PTA CONNector
Parents, educators, and students working together to build a stronger school community
OCTOBER 2009
Principal’s Message
Dear Conn Families,
The school year has gotten off to a wonderful start!
Our enthusiastic staff has worked together to make the first
month of school an exciting one for our students. As I visit
classes, I see students who are ready to learn and teachers
who are prepared to teach.
As you are aware, our Wednesday schedule has
changed to allow for team-based collaboration. Students are
now dismissed at 2:45 every Wednesday (and at 1:15 on
Early Release Wednesdays). Teachers meet as grade level
and department teams during this time for the purpose of
professional learning teams (PLTs). These PLTs use data,
professional experience, and best practice to meet student-
learning needs. PLTs also collaborate to ensure that our
Title I, Special Programs, and Intervention staff are
supporting students throughout the day. Our staff is finding
this time to be incredibly valuable!
Our School Improvement Plan (SIP) outlines our
annual goals and the strategies that will support
accomplishment of these goals. I invite you to review our
2008-2011 SIP which can be found as a link on our website
(as of mid-October) or in hardcopy form in our main office.
The School Improvement Plan, which was created by our
School Improvement Team (consisting of staff and parents)
has four goals:
1. to increase family and community support at
school events as measured by attendance
2. to maintain a safe and healthy school environment
as measured by the NC Teacher Working Conditions
survey and WCPSS parent/student surveys
3. to increase staff retention and staff satisfaction as
measured by survey data
4. to increase to 60% the number of Conn students
meeting growth targets on the reading and math End-of-
Grade (EOG) tests
See Ms. Story’s article for more information about
this important document.
We are working to maintain a high level of school-
home communication. The CONNector comes home in
Tuesday Folders at the beginning of each month. If you
prefer, you may request an electronic version. This will
save paper, ink, and folder preparation time. We also utilize
the Phone Messenger system – I record weekly phone
messages with calendar updates and important
announcements. Please contact our main office if you do
not receive our weekly phone message. Both the
CONNector and the phone message are available on our
website.
Our school motto states that Conn students and
educators show respect, responsibility and kindness. One of
the easiest ways we can instill responsibility is through
regular, on-time attendance to school. Our school social
worker, Ms. Karen Rabins, will lead our efforts to
encourage good attendance. It is imperative that students
• arrive at school before 9:05
• are in their classrooms by the 9:05 bell
• attend school regularly and are only absent when
they are sick
• remain in school all day and are not checked out
early
Please support your child’s academic performance by
encouraging regular, on-time attendance!
Thank you for your attention to these important
matters. Please contact your child’s teacher if you have
questions about your child’s academic performance,
attendance, or classroom-related matters. We appreciate
your support and enjoy the opportunity to work with your
child!
Diann P. Kearney
Conn Elementary Principal
PTA President’s Message
Hello, Conn Families,
It’s hard to believe it’s October! We’ve enjoyed
several school events to date, such as the Welcome Back
Open House and Parade of Teachers. I hope you have too.
I’d like to thank all that have volunteered and/or
participated in these and other school activities. Here’s
October news to note. There are a number of ways to
impact your child’s education at Conn:
INSIDE THE CLASSROOM:
This year PTA is making a strong push to assist our
teachers in their classrooms and we hope that all parents
will commit to making a contribution. If you haven’t
already registered as a volunteer in the classroom, visit the
Media Center and sign up in just a couple of minutes.
More importantly, contact Carol Lawson, Room Parent
Coordinator, or our Classroom Volunteer Coordinators:
Carmon Pullen (K-2) or Jaime Baker (3-5). You can find
1
their contact information elsewhere in this CONNector or
at the PTA website.
WITHIN THE SCHOOL:
Sign up to help with the Book Fair and show our
students how important reading is to everything we do
throughout our lives. Volunteer to help with Vision
