Riley Elementary -Newsletter-

October 4th- PSC Parent Survey Due

October 8th- Book Fair Parent Shopping @ Riley 4:30 PM-7:30 PM

October 8th-9th- Parent Teacher Conferences (4:30 PM-7:30 PM)

October 9th and 10th- Student Book Fair Shopping

October 11th- No School

October 17th- RCADS

October 25th- Visiting Author - Jonathan Rand

October 31st- Halloween

November 1st- No School

November 4th- Meteorologist Visit (1st/2nd Grade)

November 6th, 7th, 12th - Hearing and Vision Screening

November 8th-10th- SJHS Theatre Presents - "Chicago Teen Edition'"

November 14th- Picture Make-ups

November 21st- Early Release

November 22nd- Early Release

November 22nd- Silver Bells Parade

November 28th- No School Thanksgiving

November 29th- No School Thanksgiving

December 10th- Holiday Music Concert

December 11th- Holiday Music Concert

December 23rd- Christmas Break Begins

January 6th- School Resumes

Hello Riley Families,

As we enter the official fall months and leave the summer weather behind us, we embrace October in full swing. Students are fully engaged in the curriculum, and routines for school have been established. We expect October to be a very productive month full of growth and excitement.

We look forward to seeing everyone this month at Parent-Teacher conferences. Please make sure that if you have not had a chance to sign up, you reach out to your student's teacher to set up that time. We are also excited about the Scholastic Book Fair that we are hosting this month. It is always fun to allow students to explore new books, find new adventures, and discover new characters to read about. We are fortunate to have a surprise visiting author attending Riley this month, which will be a lot of fun and is a great opportunity to enhance students' learning experiences here at Riley. We are also excited to end our October with a fun Halloween celebration and parade on October 31st. We look forward to inviting parents into our building to share in the excitement of some of these events and anticipate a great month of engagement and learning.

Mr. Tisdale
Principal, Riley Elementary

At our September PRIDE Assembly we celebrated all of our students and how well they were showing Riley PRIDE. We also reviewed our Riley PRIDE expectations and presented our PRIDE winners with a certificate. In September our students set a goal to earn 750 PRIDE cards and they surpassed that by earning over 800 PRIDE cards. By meeting their goal each grade level earned extra recess time. For the month of October students set a new goal of earning 1000 PRIDE cards. We are so proud of how well our students are doing and showing their Riley PRIDE.

Kindergarten students are learning about number sense. They are counting objects, making equivalent sets, identifying numbers, and writing numbers 0-10.

First graders finished the first CLM unit featuring families. Kids enjoyed making connections to some fun mentor texts such as, The Relatives Came & When I Was Five. Next, they will study caves and learn how to generate questions before, during and after reading. Nouns and verbs were also introduced.

This week kids completed the first math unit which focused on addition, subtraction and story problems. They will be diving into geometry next. Students love comparing and combining shapes as they engage in pattern block activities!

Second graders are learning the difference between nonfiction and fiction texts. We are discussing our local government and community.

In math, we are identifying and adding coins. We are adding 3-5 one digit numbers together in a long number string.

Third grade is learning how a bill becomes a law by participating in a classroom activity where the two classes are split into the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each class formed committees to draft bills to be voted on in their “House” and then moved to the “Senate” with hopes to be passed.

Fourth grade is working hard on cooperation and utilizing our social contract in the classroom. We enjoyed two field trips, one to our Capitol building in Lansing, and one to Sleepy Hollow State Park. Along with our capitol trip, we’ve been examining Core Democratic Values, and the branches of government. In math we’ve been looking at properties of numbers and number patterns to help us find factors and multiples, and using our skills to determine if numbers are prime or composite.

Fifth grade is working on looking at events through others perspectives and building empathy through books read and discussed during our reading block. In math we have been building a better sense of numbers; different ways we can think about numbers and their relationships by studying place value, order of operations and prime factorization.

In PE class, we are working hard on soccer passing skills and strengthening teamwork through focused, challenging drills.

In Library-Scholastic book fair goes through Oct 10. The students are excited about the “Book Link Challenge”. The school is divided into two teams. For every book that they read, they get to add a link to their teams chain. Whichever team gets the most links the week before December break wins a special library day!!

Welcome back! I wanted to take the opportunity to say a few things about math instruction here at Riley.

1) At the elementary level, we are working hard to have your child know that every person is a “math person”. We really want to encourage you to have a growth mindset and not have your child hear, “Well I was never good at math.”

2) Speaking of growth mindset, I want you to think about the “Power of YET”. When a child tells you they don’t like or are no good at something, encourage them to use the word YET. “I don’t like this yet” leaves room for change. “I’m no good at this yet” gives space for improvement.

3) The emphasis at elementary is with student dialogue and conceptual understanding so that they can then apply their understanding to multiple situations. There is a saying, “Nix the Tricks!”. Have trust in the fact that your child is growing and developing, they will get there in time. Don’t teach shortcuts or tricks that inhibit their growth in understanding. It’s just like your child learning to crawl before they walk and then run. Don’t try to skip a stage.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns, feel free to reach out to me!

