The Piper Prairie Press
September 22, 2023
Hello Prairie Families,
As a reminder, there is NO SCHOOL for students Monday. During the past few weeks, teachers have been diligently getting to know your child's academic and social emotional strengths. During our professional development day Monday, staff will have the opportunity to explore both student and classroom data and plan for instruction based on student need. We are incredibly excited about the amazing student body here at Piper Prairie Elementary.
As a reminder, Piper Fest will occur this Saturday. This is a great community event and fun for the entire family.
Go Pirates,
Mrs. Bast and Mrs. Porras
Important Information: Friday Night Game Protocols
Piper High School is looking forward to hosting Topeka West on this evening. Our district will have some slight modifications to our typical Friday Night Game protocols in order to provide a more safe and efficient experience as Piper Nation cheers on our PHS Pirates! Important Points of Notice:
- Re-entry WILL NOT be permitted
- Home Events will be cashless; we will no longer accept cash!
- Students K-8 are not allowed admittance without an adult
- Students K-8 will be allowed to sit together (with staff supervision) on the West side of the home bleachers (please reference the map below)
- Adult/Family seating will be on the East side of the home bleachers (please reference the map below)
- Traffic barricades have been extended to ensure there is no traffic in front of the stadium (please reference the map below)
- Those with family and/or student passes can now utilize a "Fast Pass" lane which will be on the West (left) side of the main ticketing gate (please reference the map below)
- Visitors may only enter at the visitor gate near the baseball field at the East gate (right) (please reference the map below)
- Visitors will now have their own concession stand and restroom facility on the visitors’ side and will not be allowed on the home side
- The front gate area has been extended and we will have double the amount of workers to ensure quicker entrance into the stadium; please note, we will NO LONGER accept cash; everything will be cashless
- The concession area has been extended with triple the amount of workers and will NO LONGER accept cash; everything will be cashless
Please know the following measures have been put into place to promote a more enjoyable experience at our District Stadium along with providing more efficiencies and safety measures.
Join us at PIPER FEST this Saturday!
Get ready for Picture Day!
Picture Day is coming up on Thursday, 09/28/2023! Order before Picture Day to receive free shipping to the school. Order online at https://inter-state.com/FlyerEntry/78562BF.
Please don't be late, we will begin photos shortly after school begins.
Changes to Screening Assessments for 2023-2024 School year
Dr. Nguyen, Assistant Superintendent, is sharing a letter to Piper Parents and Guardians, intended to provide you with information regarding some changes our district made to the assessment tools we will be using to monitor our students’ academic and social-emotional progress. For the past several years, students in grades 2 through 12 have taken NWEA MAP as their primary screening assessments for reading and math. These tests were administered three times per year and were utilized to chart student learning growth, to identify students in need of additional support, and to assist with appropriate course placement.
Please read the COMPLETE LETTER here about Screening Assessments.
Standards Based Grading System
In effort to help parents and guardians understand a shift we are making with the grading scale we will be using with our students in grades K-5, we composed the Standards Based Grading System Letter you can click on below. Many of you are already familiar with standards-based grading, but even if you are not, this letter should hopefully help you gain a better grasp on how we will be reporting your child’s learning and mastery of essential skills.
Please read the COMPLETE LETTER here about Standards Based Grading System.
Important Dates
Fri. Sept. 23 -Piper Fest (see flier)
Mon. Sept. 25 - NO SCHOOL for students - Professional Development for staff
Thurs. Sept. 28 - School Picture Day (see flier)
Oct. 16 - 19 - Book Fair
Wed. Oct. 18 - NO SCHOOL - Parent Teacher Conferences 8am - 8pm by appointment
Thurs. Oct. 19 - NO SCHOOL - Parent Teacher Conferences 8am - 4pm by appointment
Fri. Oct. 20 - NO SCHOOL
Wed. Oct. 25 - 6 - 7:30pm Community Wellness Event at CTE building (see flier below)
Tues. Nov. 7th - 2nd grade Music Program: Albracht, Ziegler, Diehl, Brandt
Thurs. Nov. 9th - 2nd grade Music Program: Denney, Trowbridge, Sorenson, Pope
Wed. Dec. 6th - 1st grade Music Program: Foster, Parsons, Turner, Krejci
Thurs. Dec. 7th - 1st grade Music Program: Bradner, Wineinger, Ward, Simpson
Tues. Dec. 12th - Kindergarten Music Program: Mapp, Harvey, Rogers, Robb
Wed. Dec. 13th - Kindergarten Music Program: Rexroat, Klinger, Sellers, Robinson
A message from your Piper Prairie School counselors
Prairie staff is committed to supporting all children’s academic and social learning. Part of this work involves teaching social and emotional competencies - the everyday skills children need to interact positively with others and to participate successfully in school. In fact, a hot buzz word in the world right now is “Social Emotional Learning” or SEL, and we wanted to clear up some possible confusion.
Social and emotional competence includes things like picking up on how other people are feeling, understanding other points of view, problem solving, managing feelings, listening to others, focusing and paying attention, and more. Most social emotional skills do not come naturally, but rather they need to be explicitly taught to our kids.
