Urban Choice Charter School

545 Humboldt St  •  Rochester, NY 14610-1221

Elementary School  •  Phone 585-288-5702  •  Fax 585-654-9882

Middle School  •  Phone 585-324-0264  •  Fax 585-324-0265

May 2010 Newsletter

A Message From Our Founder
From our Founder, John Bliss

10 Reasons for Families to stay at Urban Choice

1. We know your child. They are more than a number. This makes a difference.
2. Your voice matters. No one can better advocate for you child than you can – and we listen to you.
3. The school is safe. Can anything be more important?
4. We have great programs. 100% of the parents agree.
5. We are looking to grow into a high school. Wouldn’t it be nice for your child to stay here until they graduate?
6. We are expanded our sports offerings next year. You wanted it. You got it.
7. Your child has a voice. We listen to them and respond to their needs.
8. We are always looking to improve. Our goal is excellence and we practice this.
9. We will continue to be different. Can you say Friday Celebration?
10. There is great support. The relationships we have with our community partners and volunteers will get stronger next year. There are opportunities here they will not find at other schools.

Dean’s Corner
Jonathan Schmidt

Dear Members of the UCCS School Community,

As we enter the last full month of school, I marvel at how quickly this school year has passed. Perhaps it is because spring break has just passed, or the relatively mild winter made the winter pass more quickly, or the old adage is true… time does fly when you are having fun!

We have had another successful school year and I am grateful to everyone for your support. Our final meetings of the year will be held soon. Members of teams and committees will begin adjusting in preparation for the coming year.

I urge everyone to take an opportunity to show their appreciation to others in our UCCS community whether it is parents, staff or students, and thank them for all their hard work and support. Everyone has done a wonderful job providing our students with quality experiences and support throughout the school year.

I would like to thank all of you for all your hard work and dedication to the children of our school. The efforts of each of you in your own way have been invaluable to us. We truly appreciate the many hours spent making our school the best it can be. You are the best!

There are still events both fun and challenging planned for the children this year. Please be sure to check us out on the web, look at the school calendar, emails, and notes home for more fun times yet to come.

Enjoy the spring weather!

What's Happening

Ms. Wade, Middle School History Teacher

In March, the 7th grade students went on a field trip to the Strasenburgh Planetarium to see Freedom Under the Stars. Although we did not view the traditional star show, the students gained a better understanding of the important relationship between the North Star, the Big Dipper and the Underground Railroad.

Actors played the roles of local abolitionists from the 19th century who spoke out against slavery and were actively involved in the Underground Railroad. Abolitionists put themselves and their families at risk to help others escape to freedom.

The students had an added treat as they saw UCCS’ own Mr. Clark portray Fredrick Douglass giving a fiery speech blasting slavery. The program closed with a question and answer period and a slide show that included important primary sources from the era.

Mrs. Gotham, Middle School English Teacher

As the graduating class and I read and write our way through their 8th grade year, I am constantly pushing my students to not only read the words on the page, but also visualize the various settings, characters, and situations we come across. I encourage them to put themselves in the "shoes" of those we read about, to better understand various perspectives, and to try and relate to characters we meet along the way.

Recently, the students completed The Diary of Anne Frank, a first-hand account of one young girls’ journey through the dark days of Nazi Germany, made even darker by her entrapment in an attic for two years. The students did an incredible job of pushing themselves to visualize and see the world through Anne's eyes and, in the process, found that this young lady from another time and place was not so different from young people of today. It was unbelievably fulfilling, as an educator, to see this connection between past and present evolve before my eyes.

On Friday, April 9th, Urban Choice Charter School's 8th grade class was honored by the presence of Holocaust survivor, Henry Silberstern. Mr. Silberstern is known today as one of the "Birkenau Boys", a group of 89 young men randomly selected by the notorious Dr. Mengele to live while hundreds of others were sent to gas chambers to die. Mr. Silberstern spent almost two hours sharing his story, his thoughts, and his hopes for the future with our students.

