Lowell Leopard News

Welcome to February! This month, we mark the halfway point in the school year. Our Lowell Leopard students and staff are hard at work -- and play! -- each day. Thank you for your support during the first half of the year ... we know that a great second half is in store!

February has some fun days -- such as Valentines Day and the 100th Day of School (which is Feb. 19 for Grades 1-5, and a few days later for kindergarten). We are looking forward to the joy these days bring!

Students have recently completed mid-year assessments to provide teachers with more information as they prepare progress reports (report cards). Watch for these to come home with students on Thursday, Feb. 13. Also coming home are i-Ready growth reports. Please reach out to your child’s teacher if you have any questions about those documents.

Our students who are part of our multilingual learner program are taking the WIDA assessment this month and next. This gives them the chance to show their strengths and areas of need in reading, writing, listening, and speaking. They are working hard, and we wish them smooth testing!

Coming up soon is our annual Missoula Children's Theatre opportunity. Read more in this newsletter -- there are important dates and details to know!

Have a great month, and please be sure to reach out with any questions or needs!

Mrs. Kelley, principal

• Every Monday: Celebrate Motto Monday by wearing a Lowell shirt, or blue and white.
• Monday, Feb. 3: Second semester begins
• Friday, Feb. 7: 1:35 p.m. Learning Improvement Friday dismissal
• Friday, Feb. 14: Popcorn Friday; 1:35 p.m. Learning Improvement Friday dismissal
• Monday-Tuesday, Feb. 17-18: No school for midwinter break
• Friday, Feb. 21: 1:35 p.m. Learning Improvement Friday dismissal
• Friday, Feb. 28: Book character dress-up day; 1:35 p.m. Learning Improvement Friday dismissal

Looking ahead to May: Students in Grades 3-5 will take state tests. You will be provided with a detailed calendar in April. Please avoid scheduling vacations and school-day appointments during the month of May!

You can find printable district calendars for 2024-25 and 2025-26 here.

Will your child be 5 by August 31, 2025? Kindergarten enrollment for 2025-26 opens on Monday, March 3. Join our Kindergarten Kick-off Webinar from 6:00-7:00 p.m. Feb. 25 to meet the superintendent and learn about enrollment, choice programs, and more. Click here for details and the webinar link.

Lowell's drama is back! Remember our play last year, Beauty Lou and the Country Beast? This year’s play will be Sleeping Beauty. The Missoula Children’s Theatre will arrive the first week of March with two directors, costumes, the set and scripts. We provide the actors! The play takes an old favorite story and adds a twist:

Our version of SLEEPING BEAUTY: A new princess is born, and from far and wide the people of the kingdom gather to celebrate. One simple mistake is made – an invitation is misplaced – and the wrath of the vicious Scarella falls upon the poor infant in the form of a spell. Sleeping Beauty is now destined to sleep for eternity if she should prick her finger on a spindle before she reaches her sixteenth birthday. Sleeping Beauty’s Fairy Godmothers do their best to amend the spell, but Scarella, with the help of some nasty Trolls, tricks Sleeping Beauty into pricking her finger and the spell takes effect. Five hundred years pass and Sleeping Beauty wakes to find herself in a Rock ‘n Roll dream! Also featured in this production are the King and the Queen, Spot, the Fairies, the Palace Attendants and the Caterpillars. SLEEPING BEAUTY – a Rock ‘n Roll Fable for the ages. This is definitely no sleeper!

Here are key dates:

• Auditions: Permission forms will be available online (paper copies by request) on Feb. 13. They are due by noon Wednesday, Feb. 19 – no exceptions! Everyone with a completed form can audition. Auditions are from 3:00-5:00 p.m. March 3 in the gym. Then cast announcements are at 5:00, snack is from 5:00-5:15, and rehearsal is 5:15-7:15 (usually just for leads – generally Grades 4-5).
• Rehearsals: In addition to the one on March 3, they will be from 3:00-5:00 and 5:15-7:15 March 4-6 (times vary by roles/grades).
• Performances: 6:30 p.m. Friday, March 7, and 10:30 a.m. Saturday, March 8, at Everett Civic Auditorium

This is an exciting time for us! We work together for one week to put on an amazing performance.

P.E. with Ms. Neyens: It's KIDS HEART CHALLENGE time! What is the Kids Heart Challenge? From the American Heart Association: The Kids Heart Challenge is a fundraiser that focuses on whole body well-being, helping students improve their own health and better their character while raising life-saving donations for the American Heart Association to help kids with special hearts. The Kids Heart Challenge and American Heart Challenge are service-learning based fundraising programs that give students the opportunity to feel good, while doing good. It’s a way for students to better their life — all while changing someone else’s. Students, families and staff will also learn valuable life skills, including how to make smart food choices, the importance of avoiding vaping/tobacco and the lifesaving skill of Hands-Only CPR.

All month long, our P.E. classes will be filled with games and lessons that promote healthy living and healthy hearts. So whether your family chooses to participate in the fundraising aspect or not, know that your child will be having fun with the Kids Heart Heroes here in class. If you choose to donate, your child will come home weekly with any thank you gifts that they receive. Please make sure to stay connected through your teacher's ParentSquare with weekly messages regarding the Kids Heart Challenge. Sign up today here!

February in the library is an exciting time. We start our month celebrating Black History Month, reading some great books by Black authors, learning about past contributions, and researching current important Black Americans. Mid-month, our fourth- and fifth-graders will be learning about presidents, and will end the month learning how to design a research project. Our K-3 students will also be learning about presidents, and will begin basic research. Our main focus in the library is to develop a love of reading. You can help by encouraging your students to read nightly for 20 minutes, discussing what your students are reading, and sharing your favorite books with them. Happy reading!

