National Chess Champions

From the Principal

 Michael Galland 

Michael Galland

Columbus Families: 

It is June already. This school year seems to have gone so quickly, and yet we are so pleased with what your children have been able to accomplish with our teachers. We are also so grateful for your collaboration and partnership, your support of the Columbus PTA, and your support for our school in general. Thank you!

As the last weeks approach, here are important dates/activities to remember:

• Columbus PBIS Carnival (June 12th ALL DAY!) students only;
• 5th Grade Trip to Holiday Hill in Cheshire, CT (June 13th ALL DAY)
• 5th Grade PTA Luncheon (June 17th at 11:00 a.m.)
• 5th Grade Graduation (June 19th at 9:15 a.m.)
• 2nd Grade: end-of-year picnic (June 19th from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.) parents welcome
• 5th Grade Orientation at IEYMS (June 20th 9:30 bus trip)
• Kindergarten: end-of-year picnic (June 21st in the morning) parents welcome
• 3rd Grade Breakfast @ Feeney Park (June 25th at 10:00 a.m.) parents welcome
• Last half-days of school (June 24, 25, and 26) 11:40 a.m. dismissal all days

This summer, like last summer, your children will come home with a bag of books that they will BORROW from their teachers. Please have your children read all the time! Go to the New Rochelle Library each week and borrow lots of books. The books that your children take home must be returned right away in September to their new teachers. Our teachers are lending their books to your kids to encourage them to keep reading!

Your children have access to DREAMBOX, RAZkids, and Lexia Core 5, all summer as well. Dreambox is a very powerful math program and the more your kids use it, the stronger they become in math. Kids can read thousands of books in RAZkids and work on their spelling and reading skills in Lexia. Please make sure your children use these programs as much as possible.

This summer, our entire school will be closed due to construction that will take place in many of our classrooms. New windows and doors will be installed, and many classroom floors will be replaced. As a result, we are not able to hold summer school this year, unfortunately. Instead, we plan to begin our after-school tutoring and club programs much earlier next year. We will be able to start the after school clubs most likely on September 18, 2019. This school year, we didn’t begin until November.

Finally, thank you all for verifying your address a few months ago. If your child is graduating this year and going to IEYMS, there is NO NEED to register at IEYMS. Each summer, we pass our 5th grade students’ records to IEYMS and your children are automatically registered. You will receive communications from IEYMS early in the summer.

Respectfully,

Mr. Galland

 

Mensaje del director

Familias de Columbus:

Ya es junio. Este año escolar parece haber ido tan rápido y, sin embargo, estamos muy satisfechos con lo que sus hijos han podido lograr con nuestros maestros. También estamos muy agradecidos por su colaboración y asociación, su apoyo a la PTA de Columbus y su apoyo a nuestra escuela en general. ¡Gracias!

A medida que se acercan las últimas semanas, aquí hay fechas / actividades importantes para recordar:

• Carnaval de Columbus PBIS (12 de junio ¡TODO EL DÍA!); solo para estudiantes;
• Viaje de quinto grado a Holiday Hill en Cheshire, CT (13 de junio, TODO EL DÍA)
• Almuerzo de PTA de 5º grado (17 de junio a las 11:00 a.m.)
• Graduación de 5º grado (19 de junio a las 9:15 a.m.)
• 2do grado: picnic de fin de año (19 de junio de 1:00 a 3:00 p.m.) Los padres son bienvenidos
• Orientación de quinto grado en IEYMS (20 de junio, 9:30, viaje en autobús)
• Jardín de infancia: picnic de fin de año (21 de junio por la mañana), padres bienvenidos
• Desayuno de 3er grado en Feeney Park (25 de junio a las 10:00 a.m.) los padres son bienvenidos
• Últimos días de medio día de clases (24, 25 y 26 de junio) a las 11:40 a.m. salida todos los días

Este verano, al igual que el verano pasado, sus hijos vendrán a casa con una bolsa de libros que PRESTARÁN de sus maestros. ¡Por favor haga que sus hijos lean todo el tiempo! Vaya a la Biblioteca de New Rochelle cada semana y tome prestados muchos libros. Los libros que sus hijos se llevan a casa deben devolverse de inmediato a sus nuevos maestros en septiembre. ¡Nuestros maestros están prestando sus libros a sus hijos para animarlos a seguir leyendo!