Prairie classroom teachers use a curriculum called Second Step to teach social emotional skills, and we counselors use the same topics to teach additional lessons in each classroom. You can see the entire scope and sequence of lessons here: Second Step Lessons
With competencies such as math and reading, assessments help guide what and how we teach and give us insight into how well students are learning. For the same reasons, students complete SELweb, a brief, web-based screener that measures student social and emotional competencies. SELweb ties directly to Second Step skills, and you can see that alignment in this document: SELweb-SS alignment
Additionally, you can see a description of the types of questions on SELweb here: Module Examples and you can read a description of each module here: Module Descriptions
As you can hopefully see from these links, we want to assure you that SELweb is not a mental health assessment and is not used to diagnose, label, or otherwise stigmatize children. It is a teaching tool we use to do the best work we can with all our students.
Between September 26 and October 5, Mrs. Kelsey and Mrs. Keenan will be going into each classroom to help students complete SELweb. All questions are read aloud to your students and all are answered on iPad (K-1st) or computer (2nd). We will share all reports after the assessment with you at or around parent-teacher conferences. Please let us know if you have any questions!
Daneen Kelsey - 913-721-9074 daneen.kelsey@piperschools.us
Serena Keenan - 913-721-9075 serena.keenan@piperschools.us
Save these Zones of Regulation Tools that we use at school!
Spotlight on Specials Classes
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FROM THE OFFICE!
- Students need to be in their classrooms by 8:30 am (Monday- Thursday) and 9:10 on Friday to avoid a tardy slip. We will start dismissal at 3:40 pm.
- Students arriving after 9:15 am Monday- Thursday, and 9:55 Friday will be counted as 1/2 day absent.
- Students leaving before 3:40 pm will be counted as 1/2 day absent.
- Tardy Policy: 5 Tardies = 1 unexcused absence
- All transportation changes MUST be made by 2:30 pm on the day the change is requested to ensure that the teacher is notified in time and your child arrives home safely.
- Students Arriving Late: If your child has an appointment of any kind that causes them to arrive late to school, please call the office. Please have a doctor's note for the absence to be excused.
- Students Leaving Early: If your child has an appointment of any kind that causes them to leave early from school, we request that you email the front office at heather.bryant@piperschools.us as well as your child's teacher or you may call our front office at 913-721-1243. Upon arrival at the school, you will enter the front of the building to sign your child out and we will call your child to the office at that time.
- Child Absence: Please call and let the office know if your child is absent or late coming to school. Our office will call and verify that your child is safely at home if you have not received notification. The office number is: 913-721-1243
I am Responsible, Respectful, Safe, and Prepared! It's the Pirate Way!
Youth Basketball Season for Boys
Piper Basketball Nation,
We are excited to announce the start of our youth basketball season for boys grades 1st-8th!
Overview of program: http://bit.ly/3sXbJGJ
We are going to get a bit of a head start this year. We know your son's are busy with fall sports,
but basketball never stops!
Mandatory Parent Meeting this is ZOOM ONLY (please choose one to attend):
Tue. Sept. 26th 9pm
Wed. Sept. 27th 9pm
Thur. Sept. 28th 9pm
Link to meeting:
https://piperschools.zoom.us/j/98564011898?pwd=OXBCWWJ2MUlOTTE0dkhoVXh3V0VtQT09
Evaluations will take place on Sunday's in October. Your son is required to come to 3 out of
the 5 evaluations, we would love to see your son at all 5 evaluations.
Cost: $25
Venmo: @sw3245
CashApp: $sw3245
Check: "Steve Wallace"
Cash also accepted
Signup: https://forms.gle/LzPsDrzg1i9dY2Fu9
1. Sun. Oct. 1st
12:00pm-12:45pm: 1st-2nd grades
12:45pm-1:30pm: 3rd-4th grades
1:30pm-2:15pm: 5th-6th grades
2:15pm-3:00pm: 7th-8th grades
2. Sun. Oct. 8th
12:00pm-12:45pm: 1st-2nd grades
12:45pm-1:30pm: 3rd-4th grades
1:30pm-2:15pm: 5th-6th grades
2:15pm-3:00pm: 7th-8th grades
3. Sun. Oct. 15th
12:00pm-12:45pm: 1st-2nd grades
12:45pm-1:30pm: 3rd-4th grades
1:30pm-2:15pm: 5th-6th grades
2:15pm-3:00pm: 7th-8th grades
4. Sun. Oct. 22nd
12:00pm-12:45pm: 1st-2nd grades
12:45pm-1:30pm: 3rd-4th grades
1:30pm-2:15pm: 5th-6th grades
2:15pm-3:00pm: 7th-8th grades
5. Sun. Oct. 29th
12:00pm-12:45pm: 1st-2nd grades
12:45pm-1:30pm: 3rd-4th grades
1:30pm-2:15pm: 5th-6th grades
2:15pm-3:00pm: 7th-8th grades
Let me know if you have any questions. My cell is 785-764-9824. Together We Are Piper!
Steve Wallace
In Case You Missed It...
Begin/End School Times
Monday-Thursday
- 8:15 am doors open at Piper Prairie
- 8:30 am school begins
- Dismissal* begins at 3:40 pm
Late Start Friday (beginning 8/25/23)
- 8:55 am doors open at Piper Prairie
- 9:10 am school begins
- Dismissal* begins at 3:40 pm
*Dismissal is at the same time Monday-Friday.
Piper Prairie Elementary School
Mrs. Bast - Principal darcey.bast@piperschools.us
Mrs. Porras - Assistant Principal laura.porras@piperschools.us
Email: darcey.bast@piperschools.us
Website: https://ppe.piperschools.com/
Location: 3131 N 122nd St, Kansas City, KS 66109, USA
Phone: 913.721.1243
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PiperElementary/?scrlybrkr=41859c6e
Twitter: @PiperElementary