SURVIVOR GAMES @ BROWN ELEMENTARY

Hello parents! Ms. Franklin wanted me to let you know that she is need of volunteers for the Survivor Games being held @ Brown on October 9th. If you can help, please contact Ms. Franklin at rfranklin@brownsburg.k12.in.us or call her at 852-1498 ext. 1177. Thank you for considering! :)

H1N1 Information

H1N1 Consent forms were sent home Thursday, Sept. 24th and are due Tuesday, Sept. 29th (with the exception of the Purple Class students). All forms must be returned, even if you choose not to have your child vaccinated. That date and schedule for vaccinations at Brown will be sent to parents when we have received confirmation from the Health Dept. Please call the school office if you have any questions. Thank you. 317-852-1498

GO COLTS!

These might be the cutest little Colts fans I have ever seen! :) GO COLTS!!

2009 Dog Dash

We had such lovely weather and were able to raise money for Brown Elementary all while getting some fresh air and exercise. Our PSG is the BEST! Enjoy the photos of the Dash and the award ceremony too.

DOG DASH!

We dashed today to support our PSG and be active. What fun it was! Enjoy our class picture sporting our Dog Dash 2009 t shirts! :) GO DOGS!

School Picture Day!

What a great looking group! :) Meet the "Purple Class".

The New Kids on the Block

It's been fun getting to know the newest members of Brown Elementary School this week. We were quite busy getting into routine and learning procedures. On Monday and Tuesday one of the school bus drivers brought over a bus and taught us some important bus safety. We are working on learning the names of one another and having fun learning new things. I am looking forward to another super week. Remember we have school pictures Wednesday and Thursday! :)

Back to School!

It was so fun getting to know 48 new kindergarteners this week! I look forward to an awesome year! One of the best parts of teaching is getting to meet many new people in the community each year. School starts Monday, and I have SO much to do! Feeling Froggy!! :)

Summer Fun

Please click on the comment button below to leave a summer story for us to all enjoy!

Last week we went to Gulf Shores, AL. It's our favorite beach spot! Carter loves the sand, and I love to watch him have fun! We went to Lulu's and Lamberts, too. Two of my faves!

Hope you have had a fun summer as well!! Can't wait to see your stories!!

Mrs. Hines

A New Year!

It's official! School starts soon!

To my former students, have a great year in first grade, and please come see me often for hugs and smiles!

To my future students, I look forward to meeting you on August 11th and 12th (see your letter from Mrs. Reed for your appointment time) for our brief assessment. You will get to see your new classroom, too! Room 120 is my new classroom this year.

School begins for the "Purple Class" on Monday, August 17 at 9:00 am. The first day for the "White Class" is Tuesday, August 18 at 9:00 am. Please plan to attend the Parent Information Night as well!

It's going to be a super year!

Graduation 2009

Hi Parents! If you would like me to post all of the great graduation pictures that were taken by Mrs. Spurgeon, please put a comment below. Otherwise, I will assume you have enough of your own. If you got some great shots, please email them to me at my school address. Hope you are enjoying your summer!

Thank you so much for all of the wonderful end of year gifts. It was so kind of you! My summer is just beginning because I was in classes the last two weeks. I cannot wait to enjoy some time with my son. I was very blessed this year with the support and collaboration of 41 wonderful families!

Blessings to you all!
Mrs. H

Track and Field Day and End of the Year Stuff

The purple class will have their Track and Field Day on Wednesday, May 20th. Look for pictures of this fun day soon!

Mark your calendars now for graduation! It's right around the corner!

Report cards will come home for the final time on the last day of school. You will not need to return them.

As a tribute to the incredible year, I will be putting together a slide video of pictures from the school year. If you have digital pictures you would like to share, please send them to my email address. Thank you for a great year!

Track and Field Day 2009 (white class style)

Thursday was our track and field day for the white class. We had a great time and did some team building activities. I think the kids' favorite was the tug of war (especially the kids vs. the adults) but my favorite was the kickball game. It was great comic relief! The kids had a great time. Unfortunately my memory card was full so I only got pictures of our first few relays, but Mrs. Lockner had her camera all day and I am sure she will share her shots with me. Enjoy! Oh, and PLEASE leave some comments! I am beginning to wonder if anyone is looking at this blog but me! :)

Portfolio Night

Thank you for coming to Portfolio Night last week. It was fun to see your families! Enjoy the slideshow!