Again, I saw the connection between past and present being made. I was grateful that my students had the opportunity to share in something that, as generations of these survivors pass on, will not be possible in a few years. I sensed their appreciation for this man who had been through so much and who was helping some students better understand how to cope with their own traumatic experiences: stay positive and live life to the fullest. I saw all of this and could not have been more proud of my students and honored to do what I do for a living.

Ms. Bell and Mr. Coffey, Music Teachers

THANK YOU to everyone who made Arts Night a success! We are very proud of all the participants and so excited to see that so many families had the opportunity to see the show. A special thank you to the 7C class who partnered with the 2nd graders to create their props.

We now have students participating in extra individual music lessons! They all have made great progress on their instruments—violins, drums, guitars and pianos.

In March, Mrs. Paine’s 3rd grade class had the opportunity to hear a live string quartet. The quartet consisted of students from the Eastman School of Music who played violins, viola and cello. The class really enjoyed the performance and had many great questions for the quartet.

What are we doing? Currently, grades 3, 4 and 5 are working on Rhythm Bingo where students listen to and recognize rhythmic patterns. Grades 5, 6, and 7 are doing Commercial Jingles. They learned about the jingle writing world and created their own commercials with a jingle for a certain product. The jingles were very creative!

Grade 7 is working on a Copyright Mock Trial where they are learning what copyright law is and learning about various cases in history where an artist steals from another artist. Students are role playing the parts of lawyers for Queen, Vanilla Ice, Napster and Metallica.

Mr. Essig, PE Teacher

During the month of February several classes in the elementary building participated in a series of fitness tests. These tests measured student performance in the areas of cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength/endurance and flexibility.

The Presidential Fitness Challenge sets nationwide standards for excellence for each test administered. Students who achieve set standards for every single test will qualify for National and Presidential Fitness awards. These awards are a very high honor as both are difficult to achieve.

In our first year of participation only Ms. Dibble’s fourth grade class and Mrs. Devine/Mrs. Griffith’s fifth and sixth grade classes were tested for grade levels that receive awards. Both Mr. Hammerton and Mrs. Paine’s third grades also practiced the tests this year to prepare for next year’s testing where we hope to have all classes in grades 4–8 participate.

Huge Kudos to the following students who qualified for the National or Presidential Fitness awards this year:

Presidential

Jamarr Paisley, Keith Scott, Teagan Seay

National

Sophia Adams, Marie Chatman, Lacy Holloway, Calvin Matthews, Excellence McGee, Lavasha Perez, J’mere RidleySmith, Jayson Robinson and David Wells.

Did you notice

That our 3rd marking period was shorter than normal? This is because of the way the holidays fell this year—this will change for next year.

Thank You

to our families who completed the March Parent Satisfaction Survey—we appreciate your input and analyze all of the data. Your comments and evalulations help us to be a better school for your children. Thank you! We will share the results at our May 1st Parent Forum or upon request.

Something fun to do with your children… Touch an idea!

• Imagine RIT Innovation & Creativity Festival
• FREE
• Saturday May 1, 10am–5pm
• At the RIT Campus

Check out RIT student, faculty and staff innovation and creativity as well as cutting-edge technology, research and artistry. Enjoy interactive exhibits, demonstrations and live performances. Free and open to the public, rain or shine. Parking on RIT’s campus, first-come, first-serve. Also parking available at MCC with free shuttle bus to RIT. Build an itinerary of your favorite exhibits and check out the festival program at http://www.rit.edu/imagine/

Congratulations Abigail Feldman!

Abigail Feldman, one of our 2nd graders in Miss Rife’s class, has received the distinction and honor of having her writing published in the first ever, The Best of Rochester—Past, Present and Future book.

Abby will be honored at a celebration given by the Rochester Area Literacy Council on May 18th and given a copy of the book. Congratulations to Abby and thank you to Bonnie Henderson for submitting Abby’s writing for this very important publication!

