Happy Friday, Lil Steamer Families!

November 1, 2024

From the Desk of: Principal Hoese

Lil Steamer Families –

Over the past several months, our staff has been working on ways to best meet the needs of our early Kindergarten learners. As of this letter, we have 72 Kindergarten students in 3 homerooms resulting in 24 students per class. Each of our Kindergarten classes has one paraprofessional to help provide support as well.

As the year has progressed, we have been able to better identify the high needs of our Kindergarten class. In conversations with Superintendent Dr. Hogue and the Board of Education, we have made the decision to add a 4th section of Kindergarten for the current school year. This would result in 4 homerooms with 18 students each.

You will soon see a job posting for a Kindergarten position which will be for this new classroom. We will also have a paraprofessional that will join this homeroom, which may result in an additional job posting. That will be determined in the next month.

In making this decision, we now face the new challenge of determining which students to enroll in this class.

First, any families that are willing to volunteer their Kindergarten student may contact Principal Hoese or their current homeroom teacher to let them know.
We will need to ensure that any students who receive special education services or accommodations through a 504 Plan are able to receive their required support should a homeroom change occur.
Once we take into consideration any volunteers, we will then make required student homeroom changes from their current homeroom into the 4th section as we balance all four homerooms based on academic, behavioral, and social/emotional needs.

At the latest, we would like to have the new Kindergarten teacher position filled and homeroom changes made by the start of the second semester in January. If we are able to hire a new teacher who is a great fit for our school before then, we will make the transition sooner.

We are excited to be able to better support our students and staff with this transition and are grateful for the support that Dr. Hogue and the Board of Education have provided. If you have any questions, please reach out and let me know.

Respectfully,

JAGH

BONUS: My favorite Roese pics from the week!

One of us loved our Halloween costume. The other, not so much. 🤣

From the Desk of: AP Parsons

From the Specific Learning Disability Support Project

READING:

November is National Family Literacy Month! Even for students who may struggle with reading, there's nothing more impactful than enjoying reading time with family to broaden vocabulary and boost knowledge. Here are some creative ways to celebrate and make the most of family reading time.

Audiobooks → Audiobooks offer a wonderful way to bring the family together and enjoy stories as a group! Choose an audiobook as a family and set aside special moments to listen, whether it is after dinner or as part of a cozy bedtime routine. Explore your local library for free access to a wide selection of audiobooks.
Book Choice → Involve your child in choosing the book to read based on their interests; however, if they are reluctant, here are a few book lists that have authentic dyslexic characters and/or are written or illustrated by dyslexic authors. Check out the book lists that have been curated by a librarian with dyslexia here.
Language & Literacy Tips → When helping your child with reading, make sure you are also actively developing their language skills. Check out Maya's Book Nook for language and literacy tips, book recommendations, and more.

From the Desk of: Counselor Meumann

Encourage your children to talk to you and express their feelings. Here are some ways that you can help your child learn about and express their feelings:

Identify feelings in others-Provide lots of opportunities to identify feelings in others. You might ask your child to reflect on what someone else may be feeling. Cartoons or picture books are a great way to discuss feelings and help kids learn how to recognize other people’s feelings through facial expressions.

Be a role model-Kids learn about feelings and how to express them appropriately by watching others. Show your child how you’re feeling about different situations and how you deal with those feelings.

Encourage with praise-Praise your child when they talk about their feelings or express them in an appropriate way.

Listen to your child’s feelings-Stay present and resist the urge to make your child’s bad feelings go away. Support your child to identify and express their feelings so they are heard. When feelings are minimized, they will often be expressed in unhealthy ways.

Happy Halloween from the K-1 teams!

Riley and all of her emotions were at school on Halloween.

2nd Grade AR Party

2nd Grade's 1st Quarter AR party was a blast! Lots of fun was had as students who met their AR goal got the chance to bring games from home and play with friends.

Pumpkin Painting in 2A!

Thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Stasse for donating the pumpkins and paint for our class!

3rd Grade Halloween Parties!