Chickens!!!

We have chickens! They began hatching yesterday morning, (April 26) and I spent the better part of the day here with them. They are adorable! Right now we have 8 chickens. Here are some pictures I took yesterday of them. I also have a cute video of one of them hatching. We are so excited! If all goes well, we will keep them until next week sometime. Then they will be off to the Beard farm in Mooresville. What an exciting and fun project! We love them so much already. I actually sang happy birthday to each one yesterday as it emerged from the egg. What fun!

The best laid plans...

Hello parents. I am writing with a few reminders for next week. Tuesday evening is the Portfolio Conference time for the purple class from 6:30-7:30 pm. Please plan to bring your child along as he/she will be conducting this conference to show you all of the growth that has occured this year and the projects we have been working on. Thursday evening is the white class's Portfolio Conference time again from 6:30-7:30 pm. Please plan to come at some point during this hour to see your child's portfolio of growth. You can also visit the Scholastic Book Fair.
Miss Beard's last day will be Thursday, April 23. Of course for the purple class, this will be Wednesday. I had planned to have a big celebration to say "thank you" and "good bye", but with all of the special events going on lately time has simply gotten away from me. Please ask your child to make a card or write a little note to Miss Beard to give to her at some point throughout the week. She has been an amazing student teacher and truly cares about each child in the class. I will present Miss Beard with a gift card to A+ Teaching Supply on Thursday. If you would like to donate, please send that in to me before Tuesday. Thank you for helping to make this a special farewell for Miss Beard.
As our school year draws to an end, I would encourage you to begin putting together a time capsule of items you have collected throughout the school year to give to your child during his senior year of high school. Kindergarten is a special year, and it's so easy to forget the many things that have happened. If I can be of assistance, please let me know.
Thank you for making this such a positive and fantastic school year. I look forward to celebrating more with you in June!

Hooray for Spring!

The White Class had a great spring party! Here are some pictures I snapped of the fun. My batteries were zapped when I tried to take pictures of the Purple Class so if you took some pictures, could you please share with me via email, and I will post them? Thanks for all of the great parties this year! The children had a SUPER time!

Children's Museum of Indianapolis

Hello parents. I wanted to let you all know of a minor change in our plans for our trip to the Children's Museum on Tuesday (14th) and Wednesday (15th). We were recently informed that the presentation of "The Sleeping Beauty" is over-booked and we are not able to attend the performance. I was really bummed about this, but they did manage to arrange a guided tour through the Planetarium for us instead. I am sorry that it did not work out, but I know there are many awesome attractions at the Museum and we will have many opportunitites for learning and fun! I have included a link for the Museum if you would like to take a peek. Also, if you plan to come along as a chaparone, please be at school no later than 8:50 so I can take attendance and we can load the bus for a prompt departure. Thank you so much!

Green Eggs and Ham

Miss Beard reads us the classic Dr. Seuss story "Green Eggs and Ham".

Do you like green eggs and ham? Well, I know a bunch of kindergarten kids who do!!

Field Trip

Our kindergarten field trip has been set for the 14th and 15th of April. We are going to the Children's Museum of Indianapolis to experience the exhibits and to view a special live presentation of Sleeping Beauty in the Lilly Theater at 11:30. We will need chaperones. I have placed a link of the permission slips on the class website for you to print and send back. I will also send home a "paper" copy on the next attendance day. It should be a really fun day for everyone! Mark your calendars!

KINDERGARTEN GRADUATION

Mark your calendars now! Kindergarten graduation dates have been set!
Can you believe we are planning the end of the year already?! Here is the preliminary information about the Kindergarten Graduation. More information will come home soon, but I thought you might like to mark your calendars now!

What? Kindergarten Graduation and Picnic
When? Wednesday, June 3 and Thursday, June 4
Time? 10:00-12:15
Where? Brown Elementary Cafe

**Everyone is welcome to attend! Please plan to stay after the ceremony to enjoy a picnic lunch with us in the grassy area behind Brown Elementary. Bring your lunch, your camera, and your tissues!

