Junior Achievement Program for Third Grade Students:
Junior Achievement (JA) gives students hope for a better future. More than 2,200 JA classroom volunteers committed to teaching JA programs this school year. The JA volunteers are empowering over 54,000 South Dakota students to achieve their dreams.
JA volunteers within our community are making it possible for students to learn about money, careers, and owning a business! By sharing their personal and professional experiences, JA volunteers guide students to make the connection between what they are learning in school and what they will need to succeed in work and life.
Thank you to our volunteers that made JA possible at Sturgis Elementary! If you would be interested in sharing your knowledge and business experience with students in our community, please contact the JA office at (605)336-7318.
Smarter Balanced Interim Assessment:
Preparations are being made for the annual state assessment which is given to all third and fourth students. Students will be assessed in the areas of English Language Arts and math. Students will be taking this assessment in April. Delivered entirely online, the South Dakota assessment offers students the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge in a variety of ways. The test results provide a more meaningful picture of what the students know and can do. It is important to remember that your child’s score on the state assessment only reflects their performance at one moment in time. Throughout the school year, your student’s teacher is continually measuring his/her progress through a variety of methods.
Students’ Attendance:
Encouraging regular school attendance is one of the most powerful ways you can prepare your child for success—both in school and in life. When you make school attendance a priority, you help your child get better grades, develop healthy life habits, avoid dangerous behavior and have a better chance of graduating from high school.
When students are absent for fewer days, their grades and reading skills often improve—even among those students who are struggling in school. Students who attend school regularly also feel more connected to their community, develop important social skills and friendships, and are significantly more likely to graduate from high school, setting them up for a strong future.
But when kids are absent for an average of just two days of school per month—even when the absences are excused– it can have a negative impact. These absences can affect kids as early as Kindergarten.
For example, young elementary school students who miss an average of just two school days per month often have difficulty keeping up with their peers academically and tend to fall behind in reading. But when students are able to read on grade level by the end of third grade, which is when kids transition from learning to read to reading to learn, they are three to four times more likely to graduate high school and attend college, post-graduate, or professional development classes than their peers who struggle with reading. www.absencesaddup.org
24-25 Classroom Roster Development Form for Parents:
The link below is to a form for parents to share their input on their child’s classroom placement for the 24-25 school year. We seek the input you have, but please know you are unable to request certain teachers. Please ensure you give us your feedback. Once rosters are developed and teachers are assigned, no requests to have a child move to another class will be approved. This input has to be shared annually. All input is due by March 15, 2024
