Thank you to everyone who attended parent/teacher conferences this week. I'm grateful that our high attendance rate reflects the support of our community.

Also, thank you for taking time to write your student a letter at our affirmation station in the library! When I checked the bins at the end of the day, they were both full! That means we had hundreds of letters written to our Lil Steamers 🧡

We are excited to make deliveries next week!

JAGH

Thank you to the PTO, parents, and community members who brought sweet and savory treats for our staff to enjoy during conferences. Your kindness was greatly appreciated! Parent and caregiver turnout was fantastic this year. It's amazing how much we can do when we work together.

Enjoy the weekend!

Thank you to all of the veterans for their service. Veteran’s Day is a great time to show children how to honor those who served and a perfect time for them to do something kind to show their gratitude. Your child can help you hang an American flag outside of your home. They could also make cards or flags to give to veterans.

Former Steamer Haley Stage came to 4C this week to talk about her job. She is a Radiology Technologist. It is RadTech Week and she wanted to share information about Xrays. Thanks for visiting Haley!

Last Saturday, 14 of our students from 4th-6th grades took part in the ILMEA District 8 Elementary General Music (EGM) Festival! Students were able to choose which group to be a part of, and spent the day learning and making music! Congratulations to all the students and a huge thank you to all the parents and chaperones for helping to make this possible!!

***For more pics and videos, visit the ILMEA District 8 facebook page!

What a fantastic start to the year for our PTO and school community!

House Lanyards: Just before Sorting Day, each of the four houses received brand new lanyards provided by the PTO! Both the students and teachers loved them, and you can catch a glimpse of everyone proudly wearing them in our previous newsletter. These lanyards will be used for years to come!

Coffee and Donut Fundraiser Success: Thanks to your support, our Coffee and Donut fundraiser raised over $4,800, making it our most successful fundraiser in the past three years! A huge thank you to everyone who participated! Special shout-out to 5C, the winning class, who earned a fun Popcorn Glow Party!

National Custodians Appreciation Day: On National Custodians Appreciation Day, our PTO proudly provided gifts for each of our hardworking custodians. We wanted to show our gratitude for all they do to keep our school running smoothly, so we gifted them some sweet treats and a gift card to Steam Anchor. Thank you to our custodial staff for all your dedication and care!

Upcoming Events:

• Teacher Treats During Conferences: Eagle Brew has generously agreed to donate once again, and many parents have volunteered to drop off baked goods. We hope our teachers enjoy these treats as much as they did last year!

Polar Bear Patch Holiday Shop: Our PTO board is hard at work preparing for the beloved Polar Bear Patch! After great feedback from last year’s holiday shop, we have decided to personally shop for the items this year instead of using an outside company to provide the inventory. The kids loved shopping, and we’re aiming to provide an even better experience this year!

Coming Soon: Donuts with Grown-Ups is coming back this spring, a much-anticipated event loved by our community. Additionally, we're working on a few fundraisers that will make for great holiday gifts—stay tuned for more details!

Recent PTO Approvals: We’ve been busy approving requests that will benefit our students and teachers, including:

• Art supplies for Mystery Baskets in Mrs. Long’s Art classes.
• Speech supplies for Ms. Bri's current and future students.
• Play therapy figures and blocks for Counselor Mrs. Meumann’s students.
• Special Education supplies and games for Mrs. Whitney’s classroom.
• 1,056 bookmarks for all students visiting the library, requested by Mrs. Pannell.
• A reading program and supplies for Ms. Maloney’s classes.
• Pumpkins and apple juice for kindergarteners at the FES Annual Pumpkin Patch.
• A picture book series about making friends for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder, requested by LeAnn Smith. This request approval is especially meaningful to our PTO members, many of whom have loved ones on the spectrum and understand the importance of friendship skills.

Next PTO Meeting: Our next meeting will be on November 12th at 7 PM (rescheduled due to Election Day). We hope to see you there!

Thank you for your continued support in making this a great year for our school community!

If you need to contact us, please reach out via Facebook at Fulton PTO, by email at fultonelempto@gmail.com, or connect with one of our board members:

• Lynne Coffey – President
• Abra Richards – Vice President & Media Manager
• Danielle Wilkins – Secretary
• Tarah Manon – Treasurer

Please use the following link to sign up for girls and boys Rec Basketball for grade levels 1st-4th. Information and schedule is included on the sign up form.

https://forms.gle/MpxYZcLHQ9xxAMS4A

1. A child should be fever-free without the assistance of medication for 24 hours before returning to school. A child's temperature is lowest in the morning, so a low temperature on awakening is not a true indicator. If you have given your child Tylenol or Motrin at night, the medication could still be affecting your child's temperature.

2. A child should be free of vomiting/diarrhea for 24 hours before returning to school. A child who has been ill during the night may feel slightly better in the morning and even ask to go to school. however, the child will likely experience symptoms of illness later and will be contagious to the other children and staff.

3. A child with a thick or constant colored nasal discharge should remain home. Very few younger children can effectively blow their noses and wash their hands afterwards.

4. A child diagnosed with strep throat/scarlet fever should remain home for the first 24 hours of antibiotic treatment. A child remains contagious until they has been antibiotics for 24 hours.

5. A child diagnosed with conjunctivitis may attend school after 24 hours of antibiotic treatment. There should also not be any drainage from the eyes.

6. If you child has a persistent cough.

7. If your child sustains an injury either in or out of school, please notify the school nurse's office and send a doctor's note if your child is unable to participate in physical education or recess.

The 24-Hour Rule:

A child should stay home for at least 24 hours to rest if the following symptoms are present the morning of school or the previous night:

• Vomiting and/or diarrhea
• Fever above 100 degrees
• Itchy or reddened eyes with drainage
• An unusual rash, respecially if accompanied by drainage
• A poor night's sleep due to illness, cough, etc.

Be sure to read through the conversation starters at the bottom of the newsletter for great ways to discuss how to be a self-directed student. Self-direct is our October monthly character trait!

Art - Mrs. Long

Counselor - Mrs. Meumann

Speech - Ms. Bri

Intervention - Mrs. Fish

PK - Mrs. Kurtz

PK Resource - Mrs. Marten

KB - Mrs. VanZuiden

KC - Mrs. Gardner

K/1 Resource - Mrs. Whitney

1A - Mrs. Robertson

1C - Mrs. Schipper

2A - Ms. Maloney

2B - Mrs. Roos

2C - Mrs. Stern

2/3 Resource - Mr. Hartman

3A - Ms. Guerrero

3B - Ms. Norman

3D - Mrs. Kuehl

4A - Mrs. Alexander

4B - Mrs. Iben

4C - Mrs. Miner

5A - Mrs. Snyder

Email: jhoese@riverbendschools.net
Website: riverbendschools.org/fes
Location: 1301 7th Avenue, Fulton, IL, USA
Phone: (815)589-2911
Twitter: @FultonSteamers