Rogers International School Newsletter

March 7th, 2018
In This Issue
PTO Calendar:

3/7
PTO School Security Meeting

3/9 
Report Cards Go Home

3/8 - 3/10
Mary Poppins Performances

3/14 - 3/16
Early Dismissal for Report Card Conferences

3/23
"Who We Are" Potluck

3/28
Early Dismissal

3/30
Good Friday Holiday

4/9 - 4/13
Spring Recess - No School

4/18-27
SBAC Testing

4/25
Early Dismissal

5/23
Early Dismissal

5/28
Memorial Day Holiday
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current
IB  LEARNER  PROFILE
 
"OPEN MINDED"
We critically appreciate our own cultures and histories as well as the values and traditions of others. We seek and evaluate a range of points of view and we are willing to grow from the experience.

"OPEN MINDED" VOCABULARY
      Tolerant...accepting...recognizing and appreciating differences
Receptive...understanding...without prejudices...unprejudiced...
Impartial...objective...not have preconceived notions ...empathetic
To respect others...to consider other points of view
Due to the weather school is OFF today! Stay safe and warm.

The meeting scheduled for this evening with Mr. John Perotta, Director of Safety and Security from Stamford Public Schools, has been rescheduled. See details below.

Save the date for the first "WHO WE ARE" potluck coming up by the end of this month.

Congratulations.......... 
to Arush Rao for qualifying to participate in the State Geography Bee. We wish him the very best!
AND
to Mr. Argenio for being nominated by the PTO for SPEF Educator of the Year! Make sure to read the tremendous tributes below, written about one of our favorite teachers.

RIS presents its annual production of MARY POPPINS this week with shows tomorrow, Friday and Saturday. Hope you have your tickets. 

A new promotion by AmazonSmile starts Monday, March 12th. Please see details below.

SBAC standardized testing will take place late April. The schedule is posted for your perusal. 

Make sure to check out the Community Corner, there are two great science programs coming up soon, one at Yale and one at Soundwaters.
MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL
UNITED THROUGH ACTION

Ryunosuke Satoro once said, "Individually we are a drop but together we are an ocean!"  

Together through our actions as IB global citizens, we hope to be a wave of change!  

On March 14th, the students and staff at Rogers International School will be demonstrating their "habits of heart and mind" by unifying behind the International Baccalaureate Learner Profile.  Students and staff will be expressing their perspectives on how they can take action to advocate for positive change in our global community.  Each grade level from kindergarten through eighth grade, along with the RIS staff, will be assigned a Learner Profile on which to reflect and target their action.  

The grade level/staff focuses will be as follows: 
Kindergarten - Caring
Grade 1 - Communicator
Grade 2 - Inquirers
Grade 3 - Knowledgeable
Grade 4 - Thinkers
Grade 5 - Open -Minded
Grade 6 - Risk-Takers
Grade 7 - Principled
Grade 8 - Reflective
RIS Staff - Balanced.  

Large scale posters will be created by each group to display the thoughts, feelings, and actions of the students and staff at Rogers related to their designated Learner Profile.  The posters will then be collected and exhibited in the school.
LETTER FROM SUPERINTENDENT EARL KIM

Please take a few minutes to go over the letter sent by Stamford Public Schools Superintendent, Earl Kim, regarding the walkout by students on March 14th, to express concern over Gun Control. 
PTO MEETING ABOUT SCHOOL SAFETY - RESCHEDULED
Tuesday, March 13th, 6- 7 pm
  
The meeting scheduled with Mr. John Perrotta, the director of safety and security for Stamford Public Schools, is rescheduled to Tuesday, March 13th from 6 - 7 pm.

In addition we will also have Captain Diedrich Hohn from Stamford Police to educated us about the steps being taken and to answer questions and concerns that parents have.
MARY POPPINS AT ROGERS
Come and experience the magic...
 
