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The Cougar PAWS Pulse
April/May Newsletter
We have 5 very important weeks ahead of us
Each year goes faster and faster. I think it may be a part of me getting older and older. We had another wonderful year and a mentor of mine in the past said, " Now is the time to land the plane." Our students are completing their end of the year tests in May and it is very important they get the best testing opportunity possible. The dates are below and we need all of our kids here earlier than on time. We start testing very early, and the kids simply do not do as well if they have to do a make up test. I simply ask that you get them here on time and we will take care of the rest. I do want to also say that if your child is not feeling well then they should not be in school. PLEASE help us make this a great experience. We have a strong opportunity to get our school back from a B to an "A". Our staff has put in so much work to help our students. I cannot say enough about the effort I have seen over the year from our community to attain this goal.
Thank you to our PTA and all of our volunteers for their help bringing back our Spring Fling. It has been years that we have been able to do it and they did an absolute magnificent job. We had families having picnics, food, fun and all the Gaither students that helped with the games. We had our rock band and other dance groups entertain the crowd. If you didn't get a chance to go we are hopeful to continue the tradition next year as well.
Senior High School Graduates join our Clap Out
We want our seniors to come home for their last walk through Claywell. Our annual clap out for 5th graders and seniors will be May 24th and we ask our former seniors to join us. They need to be in the cafeteria at Claywell by 10:30 with their cap and gown. We start walking promptly at 11:00 AM. Parents you can decorate your cars in our Shillington parking lot. We ask everyone to be parked and we close the gates at 10:45 AM
April and May Calendar Events
April 21st- Mrs. Bohush's birthday
April 22nd- Mrs. Sosa's birthday
April 22nd- Mr. Gracey and Mrs. Maguregui's Retirement Party
April 23rd- Second Grade Fieldtrip
April 23rd- Very Important 1st grade test
April 24th- Secretaries Day
April 25th- Very test for 1st grade and E Team Competition 4th Grade
April 29th- Music and Art Program 6 PM
May 1st- VERY important 3rd grade test
May 3rd- VERY important 4th grade test
May 6th- May 10th- Teacher Appreciation Week
May 7th- Very Important 3rd grade test (Math)
May 8th- Very important 5th grade test (Math)
May 9th- Very important 4th grade test (Math)
May 13th- Very important 3rd grade test (Science)
May 14th- Very important 5th grade test (Science)
May 15th- Very important 4th grade test (Science)
May 17th- 5th grade banquet 11 PM
May 17th- May /June Birthday cookies
May 20th- Character of the Month recognition (Donuts)
May 20th- Mrs. Van Name's birthday
May 20th- End of Year Staff Luncheon (Early dismissal. Please pick up your kids on time)
May 21st- Fifth grade kickball game
May 22nd- Fifth grade yearbook signing
May 23rd- Class parties 1:00
May 24th- Last Day of School- We dismiss 11:45
Spring Fling Fun
Pie the Principals
We had a blast wit the kids at the Pie Your Principal. Thank you to (Carter and Natalia) Sierra, and the (Adrian and Ava) Hernandez families. We raised more money to replace our tumbling mats. You would not believe how expensive good tumbling mats are by the way. We will try to put the videos of the event on our website.
Congrats to Lexie Wells, our Awesome Media Specialist
Our awesome media specialist Mrs. Lexie Wells, was nominated by our school as a rising star in the Media Specialist world. Mrs. Wells you get a big picture in the newsletter for this. On a side note, you can join us next year to see our new media center when it is completed over the summer. We are very excited about this learning area for our students.
Gently Used Uniforms and the Last Week of School
Our last week of school we are going to have themed dress down days. Our kids have done such a nice job with uniforms this year, and we want to have some fun with them as a reward. In conjunction with the dress down days we are collecting gently used uniforms. The flyer is below of specifically what we are looking to collect. More and more of our families are in need at Claywell, and we want to start a clothes closet to assist families. Thank you for your consideration.
