STEM Night 2012 Video

Video by Yischon Liaw

Once On This Island Photographs

Select thumbnail to enlarge. Photographs by Chenjing Liaw and Yischon Liaw.

STEM Night is Tomorrow — Tuesday at 5 PM!!!

Tomorrow night (Tuesday 22nd) is STEM Night!

If you have not RSVP'd, it is not too late.

All are welcome to attend from 5-7:30 PM.

There is no cost to attend STEM Night — it's free (donations to the school are always welcome though). And each person who attends will receive a water and pretzel. If you are still hungry, there will be pizza for sale for $1/slice — first come first serve.

The evening will have:

• Science Demonstrations and Presentations
• Community Members Sharing their STEM Careers
• McCall Science Fair Display/Judging
• Presentation of Awards to Community Partners
• Demonstrations and Discrepant Events, including:
• Investigations of the Small using Microscopes
• Measure Your Forces, Hang Time, and Heart Rate
• Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream and Dry Ice
• Food Science
• Forensics Exploration of Bones
• Zebrafish Development
• Laser Maze
• Math of Folding Paper
• Extracting DNA from Strawberries
• Energy Demonstrations

Any questions, please contact Mr. Knoflicek.

People of all ages can come out to enjoy the food and fun!!!

Weekly Update - May 18, 2012

Week in Review

Drama Club put on three magical shows of Once On This Island this week. We'd like to thank all the cast and crew for their hard work! This was our largest cast to date, and truly wonderful! Bravo to all of McCall's stars!

Special thanks to Union Gourmet 5th Street for their food and beverage donation. Everything was delicious!!

Special thanks to all those who helped before, during and after the performance-- the show literally would not go on without your help!!

Special Thanks to John Rae and MacGuffin Theatre and Film Company for generously supporting McCall Drama Club students and providing two scholarships to MacGuffin's Summer Camp. Additionally, John has offered any McCall student $100 off summer camp registration at MacGuffin. Its a great program. If you are interested, please reach out to John Rae at MacGuffin.

If you wanted to purchase a Once on This Island T Shirt and missed your opportunity please let Dr. Marshall know by end of the week (May 25th). If there is enough interest, we may order additional T Shirts.

If you are interested in a DVD of the performance, please let Ms. Gooding know, as DVDs can be purchased for $5.00 each.

Coffee with the Principal was held on Wednesday and Ms. Domb shared lots of great information about how to get your kids active through the summer months, had guest speakers from NBC Learn, and introduced Khan Academy, a free website with wonderful math tutorials and more.

Reminders

Science, Technology, Engineering & Math ("STEM") Night at McCall is this Tuesday, May 22nd beginning at 5PM (til 7:30PM). This is a free event for McCall families ! There will be lots of science demonstrations, presentations and fun things to participate in!

For more information, please see the STEM Night Flyer or visit www.mccallscience.com for more information!

McCall is hosting a Riversharks Fundraiser on Friday, June 1st!

Tickets can be purchased directly from Riversharks online and $5.00 from each ticket sale ordered through this site will be donated back to McCall Home & School!

Tell your friends, family and neighbors! Its a really fun night at the ballpark, with Fireworks to follow!

See the flyer for details.

The last day to submit Boxtops to be counted in the ice cream competition is wed may 23rd. Leave your Boxtops in the HSA mailbox.

If you, or anyone you know, has a child who will enter Kindergarten in September 2012 but has NOT YET REGISTERED your child, we recommend that you do so immediately. McCall has already registered 70 children for kindergarten and has a MAXIMUM CAPACITY of 90 children-regardless if McCall is your catchment school. If you have not registered your child before we reach maximum capacity, then you will be offered an alternative school for your child and be readmitted to McCall in First Grade. Kindergarten is not mandatory in the state of Pennsylvania so there will be no exceptions. If you have not done so, please register your child as soon as possible.

Have you see the new McCall Tote Bags?

Well, here's your chance to own one and show off your McCall Pride! The fabulous logo was created by our very talented Ms. Craven. They are just $15.00 each and roomy enough for all your "toting around" needs!

If you are interested in purchasing on, please deliver $15.00 (cash or checks payable to McCall Home & School) with your name, email & child's name & classroom.

Blue and Gold Day is Friday June 8th, rain or shine. McCall's annual Blue and Gold Day event is great fun for the entire school community. We have had great support from parents and community members in the past for this "field day" style festival. Harry Feinberg has graciously offered to head the H&S portion of the event. Please contact him if you are able to assist with the event so that we will have an idea of who to expect. Any monetary or time donations are most welcome! The event takes place from 8am-2pm.