Volunteer and Community News
Miriam Steinberg

Another group of five students visited Pearle Vision this past month. Dr. Robert Conway has been so wonderful to our students! We went to the Pearle Vision at Eastview Mall where the manager, Michael Deuel, and his team took great care of our students. Five new pairs of glasses and five happy kids! We are grateful to Dr. Conway and Pearle for their continued support of UCCS.

Our second 6-week session with the nursing students from St. John Fisher just came to an end. The nurses had an opportunity to observe various classrooms, help out Mrs. Flanagan in the Nurse’s office and teach a few classes on health-related topics. They taught Mrs. Devine and Mrs. Griffith’s 5/6 split class and the topics they chose were presented very creatively and thoroughly. We’re looking forward to having more nursing students join us next year.

Health Office
Maureen Flanagan

Bicycle Safety

Bike riding is a lot of fun but accidents happen. A fall on your bike could result in a head injury. A head injury could mean brain injury. That’s why it’s so important to wear your bike helmet. Wearing one doesn’t mean you can be reckless, but a helmet will provide some protection or your head and brain in case you fall down.

• Be sure your tires have enough air and make sure your seat, handlebars and wheels fit tightly
• Check your brakes
• Put reflectors on your bike
• Wear bright clothes!
• Be careful of things that can get caught in your chain—loose pant legs, backpack straps or shoelaces.
• Wear the right shoes! NEVER RIDE BAREFOOT!
• Don’t wear headphones—you may not be able to hear traffic or sirens
• Always ride with both hands on the handlebars and most important
• Always wear your helmet—even if you are only going for a short ride!

Food Service
Jim Joninas

Bag Lunches

Spring is here and with that comes an increase in the number of field trips and outdoor events.

The school provides bag lunches for students that will miss their regular lunch because of field trips or other special events. While it is not a hot lunch like the one served in the cafeteria, it is still a very nutritious lunch.

The bag lunch usually has a sandwich (turkey, turkey bologna, turkey ham or similar deli sandwich), a bag of chips (corn or potato), a piece of fruit, a cookie or treat and a box of fruit juice). Milk is always available to a student but is not included in a bag lunch because of refrigeration concerns. For students requesting milk with their bag lunches a cooler with milk is sent on the field trip bus.

Many students bring their own lunch every day but in much fancier containers than the “brown bag” used for bag lunches. Students enjoy a field trip and the bag lunch adds to the experience.

Reminder: As we approach the end of this school year, please be sure your student’s meal bill is paid in full by the end of June. You can get an up-to-date meal balance for your student(s) by calling the school at 288-5702 and asking for Lisa King or Jim Joninas.

Literacy Corner
Paula Haylo, Melissa Blankenberg

Planting the Seed of Reading

It’s that time again when the weather is starting to get nice with warm temperatures and bright sunshine. Where do you want to be? Outside of course! Well, on your way out don’t forget to bring along some books.

There are many seasonal books that make our Rochester spring days that much more enjoyable. Now, the best way to get the up-to-date books is by stopping by your local library and hitting the spring theme. Talk to your local librarian you can put together a theme of topics, whether it is bugs, insects, or weather, plant the seed of a good book!

Also, check out the Monroe Country Public Library system for special events, activities, and book recommendations for all kids at different grades. While you are there, you can even get a library card for family members over 5 years old!

To enjoy the spring days, check out these books about gardens and gardening.. Older students could read to younger brothers and sisters under a tree. Space providing, maybe the whole family can work on starting a flower or vegetable garden.

• Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert
• City Green by DyAnne DiSalvo-Ryan
• The Surprise Garden by Zoe Hall
• The Garden of Happiness by Erika Tamar
• Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert
• Sunflower House by Eve Bunting

So, grab the books, blankets and head outside for a great read laying out (having a picnic) or just lounging under a tree.

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