The Drama club at Rogers present the 
quintessential nanny MARY POPPINS
this week.
Don't miss the chance 
and come get your tickets now, if
you haven't already. Contact Alicia 
for any  available tickets. 

Show times: 
Thursday, March 8th  - 6:30 pm
Friday, March 9th      -  6:30 pm
Saturday, March 10    - 11 am and 1:30 pm

All the very best to the cast and crew.........go break a leg! A shout out to the staff and parent volunteers who are helping to make this a great success. 

It's not too late to support the Drama Club  by becoming a sponsor.  Various options  are available for you to consider.  Please see the attached flyer for more details or email   Mr.Joe for any questions that you may have.
"WHO WE ARE" COMMUNITY NIGHT POTLUCK
Friday, March 23rd
 
Save the date  for the first RIS "Who We Are" Community Night Potluck. An evening of coming together to share our knowledge, learn something about others in our RIS community and what makes Rogers special!

Bring your family, a dish to share, and learn about your fellow RIS students and their families. 

More details to follow....
RIS AT THE STATE GEOGRAPHY BEE

For the second year in a row, our school champion, Arush Rao will be traveling to Central Connecticut State University in New Britain to compete in the State Geography Bee.  After winning the school bee, Arush completed a rigorous online test to qualify at the state level.  

At CCSU he will join 99 other students from Connecticut Schools from grades 4-8 vying to represent the state at the national bee that will be conducted in Washington DC, May 20th - 24th.

Also joining him at the State Bee on April 6th are students from Rippowam Middle School, Turn of River Middle School and the King & Low-Heywood Thomas School.
PTO NOMINATES MR.ARGENIO FOR SPEF EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR 

The Rogers International School PTO is proud to announce that Mr. Michael Argenio is our nominee for  the Stamford Public Education Foundation's Educator of the Year Award.  
To be nominated, responses to the following had to be submitted:

* Enhances student learning with enrichment
* Embraces community collaboration by bringing outside resources in the classroom
* Demonstrates a commitment to continuous professional development of self and others
* Exemplifies a commitment to supporting the greater Stamford community   

See the nomination form for a description of all the great ways Mr. Argenio makes Rogers a great place to learn and grow. We are so lucky to have him teaching our children.
SBAC TESTING SCHEDULE
Wednesday, April 18 - Friday, April 27 
 

RIS will be administering the Smarter Balanced assessments for grades 3 through 8 over the school days from April 18th through April 27th. 

Here is the schedule :
Reading CAT Testing: Grades 3-8   -  April 18th, Wednesday 
Reading CAT Testing: Grades 3-8   - April 19th, Thursday
                                  Make Ups   - April 20th, Friday

Math CAT Testing, Grades 3,4,6,7 & 8       - April 23, Monday
Math CAT Testing, Grades 3-8                   - April 24, Tuesday
Math CAT Testing and Make ups, Grade 5  - April 25, Wednesday
Math PT Testing , Grades 3-8  -                - April 26, Thursday
Make Ups                                                - April 27th Friday

Parents, please ensure that any doctors appointments or other foreseeable absences are avoided during this time.
GET ALERTS FOR SCHOOL CLOSINGS
  
If you haven't already, you can subscribe to receive automatic alerts from the Stamford School District website:
  • Go to www.stamfordpublicschools.org
  • Stamford Quick Links click on "Subscribe to News and District Alerts"
  • Input your e-mail address
  • Select District Alerts (you can also subscribe to District News)
  • Click on "Subscribe Me"
You can also Follow on Twitter: @SPSSuper for any early morning tweet regarding school closings, delays or releases.

Receive an automated phone call.  See attached flyer for details.
DONATE TO THE ROGERS PTO
Help Us Help You

Make a tax-deductible contribution to the Rogers PTO, a registered 501(c)3 by visiting www.rispto.org.

Credit card convenience fee has been waived.

