Winona Elementary

Happy February Winona Families!

Our second half of the year is in full-swing. As you walk through our hallways, you will see awesome student writing on the walls, you hear kids communicating and learning with one another, you see our staff smiling at students as they are teaching, and you get an overall warm feeling! We invite any of our families to come to our school and volunteer in classrooms so that you can be a part of the magic!

We have the same traffic pattern for parent drop-off and pick-up in our parking lot. If you would like to get out of the car to walk your student into breakfast, please make sure you park in our parking lot or in designated parking areas.

Students have shared with our staff that there are a lot of social media sites that are using language and phrases that are offensive when repeated. We have had some students using racial slurs because they heard them on Tik Tok, but did not realize what they meant. If your child has access to social media, please encourage them to talk to you if they hear a statement that they do not know the meaning of before they repeat it at all. Of course, the best way to avoid this is to have limited access for children on any device they have.

Thank you for being a part of our Winona family! If there is any way that we can support your family, please don't hesitate to call us in our office!

Kim Tymkowych

February

14- Valentine's Day (classroom party information coming home soon!)

19-No School Presidents Day

20-No School Staff Work/PD Day

23- Donuts with Dudes

March

6 Family Conferences

7- No School Family Conferences

8- No School

18-22 Spring Break No School

Winona’s B.I.O.N.I.C club will be selling Valentine Grams before school from 7:40-8:00 from the 12-15th. Students will have the option to buy a chocolate bar or popcorn and a note to send to a friend, staff member, or family members. The grams will be $2.00. All grams will be delivered on Friday, February 16th. For questions please reach out to the office or Ashley Crossland

Please be on the lookout for a family conference form coming home in Friday Folders this month. Please mark the form with your available conference time for scheduling and return it to your student's teacher. If you have any questions please call the office at 970-613-7100 Thank you!

We will be moving into our cold weather season. Please make sure that your children are wearing coats, and possibly hats and gloves to school on those cold days. When the snow begins to stick to the ground, we also recommend students have boots for recess or to stay on the blacktop. We do not typically have students change their clothes if they are wet if they have chosen to roll in the snow without the proper gear to keep them dry. Please let our school know if there is a way that we can help with cold-weather gear. One final request would be to make sure that your child's gear has their name labeled on it so that we can return any lost items to the correct owner, and so that you do not have to buy any replacement gear!

When the district has called for a two-hour delayed start we, unfortunately, do not serve breakfast to students on those days. Please plan to have your student eat breakfast at home on delayed start days.

Studies have shown that using praise as a positive reinforcement is an effective strategy for student attendance. However, family participation is also key to good attendance for younger students. Some of the Athlos tips for good attendance include:

• Establishing and keeping a schedule; children thrive on routine

• Going to bed and waking up earlier

• Preparing for the morning the night before by laying out outfits, packing backpacks, and pre-packing lunches

• If work schedules conflict, investigate other means of transportation, such as carpooling with other families

If your family consistently struggles with school attendance, professionals suggest tracking the average time you’re late by and adding that time accordingly to your schedule. For example: if you are consistently 15 to 30 minutes late in the morning, set your alarm 15 to 30 minutes earlier. Doing this creates a cushion of extra time for unexpected delays.

Our Office is open from

7:30am-3:30pm M-F

Office Number

970-613-7100

Attendance Line

970-613-7111

Fax Number

970-613-7120

How sick is too sick? Does your Child need to stay home?

• Diarrhea

Yes – The child or staff member may return to school or child care 24 hours after their

last episode of diarrhea.

• Fever

Fever is a temperature of

100.4°F or greater.

Yes – The child or staff member may return to school or child care if the fever has

been resolved for 24 hours without fever-reducing medications.

• Flu-like Symptoms

• Fever

• Sore throat

• Runny nose or congestion

Yes - Children and staff may return to school or child care as long as they are

fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications and symptoms are improving.

We are seeing a lot of flu-like symptoms since the start of school. Please do not send your students to school with symptoms that could be contagious. Call the health office to excuse an illness or if you have any health questions.

Thank you!

Mrs. Ashley

970-613-7102

The Winona Elementary School spirit wear is available to purchase all school year long. Choose from hundreds of designs and garments, all delivered to your home in days.