Neighborhood News

On behalf of the Seger Park Advisory Council:

Thank you to everyone who helped in Saturday's Clean-up Day. We swept, picked up trash, pruned trees, weeded beds and created two new beds. It was a great day!

FREE: We have a ton of leftover top soil. Come by the park and help yourself. You'll find the pile behind the Rec Building. BYOB (Bring Your Own Bucket)

10 AND UNDER TENNIS PROGRAM IN JUNE AT SEGER PARK

Children ages 6 to 10., 4 Saturdays in June: 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd (rain date June 30th).

9am - 10am, 45 minutes of on-court activity.

10am - 11am, optional if participants want to keep playing. Instructors are from 9-10am only.

6 minimum participants, 18 maximum. $100 for all four sessions ($25 per). 2 instructors (Joe Falzone, Chuck Scarlato). Both instructors are "10 and under" experienced & accomplished.

A racquet will be provided for each participant, each of whom will be measured for a proper racquet fit. Each participant's parent/guardian will be required to complete a release form prior to participation.

Participants will be encouraged to play in between each Saturday session with each other and/or their parents/guardians. Necessary/additional balls & racquets are available for purchase locally at Everyone's Racquet.

More info re "10 and under".

Drama, Drama, Drama!!

Tonight, the Drama Club kicked off their performances of Once on this Island. It was AMAZING! If you missed it, don't worry because additional performances are on Wednesday (16th) and Thursday (17th) — show time at 6 PM.

Tickets can be purchased at the door for $10/adult and $5/student.

Drama club students may have brought home their costumes, but we need them for each night of the performance. We ask that all costumes remain at school, so please make sure that the children return their costumes in the cafeteria and return home in the uniform that they wore to school. If your child brought home their (or possibly someone else's) costume, please make sure to send it back in tomorrow in a bag labeled with their information on it. As well, some children did not have their costumes in full, so if you need their costume requirements, please let me know.

Also, a bag was taken in error from Ms. Phillips. If you, or anyone you know, may have picked up the wrong bag, please bring back to school tomorrow.

Weekly Update - May 11, 2012

Week in Review

A message from the nominating committee:

In light of the current budget situation and the efforts being made to advocate and support McCall, Andrea Layden & Merle Becker have agreed to remain co-President's for another term with the goal of adding 3 new members to the Board prior to the end of this school year. The decision was made with careful discussion and consideration by Ms. Domb, the current Board and other advisors/members in Home & School so that we can continue on in a united front. The additional board positions were decided to help support McCall's growing needs and more importantly, provide a simpler, more natural transition with the hope that the position can be transitioned at the end of next year when the school's budget is more secure in 2012-2013 school year.

Objections to this decision can be made to the nominating committee by note in the Home & School mailbox and/or at the start of the Coffee with the Principal Meeting this coming Wednesday, when the final nominating decision period will end.

Thanks to Bhana Grover for purchasing additonal microphones for the drama club performance.

The kids sound great and are excited about the new equipment.

Congratulations to McCall's Reading Olympic's Champions!

This past week, three teams of McCall readers attended the Reading Olympics Competitions after months of preparation. Our teams each won first-place blue ribbons after accumulating high scores against three others schools!

Congratulations to our 4th and 5th grade teams, The Bearz and The Rockin' Readers: Isabella Aldrete, Jialin Huang, Michelle Mei, Annie Ni, Nathan Trinh, Joy Wong, Sijia Zheng, Faatimah Burton, Zoe Koniaris, Madison Meidt, Kelly Cheung, Michelle Hu, Frances Yu, Kelly Deng, Margo Freedman, Jalyn Hill, Lexa Horsey, Alexis Lin, Daniel Liu, Qiang Zeng, Kennise Mills, and Julianna Sims.

Congratulations to our 6th and 7th grade team, ABCDE(Awesome Bears Can Do Everything): Imani Weeks, Siqi Zheng, Xiang Liu, Xueting Wei, Jiaying Liang, Angelike Koniaris, Benjamin Sei, Enwei Zhang, Thalia Hare, Jennifer Mach, Hannah Layton, Wesley Midgett, Elaine Sei, and Fei Liu.

Reminders

Coffee with the Principal will be Wednesday, May 16th at 8:40 am. Please join us in the cybrary.

