Dates to Remember:

May 1, 6:30pm - Ed Webster presents Mt. Everest stories and photos at Topsham Public Library
May 2, 6:30-8:00pm - Decades Dress up & Dance Day
May 7, 8:00am - Staff Appreciation Breakfast
May 7, 5:00pm - Ms. Hall’s 5th Grade Photography Exhibit at Frontier Café in Brunswick
May 9, 2:00pm - W.O.W. Performance for School
May 9, 5:45pm - Mural Gala, Dedication & Reception
May 9, 6:30pm - W.O.W. Community Performance
May 13, 6:00pm - Partnership Meeting
May 14, 7:00pm - District Chorus and Band Concert @ Orion
May 21, Step-Up Day
May 26, NO SCHOOL
May 26, Woodside Romeo’s Pizza Night
May 29, 6:00pm - Playground Committee
May 30, 6:30pm Variety Show

Variety Show News

Woodside School students, in grades 2 through 5, are encouraged to begin practicing their acts for the Variety Show. This year, the big show will take place on Friday, May 30th at 6:00 pm. The audition date will be Wednesday, April 30th from 3:15 to 5:30 pm. Please take note of the following guidelines as you prepare your acts:
**Performers should be prepared for their tryouts. To prevent the show from being too long, only well practiced acts will be accepted into the show.
**No lip-synching, karaoke, or singing along with recorded music is allowed. Students will be accompanied by live musicians only! I will provide instrumental back-up for singers or you can ask a friend or family member to accompany you. We will work together to create a great performance! For tryouts, students can sing along with a CD or tape, but they will also be asked to sing the song a cappella, without the CD.
**Dancers can dance to recorded music that is school and age appropriate.
**Acts should be under 5 minutes in length.
**Students from different grades can perform together.
**Rehearsals will take place after school on May 21st, 22nd, and 29th. Make sure you will be available for practices.
**Some possible variety show acts include: singing, playing instruments, dancing, skits, juggling, magic tricks or comedy routines.

If you have any questions about your act, or if you need help putting an act together, please talk to Mr. O.P. before the try-out dates.

Woodside’s Family Decade Dance

Friday, May 2, 2008
6:30 - 8:00pm

* Kids are encouraged to wear their favorite appropriate decade dance clothing…poodle skirt, discos, “duds”, or current trends to school and to the dance in the evening.
* The class with the most participation will win a classroom ice cream party or a trip to Dairy Queen!
* Snacks available for purchase
* Donations will be accepted at the door
* If you are interested in helping out with the bake sale, please contact Kristin Roberts at 725-8189. If you would like to volunteer for the decorating committee, please contact Betsy Lamb @ 721-1085 or email jbaslamb@suscom-maine.net .
* Proceeds from this dance will benefit the 5th grade Boston trip!!

Hunger Prevention News

The collection for the month of May will be PEANUT BUTTER! This is a food that is given to all families from the food bank. They are in great need of it. Send in all jars to your child's classroom.
This is the last collection of the year.

Thank you for your support this school year!

Playground Fundraiser

The Woodside Playground Fund is over $9,300, thanks to your generous support. We are always trying to come up with creative ways to generate revenue for a new playground. Some initiatives have been the Dessert Auction, the Scrapbooking Day and the ink cartridge/cell phone recycling program, among many others. We are also planning for our 5K and Family Fun Day in June. In this newsletter, we are introducing another new idea called "Search and Give", which is sponsored by Scholastic and Microsoft. It is an internet browsing tool that generates "tickets" with every search you do. "Tickets" add up to money that gets sent to Woodside School for the playground fund. The attached flyer explains how to participate. Woodside School is already logged into the tool as a charity you can pre-select. Thank you for your consideration of this fundraiser. For more information about how to support the Playground Project, you can go to our site: www.link75.org/wds and click playground project.

Progress/NWEA Measures of Academic

Second through fifth graders will take the Measure of Academic Progress/NWEA test. This computerized test measures progress in Math and Reading. Each test takes an hour or less for most students, and will be scheduled between our testing window, April 29 through May 16.

Earth Care Tip

You can help save gas and reduce carbon dioxide!
Drive Less~ walk, bike, carpool, combine errands or take mass transit more often. You’ll save one pound of carbon dioxide for every mile you don’t drive!
Eat Locally Grown Produce~ The average meal travels 2,000 miles from the farm to your dinner table. Energy used to harvest, process, package, store, refrigerate, and transport our food is a major
contributor to carbon dioxide emissions. There are many local farms and food choices in our area.

Mural Gala Dedication & Reception

On Friday, May 9th, there will be a reception and dedication of the "Celebration" mural. Last year's 5th grade students collaborated with Bowdoin College students to design a piece of artwork to honor Woodside's 15th year as a school. This spring Bowdoin College students enrolled in Professor Mark Wethli's Public Art Class transferred the design to the walls, transforming the hallway between the foyer and gym into mural featuring silhouettes of our students engaged in circus arts activities. The reception begins at 5:45, with the dedication ceremony at 6:00. The Woodside community is welcome to share in the celebration and we hope all of last year's 5th grade students (now in 6th grade) will join the festivities. A performance by the Woodside One Wheelers will follow the reception, with a Community Performance, beginning at 6:30. Donations will be accepted to benefit Woodside One Wheelers.

Bowdoinham Community School Laptop Auction
Friday, May 2, 6pm at the Bowdoinham Town Hall. For a complete list of items visit www.bcsfundraiser.com

Are You Moving?

Please inform the Woodside Main Office if you are moving next year. This is important information for us as we plan our classrooms for next year.
Thanks! Mrs. Tanguay tanguayk@link75.org

Kindergarten Information Night

Woodside will be holding our Kindergarten Information Night on Wed. May 28th from 6:00-7:00 p.m. at Woodside School. If your child turns five on or before October 15, 2008, please plan on joining us. Parents and guardians will have an opportunity to learn about the Kindergarten Program, have a tour, meet staff and ask questions.
This evening is for parents and guardians only. We apologize that we are unable to provide child care.
We hope you will join us!

Partnership News

The last Partnership Meeting was held on Tuesday, April 8th in the Woodside Library. We learned about exciting instructional technology happening at Woodside School among administration, teachers and students. We also reviewed our student activity accounts to date, which are all in good standing. Fifth grade is continuing to raise money for their upcoming Boston Trip. The Decades Dance on May 2nd will support that cause. We debriefed about the Evening Tuscany Dinner, which was very successful raising $1,162.54 for Partnership causes. The Spring Concert donations totaled $69.90 for music needs. We ended the meeting discussing plans for our 5K and Family Fun Day, which is set for Sat. June 14th. The 5K race proceeds will go toward the Colby Bate Scholarship Fund in honor of Jennifer Hickey. The Fun Day Proceeds will go toward the playground effort. More information will come out soon. Volunteers are needed. Please contact Mrs. Trach trachs@link75.org or Mrs. Dorr dorrs@link75.org if you are interested.
your child's placement. Parent and guardian input is

Classroom Placement

Just a reminder to parents and guardians: We are underway with our classroom placement process for next year. This is a highly specific process that starts with the classroom teachers and includes guidance, social work and support specialists' input. I am unable to accept requests for specific teachers, however I welcome e-mails and letters about your child's learning style, strengths and needs. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any input regarding your child's placement. Parent and guardian input is taken very seriously in the process. Thank you for your help. -Mrs. Trach, Principal trachs@link75.org