Calling all Book Fair Volunteers!
We still need volunteers to help make the Book Fair a success - especially during the Thanksgiving Luncheons. To signup, please go to: www.SignUpGenius.com/go/5080E45AEA92F4-book/538269 Thank you!

5-Below Fundraiser!
5-Below has everything for your holiday shopping needs and the best part is that EVERYTHING is $5 or less! Even better, from Black Friday, November 29th -Sunday, December 8th, 5-Below in Fair City Mall is giving back 10% of every dollar purchased to the Mantua PTA. All you have to do is print this flyer and bring it in with you: http://www.mantuapta.org/documents/5below.pdf A copy will be coming home in your child's Tuesday folder, also. For more holiday shopping ideas that benefit our school, see the next section below.


What Happened to the Amazon.com Link?
For all of you who have missed the easy link to the Mantua PTA Amazon account, here are some step by step instructions:

Go to www.mantuapta.org , click on the PTA link, and then click on the FUNDRAISING circle. From there, you can shop to your heart's content, and the Mantua PTA will get a percentage of all sales. Don't just stop at Amazon.com, you can shop at multiple stores through the BookBenefit link, including Bob's Shoes and many educational websites. Holiday shopping just got easier and you will be giving back to our school with every dollar you spend!


Mantua Yearbooks
The Mantua Yearbook coordinators are happy to inform you that it's time to place an order for your 2013-14 yearbook! Our yearbook this year will be slightly bigger, with more candid photos for each class. It will have a soft laminated cover as well – and, all of it for the same price as last year's book - only $25!

Please note that in order to cut costs, you may place your orders ONLINE only. Keep an eye out for an email from Jostens with the instructions on how to place your order on their website. If you experience any difficulty, please contact us. We encourage you order your yearbook in the next couple of weeks. Your prompt response will assure that it gets printed and shipped to your child on time at the end of the year and that you will avoid an additional late-order charge of $10.

Also, please remember to take pictures during your student’s class parties, outings, and other school events and submit them to us at the email address listed below. Please be sure to put your teacher's name in the subject line.

If you would like an additional copy of the yearbook from last year or the year before, the PTA has extra copies still available for purchase - $15. If you have any questions, please contact us at mantuayearbooks@gmail.com or call Yelena Jones at 703-501-9597.


Math Games Night
Come and join us in the school cafeteria on Monday, November 18th, 7:00-8:00 p.m., to learn games that you can play at home to increase your child’s math skills. We will have different game stations set up to address skills from basic counting to multiplication and division. If you have any questions, please contact Kathy McCabe at Kathy.mccabe@fcps.edu.


Counselor's Corner
Actively Caring: Mantua will be implementing the Actively Caring program in the next few weeks. Learn more about the program at http://www.ac4p.org/. Information will also be sent home in Tuesday folders. Actively Caring for People refers to any behavior that goes above and beyond the call of duty on behalf of the health, safety or welfare of another person. Representatives from the Angel Fund (who are providing the green bracelets that are a part of the program) and School Counselors, Ms. Kim and Mrs. Warren, will be available during Thanksgiving Luncheons in the lobby to provide more information and answer questions.
 
November is Career Awareness Month: At the Elementary level, students are encouraged to explore their interests and learn more about post-secondary options.
Help your child learn more and explore their interest at www.vaview.vt.edu.
Children and parents can access Paws in Jobland program at home to explore variety of career options as well. www.bridges.com. (Use Site ID: 1221208 and password: jobland).
 
From TJ: Issue #7 of our Elementary and Middle School STEM Times newsletter is now available.  http://www.fcps.edu/pla/TJHSST_Admissions/stem_resources_STEM_times.html. Students can learn how to extract DNA from just about anything, how a teenager in California made a huge scientific discovery, and how a cucumber becomes a pickle. Find out how a Western Kentucky University professor has taken his interest in the universe to new heights. Meet a junior whose decision to attend TJ has opened up a new world within the human brain. This and much more is available through our STEM Resources Section at www.tjadmissions.org, where students can find older editions of our newsletter, online STEM activities, STEM events in the area, and clubs/competitions to explore science, technology, engineering, and math. 


