Friday, February 12th,
Friday, February 26th,
Friday, March 19th (Pizza & Trophy Party for bowlers)

ARK Fifth Grade Bowling will be at the Playdrome in the Ellisburg Shopping Center on Fridays after school. Important details can be found here.

Thank you,
ARK PTA

Friday, February 19th 6:30-8:30

Dear ARK Community:

Join us for a “FAMILY FUN RAISING EVENT”

CRAFTS
* Clown with Balloon Animals & Face Painting
* Tattoo Parlor
* Decorate a Bookmark
* Coloring Tables
* Make Valentine Cards
* And More!

GAMES
* Duck Pond
* Ring Toss
* Bowling
* Golf Putting
* Basketball Hoops
* Moon Bounce
* And More!

SNACKS
* Popcorn
* Cotton Candy
* Hot Dogs
* Soft Pretzels
* Juice
* Water
* And More!

We are in need of volunteers to help in the following areas:
* Set-up will start between 3:30 - 4:00
* Clean-up starting at 8:30 - until?
* Crafts
* Prize Table
* Food Station
If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Tracy Lackey at tlackey021670@gmail.com and indicate what ½ hour or hour time slot would work best for you.

In addition, if you have a middle or high school student who would like to volunteer and receive community service hours, please let me know that as well.

Thanks so much!
ARK Winter Carnival Committee

Friday, February 19th

Dear ARK Family

Award winning illustrator E. B. Lewis will be visiting ARK

Some of his books are
* Down the Road
* Bippity Bop Barbershop
* The Bat Boy and His Violin
* The Other Side
* Keeping the Night Watch

Parents: Please return the order form to school by: Friday, January 29th.
The order form can be found here.

This event is sponsored by ARK PTA.

Thank you,
ARK PTA

text here

February 22nd - February 26th

Dear ARK Family,
The Scholastic Book Fair is coming to A. Russell Knight!!!
Students will shop during their library times.

Where: Russell Knight Library.

Family Night: Wednesday February 26th 6:30-8:00pm

Look for our book fair updates comming soon.

Thank you,
ARK PTA

Thursday, February 25th, 6:30pm-8:30pm.
Friday, March 5th, 6:30pm.

ARK Volunteers Needed.
The 5th Grade Committee is seeking volunteers to donate a baked good for two upcoming events. We need donations in individual containers/bags and mark the item if it contains nuts or nut oils. You can drop off the baked good in the school office during the day of the event or as you arrive.

We also need volunteers to staff the table the nights of the events.

The proceeds for these events will benefit the 5th Grade class of 2010 but baking donations will be happily accepted from all ARK Families.

Thursday, February 25th at 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm - Scholastic Book Family/Science Fair Night.
Friday, March 5th at 6:30 pm - Variety Show

Please email Bridge Bell at bridget500@comcast.net
and indicate which event you can send a baked item(s) in for or if you are available to staff the table.

Thank you,
ARK PTA

Thursday February 25th, 6:30 to 8:00

Dear ARK Family,
On Thursday February 25th we will host the annual ARK Science Fair. We will display the science products in the All Purpose Room from 6:30 to 8:00 pm. This is the same evening as family night for the book fair which will be held in the library.
Students who choose to participate are permitted to work alone or groups of three or four. There will be no competitive judging but everyone is encouraged to stop by and see the projects on display. An adult is asked to attend the Science Fair with children who are presenting.

Please let Amy Barrett know via email (barrettwerk@hotmail.com) if your child is planning to participate.

Each project should include the following:
1. Title of the project. You can investigate, explain and/or experiment.
2. Problem. This will be a question to which you would like to find an answer.
3. Hypothesis. This will be an educated guess to answer that question
4. Procedure. How you put the project together. Describe your experiment, observation, data or demonstration.
5. Findings. Record the results of the observations you made as you followed your procedures.
6. Conclusion. State whether the original hypothesis was correct or not.

Projects can include observations of the environment, demonstration of a basic principle of science or controlled experimentation. Projects should not include any elements that could be potentially dangerous to the student or any observers of the project.

For display, the display unit should be sturdy and provide a structure for a vertical display of graphs, charts, photographs or any other material. The first panel may show the purpose of the project and procedure followed, the middle might show the title of the project and photos or drawings of the project and the last panel might show results and conclusions.

If you plan to participate please send a note with the following information by Friday February 12th:
- Name of Student
- Whether this is a group or individual project
- The title of the project and a brief description of how it will be presented.

Thank you,
ARK School

March 3rd 2010 to March 24th 2010

Dear New ARK Family Members,

Children must be five years old on or before October 1, 2010 in order to be eligible for Kindergarten. If your child is currently enrolled in our pre-kindergarten program, and you wish to meet with the school nurse to review medical requirements, you may do so on your scheduled registration day. Current Kindergarten students in Cherry Hill Public Schools do not need to register for first grade. It is not necessary to bring your child to register.