If you, or anyone you know, has a child who will enter Kindergarten in September 2012 but has NOT YET REGISTERED your child, we recommend that you do so immediately. McCall has already registered 70 children for kindergarten and has a MAXIMUM CAPACITY of 90 children-regardless if McCall is your catchment school. If you have not registered your child before we reach maximum capacity, then you will be offered an alternative school for your child and be readmitted to McCall in First Grade. Kindergarten is not mandatory in the state of Pennsylvania so there will be no exceptions. If you have not done so, please register your child as soon as possible (please note: applications will not be accepted from May 14th-May 30th).

THE LAST DAY TO SUBMIT BOXTOPS TO BE COUNTED IN THE ICE CREAM COMPETITION IS WED MAY 23rd

LEAVE YOUR BOXTOPS IN THE HSA MAILBOX

Have you see the new McCall Tote Bags?

Well, here's your chance to own one and show off your McCall Pride! The fabulous logo was created by our very talented Ms. Craven. They are just $15.00 each and roomy enough for all your "toting around" needs!

If you are interested in purchasing on, please deliver $15.00 (cash or checks payable to McCall Home & School) with your name, email & child's name & classroom.

Blue and Gold Day is Friday June 8th, rain or shine

McCall's annual Blue and Gold Day event is great fun for the entire school community. We have had great support from parents and community members in the past for this "field day" style festival. Harry Feinberg has graciously offered to head the HSA portion of the event. Please contact him if you are able to assist with the event so that we will have an idea of who to expect. Any monetary or time donations are most welcome. The event takes place from 8am-2pm.

Come join the fun at the annual SEGER PARK FESTIVAL on SUNDAY, MAY 20th, 11am-3pm, Seger Park, 10th & Lombard Streets. Moonbounce, Free Tennis for Kids, Face Painting, Karate, Fitness, Crafts, Kid Music, Dance Performances, Food and Drink, Giveaways and More! Check out the new Seger Park T-shirts for sale! Questions? www.friendsofseger.org, info@friendsofseger.org, www.facebook.com/fospp. All proceeds support playground renovation. Many McCall families are involved with the park. Various McCall students will be volunteering all day and performing at 1pm! Don't miss seeing your McCall friends at this great event!

DRAMA CLUB INFORMATION

DRAMA CLUB PERFORMANCE of "Once On This Island" will be performed on

• Tuesday, May 15th 5:30 PM (Red Carpet Performance- show begin at 6 PM)
• Wednesday, May 16th at 6 PM
• Thursday, May 17th at 6 PM

Tickets are $10/adult and $5/student. Ticket sale forms will be sent out, but if you didn't receive ticket information, please download form below. Those who have sent their money in already will receive an email from Lori Ortiz letting them know that their tickets will be available at the door.

Please come out and support our Drama Club and Choir.

All children children must have their costume requirements to perform in the play. Please let us know if you have any concerns

If you child is in Choir, they will be performing as part of this year's Drama Club production. Choir members are to report to the auditorium by 5:45 PM. All Choir Members attend the play for free.

Concert attire: all black. They may also wear jeans and sneakers. Because the auditorium will be in total darkness, it is suggested that they bring a small flashlight so that they can see their scores.

Please let Ms. Gooding know if your child will be available for any/all performances.

There are over 40 young children in our Drama Club Ensemble this year. They will remain in the cafeteria while they are NOT performing. This can be challenging so parents are required to be a "Backstage Parent" for at least one performance. Parents will work with the children on crafts and fun projects while the play is going on; help with makeup and costume changes; help children return costumes each night; and assist children when they need to return to the performance. If you are willing to help (even if your child is not in drama club), please let us know.

Weekly Update - May 4, 2012

Week in Review

Thanks to Sharri Horowitz and all who volunteered to work on Election Day. We had a good turn out and raised money for the school.

Check our our new Bike Racks!!! Located on the 6th street side of the school, are new bike racks that have been installed courtesy of the Bike Coalition. Thanks to April Gamache for working on this and making it happen!

Thanks to all who helped out with Teacher Appreciation Week!

Teachers received:

• a wonderful breakfast- donated by families and organized by Sheri Feinberg
• an amazing lunch-- provided by McCall Family Owned, Kanellas
• and Tote Bags with new McCall Logos (We have additional totes for sale for $15. If interested, please contact married2Irish@msn.com).

Thanks to all who helped, and most important thanks to all our Teachers and Staff!

Reminders

Have you heard the news? Our children have-- LOUD AND CLEAR!! McCall Home and School installed Sound Absorbing Panels in our gym/cafeteria so that the 'noise' and 'echo' they hear during lunches, gym and after school events is lessened. Children can better hear while at these activities and have noticed a big difference. If your child hasn't mentioned it to you, ask them about it. Better yet, come in and check it out yourself!! The difference is astounding!!