Mantua X-STEM Club's 1st Newsletter
The USA Science & Engineering Festival (www.usasciencefestival.org) will take place the last weekend of April 2014 in Washington, DC. The festival enlists schools in the metro DC area to sign up as certified X-STEM schools to do outreach for the festival, get kids excited about STEM and receive special benefits such as inviting famous scientists to come speak to their students (more info to come about this.)

Mantua's X-STEM Club's mission is to spread the word about the festival in order to get as many of their classmates to attend as possible and also to increase the cool factor associated with STEM among Mantua kids. They invite you (kids mostly, but parents too) to read their first monthly STEM newsletter at https://sites.google.com/site/stemtimes/newsletters-1/november-newsletter. The topic is Chemistry. Give a shot at answering the contest question and send them your comments!
 

AAP Information Meeting at Mantua
An Advanced Academics Parent Information Meeting will be held at Mantua Elementary School on Wednesday, November 13th from 9:30-10:30 a.m. in room 257. The Advanced Academic Resource Teacher, Eva Bousbouras, will provide information about levels of service at Mantua, as well as explain and answer questions about the screening processes for Level IV services. The meeting is open to all 2nd-6th grade base school parents.

Support for Parents In Special Education - SPISE Meeting 11/14
This is a group started by parents, for parents. Do you have a child with special needs and are overwhelmed by the day-to-day demands of being a parent? Do you want support and information from parents that have been through the special education screening and IEP process? Do you constantly research better diagnoses, therapies, and learning programs for your child? Do you want to be able to vent your frustrations and share your victories with people who understand and share your struggles? If any of these are true, this is definitely the group for you. 
 
We will meet on Thursday, November 14th at 8:00 p.m. at Lisa Libby's home. If you would like to join us, please contact me, Lisa Libby, at Lisa.A.Libby@gmail.com.

 
INTO THE WOODS at Woodson High School
Come see former Mantua students perform in this terrific musical! There is a special children focused performances. The Children’s Matinee features Act I only and will be performed on Saturday, November 16th at 2:00 p.m. There will be a meet and greet the cast after the shows. All tickets are $5.
 
The full show (not recommended for young children, approximately 10 and under) will be performed on 15th* and 16th at 7:30 p.m. Ticket prices: Seniors 65 : $5, Adults/Children: $10.
 
*The interpreted show for the hearing impaired. Please do not buy tickets in advance but go to will call for appropriate seating assignment and purchasing of tickets.

For more information and to purchase tickets, please go to www.wtwdrama.org.

 
Translators
Translators comprise another vital part of our outreach efforts. We want every Mantua ES family to feel included and connected—should families need to have a document translated into their native language, our volunteers are here to help!

• للحصول على نسخة مترجمة للغة العربية، نرجو الإتصال بالأخت بدرية كفالة على هذا الإيميل: bkafala@gmail.com. If you need to have a document translated into Arabic, please emailbkafala@gmail.com.
• 如果你需要把文件翻译成中文，请联系冯敏。她的电子邮件是mmfeng@hotmail.com。If you need to have a document translated into Chinese, please emailMin Feng.
• Если вам необходимо перевести документ на русский язык, пожалуйста обращайтесь к Анне Жердецкой или Виктору Жердецкому по электронной почте: hannaz74@gmail.com или ViktarZ@gmail.com. If you need to have a document translated into Russian, please contact Hanna Zhardzetskaya and Viktar Zhardzetski.
• Para obtener una copia en Espanol favor de contactar a Ana Castelan. If you need to have a document translated into Spanish, please email Ana Castelan.
• We are still looking for Korean and Vietnamese translators for 2013-14.

Email Shoshi Kalderon at shoshi.kalderon@yahoo.com if you have any questions about or would like to volunteer as an ambassador or translator with Mantua ES’s Community Building Network.