Sunnyside Elementary

As a staff and and school, we have identified a few different things to focus on this year and we have included information on those below. We also are starting a new reading curriculum with the rest of our district this year.

For the past 8 years, we have been in partnership with EL Education (Expeditionary Learning.) At the end of last year, we decided to not move forward with this partnership but rather join our district with the new CKLA Reading Curriculum adoption. We are excited for this new journey and have lots of learning to do!

In addition to this, we wanted to celebrate that Sunnyside was able to certify in Level 2 of HRS (High Reliability Schools) which focused on Effective Teaching in Every Classroom. We are the 2nd school in our district to certify in Level 2! We worked diligently over the course of the year documenting the amazing work happening across the building as well as taking on new practices and strategies to improve our instruction for students! We are so proud of this work!

Way to go Sunnyside!

Just a reminder that students need to be here every single day! At 5 absences, you will hear from your student's teacher to notify you that your student has missed 5 days and a letter documenting this will be sent home to you. At 8 days, a school principal will contact you to notify you that you are at 8 absences and we will begin working with you on a plan to get your student to school. At 12 absences, your student can be turned into truancy. The goal is never to turn students into truancy, the goal is to get kids to school. Please reach out to your student's teacher or a school admin if you have a student missing a lot of school so we can work together on a plan for them!

Related to absences, we have a lot of families who vacation while school is in session. These absences count towards those 12 absences. If your student is going to be absent, please notify your student's teacher to let them know. Their work will not be gathered in advance to complete. Instead, while your student is out, the teacher will compile the items that they missed to give them when they return. The reason for this being that although teachers generically plan for weeks at a time, it is not accurate to pull days and weeks ahead for a student. Teachers are adjusting and shifting their instruction constantly based on if students are catching onto the content. When your student returns, the work that has been compiled will be more accurate on what they missed and need to make up.

Sunnyside has a substantial amount of students with lunch charges. Please utilize the Titan website to add money to your student's account to buy school lunches. If you need help doing this, please let the front office know and we can help! I have added directions below:

1. Go to the D91 website (www.ifschools.org)

2. Click on "departments" at the top of the page

3. Click on Child Nutrition

4. Click on "Online Meal Payments/Free and Reduced Application" to the right of the page.

5. Log-In or Sign-Up

Once you are logged in, it will prompt you to find your students school and attach your student and then you can add money to their account.

Thank you for helping with this issue!

Although we do not have much snow, the weather is still chilly. Please make sure students come in appropriate clothing for the cold weather. Things like hats, coats, gloves and boots are all items that will help keep kids toasty warm! If you do not have any of these items and need help getting them for your children, please let us know, we can help!

We have Chilly the Penguin at each entrance and if he is turned around, that means it is below zero and we will be opening doors to let students inside!

We are in desperate need of subs for our in-house sib list at Sunnyside. Our list is down to about a third of its normal size. We have used the subs on the list extensively over the past couple years as we deal with this nation-wide sub and teacher shortage and I think they are all ready for a break! We are hoping to get about 5-8 subs added to the list to help us out. If you are thinking about it, feel free to call in and get some more details from us, we'd be happy to chat with you! Thank you so much for considering this!

At Sunnyside, our desire is for students to use technology as a tool to enrich learning, not become a distraction to themselves or others. Over the past few weeks, we have seen an increase in students using technology, specifically their personal cell phones or smartwatches, during school to access non-academic or school-related material. All students are provided with a Chromebook to use for their learning, so there is no academic reason for a student to be using a cell phone or smartwatch for their learning while at school. In order to help support all our students in learning without distractions, we would like to explain Sunnyside’s cell phone and smartwatch policy.

Cell Phone Policy: Students may not use their cell phones during regular school hours. All student cell phones must be turned off and placed in their backpacks during school hours. If a student is using their device during school hours, they will be asked to take it to the office and a parent will be called to come to pick it up.

Smartwatch Policy: Smartwatches should be used to tell the time only. If a smartwatch becomes a distraction in class, the teacher will ask the student to turn their watch off and place it in their backpack or take it to the office. Parents may be called and asked to come to pick up their child’s smartwatch from the office.

Finally, as a reminder, we have amazing secretaries in the front office! If you need to reach your child during school hours, or if your child needs to reach you, please use the phones in the front office. Our staff will be more than happy to help out! Just like you, we want your child to learn and be successful at school, so we appreciate your help and support. If you have any questions or concerns regarding cell phones/smartwatches at school please feel free to reach out to Mrs. Dixon or Miss Lange.

We also are looking for parent volunteers to join our PTO. Each year our PTO works endlessly to provide exciting opportunities for students and families, fundraise for identified needs as well as support our Sunnyside staff. Here are just a few of the many things they do to support Sunnyside:

• Organize, Support and Volunteer for Class Parties
• Organize celebrations for Teacher Appreciate Week
• Fundraise for Sunnyside Students
• Restaurant Nights to Support Sunnyside and Other D91 Schools
• Donuts with Grownups
• STEAM Nights
• Support Grade-Level Celebrations of Learning
• Organize and Run Field Day in May
• And so much more!
• Our hope is so find more Sunnyside parents that are able to get involved in our PTO at Sunnyside! There are multiple ways to get involved as well, whether you have a little time to give or a lot...we would love to have you!
  
