The PTA would love to start a new winter tradition where students bring their adults for a night of dancing, snacks, crafts and fun in our beautifully decorated gym and cafeteria. We need a team of helpers to make this event happen. If interested, please email president@sideneracademypta.org.
Coach Stephanie Marshall will be holding tryouts for the 4th/5th Grade Girls Basketball Team on Tuesday, December 10, immediately following dismissal, from 3:55-5:20PM. Parents, be sure your athlete has a change of clothes and a water bottle. Practices will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school starting Dec. 17. We will break for the holidays and resume January 7. REMINDER: Transportation is NOT provided; students must have a ride after practices and to and from games. If you have any questions, please reach out to Coach Marshall at stephanie.marie1113@gmail.com
SCHEDULE:
🏀Practices: Tuesdays and Thursdays after school, 3:55-5:20 PM: Dec. 17 and 19, Jan. 7-Feb. 11
🏀Game: Saturday, January 11
🏀Game: Wednesday, January 22
🏀Game: Saturday, January 25
🏀Game: Wednesday, January 29
🏀Game: Saturday, February 1
🏀Game: Wednesday, February 5
🏀Game: Wednesday, February 12
Sidener students will be going to see The Nutcracker on Dec. 13th. Please sign up to chaperone if you have the required Nimble background check completed.
The Battle of the Books is an opportunity for 3rd-5th grade students to work together to show their knowledge of the Young Hoosier Book Award titles. Each Sidener team will be responsible for reading all of the 20 Young Hoosier Book Award Intermediate book titles, with each team member reading a minimum of 10 titles. During Enrichment time, participants will meet with Mrs. Bunch to read and/or discuss the books in preparation for answering questions at the local school battles.
Sidener has enough students right now to form three Battle of the Books teams, but we would like more students to sign up, so we can have a really good battle! We have five 3rd graders, three 4th graders, and one 5th grader so far. It would be great if we could have a representative from each grade level, 3rd-5th, on each team. Parents, please encourage your children (grades 3-5) to participate; it is not too late to sign up! For more information, please have your child see Mrs. Bunch or you can email her at bunchdebra@myips.org.
As a reminder, books can be found in our Shared Library System by logging into indypl.bibliocommons.com and entering your child's Library Card Number. Their PIN is the last 4 digits of that number. Once you search for the book you want, simply put it on hold and change the pick up location to Sidener. The system will search all libraries, including other schools, and send the book to me. Some of the books may be found on YouTube, audiobooks, or kindle. Please do not feel you have to go out and purchase the book in order for your child to participate.
Save the Date for the Broad Ripple Lights Up Parade on Saturday, December 7th at 5 PM. Sidener families gather at the staging area about an hour before the parade. In year's past, the organizers sent out detailed information a week or two before the parade. Gathering usually happens at or near Broad Ripple Middle School or the adjacent funeral home. It's always a lot of fun! We wear light-up necklaces or glow sticks. Kids decorate scooters, wagons and strollers, and the students will even make up Red Hawk chants for the walk. Please reach out to Becky at president@sideneracademypta.org or Carolyn at treasurer@sideneracademypta.org if you would like to help coordinate or have any questions. Otherwise, please save the date to have fun walking in the parade and share our Red Hawk Pride in the community! More parade information to come. You can also arrive early for the Broad Ripple Lights Up Holiday Festival which runs from 2:30-4:30 PM. The festival features a Wonderland Village which includes holiday-themed activities for children, visits with Santa Claus, and musical entertainment. These activities run until 4:30, and then it is time to gather for the parade.
Each year during the Holidays the Student Service Team collects gift cards to support some of our families in need. These gift cards help to provide food over the long break from school as well as spreading some holiday cheer by providing an opportunity to buy gifts.
If you are able, please consider donating gift cards to this cause. Cards to grocery stores or stores like Wal-Mart are the most helpful for supporting the needs of our families. These donations can be left in the front office with Mrs. Drummer. The Student Service Team will divide out the donations among approximately 18 families and send these home the week of December 16th.
The Seeds of Caring second annual MLK Day of Youth Service will be held on January 20, 2025. Sidener families are being given priority to register for this free, family-friendly event being held at the Madam Walker Legacy Center in downtown Indy. The event will have multiple stations set up where kids ages 2-12 (along with their grown-ups) can contribute to their community in meaningful ways in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Activities will include: assembling cleaning kits for recently housed neighbors, making breakfast kits for kids experiencing food insecurity, creating sun catchers for senior friends to brighten their day, designing “Use Your Voice” posters, as well as a dream catcher reflection craft. There will also be community partners on site (WFYI, Indianapolis Public Libraries, Keep Indianapolis Beautiful and Indy Book Project) to engage with participants.
Registration is required. You can register here for the morning session or the afternoon session. For more information, please see the flyer below.
