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October 28, 2024 | Back to School Issue 13
Important Upcoming Dates
October 24 - 31: Mantua Book Fair
October 31: Mantua Spirit Parade, 9:45 AM
October 31: End of First Quarter, Two - Hour Early Release, 2:05PM
November 1: Diwali and All Saint’s Day/Dia de los Muertos, staff and student holiday
November 4: School Planning Day, student holiday
November 5: Election Day, teacher workday, and student holiday
November 8: Veteran’s Day breakfast and Hero Victory Cheer
November 11: Veteran’s Day, student holiday
November 13: Author Visit for 6th-grade students
November 21: Thanksgiving lunch for students and families
November 27-29: Holiday, Thanksgiving Break
Be sure to bookmark the FCPS School Calendar to keep track of school holidays, breaks, and observances.
The Mantua Fall Book Fair Still Needs Volunteers!
The Book Fair wraps up this week! Please consider signing up for a shift to help make it a great event!
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0F4FA9AE2DA2F94-48268741-2024?useFullSite=true#/
10/25-10/31 Open 9:00am-4:00pm
Volunteers still needed for 10/30 and 10/31, please use the link above to sign up.
It's not too late to join the PTA!
Help support our students and teachers!
YEARLY DUES are only $20 per family.
https://mantuapta.memberhub.com/store
Your membership dues are very important. Your ongoing support has funded and sponsored projects throughout Mantua. Some of these include:
Weekly Alert News
After School Enrichment
Basketball League
Kids Care Club
Library Resources
PTA Online Student Directory
New Computers and Programs
Teacher Education
Parent Education Seminars
Drama Club
Wish Fund
Chat and Chew Book Club
Field Trips
Spring Dance
Run for Rocky Fundraising goes through this Friday November 1st!
Our goal is to raise $35,000 and we still need your help to get there! You can donate through the Member Planet website (link for sharing: https://mp.gg/lwr7tofo). For every $50 a child raises, their name is entered into a raffle to win a prize donated by one of our generous sponsors (see details below).
There is also a teachers-only raffle. If we reach 100% of our goal by Friday there will be a school-wide surprise from the school administration. We hope you will share the donation page with your family and friends.
Please reach out to: Emily Leary Chesnes at emilylearychesnes@gmail.com or Erica Albrittain at fundraising@mantuapta.org if you have any additional questions.
Thank you for your support and THANK YOU to everyone who volunteered last week during Spirit Week and Run for Rocky!
Prizes include:
- Nintendo Switch – sponsored by Sarah Harrington, Long and Foster Realtors
- Chromebook – sponsored Brooks Hunt, CMG Home Loans
- Harry Potter Hogwarts Great Hall LEGO Set – Elite M.A. Center – Fairfax
- LEGO City Lunar Research Base Outer Space Toy Set – Elite M.A. Center – Fairfax
- $150 gift card to Muse Paintbar – sponsored by Merrifield Orthodontics
- 6-month subscription to KiwiCo., for choice of STEAM kit – sponsored by Banaji Pediatric Dental Specialists
- Kindle Paperwhite – sponsored by Travis Pugh, Realtor, Samson Properties
- Kids Drone – sponsored by Karin Hudson with Stoneleigh Home & Gardens
- Echo Dot for Kids – sponsored by Ryan Doan, Quest Remodeling
- Hydro Flask Water Bottle – sponsored by Ryan Doan, Quest Remodeling
- Raffle prize for entire school raffle: $50 Mantua merchandise gift certificate - sponsored by Mantua PTA
Reminder for Hosting Greener Class Parties!
Hello parents, room parents, and party coordinators. When planning your classroom party, please consider incorporating at least two or more of the following tips to save the environment and $$$ along the way:
- Ask students to bring their own reusable water bottles.
- Plastic water bottles are expensive, require a lot of resources to produce and transport, and can leach harmful chemicals in the water.
- There are so many reusable bottles to reflect your child’s personality.
- Mantua now has its own refillable water station to use!
- Stick to finger foods!
- Cut up fruit, chips, crackers and cheese.
- Avoid using plastic utensils which do not degrade in landfills.
- For something sweet, consider mini-cupcakes, popsicles or cookies.
- Please do not use any Styrofoam products, which contain styrene and can cause adverse health effects.
- Styrofoam is lightweight and floats, so over time a great deal of it has accumulated along coasts and waterways, becoming a large component of marine debris.