Screening – we test every First, Third and Fifth grader to
make sure they can see or get help to see how to do their
work.
OUT ON THE GROUNDS: Spend two hours on the
st
21 in this glorious fall weather sprucing up our campus.
Our kids play out there most school days and take pride in
the playground. This is a great way to help them treasure
our outdoor environment
Thanks for all you do to make Conn such a great
school for our kids. Have a great month!
Linda Davis
Conn PTA President
Fundraising News
MYCOKEREWARDS: If you have Coke rewards in a
mycokerewards account, then you can donate them directly
to the school. If you don't have an account, send in your
codes to your teacher and we can enter them for the school.
Codes are found on most Coke products. THINK
GREEN: We are participating in the Harris Teeter
Together in Education "We Think Green" Contest. Collect
plastic shopping bags from ANY STORE and send them to
school from September 30th through November 10th. Our
school has a chance to win up to $1,000!!
Julie Thomas
Vice President, PTA Fundraising
School Improvement Planning
Believe or not, the end of first quarter is upon us!
Conn students and staff have gotten off to an excellent
school year; ready for another year of steady improvement
and progress. As the School Improvement Team
chairperson, I closely monitor Conn’s improvement
processes in four core areas: academic achievement,
maintaining a safe and healthy school environment,
retaining and recruiting highly qualified teachers, and
maintaining strong family and community support.
These core areas represent the four goals in Conn’s
School Improvement Plan (S.I.P). Early fall marks the
beginning of our school improvement planning process
when School Improvement Team members review our
current school improvement plan (S.I.P) goals and
objectives. Although Conn maintains an approach of
continuous improvement throughout each school year, team
October 2009 CONNector  
members carefully review each goal and decide on new
and/or improved objectives for the following school year.
The Wake County School system defines the school
improvement plan as a manageable, data-driven action plan
that details what a school wants to accomplish over a two-
year period. All Wake County schools have a school-
improvement plan which serves as the foundation upon
which all instructional decisions are made.
At Conn, like all Wake County elementary schools,
the school improvement plan is divided into four sections:
1) achievement (reading, math, and writing)
2) strengthening community/parent/business support
3) providing a safe/orderly/healthy school
environment, and
4) retaining and recruiting highly qualified teachers.
School improvement team members, including
members of the Conn Leadership Team and parent
representatives, break into four small groups, or “goal
teams,” to carefully review each section. Following this
reflection, the whole team gathers to review the changes
and submits the improvements for staff approval. Changes
are then submitted to our Area Superintendent for review
and then onto the Wake County Board of Education for
final approval.
The 2009-10 school year marks the second year in a
two-year cycle of school improvement planning. This
school year will be the last year to refine the established
goals and objectives as established two years ago. As Conn
looks forward to the next two-year continuous
improvement cycle, we are certain that our mission will
remain and that all students will be engaged in an active
learning environment so that they may achieve their
maximum level of performance and be prepared for the
future.
If you would like additional information about Conn’s
school improvement plan or the planning process, please
contact me at 856-7649 or at cstory1@wcpss.net. Conn’s
current 2009-10 School Improvement Plan is available for
anyone to view and is located in the main office. Parents
and community members will also have access to the S.I.P
online beginning mid-October.
Christy Story, IRT
Conn Cafeteria – A Great Place to Eat!
The cafeteria at Conn is a great place to eat! The staff
does a wonderful job of ensuring that students have a
“healthy” well balanced meal during breakfast and lunch.
We are fortunate to have the returning staff from last year
back with us. Ms. Ida Hawley is serving again this year as
Cafeteria manager. The other staff members include Juanita
Payne, Nadira Clarke, and Irene Davis. The cafeteria staff
