AAPS: Dicken Elementary School: Home

Welcome to Dicken!
Announcements

2nd Annual Free e-Waste Recycling Event
Saturday, May 10, 9a.m. - 2p.m.
Pioneer High School Parking Lot

The Ann Arbor Public Schools and the Climate Savers Computing Initiative@the University of Michigan are co-sponsoring a free e-waste recycling event for the community in cooperation with Apple Computers.

-Save our land and water systems and responsibly recycle your personal electronics
-Protect the environment- Keep electronic equipment out of landfills
-Conserve natural resources- Materials in your electronics are highly reusable

Unload old or unused:
Computer systems, speakers, monitors, printers, telephone/cell phones, wires/cables, televisions, modems.
For a complete list of materials, go to climatesavers.umich.edu/e-waste.

All e-waste will be destroyed and recycled in the United States using an environmentally sound manner by an Environment Protection Agency-certified company courtesy of Apple Inc. This event is for personal electronic equipment only.   Last year, over 700 cars drove through the line!

Depression is real.
Knowledge + Help = HOPE

Please join the Ann Arbor Public Schools and the U-M Depression Center for a community forum on Child and Adolescent Depression and Suicide Prevention on Wednesday, May 7, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. at Skyline High School, 2552 Maple Road.

Superintendent Todd Roberts and John Greden, M.D., Executive Director of the UM Depression Center will host this community forum and kick off of this very important collaboration.

The latest research on depressive illnesses will be presented as well as information about how to recognize and respond to signs of depression and suicide risk in youth and to have an opportunity to ask questions about these important issues.

This ongoing collaboration between AAPS and the UM Depression Center will provide depression awareness and suicide prevention education, training and support for AAPS staff.

This forum is open to the community. Dr. Greden and Cheryl King, Ph.D., Chief Psychologist, UM Department of Psychiatry and international expert on childhood depression and suicide will be presenting at this forum.

Many AAPS staff have already had the opportunity to attend forums on these subjects and this opportunity will reach out to all teaching staff in the coming year. There will also be important forums for parents starting next school year as well.

We hope you can join us for this important community forum on May 7th.

Your school could win 10,000 Bonus Box Tops!
Dicken has won money through these sweepstakes before. If you have the time, request the email reminder to enter each day. When you open the reminder, you click one button to complete your daily entry. It's that easy! Click here to go to their website! BoxTopsforEducation

Look to the links at the left for the letter for parents and staff regarding the security assessment.

We are very happy to announce that Dicken Elementary School is now teamed up with Plum Market for the SCRIP (or E.G.G.S.) program.

Plum Market is located on 375 N. Maple Street in Ann Arbor (827-5000). They feature a wonderful selection of fresh fruits and vegetables along with a beautiful display of fish, poultry and meats. They also like to feature locally made products and support other locally owned businesses.

Plum Market will provide Dicken with a check of 5% of total bill accumulated just by using their SCRIP cards. SCRIP cards can be picked up and reloaded ONLY at their Guest Relations Counter. If you plan to shop at this Market, please stop by the guest relations counter and receive a Scrip card to be used each time you shop there.

Thank you for helping to support our school!!

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call Cindy (369-3075) or email Cindylec@umich.edu

Please see the link to the left to indicate where your child will be attending school next year by completing and returning the form to the school office by Thursday, April 3rd.

SISS Transition Forum Flyer now in link on left!

PLEASE TAKE SPECIAL NOTE OF SCHOOL DROP-OFF AND PICK-UP PROCEDURES - 2008

*    Please be mindful to use only the Carol Street parking lot for dropping off and picking up students.
*    You may ONLY park your car in the AVAILABLE PARKING SPOTS to escort your child to the door, if you wish.
*   Please DO NOT PARK or leave your vehicle unattended at the curb of any of the Dicken School parking areas. There have been several reports of children nearly being hit by vehicles unable to see because of cars parked at the curb(s). REMEMBER: A yellow curb means no parking per Ann Arbor City ordinance. All of the curbs at Dicken are yellow.
*    Cones will be placed at the Runnymede Blvd. entrance of the school to stop vehicles (with the exception of school buses) from approaching the building during drop-off and pick-up times.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION!

AAPS is now using a system called MealpayPlus to handle online meal payment for our families. The web site is http://www.mealpayplus.com/ and we have more information about the system on the district web site: http://www.aaps.k12.mi.us/aaps.forparents/mealpayplus_information.

Dicken Calendar, always up to date, click here! Or look to links on left!

New Safety Letter on website!

New Comments/Guestbook on website! Click on link at bottom of page to leave us your comments about the website! (What do you like? What do you think can be improved?)

Calling all lunch hour supervisors! Would you like to spend one hour or 1.5 hrs. per day with some wonderful Dicken Dolphins?! Now is your chance. We are seeking additional lunchtime supervisors. You will get paid, and you do not have to work every day. We are currently short staff, and would sincerely appreciate a few more good workers who would enjoy working with our students. Please call Karen Jones, lunch hour coordinator at 994-1928 if you are interested. There is necessary paperwork and required fingerprinting that you will need to do, but it does not require much time. Our Dicken Dolphins need you!

Log onto www.Boxtops4education.com to enter into monthly sweepstakes for chances to to win Bonus Boxtops!

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Lunch Balance Notifications
Yahoo email accounts "block" POS (AAPS/Chartwell software system for billing) automatic notifications. Yahoo responds as if it's spam. Parents with Yahoo accounts can still log on to their POS account to check on the status of the fund balances they just can't receive the automatic reminders.

We love our Dicken families! But, we do need to ask our parents and babysitters who have strollers, to either park them outside of the school before you enter, or stroll them along side of our hallways. The hallways are getting congested especially near the end of the day. We have a number of classes who are returning from special area classes during that time. Today we did have a collision. Fortunately, no one was hurt. We want to keep ALL of our kids safe, even our toddlers! Thank you for understanding.

Please, please, please, do not drop off or pick up our students in front of the school, unless it is quite early or late, and your child attends childcare. We have had some close calls that could have injured our students with cars moving too quickly, or children walking away from their parents in this area. The Carol Street Lot is for pick-up and drop-off. This also includes our dear kindergartners. ALL of our students and staff thank you for understanding that we must keep safety at the top of our list.

TUITION PRE-SCHOOLS ARE UP AND RUNNING

This fall the Ann Arbor Public Schools opened new tuition pre-schools at Allen and Thurston elementary schools. The pre-schools are housed in outstanding new classrooms that were especially designed for young children. Although the programs are new, the curriculum and design are the result of the district's long-term experience with pre-school education at the Pre-School and Family Center. Serving 3 ½ and 4 year olds, the teachers utilize Dialogic Reading, Pre-School Everyday Math, and other curricula that promote developmentally appropriate learning opportunities. Parents may choose from five scheduling options, including both full day and half-day programs. New enrollments are welcomed throughout the year.   For further information, check out the district's website (preschool.a2schools.org) or call 994-2234.