January Steeby Star

January 6: School Resumes; WEPA meeting 6:30

January 20: No School for Students; teacher PD day

January 23: Mobile Dentist, pre-registration required, see link below

Looking ahead - February 14 and 17: No school, Mid-winter Break

Dear Parents and Students,

Happy New Year and welcome back! I hope your holiday season was filled with joy, relaxation, and quality time with loved ones. As we step into 2025, we are excited to continue our journey together and make the remainder of this school year one of positivity, growth, and success.

To kick off the year on the right foot, we are encouraging everyone—students, staff, and families alike—to set a goal of being our most dedicated selves to the process of learning and growth. This means approaching each day with focus, effort, and a commitment to being present in the moment. By working together with this shared purpose, we can achieve remarkable things.

Parents, we are grateful for your continued partnership. Your involvement and encouragement are essential to our students’ success, and we welcome your collaboration as we navigate the months ahead. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with questions, ideas, or ways to get involved.

Students, we are so proud of all you have accomplished so far and can’t wait to see how you continue to shine. Remember, each day is a new opportunity to learn, grow, and make a difference. Let’s aim high, work hard, and support one another every step of the way.

Here’s to a strong start in 2025 and an amazing remainder of the school year! Thank you for being such an important part of our school community. Together, we can make these next months extraordinary.

With excitement and commitment,

Mrs. Bailey, Principal

The first day of the month we are in session, we hold our CKH assembly near the end of that day to award those students who excelled in exemplifying the monthly trait from the previous month. We also launch into the next month's theme, which is highlighted above, and celebrate achievements earned together!

At the end of each week at lunch, SuperCat tickets are drawn and winners choose from a list of special jobs they get to do the following week!

Second Grade: Students made the most colorful gumdrop wreaths. We learned about painting from lightest to dark and filling the space of our wreaths. They added a bright bow and they look perfect!

Third Grade: Students made some realistic candy canes. We talked about value and how it can help to show form with our artwork. These turned out so great!

Mrs. Spicer

Happy January!

We had a busy December! Second and third grade students loved the Hour of Code! Students played fun interactive games to learn basic coding skills. Students visited Hour of Code on Information Place: https://sites.google.com/waylandunion.org/libraries/home. Second grade students loved coding using Minecraft characters and creating their own Dance Party on Hour of Code. Third graders used Music Lab to create their own songs using Hour of Code.

In January we will be creating snowflakes on the computer. We will also be talking and learning about digital citizenship and how we can stay safe on the Internet. We will be using Learning.com on Information Place to do digital citizenship activities.

Our Tech Wizards this month are Mallory and Drew! Congratulations!

Happy Reading and Coding!

Mrs. Barnes

Happy New Year! The month of December brought lots of fun in the music room! We learned about the different holidays that people celebrate during the month of December and sang songs that coincided with those holidays. The students were able to use boomwhackers (tube-like instruments) to play along with videos. The students also learned some simple dances to holiday songs.

Starting this month we are welcoming Miss Joelle Davis as a student intern in the music room. Please read her information. Thank you!

Mrs. Bailey

Click below for the PE Newsletter from

Once a month, Miss M our School Social Worker goes into classrooms and teaches different Social Emotional Skills. In December, our Social Skills Lesson centered around teaching the students how our sensations in our bodies help us understand our emotions. For example, when we feel angry we might notice that our heart beats faster and our face and body gets hot. We discussed that when we have strong emotions, they might make us act in a certain way that isn't helpful, such as yelling, or pushing someone. However, there are ways we can listen to our bodies to identify how we might be feeling using our sensations, and then use coping tools to help us. We read a book called “I Can Listen to my Body”, and practiced different coping strategies. The students choose their favorites, which I will post photos of here for you to use with them at home!

As we come back from our Holiday break we will be going over our school expectations and resume a lot of behavior plans. Behavior plans and expectation teaching for elementary students are far more than just classroom management tools. They’re investments in the future – nurturing the skills and mindsets that will shape the adults of tomorrow. By implementing these strategies effectively, we’re not just creating better students; we’re cultivating better citizens, friends, colleagues, and leaders.

All of us on the front lines of behavior management – take heart. Your efforts matter. Every redirect, every positive reinforcement, every thoughtful intervention is a building block in the foundation of a child’s future. It may not always feel like it in the moment, but you’re doing incredibly important work.