takes pride in the preparation of the food and they enjoy
having as many students as possible eat in the cafeteria
daily. As students proceed through the serving lines, they
have a choice of entrees along with either two fruits or two
vegetables or they can have a choice of one fruit and one
2
vegetable. Students may choose strawberry, chocolate, or
skim milk with their lunch. The students are provided with
the opportunity to purchase one nutritious snack along with
their lunch as well.
Students are expected to follow specific rules while in
the cafeteria which is outlined in our Conn Cares Matrix.
All students are expected to enter the cafeteria and go
through the lunch line quietly. They must respond quickly
and appropriately to adult directions the first time given
and use appropriate manners. We have placed stop signs on
the columns for students as they enter the cafeteria. These
stop signs require the students to stop and slow down
before moving through the line. Arrows have been placed
on the floor around the trashcans to direct students as they
throw away their trash and recycle their plates. The
classroom teachers assign students to assist with cleaning
the tables and picking up trash. We feel that this helps with
teaching students responsibility and it also helps our
students to take pride in their dining area.
Wake County Public Schools participate in the
National School lunch program. The free and reduced
lunch eligibility status expired on September 30, 2009 for
any student whose parent did not reapply. This status is
usually honored for the first 15 days of each new school
year. This year it was extended due to the current economic
times. Parents can submit an application for meal benefits
at any time during the year. Also, any time household size
or family income changes, parents can reapply.
This year our staff voted to participate in “Duty Free”
lunch. You may have observed teachers dropping off their
students and leaving them with an assigned Teacher
Assistant. “Duty Free” lunch allows teachers the flexibility
of eating their lunch in the cafeteria or in another
designated area independently away from the students
while Teacher Assistants supervise their classes. Your child
may tell you that someone differently from their classroom
teacher supervises them during lunch.
Finally, please be aware that if students do not have
lunch money in their account or fail to bring lunch money
to school, they are given fruits and vegetables along with a
cup of water. They can receive this up to three consecutive
days. A notice is usually sent home each week to indicate
that your child’s account is low. Also students are given
green stickers that say, “I need lunch money.” We
encourage parents to prepay for student lunches or use My
Lunch Money.com. This service is easy to use and it is
private and secure. To access this service simply go to
www.myLunchMoney.com to enroll and start using the site
to deposit funds into your child’s lunch account. Once the
account is established, you can check balances and fund the
account anytime from your home computer. Funds usually
will post to your child’s account with 24 to 48 hours. We
hope that if your child is not participating in the school
lunch program, you will consider allowing them to do so.
Dermetta A. Stevens
Assistant Principal
October 2009 CONNector  
Magnet Minute
Module season has begun! Throughout the school, our
students are deep into their grade level modules with
science and social studies content. Coming up in October,
we will be embarking on our first excursions of the school
year.
We will be going to the Museum of Science, Pet
Supply Plus, Poe Health Center, and The Great Harvest
Bread Co. We also have welcomed Melissa Madrid to talk
to 1st grade about families, Stephanie Rollins
(Geology Instructor at Wake Tech) spoke to 4th graders
about rocks and minerals, and Fran Breedlove (Food
Sanitation Chief for Wake Co) spoke to students about food
sanitation.
During modules, students are creating vehicles in 5th
grade and analyzing liquids in 1st grade, all the while
forming predictions and recording results in Science
Notebooks.
A 4th grade student (C.E.) speaks about modules:
"I LOVE modules. They are so much fun! I remember in
3rd grade studying about the human body. One of the
things I learned was that children have more bones than
adults. We had a perfect guest speaker who came and
brought in x-rays of bones. IT WAS AMAZING!"
A 5th grade student (J.W.) speaks about modules:
