Greensview News
November 25, 2024
Calendar of Upcoming Events
November 27th, 28th, 29th: No school - Thanksgiving Break
December 2nd-6th: 2nd grade CoGat Testing
December 3rd: Winter Choir Concert - 7 PM - Main Gym
December 6th: Winterfest Choir performance at the Mallway - 6 PM
December 10th-11th : 4th Grade CoGat Testing
December 13th : Rock-a-Thon (4th Grade Service Project)
December 20th: Holiday Parties for Students and Room Parents
Culture and Climate Survey
Dear families,
Upper Arlington Schools values feedback from all stakeholders as we strive to challenge and support every student, every step of the way. This winter, we want to hear from your students as we continually seek to improve their overall experience in our schools.
Between December 2 and December 13, 2024, all students in grades K-12 will have an opportunity to complete an online survey during the school day to provide us with information to better understand the culture and climate of our buildings. Our Culture and Climate Survey aligns with the priorities identified for our upcoming 2025-2030 strategic plan. Developed by UA Schools’ educators with feedback from students, teachers and caregivers, the strategic plan identifies Culture and Climate as a priority area.
This survey is designed to collect building and district-level information. While the fall and spring Engaged Learner Survey provides us with individual student responses, the winter Culture and Climate survey results cannot be viewed individually; the responses are only available as collective feedback.
Grades K-2: Teachers and school staff members will support students as they take a brief online survey, using emoji images for their responses. The three-question survey will cover the following topics related to Culture and Climate: school climate, school safety and teacher-student relationships. You can preview the questions using the following link: Grades K-2 Survey.
Grades 3-5 and 6-12: Students will independently take a longer online survey, with age-appropriate questions based on grade band about these Culture and Climate topics: school climate, school safety and teacher-student relationships. The 6-12 survey also includes the topic of cultural awareness and action. (This topic is only available for grades 6-12.) You can preview the questions using the following links: Grades 3-5 Survey and Grades 6-12 Survey.
We are using the Panorama platform to administer our Culture and Climate Survey. This survey will provide information at the building and district levels to help the school counselors, teachers and administrators understand how to best support their school community.
We hope all students will participate so that we have a clear picture of our school-community needs. If, however, you would like to opt your student out of the winter survey administration, please complete and submit this form by November 28, 2024.
If you have any questions, please contact wellbeing@uaschools.org. Thank you for your continued support of our students and our schools.
Sincerely,
M. Denise Lutz, Ed.D.
Chief Excellence and Engagement Officer
Cathy Ely, Ph.D., LSW, OCPSA
Director of Well-Being, Prevention and Intervention
Digital Wellness Activity for Families During Thanksgiving Day Break
As an extension of the October 2024 Digital Safety Week and Screenagers viewing, we wanted to provide families with some Digital Wellness tips and strategies to consider during the Thanksgiving break. These five days are an opportunity to exhibit a healthy balance with device use. Here is an exercise to try:
Commit to a plan around having no phones or devices out as family from out-of-town are visiting or if you are visiting others. Explain that it’s an opportunity to connect with family and anything online can wait.
Set an expectation for the entire family so parents/guardians can model a similar ability to know when it is appropriate to be on devices.
Find other times during the weekend as your family moves from one activity to another to preemptively define if this is a time the family has devices out.
By Sunday, discuss questions with your students related to this activity, such as:
Did you feel more present with your family?
What was the most challenging part of the day for you?
What was the first thing you did when you got your device out? Why is that specific thing important to you?
Can you help our family create a plan to make this a more frequent practice?
If you do this with your family and feel comfortable to share, please share an anonymous feedback about the process. The Excellence and Engagement Office is committed to supporting families with exercises like these to help create a healthy digital balance for our students.
Your voice matters! Phase two of facilities master planning
Your voice matters! Phase two of facilities master planning
It’s time to join your friends and neighbors and get involved in phase two of facilities master planning!
Serve as an expert and committed stakeholder for your school(s) of choice by signing up to volunteer for one or more building teams — Hastings, Jones or Burbank. Each team will have three meetings between December 2024 and April 2025. To sign up and learn more, visit the Building Teams page on our website.
