Tope Elementary School(970) 254-7070
(970) 241-0687 FAX
Principal – Dr. Jeannie DunnMarlene Hays and Valerie Kiel
Assistant Principal – Cindy Cooper Secretaries
Our mission is: To lead all students to reach their individual potential by rigorously pursuing and evaluating achievement of high academic and ethical standards in a disciplined, nurturing environment.
Si usted desea una explicacion en Espanol de este particulo, por favor, llame a la oficina: ELP/ESL en
254-5339.Estamos para servirles.
Our Vision
We at Tope Elementary believe that all children can learn in our safe and nurturing environment. Through parental support and teacher guidance, each child will be encouraged to attain her or his full potential in all areas. We as teachers, aided by parents and community, model respect and love of learning in order to influence and support each child’s growth and development.
May 2008
Dates to Remember
Friday, May 2, 2:30 – 4:30 p.m.Volunteer Appreciation Tea
Monday, May 5 and Tuesday, May 6Book Fair Preview
Tuesday, May 6, 10:00 a.m. & 2:00 p.m.Public Library Summer Reading Program Assembly
Wednesday, May 7, 4:00 – 8:00 p.m.Book Fair
Wednesday, May 7Cookie Dough Orders Arrive – Pick up after school
Wednesday, May 7, 4:00 – 8:00 p.m.Parent-Teacher Conferences
Thursday, May 8, 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.Parent Teacher Conferences
Thursday, May 8, 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.Book Fair
Thursday, May 8 and Friday May 9NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS
Wednesday, May 7, 4:00 – 8:00 p.m.Parent-Teacher Conferences
Monday, May12 – Wednesday, May 14Fifth Graders at Camp Red Cloud
Wednesday, May 21, 9:45 – 11:45 a.m.Swim Day at Lincoln Park Pool (1st – 5th Grades)
Thursday, May 22, 10:00 a.m.All School Awards Assembly
Thursday, May 22Last Day of 2007-2008 School Year
Monday, June 9School office closes
Monday, July 28School office opens
Monday, August 18First day of school for 2008-2009
From the Principal
On behalf of our school staff, I wish all of our students and their families a safe and fun summer. Our students benefit every day from the helpful participation of our many parent and community volunteers. A special thanks to our School Advisory Council and the members of our P.T.A. Executive Board who worked diligently to support and improve our school. Our P.T.A. assists our school in so many ways, including providing fun family activities such as the Family Fun Night and the Tope Family Picnic.
We are so proud of our hard working students! Our teachers are excited to share information about student growth with parents during our Parent/Teacher Conferences in May. Our goal is 100% attendance. Parents, please help us accomplish this goal by scheduling a conference with your child’s teacher.
I encourage our students to continue reading over the summer break. Reading is the key to academic success! The Mesa County Library’sSummer Reading Program provides a fun and inexpensive way for families to enjoy reading. I challenge students to read 25 books during summer break and bring me the list of book titles read in August. We are planning special recognition for students who complete this challenge.
Thank you, parents, for your involvement in your student’s education. Have a wonderful summer!
Dr. Jeannie Dunn
Enjoy a safe and happy summer!
Report Cards: The final report card of the school year will be mailed to your home. If you have moved recently and have not notified the school office of your new address, please call immediately with the new information – 254-7070. Also, our first parent newsletter of the 2007-2008 school year will be mailed to students’ home addresses. If your child will not be returning to Tope next fall, please call the school office.
Student Medications: If your child takes a prescribed medication at school, please stop by our office to pick it up by Thursday, May 24. As a precaution, medications will not be sent home with the child. Any medications left at school are routinely destroyed after school closes for the summer.
The Food/Nutrition Services Department thanks you for your patronage this year! Watch your mailbox this summer for our newsletter and applications for free/reduced school meals.
COME JOIN US …
ALL FORMER STAFF MEMBERS, STUDENTS, AND THEIR FAMILIES!!!
You are invited to join us on Wednesday, April 30, from 3:30 – 5:30 p.m., as we honor two staff members with an Open House Celebration. Gail Washington completed 29 years of teaching at our school and is retiring. Dale Sperry, aka “Mr. Dale,” our wonderful day custodian is also retiring. These fine staff members positively influenced the lives of students in our school over the years. We give our best wishes as they retire and we certainly will miss them!
Thank You!!
Pepsihas generously donated money for teacher appreciation, staff recognition, Peace Builders awards, student recognition, and school projects. We thank them for their support!
Office Depotsupports our school by donating 5% of your purchases to our school if you provide them with our school number -70017917. What an easy way to support Tope!
Targetwill also give us money when you use a Target credit card.
Recycled print cartridgesare also collected and we receive money for them.
Saving Boxtops and Campbellsoup labels will also help our school.
Using Albertson’sor City Marketcards will give cash back to our school.
Counselor’s Corner
Cyber safety, or safe use of the internet and email, is a subject I have rarely spoken with our students about. This is probably an oversight on my part having to do with my lack of training and a lack of experience in this area. One need only take a glance at almost any issue of the Daily Sentinel to see evidence of dangers for our children on the computer.
