Jump into June and Celebrate Summer!

Dear Kerby Families and Friends,


It is unbelievable that this is the last newsletter for the 2011-12 school year! I'd like to say thank you to the entire Kerby Community for all that you've done to make it a successful, engaging, fun-filled school year for all our students. This year, parents, grandparents, older brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles, and community members have spent approximately 4,650 hours volunteering to help make the experiences students receive at Kerby the best they can possibly be!

End of the Year Picnics at Pier Park



June 7 - Ms. Maddalena 11-3 / Kindergarten

Ms. Corio 11:30—3 / 1st Grade

Mrs. Cronovich - Kindergarten— Kinder Review in Library (doors open @ 12:50 show begins @ 1:00)

Picnic in Courtyard 2-3:30



June 8 - Ms. Briggs 11-3 / 1st Grade

Mrs. Kern 11-2 / 2nd Grade



June 11 - Mr. Sattelmeier 11-3 / 2nd Grade

Mr. Brown 11-3 / 3rd Grade

Mr. Restum 11-3 / 3rd Grade

Mr. Eszes 11-3 / 5th Grade

Mrs. Blazinski 11-3 / 5th Grade



June 12—Ms. Zens 11-3:30 / Kindergarten

4th Grade 11-3 / Mrs. Schrade, Mr. Pfeuffer & Ms. Walsh

Mrs. Sullivan 11:30-2:30 / 3rd Grade



September 4th is the first day of school for the 2012-13 school year. Please make sure to check out our web calendar during the summer. We will continue to update it with the new events after this school year is over. Registration Packets will be mailed home the week of August 13th.



Maureen G. Bur

Congratulations and . . .

Best Wishes to Mrs. Schrade after 18 amazing years of teaching in the GPPS. Mrs. Schrade is retiring at the end of this school year. You will be missed by both staff and students. Good Luck to you as you begin this new chapter in your life!

May Flowers

Dear Kerby Families and Friends,

Kerby teachers and I are making plans for classroom assignments for the 2012-13 school year. We will work as grade level teams to assign students to a particular classroom group. Our teachers have worked with your children throughout the school year and have gained valuable insight regarding the social, academic, and emotional needs of your children. We will consider the following factors as we prepare classroom assignments for the next school year:

* Academic abilities
* Cluster groupings
* Gender balance
* Student personality and interaction
* Student behavior
* Class size
* Social mixture
* Individual learning styles (auditory, visual, hands on)
* Students benefiting from being together or separated
* Student social/emotional needs
* Information provided from parents on the student information form.

Our main objective is to produce the most positive classroom environment that enables students to achieve their greatest potential!

At this time of the year we are trying to firm up our Kerby enrollment so we can plan for the number of sections in each grade level and the number of teachers we will need to teach these students. With this in mind, we really need your help. If you plan on moving before the start of the school year, it is very important that you let us know by calling the Kerby Office.

You can help us out by approaching neighborhood parents, whose children may be of kindergarten age or first grade and new neighbors who may move in over the summer. Please have them give us a call or contact the Office of Residency and Enrollment at 313-432-3083.

Maureen G. Bur

April Showers and Sunshine

Dear Kerby Families and Friends,
You may have noticed the format of the Kerby Newsletter has changed. Each building across the district has been asked to use a more uniform format for our newsletters, this is the 1st edition.
Lately, many of my parent conversations at the end of the day revolve around traffic congestion during drop-off and pick-up times. As these conversations continued to “pop up” I remembered the following information in last year’s newsletter that once again put these conversations in perspective.
It stated the following:
Today, 99.9% of our children were dropped-off and picked-up without the possibility of a potentially serious incident.

Today, 99.9% of our drivers did not park and leave their vehicles in the No Parking Areas.

Today, 99.9% of our students were not dangerously dropped-off or picked-up in the designated areas.

Today, 99.9% of our drivers were outstandingly kind, understanding, and very courteous to one another.

Fortunately, there will be plenty of tomorrows. If we remember to follow the system and exercise our greatest care, we can earn the remaining tenth of a percent.

I believe this to be true, if we continue to practice patience during drop-off/pick-up and be Respectful,
Responsible, and Safe, we all will have a better experience.


