Month: February 2013

Hello Timberlin Families,

We have been having an awesome start to the school year in the art room! Please send an old t-shirt in with your child for them to wear in art class. We use a lot of materials which can be messy and may end up on clothing. Since we are almost through the first round of the rotation I am asking that all students wear their art shirts to art class from now on to prevent ruining clothing. I do have extra shirts if students forget their art shirts, or if they take them home to be washed, but I would prefer each child to have their own.

I will be keeping most of the student artwork throughout the year to use in our art shows. This gives me the opportunity to choose from many projects to ensure each child has a piece of art on display. All artwork will be sent home at the end of the year.

Thank you and have a wonderful day!

Mrs. Witkowski

Learn about Child Find.

RELAX Flyer

RECYCLE! RECYCLE! RECYCLE!

Over the past four years Timberlin Creek has taught its students the importance of recycling. From plastic bags to plastic bottles, our students, teachers and staff help our community by recycling through the program our PTO has established.

TCE participates in Terracycle’s recycling program by collecting Capri Sun, Honest Kids and Kool-Aid drink pouches. Besides keeping these items out of landfills, TCE earns money for its participation.Terr acycle makes them into pencil cases, bags, and other things you can see at www.terracycle.net. You can send in used pouches from home with your children and we also collect them directly from the children at lunch in the cafeteria.

TCE also collects plastic overwrap and grocery store bags for the Trex program, which makes those materials into wood alternative products you can see at www.trex.com. Because TCE has collected the most plastic bags in our district for the past FOUR years, we have won FOUR playground benches! You can send in plastic bags and overwrap with your children or drop them off in the specially-marked bin in the Front Office.

Our students, teachers and staff also recycle their plastic bottles and soda cans in bins in common areas throughout the school and in our cafeteria. Our cafeteria workers recycle used food cans too.

If you have any questions or suggestions for recycling, please contact PTO’s recycling coordinator, Karen Merrifield, at [email protected].

Please save the following items over the summer for our school:

• Box Top for Education: Please continue to save and turn in your General Mills Box Tops for Education Coupons to the Front Office. Download the new Box Tops for Education Form.
• Campbell Soup Labels – We are still collecting Campbell products. These labels can be exchanged for free merchandise! Please cut out just the front portion of the label.
• Soda Pop Tabs – Don’t forget to save the tabs off of cans for the Ronald McDonald House this summer. Save and return them when you come back to school.
• Tyson Labels from any Tyson product.
• Used Laser and inkjet printer cartridges – We do collect all sizes of ink cartridges. These can be placed inside the front door to the left. This allows us to purchase school supplies. Note: We do not take cartridges from copiers.
• Cell Phones – We also accept cell phones that are no longer being used.
• Office Depot – Have your purchases credited to our school’s account for free products. Our school number is 70207997.
• My Coke Rewards – My Coke rewards can be found on over 200 Coca-Cola products. Lots of packages carry codes. Codes can be found under the cap, inside the packaging or on shrink wrap packaging. Donít confuse the UPC code with the My Coke Rewards code. Here is how it works. Schools can collect points donated by My Coke Rewards members and redeem them for a variety of rewards including playground equipment, creative supplies, classroom materials and more. Points are earned by entering codes found on packages from any of the twelve participating Coca-Cola products including Coca-Cola, Sprite, POWERade, Dasani, and Minute Maid.

Parents are concerned about the safety of our children. In light of current events, it is even more on our minds lately. Here is a site for The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children website (www.missing-kids.com) that has some great resources.View the brochure “Know the Rules… for Going to and From School More Safely.” as well as “Know the Rules… Abduction and Kidnapping.”

Thank you for always being sure there is an adult at the bus stop to greet your children. View the Bus Safety Brochure. Many of our Timberlin Creek parents look out for each other’s children. Safety is number one at Timberlin Creek and the safety of our students is always a priority.

Want to know what is happening with our PTO? View our PTO Website!

Here are some important bus safety tips!

• Arrivals – all busses have been arriving by 8:25 AM each morning. This is great for our students as it gives them enough time to get to their classroom and begin their day without being rushed.
• Parent drop off line will close at 8:25 AM so students have ample time to get to their classroom to get started on their school day. All parents can drop off from 8:05 to 8:25 AM. Students arriving after 8:25 AM will have to be escorted in by their parent through the front office door.
• Dismissals – All busses will be called at one time.
• Parent Pick up will continue to be called after all busses have been loaded and cleared to leave. Please be sure to post your child’s name card in the passenger window of your vehicle. This will help expedite the pickup process.

We encourage all students to ride the bus. This is a service that is provided for the convenience of parents. On our busy 210 corridor, it is still the safest way to and from school everyday.

Safety Reminders

Bus Riders
I want to thank parents for their patience as we continue to tweak bus pickup and drop off times. Here are a few reminders for parents:

1. Please do not step on the bus at any time.
2. Remember that the bus is on a schedule. Do not hold up the driver by talking with him/her. We need to keep the bus moving so our students get to school on time.
3. Be at the bus stop 5 to 10 minutes prior to scheduled pick up and drop off times.
4. Please be sure your children are safe at the bus stop by letting them know what you expect of them. Students should not play or run around at the bus stops at any time.

Parent Drop Off /Pick Up

1. DO NOT PASS cars waiting in line on Pine Tree Lane. We do not want anyone to put themselves at risk or put the lives of parents and students traveling in the opposite lane at risk. PLEASE do not pass any cars waiting in the parent pick up line. If you want your child early, please come by 2:20 PM (1:10 PM on Wednesdays) to check them out.
   *** Do not pull out and around other cars that are picking up or dropping off students in front of you.
2. DO NOT TALK ON THE CELL PHONE. For the safety of our students, I ask that ALL parents refrain from talking on their cell phone when the line is moving to pick up your child. We need your fullest attention as you approach the pick up area.
3. Do not use the bus ramp area to drop off or pick up students. The only exception to this rule is when parents drop off our early morning extended day students prior to 8 AM. THANK YOU for the part you play to assure our students are safe at ALL times.

With the numerous holiday activities that are planned for students, parents’ helping hands will surely be needed and welcomed. What does present a problem, is our limited parking. Please know that teachers are working together to try to stagger upcoming holiday activities throughout the day and upcoming weeks rather than plan activities all at the same time.

A few gentle reminders about parking:

1. Park in designated spaces if available.
2. Park out on one side of the road in front of our school.
3. Do NOT park in the parent drop off area or in our bus loop. These areas MUST BE KEPT CLEAR for emergency vehicles.
4. PLEASE DO NOT PARK in the area where our buses park. They return from their runs at 9:30 AM. As you know, we will have a problem parking big yellow school buses if parents take their parking place on the second driveway into the school to the parking area.
5. Look for signs showing areas that can not be blocked or used for parking.

We appreciate your help and support.