Mitchell Phase 1 Construction Brainstorming Meeting - Tuesday, February 2 @ 7:45 AM

As shared earlier on the Mitchell News website, an addition to Mitchell School has been approved by the Board of Education and will be ready for use for the start of the 2016 school year.  This addition will add classroom space and will repurpose a current space for a family resource area in support of the developing Primary Years Programme at Mitchell School.

Interested Mitchell School Improvement Team members and PTO board members are invited to assemble on Tuesday, February 2 at 7:45 AM to discuss and give input about the addition.

Below is the concept of the Mitchell construction from the architects. Please ignore all designations that show the purpose of given room.  Input is particularly sought on the following areas:

In the red section: 

FR = Family Resource room

T1 = Title 1 space for the K2 part of our program.

In the yellow section:

C3, C4, C5 = six classroom spaces with no bathrooms

T = toilet rooms, shared for the wing

W = work space

V = Vestibule entrance/exit to playground areas.

If there are questions ahead of time or if you'd like to give input but can't make the meeting, please email Mr. Karr at karrk@aaps.k12.mi.us.

International Baccalaureate PYP @ Mitchell

The IB PYP@Mitchell continues to grow! In an International Baccalaureate World School, teachers develop Units of Inquiry that house the lessons and learning experiences for students. These Units of Inquiry are put together using curriculum standards from the State of Michigan and Transdisciplinary Themes from the International Baccalaureate Organization. At Mitchell, your child's teacher has been working to develop a Unit of Inquiry that will allow your child to ask questions, solve complex problems, and search for answers.  After months of development, every classroom at Mitchell is engaged in an IB Unit of Inquiry. It is an exciting time at Mitchell!

 

Questions you might ask your child about what they are learning:

Tell me about what you are learning in your classroom?

What books did you or you and your teacher read with your class today?

What questions did you ask at school today?

International Baccalaureate Information Meeting - Huron High School, Feb. 3 @ 6:30 PM

International Baccalaureate schooling is coming to Ann Arbor!

 

Those interested in learning more about enrolling in the Ann Arbor International Baccalaureate (IB) candidate schools for the fall of 2016 are invited to an IB Community Information Meeting at Huron School on Wednesday, February 3 from 6:30-8:00 PM. 

 

This presentation will include information and experiences that help participants know and understand:

- The 5 Pillars of IB in Ann Arbor

- The Primary Years Programme at Mitchell (grades K-5)

- The Middle Years Programme at Scarlett and Huron (grades 6 - 10)

- The Diploma Programme at Huron (grades 11 and 12)

- The value of an internationally focused curriculum. 

 

Information before the meeting can be accessed via the Ann Arbor IB website at:  http://ib.a2schools.org.

Mitchell Listening Campaign - Update

Mitchell families - we are excited to announce the formal kick-off of the Mitchell Listening Project! 12 parent and staff volunteers will be reaching out to families over the next five weeks to learn more about them. Our goals are to build more family-to-family relationships in our school community, learn about each other, surface great ideas, and understand challenges or concerns that may exist. If you are contacted by a Listener, we hope you will agree to meet with them! If you are NOT contacted but would like to make sure your voice is heard in the effort, please call the school office. We will be sure to include you!

Mitchell Free Food Distribution - 2/6/16

Free food is available for Mitchell families Saturday, February 6 from 9:30-11:00. All Mitchell families who need food are invited to come to Mitchell school for a free food giveaway. A one-time registration process is required to verify household members. If you registered at a previous event, you will not have to register again.

 

Note: To be clear, this is only available to Mitchell School families at this time.

PHOTO: Dean Dworkin Retweets MAC After Schoo Music Program Video

International Baccalaureate Information Meeting - Huron High School, Jan. 24 @ 2 PM

International Baccalaureate schooling is coming to Ann Arbor!

 

Those interested in learning more about enrolling in the Ann Arbor International Baccalaureate (IB) candidate schools for the fall of 2016 are invited to an IB Community Information Meeting at Huron School on Sunday, January 24 from 2:00 - 3:30 PM. 

 

This presentation will include information and experiences that help participants know and understand:

- The 5 Pillars of IB in Ann Arbor

- The Primary Years Programme at Mitchell (grades K-5)

- The Middle Years Programme at Scarlett and Huron (grades 6 - 10)

- The Diploma Programme at Huron (grades 11 and 12)

- The value of an internationally focused curriculum. 

 

Information before the meeting can be accessed via the Ann Arbor IB website at:  http://ib.a2schools.org.

Mitchell Door Entry System - Beginning Feb. 1st

The Ann Arbor Public Schools continues to seek ways to improve the safety of our students. Beginning February 1, all exterior doors will be locked for safety.

In the morning:

·       The front main entrance will unlock at 8:30 for student arrival and relock at 9:10 for student safety.

·       To enter the building after 9:10 you will press the video intercom key at the front, main entrance and be buzzed into the building.

In the afternoon:

·       The front main entrance will unlock at 3:40 for student departure and relock at 4:20 for student safety.

