News -- January 28, 2009

Hello Freshparents:

If you don’t have more than a few minutes, you might want to check back in when you have more time on your hands to read this email. It’s fairly lengthy but hopefully organized in a way that you can go straight to the items of most interest to you and your student. As always, don’t hesitate to ask questions, suggest topics to be covered in these emails, or share news that I can pass along.


SCHOOL NEWS
Parent Information Night
Updated School Calendar

STUDENT NEWS
Follies
Dessert Knight Invitation

SPORTS NEWS
Spring Sports Packets
Boys Soccer

PTSA NEWS
PTSA Meeting – TONIGHT!
PTSA Focus Day

GENERAL NEWS
Leftover from Hall Decs
Drop Off/Pick Up Areas
Camp Fair 2009
Special Request
Yearbook Announcement

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SCHOOL NEWS

Parent Information Night
On Thursday, February 12 at 7:00 pm, Newport’s guidance counselors will present grade-level information for parents about registration for the 2009-2010 school year.

Parents of current 8th grade students will attend an information night at Newport on Thursday, February 5 at 7:00 pm in the theater. Please pass this along to your friends and neighbors who have children attending 8th grade at Tyee, Tillicum, and private schools and who live in our attendance area.

Updated School Year Calendar
The Bellevue School District has updated the school calendar to add the snow days. See below for the new First Semester Finals Schedule for February 4, 5, and 6. Graduation will be June 22. The last day of school is now June 25.

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STUDENT NEWS

Follies
The annual talent/variety show is called Follies and you must see it at least once while you have a student at Newport. Does your student have talent? Auditions will take place in about four weeks so encourage your student to get his act ready!

Invitation
You are invited to DESSERT KNIGHT 2009: A Celebration of the Joy of Singing – Saturday, February 7, 2009, 6:30 pm in the NHS Commons

Soft lights and beautiful centerpieces will transform the Newport Commons into a Cabaret Lounge. You will be served delicious desserts and coffee while you relax and enjoy the talented singers of the Newport Choir. They will perform their favorite musical selections. Proceeds benefit the Voices of Newport Choir Booster Club, in support of the NHS Choir Program. $10 per ticket
Tickets are available through choir members, at the door, or by contacting Chris Helmholz at helmholz@comcast.net.

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SPORTS NEWS

Spring Sport Packets
Spring Sport Packets are now available for pick up. Students who have not previously played a sport at Newport should get a gray packet. Those who have already played a sport should get a yellow packet. All packets are available outside of the ASB secretary’s office in the Commons. Paperwork is due back by February 27, 2009.

Newport Boys Soccer
All players interested in trying out for Newport Boys Soccer should attend an informational meeting at 3:10 pm on Tuesday, February 3 in room 1101 (Mr. Benda's room). Practices start on March 2.

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PTSA NEWS

PTSA Meeting
Tonight! The meeting starts at 7:00 pm in the Newport library.

PTSA Focus Day
Washington State PTA is sponsoring its annual Focus Day activities Thursday, February 26.

This is the day that PTA members across the state gather in Olympia to "focus" on the child advocacy issues that were selected at Legislative Assembly. This is an unusually important year for parents to participate. Our Legislative representatives have been given the task of revamping our educational system -- primarily the way in which it is funded. It has been obvious for years that the funding amount has been inadequate (districts have to raise levy money to provide basics) but even more obvious that the funds are unfairly distributed. Combine the ever-growing needs of our underfunded educational system with the current budget crisis and one simply cannot deny the need to keep our legislators FOCUSED on our kids. Focus Day this year will take on a different form than in years past. This year, the main activity will be a massive rally on the Capital steps at noon. We need everybody possible to attend for this easy, fun, and effective advocating party.

Organize car pools -- we need at least four cars of four people from every school. Drive to Olympia, rally on the steps, drive back home. How easy can it get? Bellevue PTSA Council also has rented two busses for the day. The trip is free to Bellevue PTA members and almost free to other Council members. We will leave at about 9:30 on February 26 from the old K Mart parking lot on 148th and return there by 3 or 3:30. Reservations are required for the bus. Contact me with your name and e-mail address if you want to ride the bus. I need to have these names by the first part of February.

Connie Gerlitz (dgerlitz2@comcast.net),
Bellevue Council and Region 2, Legislative Chair

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GENERAL NEWS

Leftover from Homecoming Hall Decs
Mr. Nonis reports that a plastic basketball hoop provided by a parent for freshmen Hall Decs is still in his room. To claim it, please email Mr. Nonis at nonisj@bsd405.org.


Pick Up/Drop Off Areas
Visitors to campus before and after school have reported to us that parents aren’t using our new Pick Up and Drop Off areas.

When the building was designed, the architects went to great lengths to add spaces for parents to safely line up to pick up and drop off students that wouldn’t cross paths with anyone who was attempting to park or walk into the building. Ironically, neither one of these areas is being used much – instead, parents are using one of the parking lots…..and are in the way of people who need to use visitor parking.

Flagpole Pick Up/Drop Off Area
One of the Pick Up/Drop Off areas is on the east side of the building, and is accessed from Factoria Boulevard at the traffic light. It circles the flagpole. There’s even a covered waiting area nearby so that students don’t get wet on rainy days. Students who get out here in the mornings have easy access to the Commons, and in the afternoons students can walk directly out of the east end of the classroom wing to meet up with parents.

South Ballfields Pick Up/Drop Off Area
The other Pick Up/Drop Off area is on the south side of the building, and is accessed from Coal Creek Parkway. This is the turnaround between the baseball field and the new softball field. It’s particularly handy in the mornings for parents on their way to work who will exit the driveway & proceed west on Coal Creek Parkway. It’s also really, really large, and can hold dozens of cars. It’s the ideal place to wait to pick up a student after school.


CampFair 2009
Find the perfect summer camp or program at CampFair 2009 on Saturday, February 7, 2009, co-sponsored by St. Thomas School and ParentMap. Come meet directors and representatives from over 75 camps and programs for all ages, preschool to adult, including day and overnight camps, teen programs, specialty programs, wilderness adventure, sports, drama, art, science, music, language, academic enrichment and more. Don’t miss CampFair 2009, one of the largest camp fairs in Washington, at St. Thomas School’s new campus, 8300 N.E. 12th Street, Medina, from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. Admission is free. For more information, directions to CampFair, and a listing of participating camps, visit www.sthomasschool.org or www.parentmap.com and find the perfect summer camp or program.

Special Request
Are you remodeling? Do you have a gently used electric range you no longer need? A veteran member of the Newport teaching community is in need of an electric stand-alone range. If you have one that you are no longer using, we can arrange to have it picked up at your inconvenience. Please contact Janet Suppes, janetsuppes@yahoo.com, or Matt Eisenhauer, eisenhauerm@bsd405.com.

Yearbook Announcement
The deadline for purchasing a yearbook is February 6. Students can confirm whether or not they have already purchased a year book by checking the list of sales outside of the accountant’s office.