Wednesday, January 30, 2008                                

February Newsletter – 2008

Dear Franklin Parent(s)/Guardian(s),

            Calendar of Events

Below are some dates to mark on your February school calendar.

                        February 3                   Allen County Spelling Bee @ St. Gerard School in

                                                            Lima, 10:00 a.m.

4-8                                     2008-2009 Kindergarten Registration Week

4                                      Quiz Bowl @ Shawnee M.S., 4:30 p.m.

7                                      Van Wert County Spelling Bee @ Marsh Foundation

Auditorium in Van Wert, 7:30 p.m.

11                                    Quiz Bowl @ Shawnee M.S.

17                                    Local God, Flag and Country Contest @ Delphos

Eagles, 2:00 p.m.

18                                    PRESIDENT’S DAY – NO SCHOOL

22                                    Interim reports sent home with students

25                                    Quiz Bowl @ Shawnee M.S., 4:30 p.m.

26                                    Spring School Pictures

            2008-2009 Kindergarten Registration

We will begin registering students for our 2008-2009 kindergarten class the week of February 4-8.  Registration will be in the school office.  Hours are 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. each day.  You do not need to bring any information with you when you come to register.  You will pick up a kindergarten registration packet and make an appointment to have your child screened.  Kindergarten screening dates    are April 3, 10, 17, and 24.  To be eligible to enter kindergarten in 2008-2009 your child must be 5 years old by August 1, 2008.  Our kindergarten students attend school all day, every day.

Please share this information with anyone you know who has a child eligible for kindergarten.  If you have any questions, call the school office.

            Franklin Spelling Bee Results

The Delphos City Schools Spelling Bee was held on Wednesday, January 9, at the Middle School.  It was a very fine competition.  The Franklin champion was fifth grader Karen Cline. Karen is a student in Mr. Chris Sommers’ class.  Her parents are Alan and Allison Cline.  Karen will represent Franklin Elementary at the Van Wert County Spelling Bee on Thursday, February 7^th, at the Marsh Foundation Auditorium in Van Wert.  Not only was Karen the Franklin champion but she also finished runner-up in the Delphos City Schools Spelling Bee.  Congratulations Karen! 

Halee Heising was the Franklin first runner-up.  She is a fourth grade student in Mrs. Darci Swick’s class.  Her parents are Mike Heising and Sherry Glick.  Halee will represent Franklin Elementary at the Allen County Spelling Bee on Saturday, February 2^nd, at St. Gerard School in Lima.

The Franklin second runner-up was Grant Bowersock.  He is a fourth grade student in Mr. Bob Hohlbein’s class.  His parents are Todd and Lisa Bowersock.  Grant will be the alternate to the two spelling bees if Karen or Halee cannot participate.

We congratulate all three finalists for their great accomplishments and wish good luck to  Karen and Halee as they move on to the county spelling bees.

            Optimist Club “Most Improved” Student Award

Congratulations to Jenna Gilden for being named the Optimist Club “Most Improved” Student for the second grading term from Franklin Elementary!  She is a fifth grade student in Mr. Chris Sommers’ class.  Jenna is the daughter of Jerry and Teresa Gilden.  She was chosen for this honor by her teachers because of the improvement she has shown in her academic work and grades since the beginning of the school year.  Jenna will be honored for her achievement at the Optimist Club meeting on Friday, February 1^st, at Mary’s A & W Restaurant.

            Spring School Pictures

Spring school pictures will be taken on Tuesday, February 26^th.  A notice about this event will be sent home with your child at a later date.  All students will have their pictures taken.  A portrait package, price list, and instructions will be sent home later.  You will have the option to buy the pictures or send them back to school at no charge to you.

            Franklin Year Book Offered This Year

We are trying something new this year.  Our school picture company, Life Touch, is putting together a year book for Franklin Elementary.  It will contain all the class pictures, staff pictures, and pictures of the different activities that occurred at Franklin this year.  Cost of this year book will be approximately $10.00.  Later in the spring we will send home a form to order one if you so desire.

            P.T.O. Carnival

The annual P.T.O. Carnival for Franklin and Landeck students will be held at Franklin on Friday, March 28^th.   This event is a huge undertaking and requires many volunteers to make it successful.  Mrs. Patti Thompson is once again planning and coordinating this event.  Attached to this newsletter is a flyer from her asking for volunteers.  If you can help at the carnival in March, give her a call.

            Computer Cop

Our technology coordinator, Mr. Shane Leeth, has made a computer program available called “Computer Cop”.  As I understand it, you run it on your PC and it looks for files that may contain inappropriate pictures or e-mails.  He says that if you want to know what your kids are looking at or what kind of e-mails they may be receiving or sending it is a good program to have.  We have a disk with this program on it in the office.  We will make it available to anyone who would like to use it, just contact us in the office.  If you would like more information about this program or your own personal copy of it, contact Mr. Leeth at the administration offices.  The phone number there is 419-692-2509.  Mr. Leeth’s extension is 110.

New Procedure for Visitors in the Lunchroom

Beginning in February when you come to school to eat lunch with your child you will have to sit at your child’s table with him/her.  This guideline is being implemented to help out our lunch room monitor, Mrs. Mullenhour.  She needs a place to set students who choose to misbehave during lunch.

            P.M. Parking Monitor on the Playground

We have a parent, Mrs. Megan Anspach, who has volunteered to monitor the parking situation on the playground at P.M. dismissal.  She will begin her duties on Monday, February 4^th.  Mrs. Anspach’s role will be to assist everyone in getting a parking place, to see that all the parking spaces are filled before cars are allowed to park in the drive, and help relieve the parking congestion as much as possible so that everyone can pick up their children and exit in a timely manner.  We ask that you please cooperate with Mrs. Anspach at all times.  Our goal is not to inconvenience anybody but to make our P.M. dismissal on the playground as safe and orderly as possible.  Thanks in advance for your cooperation and if any of you would like to help Mrs. Anspach out, contact me at school.

            Delphos Kiwanis Club – Playground Equipment Project

Mr. Denny Elwer of the Delphos Kiwanis Club was in recently to talk to me about their playground equipment project.  Last May the Delphos Kiwanis Club announced plans to spearhead a project to replace the current wooden playground equipment at Stadium Park with a new state-of-the-art system.  As part of the plans they pledged the proceeds from their July 4^th Community Celebration as seed money for the project.  They have had a great response from the community in their fund raising campaign.  They are asking our help in the final stages of their fund raising.  Attached to this newsletter is a pledge form with more information about the project.  If you have not already donated to this project and would like to, complete the form and mail it back to them. 

New playground equipment at Stadium Park will be a benefit to all the children of Delphos.  We believe this is a very worthwhile project for our community.

            Thought for the Month

            At the desk where I sit, I have learned one great truth.  The answer for all our national problems-the answer for all the problems of the world-comes to a single word. That word is “education”.

-         Lyndon B. Johnson

Tim Larimore

Principal