Spring Party

Hello Parents. We are planning for the Spring Parties that will take place on March 26 and 27 at 1:30 pm. When thinking about these parites, we ask that you please keep a few things in mind:
ALL FOOD MUST FIT THE HEALTHY FOOD GUIDELINES; THIS MEANS IT MUST NOT HAVE SUGAR OF ANY FORM LISTED AS THE FIRST INGREDIENT. PLEASE KEEP THIS IN MIND.
WE HAVE A "NUT-FREE" CLASSROOM. PLEASE CHECK THE LABELS CAREFULLY!
Thank you for keeping the health and safety of our students priority. Everyone likes sweets (especially me), but it is school policy and we must obide by it. Let's make our last party in kindergarten our very best!!

Moving into March

Hello parents. It's March! Let the "madness" begin! Here are some exciting things happening this month:
March 6: Movie Night 6-8 pm
Showing High School Musical 3
Proceeds benefit the Komen Foundation
March 19: 12:45 dismissal
March 24 & 25: Spring Pictures
March 26 & 27: Spring Parties 1:30-2:30 pm; report cards go home
March 30-April 4: Spring Break (NO SCHOOL)

Miss Beard is beginning many exciting units of study including a mini-economy where students will each have a job and responsibilities in the classroom. She is teaching measurement, new word families, weather, and nouns and verbs.

I am including some pictures taken in February. It's hard to believe that spring is nearly here. We are ready for some "outside" weather!

I am loving listening to the students read each day! I am amazed at the strong readers in both classes! Wow! The children read at 10:40 each day. Feel free to come in on your child's day!

Have a great week!

Valentine's Day Fun in Room 101

We had a great time celebrating Valentine's Day Thursday and Friday. Enjoy the pictures! Thank you to all who helped make it a great day for the children!!

BROWN BONANZA!!

The Brown Bonanza is tomorrow night! Dinner starts at 6:00. Please plan to come for some good family fun and support our fabulous Brown Elementary PSG! Each grade level has a basket to auction off, and there are some great prizes! It's sure to be a blast! Hope to see you all here!

100th Day of Kindergarten

We had a great time celebrating the 100th day of kindergarten! We had stations where the children made 100 day glasses, 100 snacks, 10 stacks of 10 unifix cubes, and a paper chain of 100 links. The students listened and interacted with the stories "Miss Bindergarten Celebrates the 100th Day of Kindergarten" and "100 Ways to get to 100". We finalized our celebration with a snack mix of all of the 100 tasty items sent in by you. Thank you for helping to make this day memorable for all of the children! I would like to send a special thank you to Mr. Bost and Mrs. Buck for your help at the stations! We couldn't have done it without your extra hands and kindness!

Weather Woes

Hi parents. Due to the cancellation of school yesterday, January 28, our 100 Day Celebrations will be held on Monday, February 2 and Tuesday, February 3. Please plan to send your child's 100 day snack on the corresponding date. Thank you! :)

History in the Making

Coverage of the Innaguration for President Barack Obama begins today (Sunday). We will watch portions of the festivities on Tuesday in the classroom. This is truly history in the making. Whether Democrat or Republican, this is an exciting event in our Nation's history! The connections to our first African-American President and the celebration of the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. will be a curricular focus this week. Much as we remember where we were when the Challenger was lost, our children are witnessing history. What an exciting time for Americans young and old!

Welcome to Miss Beard!

With last week's weather troubles, delays and cancellations, and the extra testing that we have been undergoing, I have not sent out an official "welcome" note regarding our new student teacher, Miss Jessi Beard. She comes to us from Purdue University (Boiler UP!!) and is excited to begin her quest to become a teacher. Jessi sent a letter home last week telling you more about herself, but with the weather woes I am not sure you all received it. Her enthusiasm for children and her fresh ideas and plans will give teach us all something over the next fifteen weeks! Please join me in welcoming Miss Beard to our classroom!

A New Kind of Newsletter!

Greetings Parents! I am trying my hand at this blogging thing! I think it's a great alternative to the newsletters that I am currently sending electronically. I love that I can update you with the new information and current events in the classroom, and you can still access the "older" information. You can even subscribe to the blog, and an email will be sent to you whenever the blog is updated. I am fairly new at this, so bear with me! Eventually, I would like this to take the place of emailing a newsletter each day. Please post your thoughts and feelings about this! I would love to know what you think!! Thank you for such a great 85 days! I am looking forward to the next 100 or so!