"Modules are WOW! That's SUPER WOW! No other
school in the county does what we do, trust me, I have been
to a few. I got to go on a scavenger hunt in 3rd grade and
use GPS units. I felt like a super smart scientist."
There is no doubt our students are getting the best that
Conn and Wake County has to offer with our module
classes, excursions, and expert speakers!
Emily Deluca
Magnet Coordinator
Media Minute
What a full month! 5th grade is beginning research
using nonfiction books, 1st grade is learning about families,
3rd and 4th are practicing finding that “just right book,” 2nd
grade students are keeping us busy checking books in and
out, and kindergarten is singing and learning about libraries
with Freddy the Frog!!! Thank you for sharing your
children with us and sharing the love of reading with them!
A few “reading related” items:
*Conn Book Fair is coming!!! Check your student’s
Tuesday folder for lots of information to support your
student, other Conn students, your Conn teachers and your
media center in the pursuit of reading and information.
Thank you to the PTA and especially Kelly Turner for all
their support.
Book Fair Schedule:
October 12 – 15 during school hours
October 13, 4-6 p.m. Family Time
October 16, 8:45 – 10:00
3
 *See and hear an author! Watch the newspaper for very direct and clear. We are meeting with most of our
area bookstores featuring children’s authors. It’s a great fourth and fifth graders only three times a week for 45
fun way for your child to ask questions and learn about the minutes. We believe this schedule will allow them to have
writing process. Quail Ridge Books features many more time in their regular classroom for core academic
children’s authors and their schedule is on the media center instruction. Kindergarten Title I services will begin after
door. Our own visiting author, Candace Fleming, will be the first quarter.
here in March thanks to the PTA and the staff at Quail We have four parent meetings (PAC) throughout the
Ridge Books. year. Our first one was September 29th and we discussed
*Parent resource books are available in the media “No Child Left Behind” and the program format. The next
center for check out. Just ask a staff member - Happy meeting will be held November 5th. It is our popular Make
Reading!
Brenda Shore, Media Specialist
Kathie Rozar, Media Assistant Conn PTA Spirit Night 
PBS Update Wed. Oct. 21 
Conn is presently in the 3rd year of PBS (Positive
Behavior Support) implementation. The PBS team has 3 – 10 pm 
worked diligently to develop school-wide positive behavior  
support plans surrounding our school motto which
emphasizes respect, responsibility, and kindness.
Join us at Jason’s Deli at 909 
This year, we have seen a lot of school-wide strategies
being implemented on a daily basis. Some student
Spring Forest Road for dinner 
behaviors include: walking on the third tile, using a two
finger wave to say hello in the halls, walking with hands and connect with other Conn 
“lock it, or pocket”. Students receive a “Conn Cares
Ticket” for their class when they demonstrate one of our families. 
school-wide expectations and/or show respect,
responsibility, or kindness. Each time a class reaches 100 Conn Elementary will receive 
tickets the class earns a “Connor” (a computer mouse to
display outside the classroom) as well as a class reward. 10% of the sales generated by 
Currently, Conn’s PBS team is working on
incorporating the WCPSS character traits (courage, good Conn families. 
judgment, integrity, kindness, perseverance, respect,  
responsibility, self-discipline) into our PBS program. Both
initiatives are focused on the same thing: helping students
build positive social skills and good character, so that they
can be productive and valuable members of society.
Every month we will focus on a different character
trait and students will be taught how to demonstrate good  
character in their daily lives. We are very proud of the  
outstanding progress Conn’s PBS program has made in
three short years. Join us for 
Carla W. Massengill, NBCT Awesome Food 
th
4 Grade Teacher, PBS Team Leader
A Good Time 
Title I Intervention Program And 
Our Title I program serves students who qualify for
reading and math support. We have three Title I reading a Great Cause! 
teachers – Ms. Dameron, Ms. Davis, and Ms. Johnson.
We are meeting daily with first, second, and third graders,
concentrating on word work, interactive writing, fluency,
and guided reading. Our lessons are 30 minutes long and