Mr. Brott

Behavior Inventionist

Reading, writing, and storytelling are important for families to share together because they build strong connections and create shared experiences that ultimately strengthen relationships. These activities also support your child's language development and creativity. Together, we can create and nurture a lifelong love of learning and understanding. Please reach out to me at any time if you have questions or want to chat about reading, writing, and storytelling.

From: Title 1 Teacher Mrs. Terrell terrellj@waylandunion.org !

Steeby Elementary is looking for volunteers for our School Supercat Store! Once a month, students get a chance to spend their supercat tickets that they earn for good behavior at our store. There are many different prizes that they get to choose from! We need parent and family volunteers to assist with helping students shop, counting their tickets, and setup/clean up. Please sign up for a day or time, we would love to have you! Any questions feel free to email Ms. M at millermadaje@waylandunion.org or Mrs. Bailey at baileyk@waylandunion.org

We are looking to welcome in parents, grandparents, relatives, community members to volunteer in our cafeteria during breakfast or lunch, and on our playground to help out! See the flyer. You can also find the form to fill out if you are interested.

Parents who wish to enter the school for any activities, volunteer opportunities, or field trips, must have an active ICHAT background check on file. ICHAT background checks are good for 1 year from submission date and cover schools in the entire district. That means if you have students in multiple buildings across the district, you only need to fill out ONE ICHAT form. ICHAT request forms can be filled out on our website, www.waylandunion.org. Click Parents/Students > Parent Quick Links > ICHAT Request Form, or simply click the button below to get started!

Follow us online to see the fun things we share each week!

Please note that comments and questions may not be answered. Please direct questions to the appropriate areas - teachers, principal, or office. Thank you!

PLEASE start using the tags that were sent with students in October. If you need replacement or additional tags, please email your student's teacher and we can get those tags. These tags will help the line keep moving and help when inclement weather arises. Thank you for helping with the pick up process!

Morning Drop Off is from 8:35 to 8:45, with students needing breakfast entering at 8:35 and the other students lining up until 8:40 when classrooms open. Please DO NOT drop off students in the morning and drive away until a staff member appears at the door at 8:35. Drop off doors close at 8:45.

End of the day pick up is between 3:45 and 3:55. Please display pick up tags! For safety reasons, please commit to staying in your vehicles and using the drive up process. We want to avoid students and parents walking all around and through our vehicle line. After 3:55, any late pick ups will be walked back to the office to await their pick up.

We understand that schedules change and you student may need to be picked up early. All requests for end of day pick up must be made to the office NO LATER THAN 3:15pm. Requests made after this time may not be able to be accommodated.

Our school day schedule runs from 8:45am to 3:45pm daily*. Students are expected to be in class by 8:45am each day.

*The half day schedule runs from 8:45am to 11:45am, first day and last day of school.

Students are expected to be in class by 8:45am each day. Students will be marked tardy if they arrive after this time. PLEASE NOTE: Students who arrive to school AFTER 9:00am are marked HALF DAY ABSENT.

Students are expected to complete the school day which ends are 3:45pm. If the need arises for a student to leave BEFORE 3:30pm, they will be marked HALF DAY ABSENT. Students who leave between 3:30pm and 3:45pm will be marked AFTERNOON TARDY.

If your student needs to miss school because of illness, or necessary appointment, please contact the office at (269) 792-2281. If you call outside of normal business hours there will be an option to leave a message. If we don't hear from you, your student will be marked unknown and you will receive a follow-up call from the school.

Did you know that Steeby Paper Gator gets funding for the paper that we collect for our school? Please start saving your paper at home and bring it in to the Gator, it will help us to earn money for Steeby!! Anyone in the community can deposit the items listed below in the Paper Gator. The Paper Gator is located behind Steeby in the wooden fenced in area. The Paper Gator will be the green dumpster.

Here is a list of what we CAN take in the Paper Gator:

-Newsprint
-Catalogs/Magazines
-Junk Mail
-Phone Books
-Office/School paper
-Hard and soft cover books
-Paperboard (Grocery Item boxes, NOT cardboard)
-Standard staples & paperclips are ok
-Shredded paper (preferred in CLEAR plastic bags)

Information from our local Library!

Here are some of the community flyers. See more information at https://wayland.revtrak.net/

Steeby Elementary

435 E. Superior St.

Wayland, Mi 49348

(269) 792-2281

https://waylandunion.org/schools/steeby-elementary/

Principal: Karri Bailey

baileyk@waylandunion.org

Secretary: Amy Mohr

mohras@waylandunion.org