Parent teacher conferences this year are quickly approaching! As they are in October this year, make sure you mark your calendar for the upcoming dates. Fall conferences are mandatory as these conversations are crucial for your child's success & development. We look forward to seeing you all!
~Wednesday, Oct. 9th: Evening conferences 5:00-7:30 p.m.
~Thursday, Oct. 10th: NO SCHOOL (Child care is open); all day conferences 7:30-10:00 a.m., 12:00-2:30, 5:00-7:30 p.m.
The Used Book Sale will take place during parent teacher conferences as well. All proceeds go towards the 8th grade trip to Washington DC!
Mileage Club may be a ways off (after spring break) but it's never too early to start looking for helpers! Bridget Melinn has done a fabulous job running and organizing this program for us the past few years. Please consider helping us with this endeavor as the students love this spring activity! Contact Sara Wade or Becky McQuillan if you are interested or are curious about the details.
The Importance of Sleep for Children and Adolescents:
As the school year has begun, many of us have had to get back into the routines of the school year. This is typically a team effort. As parents, we often lead the charge in prompting our children to complete their homework, eat healthy and nourishing food, engage in personal hygiene, and go to bed at the appropriate time so that they can wake up and be ready for school the next day. Today, I want to talk about the importance of sleep as perhaps the most important aspect of the school year routine, because of its impact on our students ability to grow, learn, and execute during waking hours.
Sleep is especially important during childhood and adolescence because there are many physical and mental developmental tasks that happen primarily during sleep. Inadequate sleep can lead to many challenges including:
Lowered cognitive functioning
Lowered immune system functioning
Hyperactivity
Inattention
Impaired mood
Oppositional behavior
Students may not report being tired or show expected signs of sleep deprivation when not getting adequate sleep. Therefore, an appropriate first step to addressing emotional and behavioral concerns, poor school performance, and/or chronic illness, is to ensure that your student is getting the necessary amount of sleep to thrive.
Health experts generally agree that Preschool age children (3-5 years) should get 10-13 hours of sleep per day, Elementary age students (6-12 years) should get 9-12 hours of sleep per day, and teenagers (13-18 years) should get 8-10 hours of sleep per day. Not only is the quantity of sleep important, but the quality as well. Here are some things to consider that may help your student get the sleep they need:
Have a routine; do the same things each night (nightly hygiene, read a book, evening prayer) in preparation for going to sleep at the same time each night, and wake up at the same time each day (ideally including weekends).
Avoid unhealthy snacks before bedtime; a sufficient and healthy dinner is the best way to prevent last minute snacks or middle of the night snacking. Hunger can prevent adequate sleep, but so can snacks that are too close to bedtime.
Turn off the screens; have a time that your student must disconnect from screens before bedtime. There is currently much discussion about how much time prior to sleep we should avoid screens, but most experts agree that we should have a screen free wind down time, and that children and adolescents should not have phones, tablets, televisions etc. in their bedrooms, as they prevent students from falling asleep, and compromise the quality of sleep.
Promote physical activity; exercise promotes good sleep habits. Our bodies are made to be in motion, and activities such as a bike ride, playing in the backyard, or participation in organized sports can help train our bodies to be ready to fall asleep at the appropriate time.
~It is a new school year, which means firing up that PowerSchool portal so you can be up to date on attendance, grades, and report cards when the time comes. Additionally, teachers are so good about adding comments to PowerSchool that can give parents details to explain certain grades and assignments - what a great way to get information! Teachers input grades at least once a week and oftentimes more than that. If you haven't been taking full advantage of this method of communication, use this new year as a great place to start!
~If you are new to the building, a physical letter is coming home with step-by-step instructions and specific access credentials for your kiddo. All Kindergarten and new families are receiving this letter. If you have any questions or trouble as you get logged into the PowerSchool system, please reach out and let me know. You can find me at tguysky@stgerardlansing.org.
Helpful Reminders and Tips:
1. Our unique Diocese of Lansing url to get to the PowerSchool login page is: https://dol.clgpsedu.com/public/home.html
2. If you have a new student to the building, but already have an account since you have older kids, you can add a student to your already existing account. In the home page when you login, on the left side you will see an “Account Preferences” option. Choose this option and then click on the “Student” tab and then “Add Student.”
3. If you already have a PowerSchool account, but have forgotten your password, the login page has a process for a forgotten password. St. Gerard cannot manage passwords for parents in their portal.
4. The PowerSchool App is a quick and easy way to have all this information at your fingertips. It is available for free on either Apple or Android phones from the App Store.
5. Here are some helpful tutorials if you need them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNZs_AloU-c (For using PowerSchool on the computer)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc9gfTScnUI (For using PowerSchool on the Mobile app)
Here's to a great school year!
Mrs. Tara Guysky