or otherwise attach anything to the paper.  Decorate using crayons, pencil, etc.  Use both sides if you like, but use one page per letter only.  Do not send cards or photographs.

The Fire Marshall has written parking violation tickets at Pitner. I looked back and fire lane violation info appeared in the call out and email and then posted on the Principals’ blog on the following dates: March 7th, March 14th, March 21st, March 28th, April 11th, April 18th, August 22nd and August 29^th, all in 2011. This information was then posted on our website on September 13th. Also, on September 13^th, 14^th and 15^th, Officers were standing out front letting parents know not to park in the fire lane. On September 15^th, we posted a sign on the front door and on the table out front. Please do not park in the fire lane or risk being ticketed.

After school is dismissed, students are not to return to their classrooms for items they forgot.

Students and faculty, our Fall Fundraiser Discount Card sales have been extended! We still have cards left to sell. If you need more order forms contact Barbara Gorman at fallfundraiser@pitner.ptsamail.com.  Good Luck and happy selling!!! 

 

While we welcome people to walk on the track, we do not welcome dog droppings. Please refrain from bringing animals onto the field or the track. We already have the geese who visit, and we do not have personnel available to clean up dog droppings. We are in the process of ordering signs to relay this message to people who use the track. There is a sign on the fence, but we know it is rather faded. Thank you for your support.

 

Jeff Dess, Cobb County Prevention Intervention Specialist, will be our Lunch and Learn speaker on October 20^th. Mr. Dess provides parents with steps to respect strategies that include bullying prevention information. Mr. Dess was our guest speaker last year at a PTSA Lunch and Learn and a PTSA Dinner and Dialogue. The parents who heard the session felt like they had a better understanding of the district’s bullying protocol. Please plan to come if you can. Information will be sent home this week.

 

We are looking for volunteers to help out in the computer lab in the mornings from 7:15-7:45am. We have students who do not have online computer access at home, and we want to provide them with an opportunity to work on their math skills via First in Math or other math programs we have available at school. We will train parents on the program. We will have a sign up genius sent out by next week, and we hope to start with our volunteers October 17^th.

Starting Wednesday, September 28th, students will no longer be allowed to ride a different bus other than their assigned bus.  In the past students have been allowed to ride a different bus to go home with a friend or for child-care purposes.  This year, due to a reduced number of bus routes, the buses are filled to capacity and CCSD can no longer transport children who are not assigned to that particular bus.  Parents may still submit a Student Bus Pass requesting their child be allowed to get off at a different stop on their assigned bus route.  As this change has come from the Transportation Department, please direct all questions or concerns to them at 678-594-8000.  Thank you. 

 

Upcoming dates:

Every Monday @ 8am Conversational English with Mr. Pasek, room 007

Every Wednesday @ 4pm Conversational English with Mr. Pasek, room 007

Every Friday PTSA Chik Fil A biscuit sales $2.50 (in the car lane and in the school)

October 5^th -8^th Cognitive Abilities Testing for 1^st and 3^rd grades

October 6^th Read for the Record Day (kindergarten classes will have a special book read to them