Sus hijos también tienen acceso a DREAMBOX durante todo el verano. Dreambox es un programa de matemáticas muy poderoso y cuanto más lo usan tus hijos, más fuertes se vuelven en matemáticas. Por favor asegúrese de que sus hijos usen mucho. Tambien, tienen acceso a RAZkids y LEXIA Core 5. Con estas, se puede leer miles de libros y mejorarse como lector.

Este verano, toda nuestra escuela estará cerrada debido a la construcción que se llevará a cabo en muchas de nuestras aulas. Se instalarán nuevas ventanas y puertas, y se reemplazarán muchas aulas. Como resultado, no podemos celebrar la escuela de verano este año, desafortunadamente. En cambio, planeamos comenzar nuestra tutoría después de la escuela y los programas del club a principios del próximo año. Podremos comenzar los clubes después de la escuela muy probablemente el 18 de septiembre de 2019. Este año escolar, no comenzamos hasta noviembre.

Finalmente, gracias a todos por verificar su dirección hace unos meses. Si su hijo se gradúa este año y va a IEYMS, NO NECESITA inscribirse en IEYMS. Cada verano, pasamos los registros de nuestros estudiantes de quinto grado a IEYMS y sus hijos se registran automáticamente. Recibirá comunicaciones de IEYMS a principios del verano.

Respetuosamente,

Michael Galland

Today's Tip for Parents

En español

Columbus Chess Team National Champions K-6 Division

The Columbus Elementary School Chess team won first place as a team this weekend at the 2019 US National Elementary (k-6) Championship in Nashville, Tennessee.  The Columbus Chess Team are National Champions for the k-6 division for chess players rated under 1000 points.  

Under the direction of their devoted coach and teacher, Mr. Mark Hegenauer, 11 Columbus students traveled with their families to Nashville to once again compete with the best elementary chess players in the country -- and this year, finally -- we WON!

So much time and patient efforts have gone into this moment.  Congratulations to ALL Columbus students who make our chess team so special.  Congratulations to Mr. Hegenauer and his partners from the National Scholastic Chess Foundation, who always find creative ways to keep Columbus involved in tournaments and lessons, no matter the cost.  And congratulations to the Columbus PTA Chess Committee and Ms. Owens for their collaborations all year -- raising money to send so many kids to the Nationals was not easy.  Together, we did it!  

At this incredible juncture it is also critical that we honor and remember all the former parents of Columbus Chess Team Players from the last 20 years!  For years, caring, selfless families of the Columbus Chess community have devoted time and love to ensure that any Columbus student that had an interest in chess, had a place to play and an opportunity to learn and compete -- with ANYONE!  This moment is shared not only with our new champions, but with years and years of former Columbus students and their families.  

Much gratitude and thanks to all our sponsors and supporters--thank you to all the local stores and business, and generous families and neighbors, who have donated food and money toward our team's fundraising efforts all year!

The Columbus Chess Club sent 11 students to compete in the National Scholastic K-6 Chess Champions in Nashville, Tennessee on May 9-12, 2019.  There were 2252 chess players representing 46 states competing on 700 teams in 16 sections. The Columbus Chess Team won six National Awards.

In the first event, on Thursday May 9, 2019, the chess students competed in 11 rounds of Blitz (speed chess). Constantine won 1st place for chess players rated under 1000 and Dylan Minchez came in 1st place for chess players rated under 800. The Columbus team placed 7th place in the nation for Blitz chess.

Five students competed in the K-6U1000 section. These students are now National Champions, coming in 1st place after playing seven rounds of chess over three days.

