Sylvan Park Paideia Elementary School

Thanks so much to everyone who donated to our January Stock the Lounge Teacher Appreciation event. Our staff loved it!

We will be working to clean up the school’s garden in time for spring! On Saturday, February 25, we will be removing the existing garden soil from each bed, relining the beds with garden fabric, and then filling the beds back in with garden soil and compost. We will provide coffee and donuts for everyone. Hope to see you there – sign up today!

Chess club will be held on Thursdays Chess from 3:05 – 4:05 PM and will run for 10-weeks on the
following dates:
February 2, 9, 16, 23
March 2, 9, 23, 30
April 13, 20, 27

Registration coming soon! Visit www.ncc.clubexpress.com/ or email nashvillechess@gmail.com for more information.

NSU soccer will meet on Thursdays after school and is tentatively scheduled to begin on March 9. Visit http://www.clubhenry.com/in-town-1 for more info and to register.

Please join us this Thursday for Diversity Night from 6-7p in the school auditorium. We know this will be a special evening and we hope you can be there! Free pizza and childcare for elementary aged children 3+ will be provided by the PTO. You can sign up for childcare here.

We are delighted that the very talented Verity Rodrigues will be presenting about “Understanding Neurodiversity in Learning“.  Through her experiences and training as a school psychologist and licensed clinical psychologist, Dr. Rodrigues specializes in providing coaching and professional development to educators and school administrators on utilizing evidence-based assessment and intervention practices for students on the autism spectrum. At TRIAD, the Autism Institute at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Dr. Rodrigues works across TRIAD’s school-based professional development team supporting educators in autism evaluation and leading the development of professional learning content on autism and mental health. Dr. Rodrigues has served as an advisory board member on the Mental Health and IDD National Training Center and is currently the Tennessee Children’s Mental Health Champion through the Association of University Centers on Disabilities and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

The Sylvan Park PTO is hosting our annual Valentine’s Day Candy Grams fundraiser. All proceeds will be donated to teachers for classroom use.
Candy Grams are $1. There is no limit to how many you may buy for friends. They will be handed out on Valentine’s Day. 

There are 3 ways you can purchase Candy Grams:
1. Your homeroom teacher will send home a sheet of Candy Grams in early February with instructions if you’d like to fill them out at home and return the sheet and money to your teacher. 

2. We will email all parents a copy of the Candy Grams printable with instructions. Just print, fill out, and return them with money to your teacher.

3. Candy Grams will also be collected out front of school on Thursday February 9th and Friday February 10th. The 10th will be the last day to purchase.

Payment will be accepted via cash, check made out to Sylvan Park PTO, or Paypal. You can also pay by credit card in person on 2/9 or 2/10 in front of the school.

We’d love for you to help us with a Restart/Refresh January Stock the Lounge.  We hope you will consider helping support our teachers in this way.  Please sign up here!

Find out more about West End Middle School and tour the building on Wednesday, January 25 from 5:30-6:30 p.m.

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy start to 2023!

Our spring clubs include:

Chess Club: contact nashvillechess@gmail.com for registration information

Nature Explorers: Thursdays, March 23-May 18 from dismissal to 5pm for grades 3-5

Registration: https://www.nashvillenatureexplorers.com/sylvan-park-after-school-program

Nashville Soccer United: Meeting on Thursdays; visit www.clubhenry.com for more info

Ukulele Club: meets on Tuesdays, register at www.nashvillesprouts.com

Tennis Club: Wednesdays beginning March 1, register at www.rallycatstennis.com

Marathon Kids starts January 31^st and has a few spots left on Tuesday’s Roster.  Please contact spmarathonkids@gmail.com to sign up. 

This club is designed to encourage a passion for running with additional tips and training by volunteer coaches and parent volunteers.

Share your Panther Pride with incoming families! We are in need of tour guides to give school tours to prospective families. These tours are SUPER important, giving interested families helpful insight into what makes our school a terrific place to be, and gets these families excited to join (and therefore strengthen) our community.

Tours typically happen Tuesdays at 9am. 1 hour time commitment per tour. Training will be provided. Contact Ruth Butler, ruthabutler@gmail.com, for more information. Most of our previous tour guide families have moved onto middle school – please consider helping if you are able!

We are kicking off the second semester with our third school-wide seminar!  All students will participate in a seminar using the book What the Road Said by Cleo Wade between January 9th-20th.  During this seminar, students will discuss the ideas and values of leadership, grace, compassion, adaptability, and perseverance.  Our post-seminar writing activity will ask students to give advice on how they would handle different circumstances and questions expressed in the book.  Ask your child about this exciting and engaging learning experience. 

Lost and Found items will be set up by the PNA pickup this week and by the cafeteria during today’s parent lunch. All items that are outside on the playground will remain outside, as they are very wet. Please look through all Lost and Found areas for anything your child may be missing – whatever is left after this Friday will be donated or thrown away.

We hope everyone has a great holiday! The PTO newsletter will be back on Tuesday, January 10th.