Message from Our Ptsa President

WEEK’S EVENTS

MESSAGE FROM OUR PTSA PRESIDENT

Greetings Parents, Staff and Teachers!

PLEASE NOTE DATE CHANGE! Pre-Oscar/movie night will now be held on February 28th. See attachment for more information.

It’s almost time for the Oscars. Here at Woods we have our own way of celebrating. Come to our Pre-Oscar Party and Movie Night. Our pre-party is in the cafeteria and it’s here where you will cast your own ballot for the winners. Then it is off to the auditorium to watch a movie. It’s a red-carpet night for all. Hope you will join us on February 28th. For more information and the permission slip click on the link: Oscar Party 2014 Feb 28th

______

Save the Date!!

Monday, March 3rd @8 pm Tomlinson Middle School auditorium

District wide presentation on the new SBAC test (Smarter Balance)

Speaker, Shelbi Cole of the Smarter Balance Testing Consortia will present an informational forum on the new Common Core tests (grades 3-8 and 11), followed by a Q&A.
Ms. Cole is Director of Mathematics for Smarter Balance and former education consultant to the CT State Dept of Education.

Sponsored by Fairfield PTA Council. Questions, please contact Tricia Donovan,

______

WE NEED YOUR HELP WITH MEMBERSHIP!!I’m excited to announce our 2nd MEMBERSHIP CONTEST! If you are not a member of the PTSA yet now would be the perfect time! The CONTEST starts today 2-4-2014 and continues thru 3-3-2014. One winner will receive a Woods sweatshirt! ($35.00 value)So send in your check with the membership form. (I will announce one winner in the 3-3-2014 E-blast)click on this link for the form: (not sure if you are a member? Email me at and I will let you know.) (disclaimer not all sizes of the sweatshirts maybe available)

______

BOARD OF EDUCATION

We will have Phil Dwyer chairman of BOE at our next PTSA meeting. Our meeting will be held on February 18th from 7-9pm in the Library Media Center at Woods. If you are interested in learning about process our BOE budget goes through, this will be very informative. As well bring your question. There will be time for Q & A.

______

Next Stepsfor the Education Budget:

March 6th @ 7:30 PM - 501 King's Hwy - 2nd Floor - BoE Conference Room

Joint Board of Selectmen/Board of Finance, featuring a presentation on the Education Budget by Dr. Title and BoE Chairman, Phil Dwyer.

This will be followed by a Q&A session by all members of both the Board of Selectmen (BoS) and Board of Finance (BoF).No Public Comment at this meeting

March 29th @ 9:30 AM- BoF Only - Public Comment at RLMS Auditorium(ONLY OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT)

Although both Boards discuss the Education Budget jointly, they VOTESEPARATELY as follows:

March 31st @ Time TBD -BoS Budget Vote - Sullivan Independence Hall:This meeting maygo into April 1st.

April 3rd @ 7:30 PM - BoF Budget Vote - 7:00 - 501 King's Hwy. - 2nd Floor - BoE Conference Room

Parents are highly encouraged to attend these meetings since parentpresence has shown in the past to make a difference in past years' votes. Parents may alsoshare their opinions on the budget by e-mailing all members of the Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance. All e-mail addresses may be found on the website, FWMSPTSA.org- Board of Education tab for your convenience. Please contactEric Newman at , KellyDunn at or Leann Ratner at if you have any questions.

______

Are you looking to get involved in your PTSA? Our Nominating Committee has started their search for the next school year and would like to talk to you! We have many different opportunities available.Please send an email for more information to our Nominating ChairMargaret Ruff at

______

Please note that you will receive your e-blast every Monday as a link. In order to read the whole blast please click on the link. Thank-you. (please do not click on the link on the bottom of the email this will unsubscribe you.)

______

DIRECTORY ACCESSWe have emailed access to the directory to all parents who have paid theirmembership dues as of Sunday 2/16/2014. We will continue to send out access as we receive your dues, if you have any questions or have not received access please do not hesitate to email me at

______

OPEN TO ALL WOMEN

Fairfield University Public Safety along with the Fairfield Police Department will be offering a Rape Aggression Defense, (R.A.D), class starting next week at Fairfield University. Please email Detective Beth Irizarry at for details or to sign up.

______

Cheers,

Tausif Churyk, PTSA President

203-258-5995

______

SCHOOL NEWS

BoxTops reminder“Keep on Clipping"

Continue sending in your BoxTops. Put them in a ziplock bag and have your child drop them off in the BoxTops box in the Main Office. Every little bit helps FWMS.

Next BoxTops submission is February 28th. Keep clipping those BoxTops.