Have a GREAT week!

Spring Forward into March

Dear Kerby Families and Friends,

It is hard to believe that Spring is just around the corner, but after the wet and windy days we have had, I know the warming (and hopefully dry) winds of Spring will be a welcome change! Since we celebrated Dr. Seuss’ birthday last week, I thought you might enjoy the following quote:

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you ‘ll go.”
~ Dr. Seuss ~

As we celebrate March is Reading Month please consider 10 great ways to Promote Reading in Your Family:

*Give books as gifts
*Sing songs, say nursery rhymes and poems together
*Follow a recipe with your child
*Exchange refrigerator messages with your child
*Make reading together a happy time :)
*Take your child to the Library at least once a week
*Encourage your child to write and make books
*Read a book or listen to a tape in the car (instead of watching a movie). Read *while waiting for extracurricular activities to begin
*Look at the book cover. Encourage your child to make predictions about the book
*Read, Read, Read, Read, and then Read some more!!

Over the next few weeks at Kerby, we will have a “Read In”, “Assembly with Author Denise Brennan-Nelson”, “Get Caught Reading”, Dr. Seuss Read-A-Round, and time to “Read Together”. Many thanks to Anne Maurer, Kerby’s Media Specialist, for all of the time and effort she has put into organizing these special activities.

Have a GREAT week!


Maureen G. Bur

It's February - Snow? Where are you?

Dear Kerby Families and Friends,

Thursday, February 16th is the 100th Day of School. Take time that day (and every day) to use one of these 100 ways to praise a child, a significant other, and give yourself a big pat on the back, too!

Wow/Way to Go/Super/You’re Special/Outstanding/Excellent Great/Good/Neat/Well Done/ Remarkable/I knew you could do it/I’m proud of you/Fantastic/Super star/Nice work/ Looking good/You’re on top of it/Beautiful/Now you’re flying/You’re catching on/ Now you’ve got it/You’re incredible/Bravo/You’re fantastic/Hurray for you/You’re on target/You’re on your way/How nice/How smart Good job/That’s incredible/Hot dog/ Dynamite/You’re beautiful/You’re unique/Nothing can stop you now/Good for you/I like you/You’re a winner/Remarkable job/Beautiful work/Spectacular/You’re darling/ You’re precious/Great discovery/You’ve discovered the secret/You figured it out/ Fantastic job/Hip, hip hurray/Bingo/Magnificent/Marvelous/Terrific/You’re important/ Phenomenal/You’re sensational/Super work/Creative job/Super job/Fantastic job/ Exceptional performance/You’re a real trooper/You are responsible/You are exciting/ You learned it right/What an imagination/What a good listener/You are fun/You’re growing up/You tried hard/You care/Beautiful sharing/Outstanding performance/ You’re a good friend/I trust you/Super de duper/You mean a lot to me/You make me happy/You belong/You’ve got a friend in me/You make me laugh/You brighten my day/I respect you/You mean the world to me/That’s correct/You’re a joy/You’re a treasure/ You’re wonderful/You’re perfect/Awesome/A+ Job/You’re A-ok/My buddy/You made my day/ That’s the best/A big hug/A big kiss/Say I love you!

Remember, a smile is worth 1000 words!!! (By Cynthia Bissell)

Thank you for partnering with us as we praise our students and instill the belief that hard work, practice and perseverance are the keys to success. It is through these beliefs that kids will continue to try when the ‘going gets tough’.

Have a Great Week!


Maureen G. Bur

Wishing Everyone a Happy & Heathly 2012!

Dear Kerby Families and Friends,

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a safe, restful, fun-filled Holiday season. It was great to see the smiles on the boys and girls faces and hear the laughter fill the hallways and classrooms as they shared their vacation memories with one another. Their energy and enthusiasm are truly contagious and are shining examples of why our school is the wonderful place that it is.

The year 2012 provides the opportunity to start “anew” and I look forward to the Kerby community
focusing on putting our best efforts forth and continuing to strive to be the best we can be!

“The happiest people don’t have the best of everything,
they just make the best of everything they have.”

~Anonymous~

Have a Great Month!



Maureen G. Bur