Dr. Koop's Newsletter
September 27, 2024
Dear KRS families,
Happy fall everyone!
October is almost here, which means Halloween is quickly approaching. Please review the elementary Halloween information in this newsletter and in the future October newsletters. Thank you KRS families for your teamwork in ensuring that the arrival and dismissal times are safe for the students and families! Respect Week is the week of October 7, 2024. You will receive a communication from school counselor Mr. Levine next week about the Respect Week activities.
Have a fantastic weekend!
Sincerely,
Dr. Kathy Koop
Important Dates
October 3, 2024 - Rosh Hashanah - Schools Closed
October 14, 2024 - Columbus Day/Indigenous People Day - Early Dismissal Staff In-service
Week of October 7, 2024 - Respect Week
Week of October 21, 2024 - Safety Week/School Violence Awareness Week
October 31, 2024 - KRS Halloween Parade 1:10 PM
KRS Chess Club
The Chess Club welcomes all students who want to play chess in a fun, informal and supportive environment. Students who want to learn the game of chess are encouraged to visit some of the neighborhood libraries who offer free, or almost free chess lessons for beginners.
The chess club will meet approximately 15 times this year. There is no commitment. Students are welcome to come as frequently or infrequently as possible.
Interested students (parents) should get on Mr. Levine's chess club email list to find out about upcoming meetings, by filling out the form below
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1i9r8jeDMo8PDD0ybss_c_N6h1x3BPQKKAoGBZEsZvaU/edit#settings
Star Assessments
Our first window of Star administration is occurring during the month of September. The Star assessments are diagnostic assessments designed to provide educators and parents with important information about a student's progress. Students in grades 1-5 take the Star reading and/or early literacy assessment as well as the Star mathematics assessment benchmarked for their specific grade. To read general information about the Star assessments, parents are encouraged to visit their family resources page.
Kindergarten teachers administer the Star CBMs (Curriculum Based Measures) in both reading and mathematics. The Fall kindergarten reading assessments assess a student's understanding of letters and their sounds, basic phonological awareness, and early decoding. The kindergarten math assessments include recognizing numerals and their value. Often times the CBMs may be administered in other grade levels, on an as-needed individual basis. For more information regarding the Star CBMs, please click here.
Madison SEPAG
The Madison SEPAG (Special Education Parent Advisory Group), is an advisory group of parents with children involved with the Special Services Department in the Madison Public Schools.
SEPAG Fall Meetings:
Tues, Oct 8 @ 7 pm - MHS auditorium, Mrs. Budine and Mr. Mullen will host "Special Ed from the Inside Out"
Wed, Nov 13 @ 7 pm via Zoom, SEPAG meeting
Communication Protocol
Parents are asked to follow the school’s communication protocol outlined within this document to ensure that your communication is addressed in a timely and appropriate manner. When emailing your child’s teacher, the teacher may need about 24 hours to respond.
Arrival and Dismissal - Important Information
Arrival - School begins at 8:30 AM. The late bell is at 8:35 AM.
(Same Times for All 3 Madison Elementary Schools - To maximize instructional minutes. )
Families are not permitted to enter the school parking lot in their vehicles to drop-off their child.
Car Line - You MUST stay in your car while in the car line. When you leave your car for any reason, you are delaying the drop-off for everyone else in the car line.
If you need assistance, staff members will be available to help.
Dismissal - 3:15 PM
The driveway must be clear of people at all times. If there is no room to wait on the sidewalk, please wait on the grass.
When crossing the parking lot, you must use the crosswalk. Families and students should not be crossing at any other place in the lot.
Please keep in mind that the parking lot cannot be closed during arrival and dismissal. Staff members need access to the parking lot and in the case of an emergency, we need to keep the lot open at all times.
Families must wait on the sidewalk side/school side of the parking lot, NOT the grass area directly adjacent to the parking lot.
Once you connect with your child, you must leave the school property. We enjoy the KRS families, but staying increases the dismissal congestion.
Car Line - You must remain in your car at all times in the car line. If you need assistance, there are staff members there to help you.
KRS 2024 Halloween - Important Information
The KRS Halloween parade is scheduled for Thursday, October 31, 2024 at 1:10 PM.
Below are very important guidelines for our school celebrations.
Students will be able to wear their costumes to school or change at school on Thursday, October 31, 2024. Costumes should follow our past guidelines:
● Students may wear a costume of their choosing for the class party.
● Toy weapons of any kind are not allowed.
● Avoid excessively scary costumes as they might frighten our younger students.
● Please check your child’s costume for safety. Make sure it is not too long and does not create a tripping hazard.
● Finally, we would also prefer that children not wear costume masks that block vision.
We will be having class parties. Our goal is for the class parties to be inclusive of all students. Class parents will be coordinating with classroom teachers on an appropriate craft for their grade level of students.
As Halloween approaches, it is necessary to remind parents of the potentially life threatening danger of food allergies to certain students in our school.
The issue of food allergies can be incredibly serious for many students. Peanut and tree nut products are particularly problematic, but other foods such as dairy, eggs and wheat can also cause students health problems. The extreme end of the spectrum in terms of a health risk is
anaphylaxis, when the bodily systems experience a shut down due to exposure to the substance in question.
This danger is particularly acute during holiday celebrations, when consuming goodies is the order of the day. If you are a child whose safety depends upon never consuming the wrong food, a party is a true obstacle course. With certain children, even bodily contact with the wrong substance can be disastrous.
As we approach Halloween and the holiday parties, please keep the following in mind:
● Please refer to the elementary food allergy guidelines for additional information. ● Nut products are forbidden in “nut-free classrooms”. Please carefully adhere to classroom guidelines.
● Students must consume all goodies within the class during the party. Goody bags and other treats designed to leave the class with the students are forbidden.
● Crafts and activities involving nut products are forbidden.
● All products should be packaged with ingredients listed.
*If you have any questions pertaining to holiday celebrations, please consult your child’s teacher or the school nurse.*
By working together, we can try to ensure the safety of all our children during this exciting time. Thank you!
NO Place for Hate Pledge
During the morning announcements on Wednesday, Mr. Levine, Dr. Koop, and the students in their classrooms recited the No Place for Hate pledge. After reading the pledge, the students signed their own copy of the pledge. The students' pledges will be displayed in grade level books in the KRS main hallway.
Mr. Levine will conduct school-wide No Place for Hate activities throughout the school year. To support our No Place for Hate initiative at home, please review the Code of Conduct information (Pages 12-19) contained in the Kings Road School Family and Student handbook with your child at home.