School Counseling
Hello Greensview Families,
It is hard to believe we are already in November! While I love the business of fall activities and sports, I am always glad when daylight savings time rolls around and my family can enjoy slower evenings at home together.
Listed below are a few highlights from the school counseling department for November:
School Counseling Lesson Topics:
Kindergarten:
Red Zone + coping tools (managing angry feelings)
Blue Zone + coping tools (managing sad feelings)
1st Grade:
Learning about Zones of Regulation
Red Zone + coping tools (managing angry feelings)
2nd Grade: How to use an "I message" to solve a conflict
3rd Grade: Conflict resolution
4th Grade: Conflict resolution
5th Grade: Growth vs. Fixed mindset
Parent Talk Opportunities:
Before COVID-19, I hosted parent talks intermittently throughout the school year as a way to help parents learn more about pertinent parenting topics, and more importantly, foster a community of connectivity among the people most important in students' lives -- you! I am bringing these parent talks back! Listed below is information about the first two:
Anxious Generation Book Talk
Friday, February 28 from 9:00-10:00 on Zoom
RSVP here.
A Zoom link will be sent to those registered a few days before the event.
Join me for a parent talk on the book, Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt, where we’ll explore the rise of anxiety and depression in today’s youth. Haidt examines the impact of social media, cultural shifts, and parenting styles on children’s mental health. This session will offer insights and practical strategies for fostering resilience in our kids. Empower yourself with the tools to support your children in navigating the challenges of the digital age.
The PTO has generously purchased a handful of the books for this upcoming book talk. If it's a bit difficult to cover the cost of the book, please let me know so I can get a copy of the book to you. This information will remain confidential between myself and you.
Yearbook candid photos
It’s time to collect yearbook candid images for school. Every student will be featured with their school picture, but we are looking for group candid photos to include from various school sponsored events. These images could be from walking club, Walk for Greensview, Fall Family Fun night, field trips, and the Harvest/Winter parties. Please send your best 3-5 images from these events to greensviewyearbook@gmail.com
New: School Lunch Menu for November and December
NEW: iPad Parent Control Information
The UACS Technology Department provides two ways for caregivers to manage screen time, review web history, and manage apps and internet access after school hours. The typical built-in Apple ScreenTime and Parental controls do not work because the district manages iPads for school use at a district level - the typical consumer-level settings are not available. Caregivers can review web activity and disable internet access through the Lightspeed Relay Parent Portal. Additionally, caregivers can control app access and set rules through the JAMF Parent app. Questions may be directed to FamilyTechHelp@uaschools.org.
Family Support - Food Resource
Once again, the district is partnering with Tri-Village Packers (TVP) to provide grocery support during the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday weekend. This food distribution can offset some of the increased food expenses associated with an extended break from school. Groceries are distributed at no cost to families who sign up for the program. Volunteers work to honor dietary needs/restrictions, and delivery is available for those who experience transportation barriers.
If you would benefit from this assistance, please sign up by completing this Google Form by November 8.
Winter coats, jackets, and sweatshirts : Outdoor Recess
We go outside when the temperature is 20 degrees or above (with windchill). Please prepare your child with the proper hats, gloves, and jackets. I recommend LABELING everything with their first and last name. If things are labeled, we can get it all back to you when it finds the lost and found. We donate MANY coats, sweatshirts, and hats each year. I know these items are expensive; please label your items, and we will do our best to ensure that you get it all back. Feel free to stop into the building and check the Lost and Found for any of your child’s items.
Dropping off items at school (in the office) for your children
We strive to support our students in every way possible, but delivering items to students during the day can present challenges. Our teachers are focused on instruction and may not frequently check their emails, and calling into the classroom disrupts the flow of lessons. While essential items like lunches and backpacks will always be prioritized, other items such as water bottles, snacks, or iPads (unless specifically requested by the teacher) are not considered urgent. To help foster responsibility, we encourage you to keep these items at home until the next day. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