Jackie Brown- Mathematics Coach at Riley and Eureka

brownj@sjredwings.org

Hello Parents,

We will be hosting our annual Riley Halloween Parade on October 31, 2024, at 3:15 PM and will conclude by 3:35 PM. Students are excited to show off their creativity and Halloween Spirit. Below is a map of the parent viewing area. Our school parade will take students out of door 8 along the parent viewing area precisely at 3:15. Students will continue north along the outside of the cafeteria on the sidewalk, and then enter back into the building through door 1, heading back into their classrooms to finish the loop.

What if there's rain:

In case of rain, we will move the viewing areas to the gym and cafeteria.

Who can attend:

We kindly request that attendance be limited to parents and guardians only, due to space constraints.

What Time:

3:15 PM- 3:35 PM

What if I want to sign my child out after the parade:

Due to the number of parents expected we are having parents sign their children out in the classroom. Each teacher will have a sign-out sheet in their classroom. You can collect your students directly after the parade from their classrooms once you have signed them out. We kindly ask you to exit the building by 3:45 PM so we can proceed with our regular pickup and bus dismissal process.

How does this impact our normal pick-up routine:

We will have a normal pick-up and bus dismissal for students not being taken home after the parade.

St. Johns Public Schools, in partnership with Clinton County RESA, plans to administer a Social Emotional Behavioral screener to students in Grades 3 through 12 the week of October 7th. Riley will administer the screener on October 10th. This screener is recommended for students in these grades. The purpose of this screener is to ensure that appropriate supports are provided to students who may be struggling with emotional-behavioral-mental health issues. The screener that will be utilized is called the “Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale” (RCADS-25).

This is an evidence-based, valid and reliable measure of students’ perspectives on their emotional and behavioral well-being. Our district, along with CCRESA, chose this measure due to the reliable nature of the screener. We have plans in place to respond quickly to any students who rate themselves to be elevated in either emotional or behavioral areas. This universal social-emotional-behavioral health screener is intended to be given three times a year (Fall, Winter, and Spring) similar to other academic screeners. Students will be given 25 items to which they can respond “Never,” “Sometimes,” “Often,” or “Always.” A sample of these statements are: “I feel sad or empty.”

“I have trouble sleeping.” “I feel worthless.” “I feel afraid that I will make a fool of myself in front of people.” “I worry that something bad will happen to me.”

Please know we are working in the best interest of our students and families with the intention of being proactive in ensuring all our students are given the support needed to set them up for success. If you have any questions or concerns about your child taking this assessment, please contact Mrs. Hallead.

*If you opted your student(s) out of the screener the previous school year, they are opted out of the October screener as well.

Riley Safe Routes to School Survey

Please take a moment to complete the survey that applies to you:

Student Survey - https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/rileystudent

Parent Survey - https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/rileyparent

Riley Elementary school is participating in the "Safe Routes to School" program and wants to learn your thoughts about students walking and biking to school. This survey will take about 5-10 minutes to complete. We ask that each family complete only one survey per school your student(s) attend.

Your feedback is important. However, your participation is completely voluntary. You may refuse to answer any question(s). By participating, you indicate your consent to participate in the survey. There are no known risks associated with your participation and it may contribute to a better understanding of issues concerning motorized and nonmotorized transportation to schools. Your student will also fill out a survey at school. You can request a copy of this for review. If you have concerns about this, please contact your student's school.

Your responses will be kept confidential and neither your name nor your student's name will be associated with any results.

Thank you for participating in this survey.

Try some of these great sentence starters at home with your kids. Practice giving each other affirmations at the dinner table, leaving notes for each other, or share a hug and an affirmation.

• I like that you are _______________.
  
  
• I am impressed by your ability to _______________.
  
  
• Nice job working on _______________.
  
  
• You can always be counted on to _______________.
  
  
• You are a friend because you _______________.
  
  
• I like the way you _______________.
  
  
• I wish I were more like you in this way: _______________.
  
  
• I admire you because _______________.
  
  
• You did a wonderful job with _______________.
  
  
• I am grateful for your _______________.
  
  
• I really appreciate your _______________.
  
  
• I can appreciate your point of view on _______________.
  
  
• You show you have integrity by _______________.
  
  
• I can see working hard is important to you because _______________.

School lunches this year are free for everyone but we still need you to fill out a Education Benefit Form (formally called free and reduced application). WHY?

1. While we participating in Michigan School Meals which provides free meals to all students, we still need to track which students qualify for free or reduced-price meals.

2. Education Benefit Form help our school district qualify for more grants that will benefit all students academically.

3. Over 30 Million students participate in the National School Lunch Program every school day. Over 50% received Free Meals!

We know this is a lot of information to process. For your convenience, feel free to print

*** New Simplified Application ***

Strictly Confidential!

• St. Johns Public Schools Free and Reduced-price meal are strictly confidential!

• Family finance is a very personal matter and your application is handled with confidentiality and respect.

• Students receiving meal benefits are not identified in the service line.

• All students use the same service line and the computer screen does not indicate which students are free and reduced-price.

Email: tisdalea@sjredwing.org
Website: www.sjredwings.org/our-schools/rileyelementary/

Meet Our Staff: www.sjredwings.org/our-schools/rileyelementary/meet-our-staff
Location: 5935 W Pratt Rd DeWitt, MI 48820
Phone: (989) 227-5100
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RileyElementarySchool