MAY 2010 NEWS
MAY CALENDAR
6 – Thursday, 8:45am - Piano Recital, Auditorium; all invited
17 – Monday, Cookie Day in Play Yard right after School $1 per bag of cookies!
21 - Friday, 7:45am-9am - Home & School Monthly Meeting, Library, All Welcome
26 – Wednesday, 6:45pm – Spring Musicale, Auditorium; all invited28- Friday, 10am-20m – Spring Fair, see next page
31 – Monday, Memorial Day, School Closed
JUNE CALENDAR
3- Thursday, 6:30pm, Drama Club Performances
8 & 9 – Tuesday & Wednesday, Field Day
17 – Thursday, 8th Grade Closing Ceremony
18 – Friday, Last Day of School
GREENING GREENFIELD UPDATES
Greenfield School Earth Day Celebration
2010 is a year with much to celebrate at Greenfield School. Earth Day is 40 years old! And soon Greenfield School will be celebrating the same momentous anniversary. On Earth Day, April 22, a full day of environmental activities for the students provided plenty of opportunities to enjoy the new gardens and our riverside proximity, plus learning opportunities about solar energy, food producing plants, storm drainage and water quality monitoring. Phil Forsyth and a team of volunteers from the Philadelphia Orchard Project lead seventh graders in planting strawberries and asparagus in our agricultural garden, Garth Connor showed the students the EPA’s interactive materials about the natural water cycle, and Ron Harvey and Denise McKeon lead sixth grade students in marking our surrounding storm drains to alert people not to pollute. Ms. Karen from the City Institute Library came for an Earth Day Story Hour with the first graders. Seven classes took walking field trips to the Schuylkill River Park – the Chestnut Street ramp to the park is only a block from the school. Volunteers from CH2MHILL provided kits and helped fourth and fifth grade students to test the water quality of the Schuylkill River. The kindergartners had a fabulous time picnicking along the River. The day was capped with the very popular Greening Greenfield Silent Auction and Social. September 2010 will mark the 40th Anniversary of the opening of the Albert M. Greenfield School. News of a number of incredible early birthday gifts has the school community abuzz with excitement for the celebration. Grants from the PA DEP and from HeadCount through a Disco Biscuit Benefit Concert will be helping to fund this summer’s Phase II of construction. Hooray!
Money For Mounds Student Penny Drive a Huge Success
We kicked off our Money for Mounds Penny Drive at a special student assembly on March17th. The funds raised will be used to build fun hills (safety turf-covered mounds) for the kids to play on in the east half of the schoolyard. Greenfield students raised $1,105.35! Congratulations to the top three classes: 1st Place Ms. Goldberg $348.96; 2nd Place Mr. Somerville $238.83; 3rd Place Mr. Carbone $108.42. Honorable mention to Room 113 Mr. Somers and Ms. Jolly!
Classes won credit to order a class gift from Scholastic. Each class also received books with environmental themes. All three winning classes, plus Mr. Somerville’s students, each received a copy a DVD about solar energy projects all over the world) given by HeadCount and the Disco Biscuits.
E-CYCLE Day Results
Our first ever E-CYCLE Day was a success – we raised over $600 for Greening Greenfield’s phase II playground renovation. Many neighborhood residents dropped off their electronics to be recycled. Thanks for your participation!
Flower Power Results
Raised over $1,0000! Thanks to Jennifer Snyder for putting together this first-time spring fund raiser!
GREENFIELD ARTWORK AT TRADER JOE’S!
Ms. Goldberg’s 1st grade class visited Trader Joe’s last month; next time you are there, take a look at their great art work and letters hanging on the wall at check out!
MORE GREAT GREENING GREENFIELD NEWS!
The Department of Environmental Protection announced on April 1, 2010 (and it was not a joke!) the award of $200,000 to the Albert M. Greenfield School for the continuing development of its environmentally friendly school-yard and physical plant. The project, Greening Greenfield, envisions schoolyard games in a healthy green space that teaches children as they play. It educates students to care about their impact on the Earth, and understand how to nurture the natural resources they have around them. Greening Greenfield will create a public school campus that is an oasis for its community and an example to public buildings everywhere, giving the city a green open recreation space in the heart of Philadelphia. The DEP grant funds the second phase of the project, focused on the east side of the school yard.
THIS YEAR’S SPRING AUCTION & SOCIAL EVENT WAS A GREAT SUCCESS!
