Kudos and Heartfelt Congratulations!

Our own Tracy Dew was nominated for and will receive the award for ACSF's Parent Volunteer Champion for 2012-13!!  If you aren't familiar with the work Tracy does on behalf of Claxton students, let us assure you that this is an honor truly earned and well deserved.  

Tracy works with our school social worker, Mark Ackerman, and counselor, Dee Dee Allen, as the driving force behind the Claxton Family Night program at Pisgah View apartments.  She also coordinated the Christmas sponsorship program for families in need this year, ensuring that Claxton students and their families facing financial hardship got to celebrate a holiday filled with gifts, generosity and happiness along with everyone else. 

Tracy's efforts at Claxton underscore and demonstrate that Claxton really is a community as well as a school.  She creates opportunity for all of us to participate in the success of all of our students, proving that we can accomplish great things together.  

Please plan to attend this year's Celebration of Champions on Sunday, April 14 to help the Asheville City Schools Foundation honor Tracy and all of the volunteers who do so much for our schools and our students.  We'd love to have a great Claxton representation there for this extra special event!

Again, Congratulations, Tracy!!! 

Chaperones Needed for Upcoming Field Trips

We have a number of field trips coming up that we need chaperones for!

Please let me know if you can join us for any of the following trips:

SOCON Basketball - Friday March 8th (All grades)
Heath Adventures - Wednesday March 13th (5th Grade)
Muddy Sneakers - Monday March 18th (5th Grade)
Muddy Sneakers - Monday April 8th (5th Grade

Also, we are looking for chaperones for GIRLS for the 5th grade field trip to Atlanta (April 24th & 25th).  Fifth grade parents know this has been an issue in the past.  So, if you're willing and able to help make sure that the girls have the same small group attention that the boys get, please step up!

Remember, for all grades, the best source of field trip information is you classroom teacher.  Volunteering to be a chaperone is a GREAT way to see what the kids are doing, understand the dynamics among students, and demonstrate to your child how important learning is.  It's also FUN!  So, don't hesitate... get involved!

Carrabba's Dinner Pickup Tonight!

Don't forget:  If you purchased Dinner-to-go tickets from a 4th or 5th grade student, tonight's the night to reap your rewards.  Dinner of Caesar salad, chicken marsala, and pasta with sauce will be available for pickup in the Claxton gym between 5:00 and 6:00.  Don't be late!

Proceeds from Dinner-to-go ticket sales go to the 4th and 5th grade field trip fund.  This money helps to lower the cost of spring overnight field trips for all students, and makes it possible for students who may not otherwise be able to afford an overnight field trip to participate along with everyone else.  

Didn't get to buy a ticket?  You can also make donations directly to the scholarship fund here. 

Teacher workday, Fri, Mar 1--no school for students

This Friday, March 1 is a non-school day for students and a required workday for our teachers and staff.

Our Preschool will be closed on Friday.

March 1 was a school day in our original calendar but as we told you a couple of weeks ago we converted it to a professional learning day for our staff, who will focus on "Teaching with Poverty In Mind" in a day-long session. State school calendar legislation has significantly limited the number of days/opportunities to conduct professional development events. March 1 will be made up on June 5.

Last but not least, the National Weather Service is predicting show showers and flurries for Wednesday night into Sunday and the Weather Channel is showing a chance of snow during the Fri-Sun period. In any case it will be cold and windy so stay tuned Thursday morning if we do indeed get inclement weather.

The Old Farmer's Almanac, you asked? "Snow flurries and cold for the last two days of the month."

Enjoy the rest of the week!

Celebration of Champions, April 14th

New A+ Blog

Interested to know more about A+ programs in our school and how being an A+ school effects the day-to-day activities of our students?  

Well, it's easier than ever now!  Check out the new Claxton A+ Blog!

You can also find the latest blog updates from across the school in the right side bar of this page, under My Blog List. 

Raise Your Hand Advocacy Alert from Asheville City Schools Foundation

LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD!
Thank you for signing up for our Raise Your Hand newsletter and being dedicated to defending our public schools and advocating for our children. The North Carolina General Assembly is heating up, and so are issues that may affect our schools. It is becoming clear that North Carolina's equitable, diverse, and thriving public school system is under siege.

We hope that you will take the time to read our alerts and TAKE ACTION, as the decisions made by the North Carolina legislature have a major impact on this community. 

In several weeks, we will be hosting two Advocacy Allies Meetings in which we encourage all of you to attend.  We will describe the work of the Asheville City Schools Foundation, discuss the issues being addressed in the North Carolina legislature and how they are impacting our community, and identify specific ways that each of you can be engaged and influence decisions in the legislature. More information about these meetings can be found below.

Read more about the issues and how you can become involved here.


ADVOCACY ALLIES MEETING
Join this group of citizens, parents, teachers, and other community advocates  so that you can become informed of how the North Carolina legislature affects our schools and learn how we can best work together to advocate for our kids and influence public policy. Activities may include writing letters to the editor, tabling at our schools, making phone calls to our representatives, or conducting outreach through community newsletters.    