All donations are reinvested into the school, which allows us to continue to improve the educational programs and extra-curricular activities for our students, regardless of their ability to pay.
THREE TIMES THE CHARM
SHOP AND MAKE MONEY

We are excited to tell you all about a new 
promotion that will launch soon. Amazon 
is tripling the donation amount to 1.5% 
when customers make their FIRST ELIGIBLE 
smile.amazon.com  purchase from 
MARCH 12th - 31st.

This is a great opportunity to increase Rogers International School PTO's amazon smile donations by reminding you to shop at smile.amazon.com.
COMMUNITY CORNER
SPRING WRESTLING
Sign up now

Our Spring Wrestling program will run from  March 12th through May 10th.  They will meet on  Monday  and Thursday nights from  6:30 - 8 pm.  Mondays will be at the Boys & Girls Club and Thursdays at the Westhill High School.  Please see attached flyer for more details.
YALE SOCIETY OF WOMEN ENGINEERS - ENGINEERING EXTRAVAGANZA 

The Yale Society of Women Engineers-Engineering Extravaganza:  Join the Society of Women Engineers at Yale for an engineering extravaganza! Open to students in grades 6-8. Come learn about the different types of engineering and participate in exciting hands-on design challenges with other middle schoolers from across Connecticut. We also invite parents and educators to join us for a concurrent workshop, where we will provide strategies for continuing to engage your children in STEM. For more information or to register, visit  engineeringday.com/ctseed . Message  jenna@engineeringday.com  with any questions!    Cost: $5 per student registration fee (if the cost is prohibitive, contact  jenna@engineeringday.com  for waivers); No cost for optional parent/educator programming.   Parking will be available.
SCIENCE STARS SPRING BREAK PROGRAM FOR GIRLS  AT SOUNDWATERS

Each year SoundWaters hosts the Science Stars program  during the week of spring break for Stamford public schools, April 9th through April 13th, 2018 from 9am until 4pm.  Science Stars is for girls only in grades 3 through 7 interested in science and aimed at encouraging these young girls to further develop their interest in the field. The program is jam packed with hands-on experiments and encounters with live animals as well as the chance to work alongside women scientists. Our goal is to provide students with different opportunities to spark their interest in the sciences and build their confidence. Each day, the girls will participate in a number of science activities, enjoy a snack and lunch provided by SoundWaters, and make new friends! There is a $35 fee for the entire week of programming.

Register online or contact  Jess Castoro  at  (203) 406-3311 .
STAMFORD PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT CALENDARS
 
Stamford Public School has approved and posted the next two  school years' calendars.

  
Keep in mind that any school closings due to inclement weather will be added at the end of the school year. 
UNITED WAY PROGRAMS
For Working Families

United Way of Western Connecticut supports families they consider ALICE ® (A sset L imited , I ncome C onstrained , E mployed ) with a monthly Mobile Food Pantry and the Alice Enrichment Fund to provide subsidies for extracurricular activities. Let the United Way help you stretch your hard-earned dollars.
PTO NEWS
Visit RIS Website for More Updates

Stay in the loop on extracurriculars, field trips and school-sponsored events. Our RIS administration has our very own Google Calendar on the Stamford Public Schools RIS website Bookmark it and always be up-to-date on the latest from the office.

The Rogers PTO  Calendar of Events is updated on a weekly basis and new topics are added as requested. Help us stay current by submitting your topic, meeting or event to: therogerscurrent@gmail.com.

PTO Feedback Survey
If you have any suggestions or feedback to give, please visit our PTO website  https://www.rispto.org/feedback . Your feedback can help us make changes to help improve future PTO meetings. 
Sincerely,
The Rogers Current
Rogers International School     
TheRogersCurrent@gmail.com                


The Rogers Current Editors: 
Diana Toomey-Wilson  dianatoomeywilson@gmail.com
Sonali Vanarase  sonalisb@hotmail.com
Anna Björkman  ptowebpayments@gmail.com
Andrea Banyas  andreacroot@yahoo.com