October 2009 CONNector  
4
 
and Take Workshop. We hope that many of you will be
able to attend this workshop because it provides you with
strategies to help your child at home.
We are also fortunate that we have a Title I math
coach this year, Ms. Peggy Williams. She is working with
K-5 grade level teachers to support them with math
strategies and hands-on activities.
Nancyrose Johnson, Amy Dameron, Alston Davis
Title I Reading Teachers
Please Note: As a Title I school, Conn is required to provide, upon
parent request, certain information on the professional qualifications
of the student's classroom teacher.
If you would like to request this information regarding your
child's teacher, please direct your written request to Ms. Kearney,
Principal. 
Conn Community Night Dinners
THANK YOU to everyone who participated in our
recent Community Night Dinner at Chick-Fil-A at North
Hills. We raised a total of $165 by joining together for
dinner and having fun!
We have an opportunity in October to beat our own
record. Our October Community Night Dinner will be
hosted by Jason’s Deli on Spring Forest Road. See
information on the previous page for details.
Conn Clothing
Good news! There is still time to order Conn t-shirts
and denim shirts and polos. Mary Williams will be placing
the order for Conn Spirit Merchandise on Friday, October
9. Mrs. Williams’ contact information can be found at the
end of this newsletter.
Kindergarten Corner
Thank you to everyone who attended the Conn Parade
of Staff and Open House! We were able to meet with so
many families and share important information with you
regarding the Kindergarten program.
If you would like to see the presentation again, it is
located on the Kindergarten website under “Our K
Program”. You can access our page through the Conn
website, http://connes.wcpss.net/. Click on class pages and
then click on the Kindergarten link. We post important
information on the website throughout the year so please
check it out! You will also find teacher emails if you need
to contact us.
As a reminder, Kindergarten students get free
breakfast. This is an important start to your child’s day and
learning. Students should arrive by 8:50 in order to finish
breakfast and arrive to class on time. Class begins at 9:05
A.M.
We are starting our guided reading groups during
literacy center time. Some items you can work on at home
October 2009 CONNector  
to help with reading are; pointing to the front of the book,
the back of the book and the title, knowing where to start
reading in a story, where are the first and last words on the
page, and where to go after reading one line. Retelling a
story with details also helps students with comprehension.
We will start using our parent volunteers in October.
Your child’s teacher will let you know when is the best
time for you to come in and help. If you have not yet
registered as a volunteer, please do so. You can register for
this in the media center.
Thank you for your support and donations to the
classroom.
The Kindergarten Team
Meet the New Conn Math Coach
WHO DO WE SERVE?
teachers, classrooms, specialists, intervention,
students, parents, administration, community, each other
WHAT DO WE DO?
modeling, co-teaching, planning with teachers,
providing feedback, data analysis, making math
expressions work, alignment of objectives,
WHEN DO WE DO IT?
during math instruction, everyday, grade level
planning, staff development, faculty meetings, math night,
before and after school, early release, anytime
WHERE DO WE DO IT?
classrooms, PLT meetings, grade level planning,
faculty meetings, alignment lessons, single source,
hallways, playgrounds, PAC meetings, early release days,
school activities, anywhere
WHY DO WE DO IT?
promote math best practices, improve math scores,
liason for teachers, implement math expressions, students
feel good about math, achievement gap, build conceptual
understanding, make math fun, meet school and district
goals
HOW DO WE DO IT?
professionally, trusting, thoughtfully, actively,
patiently, hands on, creatively, slight authority, co-
teaching, listening, modeling, data based, by providing
resources, starting discussions
Looking Forward To A Wonderful Year At Conn,
Peggy Williams
Room 514, Title I Math Coach
Conn Family is AWESOME
Thanks to those of you who have voted “NO” in your
Tuesday folder, saying you do NOT want a hard copy of
each month’s newsletter. We are reducing our paper
purchase in October by 27%! If you have NOT voted in
your Tuesday folder yet, take a moment to do so right now.
Let’s see if we can go even lower next month!!
5
 2009-2010 Conn Elementary PTA
HOME CELL
PTA CONTACTS NAME PHONE PHONE EMAIL
President Linda Davis 821.7602 210.4420 lgd919@nc.rr.com
President-Elect Dakeisa Parker 803.2035 264.7744 blakedakeisa@hotmail.com
VP Fundraising Julie Thomas 434.9690 thomasja@us.ibm.com
VP Membership Melissa Madrid 255.5219 Melissamadrid1@yahoo.com
Secretary Dionne Lester 792.2442 dlesterpta@nc.rr.com
Treasurer Toddi Steelman 513.0408 271.2844 Toddi_Steelman@ncsu.edu
Asst. Treasurer Joe Sinsheimer 821.9487 jsinsheimer@nc.rr.com
Butterfly Garden Christine Murphy 832.3298 345.1807 tomeichenberger@bellsouth.net
Communications Reid Serozi 807.1878 reid@serozi.com
CONNector Julie Snee 210.5586 jsneeze@gmail.com
Cultural Arts Peggy Hayes 870.0599 522.7995 peggy@peggyhayes.com
Soo Keith 834.1811 sookeith@sookeith.com
Lisa Ferrando
(Staff Liaison) 828.3534 lferrando@wcpss.net
Fall Carnival – Lisa & Rob
CONNivale Vanderberry 872.0741 271.4350 lvanderberry@nc.rr.com
Family Spirit Night Jared Ollison 247.4478 jso94@hotmail.com
Green Team Jeff Cherry 878.6177 915.1012 pakbakr@hotmail.com
David Thome 834.2735 215-0420 thome10@bellsouth.net
Holiday Shop Chrissy Pressley 834.6488 368.3856 cjpressley@gmail.com
Hospitality Capricia Conyers 833.1732 Capricia.conyers@yahoo.com
Legislative Matthew Brown 834.6488 askmisterbrown@yahoo.com
Literacy Night &
Campaign Pam Hartley 428.0992 pamhartley@earthlink.net
Media Center Kelly Turner 846.9347 kelly@mcbug.net
Room Parent
Coordinator Carol Lawson 761.1013 clawson2@aol.com
Parent Classroom
Liaison, K-2 Carmon Pullen 376.0844 291.8803 carmonellen@yahoo.com
Parent Classroom
Liaison, 3-5 Jaime Baker 231.9878 931.1478 bakers5@bellsouth.net
Positive Behavior
Support Mary Williams 846.5019 mawatwilliams@aol.com
Reflections Kelly LeVoyer 833.2297 kelly.levoyer@sas.com
Betsy Alexieff 524.8936 betsy_alexieff@ncsu.edu
Room Parent Coord. Carol Lawson 761.1013 cdlawson2@aol.com
School Store Daphne Shuler
School Spirit Merch. Mary Williams 846.5019 mawatwilliams@aol.com
Student Directory Adrienne Berney 828.5599 awberney@bellsouth.net
Teacher Apprec. Susan Robson 212.8733 luvoureducators@yahoo.com
Yard Sale Gabriella Corter 833.2078 827.3681 magicrabbit@nc.rr.com
Yearbook Mary Williams 846-5019 mawatwilliams@aol.com