On the evening of April 22 at Dane Décor in Old City, the music was fabulous, the food was delicious and plentiful, the crowd was quite talkative, and the mood was light and fun. With 150 people in attendance, this year’s event was a great success raising $15,355. The Live and Silent Auction brought in just under $9,000, ticket sales totaled $5,120, and we received $1,565 in donations, all for Greening Greenfield Phase 2 Construction. We want to thank all of our parents, teachers, staff, relatives, and friends who attended and helped make the event such a success. One of the highlights of the evening was the Live Auction with six nights in Costa Rica, a week’s vacation in Harvey Cedars, and Dinner with Principal Lazar up for bid. We thank all of our auction donors for their generosity. In addition, we want to thank our sponsors Dane Décor and Marathon Grill, and our contributors Moore Brothers Wine Company, Peregrine Coffee, Walnut Bridge Coffee House, Margaret Ma Levy, Alexey Melishchuk, and John Sarkioglu. We got to enjoy the smooth sounds of Jazz Storm, thanks to Dan Dougherty on bass and Charlie Lattore on guitar. We also enjoyed a wonderful performance by our Greenfield Student String Ensemble under Ms. Emily Nichol with cellist Teige Dougherty and violists Brianna Seay, Josh DeSouza and Aja Morris.
NEW MOSAIC MURAL AT SANSOM STREET UNVEILED!
On April 27, “Spelling Out Greenfield – A Mosaic Mural” was unveiled at the Samson Street entrance to the school yard. The mural was designed and constructed by Greenfield students participating in an afterschool program with Moore College of Art professor Lynn Denton and her class of Moore students. Congratulations and thank you to our creative students for brightening up the entrance!
MAY ENRICHMENT ACTIVITIES
There are lots of enrichment events happening in May! On May 3, live butterfly kits are scheduled to be delivered to each kindergarten class, and eggs will arrive for each first grade to observe hatching chicks. Dance continues this month with Philadelphia Dance Academy giving each kindergarten class a ballet lesson on May 7. On May 11, Koresh Dance Company will provide a hip hop dance lesson for each first grade class. The Rock School of Ballet will also be giving assemblies to many of the classes. Spiral Q Puppet Theater will be providing an interactive assembly for the 7th graders on May 21. And last, but not least, Minas, a Brazilian music group, will perform for grades 3 – 8.
SPRING FAIR
Albert Greenfield's annual Spring fair will be held on Friday, May 28, 2010. The fair runs from 10:00 am -2:00 pm. Tickets will be sold at the fair. However, to avoid waiting in long lines- tickets may be purchased in advance on May 26th and May 27th from 8:10 AM - 8:40 AM at the Sansom Street playground entrance (or inside our lobby if it is raining). Please note, we need parent/grandparent/guardian volunteers to ensure the fair runs smoothly & to insure the safety of our students. Please look for sign-up flyers via students’ backpacks and volunteer today! If you can help, please complete the volunteer form and drop it in the Home & School Mailbox in the office or contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
DRAMA CLUB
Please join us in the Auditorium on Thursday June 3rd at 6:30pm for 2 performances by our Greenfield Drama club. ASAP/After School Activities Partnerships has sponsored classes this for grades 1-3 & 4-6, both classes will be performing. Admission is free and we encourage you to bring your family and friends. There will be two performances: "Beverly Billingsly Takes a Bow" by Alexander Stadler, performed by the 1-3rd grade class & Aesop's (Oh So Slightly) Updated Fables by Kim Esop Wylie, performed by the 4th - 6th grade class. We hope to see you there!
HOME AND SCHOOL OFFICERS 2010-2012 SCHOOL YEARS
Congratulations to the following dedicated parents for volunteering their time and talents to lead Greenfield H&S Association. Their terms run from 9/1/10 to 8/31/12. Co-Presidents – Marnie Vandenburg and Barbara Dallao
1st VP: Aliza Schmidt, 2nd VP: Gwen Coleman, Recording Secretary: Carole Bernstein, Corresponding Secretary: Gerlinde Harb; Treasurer: Lisa Lobree.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR JUNE FIELD DAY!!!
Green and Gold Days are back! Mr. Playo is re-instituting a Greenfield tradition! Get ready for two days of fun and games. Grades K-4 will participate on Tuesday, June 8 from 9 a.m. - 11 a.m. Grades 5-8 will participate on Wednesday, June 9 from 9 a.m. - 11 a.m. Parent volunteers are needed for each day. Please contact Anne Bigler ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) if you're interested in helping.
