Elm Road Express April 2021

It's April! It is so nice to see the sun shining and hear the birds singing. The students have been working hard on their recent eLearning assignments. I appreciate families and their flexibility during our recent change in schedule. The 3-5th grade students are gearing up to take the iLearn assessment in April. Virtual students will take iLearn in May. Please see recent information regarding specific schedules for your child. It is important that students are present and ready to show what they know! If you haven't already logged on to Skyward to see your child's progress report, please do so as soon as possible. Take the time to sit down with your child and talk with them about how proud you are of the effort they have demonstrated this grading period. Make sure to allow some time for a discussion about goals for the remainder of the year. Third grade parents are reminded that iRead scores will be shared after April 26.

I wish everyone an enjoyable Spring Break. See you very soon!

April 2 - Recess Day

April 5-9 Spring Break Recess

April 12-16th - PTO Book Fair

April 19-May 14 - ILEARN Testing

• Student and staff safety is important to us!
  
• When arriving at the school, please approach from the SOUTH off of Capital. Following this direction, allows our traffic to keep flowing and does not interfere with our buses that are waiting to enter our parking lot to drop off the students. Do not go around the buses. At any time they may move into the parking lot! Use your turn signal, when entering the parking lot, so cars exiting know that it is safe to go. Exit RIGHT turn only.
• Parents picking up or dropping off children are reminded to have students exit their cars curbside ONLY. Parents, please stay in your car.
• Pull up as far as safely possible to the next car before having students exit or enter your vehicle. Always follow the directions of the safety patrol assistants.
• Sick Child: Parents must call the attendance line and provide an explanation for their child's absence no later than 10:00 A.M. on the day of the absence. You can reach the attendance line by calling 574-259-3743. When calling the attendance line due to your student being sick, please include any symptoms your student is having. If an explanation is not given on the same day of the absence, the student will need a doctor’s note to return to school.
• iRead scores will be able to be shared with parents after April 26, 2021.
  
• High Ability :Letters will be sent to the parents of the newly high ability identified students after April 12. The date that the letters were mailed will be posted here https://www.phmschools.org/high-ability-enrichment after the letters are sent.
  

Parents now have the ability to submit attendance reasons through Family Access instead of calling their childs’ school. Attendance can be entered on that day (illness) or for future events (doctor’s appointment). Absences can be recorded for all day, late arrival or early dismissal.

Parents please return all eLearn Chromebooks that you picked up for

Elearning days or Snow Days. All eLearn Chromebooks need to be returned by

March 31st. Please remember to return power cords too. Thank you.

Congratulations to the following

“Eagles” for their wonderful

“SOAR” behavior

Barnes: Quinn Stahl & Tristan Walker

Portolese: IV Hernandez & Elaine Aguilar

Renz: Penelope Rigsby & Kevin Hall

Bush: Christian Kanyi & Zophya Lee

Hinton: Frida Hill, Samantha Shorey, & Pierceton Daniel

Taylor: Conner Mendlikowski, Landon Kujawski & Hope Knowlton

Clark: Levi Stachowiak, Peter Knight & Ezekiel Morgan

Richard: Autumn Virgil & Sam Mwawasi

Tornquist: Trevor Kabiru, Harper Gibson & Henry Stephens

Anderson: Jermerion Hairston & Landon Vadala

Miller: AJ Hudnall &Olivia Meek

Myers: Gabby Hintz, Elena Clark & Lily Kazmierzak

Pillow: Michael Baldwin & Kyra Buahin

Cook: Romina Colina-Ferrer & Riley Hoover

Freeman: Brian McKinnies & Paul Jaquay

Keough: Tyler Ardila & Mahina Belaski

Newcomer: Claire Steif & Savanah Jones

Kertai: Ava VanVynckt & Liam Kajzer

Mellor: Kyle Gretencord & Eva Nissley

Shreiner: Brenden Grisdale, Priscilla Bowlds-Hurtle & Sud'Dynn Smith

• Students need to arrive at school with a face mask every day and they should be washed several times a week.
• If their mask is getting wet at recess, send a second one with them.
• Students should not come to school ill. Please call the office if they need to stay home.
• Wash your hands often and do not touch your face.

It’s Spring!