NEW! FES PTO Corner

What a fantastic start to the year for our PTO and school community!

House Lanyards: Just before Sorting Day, each of the four houses received brand new lanyards provided by the PTO! Both the students and teachers loved them, and you can catch a glimpse of everyone proudly wearing them in our previous newsletter. These lanyards will be used for years to come!

Coffee and Donut Fundraiser Success: Thanks to your support, our Coffee and Donut fundraiser raised over $4,800, making it our most successful fundraiser in the past three years! A huge thank you to everyone who participated! Special shout-out to 5C, the winning class, who earned a fun Popcorn Glow Party!

National Custodians Appreciation Day: On National Custodians Appreciation Day, our PTO proudly provided gifts for each of our hardworking custodians. We wanted to show our gratitude for all they do to keep our school running smoothly, so we gifted them some sweet treats and a gift card to Steam Anchor. Thank you to our custodial staff for all your dedication and care!

Upcoming Events:

Teacher Treats During Conferences: Eagle Brew has generously agreed to donate once again, and many parents have volunteered to drop off baked goods. We hope our teachers enjoy these treats as much as they did last year!

Polar Bear Patch Holiday Shop: Our PTO board is hard at work preparing for the beloved Polar Bear Patch! After great feedback from last year’s holiday shop, we have decided to personally shop for the items this year instead of using an outside company to provide the inventory. The kids loved shopping, and we’re aiming to provide an even better experience this year!

Coming Soon: Donuts with Grown-Ups is coming back this spring, a much-anticipated event loved by our community. Additionally, we're working on a few fundraisers that will make for great holiday gifts—stay tuned for more details!

Recent PTO Approvals: We’ve been busy approving requests that will benefit our students and teachers, including:

Art supplies for Mystery Baskets in Mrs. Long’s Art classes.
Speech supplies for Ms. Bri's current and future students.
Play therapy figures and blocks for Counselor Mrs. Meumann’s students.
Special Education supplies and games for Mrs. Whitney’s classroom.
1,056 bookmarks for all students visiting the library, requested by Mrs. Pannell.
A reading program and supplies for Ms. Maloney’s classes.
Pumpkins and apple juice for kindergarteners at the FES Annual Pumpkin Patch.
A picture book series about making friends for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder, requested by LeAnn Smith. This request approval is especially meaningful to our PTO members, many of whom have loved ones on the spectrum and understand the importance of friendship skills.

Next PTO Meeting: Our next meeting will be on November 12th at 7 PM (rescheduled due to Election Day). We hope to see you there!

Thank you for your continued support in making this a great year for our school community!

If you need to contact us, please reach out via Facebook at Fulton PTO, by email at fultonelempto@gmail.com, or connect with one of our board members:

Lynne Coffey – President
Abra Richards – Vice President & Media Manager
Danielle Wilkins – Secretary
Tarah Manon – Treasurer

Sign-ups for Grades 1-4 Boys & Girls Basketball

Please use the following link to sign up for girls and boys Rec Basketball for grade levels 1st-4th. Information and schedule is included on the sign up form.

https://forms.gle/MpxYZcLHQ9xxAMS4A

CKH October Leadworthy Lil Steamers

Each month our Lil Steamers have a monthly character trait that we focus on as part of our Capturing Kids Hearts initiative. For the month of October that trait was Self-Direction. Congratulations to the following students on going above and beyond!

KA Bentley B., KB Nora E., KC Claire D.

1A Myles W., 1B Mallori W., 1C Reese R.

2A Hannah T., 2B Whitley I., 2C Daxten L.

3A Ava S., 3B Arizona L., 3C Isabella M., 3D Keegan G.

4A Deacon W., 4B McKenzie S., 4C Brantley G.

5A Kiki S., 5B Lillian P., 5C Braxton V.

CKH Monthly Newsletter for November!

Be sure to read through the conversation starters at the bottom of the newsletter for great ways to discuss how to be a self-directed student. Self-direct is our October monthly character trait!