Special Projects – Improved Process and Faster Timeline

What are Special Projects?

Special Project funds are those funds that we raise at the auction that are above and beyond the PPT budget. A Special Project can be anything that benefits the school and follows the guidelines on the Special Projects application form.

Past examples of previous Special Projects are the Leveled Library books; the Lincoln School sign by Highway 14; and the Smart Boards. Matching funds from Special Project money also helped pay for the "Big Toy".

What's new this year?

The time lines will be different this year. To have the projects in the classrooms sooner, applications will be submitted between April and August. Submitted proposals will be available to review starting at Meet the Teacher Day. Following the Auction a consensus meeting will be held in November to determine which proposals will be funded, and funds will be awarded shortly after that.

How can you be a part of this process?

You can submit one or more Special Project applications - applications will be available for all Lincoln staff, parent/guardians, and uppers students to complete starting in April. You can review the applications that are submitted and if you are Lincoln staff or a parent/guardian, attend the consensus meeting to be a part of the process to decide how the Special Project funds will be spent.

What is the Special Projects timeline?

    In April 2010:     Application forms will be available on the Lincoln web site and through the E-files.

August 20^th, 2010:    Final day for application submissions for funds from the 2010 auction

    November 2010:    A consensus meeting will be held to determine how to spend the Special Project funds

Please contact Mary Hansen at 285-9047 or rmhansen2002@yahoo.com, or Julie Wingert at 288-6293 or djnwingert@aol.com, if you have any questions

Lincoln Auction: Save the Date…Lincoln Carnival: New Date!

Mark your calendar now for the 2010 Lincoln Auction to be held on Saturday, October 30th!  With the Carnival now taking place in the Spring, some new family-friendly activities for Auction day are being discussed. 

If you have ideas to contribute or are interested in becoming involved with the Auction, please contact Auction Co-Chairs: Juli Gifford at jagiff@hotmail.com or Betsy Schroeder at betsyms@charter.net.

For the past two years Lincoln has hosted a school Carnival on the same day as the Lincoln Auction.  At the February PPT meeting the option of splitting the Auction and Carnival into two separate events held on two separate days was discussed.  After much input and feedback from everyone in attendance at the meeting, there was a general consensus that the Carnival and Auction might both benefit by being held on separate days. 

The most significant reasons in favor of splitting the two events: the Auction/Carnival combined was a five hour event and perhaps too long for families with young children; both events required more physical space in the school than was available; and possibly each event would be better attended as a stand-alone event.  In the end, it was decided that Lincoln will host a Carnival again in the Spring of 2011, and the Auction will take place, as always, each Fall during the month of October.

Good news for the Carnival...Lincoln parent, Stacie Beecham, has volunteered to lead the Carnival efforts for the Spring of 2011!  New games and carnival attractions are already being discussed.  If you have ideas to share or are interested in being part of the Carnival planning team, please contact Stacie Beecham at peachbeech@yahoo.com.

Principal’s Letter - Jim Sonju

We are getting excited about the upcoming MCA tests for all students in grades three through eight. These tests give us a great deal of feedback on student learning at Lincoln and are considered high stakes testing as they have great implications on schools.

The Lincoln community has long embraced looking outside the box and creating creative approaches for student learning that works very well for our students.  It is imperative that our students continue to do well so we can continue to implement these innovative and unique experiences for our students.

What can you do as a parent to help ensure student success?

• Encourage your son/daughter each day to do their very best on these tests.
  
• Review their status on the Study Island website.
  
• Work with them on Study Island and help them work through tougher concepts that they are having difficulties with.
  
• Ensure they get a good night's sleep the weeks of testing.
  
• Ensure that they are at school on the test days so they are able to take these tests.
  
• 
  
  
  Encourage, affirm, and support students so they know they are ready for these tests as we have all worked hard to prepare them to do their very best!

This is what we are telling all Lincoln students – "Give their best and don't sweat the rest!"

Looking forward to calling with results again this summer to report how well your son/daughter does on the important tests :)

MCA Testing:

Tuesday April 13, Wednesday April 14, Tuesday April 20 & Wednesday April 21

PPT Presidents’ Letter - March

The snow is melting and Spring is right around the corner!  As we get closer to wrapping up the 3rd quarter of the school year, there are lots of exciting things happening at Lincoln.  We have many people to thank for their hard work this March.

First we'd like to thank the folks who put on another successful Applebee's breakfast.  It was a great event with great food!  Thanks to everyone who helped cook, serve and clean up!  And a big thank you to everyone who bought tickets and ate breakfast! 

Another fantastic 1-5 grade event was held at the Rochester Family Y. Thank you to all of the parents who organized such a fun activity for the kids.  We had a great turnout of parent volunteers and students as well, so thank you thank you to everyone who participated.

Another thank you to Shelly Glover for being in charge of staff appreciation.  With conferences this week, meals were planned and our staff got fed thanks to Shelly.  We appreciate all your work!

We would also like to thank Nora Dooley, Linda Griebenow and Jodi Hellickson for organizing the Book Fair and Ice Cream Social.  The kids look forward to this event in both the spring and fall, so thank you ladies for doing such a great job pulling it all together!

Just a reminder that the MCAs are right around the corner!  We'd love to see 100% of our students pass the test, so make sure they are logging in those Study Island hours!  Study Island is a great tool for students to use to work on the skills needed to pass the MCAs, not to mention building skills to be successful in school!  So keep answering those questions, and keep getting those blue ribbons!  This year, we can get 100%!  Keep it up!

We'd like to point out that there has been a change to our April PPT meeting date.  Instead of Monday April 26th, the meeting will take place on Tuesday April 27th.  We will be voting on the budget for next year that evening, so if you're interested in seeing where our PPT budget is being spent, please come to the April meeting.

This month's meeting on March 22nd will take place in the media center at 7pm.  Our speakers this month are James Robertson from the Diversity Council, and Zelda Collins-Moore, Minority Coordinator for the school district.  They will give a brief 15-20 minute informational session with our regular PPT agenda starting around 7:15.

PPT has a couple of open committee chair positions next year, so be sure to keep your eyes glued to the EFiles for the descriptions of each open role.  If you are interested in stepping up or have questions, please don't hesitate to contact Jodie Meurer odie79@hotmail.com or Chris DeMattos annabean01@charter.net or Chris Harmon at chharmon@rochester.k12.mn.us.