Centennial Blue Jays

Greetings, Blue Jay families!

A big thank you to our fabulous PTO for organizing another wildly successful Read-A-Thon! We would like to shout out to them and to all of our amazing volunteers in honor of National Volunteer Appreciation Month! From the PTO to our SMART readers to parent chaperones and classroom helpers, we couldn't do this without you!

A quick note about testing: Our third-, fourth- and fifth-graders will soon be starting their state testing. You can help by making sure your student gets a good night sleep, has a good breakfast, and arrives at school on time. Click here for some great tips for how to prepare your child for testing. If you would like to opt your student out of state testing, please click here to download a form and be sure to return it quickly. Forms are also available at school.

Let's have a great month!

Don Hakala, Principal

The Read-A-Thon was a resounding success, with 147,732 minutes logged between home and school, earning a Pink Hair day for Mr. Hakala and Ms. Dean, and raising $15,000 for our fabulous PTO. Thank you for all your help! Congrats to Mrs. Tunnell's class for reading the most minutes, and to Mrs. Standley's class for earning the most $$. Both classes got an ice cream party. We had 92 kids either raise $100 or read 600 minutes to earn a Glow Party. Six bookmark winners were chosen.

Mar. 31: 4th grade swim lessons begin (M-Th, two weeks)

Apr. 2: PTO Meeting, 6:00 p.m.

Apr. 4: Flock Friday - wear Blue Jay gear!

Apr. 9-10: Students Planting for the Plant Sale

Apr. 10: 5th Grade Concert, 6:30 (performers due at 6:!5)

Apr. 11: Flock Friday/Early Release at 12:30

Apr. 18: Flock Friday / Family Game Night / Silent Auction Preview, 6:30–8:00

Apr. 19: PTO Donut and Dropoff

Apr. 19–25: Silent Auction

Apr. 24: 2nd Grade Concert, 6:30 (performers due at 6:!5)

Apr. 25: Flock Friday/Early Release at 12:30

The PTO plant sale is coming up on May 10, and they came up with a neat idea this year: Students are helping them plant starts this week with their classes and helping tend the plants as they grow. In addition to starts for the plant sale, students will also get to take home their own plant. Stay tuned for more information about the plant sale!

Integrity is doing the right thing even when it’s hard or when no one is looking. Having integrity shows people what your heart is really like. If you have a strong character, then people know that they can trust you. That’s important for any and every relationship you have. Trust is a hard thing to earn, but by doing what’s right at all times, you’ll have trust with everyone around you. You can help us reinforce this trait at home by talking about the importance of trust and integrity!

The return from spring break has been a great time to review school-wide expectations. Teachers will be reviewing appropriate behaviors for the classroom, hallways, playground and cafeteria. Centennial students will also be focusing on staying on task in the classroom. Special tickets will be handed out for students who are working hard at their assigned tasks. Classes will be able to “purchase” class incentives by collecting tickets they can use to purchase rewards from a menu of options.

If you didn’t have a chance to read last month’s newsletter, I’m happy to share with you that Centennial Elementary is able to provide additional reading support to 20% of our students! We use evidence-based approaches to promote literacy!

One quick example is the use of Phonemic Awareness Activities! Try this at home… Say a word to your child. Ask them to tell you the sounds in the word. Why is this important? We know that strong readers are able to distinguish each sound in a word. This promotes their ability to read!

And now, as promised last month, I’d love to introduce you to a few of the wonderful instructors working with your students:

Meet: Miss Lizzy

Miss Lizzy gets to know each and every student! She is always working on an idea to extend instruction further. Her students love her and excitedly will do extra assignments at home and proudly show her each day! In addition, Miss Lizzy is an amazing artist and students in her groups know that each day she has a new hidden drawing they get to find. Recently, Miss Lizzy took a trip to visit schools in India and showed them some of the great strategies we use here.

Meet: Ms. Heather:

Ms. Heather is a phenomenal instructor. Previous to working in the reading room, she expertly worked with our students providing supervision to over 60 students at a time! Wow! Her calm, consistent routines provide students with great structure and maximize learning! She is always ready to deliver explicit instruction where all her students know the learning goals. She is an avid traveler and in her off-time, you will often find her traveling the oceans!

This week: We have two grade levels that will celebrate “filling up their marble jars.” Thanks for all the hard work, students!

Stay tuned next month to meet a few of our third-graders!

Congratulations to our marvelous March Super Students, who all excelled with their positive attitudes and safe, respectful and responsible approach to learning: Kayden, Nova B, Juniper, Trinity, Iris, Edwin, Audie, Camilla, Guinevere, Kaileny, Julia, Clark, Link, Christian, Desi, Charlie, Annie, Abraham, Matthew, Nico, Liam, Abi, Joshua L, Adam A, Tempe, Jackson O, Ariyah, Lacey, Kruze, Steven, Aidan and Daniela R A. Keep up the great work!

Congratulations to The Sassy Croissant Readers for making it to the Sweet 16 in the OBOB regional tournament! Students who will be in grades 3–5 can start preparing for next year by checking out the book list on the state's OBOB website at www.oregonbattleofthebooks.org

Families, we understand that children get sick and we so appreciate it when you call to tell us they won't be in. We also understand that things often happen in our busy lives that cause us to be late.

But because showing up for school has such a huge impact on a student’s academic success, we want you to know that we are going to be increasing our efforts to reach out to families with information about attendance. You may be receiving more calls or other notifications than usual.

SPARK Summer Camps: Offered free by the school district. Click here for more information or to sign up!

Willamalane 1Pass: Sign up now through April 30 to enter the free lottery. You will need your student's ID number (which is the same as their lunch number).

Oregon Children's Choir: 1st-12th graders are invited to consider joining the choir. Students will develop vocal skills, make new friends, boost confidence, and have fun. Choirs meet once per week with a concert on June 1. They also have summer camp. Learn more at oregonchildrenschoir.org.

Just a reminder that if you are not connected with your child's teacher(s) via the SeeSaw app, we encourage you to do so! SeeSaw is a great way to connect with teachers. Please reach out to your teacher or to Ms Deb in our office for help getting connected!

Centennial has an outstanding PTO! We really appreciate all they do to support our staff and students at CES! We would love to have you participate with this group. Meetings are generally held on the first Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. Child care is always available, and they offer a light meal. You can visit their website at www.cespto.org.

How to support our school:

• You can always get blue bags from the school office. This is an easy way to support the PTO through donations of bottles and cans. Just bring the bag to the Springfield Bottle Drop Redemption Center, scan the PTO bar code, and toss your bag.
• Watch for upcoming fundraisers, and in the meantime, volunteer!
• Click here for more information about the upcoming Silent Auction!

Email: deb.jolda@springfield.k12.or.us
Website: centennial.springfield.k12.or.us
Location: 1315 Aspen Street, Springfield, OR, USA
Phone: 541-744-6383
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CentennialBlueJays

We are always happy to help or answer any questions you might have!