April 4-10 is National Library Week. Visit the Public Library and sign up for a library card if you don’t already have one. Our Public Libraries have many wonderful books and activities to offer. They offer curb-side pickup also.

April 22 is Earth Day and we will be celebrating all month by reading a variety of conservation and earth related books. We recycle paper at school, hopefully you are recycling at home also. We plan to enjoy time out in the courtyard as we watch the plants bloom.

Last month, in 3rd grade, Mrs. Shah did a wonderful Cultural Diversity slide show presentation about Asia sharing interesting facts. She even taught an origami Peacock (the official Bird of India) and taught the students how to make an origami peacock. We are studying all the Continents and learning many interesting facts. Thank you Mrs. Shah and Mrs. Garton for preparing this special presentation!

Have a wonderful spring break and remember to READ, READ, READ!

Please allow your students to access the Junior Library Guild Bookshelf on their home computers any time, any day. They can get to it by logging into their class, clicking on the Music/PE page, going to classworks to Mrs. Knapp’s Virtual Library. The second slide will take them to the link to the JLG website to read a variety of books. The selection changes often.

Or try this link:

http://jlg.ipublishcentral.com/r?bookshelf=giUkBSc35AenHgRq3rPg%2FBjhceAF1nG50JccXqPvLTI%3D

1. Click on the orange Sign In button at the top of the page.

2. All student logins for JLG are first letter of first name + last name + last three of their ID + @phm.k12.in.us. Password is ID + phm.

3. Begin reading!

Linda Knapp

We had lots of fun in March in the STEM Lab.

All grade levels got to use the Virtual Reality Headsets. It is quite exciting to feel like you are sitting in the space lab or a jungle somewhere and to watch the activity as it moves around you.

Kindergarten worked on engineering and building with the Keva blocks and legoes. They also learned about rain clouds. First grade saw the walking rainbow experiment, built with planks and coding on the floor. Second graders did more coding. Third grade learned about Cultural Diversity using software to help them learn the continents and hands on projects to celebrate each continents uniqueness. Fourth and fifth graders learned more technology using the Sphero Minis and Ozobots. Fifth grade starting learning about the 3-D pens and creating with them.

We are always looking forward to learning and growing with hands-on activities in the Elm Road STEM Lab. Be sure to ask your students about it.

Enjoy spring and notice the changes in nature with your family.

With ILEARN on the way I thought I would provide you with some tips to doing the child’s best on the test.

*** Relaxation is important and can assist with lowering stress levels, help with better sleep, improve mood and memory, and reduce the chance of physical illness.

R – Read the question carefully then reread the passage or problem to find the right answer.

E – Examine every answer choice before you choose your answer.

L – Label your answer in the passage or in the problem.

A - Always check your work.

X – X-out answers that cannot possibly be correct.

Additional tips to remember:

1. Make sure your students are on time for school each day.

2. Avoid taking your student out for doctor’s appointments during testing times. Students will feel more at ease when taking the test at the same time as their classmates.

3. Get a good night’s sleep each night. Students cannot do their best if they are sleepy.

4. Eat a good breakfast!

5. Encourage your child to do their best!

   
   

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to give me a call at 259-3743. Thank you! - Mrs. Shell

Happy Spring!

During the month of March, we had fun celebrating Dr. Suess, St. Patrick’s Day and the success of our school with Kids’ Heart Challenge. Every grade level played “Leprechaun's Gold” and were told a little about the history and traditions of St. Patrick’s day. All grade levels also learned about a triathlon and practiced swimming, biking and running using scooter boards. This month we also have begun talking about “March Madness” and practicing our dribbling, passing and some shooting skills. As the weather warms up, we will try to go outside as much as possible.

Congratulations to our school for meeting and exceeding the goal of raising $10,000 for the Kids Heart Challenge. Elm Road's total was $11,000. Shout out to Mrs. Tornquist’s AMAZING class! 100% registered online and they won the $200 Amazon gift card! Our top 5 fundraisers that enjoyed their scavenger hunt were:

• Brian M $558

• Ethan G $408

• Gavin N $337

• Owen P $314

• Iris K $228

More congratulations to all the students that demonstrated growth with their jump rope skills and to our endurance and jumps in a minute champions. Many students earned (bracelets) for jumping.

Endurance jump champions

5th: Kyle G, Charlie C., Maddox M.