Details for Kindergarten & First Grade Registration for childern entering the public school system for the first time can be found HERE.

Thank you,
ARK School

Wednesday, April 21th 6:30-8:30
Wednesday, June 9th 6:30-8:30

The details for the October Skating Party are as follows:
LOCATION: International Sports Center
Kresson Road, Cherry Hill (behind 7-11) 856-428-8588
ADMISSION PRICE: 5.00 per child. This includes skating, skate rentals
and fun zone play area. Parents are admitted free but will be charged $3.00 for skate rentals.

All children must be accompanied by an adult.

Please contact Chadd Lackey at 856-428-0742 or tlackey021670@gmail.com with any questions.

The International Sports Center home page can be found here.

Thank you,
ARK PTA

Tuesday, March 2nd, 7:00pm

Dear ARK Family,
Please join us for the ARK General PTA Membership Meeting.

* The 4th grade teachers will be attending to present a day in the life of there 4th grader.
* There will also be a questions and answer period.
* There may be some refreshments.
* The meeting is held there in the all purpose room at ARK.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Thank you,
ARK PTA

Friday, March 5th 6:30pm

Come join us for A Russell Knight’s 1st Annual Variety Show.

What’s your talent?
Singing, Dancing, Telling Jokes, Playing an Instrument, Magic Tricks, or ????

If your child wants to participate, please return the entry form to his/her teacher
by Friday, February 5th.

Details and the entry form can be found here.

Thank you,
ARK PTA

Dear ARK Family,
Please take the time or have your children stop by the lost and found box in the All Purpose Room. There are a lot of nice articles of clothing including some sweat shirts that are unclaimed.

All items that have not been claimed will be donated to us at the end of the school year.

Thank you,
ARK PTA

Please click the following link to view the Cherry Hill School Districts Code of Conduct Philosophy.

CHPS Code of Conduct.

Thank you,
George Guy
ARK Principal

Dear ARK Family,

Please click here to find out your class total as of January 20th.
We’re off to a great start.
Keep sending in those Boxtops!

For complete details on how you can participate in the BOX TOPS FOR EDUCATION program, click here.

Thanks for your interest in our school.

Thank you,
Linda Hare
Box Tops Coordinator

Dear ARK Community

Information for the new language arts literacy curriculum that we are unveiling this year can be found at www.brainshark.com/hmhsupp/literacybydesign.
You will need to register at the first screen.

Please click here for the highlights of our new language arts curriculum for the twelve elementary schools.

Thank you,
ARK School

ARK Friends of the Library Book Donation Program.
Honor someone special and enrich our children’s lives at the same time!
The ARK PTA, in cooperation with our school library, is again offering the “Friends of the Library” book donation program.
Books are available for purchase as a gift to the library in honor of any deserving student, teacher, family member or friend.
The honoree will receive acknowledgement in the book on a dedicated bookplate.

Please return the form found here and address it to “Friends of the Library”.

Books will be purchased by Mrs. Sindoni.
You will receive a call to select a book from your specified price range.
You will then receive an invoice. Please do not send money until then.
Questions may be directed to Kim Dunne at kimmer123@verizon.net or 427-6816.

Thank you in advance for your generosity!
ARK PTA

Dear Russell Knight Families,

If you are in school for any reason, please take the time to visit the library. There are many changes to our collection because of a generous Cherry Hill Education Foundation Grant (CHEF) for $3500. The new books have arrived that are specifically targeted to interest boys in reading. We will be piloting our program with the third grade and tracking progress using the Accelerated Reading Program. We are excited about the opportunity to improve the gap between girls and boys and their reading interests and achievement.

The Battle of the Books is another way that students from the fourth and fifth grades can read interesting books at home, meet in large and small group at lunch recess and prepare to win the “Battle” to be held at the end of May. To read our first book, Nothing is fair in 5th Grade, we had 30 students participate. The admission price for the lunchtime meeting is 3 questions with answers. A brownie for dessert will be supplied with the fun. Copies of these books have come from our library, the 6 elementary schools participating, the Cherry Hill Public Library, funds from another CHEF grant, and the King family.

Our collection of books is expanding every day. Last year over 200 books were added to the collection from families at Knight. Through the school library budget and the “Friends of the Library” donation program over 300 books were added to the collection. Special thanks to Mrs. Dunne for continuing to organize the “Friends of the Library” program and all our donor families: DeHart, Berenato, Hare, Bornyasz, Janney, Kinsella, Kelly, Hildebrand, Salcito, Graham, and Goldstein. With your continued support, that total should be met or exceeded again this year!
Once again, the Barnes & Noble night on Friday, December 4th from 5 to 9, will feature our principal, Mr. “Skippy John Jones” Guy, and our teachers reading their favorite stories to our students. Join us this year for the holiday ride of your life! The proceeds of this event benefit Knight School and encourage our students to enjoy books outside of school.

