Wednesday Word

Dear Sunflower Families,

We are excited to see our scholars and families at parent/teacher conferences that start today! There is still time to sign up for a conference if you have not done so. The links to each teacher's Sign Up Genius is below or just contact your teacher directly to sign up. We can do phone and Webex conferences as well.

The district is currently looking at boundary changes that will most likely impact Sunflower Elementary next school year. I will work to keep you updated, but I also encourage you to learn more about changes at the following link.

New student enrollment is now open for the 2023-2024 school year. This includes our new kindergarten students. Families of incoming kindergarten students must have this completed and all of their documents submitted (birth certificate, immunization card, proof of address, copy of driver's license, health assessment) PRIOR to kindergarten orientation scheduled for April 26th and May 3rd at Sunflower.

I have a huge favor to ask of families. We would like to request that students leave toys, stuffed animals, fidgets and any other items that are not needed for educational purposes at home. We are seeing an increase in what we call red zone behaviors that are stemming from these items. Some of these behaviors include disrupting the learning environment, distracting peers, causing arguments among peers, etc. We have fidgets at school that students can use as needed. In addition, we are seeing an increase in vandalism in our bathrooms as well as students who are intentionally urinating and defecating outside of the toilet and/or urinal. We would really appreciate if families would take the time to discuss expected behaviors in all locations at school (see our matrix below) and check in to make sure students are not putting extra items in their backpacks on a regular basis. Thank you for your help with this.

Lastly, I have had some questions regarding field trip protocols, especially around permission slips.

• Families opt in for field trips during annual enrollment in Powerschool
• Annual enrollment opens each spring and we will communicate when you can go online and update all of your information for the following school year
• If you do not actively go in and complete annual enrollment, all of your information is rolled up from the previous school year, including any opt-in forms such as a field trip permission form
• The only time we send an additional permission slip for a field trip is when the field trip is an out of town trip
  
• When a teacher or grade level requests a field trip it is sent to me for approval then they work closely with Mrs. Lett on a checklist of items which includes checking to make sure all scholars have a permission slip on file
• We try and put reminders regarding field trips in the Wednesday Word but your classroom teacher will also send reminders via their messaging system

We hope you all enjoy your spring break next week and we will see you back at school on Monday, March 20th.

As always it is an honor to serve as the Principal of Sunflower Elementary.

Melissa Blevins

Know a Sunflower staff member that deserves a shout out?! Fill out the google form below! We use these shout outs as nominations for our staff member of the month recognition.

Dear Sunflower Families,

We can not wait to see you in the building on March 8th and 9th, 2023 for Spring Parent-Teacher Conferences. Your scholars are three-quarters of the way through their academic year and have been working with our staff to meet goals, build their community, and find success on their path as AVID scholars. Please use the link below to sign-up for a slot to meet with your scholar’s teacher. Our goal is to have 100% attendance.

Just a reminder there will be no school for students on Thursday and Friday of Parent-Teacher conference week (March 8th and 9th, 2023.) This is followed by Spring Break the following week (March 13 - 17, 2023). A huge shout out to all the families who will be helping PTO by donating food and snacks for our staff on these long days.

Check out 3 tips from Sunny the Eagle for Parents at Parent-Teacher Conferences in the video below.

Hello Sunflower Families! I want to share with you that I will be away from Sunflower Elementary due to a medical procedure that will take place on Wednesday, March 8th. Sadly, I will not be available during our parent/teacher conferences. Counseling lessons, Harvesters BackSnack, Student Council, and Lunch Bunch groups will continue during my absence as I will have substitutes to cover for me. I hope to return to Sunflower at the beginning of April pending my doctor's approval. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me after spring break via email. My email is jheatwol@usd497.org . I will certainly miss seeing you all at arrival and dismissal and especially miss seeing all your wonderful scholars!

Parents, just a friendly reminder that students can only bring in water to have during the day. They can pack a juice box or Gatorade for lunch time, but should only have water in their water bottles. Please refrain from sending your students with hot chocolates, coffees or fountain drinks and make sure that any outside breakfast/lunch items are finished before entering the building. Students can either eat a school lunch or a lunch from home. Food from a restaurant can not be in packaging from the restaurant.