4th: Annalee P., Riley H., Emma P

3rd: Kyle S., Evelyn S., Anna G.

2nd: Zeke M., Madelyn K., Nolan D.

1st: Lucy B., Jordyn H., Olivia M.

Jumps in a minute champions

5th: Kyle G., Adaria H., Maddox M.

4th: Melina P., Riley H., Paul J

3rd: Eli N., Tripp D., Gabby H.

2nd: Madelyn K., Zeke M., Zoey F.

1st: Landen L., Zakaya M., Lucy B.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: All 4th and 5th grade students have the opportunity to participate in the Running is Elementary program! This is a running club that will take place after school for four practices from 2:10-3:10 (4/27, 4/30, 5/4 and 5/7) and then a meet on May 10th. Students that requested a permission slip will be bringing one home soon. If you have any questions you can contact, Mrs. Parisi (dparisi@phm.k12.in.us), Mrs. Newcomer (snewcomer@phm.k12.in.us) or Mrs. Shreiner (kshreiner@phm.k12.in.us) .

Please remind your child to bring tennis shoes with him/her when coming to school in boots. Tennis shoes are the best choice for a day in the gym or classroom! He/She also needs to bring a water bottle to school for refills throughout the day. Any parent willing to donate dixie cups to our gym would be greatly appreciated for those thirsty students that don’t have water bottles!

Happy Spring, Elm Road!

I hope everyone enjoys a wonderful and safe spring break!

Reminder that we will begin ILEARN testing this month for our 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students. Please help students to get a good night of rest and eat a healthy breakfast before taking these assessments. We know our Eagles will SOAR as they continue to work hard and put forth their best effort on ILEARN. If you need additional literacy resources to utilize at home, do not forget to check out our Title I Resource Website.

Congratulations to our March SOARing Readers of the Month!

Barnes: Shannon Jennings & Massimo Venditti-Graper

Portolese: Lola Haab

Renz: Eli Horvath & Penelope Rigsby

Bush: Jack Gordenier & Samantha Roberts

Hinton: Kael Boyd & Alexis Nemeth

Taylor: Landon Kujawski & Abbey Hendricks

Clark: Ariah Vigil & Wilson Ely

Richard: Colton Selner & Nevaeh Reina

Tornquist: Dominic Forsthye & Clay Lewis

Anderson: Ethan Guzman & Kaliyah Mikulyuk

Miller: Gabby Hernandez & Lydia Miller

Myers: Aries Bourdon

Pillow: Mia Diaz

Cook: Micah Cummins & Matthew Haggerty

Freeman: Jack Blimling & Annaleee Patszchke

Keough: Brielle Moore & Jaden Caro Rodriguez

Newcomer: Edward Long & Melina Perri

Kertai: Dominic Fey & Malika Mosley

Mellor: Lucy Schmidt & Kayla-Ngoc Chau

Shreiner: Xitlali Juarez

Happy Reading!

Miss Peluso

Title I Reading Specialist

fpeluso@phm.k12.in.us

574-259-3743

Title I Resources - website

On March 10 the, the Spell Bowl was held virtually. Our students worked hard. We want to thank our coaches for all their hard work working with the students: Jackie Anderson (3rd), Christy Cook (4th) and Therese Mellor (5th). Great job to our students representing Elm Road.

3rd: Will Armenteros, Harlie Bulger, Natalie Haab, Royce Henry, Alo Mokoma, Max Shook and Alex VanVynckt

4th: Emily Freeman, Emma Palmer, Briar Barrier, Jenna Fair, Amelia Menz, Faith Latson, Ella Emmons and Micah Cummins

5th: Layla Banke, Ireland Bayer, Nora Haab, Carter Kajzer, Lucy Schmidt, Ava VanVynckt and Page Weesner

It has been an exciting couple of weeks in music class. Many parents of 4th and 5th graders may have heard that we are starting to learn how to play the ukuleles in class! These ukuleles were bought using money that we received with a grant from the PHM Education Foundation, as well as with some money from our wonderful PTO. Students are really enjoying these instruments so far. The ukuleles are going to be a great opportunity for students at Elm Road to learn for several years to come!

Website: elmroad.phmschools.org
Location: 59400 Elm Road, Mishawaka, IN, USA
Phone: 574-259-3743
Twitter: @ElmroadES