If you, or anyone you know, has a child who will enter Kindergarten in September 2012 but has NOT YET REGISTERED your child, we recommend that you do so immediately. McCall has already registered 70 children for kindergarten and has a MAXIMUM CAPACITY of 90 children-regardless if McCall is your catchment school. If you have not registered your child before we reach maximum capacity, then you will be offered an alternative school for your child and be readmitted to McCall in First Grade. Kindergarten is not mandatory in the state of Pennsylvania so there will be no exceptions. If you have not done so, please register your child as soon as possible (please note: applications will not be accepted from May 14th-May 30th).

Seger Park (Lombard between 10th and 11th Street) is participating in Love Your Park Week with a Park Clean Up Day Sat May 12 from 10-1pm. We need you help to keep the park clean and pretty. To volunteer just come to the Rec Building Saturday Morning Ready to Paint, Plant and Prune. See you then.

If you have any questions please contact April Meidt, President Seger Park Advisory Council- meidt@comcast.net or 215-546-1250.

Doing a little indoor spring cleaning? Make sure to drop off any books to our Book Donation Bin (located inside the entrance doors). We've collected 125 over the past two weeks alone. Please consider McCall for any donations you may have.

Did the McCall Relays get you ready to run? Check out TriYOUTHalon for information for your children on ways to stay fit.

DRAMA CLUB INFORMATION

DRAMA CLUB PERFORMANCE of "Once On This Island" will be performed on

• Tuesday, May 15th 5:30 PM (Red Carpet Performance- show begin at 6 PM)
• Wednesday, May 16th at 6 PM
• Thursday, May 17th at 6 PM

Tickets are $10/adult and $5/student. Ticket sale forms will be sent out on Monday. If you don't receive ticket information, please download the form.

Please come out and support our Drama Club and Choir.

All children who will be in the drama club performance have received their costume requirements. Please send in your child's costume, labeled with all their information by MONDAY. If you have any questions, please contact Andrea Layden.

If you child is in Choir, they will be performing as part of this year's Drama Club production. Choir members are to report to the auditorium by 5:45 PM. All Choir Members attend the play for free.

Concert attire: all black. They may also wear jeans and sneakers. Because the auditorium will be in total darkness, it is suggested that they bring a small flashlight so that they can see their scores.

Please let Ms. Gooding know if your child will be available for any/all performances.

There are over 40 young children in our Drama Club Ensemble this year. They will remain in the cafeteria while they are NOT performing. This can be challenging so we ask that parents offer to be a "Backstage Parent". Parents will work with the children on crafts and fun projects while the play is going on; help with makeup and costume changes; help children return costumes each night; and assist children when they need to return to the performance. If you are willing to help (even if your child is not in drama club), please let us know.

Minutes from Coffee with the Principal, Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Playworks

Playworks Director, Joe Kelly came to speak about Playworks and how the program works and how to benefit our students at McCall.

Playworks began in 1996 out of Berkeley, CA and expanded into new states since. They operate in 320 schools in 23 cities across the US working with 125,000 kids annually. Playworks teamed up with Americorps Foundation to aid their expansion. They launched in Philadelphia a year and a half ago. Last year there were involved in 12 Philadelphia schools (11 District and 1 Charter). This year, because of budget cuts, they are participating in 8 schools. Next year, they will increase to 12 schools and have reserved a spot for McCall for the upcoming 2012-2013 school year.

Mission: Engage school communities with low income families.

How it Works: Playworks will hire a person from AmeriCorps for the entire school year who will work 8am-5pm, Monday – Friday at McCall for all students (K-8) and will be responsible for recess times.

Playworks Goals:

1. Identify students are doing the right thing and encourage play.
2. Have 100% engagement at recess. To give kids skills to play together and help those with insecurities or other. There is a distinction between structured play vs. organized play and goal is to get everyone to play!

3. Work with school to find ways to improve the transition time from recess to class time. Handle issues with fights, scrapes and bruises, etc on the playground so kids are ready to come back and learn.

   They accomplish this through, employing conflict resolution strategies, cooperative play, reinforcing boundaries, setting clear expectations and learned non competitive games.

