Friday, November 25, 2016

NEWSLETTERS CAN be a great help to parents!


PARENTS: Have you taken a look at the Home and School Connection Newsletter, available each month online, courtesy of the Taylor School District?

The November edition offers some quick new notes, suggestions on mentoring better behavior, important questions for parent-teacher conferences, holding household elections, and much more.

It's well worth taking a few minutes to read.

The current edition can be found here.

It is part of a set of online newsletters pertaining to educational matters, all of which can be found here.


TAYLOR SCHOOL DISTRICT posts winter sports schedule

Fall is pretty much behind us, and the Taylor School District is turning its eyes to winter athletics.

Truman boys'  varsity basketball opens on December 6 by hosting Kennedy. The combined swimming teams open at the Downriver Relays on December 10. 

Truman bowling opens on December 6 at Woodhaven, while Kennedy opens at Wyandotte on the same day.

All games and dates are tentative. 

For a look at the end winter sporting schedules, click here.

KINYON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL students celebrate Thanksgiving


Mrs. Lumani's students at Kinyon Elementary School celebrate Thanksgiving the “Charlie Brown” way!

RANDALL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL rocks with glow party

Randall Mustangs glow!

For reaching their fundraiser goal, the Randall Elementary School PTA treated the Mustangs to a glow party complete with a DJ.


Lots of students wore florescent colors and glow items. Even the third grade teachers wore eyeglasses that glowed. Thank you to everyone who purchased from the fundraiser!









RANDALL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL class learns lessons from book


Mrs. Collin's fifth-grade class at Randall Elementary School read together the book “Wonder” by R.J. Palacio. 

Toward the end of the story, the following quote is shared in a speech: "Greatness lies not in being strong, but in the right using of strength... He is the greatest whose strength carries up the most hearts..." (Henry Ward Beecher).


After we finished reading the book, we discussed the quote's meaning and how it applied to the book's main character, Auggie.  August (Auggie) Pullman was born with a facial deformity that prevented him from going to a mainstream school. Auggie is just an ordinary kid, with an extraordinary face. After the class had their discussion, students worked on a reading response writing activity then wrote their final copies on images they created that resembled the book's cover.

HOLLAND ELEMENTARY SCHOOL pupils enjoy crafts


Mrs. Silva's third graders at Holland Elementary School enjoy making turkey crafts and doing a writing piece to go with it.



EUREKA HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL group offered STEM with a twist

Eureka Heights Elementary School families were treated recently to a night of STEM fun with a twist.  

The evening started with pizza.  After dinner, parents were able to listen to Community Care Services talk about how they, as parents, can help build strong families.  They also discussed how to access Community Care Services at the school.  

Community Care Services has partnered with several schools in the Taylor School District and is able to provide counseling services on site for students who are in need of someone to talk to about any issues that they may be facing.  Eureka Heights is one of these schools.

While the parents were listening to Community Care Services, the students were learning how to apply engineering principals to solve problems of a STEM kind.  They learned to ask questions, imagine possibilities, make a plan, create using their plan, improve on their plan, and communicate with others.  

After 20 minutes, the families got back together and got a chance to use what they had learned about problem solving.  Each family was given a bag of recycled materials from Arts & Scraps and had 20 minutes to create the tallest tower using only the materials provided in the bag.

It was an engaging activity that got all family members problem solving and working together.  The winning families received a prize!  

There will be another “Building Tall Towers and Strong Families” STEM night at West Middle School at 5:30-7 p.m. on Tuesday, November 29.  


If you are interested in attending this event, you don't have to have a child at West to attend. Please RSVP to 313-295-5749 ext. 12165 by Monday, November 28. Please leave a message with your name, phone number, and number of people attending.  We will be providing a pizza dinner.



KENNEDY HIGH SCHOOL: Program offers discounts, supports music