Childcare:

·       If your child comes in the morning for childcare and/or stays after school for childcare you will press the video intercom key at the front, main entrance and childcare staff will buzz you into the building.

PTO Book Fair - February 3-5

Mitchell School will host a Scholastic book fair February 3^rd – 5^th . Children will preview the book fair and have an opportunity to buy books as well. A volunteering link will be coming out soon! 

Mitchell Listening Campaign

At a PTO meeting earlier this school year, a proposal was brought forward to engage in an intentional process of building relationships and fostering a more connected community here at Mitchell School. This proposal was considered by the PTO group and it was recommended that we move forward to implement what is being called - The Mitchell Listening Campaign. Ellen Patnaude, Mitchell 4^th grade parent, will lead this group. 

One of the most effective ways to find out what other people are thinking about, excited about, concerned about, and what is most important to them is to engage in one-on-one conversation. To this end, a group of parents is forming with the intent of getting to know other parents and building our school community.

 

On Wednesday, January 27 from 5:30-8:30 Ellen Patnaude will lead a training for interested parents who will learn how to engage others in an effective one-on-one conversation. If you're interested in learning more you are invited to attend the training and/or reach out to Ellen. She can be contacted at 248.534.6409 or ellen.patnaude@gmail.com

Kindergarten Round-Up 2/23/16

We are excited to announce that Kindergarten Round Up at Mitchell School will be on February 23, 2016 from 6:00 – 7:00 PM.  Children who turn five on or before September 1, 2016 are eligible to attend kindergarten for the 2016-17 school year. We love to give school tours. Please call the school office at 997.1216 to set up a tour! 

NWEA Testing

Over the next two weeks K – 5^th grade children will be engaged in the NWEA Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) Assessment. We give students the NWEA MAP Assessments to determine your child's instructional level and to measure academic growth throughout the school year in the areas of Math and Reading. As in previous years, your child will take these assessments on a computer.

World Language Update - January 2016

En Clase de Español:

 

We have been learning vocabulario nuevo and reviewing prior knowledge.   Each day we practice our routine with saludos y despedidas (greetings and goodbyes), days of the week, months of the year, weather, seasons and dates through songs and communicative activities as well integrating Latin American cultural studies.  Each class meets for 30 minutes, two times a week.  

 

Kindergarten - alfabeto, colores y números.

1st grade - alfabeto, colores, formas geométricas, y comida (food).

2nd grade - alfabeto, colores, formas geométricas, tamaños (sizes) y comida (food).

3rd grade - alfabeto, colores, cosas en la escuela (school supplies) y conversación.

4th grade - alfabeto, colores, cosas en la escuela (school supplies ),  y conversación.

5th grade - Conversación, descripciónes físicas, la familia, partes del cuerpo (body parts), y review of all prior knowledge.  In enero (January), we will begin with locations in the school through prepositions of place.  We will be able to give and receive directions around our school at the end of this unit!

 

It's truly been a pleasure teaching and learning with your children.  

 

Por favor, let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

¡Muchas gracias!

Jennifer Barcelata

Spanish Teacher- Allen, Carpenter and Mitchell Elementary

 

Arabic Class: 

 

Marhaba!!

Our Arabic program this year started strong. Thank you for your support and amazing help that you provided for me and my students. I was very impressed with my students this year with the amount of words and phrases that they still remember from last year. My students in 3rd grade are enjoying learning about the language, the music and other information about Arabic speaking countries and people. We have been learning some songs and playing games to learn new Arabic vocabulary and to practice new structures to communicate our ideas.   My fourth and fifth grade students know how to count in Arabic and use the Arabic numbers beyond math. We learned short and long vowels and looked for them while reading. We will cover more cultural perspectives and practices in the second half of the school year.  If you have any questions please email me at: basuni@aaps.k12.mi.us

Mitchell Free Food Distribution & Resource Fair - This Saturday!

Dear Mitchell Families,

This Saturday from 9:30-11:00 Mitchell will be hosting a free food distribution and resource fair here at school! 

The community agencies listed below will be attending. Please come to learn about and take advantage of their services! 

Estimadas Familias de Mitchell,

Este sábado desde las 9:30-11:00, habrá una feria de alimentos gratis y de recursos gratis aquí en la escuela!

Las agencias de la comunidad señaladas abajo van a asistir. Por favor vengan a conocer y disfrutar de estos servicios!

AAPS Rec & Ed 

-After School Programs/ programas educativas después de la escuela

-Team Sports/ participación en los deportes 

-Summer Programs/ programas del verano

-Scholarships available/ programa de becas (que sean posibles) 

Jewish Family Services

-Immigration and naturalization services/ servicios de la inmigración y la naturalización

-Food pantry/ despensa de comida gratis

-English language lessons/ clases de inglés

-Counseling/ asesoramiento

United Way VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance)

-Free tax preparation sign up/ preparación gratis de sus impuestos 

Washtenaw Health Plan (WHP)

-Health insurance sign-up/ asistencia e información de los seguros médicos

Washtenaw Literacy

-English language classes/ clases de inglés para adultos

-Adult literacy lesson/ clases de alfabetización para adultos