New ! Peirce Apparel is Available By Order - Check it Out!

Show your Panther Pride!

MPTSO will be taking orders for new Peirce-wear

at the International Dinner  
Thurs. Jan. 26th

 New items include:

• Peirce Panther Paw window clings for your car or home - Only $5 and include a free school magnet

• Zippered hoodies in white or navy with PEIRCE across the front. $19

• Three different styles of exercise pants for girls and boys in youth & adult sizes in navy featuring the Panther Paw. $18-26

 The window clings will be available for purchase at the International Dinner.

Orders will be taken for the hoodies and pants.  Cash or check accepted.  Order forms have been 
All orders and payment must be received by January 31st.  

The exercise pants and hoodies will be delivered by  mid February to your student . Order forms with payment can be turned into front office attention Lynn Carro.  


If you have any questions please contact Cara Rudolph (773.450.4054) or cara@cranleyscholastics.com . 

J.B. Alberto's Pizza Provides Generous Donation !

Last Thurs. (12/8) J.B. Alberto's Pizza and so Much More gifted Peirce with 10 - 18inch pizzas.  Wow!  So yummy and generous.  We wanted to send a "shout out" in the form of a THANK YOU to Tony & staff at Alberto's.  

Tony, owner of J.B. Alberto's, was approached by a Peirce parent to donate pizzas to Peirce as Classroom Rewards for our Walk-A-Thon collections.  

And not only did he agree to the request.... he had his staff come in early to prepare AND deliver the pies.  You see, J.B. Alberto's doesn't open till 4p.m. 

THANK YOU, Tony & J.B. ALBERTO'S !!

The Peirce Character Education/IB Learner Profile for the month of December is:  Communicator.  Here at Peirce Post we wanted to be sure that we practiced this skill and communicated our thanks & appreciation and shared with everyone the J.B. Alberto's menu.

Please don't hesitate to mention your appreciation for their generosity.  Visit their Facebook page too.

Hmm...What's for dinner this week?  

(They deliver too!)

International Dinner "Gets Cooking"

Peirce's tradition of hosting an International Dinner (Jan. 26) continues with a multi-ethnic twist. 

Beginning this year, Peirce has adopted a multi-country approach to the International Studies curriculum.  Each grade level is studying an assigned country from different regions of the world.

The parent volunteer team is needing assistance with: 

• catering/restaurant contacts  
• helping students complete the decorations needed
• "day-of" assistance with decorating, set-up, service, clean-up

Please contact Kim Biggs (kimbiggs@rcn.com) to assist or with questions.

The International Dinner celebrates the selected countries-of-study and their native cultures via food, family, song, and dance.  The dinner portion of the evening allows diners to sample small portions of representative foods.  We aim to obtain the food items at discounted or no cost.       

Recently our Student Council leaders joined the Parent Planning team in a brainstorming session.  Our students are eager and brimming with good ideas, we are in need of more parents to join us in executing this key event.  

During the month of January, afterschool "arts-n-craft" sessions  will be scheduled to create the decorations needed for the event.  A fun way for all our students to meet and work together. 

Of the 9 countries of study - the following countries have been selected to be featured in cuisine and entertainment portions of our evening event:   United States, Brazil, India, Spain, Iraq, China

Peirce Student Council leaders brainstorm with parents in planning the International Dinner.

Pictured from L-R: Giancarlo Alana, Jeremy Coleman, Elarido Cruz, Jessica Trujillo, Cade Pinalto
The Student Council will determine and execute the dinner decorations in the cafeteria and at the tables.  Jessica provided a wonderful idea of  highlighting traditional games from some of our featured countries.   Thank  you, Peirce leaders.

A student produced dragon dance as part of the 2011 Vietnamese  International  Dinner.

DonorsChoose.org Offers Matching$$ to Peirce Project Requests

Until December 12th, every donation to projects on Donor's Choose are matched 100%! 

Two Peirce teachers currently have projects posted:  http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/search.html?keywords=Peirce+

Please consider donating to Ms. Buchbinder's or Ms. Roche's projects.  

Both teachers are needing support with Art Supplies as they develop our Peirce Middle Schoolers art education.     

To qualify for the "matching $$", please enter the code SPARK at checkout.

Please consider making a donation toward these projects before December 12th.  

Reminder: Forward this request to family and friends that would be inspired to help Peirce's teachers reach their goal as all of our kids benefit.

Thank you!

If you are unfamiliar with DonorsChoose:

DonorsChoose.org is an online charity that makes it easy for anyone to help students in need.

Here's how it works: public school teachers from every corner of America post classroom project requests on DonorsChoose.org. Requests range from pencils for a poetry writing unit, to violins for a school recital, to microscope slides for a biology class.

Then, you can browse project requests and give any amount to the one that inspires you. Once a project reaches its funding goal, we deliver the materials to the school.

At DonorsChoose.org, you can give as little as $1 and get the same level of choice, transparency, and feedback that is traditionally reserved for someone who gives millions.

Get Your Science On ! Be a Judge @ the Peirce Science Fair

Needed:  Science Fair Judges

When:    Thursday, December 15, 2011

Time Slots:  9:00-10:30;  10:20-11:40;  12:15-1:35  

Where: Peirce Gym

Volunteers are needed to judge science fair presentation boards.  

Judges meet with students in 5^th-8^th grades to hear them explain their Science Fair projects.  

Judges are asked to rate/grade approximately 4 to 6 science fair projects.  Scoring instructions are provided.    

Pick one of the three time slots, or stay for all three.  We appreciate any time that you can give to our students!  

If you are interested, please contact Ms. Foss -  e-mail at jafoss@cps.edu or call her at 773-534-2564.  

If you need some "scientific inspiration" check out Ms. Leventis's picture blog of activities in 5th grade science. 

Observe, discover, report, & analyze.

Scientific observation in 5th grade science.                    

'Tis the Season, Be An Elf for a Teacher

An initial survey has been conducted, and our fantastic teachers have some needs in their classrooms.  We're hoping our Peirce community can help fulfill the list (Wish List below) which will have an IMMEDIATE & IMPORTANT impact on our kids' learning in the classroom!

Some of the listed items (CD players, cassette players, digital cameras, etc.) may have found their way into attics, closets and storage lockers might be re-purposed for classrooms.  For certain purchased items, remember Target REDCard holders can support Peirce with the Take Charge of Education program.  

If you wish to donate any items or have questions about this Wish List effort, contact Craig Seip, Peirce (craigseip@gmail.com) or 917.593.7503.  

Please be on the lookout for additional ways to assist our teachers, preparations are being made to communicate classroom/grade-level volunteer requests as well. 

PEIRCE TEACHER WISH LIST  *

CD Players with headphones

Individual cassette players with headphones

Document camera

Projector

Digital cameras

Mac Computers

Video Recorders

Blank DVD-roms

TAG pen books

Books on CD

Leveled books (levels A-M)

Art Supplies (nice paper and paints)

Blank Story booklets

Cans of shaving cream

Motivational banners

Plastic pouches 

Novel reading sets for grades 5-6

Chart paper/Loose-leaf paper/Easel pad chart paper

Dry-erase markers

Vis-a-vis markers

Small dry-erase boards

Tape/Glue/Glue Sticks

Crayons/Pens/Pencils/Colored pencils

* The attached image file shows the wish list sorted by classroom/teacher.

WISH LIST SORTED BY CLASSROOM/TEACHER GRADES 4th - 8th (Page 1 of 2)
Click on the image to make larger/more readable. 

WISH LIST SORTED BY CLASSROOM/TEACHER GRADES  K - 3rd (Page 2 of 2)
Click on the image to make larger/more readable.

Parents Serve Up Lunch to Teachers/Staff - Thank you !

Hi Peirce Parents,

Thank you so much for your donation of food for the Peirce staff lunch.  A number of staff stopped me to give a heartfelt thank you and wanted all parents to know they really appreciated the delicious event.  

Thank you also to Mary in the cafeteria for her generous donation of "valuable space" in the refrigerator.  And also, thanks to Chris Inserra, Maria Carrera, Karina Brito and Myra Alana for their help in setting up the serving tables.

Solveig Roverud, Peirce parent of 6th grader

Thank You to All who Donated Food for 

the Staff/Teacher Luncheon on Report Card Pick-up Day

November 2011

Sandra Macedo                                     Nancy Mendez

Irene Vasquez                                         Peirce MPTSO

Mariela Rivera                                        Emily Salmon

Karina Brito                                              Sandra Kane

Esther Bello                                              Jody Van Swearingen

Maria Hernandez                                   Solveig Roverud

Peggy Sutor                                             Chris Inserra      

Lucrecia Platt                                          Beth Tarrant      

Kara Hetz                                                 Sarah Ortega

Beth Mroz                                                 Kendra Johnson

Myra Alana                                             Karalee Robb

Kim Biggs                                                 Malidsa Ocampo

Maria Carrera                                         Susan Christmas

Susan Christmas                                     Lori Zaimi 
Kathryn Ahitow                                       Becky Wanberg

Mike Itta-owner Piatto Pronto, 5624 N. Clark St.                  

Stop by the MPTSO bulletin board, the teacher thank-you card has been posted.             ** The next Luncheon is April 18th **