February 2018

Bowman Science Fair

Attention young Bowman scientists! Mark your calendars for the annual Bowman Science Fair on Thursday, February 8th from 7pm to 8pm. Everyone is welcome to attend event if they are not presenting a project. Please plan to come and support your fellow students!

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Family Math Nights In Full Swing At Bowman This Winter

Mark your calendars for the return of Family Math Nights! We already had a fun and full Math Night with Grades 4 and 5 on Jan 11th.

Family Math Nights are a great way for parents and students of all ability levels to experience the fun of math together. We’ll have games, puzzles, brainteasers, and lots of hands-on activities. Challenge your student to a logic game, build a symmetrical pattern, or investigate the volume of 3-D shapes. It’s your choice at Family Math Night! Plan to attend an upcoming Family Math Night with your student this winter.

Our next one is for Grades 2-3 on Tuesday, February 13th from 6:30–8:00pm in the Bowman cafeteria. Save the date for: March 21st (Wed) Grades K-1

Look for more grade level specific details on the Bowman PTO website, listserv, and through your room parents in the new year. Questions? Contact [email protected].

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Library Volunteers Needed

We are looking for a parent volunteer for the Monday 1-2pm for the Sawka and Curhan classes. Please email the library volunteer coordinators at [email protected] if you are able to volunteer for this time slot.

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Additional Committee Chairs Needed For 5th Grade Activities

Here’s your chance to get involved as our 5th graders enter their final months at Bowman! We are looking for a couple of additional parents to join the 5th Grade Activities committee. We need an additional chair for the Yearbook and for the Slideshow. The work will begin immediately and promises to be lots and lots of fun! And our students will be so grateful for all of your hard work.

Yearbook – Work with teachers and 5th graders to create a yearbook for the 5th grade class. Use page layout software to layout the pages for the yearbook, including photos, student artwork, handwritten and typed text. Work with the printer to make sure the yearbooks are of good quality and completed on time.

Slideshow – Assemble a class slideshow using iMovie which is shown at the Moving On Ceremony. Slideshow will include class photos of each class, a baby photo of each 5th grader, and a current photo of each student. Video is synched to music and will be posted as a link on the web. Informal video editing experience helpful.

Don’t delay, as we need to get started creating these important memorabilia for our children! Please e-mail [email protected] if you have additional questions or you’d like to volunteer.

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Save The Date! Annual 5th Grade Spaghetti Dinner

1st March 2018
Are you hungry for spaghetti and sauce?
Come join in the fun and support 5th graders in their annual fund raiser!
Tickets on Sale Soon (Always a sell out!)

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Class Basket Raffle Coming This Spring

We know you’ve been waiting… one of Bowman’s favorite fundraisers will be back this spring! Class Baskets will be on view the week of April 2 and will be raffled off during Disco Bingo on Friday, April 6. Get your dancing shoes ready, and be on the lookout later this spring for more information about how to buy tickets

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Box Tops For Education Update

Box Tops collected from March to November 2017 were sent in and Bowman was rewarded with a check for $919.60! The money will be put into our school discretionary fund and will be used to supplement our children’s education. Thank you all for clipping those Box Tops and keep up the great work!

As a reminder, you can find the Box Tops logos on participating products such as Annie’s Organic snacks, General Mills cereals (like Cheerios), Green Giant vegetables, Old El Paso products, Ziploc bags, Huggies diapers & pull ups, Hefty trash bags, Pillsbury rolls and many more. You can send your Box Tops into the classroom in a plastic bag, envelope or on a collection sheet once or twice a month.

Questions? Contact the Box Tops Coordinators: [email protected]

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Variety Show

Start practicing your routines, warming up your voices and tuning your instruments! The Bowman Variety Show is taking place on Friday, March 23rd at Clarke Auditorium from 7:00-8:30pm. Save the date and look out for flyers and posters later this month.

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Lost And Found

The Lost and Found is over flowing! Please come by and check the table for your child’s item(s). Please remember to label all sweat shirts, coats, hats, lunch boxes and etc. Bowman Lost and Found coordinators check and organize the table at least once a month. If a lost item has a child’s name on it we bring it to the office to be reunited with the student. It is a huge help to us if you label your child’s items.

Thank you!

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Math Team News

The 4th and 5th grade before school math teams at Bowman recently participated in the first Continental Math League competition of the year. There are 2 levels of competitions of the 4th and 5th grades, and the groups from Bowman are registered with the Pythagorean level, the higher of the two levels. Students had to solve 6 problems in 30 minutes. Problems were designed to test students’ reading comprehension, problem solving skills, and the ability to set up and solve complex and challenging problems.

4th Grade – There were 145 teams from around the United States, 7 of them from New England. The median score for the country for the second test was 30/36. The Bowman 4th grade team had 36/36 points for the second test and 60/72 for the two tests combined, among top 14% teams in the country.

5th Grade – There were 161 teams from around the United States, 13 of them from New England. The median score for the country for the second test was 31/36. The Bowman 5th grade team had 36/36 points for the second test and 72/72 for the two tests combined, among top 6 teams in the country.

Congratulations to everybody on the excellent performance. Every member of each team worked hard, and can take pride in the accomplishment. The third competition for the 4th and 5th grade teams and the first competition for the 3rd grade team are in mid-January.

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Movie Night Fun

Bowman families brought their blankets and PJs, picked up their pizzas and popcorn, and enjoyed Cars 3 and Despicable Me 3 at another fabulous movie night in January. We really appreciate the work of Terri Rosica, Karin Gehring, and Liza Leventhal for organizing this fun evening! Thank you also to Jeff Rosica for running the sound/video, Rebecca Fagan Gorospe for designing the posters/flyers and to all the parents who volunteered on movie night to help with check-in and selling concessions. Special thanks to Mr. Kane and Ms. Loof for their help with the projectors. And finally to Nick’s Place in Lexington and the Capitol Theater in Arlington!

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Friendly Reminder About Lice!

It is recommended that parents check their children’s hair weekly (take-a peek, once-a-week) for any evidence of pediculosis. If head lice is discovered, parents should:

Treat the infestation in accordance with the recommendation of their child’s pediatrician and remove as many nits as possible before returning to school.

• Notify close contacts- family and friends so that they can check their children’s heads.
• Notify the school nurse, who will offer guidance and support to families while maintaining confidentiality.
• Continue to comb, inspect their child’s head, and manually remove nits daily.

Who is at risk for getting head lice?

Head lice is most common among pre-school children attending child care, elementary schoolchildren, and
the household members of infested children.

Head lice move by crawling; they cannot hop or fly. Head lice are spread by direct contact with the hair of an
infested person. Anyone who comes in head-to-head contact with someone who already has head lice is at
greatest risk. Spread by contact with clothing (such as hats, scarves, coats) or other personal items (such as
combs, brushes, or towels) used by an infested person is uncommon. Personal hygiene or cleanliness in the
home or school has nothing to do with getting head lice.

Reference: CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

For further information, please visit: http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/lice/head/index.html

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Crazy Hair Day

Thursday, February 1

The fifth grade student council has decided on the next upcoming spirit day. We will be having Crazy Hair Day on Thursday, February 1. Students can style their hair in all sorts of crazy, creative ways. Make sure you don’t wear any wigs, or hats. Also, be sure that your parents are okay with whatever style that you do for this spirit day. Students are not required to participate, but it is highly encouraged by the student council. Have fun!!!

By: Lucy and Sarah (Grade 5 Student Council Representatives)