Your chance to learn about the school budget and have a voice!

Ann Arbor Public Schools Budget Forums
Superintendent Todd Roberts and Deputy Superintendent Robert Allen will be hosting two sessions to give staff, parents, students and community members an overview of the district’s budget planning for the 2009/2010 school year.

Thursday, March 5
7:00-9:00pm
Forsythe Middle School
1655 Newport

Tuesday’s meeting at Scarlett was very lightly attended: let’s see if we can get more concerned parents to this last meeting!

Mark your calendars! The Special Interest Fair is Tuesday, March 24, 2009.
Registration form attached below.

For those of you not familiar with the fair, it is similar to a science fair, but almost anything goes. The purpose of the fair is to encourage students to pursue a topic of their interest and provide a showcase for their efforts. This year, we are encouraging students to make projects that relate to our multicultural focus on Treasures and Wonders of the Arab World (Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Syria).

Our principal, Mrs. Morhous, has put together some photo mini-websites so that everyone can get the flavor of some of the special events in our community.

Our thanks to everyone who came to the used book sale and to those who have bid on items in the collectible book auction, benefiting a fund established in the memory of Burns Park parent Karen Thomas.

We sold more than $1,000 worth of books at the used book sale, and collected additional contributions. The Burns Park PTO and the AAPS Educational Foundation collaborated to organize this used book sale and online auction of collectible books from the collection of Karen and Andy Thomas. One thousand dollars of the proceeds of the book sale go to the PTO and are earmarked for the school library; proceeds beyond that went to the Karen Thomas Fund and were matched by a generous donor. All proceeds from the book auction, and any direct contributions to the Karen Thomas Fund made by 12/31/08, will also be matched up to a total of $25,000.

The Ann Arbor Public Schools has prepared draft policies regarding three important issues relating to elementary schools. These are:

• Attendance
• Acceleration (moving students up one or more grades)

• Retention (holding students back to repeat a grade)

Superintendent Todd Roberts has requested PTO Council to assist in soliciting comments from interested parents regarding these proposed policies (see attached PDF files). Copies of these proposed policies are also available from the school office. All parents are encouraged to review these proposed policies.

Dear AAPS Parents and Guardians,

This past weekend the USDA issued a recall on meat products that were distributed as a commodity item through the United States Department of Education’s school lunch program.

The Ann Arbor Public Schools does have some of this meat product (beef patties and taco meat) in our possession but it has never been served to any student in this district.

Please join us for the Special Interest Fair!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Hey parents – it’s time again for the Special Interest Fair! The fair is a Burns Park tradition, and we hope you’ll encourage your student(s) to participate. Last year approximately 80 students shared special interest projects with their classmates, teachers, and families.

All students from kindergarten through 5th grade are encouraged to submit a project! The purpose of the fair is to encourage students to pursue a topic of their interest and provide a showcase for their efforts. The fair is non-competitive, and children may work alone or in a group.

To help our students get started with research on Africa for the Special Interest Fair, we’ve developed a list of books and other resources in conjunction with the PTO’s Multicultural Committee. These books are available from the Burns Park school library (media center), and the call numbers are listed at the left of each item. Check it out!

Mark your calendars now so you won’t miss our Scholastic Book Fair! The dates are Tuesday, November 27 through Friday, November 30, including a special Family Night on Thursday, November 29 from 6:00 – 8:30 pm. Book Fair Week is an exciting time at our school, and we’d love for you to join us in making it a success. The Book Fair gives you and your children the opportunity to buy carefully selected, quality books and products at affordable prices. We invite you to participate in this celebration of books which raises funds for our school library media center.

October 19, 2007 4:37pm
Dear Burns Park Families and Staff,

We were informed late this afternoon by the Washtenaw County Department of Public Health that students who are excluded from attending classes at Burns Park and Wines elementary schools may return to school effective Monday, October 22.