October 2009 CONNector  
6
 
 Conn Elementary - October 2009
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Bell Schedule: 1 2 3
M,T,Th,F – 9:05-3:45
W – 9:05 – 2:45
Early Release Day
10/21 9:05 – 12:30

4 5 6 7 8 9 10
PTA Board Mtg. 6:15 Vision Screening Vision Screening

Vision Screening

11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Conn Book Fair Conn Book Fair Conn Book Fair Conn Book Fair Green Team 10 - 12
School Hours School Hours School Hours School Hours
Family Time 4-6 p.m.

Fall Scholar Night

18 19 20 21 22 23 24
EARLY RELEASE
12:30

Conn Comm. Night at

Jason’s Deli, 909 Spring
Forest Road 3-10 p.m.

25 26 27 28 29 30 31
End of 1st Quarter TEACHER
PTA Mtg. 6:15 WORKDAY
Conn Showcase
6:30-8:00
 Conn Elementary - November 2009
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Bell Schedule: SCHOOL PICTURES REPORT CARDS Fall CONNivale 1 – 4
M,T,Th,F – 9:05-3:45 (2nd – 5th)
W – 9:05 – 2:45 INTERIMS
Early Release Day (K – 1st)
9/23 9:05-12:30

8 9 10 11 12 13 14
PTA Board Mtg. 6:15 SCHOOL
HOLIDAY

15 16 17 18 19 20 21
Green Team 10-12

22 23 24 25 26 27 28
TEACHER SCHOOL SCHOOL
WORKDAY HOLIDAY HOLIDAY

29 30