What an amazing summer, I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did. As fun as summer was I can not wait to see all of our students smiling faces and start our best year ever!!! As a parent I always have hopes for my daughters for their school year, and as a principal I have those same hopes for every student at Pinewood. I hope that all of our students realize how much they matter and how special they each are. I hope when they walk into their classroom they feel loved and safe. I hope they have the opportunity to create something beautiful. I hope each of them has the chance to be generous and show kindness to other students and experience the feeling you get from that. I hope they come home from school excited about going the next day. I hope they learn that some of the most important lessons in school have nothing to do with academics and have everything to do with how to treat other human beings. I hope they feel awesome about what they can accomplish, and I hope they can say this was the best year ever. These are what I hope for my girls and for each of your children.

Here is a great blog post on the Scholastic Reading Challenge it lets everyone know that this week students can add minutes for all weeks in case they fell behind with logging.
So if you need to get caught up visit the Scholastic site and get logging.

Our Open House is tomorrow evening Wed. August 27, 2014, starting at 6:00 pm .We hope to see as many families as possible. And our first day of school is Tuesday September 2. Please remember we are starting 5 minutes earlier this year with our first bell at 8:45 am. For anyone who has not had a chance to get their supplies yet you can find your list here.
If anyone has any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me, my door is always open.

This week many teachers along with all building administrators have been back in the buildings working on curriculum and getting classrooms ready. We are all so excited to return.
As excited as I am I know how hard the transition from summer to back to school is on both my daughters, but specifically my youngest daughter really struggles. I found some great articles and resources that help with the transition, this one is specific to kindergarten, both are great thank you for taking a few minutes to read them.
I’m so proud of all of our summer readers so many students have been reading and logging their minutes. We only have a few weeks left keep reading and keep posting on Scholastic.
I want again encourage you to check out the Mini Maker Faire in Grand Rapids on August 30, and 31. The maker movement is sweeping the nation and giving students a wonderful opportunity to investigate and explore.

Don’t forget our Open House is on Wed. August 27, 2014 at 6:00pm.

I have returned from China and am so happy to be back in America! It was a amazing experience one that I’m still working on processing and putting into words.
I’m still struggling with some jet lag and some how it is already August 4, 2014. Not sure where June and July went but I’m excited to get back to school and get ready for the 2014-2015 school year.
Today is election day I encourage all parents to please go vote and take your students with you. It is such a great learning experience for them and a true demonstration of our democratic process. Here is a link to all of the voting locations in Georgetown. Vote Today!!!!
We continue to improve our standing in the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge we are now ranked 413 in the nation. Keep reading and keep logging, if for some reason you miss a week it is not a big deal to add your minutes to the next week. As long as you are keeping track however you put them into the Scholastic site is fine, we understand internet is not always available. Scholastic website.
With the start of August the back to school ads are everywhere. Here is an easy link to our school supply lists. If you have any questions on the school supply list or if you are having difficulties purchasing any of the items please contact me. Pinewood will make sure all students have the supplies that they need; so if you would like to donate any school supplies you are able to do drop them off at the Pinewood office after August 11, 2014, or if you are in need please email me or stop up and we will help get what you need.
Important Building Dates to Remember:
Pinewood Open House: Wed. August 27, 2014 at 6:00 pm
First Day of School: Tuesday September 2, 2014

Please keep checking the blog I will be putting more back to school info on it each week in August.

I’m waiting for our wonderful team of Jenison educators to go out to
our last dinner in Beijing.  The last 14 days have literally been a
whirlwind.
Today we had our closing ceremony for our summer school.  The students
did a fantastic job performing and speaking in English.  The parents
and students were so gracious showering us with hugs, gifts, and
asking for photos. It was beyond overwhelming.  I have a picture below
but it really doesn’t do the ceremony justice.
Yesterday a few of us ventured over to the Beijing Olympic Park from
the 2008 Summer Olympics.  It was fun to see it in person.
Our team had an amazing experience I can’t wait to get back and share
it with you all.