Playing in this division were Constantine Zalatis, Dylan Minchez, Ignacio Valencia, Dylan Solovyev, and Aiden Rodriguez. Constantine won a second individual award coming in 5th place winning 6 of the seven rounds and Dylan Minchez won a second individual award coming in 25th place winning 5 of the seven rounds. All of the Columbus students on this section of the team were awarded wall plaques for coming in first place, in addition to their team trophy.

Four students competed in the K-5U900 section. They were Naolin Concha, Joel Salick, Giovanna Murgia and Gianna Murgia. These students came in 29th place in their section.

Guilianna Murgia and Ashley Corazao competed in the K-3U700 section.

The chess club wants to thank all of the parents, teachers, administrators, the Columbus community and the National Scholastic Chess Foundation for their essential support throughout the 2018-2019 school year.

                                                                                                               “Never underestimate the heart of a champion.” - LeBron James

By Mark Hegenauer

 

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Family STEM

Family Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Night

On Thursday evening, nearly one hundred 2nd grade students and parents gathered in the Columbus School cafeteria to learn about STEM and problem-solve together as a family STEM team!  Antoinette Koehler, Kelly Kalinowski, Rana Rabadi, Vanessa Guzman-Cruz, and Fran DelFico, part of the Columbus’ 2nd Grade Team, prepared an overview of STEM and three separate challenges for all to grapple with.  Ms. Koehler addressed the families and kids by reminding them that STEM investigations are at the heart of every Columbus STR2EAMing into Learning Convention (Science, Technology, Reading/Research, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics).  Ms. Koehler introduced the work this way: “STEM is hands-on problem-solving, critical thinking, creativity and innovation; this is about working collaboratively and building resilience and persistence in the face of frustration or failure.”  She added that most important, “STEM is just ton of fun!”

The teachers challenged students and their parents to build paper airplanes that were quickly submitted to grueling flight tests.  Teams were then asked to build the tallest structure possible with a limited number of index cards. Last, using marshmallows and toothpicks, parents and kids designed stable, solid structures.   

Dr. Parvey and Mr. Galland were present, and Dr. Parvey rolled up her sleeves and assisted many families and kids in their constructions.  The Columbus STR2EAMing into Learning Convention will take place this year over three days and two evenings, from January 22 to 24th.  The Columbus PTA will also hold a STEM-oriented book sale throughout the convention days.

Parent Contact Information

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Link to the Form

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Hour of Code

Angry Bird        

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Frozen

Grades 4 and 5

 

Our Mission

"We promote interdisciplinary studies and encourage authentic, problem-based learning by doing.
We recognize that High Expectations result in High Achievement.
We believe that teaching and learning is fostered by creating optimum conditions to ensure success for students and their teachers.
We are committed to create a positive school climate, which respects and values diversity and nurtures everyone's self-esteem, in partnership with our parents and our community."

Columbus Families and Visitors

In order to preserve an orderly and safe arrival and dismissal for all students each day, please note the following:

  • In the morning, parents, guardians, and visitors are not permitted to enter the school or the main office until 8:45 a.m.
  • In the afternoon, the main office and school entrance are closed between 2:45 p.m. and 3:20 p.m. as school staff manage dismissal procedures.
  • If you need to pick up a student early, you must do so BEFORE 2:45 p.m. each afternoon.

Con el fin de preservar una llegada y salida ordenada y segura para todos los estudiantes cada día, tenga en cuenta lo siguiente:

  • Por la mañana, a los padres, tutores y visitantes no se les permite entrar a la escuela ni a la oficina principal hasta las 8:45 a.m.
  • Por la tarde, la oficina principal y la entrada de la escuela están cerradas entre las 2:45 p.m. y 3:20 p.m. mientras el personal de la escuela maneja los procedimientos de despido.
  • Si necesita recoger a un estudiante temprano, debe hacerlo ANTES de las 2:45 p.m. cada tarde.

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