HERON SCHOOL FRIDAY FLYER

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1 HERON SCHOOL FRIDAY FLYER Week of September UPCOMING DATES TO REMEMBER Oct 6 Principal s Coffee Chat, 8:30am-9:30am LUNCH MENU Oct 6 Walktober- Walk to School Celebration! DJ and Breakfast Oct 6 Barn Dance, 5:00pm-7:00pm MONDAY - 9/25 Chicken and Waffles Oct 9 NO SCHOOL - Staff Development Day Max Stick Oct 10 Oct 10 Oct 11 Oct 14 Oct 24 Picture Makeup Day PTSA Meeting, 6:00pm-7:30pm - Library NJHS Chapter Member Meeting, 7:15am - Library Natomas 5K - A Run for Their Future MINIMUM DAY - Professional Development Dismissal: Kinder - 12:48pm 1st-8th - 1:05pm TUESDAY - 9/26 Cheese Ravioli WEDNESDAY - 9/27 Chicken Nuggets THURSDAY - 9/28 Chicken Tamale Cheese/Chili Tamale FRIDAY - 9/29 Pizza, Cheese or Pepperoni MINIMUM DAYS October 24th Nov 27th - Dec 1st December 12th December 21st February 6th March 27th MESSAGE FROM MRS. WHITTEN We have two fun community events coming up that you won t want to miss! The PTSA Barn Dance is Friday, October 6th, and the Natomas Run For Their Future 5K is coming up on October 14th. The Barn Dance is fun for all ages and is open to friends, family, and community members. Information went home last week on purchasing wristbands for unlimited access to the carnival games. If you purchase a wristband by Friday, September 29th, all proceeds will go directly to your child s classroom! All food and activities will use tickets this year instead of cash, and tickets can be purchased at the Barn Dance. Carol s Creative Corner, owned by one of our parents, will have a Heron Bling Booth that will be selling Heron gear and accessories, which will require cash or credit card payment. Finally, we are asking everyone to please bring a canned food donation for Joey s Food Locker, which supports our local Natomas families in need. The Natomas Schools Foundation Run For Their Future 5K is going to be a great community event that supports our local Natomas schools and Heron. If you register for the 5K, be sure to join Team Heron and wear your Heron Spirit Gear! Your registration supports both the Natomas Schools Foundation Scholarship Fund and Heron School! I am hoping to have a big Heron presence at this event, and we'll have signs ready if you'd rather cheer on our Flyers than run or walk. Please see the attached flyer for registration information.

2 DID YOU KNOW? Please remember not to park in red zones in the parking lot. Last week we had emergency vehicles on site that could not get in and had to be re-routed because there were three curbs parked in a red lane. Let s work together to keep our kids, staff, and families safe. Thank you! We are partnering with the North Natomas Transportation Management Association (NNTMA) for WALKTOBER again this year! October is a beautiful month to start walking to school again, and we will be encouraging students to walk to school all month. Our Walktober Celebration will be on Friday, October 6th. All students and families who walk to school that day will get to attend a special celebration on the quad with a DJ and a free breakfast! This is always a lot of fun, so walk to school and join us! September is Attendance Awareness Month! - Parents and families are essential partners in promoting good attendance because they have the bottom-line responsibility for making sure their children get to school every day. Just as parents should focus on how their children are performing academically, they have a responsibility to set expectations for good attendance and to monitor their children s absences, so that missed days don t add up to academic trouble. This Parent Handout outlines strategies including: Make getting students to school on time every day a top priority. Alert schools and community agencies to barriers that keep kids from attending class. Ask for and monitor data on chronic absence. Demand action to address systemic barriers that may be causing large numbers of students to miss too much school. For parents of secondary school students, check out this handout. Minimum Days - Please make sure to mark your calendars for the minimum days throughout this school year: October 24th - Staff Development Nov 27th - Dec 1st - Parent/Teacher Conference Week December 12th - Staff Development December 21st - Start of Winter Break February 6th - Staff Development March 27th - Staff Development May 24th - Last Day of School Dismissal of Minimum Days is as follows: Kinder - 12:48pm 1st-8th - 1:05pm Fall Athletics - Reminder to parents of athletes - You can find all practice and game schedules on our school website s homepage. Please make sure to check it regularly! Attachments in this issue of the Friday Flyer: Barn Dance Flyer Natomas 5k Flyer

