Principal's Corner

Welcome back! I hope this message finds you refreshed, recharged, and ready for an exciting new chapter as we begin 2025.

As we enter the new year, it’s a wonderful time to set goals, embrace challenges, and continue growing together as a school community. We are having conferences soon allowing you to touch base with your child’s teacher to discuss academic and social/emotional successes and opportunities for growth. We recognize that students are most successful when we work with you so please take a moment to review your child’s first trimester report card and jot down any questions or concerns you have to discuss them with their teacher.

This second half of the year will bring many opportunities for learning, exploration, and collaboration. We’re thrilled to see how our students will rise to meet new academic challenges and strengthen the relationships that make our school a special place.

Let’s make the most of this new beginning by working together to create a safe, supportive, and inclusive environment for everyone.

With warmest wishes,
Jenny

We are excited to invite you to our upcoming Parent-Teacher Conferences! These meetings provide a valuable opportunity to discuss your child’s progress, celebrate their achievements, and collaborate on strategies to support their growth.

Conference Details:

• Dates: January 30, 2025 and February 6, 2025

• Time: 3:30-7:30 each day

• Duration: Each conference will last approximately 15 minutes.

To schedule your conference, please log in to your Skyward account. If you need assistance with Skyward, feel free to contact Jen Maier in the office.

We believe that open communication between home and school plays a crucial role in your child’s success. We look forward to connecting with you and working together to ensure a positive and productive year for your chid(ren).

On Monday, January 6 we started our FastBridge winter benchmarking. As a reminder, FastBridge is a set of reading and math assessments that teachers use to measure student learning, both proficiency and growth. Scores from these benchmark assessments help teachers better understand what students need to help them continue to grow both individually and as part of the whole class. These should not be stressful to students but rather an opportunity for them to show what they know! If you have any questions regarding FastBridge assessments please don't hesitate to contact me or your child's teacher.

Our focus for January is principled. Principled students have a sense of fairness and are honest with themselves and with others. They understand that sometimes there are rules and they follow them. They have an understanding of what is right and wrong.

How can parents help to develop students who are principled at home?

• Involve your child in deciding on the rules for a game or activity and then ensure they stick to the ones that have been decided upon.
• Encourage your child to play games that involve teams.
• Discuss with your child the qualities of a team player and what sort of person would they want on their team.
• When your child wins a game teach him or her to be a well-mannered winner. They might thank their opponent or shake hands with them if it's appropriate.
• When playing a game, don't change the rules or let your child win. Being a gracious loser is just as important as being a good winner.

I have a few people who are interested in a book study focused on The Anxious Generation, which is great! If there is enough interest, I would like to begin this in February so please let me know if this is something you would be like to be a part of!

If you are looking for things to support learning at home, some great suggestions are available on the Helping at Home page. This page is broken down by grade level and standard allowing you to search for specific standards if you want to check it out! Reading, discussing books, and practicing math facts are simple things that can be very helpful. It is also beneficial whenever you can make math and reading visible through what you do every day. Examples include talking about fractions when cooking, measuring, reading directions, or just setting aside family reading time and finishing it with a quick summary of what everyone read.

Conferences

January 30, 2025

February 6. 2025

Please remember to login to Skyward and select a day and time for conferences!

Colder Weather is Upon Us (reminder)

As we transition from this very nice fall weather to cooler temperatures, please make sure your child brings appropriate gear to school. Kids will go outside if the temperature is -10 degrees or warmer, so having appropriate clothing and boots every day is very important both for recess and getting to and from school.

Please label all gear with your child's name so if it happens to be left outside or in some other area of the school we can get it back to them as soon as possible.

If your child is in need of winter gear, please reach out to the office for assistance.