We have multiple openings at this time. We have posted for three Paraprofessionals and one for our Lead Lunchroom Monitor. This position works Monday-Friday from 10:45-1:15. You can apply online by clicking the linked job titles or contact Melissa Blevins at melissa.blevins@usd497.org.

Use the sign up below to volunteer in our lunch room!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0C45A8AE2DA5FCC70-lunchroom

Thank you to all the scholars and families that were able to come to travel the world at our Sunflower 2023 International Night! We apologize to any scholar that did not get a passport sticker or get to participate in the scavenger hunt. We had anticipated having 100-150 scholars and we had closer to 250 or more scholars and families attend!

Thank you to those families that shared their cultural heritage, food, presentations, informational facts about culture, region and nations. We could not have done it without you!

We hope this event encourages ALL scholars and families to have family discussions about their cultural heritages.

Lastly, if you have any pictures you would like to share please add them to https://join.photocircleapp.com/VPPTAGPRXW

Sunflower Garden Club would like to send a huge Thank you to all who helped us kick off “Garden Week” successfully.

• Thanks to Girl Scout Troop 1571 for the donation of 4 new raised beds (including the repair of one of our old beds) and their hard work getting them into place. Troop 1571 is led by Trish Neuteboom. (Helpers on Sat included Quincey Neuteboom; Emma Platt and her dad, Tim; Delilah Oatis: Evie Esparza; Audrey Ornes & her mom, Heather Flashbarth; Caroline Larsen; Molly Olson-Kelly & Sophia Olson Kelly Ramirez; Marley Barforush

• Phi lota Alpha Fraternity from KU- Saul Reza, Alex Reyes, and Gustavo Herrera shared their muscle and strength.

• Garden Club members: Ivy Nichols and her family (mom, dad, and brother, Zach); Brady Kalb; Jaxon Nauholz, Penny and her mom, Melinda; Nina Vukelich

• Lori MacDonald for designing our new Kindness Sign

• Siel and COle Studer, owners of Laser Focus LLC for the beautiful KINDNESS sign that our Garden CLub enjoyed painting

• Joyce Shontz for bringing fruit and donuts for us to enjoy

• Pantaleon FLorez III and his little helper for your guidance and knowledge throughout this growing process.

• SF PTO for their support and financial help.

When you are at Sunflower for your P/T Conferences please stop by and get a pack of Zinnia or Marigold seeds from our garden to yours! One per family please.

Teacher conference meals
There are still a couple things on the sign up for conference meals for tomorrow! Items need to be dropped off on Thursday by 10 am.

Sign up to bring items here

Fun Run on 4/29!

Save the date for our annual Sunflower Fun Run and sign up here

Spring Book Fair 4/24-4/28

Book Fair is coming! Watch for more info and for volunteer signups in the coming weeks.

Volunteer for Junior Achievement

Marathon Club will start back up after spring break on Wednesday, March 22nd! As a reminder, we run on Wednesdays after school from 2:20pm-3pm and on Monday mornings from 8am-8:25am. If you were a member of Marathon Club and ran in the fall, you are good to go! If you would like to become a member of Marathon Club, please fill out the consent form (link below) before coming on your first day. We are excited to see everyone on Wednesday, March 22nd!

Parents/Guardians of Marathon Club participants- If you have not already, please sign up for our Remind 2022-2023 notifications. This is how we communicate to club members.

https://www.remind.com/join/kkfgk39

Consent form for Marathon Club 2022-2023

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1aX_AehmreyG6Bl7ovUwr6KDdleq89H1xea0N2snFmjE/edit

The 2023 Sunflower Fun Run/Walk will take place at 9 am on Saturday, April 29, at Sunflower Elementary. Whether you're a walker, runner, skipper, or even jumper, all are welcome to participate!

Sign up here for the 2023 Sunflower Fun Run and Tot Trot: 2023 Sunflower Elementary Community Fun Run/Walk Sign UP

RACE T-SHIRT DESIGN CONTEST ENTRIES DUE MARCH 8th TOMORROW!!

Mar. 8 - Conferences

Mar. 9 - No School - Conferences

Mar. 10 - No School

Mar. 13 - 17 - Spring Break - No School

March 31 - PTO Sponsored Glow Party