Saddle Up for Success 2024-2025

MacArthur Elementary and the Fort Leavenworth School District are heavily impacted with federally connected students. Once a year, Fort Leavenworth USD 207 is required by law to report each federally connected student. The data collected is reported to the USDoE in order to receive federal Impact Aid funding. This reporting determines the amount of funding provided, which is critical for USD 207 to continue to offer the highest quality education and resources for our students and families. The surveys are now live on Skyward and only take about a minute to verify your information (as with most things on Skyward, it is much easier to do on a computer than a phone). Thank you to all the parents who have already completed it. Please try to complete it as soon as possible. Help MacArthur be the first school to have all of our surveys in! There is a special prize in store if we make this happen!

MacArthur Families,

This past Thursday, I had the opportunity to see our 2nd grade students show their talents on stage as they were lead by Mrs. Hughey, our music teacher. What a wonderful night of music, laughter, and leadership.

Speaking of leadership, our Student Council has stepped up in facilitating our school-wide service projects to support Strong Hold Food Pantry and Toys for Tots (which has been extended through December 6th). They have also taken over the morning announcements and our Character Strong assemblies. In addition, it was so cool to see our Junior Guard represent MacArthur during the parade on Monday. Teachers also showed leadership during our Early Release Professional Learning Community time. Collaborative discussions among grade-levels across the district occurred. PLC meetings always center around the following 4 questions:

• 1. What do we want our students to know?
• 2. How do we know if students learned it?
• 3. How will we respond when they haven't learned?
• 4. How will we respond when we already know it?

Being the lead learners so our staff can help your child succeed is key!

Overall, the month of November is flying by. I am looking forward to seeing students, staff, and families join together to give thanks during our annual Thanksgiving Feast on Thursday! Please see additional details below about this special event.

May you all have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving!

Mrs. Johnson

November 21: Thanksgiving Feast

• This will run similarly to our Freedom Walk as regularly scheduled lunches will occur and families are encouraged to join! See below to sign up.

November 27-29: No School-Thanksgiving Break

December 4: Site Council Meeting @ 9:00am in the Cafeteria

December 6: Food Drive and Toys for Tots service projects end

December 6: Early Release

December 6: Hearts Apart Tree Lighting

December 19: 1/2 Day of School and end of 2nd Quarter

• Winter Parties will occur this day. More details will be shared as this date gets closer. Teachers will let families know about their classroom plans and need for volunteers.

Our Thanksgiving Feast is all set for November 21st during our regularly scheduled lunch times. Please complete this form if you would like to join us for lunch. If you have already completed the forms, there is no need to re-submit.

Please complete this form if you are able to volunteer before or after you eat.

See more details by clicking the banner below!

November 18th: A

November 19th: B

November 20th: C

November 21st: D

November 22nd: A

November 25th: B

November 26th: C

November 27th: No School

November 28th: No School

November 29th: N School

The MacArthur Elementary Site Council is up and ready to do great things! Scan or click the QR code for the Site Council Facebook page where you can find important information and ways to sign up for volunteer opportunities.

Please see the minutes below from our November 5th meeting! Our next meeting is set for Wednesday, December 4th at 9:00am in the MacArthur Cafeteria. The goal of this meeting day change is to see if more parents can join.

Fall picture re-takes occurred this week. See below for how to order pictures!

• This month, our character focus is gratitude. We will honor students for demonstrate gratitude on a consistent basis at 8:20am on November 22nd!

Fort Leavenworth Unified School District 207 offers a wonderful program we refer to as "Hearts Apart." Hearts Apart is designed to help students cope with the deployment of a parent. Your permission is required for your child to participate.

Hearts Apart provides students and families with a sense of community and belonging district wide. This is a great opportunity for spouses and their children to enjoy good food, relax, and enjoy the conversation and company of others. These events help children and their families understand that they are not alone in their experiences.

Sign up for Hearts Apart - Here

Our December event will be attending the Fort Leavenworth Tree Lighting on Friday, Dec. 6th. We hope to see you there!

If you have any questions regarding Hearts Apart, please reach out to Michelle Speer, School Social Worker at mspeer@usd207.org or Kayla Njoku, MacArthur School Counselor at knjoku@usd207.org.

K-2 classes receive weekly 15 minute lessons with Mrs. Njoku. The focus is the Little Spot of Feelings by Diane Alber. If you're curious about this, here is a Parent Guide that will provide an overview of what we are learning.

3rd-5th classes receive a monthly 30 minute lesson with Mrs. Njoku. Our focus through Sept and Oct has been Growing Friendships and Learning about bullying and peer pressure. In Nov, we will focus on Growth Mindset and the Power of Yet.

Families,

As you all know, attendance at school is instrumental to you child's academic success. Building principals are required to track attendance and notify parents if compulsory attendance laws for the state of Kansas are not adhered to and or if district or county attendance guidelines and policies are not fulfilled.

Please click here to review USD 207's attendance guidelines. Page 4 conveys attendance, excused versus unexcused, and other important attendance guidelines. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions.