Fiesta de Arte - Final Year End Fundraiser and Celebration of Student Art Work

Camp Options from Peirce After School Providers

Dream Big + Little Linguists have combined forces with Sharp As A Tack and  Design Dance to provide week-long camp options in our local area.  There is still space available. See flyer for more details.

Fiesta De Arte Fundraiser - Thurs. May 31st... Family Fun, Peirce Fundraiser

Fiesta de Arte is a Peirce fundraiser which supports our teacher stipend program & fieldtrip stipend program.  Flyers went home in backpacks.  Admissions monies are being collected at school now.  Families/attendees will be listed on the guest list for Fiesta de Arte.


Peirce student-musicians, teachers & community members will be provided live music.  "Street fair" style food will be provided by the culinary students of Vaughn High School Culinary Arts program.  Art auction of student  & collaborative work will be held in the gym.  


JOin us, a fun time for all !

Have Time, Treasure & Talent to Share with Peirce??? ... Recruiting Leaders for Next Years Events/Activities

Parent Organization Event & Co-chairs - 2012-2013
Any questions/Ready to Lead?  please contact Kathryn Ahitow 773.944.5761

Parent Organization Event & Co-chairs 2012-2013 

Peirce has had many dedicated parents that have overseen the many events/activities that have become our traditions.  In order to keep our events alive we are in need of leadership.  

Please consider leading an event or recruiting fellow parents to join efforts with you.

Retiring Leadership at MPTSO...

The posted letters are going out in backpacks (soon I hope) to announce the "retirement" of Kim Biggs & Kathryn Ahitow, as co-chairs of  the parent org - MPTSO.  

In an effort to reach out to the whole Peirce community, a list of event co-chairs has been sent in order to recruit parents to lead and volunteer for the many events at Peirce.

Support Classroom Libraries - Peirce Teacher Wish List & Order Form

May 3, 2012 Family Reading Night from 5-7pm

and

Peirce Teacher’s Wish List

Through the support of Women and Children First Bookstore, we have created a Wish List with our Peirce teachers for classroom libraries.

Teachers have provided their "wish list" of books, mostly according to grade level or middle school level. Books can be purchased via the order from before the May 3rd Reading Night, the night of Family Reading Night event, and through Friday, May 4th.

 You can order during Family Reading Night or submit your orders in sealed envelope directly to the office or have your student give it to the teacher.

 * NOTE: if your child’s teacher is not listed below, please feel free to purchase a book(s) for another teacher.  All our children will benefit.

Peirce Wish List Order Form & Teacher Wish List, Page 1 - double click to enlarge.

Page 2 - Teacher Wish List - double click to enlarge

Page 3 - Teacher Wish List - double click to enlarge

Family Reading Night Coming to Peirce

Donate Used Books to Peirce for the Book Give Away

The Barrels are in the Peirce lobby
awaiting used book donations. 

Last year Peirce parents/community donated many books to supply our Book-Giveaway.  During the school-wide Reading Night event, six table-fuls were available to Peirce students, PK-8th grade, for browsing.  We hope to provide the same for our upcoming Reading Night in early May.


Wanted: Used childrens/youth books of any kind.


Please drop-off books in the Peirce lobby, barrels have been provided to collect the books.  

The Book Donation Barrel for Reading Night is awaiting your gently used books. 

Thank you to Rooms 101 & 110 for decorating our collection barrels.  

And thank you to Tony Chavez for the barrels.  

Dream Big Drama Program for Kinder - 2nd Grade

Broadway Kids is a Kindergarten - 2nd grade Drama Enrichment program that is provided by Dream Big Performing Arts Workshop and held as an afterschool program at Peirce. 

For 7 weeks students will sing, dance & participate in theatre games as they are exposed to the dramatic arts.  Fliers went out to K-2nd grade, or find the flier/form attached below.


Program fee is $80.  
Students enrolled in the Free/Reduced Lunch program the fee is $40.
The afterschool class is offered on Wednesdays or Thursdays beginning April 25th.
Time: 2:45 - 3:45 pm.
For more enrollment details: see form.

Dream Big Program Form (double click to enlarge image)

Peirce Teacher Luncheon - Volunteer A Dish

The community of Peirce parents and caregivers, through the MPTSO (Multi-lingual Parent Teacher Student Organization) has always provided mid-afternoon lunch for teachers and other Peirce staff on Report Card Pick-up Day.  

This day is a long day for staff and they have always appreciated lunch as a “thank you” and to keep the day on track.  

Last report card pick up day in November, 2011 we tried something different and asked for parent donations of food (home-made or bought).  It was a huge success!  The staff LOVED the food items and really appreciated parent efforts.  So we're doing it again and the MPTSO is requesting donated items from parents.  You can choose to make a dish/item or purchase it.  Either way, we really are thrilled if you can help.

Please bring the item in a disposable (throw away) container to Peirce School cafeteria on Report Card Pick up Day:  April 18, by 2pm. The teachers and staff will eat around 3pm.    The item should serve about 10 people.  We will provide serving utensils.

If you can help, reply to Solveig Roverud at chicagosol@sbcglobal.net and the dish category you will provide.  I am hoping to get 10-11 parents per item.

The items to bring are:           RICE DISH

                                                SALAD (green, pasta, hearty with protein)

                                                 CHEESE OR DELI MEAT ASSORTMENT

                                                FRUIT (cut or ready to serve)     

                                                DESSERT

Thanks for your time and your donation!  

Voila ! A Closet Becomes A .....

dressing room.  On the very first day of Spring Break a few Peirce families rolled up their sleeves to clean out & organized a storage closet that can now be used as a dressing room.  Supporting both the performance efforts of our student productions and our Peirce circus troupe.

Led by parent, Beth Tenney and her daughter, Madison; space was created, debris was discarded and a few "treasures" were unearthed.  

This Peirce painted sign was found.  

Found in the closet was a beautiful, hand-painted sign that was provided around the time Peirce was designated an International Studies school.   Does anyone have a recollection of where it hung?  It seems to be dated about 1994, before the new addition was built in 1999.

Wooden kindergarten chairs from the early 1940's were stored.

 Fairly well preserved wooden chairs, that appeared to be designed for Kindergartners were also stored in the closet.  Some of the chairs are dated back to early 1940's.  What a find!

The Tenney's, Bigg's & Alana families helped tackle the closet cleaning.

The spring cleaning and reorganization of this large closet is definitely a first step in turning it into a useful room for our student performances.  There are a few ideas that need talented, skilled parents to help bring to life.  Can you help us figure out how to hang mirrors & lights for a make-up area? Donated materials such as countertops, benches would improve the utility of the space.  

Let us know (email PeirceParentsGroups@gmail.com) if you can help us continue the transformation of the closet.

RAVEN Theatre Benefit for 4th Grade Enrichment Program

RAVEN Theatre in Edgewater is staging The Price

Each year, the Raven Theatre brings its TAKE FLIGHT enrichment program to Peirce with teaching artists working in all 4^th grade classrooms.   TAKE FLIGHT provides students with an opportunity to learn the basic principles of theatre, and to use theatre tools as a means of improving life skills. It builds confidence, self-esteem, teamwork and creative thinking skills.

This community partnership is very important to the school in general and it is obviously a great opportunity for 4th grade students. Every spring, the Peirce parent organization hosts a fundraiser to help support the program for the following school year.  

On Sunday March 25th, Raven Theatre will give a "private" performance of Arthur Miller's "The Price".  The proceeds will go toward funding TAKE FLIGHT at Peirce.  This event, however, doesn't begin to cover the costs of the program. Raven uses our fundraiser to demonstrate to its large donors that the constituency being served is engaged and supportive.  

Please join us for this wonderful community event.  Buy a ticket for yourself, your neighbors, your friends and join us at Raven Theatre

Details:                       Sunday, March 25

2:00 – coffee & sweets reception

3:00 – performance

Tickets are $25 each

Raven Theatre

6157 North Clark Street

No tickets will be distributed.  We will maintain a guest list.  

Contact: Kim Biggs at 773-271-6370 or Kim@KimBiggs.com

The Price production at Raven Theatre

Open House for Prospective Parents

JOIN US for our Prospective Parent Open House

When ?: Tues. March 27th

Time ?: 9:15 a.m.

Where?: Peirce School 

Meet our teachers, principal & parents.  Tour our building, ask questions and learn about our school.  Please RSVP with the school office at 773.534.2440. 

Giordano Dance Performance - Free Tickets to Peirce Students/Parents

Giordano Dance Company provides science enrichment through dance & movement to Peirce students.  In collaboration with our Science department,  dance is used to demonstrate the physical sciences, biology, study of human anotomy & physics.  For many years Giordano has supported the education of Peirce students with this extraordinary partnership. 

Giodano continues to give to our community .... Peirce students and family members can receive free tickets to the Passion & Fire Show on March 9th 2012.  The performance is at  the Harris Theater @ 8pm.  Contact Ms. Leventis, middle school science teacher (vmleventis@cps.edu) if you are interested.

Peirce Career Day - Share Your Path, Challenge a Student to Focus on Their Future

The 2nd annual Peirce Career Day is April 12, 2012.  Leveraging from it's inaugural success, Ms. Foss & the faculty team have put together a website to share the Peirce Career Day information & facilitate sign-up.  Many parents participated last year - sharing experiences in nursing, social work, retail, small business enterprises, food service & law to name a few.  Even a professional athlete joined the discussions.  All careers & experiences are welcome.  


For Peirce Career Day info, visit: http://peirceschoolcareerday.weebly.com/about.html  

Think back to the sixth grade.  What did you envision your life would be like when you grew up?  Did you ever think that you would be where you are now?  Who were the people that helped set you on your course in life?   

We would like to offer you an opportunity to be that person that plants a seed in a young person’s mind at e Peirce Middle School Career Day on Thursday, April 12, 2012.  We are inviting professionals in a wide-range of careers to share how they achieved their goals and to meet with students to discuss their career plans.   We are also looking for parent volunteers to recruit speakers and to help on the day of the event.  

We hope you will consider joining us!  Visit the Career Day website for more information and to register as a speaker or volunteer: www.peirceschoolcareerday.weebly.com.  We will be awarding prizes for the best recruiters, 

including top recruiter, most interesting career, and most famous person.  

Thank you,

Ms. Foss, Middle School Coordinator

jafoss@cps.edu

Peirce International Dinner Picture Album

If "pictures speak a thousand words" than these wonderful shots will tell the story of our recent (January 2012) International Dinner.  Celebrating the food, customs, entertainment from selected countries around the globe. 


Enjoy our slideshow..... 



Many thanks to our talented and dedicated parent photographers - Heather Gregg & Christine Pinalto ( http://christinekay.com/ ) who captured the evenings' smiles, laughter & community.  Thank you! 

Global Menu, Peirce Community, Ethnic Journey's... Peirce International Dinner

Peirce School provided an international taste to the 350 attendees of the International Dinner held on January 26th.  


As a way to celebrate the "country's of study" and further experience and learn about other heritages and  nations - the parent organization, MPTSO, joins forces with students, teachers, administration, and ethnic local restaurants to provide a wonderful multi-ethnic celebration. 

In order to host and provide an authentic taste to all, we Peirce receives much support and generosity from local businesses.... please be sure to thank them for their support when you visit - 

Anna Held Florist & Cafe

Kate's Famous Cookies

Bolat

Hema's

Huey's Hot Dogs

Milo's Pita Place

Harvest Time/Edgewater Produce

Mei Shung

Thank you to Little Linguists Academy for sponsoring the Chinese Egg Rolls.

More than 350 parents and students enjoyed food from Brazil, India, Iraq, China, South Africa, Spain and the United States. It was a great event!

A few parents have taken pictures of the event.  Please consider sharing yours - feel free to post any online albums or send pictures to PeirceSchoolParentsGroups@gmail.com.

Kate Merrill (parent) and students prepare decorations. 

The Peirce Community enjoys the evening.

The menu was yummy. 

Myra Alana (parent) and students work on decorations.

Students create decorations for the dinner celebrating different countries.

The cafeteria was filled with Peirce community members enjoying the themes of the evening.

 

The Peirce community enjoys the International Dinner. 

Mr. Soto (Art Teacher), students & Beth Mroz (parent) support the decorating efforts.

Artwork displayed for the dinner.

Dinner is served in a truly multi-lingual spirit.

Artwork in the Polish tradition is displayed.

Families enjoy the International Dinner. 

 

Project work celebrating an assigned country. 

Middle school students explore Chinese math 'tangrams'  

Scissor-work in the Polish tradition. 

The Iraqi table is "dressed" in the national flag. 

Artwork on display.

Brazilian flag is displayed on the table.

The table dressed in the flag of the United States.

An Iraqi flag in progress.

The cafeteria tables get "dressed" in different flags for the evening.

Student projects are on display for the evening.

Student projects celebrating India.