WHEN?          
March 6th 5:30p-6:30p
March 8th 8:00a-9:00a

WHERE?
85 Mountain Street Asheville, NC 28801 In the Board Room, across from the main entrance.
We hope you will join us!
Please RSVP by February 28th to Carlye Gates at carlye@acsf.org.

"A strong public school system enhances the life changes of individuals while contributing to the health and vitality of the local and statewide communities of which we are all a part."
           

                                             N.C. State Board of Education, 

October 2012

Claxton After School Arts Pick Up for Classes that meet in the Cafeteria

The gym is being used after school each Tuesday - Thursday for play practice.  This means we are releasing after school arts classes EITHER through the front doors or from the cafeteria.

Classes held in the cafeteria that will release there are: Bitty Budos on Tuesdays and Bricks 4 Kidz on Wednesdays.  If you walk up to get your children, please plan to pick up students who have a class in the cafeteria outside the cafeteria instead of in the gym. Please walk down to the cafeteria to pick up your child at 3:45. If you pick up your child in the car line, teachers will still walk students to the front of the school.

Other classes still release from the front doors, so you can follow the same plan for those classes as before.

Thanks and sorry for any confusion during the first week of classes, but this change hopefully will make pick up run more smoothly this week.

Dinner to Go tickets -- On sale now!

The 4th and 5th graders are raising scholarship money for their trips to Raleigh and Atlanta in April. 

From now until February 22, they are selling a Carrabba’s Italian Grill to-go dinners for $10 each. The dinner includes a Caesar salad, chicken marsala, and pasta with sauce. A $10 ticket will buy a dinner for one person.

Dinner will be available for pickup in Claxton’s gym on Thursday, February 28, 2013 between 5:00pm and 6:00pm. Staff from Carrabba’s Italian Grill will be coming to the school that evening and preparing the food, and then boxing it to go home with each person.  A fresh, hot, tasty meal in the comfort of your own home with no cooking!

The tickets must be paid for in advance. They can be purchased now from 4th and 5th grade students!

Money raised from dinner sales helps to lower the cost of these trips for all students, and makes it possible for students who may not otherwise be able to afford an overnight field trip to participate along with everyone else.  You can also make donations directly to the scholarship fund here. 

5th Grade Parents - Atlanta Payment Due

Payments ($75) or scholarship requests for the Atlanta field trip are due Friday.  

This is the "official head count" step -- You must make contact with your teacher if you child is planning to attend!

If you would like to contribute to the scholarship fund (which helps to reduce the cost for ALL students and makes it possible for many students who would not otherwise be able to attend to join their classmates in Atlanta) you can make a contribution online.

Winter Open House, February 19th

5:00-6:00 -- Free dinner for parents, staff, students,  --fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, biscuits, and fresh baked cookies

6:00-6:15 -- Welcome

6:15 – 7:30 -- K-2 Teachers will present Fundations, students will share work/art/music, review mCLASS reports, and Common Core update

6:15-7:30 -- 3-5 Teresa Carter will present information on the new state assessments, teachers will review mCLASS reports, students will share work/art/music, and Common Core update

Come out and enjoy some free food, learn about what teachers and classes are up to!

(Mr. Cassara has organised a blood drive at Claxton in the afternoon before this event, so it's a great opportunity to accomplish a lot of good with just one trip to school!) 

Claxton's Girl Scout Brownie/Daisy Troop 01754 will have a 

Cookie booth in the Claxton carpool line 

from 2:15-3 PM, February 11-13.

Donation Needs - February

February is CLAXTON month at Canvas, Paint+Mingle!

Mention Claxton upon sign up & we will donate 10% of

each registration or birthday party to your school.

We offer classes for kids or adults. See our calendar

online: www.paintandmingle.com

Step-by-step acrylic on canvas classes led by local

Asheville Artists!

Attention Fifth Grade Parents!

Important opportunities for your rising sixth grader:

Family Tours this week, 9:00am Tuesday and Thursday.  You do not have to register in advance, just check in at 8:45 to join the tour.  Tours last 45 minutes.

Band Open House Tuesday from 4:00 - 6:30.  Details are here.

All District Rising 6th Grade Family Night at Claxton, Thursday, February 7th, from 5:30 - 6:30.

Blood Drive - February 19th

Blood Drive
3rd Floor Dance Studio
Tuesday, February 19th
2:30pm - 6:30pm

Call 350-6555 or contact Mr. Cassara to schedule your appointment. 

American Red Cross T-shirts for each student who recruits a donor.

Ms. Baker has a new Blog!

We'd like to welcome Ms. Baker to the list of teachers who have blogs for their classes.  Take a look...

Ms. Baker points to Ms. Gephard's blog as her inspiration.

Why is this a good thing?  
Because it helps parents to stay informed and it gives students a way to feel like what they are doing in class is important, accessible and visible to the world at large.

How do I know if my teacher has a blog?  
Well... ask!  If you look at the right sidebar of this blog, you'll see a "blog roll" with the latest updates from all of the teacher blogs we know about.