Stafford Elementary: In the News
These articles can be found in the Free Lance Star (Tuesday) and Stafford Sun (Friday)
"Suzie Says..."
Maintained by Suzie Ludwig, 5th Grade Instructional Paraprofessional
(540) 658-6340
November 10
Fifth graders who are participating in the County-Wide Problem-Solving contest used many different strategies to solve six difficult problems in the November contest. The top scorers for this month are Joseph Knight, Dorothy Castelly, Joey Heindrichs, Jezreel Chitty, and Margo Rayner.
The Stafford Elementary PTA Beautification committee held their annual "Tuck in the Garden" Day on
November 7. Volunteers worked hard to make sure the gardens were properly prepared for the winter weather and to assure a beautiful spring showing.
On Tuesday, November 10 a fabulous red, white, and blue Veteran Day Celebration was held to honor all of the family and friends of Stafford Elementary who have served or country The PTA invited many guests to speak to the Dolphins about their experiences serving with the Armed Forces. Patriotic music was presented by our fabulous music director Jason Collet and snacks were provided by our fabulous parent community.
On Friday, November 20 Stafford Elementary will present BEAM Day - Be Excited About Math! a learning lab for parents to observe a real class having a real math lesson. The primary lesson will be taught at 9:30 and the intermediate lesson will be taught at 1:30. There will also be pre-sessions to explain what you will see and a post-session to answer any questions you might have. Questions concerning this program should be directed to Becky Parker at rparker@staffordschools.net.
Kindergarten will be holding parent conferences on Tuesday, November 17 from 3:40 until 6:30 p.m. and then again Wednesday, November 18 from 1:40 to 7:30 pm. Awards for first marking period will be held Monday, November 23 at 2:30 p.m. in the Dolphin Dining Room.
Dolphins parents are asked continue to support the Fall Food Drive by dropping off or sending in canned food with their children until November 20.
October 2009
Fifth Grade Focus students from SES joined other fifth grade Focus students from the county for a field trip called, 
"The Big Think". And what a great thinking day it was. Three events were planned in advance for our students to show their problem-solving ability, creativity, teamwork, and communication skills in order to complete tasks. Students attempted to build the tallest tower; they created geometric shapes with a 50-foot rope while blindfolded, and they performed a skit using a variety of characters and props. The day was a huge success. I am very proud of our fifth graders. They received compliments for their behavior and thinking skills. The students who participated included: Calie B., Dorothy C., Brendan F., Joey H., Stephanie J., Joseph K., Erin P., Margo R., Drew W.. Thank you to our chaperones, Mrs. Jacobsen and Mrs. Knight.
October 21, 2009
Stafford County Public Schools have established a K-12 student and staff software-purchasing program through JoureyEd. This program allows for any student (parent/guardian) or staff member to purchase software at a significantly lower price than found in most retail environments. Please contact JourneyEd at http://journeyed.com/select if you have any questions or issues with placing your order.
Many fifth graders are participating in a countywide problem-solving contest this year. This contest runs from October to April, and each month they work really hard to solve six difficult logic problems. Nancy Scott administered the first contest of the year and congratulations go to the top scorers for October: Dorothy C., Joseph K., and Drew W.
T.J. Ucciardi is the school's Technology Resource Teacher who also heads up the SMART team. T.J. has posted his schedule for the rest of 2009. SMART Team will meet every other Wednesday beginning on October 21 from 3:20 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. in Room 1. Future meeting dates are November 4, December 2, and December 16. Questions can be directed to Mr. Ucciardi by email at ucciarditj@staffordschools.net or check out his SMART Team webpage.
A new club called Kids Fit has been formed and began on October 26 for Stafford Dolphins. The P.E. teachers will meet with students once a week for six weeks in order for them to gain a wider exposure to fitness exercise outside the physical education room. The students will learn how fitness is a lifestyle choice and how nutrition plays a part towards fueling their bodies. Permission forms were sent home with the children and needed to be returned to school by October 22. This club is only open to upper grades but a plan to expand will be explored for the winter session.