______

Yearbooks are on sale! Order your yearbook online! Link to site:ORDER YOUR JOSTENS YEARBOOK Any questions? Please contact your yearbook advisors, Mr. Morris or Mrs. Vilenski,

______

PTSA WEBSITE Visit our website stay up to date.

______

SPIRIT WEAR

Many of you have asked about Spirit Wear, we have added pictures on our website under LINKS. For questions contactRachelle Sheehan SPIRIT WEAR CHAIR at Click on this link for more information: Order your Spirit Wear

______

MEMBERSHIP If you haven’t yet please send in your form along with your membership dues. Join us. You are an integral part of the supportive and engaged family and teacher community we all enjoy here at Woods. Click here for the membership form Have questions about membership? Email or Chrystal Moynahan

Our membership contest is still ongoing! So send in your membership for a chance to win a Woods Sweatshirt!

______

FAIRFIELD WOODS PTSA DEADLINE FOR ADMISSION IN EBLAST PTSA board, chairs, committee members and teacher/staff– if you have a blurb you would like to add to the e-blast please send it to me no later thanThursdays at 6pm. Email it to and The e-blast will go out every Monday, so please look for it in your mailboxes.

______

SEPTA2013-2014

SEPTA UPCOMING GENERAL MEETINGS Please join us on Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. at the McKinley School library. Childcare is provided. March 12,April 9,May 14,June TBD

Septa’s 2nd Annual Pancakes for Dinner – February 24th – Three Seating 5, 6, and 7 p.m For more information please

SEPTA TAEKWONDO AT SPORTSPLEXRay Greenberg Basketball League Scheduling for the Ray Greenberg Basketball league: Park and Rec Challenger League; Feb 22; March 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29; April 5 and 12. Any questions please call Drew, Susan, Kristen, and Jeff Bickel at(203) 254-3592. RESOURCES Please visit the SEPTA website, to see a list of available resources.

______

COMMUNITY NEWS/LINKS

Discovery Museum, February 22nd: African American Heritage Celebration at the Discovery Museum. This is a free day for the public to come and enjoy the events. Discovery Museum & Planetarium, 4450 Park Avenue, Bridgeport, CT AfricanAmericanHistFlyer

______

Fairfield Parent Survey

The Fairfield Cares Community Coalition and Positive Directions need your input on an anonymous parent survey sharing your attitudes and perceptions about underage drinking and youth substance use.

Thank you for taking the time to answer the questions; your responses are completely anonymous. The survey should only take 10-12 minutes and can be accessed via the link below:

The link will be open from February 3rd- March14thand is limited to two per household.

Survey results will be used to help provide a better understanding of teenage alcohol and substance use in our town so that community programs can most effectively address our families’ needs.

If you have any questions regarding the survey, please contact Fairfield Cares Co-Chair Wendy Bentivegna, 203-767-6456, or Cristin McCarthy Vahey, 203-522-3037, .

______

SMARTKIDS Learning Disabilities

Wednesday, February 26, 7:00 PM – 9:00 pm, Nora Belanger, Esq., Special Education Attorney, Westport Public Library, 20 Jesup Rd., Westport, CT

What To Do When the School Says No - workshop helping parents overcome the obstacles often encountered in receiving services for children with learning disabilities and related disorders.

Flyer_Nora_Belanger_RESCHEDULE_date (1)

______

The Connecticut Audubon Society is offering this summer a new Junior Science Lab for ages 10 to 14 at our Birdcraft Museum. This program offers exceptional programming for campers ages 10 to 14 that cultivates a supportive learning environment. Our advance enrichment programming expands campers’ knowledge with hands-on experimentation and exciting discovery. JR Science lab flier

______

FAIRFIELDRTMDISTRICT6 As your RTM representatives for District 6, we’d like to invite you and to check out and follow our district Facebook page ( for “news you can use” throughout District 6 and around Fairfield. Our goal is to help keep our community current and involved in neighborhood, school and town events of interest and to introduce (or re-introduce!) town resources and services that make Fairfield such a great place to live. Any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to contact any of us. Fairfield RTM District 6 Representatives – Julie Gottlieb () – Allen Marks () – Sheila Marmion () – Jay Wolk () – Liz Zezima ()

______

Fairfield’s 375th Anniversary Committee,which is co-chaired by Town Clerk, Betsy Browne, and Bankwell’s First Vice-President, Bob Hojnacki, today unveiled a calendar packed full of exciting events and programs for residents to participate in throughout 2014 to help celebrate the Town’s birthday.375calendar11-12-13

______

LINKS:

2014.01.13-2014.05.17 Pathways to Parenting

Baseball Clinic Spring 2014 Clinic Brochure (1)

Free Rec Soccer for High School Girls rec_soccer_program2014spring

Fairfield Woods Middle School 1115 Fairfield Woods Road, Fairfield, CT 06825