4. Every class will get approximately 30 minutes of Class Game Time (or recess practice) each week in addition to recess. This will provide students tools to learn the language of the playground and have some sort of physical activity.
5. Junior Coach Program- Grades 4th-6th *** will learn “leadership training”. It provides professional development skills for these children. Children will take 10 minutes one time per week to help be an equipment manager, peace promoter, peer mediation and leadership training.
6. Playworks also offers an afterschool program Monday through Thursday each week until and includes homework support, includes healthy snacks and an activity based curriculm (3-5:30pm). This is geared toward 4th – 6th grades***.
7. Playworks also offers 3 Leagues (4-6wks long) to include co-ed soccer, co-ed volleyball and girls basketball. They also plan to offer squash this year.

***some 3rd graders may be able to participate in junior coach program and leagues as well***

The cost of the Playworks Program is $60,000, including the full time permanent addition of the AmeriCorps Coach. However, McCall will need to only contribute $25,000 during the 2012-2013 school year and Playworks will fundraise for the remaining gap of $35,000.

Questions asked: What about winter time and bad weather, what activities are done? They will use indoor space, whether auditorium or classrooms to play organized inside games, skill building activities.

Staff would include: One full time AmeriCorps person, a flex coordinator and 2 flex coaches are available to support McCall students each day.

Deadline is May 30th to let Playworks know if we are interested. Majority of attending parents agree that this program would be a great fit for McCall.

Payment would be due in June 2013. McCall H&S has committed to move forward with this program and plans on raise the money necessary to pay in installments.

Parents at meeting felt that it is not unreasonable to ask each family to make a $40/student/year contribution to support the Playworks program. Its $1 per week and an achievable goal.

Budget

The budget was discussed by Principal Carol Domb

Projected enrollment for 2012-2013 school year to be at 640 students.

Implications of the budget includes:

• Mr. Tang, our bi lingual counselor was cut to 4 days per week. We are going to try to get the district to change this, or we will need to find a way to fund the additional day.
• All teachers’ salaries have been increased and that is putting pressure on our budget, but we have all teachers in the budget currently.
• Ms. Domb has been able to continue to fund art, music, gym and computers. She is also aiming to fund a full time guidance counselor (upper grades).
• We will not have world language or problem solving
• Ms. Pigford will continue to support gifted program and other programs she currently maintains. There is not enough money to fund additional gifted support teachers.
• There is not enough money to fund a police officer.
• There is not enough money to fund Chinese/World Language Program.

Considerations to note:

• We are teetering on needing to add a 4th 2nd grade class and a third 5th grade class this coming school year. If anyone knows of children needing to register, do it now!
• Kindergarten planning on having 3 teachers

Budget decision has to be completed and submitted to District by April 30th.

Photographs from Bake Sale, April 2012

Select thumbnail to enlarge. Photographs by Judy Vargas-Sudler.

Weekly Update - April 27, 2012

Week in Review

Thanks to Legendary Dobbs for hosting it's McCall Relay Benefit Concert on Monday. The event was lots of fun and all the Relay baskets were displayed. Special thanks to McCall Parent/Owner, Kimberly Callahan, for having the event and helping to raise money for McCall!

ALL DRAMA CLUB ADS FOR THE PLAYBILL WERE DUE LAST FRIDAY!!

If you wanted to submit an ad for the Playbill, but did not, please email Alicia Fire and Lori Ortiz no later then Monday, April 30th to let them know what you ad will be.

All children who will be in the drama club performance have received their costume requirements. Please send in your child's costume, labeled with all their information by Friday. If you have any questions, please contact Andrea Layden.

ALSO, the older cast (NOT ENSEMBLE) will have an additional rehearsal this week on Monday, April 30th until 5 PM. The Ensemble will only have rehearsal on Tuesday this week (due to early dismissals).

THE AMAZING MCCALL RELAYS!!!

What a tremendous event for McCall! Hats off to Alissa Ellis, for chairing this event and to Sheri Feinberg and Kathy Lewis for their amazing Silent Auction and collaboration. We want to thank everyone who donated their time, created the amazing auction baskets and came out to show off the blue & gold in and around Washington Square Park on Saturday morning. There are so many to thank and we will do so once we tally and further annouce the winners!

Reminders

REPORT CARD CONFERENCES ARE THIS WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY AND FRIDAY!!!

All children will be dismissed at 12:09 PM (12 PM for Kindergarten).

Check out our posting from 2010 to find out how to get the most out of your report card conferences.

TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK BEGINS APRIL 30TH

We will be providing the teachers with a breakfast on Monday. If you would like to donate items, please have them in the teacher's lounge no later then 8:15 AM. Sheri Feinberg has agreed to chair the day, so if you would like to help out for the day or donate some items, please contact her.

Take a moment and thank our wonderful teachers for all they do for our children each and every day!