  If you are interested in volunteering in any way, please call the Sunnyside office!

As a staff crew, we spent some time at the beginning of the year working to create a common belief for homework at Sunnyside. We wanted to make sure that if students had homework, that it would be valuable and necessary. We also wanted to make sure that we value the time you get at home with your students. We hope to keep strengthening our understanding of appropriate homework over time to enable students to be successful. Below is our Homework Belief that was created from this process!

Instead of formal Parent Teacher Conferences in December and March, D91 is hoping to build a model where the school, the teacher, the family and the students work together to communicate on a more regular basis. We recognize that with formal conferences, those set aside days can be helpful to some, but we are hoping to create a model where we have open communication more consistently throughout the entire year to address students academic and social needs on a more regular basis.

In D91's efforts to communicate more effectively, Sunnyside staff has been working on a Communication Promise. The purpose of this promise is to make our intentions clear as a staff crew on how we hope to keep families and students engaged and a part of the learning process at Sunnyside. Our promise is below:

1. We promise to initiate and maintain communication with parents and families regarding student behavior, progress, and instruction.

2. We promise to engage in two-way communication and provide support for parents in accessing communication platforms.

3. We promise to encourage and participate in respectful and positive two-way interactions with students and families to ensure student success.

4. We promise to respond in a timely manner.

5. We promise to get to know each child’s unique abilities and attributes in order to build on their strengths and areas of opportunities for growth.

We are working hard to be proactive in our efforts to keep you informed but if you ever need clarification, have a question or would like to meet with a teacher, you may request to do so at any time! We will be holding Parent Focus Groups starting in November in which we will ask for feedback regarding our communication efforts as well. Please keep an eye out for more information on these Focus Groups.

Thank you in advance for your support, kindness and flexibility as we work hard to improve our practice!

-Sunnyside Staff Crew

All donations made to the building will be made to grade levels and not individual teachers.

Teachers will then choose to split the donation between the teachers on their grade-level team or they can choose to use the donation together for something.

The reason for this change is to promote equity. We have some classrooms who receive donations every year and we have some classrooms who have never received a donation. Our mission is to impact the most students as possible and this is one piece in making that happen.

You can still make school-wide donations to technology, EL materials, media center and playground as well.

All donations can be done at the Sunnyside front office with one of our wonderful secretaries.

Thank you so much for all your support of our staff and students!

This form is for parents or community members to share specific safety concerns that they may have regarding Sunnyside Elementary. Please share your concern, the location and individuals involved if known. Emails will not be gathered, so this report remains anonymous. You may choose to identify yourself, but it is not required. Kindly keep this form for SAFETY concerns only.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdC2gWk_zk-nsU7eiwTkPbuf7CacizJ7bSMWKq4uBl9rpYbzg/viewform

We are hoping to begin gathering some data from Sunnyside families and community members regarding our school and the efforts we are putting in to make Sunnyside amazing! You can now find a series of QR codes in the newsletter, the front foyer, the front office, etc. that look like the codes below. If you come across these, we kindly ask you to take a second, scan the code and take our brief surveys. These surveys will not expire and will remain open to gather input and suggestions over time. Our hopes is that this helps further open up communication between Sunnyside and our community so that we can work together for our students!

Please remember to be kind and respectful when giving suggestions and input. We are all here for the same reason...for our students!

To scan a QR code, you can download a QR reading app or you can scan it using the camera feature on your iPhone!

Thank you!

Use the link below to leave a positive shout-out for any staff member! Thank you so much for contributing to a positive culture!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScYYYCMGKNNvx-teUuaUPOM36xhR-sozW_2ygeNqqdR6f-zIA/viewform?usp=sf_link

Mrs. Croft's Crew

Mrs. Dixon's Crew

Mrs. Jones' Crew

https://www.smore.com/gcxnq-all-i-really-need-to-know?ref=my

Mrs. Jespersen's Crew

https://www.smore.com/u/rebeccajespersen

Mrs. Gihring's Crew

Mrs. Johnson's Crew

https://www.smore.com/b7nqa-mrs-johnson-s-super-hero-update?ref=my

Ms Wirkus' Crew

2nd Grade Crew

https://www.smore.com/67x2t-second-grade-newsletter?ref=my

3rd Grade Crew

https://www.smore.com/y08rs

Mrs. Hydes' Crew

Mrs. Murphy's Crew

Mr. Nai's Crew

Mrs. Rasmussen's Crew

Mrs. Allison's Crew

https://www.smore.com/p210m-mrs-allison-s-b6-crew-newsletter?ref=my

Mrs. Farnsworth's Crew

Mrs. Varvel's Crew

Mrs. Bailey's Crew

Mrs. Tabereaux's Crew

https://www.smore.com/u7vt1-weekly-update?ref=my

Mrs. Allen's Crew

Mrs. Phelps' Crew

Mrs. Hiltbrand's Crew

Newsletter:

https://www.smore.com/u/shelbywhiting

Newsletter:

https://www.smore.com/u/laurieorr

3rd grade students created an Adobe Spark video to explain collaboration. Way to go kids!

https://spark.adobe.com/video/yGxrdAQbDi5MB

Use the QR Code below to access!