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Community Brief from Citrus Elementary School
December 1, 2017
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The holiday season presents a wonderful opportunity for us to reflect on the events of the year. We are off to a productive and successful start and we have many events planned for the remainder of the year -
2017/2018 OCPS Calendar
Ocoee PD Annual Toy Drive
Student Council is collecting canned goods and non-perishable food items, as well as new unwrapped toy for the Ocoee Police Department's Annual Toy Drive. These items can be placed in the boxes located in the front lobby. All food items collected and proceeds from fundraisers will go towards food baskets and Publix gift cards for the needy families of Citrus Elementary. Pajama day raised $277 for Publix gift cards! By teaching our children that we are part of a whole community, they learn to have compassion for others and gain a true sense of belonging.
AmazonSmile for Online Holiday Purchases
I know many of you will be online shopping this holiday season and throughout the rest of the school year. Help support Citrus Elementary PTA by shopping at AmazonSmile. When you shop at AmazonSmile, Amazon will donate to the Citrus Elementary School PTA. Support the PTA every time you shop!
Holiday Concert
Our 3rd, 4th and 5th grade music club students will be performing a holiday concert on Thursday, December 14th at 6:00 p.m. in the cafeteria. Please come and enjoy the sounds of the season!
PTA Fundraiser Delivery
The PTA fundraiser is expected to be delivered before the winter holidays. We will notify you when the orders have arrived. If you do not receive an item, please call the office so that we can resolve the issue. Thank you to everyone who supported the fundraiser!
Florida Standards Assessment
By now you have heard about the
Florida Standards Assessment. This test is based on more rigorous standards. Students at each grade level are required to read an increased amount of words in each reading passage, respond to text based questions, solve more complex problems in math and be able to determine all correct and incorrect answer choices. In writing, students are required to read and respond to text-based questions in 90 minutes. We will be providing parents of 3rd through 5th grade students with Florida Standards Assessment (FSA) information during an upcoming FSA parent night in January. Please look for more information to come home about this important parent night.
i-Ready Reading and Math
We encourage all students to log onto i-Ready for more reading and math practice and have been recognizing students in each class weekly who have passed the most lessons with the highest pass rate. Students receive a Burger King coupon for a free kid's meal. We have also invited select students to participate in math fluency practice beginning at 7:30 in the morning. Letters came home this week so check with your child's teacher to see if they received an invitation. Students that have attended five (5) Saturday Enrichment Came sessions between October and December will participate in an ice cream party. We have two (2) more sessions scheduled for December 2nd and 16th.
Just a reminder that winter break runs from Friday, December 22nd through Friday, January 5th. School resumes on Monday, January 8th, 2018.
Thank you for your generosity this year and your continued support of Citrus Elementary School. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful students, teachers, and parents. We wish you all the joys of the season and a blessed new year!
Happy Holidays,
Delaine Bender
Principal
Pictured very top: Second graders performing during last month's special Veterans Day performance. They honored U.S. military veterans for their service through songs.
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Upcoming Events
December
2nd: Saturday Enrichment Camp
5th: PTA Board Meeting, 3:00pm
6th: Boy Scouts visit classrooms
7th: Boy Scout Sign Up Night, 6:00-7:00pm
8th: Kindergarten to Green Meadows Farm
8th: Donuts with Dad, 7:30-8:30am
11th: SAC Meeting 6:00pm in the Media Center
12th: Student Council Meeting, 7:30am
14th: Holiday Concert, 6:00-7:00pm
15th: All library books due back for the semester
15th: Snow Cones $1.00
16th: Saturday Enrichment Camp
16th: Free Food Giveaway for Families in Need, 10:00am-12:00pm (below)
20th: Holiday Class Parties
21st:
End of the 2nd Nine Weeks
22nd: Teacher Work Day/Student Holiday
Dec. 25th to Jan. 5th: Winter Break
Special Events
January
8th: Return from Winter Break
9th: PTA Board Meeting, 3:00 pm
12th: Snow Cones $1
13th: Saturday Enrichment Camp
15th: No School/Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
16th: Student Council Meeting, 7:30am
18th: School Spelling Bee for 4th and 5th Grades
19th: Report Cards Go Home
22nd-26th: Literacy Week
27th: Saturday Enrichment Camp
30th: Student Council Meeting, 7:30am
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Vital Signs
Weekly attendance rates
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Oct. 20
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Oct. 27
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Nov. 3
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Nov. 10
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Nov. 17
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Kgtn.