Dress Down Days
Wednesday, 5/15 - Crazy Hair Day
Thursday, 5/16 - NEON Day
Friday, 5/17 - Twin Day (5th grade banquet)
Monday, 5/20 - Rockstar Day (this is also our luncheon at Glory Days)
Tuesday, 5/21 - Role Reversal Day (kickball game)
Wednesday, 5/22 - Decades Day (testing celebration)
Thursday, 5/23 - Tacky Tourist Day (class parties)
Friday, 5/24 - School Spirit Day
Mindset Mornings with Mrs. Stockslager and Mrs. Wild
Our 1st - 5th grade students continue to attend weekly 7 Mindsets lessons from 7:20-7:40 once per week. Last month our students learned about the mindset "Attitude of Gratitude". We practiced actively looking for the positive things in our lives and putting our focus on them to increase our growth and positivity. This month we continue our studies with the mindsets "Live to Give", which teaches the importance of serving others while maximizing our own potential, and "The Time Is Now", empowering students to do the next right thing in every moment. The students have done a great job in these lessons and we look forward continuing next year.
If you want to know which day your child attends these lessons, the schedule is below:
Monday - 2nd Grade
Tuesday - 4th Grade
Wednesday - 3rd Grade
Thursday - 1st Grade
Friday - 5th Grade
If you want to know more about 7 Mindsets, you can read about it at https://7mindsets.com/
Thank you Northdale Civic Association
The Northdale Civic Association reached out to give us a HUGE donation for the covered playground. They are donating 25,000 dollars when combined with the 15,000 dollars we made from fundraising we should be able to complete the covered playground project. We are thrilled to develop this partnership and are very excited to add even more beauty to our campus.
AHHHHHHHH........... the Car Line
In effort to prevent altercations in our car line we have a procedure that have tried for years to get everyone to use. It takes about five ten seconds longer, but it enables us to never have people cut off in line. It also enables us to never block Northdale. Please turn on Sapwood, South Breeze, and Shillington. This enables you to then take a right into our school and prevents any traffic pattern issue. If you follow this path we have about a mile and a half of car line, and we also will not disturb the neighborhood during arrival and dismissal. The Map and Do's and Don'ts are below for your reference. We do have new people in our car line today, but if you do have the ability to communicate this with who is dropping off and picking up your child we would all be very grateful.
Interesting Claywell Information on Attendance and Tardies
We have done a tremendous job on attendance Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. In fact when we average those three days together over the past three months, we have had 95 percent of our students in attendance. We are still working on Mondays and Fridays. We average 90 percent of our students in attendance. This is food for thought, and something to reflect on as we finish up April and move into May. Our tardies have gotten so much better. This is one of my number once concerns among teachers. The distraction this causes a class when your child shows up late it delays the momentum of the lesson. Like I told our families at our award assembles, it truly does take a village to raise our kids. It is noticed and definitely appreciated.
Very Cool Experience for Our Students
Representatives of Coke Florida visited our intermediate gifted classroom on Thursday, April 11th. They videotaped and interviewed the class. Coke is committed to sustainability and sponsors teacher workshops at USF's Stavros Center. They wanted to witness how content shared with teachers at the workshops they sponsor is incorporated into instruction for students. They were very impressed with how poised, articulate, and knowledgeable our students are, and were impressed with our students' many projects. The students led the lesson on ways to celebrate Earth Day by educating others. They also organized a drive to collect clothes, toys, suitcases, backpacks, and books to help our community. Donations of gently used items are being accepted through Earth Day, April 22nd. Posters were also created by all intermediate gifted students. The video is being edited and a link with be shared with us soon.
Lisa Lawson
Teacher of Gifted Students
Earth Day Fun Coming Up
We are planning a ton of fun activities for our students on earth day. As you may or may not know we dedicate a lot of time recycling, farming, and teaching our kids to be good stewards of our earth. Thank you to Mr. Gries and the Green Team for helping us to be energy conscious. We even received an Energy Star award for our use of energy consumption compared to other buildings our size across the country.