Our school routines have truly become ingrained for both our committed staff and enthusiastic students. I am excited about the wonderful month ahead with the students. Even though the past six weeks have been busy, it has been enjoyable to engage with the students in the classrooms and learn alongside them.

The Walk-A-Thon was a great success! Students had a fantastic time walking to the fort and back. I think Mr. Mallette would agree that getting hit in the face with a pie was a "SPECIAL TREAT" that helped kick off the event! Another shout out to Mrs. Hallberg's, Ms. Neubaum's, and Mrs. Royuk's classes for their outstanding efforts in raising the highest amounts of money. A heartfelt thank you to the PFE for organizing such a fun experience for our students.

Finally, I want to thank our families and community members for such a warm welcome and all the kind words of encouragement as I transition into principalship. I have learned very quickly that Fort Calhoun is a wonderful place to be and I believe, together, our elementary school will continue to be a place where our students can excel academically, grow personally, and develop a strong sense of community. I look forward to working closely with you all and celebrating our collective successes in the weeks, months, and years to come.

Mrs. Horstman

• Breakfast ends at 8:00 am. It is challenging for students to eat their full meal when they arrive at 7:55 am. Please help ensure your child is arriving to school with adequate time to eat, so they can start their learning when the school day begins at 8.
• Our transportation team would like your help with the corner of 12th and Adams. Please leave plenty of space to ensure the buses can safely make the turn onto Adams St.

This is to verify that we, parent/guardian, and student, have received and read the 2024-25 student handbook, which includes the policies and other rules and regulations of the Fort Calhoun Elementary School. Click on the gray box with arrow in it to fill out the Google Form or click here.

Click below to access the student handbook. If you would like a hard copy of the handbook, please email rweaver@ftcpioneers.org

In October preschoolers will continue to learn the letters in their name and recognize the names of friends. We will be retelling the stories The Three Little Pigs and Goldilocks with story props. Preschoolers will begin identifying and writing letters L, F and E. During math, we are working on shapes and numbers 1-5. We will continue to practice sharing and taking turns with peers and learning classroom expectations.

• Reading Concepts: Phonics: p, t, i, n. High Frequency Words: a, like, to. Phonemic Awareness: Rhyme, Blending Onset/Rime, Blending & Segmenting short vowel words. Comprehension: key details, sequencing. Category Words: color words, movement words, action words
• Writing Concepts: Letter formation: Big Line Down Letters
• Math Concepts: Numbers to 10, Sort, Classify, & Count Objects, 2-D shapes,

• Reading Concepts: The first graders will read and write words with r & s blends, short e, and short u. They will work through non-fiction, fantasy, and realistic fiction stories. Students will identify nouns, possessive nouns, and singular & plural nouns.
• Writing Concepts: Students will practice writing statements, questions, and exclamations with proper conventions. The first graders will publish their first fiction writing.
• Math Concepts: Students will practice different strategies to solve addition and subtraction equations fluently. These strategies include using a number line, open number line, doubles, and tens frames.
• Science Concepts: In science, students will describe and make sounds. They also observe sounds and their uses. The first graders will observe light and discuss why the use of light is important.

• Reading Concepts: Sequence of Events, Synonyms and Antonyms, Long vowel words, Identifying character, setting, events, and Singular and Plural Nouns
• Writing Concepts: Writing Complete sentences, Using correct punctuation and capitalization, and Handwriting Formation
• Math Concepts: Adding and subtracting two digit numbers and Place value to the hundreds
• Social Studies Concepts: Families Today and In the Past, Life Then and Now, and Family Tree Project
• Science Concepts: Properties of Matter, How Matter Changes, Magnetic Car Lab, Building Bridge Project

• Reading Concepts: Main idea and details, visualizing, predicting and retelling
• Writing Concepts: Topic sentences and details
• Math Concepts: Multiplying one digit numbers
• Social Studies Concepts: Map skills and natural resources
• Science Concepts: Motion and Forces

• Reading Concepts: In reading, our fourth graders will be diving deeper into expository text, as well as exploring drama and poetry. They will use their summarizing and questioning strategies in order to find the central idea, theme of a passage and describe character development. Additionally, we will continue working on a variety of vocabulary strategies, including prefixes, suffixes, metaphors and similes.
• Writing Concepts: In writing, our awesome author’s will be continuing to practice going through the writing process. By the end of the month, they will publish a descriptive writing piece. Throughout this process, they will also integrate the correct usage of their grammar skills such as singular/plural nouns, common/proper nouns, and irregular plural nouns
• Math Concepts: These mathematicians will be working on a variety of multiplication skills and strategies. This will include factor pairs, multiples to 100 and understanding the distributive property of multiplication and partial products.
• Social Studies Concepts: Our 4th grade historians are making their way through the Nebraska Adventure. This month, we will be learning about the first people of our state and how they interacted with the land. We will pause our adventure for a moment to deepen our understanding of the branches of government.
• Science Concepts: In science, our scientists will begin to discover nonrenewable and renewable energy resources and investigate the environmental impacts of each.

• Reading Concepts: I can read & understand expository text. I can use evidence to respond to expository text. I can use text features to navigate and find information in text. I can model problem and solution text structure.
• Writing Concepts: Expository writing and conducting research; I can provide information using evidence, details, and facts to support a topic.
• Math Concepts: I can add and subtract decimals. I can demonstrate understanding of powers, exponents, and whole number multiplication. I can use strategies to multiply decimals.
• Social Studies Concepts: I can create and present a research project on Native American Tribes. I can demonstrate understanding from The Age of Exploration, learning about explorers from Spain.
• Science Concepts: I can identify & describe what makes up Earth's Systems: hydrosphere, atmosphere, geosphere, biosphere. I can develop a model to describe the ways Earth's systems interact. I can obtain information about ways communities use science ideas to protect Earth's resources and environment.

• Reading Concepts: Using reading skills and strategies to understand nonfiction texts. We will cite evidence from a nonfiction text. Compare and contrast ideas and concepts. Identify elements of poetry.
• Writing Concepts: Identify and form complex sentences. Identify different kinds of nouns, including common, proper, concrete, and abstract. Identify singular and plural nouns.
• Math Concepts: Understand and use fractions, decimals, and percents in ratio relationships. Convert numbers between fractions, decimals, and percents. Find the percent of a number in real world problems.
• Social Studies Concepts: Understand the fertile crescent. Identify causes of the formations of civilizations. Identify how governments formed.
• Science Concepts: Identify the parts of animal and plant cells. Compare and contrast the parts of animal and plant cells. Analyze and create diagrams of animal and plant cells.

• Fire Safety Week - October 6th through October 12th
• Fort Calhoun K-2nd Grade Youth Basketball Fall Skills Camp & League - Begins October 13th
• Donuts with Dad - October 18th
• Scholastic Book Fair - October 19th through October 24th
• Parent Teacher Conferences - October 23rd & 24th
• No School - October 25th
• Halloween Classroom Parties - October 31st
• No School - November 1st

Our staff has begun preparing for parent teacher conferences which will be held on October 23rd and 24th. To sign up for a conference click here, then select each of your student's teachers and time that works for your family.