3 Heron School Website - Our website is a great resource of information about our school. You have access to current events information, our PTSA website, school supply lists, bell schedules, parent resources, school and district policies, after-school program information and athletic program information. Please make sure to visit it often! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! LIKE Heron FLyers on Facebook and FOLLOW AmyWhitten@HeronSchool on Twitter! #FlyersSOAR IN THE SPOTLIGHT National Junior Honor Society The National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) is the nation's premier organization established to recognize outstanding middle level students. More than just an honor roll, NJHS serves to honor those students who have demonstrated excellence in the areas of scholarship, service, leadership, character, and citizenship. These characteristics have been associated with membership in the organization since its beginning in Chapter membership not only recognizes students for their accomplishments, but challenges them to develop further through active involvement in school activities and community service. The NJHS Heron Flyer Chapter was established last year with the formal induction of thirty 7th and 8th grade students. Moving into our 2nd year, our chapter has begun meeting and forming committees to plan their service projects for the year. Under the direction of the chapter officers, our students will complete 3-4 major service projects this year. There are five main purposes that guide chapters of NJHS: To create enthusiasm for scholarship - Students in NJHS must maintain a 3.0 cumulative GPA to remain an active member. To stimulate a desire to render service - Students are required to participate in the service projects that are planned by the chapter. To promote leadership - Students are given leadership opportunities by serving as an officer or committee chair. To encourage responsible citizenship - Students are encouraged to reach out to the community for independent volunteer opportunities. To develop character in the students of secondary schools - Being a member of NJHS doesn t just mean being a good student and following the requirements of the chapter. The expectation of an NJHS student is to have exceptional behavior in all aspects of their life. We are proud to have 18 continuing members for the school year and look forward to the new inductees this spring!

4 BE INSPIRED 12 Things To Know About The September Equinox Well hello, fall. (Or spring if you happen to be in the southern hemisphere.) Even though it happens year after year, the arrival of autumn is always a little surprising. Almost as if on a switch, one day late in the summer you feel it a subtle crispness in the air. And before you know it, it s pumpkin-spice-everything everywhere. We are suddenly swathed in sweaters and wearing boots and bombarded by shades of orange, often even before the thermometer warrants it. After slogging through a long hot August, it's exciting. We can thank the autumnal equinox for this shift from sultry summer to cozy fall. And while most of us are aware of when the first day of autumn lands on the calendar, there s more to the equinox than meets the eye. Consider the following. 1. This year, 2017, the autumnal equinox arrives precisely at 4:02 pm (EDT) on Friday, September 22. Unlike an event such as New Year s midnight that follows the clock around the time zones, equinoxes happen at the same moment everywhere. 2. There are two equinoxes annually, vernal and autumnal, marking the beginning of spring and fall. They are opposite for the northern and southern hemispheres so for those of you in the south, happy spring! 3. The autumnal equinox happens the moment the sun crosses the celestial equator, which is an imaginary line in the sky that corresponds to Earth s equator. (Old Farmer's Almanac describes it as a plane of Earth s equator projected out onto the sphere.) Every year this occurs on September 22, 23, or 24 in the northern hemisphere. 4. From hereon, nights are longer than days and days continue to get shorter until December, when the light will begin its slow climb back to long summer days. Winter solstice is technically the shortest day of the year, while the summer solstice in June boasts the most sunlight. Hence, the four seasons, as illustrated below.

5 5. Because it takes the Earth around days to orbit the Sun and why we have a leap year every 4 years the precise time of the equinoxes varies from year to year, usually happening around six hours later on successive years. On leap years, the date jumps back an entire day. 6. Equinox comes from the Latin words equi meaning equal and nox meaning night. This implies that there will be equal amounts of daylight and darkness, however such is not exactly the case. 7. This year, the sun will rise at 6:43 a.m. EDT on the equinox and will set at 6:52 p.m., giving us 9 minutes of day over night. Although the sun is perfectly over the equator, we mark sunrises and sunsets at the first and last minute the tip of the disk appears. Also, because of atmospheric refraction, light is bent which makes it appear like the sun is rising or setting earlier. 8. Exactly equal day and night won t happen until sunrise and sunset occur precisely 12 hours apart, which depends on a location's latitude; the closer to the equator, the closer it is to the equinox. This day is known as the equilux.("lux" being Latin for light, isn't that pretty?)

6 9. For the astrology-minded, the morning of the autumnal equinox is when the sun enters Libra... the sign of balanced scales. Equal day and night, balanced scales, seeing a connection here As for the other celestial orb we obsess on, the full moon near the autumnal equinox is called the Harvest Moon for the luminosity that affords farmers the ability to work late. It's also been called the Full Corn Moon (see: Full moon names and what they mean). The Harvest Moon is usually associated with the September full moon, but this year, the September full moon occurred September 5-6. Since the October full moon does her magic on October 5, it will be closer to the equinox and thus officially takes the Harvest Moon title. 11. In China the September equinox is celebrated during the Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival. The bounty of summer s harvest is celebrated and the festivities are rampant with moon cakes, round pastries made from bean paste and other sweet and/or savory ingredients. 12. This year on the equinox, as happens every year, the sun will rise precisely due East and will set precisely due West. Everywhere on Earth, except at the North and South Poles, there is a due east and due west point on the horizon; by observing the sun as it travels along this path on September 22, no matter where you are, you can see where that point it for your location. Pick a landmark, make a mental note, and enjoy the knowledge that while so much in this world is in flux, the sun is constant and will return to its perfect East and West on the days of equinox. (Melissa Breyer, September 18, 2017)

7 PTSA Presents the 2017 BARN DANCE & FREE ADMISSION FOR EVERYONE! Invite your neighbors! Friday, October 6th 5:00-7:00 p.m. Food, Games & Family Fun at Heron School Non-refundable tickets may be purchased for $1 each at entrance. Those tickets will be used for all food & games. Please bring a CANNED FOOD DONATION for Joey s Food Locker

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