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89.2%
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85.6%
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88.3%
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86.4%
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86.4%
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1st Grade
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78.6%
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84.9%
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84.9%
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78.2%
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79.0%
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2nd Grade
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83.2%
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83.9%
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83.9%
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89.4%
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84.7%
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3rd Grade
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83.6%
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81.3%
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81.3%
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87.1%
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87.7%
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4th Grade
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90.8%
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91.8% #1
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91.8% #1
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92.6%
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90.7% (tie)
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5th Grade
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93.9% #1
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90.5%
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90.5%
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92.7% #1
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90.7% (tie)
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* Higher percentages are more favorable.
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Media Center News
Battle of the Books Team
We are looking for students for the Citrus Elementary School Battle of the Books team. Students that are interested should visit the Media Center to sign up to take the Battle of the Books quiz. The Battle of the Books is a reading program for students in 3rd thru 5th grade. The list of books comes from the Sunshine State Young Reader's Award titles.
Student Recognition: Accelerated Reader
This month we'll be celebrating those students that have met their Accelerated Reader goal. The students that met their goal will receive a certificate and book.
Library Books
All library books will be due to the Media Center on December 15th.
West Oaks Branch Library and Genealogy Center Monthly Newsletter
The West Oaks Branch Library publishes a monthly newsletter packed with useful information for our school community. This month's issue includes:
Early Learning Fun, Kid's Stuff (6-12), Events for Adults, and
insights on learning more about personal family history (genealogy). You may
sign up here. This is really worth a quick look and the newsletter is free.
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Ocoee Rotary Dictionary Donation
The Ocoee Rotary Club supports Citrus Elementary each year by providing dictionaries to each 3rd grade student.
Mr. Forges from the Ocoee Rotary Club delivered the dictionaries to students on Tuesday, November 28, 2017.
Mr. Forges and the 3rd graders with their dictionaries. We would like to thank the Ocoee Rotary Club for their support each year.
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Teach-In at Citrus Elementary
November 15, 2017
Teach-In was a fantastic success at Citrus Elementary! We hosted several presenters as well as Careers on Wheels for our students on November 15th! We appreciate all of our parents, grandparents, community members, family and friends who took time out of their busy schedules to come to Citrus and present to our students!
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Mrs. Nau, Regions Bank Manager, speaking to 5th classes about finance, needs and wants.
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First grade students enjoying "Careers on Wheels" and asking questions about how the heavy machinery works!
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Mr. Witt speaking to 4th grade classes about his job as General Manger of
Amway Food and Beverage.
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Mr. Waters from Waters Custom Builders, speaking to a 3rd grade class about
how to build a house.
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Mr. Tabora from the Winter Garden Fire Department showing 5th grade classes the gear he has to wear when fighting a fire.
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Rigor in the Classroom
Mrs. Sherlock's students learn how to conduct a debate
Mrs. Sherlock's class recently learned how to conduct a debate. Students first read an article on fidget spinners. Students decided whether they were for or against fidget spinners being allowed in schools. They then researched their position to strengthen their case for or against fidget spinners. Finally, they conducted one-on-one debates trailed by a whole class debate. The purpose of the activity was to prepare students for a unit activity in which students will debate animal cloning.
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"Fidget spinners" are small, ball-bearing devices that the user can rotate between
his or her fingers.
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Boys Night Out
November 17, 2017
At our recent Boys Night Out event on November 17th, Citrus Elementary boys and families enjoyed playing board games, Minute to Win It challenges and watching movies. Pictured below are many of our boys enjoying the fun activities of the evening.
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Copyright Notice
 Reproduction of this material, either written or electronically, including the general layout, graphics, analyses, and content topics without the express approval of Target Performance Systems, Inc., a Florida corporation, and OCPS - Citrus Elementary School is forbidden without written consent. Thank you for your support of the Orange County Public Schools and especially Citrus Elementary School. Please contact Ms. Delaine Bender (principal) at
[email protected]
with any questions.
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Citrus Elementary School | Ms. Delaine Bender, Principal | 407.445.5475 |
CES Website
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