Art with Ms. Johnson & Ms. McHargue: In February, students in kindergarten and first grade will be working on a project called Monochromatic Texture Hearts to discover the different textures recycled materials create when stamped in paint. They will learn how to create shades by mixing black paint with a selected hue (such as red paint). Students in second and third grades will explore Mexican folk art and analyze how line, shape, and pattern are represented in alebrijes. They will use patterned papers to create a collage-inspired alebrijes. Fourth- and fifth-grade students will be exploring printmaking and the art of Belkis Ramirez. They will create a foam printing plate and print their design on paper using paint and/or ink.

Reading with instructional coach Ms. O’Connor: Last month, we went over the five reading components: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary. Now, we’ll go over each one in more detail. Let’s start with phonemic awareness. Can your child identify the individual sounds in a word? If not, practice phonemic awareness:

• To practice rhyming, read rhyming books at home such as nursery rhymes or Dr. Seuss books; say a word and have your child tell you a different word that rhymes (What rhymes with cat? Hat, bat, sat …); or tell your child three words and have them tell you which two words rhyme (Which two rhyme? sun, fish, run).
• You can play with sounds with your child. You can say a word (rib) and have your child segment the sounds (/r/ /i/ /b/). It has three sounds. What’s the first sound? (/r/) What’s the last sound? (/b/) Your child should tap their fingers for each sound. Blend the sounds (/r/ /i/ /b/ so rib). Manipulate the sounds by adding a sound (add a /k/ to the beginning, crib), deleting a sound (what would the word be without the ending /b/? (ri) or substituting a sound (If we switched the /b/ for a /d/ what would the new word be? rid). This is an easy and fun way to engage with your child while riding in the car, waiting in a line, eating, etc., as it is done orally.

Once they have mastered these, we move on to the others which we will discuss next month -- fluency and comprehension. Have a fabulous February!

Do you read to or with your child at home? There are so many benefits to reading, whether as a family or independently -- check out the accompanying image for some of them. And, the benefits are the same no matter what language you read in, and no matter who reads out loud (you, your child, or a combo). Check out this post for 10 tips on how to support with at-home reading.

Our district has many great resources that can be accessed at home -- click the accompanying image, or here, to access them.

Hello from the Lowell PTA! As we head into spring, we will begin planning our spring events: Movie Night, Book Fair, Staff Appreciation Days, and Carnival! Our PTA had a very successful fun run fundraiser, with almost $17,000 raised for programs at our school. At our last PTA meeting, membership voted to grant grade-level teams a stipend for student enrichment activities. This grant will allow teachers to offer special events to their classrooms, and allow grade levels to plan special activities. Thank you to all who attended and supported this vote.

Upcoming PTA events: There is no general meeting in February. The next one is March 13.

Spirit wear store: Visit the PTA storefront!

Interested in volunteering? PTA always needs volunteers. As we head into our busy spring, be on the lookout for volunteer opportunities at Lowell! Volunteer clearance is a must, and it can take up to two weeks. Get ahead of things now -- visit the district website to start your application!

Bread is available: In January the family support office received a donation of bread items from Franz Bakery. Our school can continue to receive a bread donation one time every month if this is something that is useful for enough families. This would typically mean that bread would be dropped off on the second Monday of the month and sent home the following day. Please e-mail Amy Watkins, awatkins@everettsd.org, if you are interested in learning more.

Operation School Bell: This great organization will be suspending full-time service for the 2024-25 school year effective March 1. If your child has not received a school wardrobe yet and needs one, please ask for a form in the front office or contact Amy Watkins, awatkins@everettsd.org.

Cold weather shelters: Please remember that Snohomish County emergency cold weather shelters are open nights when weather is expected to drop below freezing for four hours straight. This link is updated as more open.

Ongoing supports: Does your family need assistance with items such as food or housing? Are you looking for connections to housing and medical services? We have resources to help! E-mail family support specialist Amy Watkins at awatkins@everettsd.org or call the school office at 425-385-5300. You can also find some resource links here, and access more by calling 211 or starting here.

Did you know that our school partners with a community organization to provide weekend food bags for Lowell families in need? We can always use donations -- we have an Amazon wish list here. Or you can drop off items in the office!

Absences: If your child will be absent, please e-mail us at loeattendance@everettsd.org or call the attendance line at 425-385-5305 to report their absence daily. Include the date, child's first and last name, ID number, and the reason for the absence. All absences must be reported/excused in writing, so if you aren't able to e-mail, please send a written note upon your child's return to school.

Late arrivals/tardies: If arriving between 8:35 and 9:05 a.m., your student will be marked tardy. After 9:05, your student needs to be walked into school by an adult, as they need to be signed in. This will ensure that their half-day absences is being marked excused or unexcused appropriately.

Changes to dismissal routines: If you are wanting to change how your student is getting home on a given day, you must contact our office before 2:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and by 1:00 on Fridays. The rest of each day is very busy, so we cannot guarantee that messages will get through after those times.

Email: ekelley@everettsd.org
Website: https://www.everettsd.org/lowelles
Location: 5010 View Drive, Everett, WA, USA
Phone: 425-385-5300
Facebook: www.facebook.com/EPSLowellES

Instagram: @epslowelles

ParentSquare is Everett Public Schools' and Lowell's communication system. Though you will receive messages even if you don't have an account, setting one up allows you to customize notifications. Click here or on the image for information on how to get the app and log in!