As of October 19 enrollment in the K-2 grade Green Garden Club has been filled. The club now has 30 members and is in its fourth year as an organized club! Charma Carr is the supervisor of this group of fine young gardeners and she asks that parents that are interested in enrolling their children to check with her periodically to see if any spaces have opened up. Additionally Carr notes that there were still a few openings in the 3-5 grade groups. First and Second grade students will meet the second Tuesday of the month from 4-5 p.m. Third, Fourth, and Fifth grade Dolphins will meet the fourth Tuesday. With this division of groups, members will be exposed to age-appropriate environmental studies with Standard of Learning connections.
The student directed and produced news program at Stafford Elementary is called WSES. Each morning fifth graders meet in the studio to begin gathering any important Dolphin announcements, news, or celebrations for the day. The anchors, cameraperson, and video controller work on the morning announcements for one month. At the end of the month, they produce a special news show that is pre-recorded and edited with special music and skits. This show is designed to feature and showcase more of the Dolphins in our school.
Becky Parker is the Math Specialist at Stafford Elementary. Parker has been busy planning workshops for parents interested in learning fun ways in which to help their children at home in the area of Math and Reading. The first of three Universities for Parents! Workshops will held on November 10 from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. Parker says this will be a Make-it, Take-it session where parents will make real games to use at home. Becky can be reached by leaving a message at the school office (658-6340) or by email: rparker@staffordschools.net.
October 13, 2009
First graders will be using Scholastic News as an educational tool integrated into the classroom curriculum. After Dolphins use the paper in school they will get a copy to take home every week.
Fifth graders have voted and elected the new Ambassadors of Stafford Elementary. These
fifth grade students offer mediation to fellow students to resolve social conflicts, act as tour guides to potential Dolphin families and promote a sense of goodwill and community by promoting the Connect with Kids character education/bully prevention program.
Marce Miller’s Art room is lovingly called Creativity Central and the theme this year will be 
nature. Marce and her students are already very busy learning, designing, and working on projects that reflect the world around them.
best book. Our Dolphins votes count in selecting the books that receive the Virginia Readers' Choice award. At Stafford Elementary, we encourage the students to join in this decision-making process by reading and voting. To be eligible for the Sleepover students must read all ten of the Virginia Readers' Choice books listed on the schools website and then pass the Reading Counts tests. Once the test scores are documented, they will be eligible to spend the night at school! Trudy encourages parents to read these books with their children and then come join in the sleepover fun!
September 30, 2009
The first “Student of the Month Breakfast” sponsored by the Guidance department will be held on Friday, October 2 with Mary Foreman. One student from each classroom was selected to 
represent the class and the school because they exemplified the word of the month.
Nancy Scott is once again the Dolphins Gifted Education Resource Teacher. The mission of Stafford County Public Schools is to challenge each student to reach his or her potential and to prepare each student to succeed in society. However, gifted students are among those students with exceptional needs. Gifted Education Services at the elementary level provides resource each week to identify gifted students, which allows them the opportunity to hone their higher level thinking skills, creative problem solving, analysis, and logic. As the Gifted Education Resource Teacher, Nancy provides enrichment to additional students through annual competitions, collaborative lessons, and extra-curricular clubs, such as chess and math club. Scott has been busy with her students this month and is about to begin a unit that is centered on Problem-Solving. Students will have a lot of fun with Spontaneous problems, and long-term problems that are very similar to Odyssey of the Mind-style activities.
The Dolphins have been introduced to a new member of the staff when they entered the PE room. Joe Debosh now shares the gym with Maureen Pfahler. Physical Education classes meet twice a week for forty-five minutes. Students have been reminded to wear the appropriate shoes and clothing to P.E. Students will not be allowed to participate if they are in Crocs or sandals because they do not support the feet and an injury could occur. Parents are reminded also that as the weather beginning to turn all
students need to be prepared to be outside All classes have been practicing following the gym rules and all grades have practiced performing different warm-up and running activities and progressed through a series of tagging and chasing/fleeing games. The fourth and fifth grade classes have begun the FITNESSGRAM tests to help determine baseline scores across each fitness component. Parents are encouraged to visit the FITNESSGRAM site for more information. 
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