- If you need plates, buy small compostable and biodegradable plates. You can find them on Amazon, and also earn $$$ for the school. (Info about Mantua’s Amazon program: http://mantuapta.org/#section_news, then scroll down to Passive Fundraising section.)
- For activities, consider an outdoor event or using recyclable materials for craft projects.
- Skip the plastic tablecloths and decorations, the kids will have fun either way!
Minimizing the amount of trash produced makes setup and cleanup much easier.
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Mantua PTA Basketball - Key Upcoming Dates
The Mantua Basketball draft will be occurring on Friday, November 1st. At the conclusion of the draft and finalization of team rosters, Coaches will begin communicating with their teams and sharing more details about the upcoming season.
Below are some key upcoming dates for November & December:
- Friday, November 1st - Mantua PTA Basketball Draft.
- Week of November 6th - First week of practices for the upcoming season. Please wait to hear from your children's coach before reaching out with questions.
- Sunday, November 24th (5-8PM) - Tentative date for Coach/Referee Rules Training.
- Sunday, December 1st (5-8PM) - Tentative date for Coach/Referee Rules Training.
- Weekend of December 14th/15th - First games of the 2024-25 Season.
Thank You to everyone who volunteered and supported the player evaluations this past week.
Mantua Gardens Annual Fall Clean-Up November 10th!
Greetings, Friends of the Mantua Gardens! Autumn is here and along with the chillier temperatures and changing leaf colors comes a transition in the gardens.
As always, it's time to prepare our green spaces for winter rest and this year’s clean-up event will be held on Sunday, November 10 from 1-3 pm beginning in the Discovery Garden beds above the playground.
We will be cutting plants back, weeding, edging around the seating area and refreshing the mulch. We will also be planting some bulbs that will greet families with a pretty display in the early days of spring. We will be clearing out the old vegetable plants from the Learning Garden beds next to the white tent.
We welcome gardeners of all ability levels to join us as it’s a great way to get hands on experience and learn more about plant and vegetable gardening and our native plants. Children (with parents) are always encouraged to join in. Bulb planting is especially fun!
If you enjoy being outside on a lovely fall day I hope you and your family will join us as long as you can on November 10.
If you’d like more details or have any questions, please contact Garden Committee Chair, Karin Hudson at garden@mantuapta.org and check out our Facebook page, Mantua ES Garden Committee & Volunteers!
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National Geography Bee Club Now Meeting!
Calling all students who love studying maps, traveling, or memorizing capital cities and flags! Our club is studying geography to prepare for the National Geography Bee.
We meet on Tuesdays after school in room 254, beginning October 1st. The club is open to all students grades 1-6, and each session includes quiz time, topic and country-specific study, and assigned research to prepare for the next meeting.
The Geography Bee is run by International Academic Competitions and has both individual and team competitions (to learn more about these, see the IAC website at https://www.iacompetitions.com/). We're mainly preparing for the individual competition, but we work as a team to learn from everyone's unique knowledge and improve our performance together.
Please contact Dan Rothfarb (rothfarb@gmail.com) if interested.
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Volunteers Needed for the Art Department
The Art Department is ready for volunteers! We always have something to prepare, sort, frame, hang, etc. No experience necessary! See time slots by going to the link below. When you arrive, check in at the front office and join us in the Art Room work room where we'll set you up to help out. No amount of time is too short, we appreciate all your support! Looking forward to a fun and exciting year in ART! ~Mrs. Shirley & Mr. Lorenzi
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Classroom Volunteers Needed!
We are looking for classroom volunteers! (Room parents, Tuesday folder helpers, and party coordinators.) These are great opportunities to get to know your teacher better and to spend time in your kiddo’s classroom!
A brief description of the current volunteer opportunities is included below.
Can’t commit to one of these jobs? More opportunities will be posted throughout the year for various events and programs!
Please reach out to volunteering@mantuapta.org if you have any questions.
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Room Parent - Send email reminders to class families about PTA events and fundraisers, communicate with parents to coordinate teacher gifts, help party coordinators plan seasonal class parties, this job can be done remotely.
Tuesday Folder Helper - Comes to the classroom on a weekly basis at a time coordinated with the teacher to stuff Tuesday folders that will go home with each student. Since this requires someone to come weekly, this position can be split between two parents who alternate weeks.
Party Coordinators - Coordinators get a set date and time from the teacher and coordinate games, crafts, snacks, etc. for the class, often soliciting the other class parents for supply donations and extra volunteer help.
Note: the sign up link says kindergarten volunteers, but there is a tab at the top for each grade for the 2024-2025 school year.
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