Your children have the benefit of a library program that encourages borrowing books on a weekly basis and as often as needed depending on the curriculum. That program depends on volunteers to help in the library.

We offer a special “thank you” to all our volunteers who come weekly. Mrs. Bean continues to organize the volunteers and work weekly in the library. Her assistance is invaluable. To recognize each volunteer, a new book will be dedicated in his/her name to the Knight Library collection.

Library Volunteers 2009
Jennifer Bean * Cynthia Stevens * Debbie Quarry * Donna Berns
Kim Dunne * Janet Goldstein * Linda Hare * Julie Durand
Lea Paslowsky * Sue Rosica * Karen Magosin * Jill Graham
Lisa Givner * Irene Salcito * Bill Frett * Jen Miller
Michele Wolf * Vicky Kelly * Colleen McCay * Nancy Porowski
Millie Rocco * Judy Cantelli * Regina Santoro * Debbie Quarry
Monica Niemi * Jennifer Frett * Lory O’Brien * Nicole Reigel
Pam Miller * Susan Remphrey * Cherie Kinsella * Alissa Rodiguez
Susan Bruce * Jana Challlenger * Sandy Deas * Stacy Spivak
Theresa Vasiliadis * Monique McHugh * Kathy Branin * Tracey Staepel
Helen Williams * Liz Young

Thank you all for your support.
Mrs. Sindoni.

The attached is a sampling of information regarding the positive benefits music has on a child’s life.
We hope you take the time to review the list.

Click here to view the Music Education Statistics and Facts Document.

Thank you,
ARK PTA

The ON-Line Learning Portal is a beta\prototype\under development on line teaching\learning tool web site.
This website is being piloted in Mrs. Redfearn & Mrs. Johnson's 2nd grade class.

Ckick here to enter the ON-Line Learning Portal.

Remember this site is under construction, almost everything is functional but may lack content.
Please provide feedback as to Mrs. Redfearn & Mrs. Johnson's on content and functionally.
As of now the second grade is our test bunny. This will be rolled out to other grades in the future.

Thank you and have a nice day!
Mrs. Redfearn & Mrs. Johnson

As students across the country return to school, the H1N1 virus is a frequent topic of news coverage. Flu can spread easily from person to person; therefore, we are taking proactive steps to prevent the spread of flu in our schools. We want to keep our schools open and functioning in a normal manner, but we need your help to do this.

Please click on the following link, it contains district information in regards to the H1N1 virus including a video from the district medical officer Sandy Kowal.
www.cherryhill.k12.nj.us/news/news/detail.cfm?itemid=3153

Please click the following link, it contains the latest update from the state department of education in regards to H1N1. Latest H1N1 update from the state.

Thank you,
George Guy
Principal A. Russell Knight
(856) 428-0830
gguy@chclc.org

As part of our district’s Professional Learning Community work, this year, we will be using a new elementary school schedule. The new schedule includes the following key features:

* A move away from the traditional “Monday-Friday” schedule to a five-day rotation schedule. As a result, students do not miss special/encore classes due to holidays or days off from school.

* A time allocation for all subjects in the district’s curricular program. Uniform 40 minute time allocations for all special/encore for physical education, art, music, and Spanish.

* An Intervention/Enrichment (I/E) period every day to provide students with regular opportunities in small and dynamic learning groups for remediation, re-teaching, extension work, pre-teaching, and enrichment. Each grade level will have an exclusive time slot for their I/E period.

* Minimized disruption of excessive pullouts during instructional time by using the I/E period as the primary time slot for special service delivery.

* Institutionalized common planning time at each grade level.

* Limited special area/encore teacher itinerants’ travel within a day and attempt to have them travel from day to day instead.

The link below is to the Day 1-5 elementary schedule on the district website.
www.cherryhill.k12.nj.us/news/calendar/ElemCalendar.cfm.

Thank you,
George Guy
Principal A. Russell Knight
(856) 428-0830
gguy@chclc.org

Dear ARK Family,

Did you know ARK is one of five Green Schools in the district.

The ARK community can help our schools through donations from our home recycling program. When choosing a reward from your points you can make a donation to the Cherry Hill Education Foundation. The Cherry Hill Education Foundation is an all-volunteer non-profit organization that raises and distributes funds for staff initiated educational programs throughout the Cherry Hill School District.
ARK benefits from the foundation.

If you would like to use your points to make a donation, please follow these steps:

-Visit the Recyclebank web site at Visit www.recyclebank.com
-Sign in using your email address and password.
-Click on “Choose Rewards” to be directed to the rewards page.
-Click on “Donations” under the categories provided.
-Click on “Local Picks” and then look for the Cherry Hill Education Foundation logo.
-Follow the instructions from Recyclebank to make your donation.

Thank you,
Ms. Colleen Court
ARK Third Grade Teacher
(856) 428-0830
ccourt@chclc.org