According to an article I read recently, about 45 million children between the ages of 10-17 are online daily. There are two main types of dangers when kids go online, bullying and sexual predators. Bullying may happen on the some of the popular social networking websites like MySpace and Facebook. Rumors and smear campaigns may target an individual who has fallen out of favor.
If kids and parents follow a few simple guidelines the family computer can be what it is meant to be, a fun and valuable learning tool.
- Children need supervision on the computer and therefore, the computer needs to be in an open area where parents can view what kids are looking at.
- Children need to be taught good “netiquette” or computer etiquette. This should include lessons on never giving out one’s name, phone number, school or teacher , social security numbers or other personal information while online.
- If kids are on the receiving end of online bullying or harassment, they should immediately tell parents or family members. Children should never respond to threatening or harassing emails or IM’s. The messages should be saved and forwarded to the internet provider or, if the bullies threaten physical violence, the police. The sender’s emails may be blocked.
The world of having our kids on computers, in social networking websites, and texting with cell phones is new and different for people of my generation. Yet, as with all things our children are involved in, we have to teach safe and proper behaviors and then monitor children to make sure they are following our guidelines.
Rob Washington
School Counselor
Girls on the Run – Congratulations to the girls who have participated in Girls on the Run. This is a program to encourage girls to develop self-respect and healthy lifestyles through running. Thank you to our coaches: Pam Newton, Alice McCary, Ruth Ness, Stacey Fuhrey, Liz Bissonette, Sarah Carlson and Paige Hickman.
Outstanding Educator Recognition:
Anna Marie Gorman will be honored at the Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Educator Banquet on May 1st. Only five elementary teachers were selected for this honor. Ms. Gorman, kindergarten teacher, has worked at our school for 16 years. Congratulations for this well-deserved recognition!
The Tope Elementary School Advisory Councilheld the final meeting of this school year on Monday, April 14. Agenda items discussedwere multi-age classes and our school budget and expenditures.
PTA Monthly News
With another school year almost gone and with this being the last PTA article for the school year, we’d like to thank you all now for another great year in supporting our school. Without your strong involvement, we wouldn’t be able to provide you with the exciting news from our cookie dough sales. We managed to raise about $7100 that will go directly to purchasing our new playground equipment. That is about a third of the amount needed to reach our goal. Great job everyone. You will notice the shuttle in front of the school office is colored in. For every thousand earned, another section will be colored in. To update all of you on your cookie dough orders, they have been delayed and will be delivered Wednesday, May 7th. We apologize if this has caused an inconvenience for any of you.
This year our Tope picnic will be Thursday, April 24th from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Please join us for a good family time. This year’s picnic will be potluck style. Bring a dish to share to feed between 8-10 people and join us for a good family time. There will be no cost for the food, but each game will be $.50 to play. Lemonade and water will be provided.
We are in need of help for the final Book Fair for this school year. The Book Fair will run during Parent/Teacher conferences in May. If you are interested in helping, please contact Amy Shearrow at 241-7169.
We are pleased to announce that Tope and Live Well have teamed up to make our school a more healthy school. By doing so, Live Well will donate money to Tope Elementary, based on how well we commit to being healthy at school. Teachers will be asked to fill out a form and rate how well their class has committed to changing to a healthier lifestyle, on children’s daily snacks they bring in from home, the food given during class parties and how active the kids are during school. So parents, please help by providing your child with a healthy snack. The more points earned, the more money Tope will receive for our playground equipment.
At the April 14th meeting, Lorri Knaus was elected Publicity Representative.We are still looking to fill the Volunteer Coordinator and VP/President Elect positions. If you are interested in one of those positions, please contact any PTA board member. All other board members will remain in their current positions for the next year: Roni Mitchell and Missy Carris – Co-Presidents; Stacey Keever – Treasurer; Anne-Marie Nielson – Secretary; Dr. Jeannie Dunn – Second Vice President; and Lori White and Jeni Ellyson – Teacher Representatives.
With that said, I’d like to take this opportunity to say my good-byes and thank the Tope staff for all your support throughout the years. You are all a wonderful group of people that my child and I have had the privilege of getting to know and work with. It was a great honor to serve as a board member for this school and to work with a great group of caring parents. I will truly miss you all and miss being a part of the Tope family. I wish you all much success in the future.
Praises and Friendly Reminders:
You can continue to use your City Market, Safeway and Target cards during the summer, with a portion still coming back to Tope. You all did a wonderful job this year. The amounts raised will be posted in the newsletter next year.
Kidshave done a phenomenal job bringing in those Box Tops this year. You have surpassed our expectations. Give yourselves a pat on the back for a job well done. April will be the last month for this school year to earn a popcorn party. Let’s see which class will hold the honor of bringing in the most Box Tops for the final month. Good luck! Also, congratulations to Mrs. Bolton’s class for bringing in the most Tops in March.
Regularly check the PTA board and table for current information on what is happening with the PTA. If you have any further questions or comments please contact myself or any PTA Board Member. Information is available online at
Ana Vargas – Publicity Representative,
or 260-0599.