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Hello Pine Brook Families!

As part of our commitment to fostering a student-centered environment that promotes rigorous instruction, we are excited to share some ideas for supporting your child's goal-setting journey at home through the Leader in Me habits. The Leader in Me emphasizes the development of essential leadership skills, and goal setting is a crucial component of this process.

Here are some strategies to help your child set and achieve their goals:

Begin with a Vision

Encourage your child to visualize their goals. Ask them what they want to accomplish in the short term and long term. Examples could include:

• Volunteering for a certain number of hours at a local charity or community organization (e.g., "I will volunteer once a month")

• Improve a specific skill (e.g., "I will practice shooting hoops for 15 minutes every day")

• Aim to eat a certain number of fruits and vegetables each day (e.g., "I will eat at least three servings of fruits and vegetables daily")

• Learn to prioritize tasks by making a weekly to-do list

• Read a certain number of books each month at home (e.g., "I will read two books every month this year")

Use the SMART Goals Framework

Help your child formulate goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. For instance, rather than saying, "I want to do better in math," guide them to say, "I want to improve my math facts by knowing only 1s and 5s facts to knowing 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s by December."

Break Goals into Actionable Steps

Teach your child to break their goals into smaller, manageable steps. This will make the process less overwhelming and allow them to celebrate small victories along the way.

Create a Goal-Setting Journal or a Progress Tracker

Encourage your child to maintain a journal or tracker where they can write down their goals, track their progress, and reflect on their experiences. This practice can help build their self-awareness and accountability.

Celebrate Achievements

Recognize and celebrate your child's achievements, no matter how small!! This will motivate them to keep working towards their goals!

Model Goal-Setting Behavior

Share your OWN goals with your child and the steps you are taking to achieve them. We have been doing this at school with our own Wildly Important Goals. This not only reinforces the importance of goal setting but also provides them with a real-life example to follow.

Check-In Regularly

Schedule regular check-ins with your child to discuss the goals and the progress and supports they need.

If you want to join in as a family, you can check out the Goal Chat Cards to spark discussions about everyone’s Wildly Important Goal! By collaboratively engaging in goal-setting practices, we can empower our children to become proactive leaders in their own lives. We appreciate your partnership in this journey!

A couple of reminders for the upcoming week:

• 10/31: Bubble Day! We are excited to celebrate with our Panthers for achieving our school-wide goal!

• 10/31: ½ Day (Parent Teacher Conferences): Dismissal at 11:57 for car riders and 12:05 for buses

• 11/1: NO School: Parent Teacher Conferences

Enjoy the weekend,

Andrea and Allie

Building trust and ensuring that there are open lines of communication between home and school are essential for student success. We want to be sure you know who to contact with questions or concerns. In December, the district shared a new resource for families. In case you missed it, this linked Who to Call with Questions, Concerns and Compliments reference guide is a step-by-step guide families can use to ensure questions are answered quickly and effectively. Please refer to it whenever you need to speak to someone about your child’s progress. Whether your inquiry is about academics, safety, or services and supports, there are people at the school and district level who are ready to help whenever a question or concern arises.

For Step 1 concerns at Pine Brook, please start with the person closest to the situation. They should be able to help you navigate the situation. If the concern rises to a Step 2, please contact the Assistant Principal. For your convenience there is a list below of contacts at Pine Brook:

Step 1:

Safety, Health and Wellness:

Nurse: Jen Curatalo jennifer.curatalo@greececsd.org

Registration, Daily Schedules, and Other Questions:

Main Office Secretary: Janine Layne janine.layne@greececsd.org

Mental Health, Counseling and Social Work Questions:

Counselors: Anne McAdam anne.mcadam@creececsd.org

Counselor: Debbie Schneider deborah.schneider@greececsd.org

Social Worker: Danielle Binn danielle.binn@greececsd.org

Academics and Instructional Questions:

Please contact your student’s teacher

Step 2:

Principal: Andrea Geglia andrea.geglia@greececsd

Assistant Principal: Allie Weise allison.weise@greececsd.org